Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Alice on Acid

Check out this fantastic piece of electronica made by a 19-year-old Australian, Nick Bertke. It takes sound and video from Disney's Alice in Wonderland and creates an eerie and somewhat hypnotic work, which seems to lull you into a state of semi-consciousness filled with Cheshire cats and dancing flowers.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Amoebas Game

Simple, addictive and completely compulsive - I'm pretty sure if you start playing it will suck you in for a good 10-15min!



Monday, December 29, 2008

Thunder Cats - The Movie

Sorry folks, I'm sure you'd like to think it was real, but it turns out that someone out there really does have the time, skills and willingness to create a fake Thunder Cats movie trailer. Could this be the inspiration that Hollywood needs to take the constant rumours to the next level?

Zombies, they eat you

Damien posted this in fluffy links - funny stuff!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

When contextual advertising placements go horribly wrong

There are many ways to target ad placements and one of the most popular is to use contextual based placing, so as to target your ads to relevant news stories, blog posts or web content.

It's usually a good system. Someone goes to a tech website and clicks on a link to an article about the latest mobile phone. When they go to the article the ads that are displayed are for a telecomms provider. Makes sense.

Unfortunately, sometimes things don't get lined up quite right. Sometimes ads are displayed with content that isn't really what the advertisers would have liked.







Friday, December 26, 2008

The Ultimate Showdown

Funny stuff...

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

What can I say, it's a classic. Enjoy Christmas folks, I hope Santa was good to all of you.

Intrernational 'Merry Christmas'

Check out this great post from Lady Banana of how people around the world wish eachother Merry Christmas.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Best TV Christmas Ads


I wrote this on the Cybercom Blog, a round up of the best TV Christmas Ads...

  1. The first ad on the list could only be one ad. Coca-Cola were the people who made Santa a fat man with a white beard and red suit, and now we all accept it. Possibly the best marketing ever? These are the two we like best - ad & ad

  2. Of course it wouldn't be Christmas without an ad for everyone's favourite stout!

  3. This John Lewis ad is brilliant - clever idea and a perfect execution.

  4. There's a good chance if you're not Scottish you won't like Iron Bru, but their ad is hilarious.

  5. This isn’t just an ad, it’s an M&S Christmas ad. Recently reused, this is more of a technically brilliant ad.

  6. This creative concept has possibly been dragged out too long, having said that, this ad definitely touches the right emotions of anyone who has family coming home for Christmas.

  7. Ah but with your tv ad you are spoiling us. A nice Christmas ad from Ferrero Rocher seems to exist at Christmas.

  8. We only remembered this BA ad when we saw it (probably not a good sign) but it's worth remembering that there was a time when they had some of the largest budgets in the world.

  9. There are some ads that you remember as if they've been around forever, and this ad is certainly one of them - great stuff from Budweiser.

  10. Finally, when it comes to mushy feelings, this may be the best Christmas ad - Kellogs managed a cuteness factor of 120%

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Mapping the Future


If you haven't come across this site, you must check it out. Basically it's a timeline charting the progress and development of various aspects of society through to the end of 2012. Each node is clickable and gives a wealth of industry informations.

Monday, December 22, 2008

How To Do Digital

Check out this fantastic post over on Scamp, by guest writer James Cooper, creative director of Dare. It's funny but ultimately completely true.

1. Keep it simple
2. Be original.
3. Doing digital is harder than TV.
4. Great digital work usually comes from teamwork.
5. The digital equivalent to ‘Balls’ is Nike +.
6. It’s actually easy to win an award if that’s all you want to do.
7. If you are going to use celebs, do it in an interesting way rather than just plonking them on a site.
8. People talk a lot about community and social networking.
9. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
10. What’s with this conformity?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

YouTube removes Satriani/Coldplay videos

It’s been a rough year for Coldplay. Sure they’ve managed a hit number one album but they’ve also encountered two separate accusations of plagiarism. First up was Andrew Hoepfner, lead singer and songwriter of the Creaky Boards, who accused Chris Martin of stealing elements of their song 'The Songs I Didn't Write'. The case was shaky and was quickly put to rest. Unfortunately it didn’t stop there. Next came Joe Satriani. He accused Coldplay of plagiarism for lifting elements of his song "If I Could Fly" for its hit song "Viva La Vida". The Satriani case is still pending resolution.

What’s interesting is that it has emerged that the many videos, which show the similarities between the songs have started disappearing from YouTube. All this is apparently the work of Coldplay's label, EMI, who claim the videos infringe on its copyright. That would all sound very plausible except that you can still hear Coldplay songs elsewhere on YouTube, including in user-generated videos. So is it one rule for one and another for the other?

It therefore looks most likely that EMI is removing these videos due to their embarrassing nature to Coldplay. It’s not hard to think that a court would think if it saw one of these videos.

Luckily, here’s one that is still live (for the time being):


The even more shocking is that all three bands, Coldplay included, may owe something to this guy, Günther:


All this aside, what is most interesting here is that EMI are using copyright as a way to remove certain videos that it doesn’t want to be seen, while allowing other versions to remain online.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Toshiba announce a 512-GB solid-state drive for notebooks



On Thursday InfoWeek reported that Toshiba have announced the first 2.5-inch, 512-GB solid-state drive for notebooks. The devices will start to roll out as samples in the first quarter of next year, with mass production scheduled for the second quarter. Toshiba have not mentioned pricing to date

These second-generation SSDs utilise a multilevel cell controller that can give read/write speeds of 240 MBps and 200 MBps, respectively.

Friday, December 19, 2008

A Night At The Movies


A huge thank you to The Chancer, Rick O'Shea and Una Rocks for putting on an invitational screening of Role Models at Cineworld last night. Not only was the event well staged and completely trouble free (we all know how lesser Irish mortals have a tendency to screw up event organisation), but it was a hilarious movie - really, really funny.

I didn't know what to expect but according to IMDB it's a 7.9 movie, and that's an extremely high rating from the movie snobbery of IMDB, so I figured there would at least be a chuckle or two. Or one hundred! I generally don't recommend movies to people (different tastes and all that) but I think the world should see this film. Absolutely brilliant!


Thursday, December 18, 2008

An odd one from Deloitte

I found this odd viral that Deloitte did for a recruitment campaign they ran. Pretty strange.


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Top 10 Viral Ads of 2008

Many thanks to The Guardian for this, here is the top 10 viral ads of 2008:

1. Wassup anno 2008
Disclaimer: Budweiser's parent company, Anheuser Busch, which originally licensed the concept for five years from Stone, was not involved in the production of the ad

2. SFW XXX Party Invitation
Diesel's naughty montage of 1980s porn films using cartoon animation to cover up explicit scenes, just, for its 30th anniversary

3. Kobe Bryant jumps over an Aston Martin
Nike's clever "did he or didn't he" actually clear a car. Probably not, but it got people talking, and watching

4. Extreme Street Football
Electronic Arts trickery masterpiece featuring kids with football skills – and parkour and capoeira – using a football like you ain't never seen

5. Take it to the next level
Guy Ritchie directs this shot-in-first-person tale of a teen footballer's hardcore ups and downs from being discovered to losing teeth to playing for a national team

6. Tiger Woods 09 – Walk on Water
When a fan of EA's golf game pointed out a flaw that Tiger Woods could play a "Jesus Shot" from on water, the game manufacturer's response was this viral featuring the man himself

7. Bean Counter
One of those Mac vs PC ads where Apple prods Microsoft over spending loads on advertising

8. Samsung Omnia i900 Unboxing
Samsung spoof of the tech-fan trend of filming opening the box of a new gadget for the first time

9. Fate – Leave Nothing
Emotive Nike fare of lifelong rivalry of two NFL players featuring version of sound track from the Good the Bad and the Ugly
Vista when it should be fixing it

10. Adam and Eve
Insurance company ad featuring a gay Adam and frustrated Eve that found life online after being banned from TV

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Digital Marketing in Financial Services

Via Reed Financial Services, I found this report on Digital Marketing in Financial Services. With two financial clients this was of particular interest to me. Albeit all US-centric information, there are still a lot of nice insights that can be pulled out of the report. There's a bit of geristration to do to access it but once you have there's a wealth of other info here - Sherpa reports, internal analysis etc. etc.

This video is by Scott Gillum, Senior Vice President MarketBridge, and gives a good overview of what's in the report.


Monday, December 15, 2008

Wallpaper Graduate Directory

It's the Wallpaper Who's Who of 2009 - the people that will change the face of their industry.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Employing Bloggers

Here are 5 reasons why employing people who blog is more important than ever:

  • They start fires. Blogging forces you to come up with new stuff. To be interesting.
  • They understand the value of connection. And are connected. To other interesting people.
  • They get digital. They appreciate the nuances and potential of social media. And how it works. Because they're doing it, not looking at it
  • They're bothered. They have an opinion. They're not afraid to express it.
  • They're passionate about their subject. And real passion is rare indeed.

Great stuff from Neil - cheers.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

You just sold your soul to advertising Charlie Brown



A world where Linus is a joint-smoking prima donna, and Charlie Brown seems to have slept with half the world, may be a little too strange for anyone to take in. Still, a huge 'well done' to the uncredited agency who did this piece. Great work.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Cybercom Win “Best Online Campaign”

Beating off tough competition from Dare (UK), Cybercom last night won the “Best Online Campaign” at the Vodafone Global Creative Awards. The awards run across the entire Vodafone group (and their respective agencies) in all the countries that operate in, to highlight and promote advertising creative excellence.

This is great recognition by Vodafone of Cybercom's leading edge work in Digital Marketing. The campaign itself which sealed the victory was the launch campaign for Vodafone's Postpay Perfect Choice tariffs. The concept was based around Joe Hughes, a struggling Dublin actor, who found himself trapped in the very digital marketing campaign that was to launch his acting career. Joe made the wrong choice! Through Social Media (Bebo, Facebook, a blog and microsite) Joe sought the support of the public to get him out.


Thursday, December 11, 2008

Whopper Virgins

Check out this fantastic new campaign from Burger King. The whole concept is centered around the idea of people having their first Whopper and the fact that it is an American institution. Really good stuff - especially as it's done through full video.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Human Rights Day

On December 10th, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicise the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

The Declaration was adopted at Palais de Chaillot, Paris, having arisen from the experience of the Second World War. It was the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. It currently consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. The Declaration is however not set in stone and groups such as Amnesty International and War Resisters International have advocated for "The Right to Refuse to Kill" to be added to the Declaration. The Guinness Book of Records describes the Declaration as the "Most Translated Document" in the world.

The Declaration, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, forms the International Bill of Human Rights. In 1976, following ratification by a sufficient number of individual nations, the Bill took on the force of international law.

Today also marks the awarding of the five-yearly United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights and the Nobel Peace Prize. This year the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights will be presented to Ms. Louise Arbour (former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), Mr. Ramsey Clark (former United States Attorney General and lawyer), Dr. Carolyn Gomes (Jamaican Human Rights Defender) and Dr. Denis Mukwege (founder, director and chief surgeon of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo). Human Rights Watch. Mrs. Benazir Bhutto (Pakistani politician) and Sr. Dorothy Stang (US/Brazilian Human Rights Defender) will be awarded the prize posthumously.

The following videos are thoroughly worth the time to watch:
UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon
The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay

A Ben & Jerry Christmas

I'm not sure I really understand what sort of message or impression they are trying to make here, but it's worth a look.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks and Saving the World

Joshua Davis of Wired gives a full run down of the whole series of events that led to Dan Kaminsky saving the world. Well possibly saving the world. Ok, well hacking for free wi-fi in Starbucks and discovering one of the largest possible security vulnerabilities in web history.

Imagine a security flaw coded into the very building blocks of the domain naming system, the structure on which the net is built. Nerds everywhere gasp, "... a moment hackers around the world dream of ... a tool that could give them unimaginable power."

It is now openly refered to as the Kaminsky attack and by exposing it, Dan may have prevented the greastest hack of all time. This was the security whole so gigantic, no one ever saw it.

Source: threeminds

Monday, December 8, 2008

Digital Thriller

Francois Macre does an incredible a'cappella version of Thriller using 64 unique digital frames.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Assistant to the Brand Manager

Thanks to Damien for this one - I am loving this blog!

Assistant to the Barand Manager

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Iran: A Nation of Bloggers

A Beautiful insight into a country most people in the Western world know nothing about.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Walking Lips

I saw the ad and immediately loved it. That may have mostly been because of the amazing song they decided to use, but a walking pair of lips....genius. It's an ad for the Xbox game Lips, which is the newest xBox karaoke game for all the Guitar Hero's out there.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

7th Syndikate

Brilliant stuff from 7th Syndikate - if you missed all the fun, get to their site and start reading!



Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Everything you always wanted to know about Google...

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Pass the Pressie


I'm happy to announce that Vodafone's latest campaign, and first adventure into the world of Social Networking, went live today. Based on the concept of a game of pass the parcel, users are able to upload their photos to the site, choose a whacky costume and participate in what will be the largest game of pass the parcel ever!

Exciting Stuff for sure and something which everyone at Cybercom is very excited about. This should not be missed and is another great example of the potential of Bebo for Ireland's high profile brands.

Monday, December 1, 2008

RickRoll'd when you least suspect it

We all had it happen at least once, you think you're about to watch a perfectly innocent and sensible video about a monkey falling off a tree, then suddenly..... whammy - you'just been RickRoll'd. Thing is, no one, not anyone, saw this coming!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Animusic

A friend send me this link this morning to check out, and I have to say, I was fairly impressed. Loving the idea of something like this being possible in real life, but for now, I'm happy to see the CGI version. There's a couple of downloads available at their website - check it out.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Life is a Beach

I StumbledUpon this great animated French short movie. It's very much worth a quick stop to check out - the animation is fantastic and it's accompanied by a really nice soundtrack. There are still more sections waiting to come online, such as the making of, and I can't wait. Really, really nice work.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Fantastic 3D Animation

Be careful, you may never feel like a fry again!

http://www.best4web.ch/fun/bacon_n_eggs.html

Thursday, November 27, 2008

ZunaVision

A colleague of mine send me the following video, and I have to say - I'm very impressed. Through the Computer Science Department at Stanford University, the technology has been developed to add image or video into existing video as if it was always part of it. They call it ZunaVision. Essentially allowing people to place ads in their home movies, replace pictures, or perhaps even change what you were watching on tv. As I said, very impressed.

Take a look:

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Hologram Goalkeeper

This is cool:

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Guitar Hero Ad and Viral

77 PR blogged about the new Guitar Hero: World Tour ad and viral that are doing the rounds. They use the campaign(s) as an exampale of how an apparent advertising campaign, is in fact a PR approach to viral and online.

It's a post I would suggest as being well worth a read.

Guitar Hero Viral Video


Guitar Hero: World Tour, Heidi Klum Ad

Monday, November 24, 2008

Great Advertising

This is a new ad for the Nokia N96, called 'Ping Pong Nunchucks'. A must watch!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Lunch Bag Art

I StumbledUpon these, and although they're not digiatl (in any way) I had to share them. They're done by a dad for his kids. Awesome stuff.











Saturday, November 22, 2008

Killing Clowns

Funny funny stuff!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Friday Distraction

Here's a great bit of Friday distraction from the good people at VW.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

In Plain Site


Not sure what the tv show will be like but the microsite for In Plain Site is pretty nifty. Based around a game where you are the special agent and essential your skills of observation are tested. Definitely worth a look.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Sébastien Chabal penalty kick


I found this great campaign from Orange France. Essentailly Sébastien Chabal is going to take a penalty and he needs a bit of help. Put in your name (from a selection), email and mobile number, and he'll give you a call to ask you where to shoot.

Then when he asks you, use your phone keypad to indicate where he should shoot and hey presto.

It's a nice touch that it's personalised so he actually calls you by name.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Now that's fashion

Jean Charles de Castelbajac has made the bold (and perhaps totally outragious) move of unveiling his Spring/Summer 2009 collection with a slightly out of the ordinary catwalk show. Not women dressed as rubbish or covered in mud, as some of his contemporaries have done. JC is going a step further and using an animated LEGO video.

This is absolutely fantastic!

Monday, November 17, 2008

3D Computer Interface

In the movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise uses a 3D type computer interfaces that he manipulates with his hands. Pretty impressive stuff. Well, guess what? Someone went and did it - created a real version!

The beginning reminds me of a cross between the The Lawnmowerman and Hackers.



Saturday, November 15, 2008

Buildings in Dublin that waste energy


Living in Ringsend I often walk into town along the Quays and it annoys me greatly to see all the office blocks with their lights on all night and no one in them. It's even worse when you see empty office blocks with the lights on. This said I was extremely happy to discover that John Callaghan (Cal-TV) is currently working on a short film project that will highlight the issue. John is putting together a list of buildings in Dublin city centre that waste energy by leaving their lights on overnight, which will be feature in the film.

I'm happy to say I was able to lend a (small) helping hand by taking some photos of buildings along the Quays. So, perhaps a little shamelessly, I think it would be worth everyone's time to stop by the project site and have a look around. With so much attention being paid to water wastage and recycling, unnecessary lighting is a huge environmental drain that seems to be overlooked by most.

Also, if you have noticed any such buildings, I'm sure John would love to hear from you (especially if you send a photo!). You can email him at turnitoffproject@gmail.com

Friday, November 14, 2008

Jailed for Blogging

The BBC has reported on a Burmese blogger who has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for his post of a cartoon of their military leader Than Shwe. Nay Phone Latt, a 28 year old Burmese national, was arrested in January but only received his sentencing on Monday. The judgement included 15 years for offences under the Electronics Act, two years for "creating public alarm" and three and a half years for offences under the Video Act.

His blogs during the September 2007 uprising provided the international community with one of its only information points about events within the locked-down country.

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association have demanded his release. According to their figures this brings the number of journalists arrested so far this year to 10.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

George believe's in....

Lennon may have been the Walrus, but George was the president. Now it's time to say goodbye.





Fantastic stuff from Cal-TV. Make sure you check out his other work.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Most Downloaded Song of all Time?

Have you ever wondered what the most downloaded track of all time is? There are so many songs that would easily seem like great guesses - The Beatles perhaps, Rolling Stones maybe? Not even close.

For legal music downloads, the most downloaded song of all time, and the first song to break the 2 million download mark, is Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'.

Perhaps the ultimate power ballad of love, loss and redemption, Journey's hit song originally only topped the charts at number 8 but has seen a huge resurgence in recent years. Released in 1981 it's modern popularity is owed mostly to TV. It has featured on popular TV shows such as Laguna Beach, and much, much more famously on the final episode of The Sopranos.

Truth be told, after the song featured on that episode of The Sopranos, iTunes sales increased by over 428% in just 3 days.

So sit back and listen....


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Hyper-Connectivity

I StumbledUpon this great video about the idea of Hyper-Connectivty, and the always on connection that we have to our digital worlds. The focus is on the gradual shift in the way we see communication and entertainment, and how the concepts of offline and online are steadily blurring more and more.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Creative Commons

In a changing world of open source, user generated and community content, there is a growing shift by many developers, artists and producers to allow a wider use of their creations, across platforms and across media. This video explains the principles behind creative commons, which is seen by many as the great enabler towards an ever expanding participative culture. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Creative Commons is that it is driven by the concept of coolaberation and sharing, above anything else. It's an 'ideal' notion, which perhaps surprisingly, is gaining serious ground within all creative disciplines.


Sunday, November 9, 2008

Everyone's President

I spotted this series of photographs and thought they were a must-share. I'm not American but I know what impact the American President will have on my life. Something like this gives me a pretty good feeling that we're entering a period of change, for the best.




Vaseline - Prescribe the Nation

It's been a while since I've seen a campaign mix online with distincly offline content. Drawing on a concept of Word of Mouth, Vaseline took their latest product to a small island off Alaska. There, Petal Ruch, mother of four and maternal pillar of the 6,000 strong Kodiak population showed the extreme weather conditions that are particularly hard on the residents' skin.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

What is Blogging?


I found this on Neil Perkin's Only Dead Fish Blog, which if you haven't visited is one of the best blogs about - quality content all the time!

Friday, November 7, 2008

200 Posts!


I probably should have done a proper post filled with good solid digital learnings and insights. What can I say...... wu wu 200!

Contextual Ad Placement Gone Wrong

I'm sure it's not what the President-Elect had in mind...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Barack is Social


I don't think anyone could say they were not aware of the awesome online presense that Obama created and drove, throughout his campaign. Quite simply, he was everywhere he needed to (and had to) be. Modern culture doesn't simply utilise online media, it lives online media. Most people will read the news online before they switch on a tv. Many people will go for days without hearing a radio. It is essential that the online world is considered just as important as the offline one, when it comes to communications. Barack did that excellently!

My.BarackObama.com
Barack Obama's Blog
Barack Obama on Flickr
Barack Obama's YouTube Channel
Barack Obama on Linked In
Twitter: the Barack Obama Campaign
Facebook
MySpace
BlackPlanet
Asian Avenue

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Change Can Happen


What needs to be said? Well done America - you made the right choice. In case you missed it, Obama's microsite is worth a look over.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

New Bond Movie - New Sony Phone


For all those armchair agents out there, here is a must visit site for the start of the month. The launch in the latest of the 007 films also sees the launch of the new Sony Ericsson C902 mobile phone, and with it the launch of a fantastic microsite. It's not available to everyone but those lucky enough to be in one of the select countries are in for a treat.

Become a secret agent and use the latest Sony Ericsson phone to solve Directive C902.

Monday, November 3, 2008

A Mash-Up of Sorts

The Simpsons certainly has it's moments, and I'm a big fan of Mad Men. So logic would dictate that the two brought together.... well what do you think?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

A Brief History of Communication

A really nice ad from the Carphonewarehouse...

Friday, October 31, 2008

De-Branding the pack

I was sent this article today by a friend. Really interesting stuff. It's a bit old but it suggests that the UK Department of Health is considering plans to make tobacco manufacturers sell their products in completely unbranded packets.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Ghost Robot

Sweet video - had to share...


Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Second Life goes election crazy


You'd need to be living under a rock not to know that the US elections are nearly upon us. Magazines, newspapers and tv are all packed full. Numerous news sites, opinion polls and political blogs (and other blogs) are just as busy covering the comings and goings of all those involved in getting America's next leader elected. So perhaps it's not to surprising to learn that Capitol Hill in Second Life is drawing huge numbers of visitors, from all over the world, with an interest in the politics at hand.

Combining a twitter display and electoral map (showing the most recent polling on a state-by-state basis) the site is a good place to keep in touch with your candidates progress.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Google Earth for the iPhone

Google Earth has found a new home!

The fantastic world map program can now be found travelling the globe in the pockets of iPhone and iPod touch users. The program, which has had over 400 million unique downloads, is now available as a free download from the iTunes App Store. Nifty!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Who are the global bloggers?

Technorati have conducted the most in-depth study of the state of blogging. Their State of the Blogosphere report provides an interesting overview of who is blogging and what they are blogging about. A must read for everyone.

* Two-thirds are male
* 50% are 18-34
* More affluent and educated than the general population
* 70% have college degrees
* Four in ten have an annual household income of $75K+
* One in four have an annual household income of $100K+
* 44% are parents


Saturday, October 25, 2008

Goodbye Bush

The Elevator, Ireland's newest satirical digital portal, brings us a great video to start your weekend. Enjoy folks!

Friday, October 24, 2008

7-Eleven uses the Election to Engage Customers

7-Eleven are engaging their customers this election season. by letting you show your support with....... a coffee cup. Seariously, a coffee cup.

Whenever you buy a cup of coffee at any 7-Eleven, you choose either a blue Obama cup or a red McCain cup. With every cup counted as a vote, you just pop along to the microsite and check out who's winning. Bare in mind that that 7-Eleven sells one million cups of coffee a day.

This isn't a new campaign idea however. 7-Eleven have used the system to fairly accurately guage the election results.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Web Surfing Stimulates Your Brain

A survey by the University of California has revealed that the effects of Googling, on brain activity, are extremely positive. Aimed at dismissing the idea that Internet use leads to shorter attention spans, the survey tested twenty-four volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76, giving them various Web searching tasks and book reading tasks. The users were also broken down according to their level of web experience. The subjects were given MRI scans while participating in the activities, to determin the level of, and extent, of brain activity.

The results clearly indicated that both groups showed similar levels of brain activity during activities such as book reading tasks, but it was the experienced Googlers who showed significantly higher levels of brain activity while performing Internet searches. Interestingly, their brain activity was also much higher when searching the web, then when reading a book.

So what can we garner from these results? Well, there is certainly an implication that use of the web, and in particular serch, triggers brain centers that control decision making and complex reasoning, which can actually help older people fight senility. "Just a simple, everyday computer task seems to be activating neural circuits," said study author Dr. Gary W. Small, director of the University of California, Los Angeles, Center on Aging. "It's possible that this is something that strengthens our brains as we do it."

All-in-all, extremely interesting stuff. Hopefully in years to come, the 6 to 8 hours a day I spent on a computer will pay off!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Cybercom win Best Digital Promotion in the World!

Fantastic news yesterday morning - Cybercom's Powerade 'Never Give Up' campaign has won the Best Digital Promotion in the World at the 2008 MAA Globes in Toronto. Against tough competition from Vietnam and Australia, this may be the crowning achievement in an already merit studded piece of marketing. The MAA award makes a total of seven awards to date for the campaign, icluding a Coca-Cola Worldwide Marketing Award, Grand Prix at the APMC and Best Digital Campaign at the DMAs.

Congratulation to all the folks in the office who worked on the campaign. A very, very well done!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Everyone has a bad day sometimes...


YouTube Premieres Full-Length Film

The internet may have just seen one of the most pivitol moves in content sharing yet. For the first time ever YouTube will feature the full-length, feature work of established filmmaker. On top of this, the film is completely avoiding an official cinema premiere; last Friday, director Wayne Wang's The Princess of Nebraska had its public debut on YouTube's Screening Room.

The film has since received over 150,000 views.

Unfortunately folks, it isn't viewable in Ireland. For those in authorised countries, the film can be found here.

Monday, October 20, 2008

31 on Saturday

A good campaign is well targeted. Some campaigns, however, go a little bit further.

In what is certainly the most targeted campaign I've ever seen, Hello Viking launched a microsite dedicated to anyone turning 31 last Saturday, Oct. 18. If you knew anyone with their birthday on Saturday, you could go one and make a dedication.