I got this great brand story from my colleague Eric Sauter, Senior Technologist in Jack Morton's Technical Services group:

"My son is a projectionist at a local Cineplex. Not a career AV gig, but decent part-time work while he and his new bride are in school. Sunday morning when I saw him, he had a branding story with camera-phone images as documentation.

When a 3D film comes in to the theater, it is accompanied by a sheet detailing various specifications that must be set on the projection gear for the images to work properly. This normally takes the form of an 8½x11 piece of paper, sometimes with a studio or movie logo at the top. This weekend however, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland opened. Disney does things differently. Being one of the more brand conscious companies on the planet, Disney sent the projector settings as part of a kit, printed full bleed in process color on heavy paper stock that mimics parchment, with every insignificant detail carefully adhering to all graphic standards and branding guidelines put forth for this movie release. This document would never see the light of day, only the projection rooms of theaters where the 3D version of the film is being shown. For this very tiny audience of 3D projectionists, Disney put the time and money into making sure that the same face shown to the public at large is seen in every document. I’m impressed.

Disney sweats the details, sometimes better than others, but always with an eye toward the brand. They know that marketing goes beyond the TV spot, printed piece, or consumer experience; it is something that lingers in the subconscious, influencing us even when we may not realize it. A friend of mine refers to this as being “between the frames”, as explained here. It is a short yet worthwhile read that I’d recommend.

On any given day we represent a multitude of brands. Our clients. Jack Morton Worldwide. Sometimes sister agencies. You are always representing yourself and your own personal brand. Every so often, it may be worthwhile to take an inventory of what details we sweat vs. slide. Remember the 3D projectionists, and what happens in between frames."

Last night Stephen Colbert revealed his new HD set designed by our Jack Morton/PDG group. As you can see, a crisper, brighter, "high defined" Stephen Colbert is a beautiful and dangerous thing..

Earlier this year, we worked on creating an introduction to our agency culture and beliefs, for those who want to know what it’s like to work with Jack Morton. The result? Nothing rhymes with orange:

Nothing rhymes with orange- Jack Morton's Brand Book

Congrats to Hyundai, named "Marketer of the Year" by another leading trade. According to Advertising Age, Hyundai "won handily" in its reader poll.

Check out past JACK360 posts our work with Hyundai on its Gas Lock promotion and Genesis launch.

We teamed up with Cotton Incorporated and National Geographic Kids Magazine, to create a 20-foot tall art installation comprised of 33,088 items of denim clothing in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. The art installation, on display through Aug. 27, sets the Guinness World Record for the Most Items of Clothing Collected for Recycling.

Read more about it in Event Marketer's Buzz Newsletter.

There will be much written about the new deal announced today between Microsoft and Yahoo! After over a year of very public dealsmanship (sorry about that one, but I couldn't think of a better way to describe it), which included Chief Yahoo Jerry Yang abdicating his position and bringing in Carol Bartz, who might get along better with Steve Balmer, the two companies finally came to terms.

In a nutshell, Microsoft is going to power Yahoo's search engine, and Yahoo! is going to be the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies' premium search advertisers -- who were the real objective of the deal.

Initial market reaction to the deal is negative for Yahoo (which doesn't get an upfront cash influx), neutral for Microsoft -- their internet business has always been a money loser, so it's not going to be a short-term material influence -- and also neutral for Google, the 800 lb. gorilla of search marketing.

Of interest to me is the microsite that Microsoft and Yahoo! set up to share details of the deal. Check it out here with a URL that characterizes their take on the deal: http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com. Interesting way to get the word out.

There's a big push in NYC this week around the new SyFy branding and I have to admit I'm still confused as to why they changed the branding? Especially in the given climate when $$ is not coming down from outerspace. What's Next Blog has some interesting points as to why they may have changed (note: a bit tongue in cheek).

It reminds me of when CourtTV became TruTV and it made me sad as my Aunt (who was a huge CourtTV fan) could no longer tell me she was "watching the court".

What do you think of the new SyFy?