Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Traces of Hope

As part of my job I spend a bit of time each week scouring the web for new, innovative and creatively excellent microsites and online advertising for our Friday’s Best of the Web post. A friend of mine just sent me the link to Traces of Hope, and it definitely makes it in the post. The Red Cross do a fantastic job in the most horrible of environments and situations. Please take the time to check this out.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Happy Birthday Google

I'm sure you're all fully aware of Google reaching a decade of business, but did you see their birthday logo....

Sunday, September 28, 2008

It's a Mash-Up weekend

I saw Tropic Thunder last Thursday - really, really funny. This however, might be just as funny. Check out the MTV 2008 Movie Awards video...

Saturday, September 27, 2008

I Love Mash-Ups!

You have to appreciate the time and thought that goes into creating a really good mash-up. The right video, the roght music, the right editing - it doesn't 'just happen'. Hats off to all of you who have taken the time to share something amazing with the rest of us. Here are two fantastic mash-ups I only just discovered.

The first is the new BBC2 ad - brilliant stuff!


The second is Elvis and his impossible line-up - almost better!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday Funny

There's something hilarious about Martin Scorsese giving Tina Fey the hard sell on a timeshare condo in Boca Raton.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Great Digital - Wii's Wario Land

I was lucky enough to come across this little gem on David Knox's Hard Knox Life blog. This is a seriously good piece of digital and shows the potential for outside the (video) box thinking. This is the ad for Nintendo Wii's latest game, Wario Land.

CLICK HERE

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

New Fifa 2009 Ad

Check out the new Fifa ad - football players playing as their digital selves. Nice.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Audiopad

Like something straight out of a sci-fi flick, Audiopad is a composition and performance instrument for electronic music which works by tracking the position of objects on a tabletop surface and then converting their motion into music. The system utilises a huge set of electronic samples, to give the user access to anything from looping African drum beats to etheral synthetic rhythms.
Audiopad will also allow the user to spontaneously reinterpreta musical compositions as they play. Software translates the position information into music and graphical feedback on the tabletop. Each object represents either a musical track or a microphone.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Chinese Digital Spend Soars

A number of recent reports strongly indicate that digital adspend in China will overtake both newspaper and outdoor advertising by the end of this year. Furthermore the gap is set to widen during 2009, according to GroupM. The media group’s ‘This year, next year’ forecast predicts that the combined spend for internet and other digital advertising (principally mobile and LCD screens) will reach $3.6 billion this year, and $5.2 billion in 2009. In contrast newspaper adspend is projected to show steady, if modest, growth from US$3.2 billion in 2007 to $3.6 billion in 2009.

The shift that we are seeing here is due to a decline in tv's share of total media. While tv remains the dominant medium in terms of actual advertising dollars (projected to rake in almost US$20 billion in 2008 and $23 billion in 2009), its share of total media is set to decline, from 65 per cent in 2007, to 63 per cent in 2008 and 61 per cent in 2009.

Source: www.brandrepublic.asia

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Software as a Service

I recently did a Web 3.0 presentation in work, and I thought it would be fitting to feed back some of my learnings here. So today I'm going to quickly talk about Software as a Service (SaaS). As technological development and penetration increases, both through hardware, software and transmission channel, there will be an inevitable shift to 3.0, or Semantic, utilisation of the internet.

Software as a service (SaaS) first appeared in mid 2000 in reference to a new business model that saw software applications being accessed over the Internet, as opposed to being purchased and run locally. This is perhaps most obvious with Digital advertising software such as metric analysis and adserving. With SaaS, a business pays a usage fee to access software over the Internet, with no installation, no upgrade costs and no maintenance or troubleshooting. The advantage is that all users are always using the same, most up to date, version of software and as their initial expense is limited to a months licence fee, it is possible for businesses to access the latest business applications more easily.

According to Wikipedia, “many types of software are well suited to the SaaS model, where customers may have little interest or capability in software deployment, but do have substantial computing needs”. SaaS has gained a foothold in applications like CRM, HR, accounting and email. It is also ideally suited to digital advertising analysis.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Ralph Lauren introduces Digital Window

So what do you do when you're out for the night and you happened to spot something in a shop window that you just have to have? Usually you tell yourself you'l come back and pick it up, but realistically that's never goinjg to happen. Obviously aware of this, the people over at Ralph Lauren have taken Window-shopping to an entirely new level: the digital one.

Shoppers now have the ability to buy that item immediately - thanks to RL's new interactive window display in their New York store. All you need to do is download a QR code to your phone (check if your phone is compatible here: m.ralphlauren.com). Once you have the code and are at the store you can use it to scan any of the QR codes on the RL store touchscreen. Your phone will then be redirected you to the same item on their website and you can buy it immediately.

So if you're ever passing by and the store is closed or if you just don't want to go into the shop, there's nothing stopping you spending to your hearts content. To further this, QR codes are to be implemented in all RL stores and print ads as well.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Friday Funny

It's a bit old, I'll admit, but it's great stuff none-the-less. Check out this great American Express ad:


Thursday, September 18, 2008

Esquire & eInk - 3 Minute AdAge Report

I posted an update recently on the unvieling of the Esquire 75th Anniversary front cover, which features an eInk display. The edition has now hit news stands and it is even better then previously imagined. Check out this AdAge 3 Minute report:

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Odditiy of Pot Noodle

Every now and then an advertising campaign comes straight out of left field to the absolute wonderment of the industry. The kind of ads that you see, really enjoy, but wonder how on earth someone ever came up with (or got approved). The latest Pot Noodle campaign is a series of spoof news reports which show what happens when people really do end up as “you are what you eat”.



The first is about Gary Booth who, after eating too many lamp Pot Noodles, starts to resemble a sheep. No doubt the ad will result in some serious views and lots of people talking about Pot Noodle. This shouldn't be too surprising though, as Pot Noodle have an excellent history when it comes to viral videos. Their spoof of Guinness’ Dominos ad got more views on YouTube than its inspiration!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The Panamera


Porsche have just launched a new microsite for it's latest venture into 4 door driving - The 'Panamera'. Thankfully this isn't another foolish 4x4 concept; this is a full blooded, fuel injected, thoroughbred of a sports car. Truthfully, I'm extremely excited about this.

Monday, September 15, 2008

LinkedIn Launches Its Own Ad Network

Today sees the launch of the LinkedIn advertising network. No, seriously. It's own advertising network. It may seem like an odd thing to do considering that most social networks have only just begun to embrace advertising to their site, but due to such a high demand from advertisers the site has decided to go all the way. In conjunction with ad network Collective Media (which targets high-end media sites), LinkedIn will let other select sites target its users when they visit those partner sites.

As a general rule in online campaigning, social network based ads don't usually sell for more than $1 CPM. So another oddity to discoover that LinkedIn’s rate card has display ads starting at $30 CPM and rocketing up to $76.50, while A little cheaper from $12 to $20 CPMs come in the text ads. The rationale is obvious. In theory everyone on the site is a professional and so the targeting possibilities for advertisers is huge. But is it?

LinkedIn reports its registered user base at 27 million but comScore reports only 5.2 million users (from the U.S.) visited the site in July (8.7 million worldwide). Further to this LinkedIn claims that the average income of its members is $55,000, 64 percent are male, the average age is 41, and 49 percent are decision makers. Of course none of these stats are based on anything other then registration data.

It seems to be becoming more and more obvious that when it comes to selling advertising on a social network, it's not just about who has the largest audience, but who has the most valuable audience.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Good Reading

Check out this great article from Nokia's cellphone anthropologist Jan Chipchase about the etiquette of connectivity. When is it OK to use your phone or laptop, and when is it not?

Friday, September 12, 2008

Friday Funny

A little bit of geek humour to start the weekend...

Thursday, September 11, 2008

More Old Spice

Hopefully you saw the NPH Old Spice ad, and laughed like a crazy person - now try this out for size....


Bruce Campbell is brilliant!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Thirst!

Perhaps the most impactful presentation I have ever seen. Although the subject matter isn't digital I have decided to share this with you anyway. Hats off to Jeff Brenman who created this.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Esquire unveils ePaper Anniversary Cover

I posted a little while ago about the plans for Esquire's 75th Anniversary issue.

Finally the cover has been unveiled:

A 10inch squared display will feature prominently on the cover, flashing the theme "The 21st Century Begins Now" with a collage of illuminated images. Then on the inside cover, a two-page spread advertising the new Ford Flex SUV with a second 10inch squared display. This ad will utilise shifting colours to illustrate the car in motion at night. The technology for both products uses micro-capsules of ink that are controlled by an electric charge.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Turbo Gene Test

If there's an 'out of the box' way to do something, those Swedes are sure to find it. So when you want to figure out what the best car for you is, it makes "perfect" sense to discover your personality as a driver first - que the Turbo Gene Test.



Sunday, September 7, 2008

More Gorilla fun

I found this on Paul Dervan's blog:



See some more here including Nirvana, Guns 'n' Roses and the Bonnie Tyler one.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Help! My dad's a graphic designer...

I StumbledUpon this series of photos and laughed my socks off. Check them out...








Friday, September 5, 2008

Classic NPH

You may remember him as Doogie (or own the entire series on dvd), or perhaps more recently as the evil Dr. Horrible - the man with a PhD in horribleness. Either way Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) is totally awesome. Here's some work he did for the nice people at Old Spice. Funny, funny stuff!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Lips

In 1971, a then virtually unknown musician approached John Pasche, a student at London's Royal College of Art, with a request to design a logo. The man in question, Stones frontman Mick Jagger, was hugely disappointed with the various designs so far presented to him by record label Decca. Mike had gone to see Pasche's exhibition and was obviously impressed with what he saw.

Pasche's design was first used on the Stones' Sticky Fingers album, and soon became one of musics most iconic brand images. It is said that the logo represents Jagger's famous lips and the band's rebellious edge.

At the time Pasche was paid a princely sum of €50, with a bonus of €200 two years later, as the band and label were so happy with the work. Last week, however, the original artwork was bought by London's Victoria and Albert Museum for $92,500 (£51,375). Half the cost was met by charity The Art Fund, which called the work "one of the most visually dynamic logos ever".

"The Rolling Stones were one of the first bands who really took logos and made branding a serious part of their business," said deputy director of The Art Fund, Andrew Macdonald. "It marks, therefore, the transition from this kind of rebelliousness of the 60s into the corporate machines that we see today."

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Google launches web browser

In competition to Internet Explorer and Firefox, Google has announced it will be launching an open source web browser. The beta version of Google Chrome for Windows is available today (2 September).

Sundar Pichai, Google vice-president for product management, says Chrome is designed to be lightweight, fast and able to cope with web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia.

He says: "We believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web. Chrome is not just a browser but also a modern platform for web pages and applications."

Monday, September 1, 2008

Crawling Spider

This is a very slick bit of flash animation...