Number 10

Downing Street has just launched it's new website; a portal to all that is British politics. Well, a portal to all that they want you to believe is British politics. The site is billed to allow the public to "keep up to date with all of the developments of the PM’s activities through news stories, videos, Flickr images and our Twitter channel".

Hmmmmm..... well it's nice to see all levels of industry and government realising the importance of the web, and the site itself is clean and easily navigatable. I'll put my pessimism aside and let you form your own opinion.

Microsoft Multimap

Microsoft UK’s specialist online mapping service, Multimap, has launched a digital ad campaign to raise awareness of new features following the redesign of its site, and increase traffic. Digital agency LBi have developed a creative, which is the first character-based advertising that Multimap have used. The ads were collaborated on by Aardman Animations, who were integral with Wallace and Gromit.

The campaign centers on a pair of dimwitted pigeons who become the site's Bird's Eye view feature. Through a series of less then perfect journeys, the two birds demonstrate the business and route finding services that the site offers. My favourite of the ads allows consumers to ask the pigeons to find "swimming pools in Barnsley", and shows them flinging themselves off a diving board into a puddle. Classic stuff, honestly! (links to follow)

Digital Marketing: The Present and Future

Check out this fantastic presentation by John Lambie (from Bates 141) on the Present and Future of Digital Marketing.

In this presentation John looks at how the internet has made the progression from a flat read-only collection of webpages to the fully customisable, user-centric wonder we now all take for granted.

Over 75% of UK Searches are Conducted on Google

[ComScore]......In June, Google Sites slightly increased its lead as the most popular search property in the U.K. to 75.3 percent of all search queries, followed by eBay (5.5 percent), Yahoo! Sites (4.3 percent) and Microsoft Sites (3.4 percent). AOL LLC’s acquisition of U.K. social networking property, Bebo.com, expanded its share of search queries to 2.3 percent, edging Facebook.com (2.2 percent) into sixth place.

Scary stuff - not long before there's a total monopoly I think

A little lighter please

I'm sure I absolutely do not understand (even a little) how someone can try and tell you that Beyoncé's image wasn't digitally manipulated for the new L'Oréal campaign.

In her latest L'Oréal ad, in the new issue of Elle magazine it is clear to see Beyoncé's miraculous change. Beyonce’s publicist said, “There is no doubt that anyone seeing that ad will know that it is Beyoncé.”