Death of the Flash Mob

Have Flash Mobs had their day? Soundcheck certainly think so. Yesterday evening, Dublin saw its first ‘Death Mob’. 250 people collapsed in unison on Dublin’s South William Street, 'dying'. This was the end of the Flash Mob.

Levi's 'Go Forth' Fortune

Back in July I wrote about the launch of the Levi's Go Forth campaign. The campaign aimed to reinforce the Levi brand as the original working class hero, the spirit of the original American settler and the revolutionary patriot. The campaign was brought to life through tv, radio and internet. The campaign was developed by Wieden + Kennedy and called on the public to write a new Declaration of the Unites States of American. The tv ad for the campaign featured an original wax recording of Walt Whitman reading his poem “America" overlayed on black and white vignettes. The MP3 of the Whitman's recording is also available for download from the campaign site.

The campaign has had a number of iterations in the last three months and has used a host of iconic themes central to the original campaign spirit to maintain the overall campaign through this extended period. However the question still remained up until just a week ago, where could the campaign go next?

"The question we asked was how do we bring this ['Go Forth'] idea into the real world and bring the brand's unique history into the story and the challenge," said Doug Sweeny, vp of brand marketing at Levi's. "We're trying to get people engaged in the idea of go forth and make it very active."

While the campaign focus to date has very much been around the historic roots of the Levi's brand. However, the modern Levi's customer is very entrenched in a digital world, interacting with everything around them through various digital channels. With this in mind, Levi's needed to draw a clear line between the past and the future. The tool chosen to do this was an Alternative Reality Game that would bring users on a digital treasure hunt through both the real world and the digital worlds that we now occupy.

To fully realise the potential of an ARG and to make the experience as emersive as possible, a narrative was created around a character named Grayson Ozias IV. Grayson has left wax cylinder voice recordings hidden across America, and has challenged the public to find them and, ultimately, a $100,000 fortune that he also buried.

While the game may be considered in many ways to be a 'diet' version in comparison to some of the more elaborate and complex ARGs that have surfaced in recent years, this is more then made up for with the rich and layered content used to drive game play. People participating in the game are asked to solve online puzzles in combination with real-world tasks. All to hunt down clues that will unlock the next part of the game's story. "We're pulling a page out of the ARG books, but we're trying to keep it a little less complicated," said Levi's director of digital marketing Megan O'Connor.

The target audience is Levi's 18 to 24 year old consumers, according to O'Connor. It follows what she calls the "1+9+90 rule" in believing for every full-on participant there will be nine commenters and 90 passive observers, and for that reason, the game's story is accessible to all visitors, not just those playing the game.

Levi's have also made the step of expanding into the Social Media environment by posting some clues through the campaign Facebook page. The Page already has nearly 150,000 fans. In conjunction with this the game also uses Twitter. Plans have also been revealed for other social twists; including the use of live streaming service 12seconds. Perhaps most interestingly, however, will be the introduction of a social responsibility element, when Levi's ask participants to choose a charity that will receive a $100,000 donation.

Levi's is promoting the game via video banner ads on sites including Facebook, Break and Pandora. Publicis Groupe's Razorfish handled digital media planning and buying.

As mentioned above, the Go Forth campaign has seen several iterations over the past three months. This is the third online "excursions" Levi's has planned as part of the "Go Forth" campaign. In "The New Declaration," Levi's challenged people to redefine the Declaration of Independence. Then as the second "excursion" there was a video contest around the concept of "The New Americans." Another three expeditions are planned for the coming months.

All activity associated with the ARG has been done by Wieden + Kennedy. Go live was last Monday (5th October) and the game will run until mid-November.

Everybody's Doing It

In Europe each year, 130,000 women die from Breast Cancer. This year Samsung Electronics Europe have pledged to help reduce that number.



Samsung has launched the 'Everybody's Doing It' campaign, an online campaign encouraging women in Europe to check for breast cancer and prevent the disease from spreading. The campaign microsite is a place where women can find an instant community of support and a place to view or forward the above viral movie called 'Everybody's Doing It'. The campaign is aiming to reach over 400,000 women, which is more than the total number that are diagnosed with breast cancer in Europe every year.

The video utilises simple yet stark imagery of each woman holding their arms across her chest, their gaze fixed on the camera as it pans around. The video ends with the message 'Everybody's Doing It: Join us on October 15th 2009'. October 15th is the date that has been chosen for women to be breast aware and to pledge to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Jaesun Yeon, a 30 year old woman featured in the video, is a Samsung employee. She said, "I took part because a good friend is going through chemotherapy. I met some amazing women on the shoot, including Simone Francis who had a breast cancer scare when she was only 17. Social media and blogging has been a hugely important way for these women to talk about breast cancer and to tell others to check themselves, no matter what age they are. What Samsung has done, is to create a powerful online platform to spread this message across Europe."

Ines Van Gennip, head of CSR at Samsung Electronics Europe added: "It's so important that global brands such as Samsung use their influence to give women who advocate breast cancer awareness an even louder voice. This isn't a disease that only affects older women, it can touch women of all ages and as many people as possible need to know."

The campaign also utilises Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. For more information visit http://www.morethantalk.eu.

--- Up Date ---

As part of the campaign, Samsung has donated its famous Piccadilly Circus Screen to aid the promotion of the campaign.


The 60inch LED screen located in the heart of Piccadilly Circus will run the campaign viral video, reinforcing the campaign call to action, ‘tell all the women you know to visit www.morethantalk.eu'. This will be the first time it has ever been used to promoted a non-product campaign.

Online Advert Spending Outstrips TV Advertising – a Paradigm Shift

The following guest post was written by Christopher Angus.

Online advertising has outstripped TV advertising for the first time ever, the “paradigm shift” is reportedly due to faster broadband speeds and the sheer amount of time people are spending online. I personally also believe that internet advertising provides a far higher return than traditional media. Google reports this at nearly 2.3 times above offline advertising. Online advertising revenues amounted to approximately £1.75 billion in the first half of this year, while TV advertising “only” managed £1.6 billion.

Internet marketing seems to be a truly “recession proof” industry – I think that this is down to business owners being able to target exactly which profile type of customer they need and being able to track the exact ROI down to the last penny. Another factor that should also be taken into account is the amount of money that businesses spend on Search Engine Optimisation. Almost any good SEO Company will also report an increase in revenue during the recession.

What’s genuinely different about Internet advertising is that almost any business can reach customers on a worldwide basis, whatever the budget whilst creating a decent return on investment. As more business managers and owners realise the amazing returns that can be created quickly and efficiently, profits will start to fall as Internet advertising prices and returns fall as competition grows.

Internet advertising is also changing the entire shape and form of the media. Traditional media such as TV and print advertising are almost in free-fall, with large well trusted news sources in dire financial trouble. Take for example ITV and the NYTimes, these traditional media outlets need to adapt or die as the whole market and consumer behaviour is morphing into a slick efficient machine. No longer will huge media companies be commanding hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single ad, rather it will be hundreds of thousands of tiny income streams that will make up the majority of the revenue.

Whether businesses are considering Pay-Per-Click or SEO, they need to act quickly and decisively as the wave has arrived and it needs to be ridden or businesses will be simply left behind.

BBC To Get Social

As reported by The Guardian, it looks as if the BBC's planned revamp to a more social media orientated website is an almost certainty. Sources from the BBC close to site's management have confirmed the changes will be launched by by March.

At the recent MediaGuardian Innovation Awards the BBC's controller of Vision and Online, Anthony Rose, was asked about the rumours that have been repeated by several online sources, and while he declined to reveal specific details, he did confirm that social media will play a major role in the relaunch of the BBC's whole suite of websites.

Mr. Rose explained that the BBC will be redeveloping their homepage but that the project will focus on also redeveloping their entire hosting platform. The basis of which will be to deliver "the next generation in social media". This will include "the plan to enable users to comment on particular moments while watching and see what other users said about the same moment or simply rate moments with 'Boo!', 'Good!' or 'Gosh!'."

It was also confirmed that the project would also be likely to include an open version of iPlayer. This would finally allow for third-party platforms to embed BBC content.

Beyond the addition of Social elements to the site, it was confirmed that there would be a strong emphasis put on promoting the BBC's sites as sources of breaking, up-to-the-minute news. Although the site attracts 10 million users a week, many fail to recognise that the BBC produces over 500 stories a day on top of a host of local content. According to a source within the BBC, there will be innovation in the choice of links on news stories, it might set a trend.

Whatever look or function the BBC decides to add, it is certainly clear that this is a serious endorsement for Social Media.

Virginia Pumpkin Festival

With the launch of Dublin's Oktoberfest tomorrow, I got thinking about what other fairs and festivals there were coming up in the next month or two, and which of them have decided to utilise digital or Social Media elements to help promote themselves. Without too much difficulty I found the perfect example - the Virginia Pumpkin Festival.



Now in it's third year, the festival will be held on the October 23rd to 26th bank holiday weekend in Virginia, County Cavan. The highlight of this years festival, aside from the pumkins ;) is the chance to catch one Bell X1’s last autumn performances. But be warned, the festival is expected to attract up to 20,000 people!

As I mentioned, the festival has taken the move this year to adding a Social Media element to their promotional suite. Their Facebook page can be found here, and has already attracted over 110 fans.

The festival is a great excuse to enjoy a beautiful part of the countryside, and an opportunity to see the town lit completely with candles, filled with fire throwers and acrobats and home to a host of other family orientated activities.

Activites taking place over the weekend:
Teddy Bear’s Picnic - Saturday, October 24 at 12 noon
Bell X1 - Saturday, October 24 at 9pm
Pumpkin Soap Box Derby - Sunday, October 25 at 3pm
Pumpkin weigh in and prize giving - Sunday, October 25 at 5pm
Street Carnival Parade - Sunday, October 25 at 6pm
Fantastic Fireworks Display - Sunday, October 25 at 7pm
Giant Fancy Dress - Saturday, October 24 at 9pm

Aleksandr Orlov Goes To Facebook First

It's been a while since Compare the Meerkat's Aleksandr Orlov has released a new tv ad, and this may just be about the best one yet. What makes this ad unique, however, is that it was released exclusively through Facebook for the campaign's 600,000 friends. The ad won't air on TV until today.

This is the latest example of how the Compare the Meerkat campaign has been able to fully tap into the potential of Social Media. Aside from the 600,000 fans on Facebook, the campaign has also been able to grow 27,000 followers on Twitter. Last month it was also revealed that Aleksandr will be getting his own web show to interview celebrities. First up is Piers Morgan.

According to VCCP, the agency behind Compare The Meerkat, in the first 9 weeks of the campaign, quotes on Comparethemarket.com leapt by 80%, while awareness of the brand tripled from 20% to 59%.

Sony: Soundville

In March 2009, Sony and Fallon used sound as the centerpiece to turn a small town in Iceland "into an extraordinary sound-system for a week." Juan Cabral, the man behind the Cadbury's Gorilla, created Soundville, a short film that documents three days in the life of the Icelandic town of Seydisfjordur, following the installation of several giant sound systems. Through the system the village was filled with an eclectic array of sounds by Richard Fearless (Death in Vegas), Mum, Bob Dylan, Toumani Diabaté, Roberto Goyeneche, Murcof, Federico Cabral, gUiLLeMoTS, and others.



Following the release of the documentary, Juan Cabral gave the following interview to Creativity Online:
So what was the assignment from Sony for this particular job?
The starting point was to show passion for sound above all—to create a pure sound experience. We also shot five product films to back that up, but it was mainly about Sony's love for sound.

How did you come up with this particular idea? What inspired it?
I was buying milk while listening to Stockhausen on my headphones. I felt everyone should be listening too.

How is this film being shown? Are there any special media strategies, as with "Balls"?
This was made for cinema and internet mainly. There are some television cut-downs and teasers too but the longer piece is the one that allows people to let themselves inside the journey and experience all the textures.

Obviously, turning a whole town into a sound system posed some huge production hurdles. Can you tell us about the process? How did you get permits to use a whole town?
The local production company in Iceland promised they could get a permit. And they did. They spoke with the mayor of Seydisfjordur and everyone in the village accepted. It's an 800-person town, but in the winter there's only around 400. We shot in the winter.

Were all the townspeople made aware of what was happening?
From the moment you place a camera people are aware. But I have to say, people got used to us very quickly, which was good because then it was about the sound. Also, because there were no actors we ended up with normal people being themselves when exposed to sounds. That's why most reactions are subtle and I think that's the most interesting part of the project, the little nuances, the melancholy, etc.

How did you set up and find the speaker systems? Did you recruit any special technicians to help you out? Was the town equipped to actually power everything?
The guys that make the Sigur Ros concerts in Iceland powered everything. We could play the music remotely and wirelessly. We built this 20 foott tower full of speakers and placed it in the middle of the town. Because it's a very quiet place—there's almost no traffic—you don't need a lot to make it sound good actually. And we certainly didn't want the sound to be bouncing everywhere.

How did you go about shooting? Can you tell us about your camera setups?
We only had two cameras actually. We didn't want a lot of crew running around or big cranes and all that. It was a gentle and quiet shoot. The idea was not to interfere with the daily routine. We were just observing in a way.

The sound is obviously a driving component of this piece. How did you go about selecting the music?
A lot of music was composed specifically for the project. Richard Fearless from Death in Vegas collaborated a lot. He recorded more than half an hour of original material: sounds, beats, atmospheric sequences, etc. Mum composed some beautiful tracks as well. I also asked my brother to record something and three days before the shoot he sent this wonderful little song, which we played to the sheep.

A company called A-bomb helped curate many hours of music too, so we had different playlists set to go from one mood to another.

For you, as a director what were you hoping to achieve with this spot?
Personally, I wanted to make something that I can be proud to show my little girl in ten years time. So I have to wait ten years to see what she makes of it.

What was the best part of this experience?
Every morning I had to choose a track to wake people up. . .not just people but a whole village.


Credits
Copywriter: Juan Cabral
Director: Juan Cabral
Production Company: MJZ
Producer: Nellie Jordan
Agency Producer: Gemma Knight
Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler
Editor: Neil Smith
Sound: Parv at Wave
Post: MPC

Guinness Tornado

Just a week after Arthur's Day, Guinness is still celebrating their 250th anniversary with the launch of the newest Guinness TV ad, ‘Tornado’. The new ad drives awareness of the relaunch of 'Guinness Draught In A Can', with its brand new packaging.

The ad, filmed entirely in Spain, uses classic Guinness 'big brand' creativity to capture the quality and distinctiveness of the redesigned can. The ad focuses on a tornado that is used as an analogy for the magic and mystery of Guinness. The ad brings viewers through the entire life of Guinness from the initial ingredients being blended through to that magic spark, showing that Guinness is alive inside.

Grainne Wafer, Head of Marketing, Guinness said, “This is one of the biggest campaigns to date for the Guinness can. It communicates in a really creative way that Guinness is made from natural ingredients and truly is ‘Alive Inside’. In addition to the television ad, this autumn campaign includes radio and outdoor as well as in-store activity”.



The ad launched across Ireland on Thursday 1st October, with the new look cans hitting shops on the same day. Saatchi & Saatchi developed the ad, and it was directed by Martin Krejci.

Beamvertising Guerrilla Projections

A big cheers to Irish Street Art for the heads up on this one. This is from the always awesome PopWhore website, and their post Beamvertising Guerrilla Projections. Check it out...

In The World Of Social Media

Social Media may be a phenomenon but it certainly isn't a fad. Year on year as Internet usage grows and more and more people become connected through high speed broadband, the amount of people using Social networking channels increases in huge leaps. While most of this growth is concentrated in the high profile, established social networks such as Facebook, there continues to be growth in new niche networks designed to cater to a singular commonality between users.

Two of the most interesting new social networks to spring in the last month are FSID's Bubbalicous and Jean-Luc Thiébaut's Connosr.


Bubbalicous

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), who are a cot death charity, have just launched the social networking site Bubbalicious for teenage parents. The network has been developed and designed by digital marketing agency Neoco, and is primarily aimed as a place to find advice and tips on safe sleep, for both mums and young dads. Users of the site can chat to each other, upload photos, win prizes, and take part in a 4-level baby-care challenge. Participants of the challenge, if successful, are the title of "Top Dad" or "Big Sister". This in turn allows them to give advice to other parents on the site.

The site launch comes off the back of recent survey results released in August by the Office of National Statistics, which show that mothers under the age of 20 are over 4 times more likely to have a baby die as a cot death than older mothers.

Joyce Epstein, FSID's director, said: "Sadly, the latest research shows that teenage mums have the highest rate of cot death, but we think that many are missing out on safe sleep advice. We developed bubbalicious after consulting with young parents across the country, and we really hope that the support available on the site will help improve the life chances of the UK's most vulnerable babies."


Connosr

Jean-Luc Thiébaut, a web developer and whiskey enthusiast, has launched the independent website Connosr as a social network for Whisky drinkers to call their own. With a simple aim of breaking down the snobbery and barriers in the whisky world, Connosr offers members a Google Map of where each whisky comes from, whisky-related event listings and discussion boards.

As a site add-on, members with iPhones can access a mobile version of the site, allowing them to pick whiskies and post reviews while at the bar. Ultimately users can then create a wish list of whiskys they would like to own. This of course can then be shared with other users. The site has been built with the open-source CMS system Symphony.

Thiébaut said: "Connosr is a buzzing social space for a new generation of web-savvy whisky enthusiasts - an antidote to the stuffy image of whisky being an old man's drink."

Swedish Fish: A Friend You Can Eat

Advertising may be strange, even a little odd, but every now and again you come across something that is just so far out there, you wonder who and how on earth anyone ever sold the concept in.

In 2008 when Swedish Fish went looking for an advertising campaign to market its line of chewy winegums, JWT New York developed a campaign so wacky it was brilliant. The integrated campaign was intended to revamp the sweet's image and connect with the 18 to 24 year old market.

The campaign was simple overall, and asked just a single question with two possible answers, “Nej” and “Ja”. Their tag line: “A Friend You Can Eat”.

The campaign utilised print, outdoor, TV, radio and online, to show customers which of their friends they could eat, and which they could not. The above print ad and below TV commercial show the campaign's Kitten Burger execution (my favourite). Overall the look and feel of both are designed to be reminiscent of 1970s Swedish art direction, as a homage to the cultural history of the brand.

In JWT's Titanium entry at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, it was pointed out that not only was the campaign a success, driving huge awareness and sales within the 18 to 24 year old market, but the campaign ultimately went viral on a number of levels. People began trading plates and T-shirts on craigslist and other sites, and the words ‘Nej” and ‘Ja’ entered into the online chatter vernacular as part of a subversive pop culture movement. The TV commercials were so well received that people began imitating on YouTube with their own versions.

Paulaner Oktoberfest 2009

The Irish may be the stout kings of thew world, but when it comes to beer the Germans know a thing or two about brewing. Specifically those clever folk in Bavaria. Luckily you don't need to go all the way to Bavaria to enjoy some of the finest German beers and foods. It's that time of the year again and Oktoberfest is upon us!

The annual Paulaner Oktoberfest kicks off next week on the 8th October and runs for a full 10 days until the 18th. This is the second year that the festival has travelled to Ireland is not to be missed. It's a free event, and is absolutely family friendly. You can experience traditional German fun, food and entertainment. Even better news, for those of us living in Ringsend, is that the Paulaner Oktoberfest will again be located in Dublin’s George's Dock. Perhaps even better news is that the festival will feature its famous marquee (representative of the Munich Oktoberfest), a host of German market stalls, and over 24 Munich barmaids, all aiming to share some German fun, food, entertainment and seriously tasty Bavarian beer. The Paulaner Oktoberfest will also offer visitors a taste of authentic Bavarian brass and dance music from the German group, Mostland Stürmer.

The traditional German market will feature over thirty German speciality food traders, all of whom are travelling to Dublin specifically for the festival. So make sure to try the speciality sausages, meat, Käsealm and candy and ginger bread hearts. The festival will also offer visitors the chance to try Paulaner and Paulaner Non Alcoholic, as well as the special Oktoberfest brew.


Last year over 70,000 people visited the festival and don't expect it to be any different this year. Whatever you do, don't miss this great opportunity.

For more information check out the Paulaner Oktoberfest website, or email info@paulaner-oktoberfest.com

Alternatively, why not join the 190 festival fans already on Facebook?

For a taste of what's to come, check out this video of last years Oktoberfest:

OmniZero.9

I found this great video over on Engadget. A robot turning itself into a red car, how incredibly awesome is that!

This is the OmniZero.9, the latest iteration from Takeshi Maeda of a humanoid looking robot. The robot has wheeled shoulders and knees that allow it to drive around. Its head can also flip back to create a seat for a passenger. OmniZero.9 competed at ROBO-ONE in a number of different categories.

Interactive Advertising: Shelter - Be Happy At Home

These are two online ads for the housing and homelessness charity Shelter. The ads were launched as part of a suite of four different creatives for their “Be happy at home” campaign, promoting their online advice service, Know Your Rights. Each ad features a different scene of someone who is happy at home.

Each advert has the tagline “Be happy at home” with a scrolling ticker tape of things that Shelter’s Know your rights service can help you with, from your rights as a tenant to where to go if you are faced with homelessness.

Lean Mean Fighting Machine is the agency behind the campaign. The media plan concentrated on the social networking sites MySpace and Faceparty, with additional coverage across NME and MTV.

Imogen Wilson, Shelter’s head of marketing and brand, said: “Shelter’s Know your rights website is the only dedicated online housing advice service for young people. Since the site’s launch in 2005 we have successfully supported thousands of young people every year with housing problems. Lean Mean Fighting Machine has come up with a fresh, positive and engaging online marketing campaign which will continue to effectively target young people and make sure they get access to the advice and support they need to help keep a roof over their head.”

Know Your Rights, is supported by The Vodafone UK Foundation. It is the first ever dedicated online advice service for 16-25 year olds. It provides expert, in-depth and practical housing advice online on issues from rent arrears and deposit protection to preventing homelessness.

Axe: Day & Night

Spotted this over on AdGoodness. Great example of how to drive mobile engagement from Lowe Ginkgo.

Fifty People, One Question

Ask as many people as possible the same question and see what answer you get.

Simple, right?



A nice simple idea, with really inspirational results. I loved this the first time I saw it, and it's just as good every time after!

The film was shot on an Canon HV20 with a 35mm adapter, using Indifocus rails on a Matthews M25 tripod. he lens is a Nikon e series 50mm 1.8 Shure PG81 with a Zoom h4 unit.

'Rage' Premier

Thursday will definitely be remembered as Arthur's Day but there was another pretty special event taking place across Europe on the 24th. Last Thursday saw the world's first multi-venue interactive premier take place for Sally Potter’s new movie ‘Rage’. The film was broadcast from London's BFI Southbank, live via satellite, to a host of cinemas across Europe, including Dundrum here in Ireland. The film screening was then followed by a live questions and answers session with the film’s writer and director, Sally Potter, and the film's cast. Simon Abkarian, who plays Merlin, and Riz Ahmed, who plays Vijay, were both present with Sally Potter, while other cast members including Eddie Izzard, Lily Cole and Jude Law, all of whom were in New York, participated live via Skype.

Although the film was first shown at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, and was nominated for the coveted Golden Berlin Bear award, it also saw another interesting digital first as an episode of ‘Rage’ was then given a general release exclusively on mobile phones. As well as being premièred in the various cinema venues, people were also invited to watch the movie on their computers or mobile phones on the 24th. These audience members were then able to ask Sally Potter and the cast members questions via text message, twitter or live on Skype.

Sally Potter explained "[that she] instigated this method of having an interactive premiere because I wanted to make going to the cinema a more exciting place, I was inspired by my experience of 'the intimacy of blogging'".

The movie follows the story of a schoolboy who uses his mobile phone to shoot interviews with people working at a New York fashion house. He then secretly posts the videos to the internet. However when an accident on the catwalk leads to a murder investigation the videos and the boy are put under the spot light. Interestingly, none of the cast actually met while the film was being shot due to the one-on-one nature of the interviews. The film was produced by Andrew Fierberg and Christopher Sheppard, with Steven Fierberg as director of photography. The film was edited by Daniel Goddard.

To Arthur!

17:59 ticked over and all across the country pints were raised and toasts declared to one of Ireland's most prolific philanthropists. 'To Arthur!'

Changes In The Media Landscape

I have a huge list of things that I want to write about but the simple truth is that there are not enough hours in the day to do all of them. So in going through this extremely long list I realised that at least three of the items fitted together into a nice three-in-one post. So here is a little snap shot of three of the most important changes that I feel have gone on in the media landscape in the last couple of weeks.

Google's Display Ad Exchange

After much speculation and talk following Google's purchase of DoubleClick (two years ago!), it has finally happened - the Google Display Ad Exchange has launched. Coupled with the usual over-exagerated boasts, Google tell us that the system "will change the way advertisers buy ad space". The move represents one of the most open challenges that Google have made against Yahoo! and Microsoft's display ad marketshares. Up until now Google had relied on its Display network to counter both YAhoo! and Microsoft's display offering, both of which were real 'display' networks.

Having said that, the new DoubleClick Ad Exchange is modelled directly on the AdSense and AdWords systems. Neal Mohan, vice president of product management at Google, said "the exchange is a real-time marketplace that will help publishers, ad networks and agencies buy and sell display space. We want to democratise access to display advertising and make it accessible and open, like search advertising. By bringing publishers and advertisers together in an open marketplace in which prices are set in a real-time auction, the Ad Exchange enables display ads and ad space to be allocated much more efficiently. This improves returns for advertisers and enables publishers to get the most value out of their online content."




Facebook's Beacon Is Gone

Folling the $9.5m settlement of a class-action lawsuit launched against Beacon, Facebook has finally confirmed it will completely shut down the advertising service. Although Facebook has been gradually phasing out the system, it has continued to be used by a number of websites up until very recently. The service, which was originally launched in late 2007, suffered from immediate controversy by utilising the browsing habits of its members while they were on other websites.

In December 2007, very shortly after launch, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, issued a personal apology for what he called "lots of mistakes in the way the system was handled". In reality, the whole system was a complete PR disaster. The web virtually exploded with concerns over Facebook invading the privacy of its users without their prior consent or knowledge. The result was that Facebook introduced more controls and ultimately made the system opt-in for members.

The settlement itself, which is still pending approval, will also pay $9.5m to create a foundation to fund products that promote online privacy, safety and security. Facebook has said that "we look forward to the creation of the foundation and its work to educate Internet users on how best to control their privacy [and] engage in safe social networking practices."


Web Metrics Reinvented

When it comes to digital audience measurement there are only two options: comScore or Omniture. So the news that these two rivals are planning to launch a single, combined digital audience measurement system is absolutely huge. The companies have revealed that they hope to design a platform that will bring more clarity and confidence to the online advertising market. Essentailly, the system will give both websites and advertisers a unified source for measuring how many visitors hit their sites, how often they visit and exactly who the visitors are.

Specific details of system are as of yet unavailable, however industry experts predict that it will most likely combine Omniture analysis tools and comScore's internet user panels. The question remains however of how exactly they will gather their raw data set. In the past, the two companies have almost always shown different sets of data due to the fact that they have always set out to achieve relatively different goals. This is the main area that it is hoped will be addressed, and that the current disparity between the companies will be resolved.

Interestingly, last week also saw Omniture in the news as it was taken over by Adobe for $1.8 billion (£1bn). Adobe has said that the deal will ultimately help digital marketers increase their ROI through a more accurate measurement system. As any Digital Marketer will tell you, flash is fantastic for (pardon the pun) flashy "nova-style" microsites (short lived, hyped up and ultimately forgettable), but an absolute nightmare for longterm projects due to the inability of search engines to truely index the flash contents. A recent takeover may spell the end for this, however.

TED: Jonathan Zittrain

This is Jonathan Zittrain's TED Talk from TED Global 2009. Here Jonathan discusses the notion that the world feels like it's becoming less friendly. As a Social Theorist, Jonathan thinks the opposite is true. He believes that "the Internet is made up of millions of disinterested acts of kindness, curiosity and trust".

I for one agree. I believe the internet's greatest strength is that people are willing to help other people for no profit or gain whatsoever. People go out of their way to share their own knowledge and expertise just because they now have the tools to do it. The internet is the great facilitator of 'helping'.

Starbucks: iPhone Apps

Today Starbucks have launched two new iPhone Apps: myStarbucks and Starbucks Card Mobile. Both are free to download and are designed to enhance the Starbucks experience. Have fun creating your own Starbucks drink or use your iPhone to load your Starbuck's Card or even look up the nutritional information of their beverages. The mobile team in charge of App development for Starbucks have hinted that an online ordering app may not be too far away either!

More information and both downloads are available here.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class 2010

With the recent launch of Mercedes-Benz E-Class 2010 range, the internet has become a flurry of Merc related ads and videos. Like the recent C and S classes, the new E-Class is promised as a return to what people always loved Mercedes for: solid, safe, comfortable, and reliable cars which you can be bought with utter faith.

The two best examples of the online work that Merc have pushed out, imho, are this 300x250 interactive display ad and their full 2min 53sec promotional video. The ad is featured on a large range of international sites, while the video (which has primarily been pushed out through YouTube) seems to be mostly featured across the Asian and American markets.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class 2010: Interactive Display Ad

Mercedes-Benz E-Class 2010: Promotional Video

Obama's Digital Marketing

It may be tough to imagine Barack Obama not getting elected, but only 4 years ago he was virtually unknown both domestically and certainly internationally. So how did this unknown Junior Senator from Illinois get elected as the 44th President of the United States?

The folks behind Obama's Digital Marketing Strategy were Blue State Digital. They were responsible for designing and running all online marketing, and ultimately in charge of directing the technology and digital elements behind the campaign. Baring in mind, it was a campaign that generated record-breaking fund-raising and drove 13 million followers.

Here, Blue State Digital's Managing Partner, Thomas Gensemer, discusses the digital tactics behind the success of Obama's marketing campaign. All four clips come from Silicon Valley Insider as part of their Innovation video series, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.

How Was E-Mail The Most Successful Tool Of The Obama Campaign?


How Did The Obama Campaign's Marketing System Work?


What Were The Three Keys To Success In Marketing The Obama Campaign?


Are Republicans Catching Up With The Obama Campaign's Marketing Tactics?

Darklight 2009: The Trailer

Darklight X is nearly upon us! Ireland's premier celebration of art, film and technology will be taking place in a number of different venues in and around Dublin's Smithfield from 8th to 10th October. Tickets went on sale last Friday and the full programme is available online now.

This is the Darklight trailer, created by Morten Vinther and the guys at Piranha Bar.



You can also follow Darklight on Twitter or Facebook.

David LaChapelle

If there's one thing you do in the next 6 weeks, this should be it!

David LaChapelle, one of if not my favourite photographers of all time, is here in Dublin with his “American Jesus” collection. The exhibition is at the Sebastian Guinness Gallery until the end of October and offers the chance to experience, first hand, one of the greatest photographers of the last 50 years.

Lachapelle is widely regarded as one of the best fine art photographers working today, particularly for his treatment of iconic celebrity images for some of the world's most renowned fashion magazines. His work has featured in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Vogue. LaChapelle has also directed music videos for artists such as Christina Aguilera and Moby.

Don't Stop Believing - Sam Tsui

You probably already saw Sam's Michael Jackson medley/remix which has been doing the internet rounds during the last couple of weeks, but it's worth checking out his other stuff. There's quite a few videos that I've come across on YouTube and they're all pretty good.

This is his version of Don't Stop Believing by Journey, with his customary approach of providing all vocals and musical accompaniment.

The Arthur's Day Petition

I wrote on Thursday about Arthur's Day and one of the things I mentioned was an on-line petition that is currently running on the Guinness 250 Facebook page. The petition is calling on the public to help make Arthur’s Day a national holiday!

Following a number of different pushes on Thursday, Friday was jam packed with coverage. All in there were no less then 6 high profile mentions of the petition; including The Irish Times, Ireland.com, BreakingNews.ie, The Evening Echo, The Irish Examiner, and Sunday Business Post


But what effect did any of this have on the campaign? As of 17.59 on Thursday there were:

• 26,795 fans on Facebook
• 6,618 signatures on the online petition

As of today at 12noon, it looked like this:

• 35,089 fans on Facebook
• 8,804 signatures on the online petition

That's an increase of 8,294 fans and 2,186 petition signatures in less then 66 hours! That is absolutely amazing. My only question, as it was on Thursday, is why have only a quarter of fans signed the petition? Seriously folks, all you have to do is click on the tab that says 'Petition' and enter your name. There's no other details required - just a name.

Arthur's Day is only four days away now - lets break the 10,000 mark on the petition. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell your co-workers. This is a big deal people - SIGN UP NOW!

Display Advertising: Utilising Twitter

This is an example of an that pulls in two customised Twitter feeds, based on keyword searches of the micro-blog. It was created by Weapon7 for the charity FAS Aware.

The banner aims to increase awareness of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. It pulls in live tweets that includ the phrases ‘I need alcohol’ and ‘I am pregnant’. The call to action is: Block Alcohol. When clicked, the message "When alcohol is removed, so is the risk of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome" is displayed.

What's really interesting about the ad is that you are accessing content that has actually been generated by the general public, and is always updating and refreshing itself. From a technical point of view it was necessary to create a tool that would search Twitter for tweets containing the phrases required.

Weapon7 describe the digital strategy as creating connections with young women, and, as Twitter has got sa large and continuously increasing usage, they thought it would be a powerful tool to tap into to make the point. They started with it in mind to find a way to use authentic tweets, as they have stand-out and authenticity.

Creative Director at Weapon7, Jeremy Garner, said "[The campaign] was about real people and how alcohol and pregnancy fits into their lives. We wanted to create an ad that made people think, and allowed them to draw their own conclusions".