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

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.

Wallpaper Graduate Directory

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

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.

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.