Blank Canvas

"Imagine we could start again with a blank canvas!"


Really nice ad.

Fiat's Digital Wall

As part of Fiat's new UK concept store, Moving Brands and AKQA have produced this fantastic Digital Installation. Purely as an experience piece, the sole puirpous of the wall is to to create a unique interactive experience to engage, excite and inform customers.

Using nine 40' LCD screens with 48 ceiling and wall mounted infra-red sensors, the installation creates a real-time onscreen interaction designed to replicate the cheeky personality of the new Fiat 500.

British Bill May Force ISPs to Hand Over Online Activity, Emails, VOIP Calls and Text Messages

It has come to light this week that the British Home Office is currently considering a proposal that would require all British ISPs and telecoms companies to make available billions of records of customer emails, internet usage, VOIP calls, and text messages.

According to Reuters, if passed, the Communications Data Bill would allow police and security services access to this information, with court approval. The aim is to "help security forces in the fight against crime and terrorism."

Currently, all phone calls and text messages within the EU are kept for 12 months as part of an EU anti-terrorism ruling.

"The changes to the way we communicate, due particularly to the Internet revolution, will increasingly undermine our current capabilities to obtain communications data and use it to protect the public", said a statement from The Home Office. "To ensure that our public authorities and law enforcement agencies can continue to use this valuable tool, the government is planning to bring forward the Communications Data Bill."

The draft bill is expected to be released later in the year, but the plan has yet to be discussed by ministers.

Micro-Hoo Round 2

I remember remarking recently about a PR instance involving a large Irish beverage company – just when it seemed that the worst thing possible was going to happen the company came out with a “new” plan to reduce the loses while still achieving it’s goal of restructuring. I wondered was plan A ever an actuality or was it a precursor to plan B so as to soften the blow?

So I wonder here, did Microsoft make a bid for the whole company knowing it would not succeed, to be able to come back with a lesser offer which suddenly seems far more acceptable to both parties? Did Microsoft ever want anything more then search?

I doubt it. If this move is successful, Microsoft will jump to second place and become the second most powerful search engine marketing and optimisation company, only next to Google. Suddenly its competition would now be directly with the leading firm, giving it the opportunity to climb the ladder faster than it could do competing with two more powerful companies.

So, with bated breath, we wait. What wil Mr. Yang and his board do. Either way I think a speedy decision will be made considering all the internal and external pressures.

Virtual Real-ity Shopping

A new deal signed with Ikea and H&M sees a whole range of Sims2 products set for launch this summer. Through an online content package, The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff will be available in late June, and H&M, which signed on with the game last year to provide The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Stuff, will feature 'Sims 2'-themed products in stores, complete with themed hang tags and in-store signage.
"It really is the ultimate in brand engagement," said Steve Seabolt, VP-global brand development for "The Sims," an Electronic Arts label game. "It really is a way to bring a product or a service into your virtual life, become familiar with it, play with it and, hopefully, incorporate it into your real life."

The collection is the result of a contest held by "The Sims," in which players could create items and showcase them in online fashion shows. The winning piece will be featured in several hundred stores around the world.

Ikea aren't planning a competition to see "Sims" products in Ikea stores, however, the partnership does provide players with virtual versions of 60 of Ikea's well-known products.

Last year Ford also put in place a similar deal which saw Sims2 become the largest Ford dealer in the world, having sold 2.5 million vehicles.

Four Ideals to Work

One of my favourite illustartors (and designers) Anthony Burrill, has taken the theme of 'World of Work' and created four stunning covers for June's Wallpaper edition. Based on Burrill's famous poster, the pieces are unmistakable and in my humble opinion, both striking and beautiful.

Google Automatch

Tomorrow, May 20 2008, when you log into your adwords account there will be a new option. Google’s new ‘Automatic Matching’ feature will sit as a new checkbox (as with google content it will be pre-checked and auto-enabled) ready to use.You have probably heard about this or at least seen initial discussion floating around the blogosphere but how much thought have you actually given it?

Google ‘Automatic Matching’ will do the follow: Automatching shows your ads on search queries not already captured by your keywords by analysing the landing page, ad, and keyword contents and shows your ads on search queries relevant to this information. The algorithms continually monitor the performance on these queries and adjust accordingly. The aim is to show your ads on queries that yield high CTRs and CPCs lower than your ad group's current average CPC. Of course your spend cannot exceed your budget, and it also won't affect the traffic you're currently receiving.

So in short….. well to be honest, I don’t know. It sounds good on paper but I’ll need to wait to see the actual performance before making any real decisions.