Our estemed creative director playing his Chrimbell iPhone.
More here
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Ogilvy iPhone Christmas Bell
It’s Christmas, with bells on. Ogilvy Labs turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a Christmas-carol-playing handbell.First choose a carol, then select a bell. Then just ‘ring’ your iphone like you would a real bell. Each ringing movement sounds a note of your chosen carol. Play as fast or as slow as you like.
Gather your chums and form a festive handbell chorus
Ring in the season with Jingle Bells, Ding Dong Merrily on High, Away in a Manger, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Silent Night, Little Donkey, Oh Come All Ye Faithful and Auld Lang Syne.
Chrimbell is the ultimate accessory for the modern caroler. It’s Caroling 2.0 or, like, a Christmas Guitar Hero.
In association with Golden Gekko.
Ding Dong
Monday, December 15, 2008
Ford - Mobile Augmented Reality
In Your Face Mini.
Tags: ford ka augmented reality mobile advertising giles rhys jones
Everthing is going digital and everything digital is going mobile.
From Vio:
"Find It" is a pan-European campaign that will be launched in around a dozen countries, with the objective of targeting a 20-something crowd - hard to reach people who don't want to follow the mainstream. So the campaign is all about letting people find and explore the hidden discoveries which are out there.
You can try out the 3D Ka if you've got a Nokia camera phone released in the last two years or Windows Mobile camera phone. Download the A'3D Ka' mobile application from fordka.mobi/uk. Then point your phone at the 3D marker you find.
When the 3D Ka is viewed at a particular angle on the phone screen it will reveal a secret URL: GoFindIt.net continuing the theme of looking beyond the obvious.
An overlay application for the first stage of the campaign has been launched where you will find some pretty cool and innovative stuff such as:
- A clean graffiti film stunt which was specially staged in Berlin
- A high-speed film guide to the best street art around London's Shoreditch
- An interactive journey around a range of small undiscovered sites where the overlay application's navigation stays with you to guide you along the way.
You can try out the 3D Ka if you've got a Nokia camera phone released in the last two years or Windows Mobile camera phone. Download the A'3D Ka' mobile application from fordka.mobi/uk. Then point your phone at the 3D marker you find.
When the 3D Ka is viewed at a particular angle on the phone screen it will reveal a secret URL: GoFindIt.net continuing the theme of looking beyond the obvious.
An overlay application for the first stage of the campaign has been launched where you will find some pretty cool and innovative stuff such as:
- A clean graffiti film stunt which was specially staged in Berlin
- A high-speed film guide to the best street art around London's Shoreditch
- An interactive journey around a range of small undiscovered sites where the overlay application's navigation stays with you to guide you along the way.
Not bad
Thursday, December 11, 2008
5 Reasons Agencies Should Employ Bloggers
- 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.
I rejigged them abit. It fits with the Will & Skill cull.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Destroy Now To Build The Future
As straight copy & paste from McKinsey's Leading Through Uncertainty paper.
A crisis is a chance to break ingrained structures and behaviors that sap the productivity and effectiveness of many organizations. Such moves aren’t a short-term crisis response—they often take a year or more to pay dividends—but are valuable in any scenario and could help a company survive if hard times persist. Although employees may dislike this approach, most will understand why management aims to make the organization more effective.
This may, for example, be the time to destroy the vertical organizational structures, retrofitted with ad hoc and matrix overlays, that encumber companies large and small. Such structures can burden professionals with several competing bosses. Internecine battles and unclear decisions are common. Turf wars between product, sales, and geographic managers kill promising projects. Searches for information aren’t productive, and countless hours are wasted on pointless e-mails, telephone calls, and meetings.
Experience shows that streamlining an organization to define roles and the way those who hold them collaborate can greatly improve its effectiveness and decision making. When jobs must be eliminated, the cuts mostly reduce unproductive complexity rather than valuable work. As Matthew Guthridge, John R. McPherson, and William J. Wolf point out in “Smart cost-cutting in the downturn: Upgrading talent” (available on December 4), Cisco took that approach in shedding 8,500 jobs in 2001. When the company redesigned roles and responsibilities to improve cooperation among functions and reduce duplication of effort, talented employees were more satisfied in a more collaborative workplace.
In fact, many functional areas offer big opportunities: greater effectiveness, lower fixed costs, freed-up capital, and reduced risk. This could be the moment to redefine and reprioritize the use of IT to increase its impact and cut its cost. Other companies could seize the moment to control inventory; to reexamine their cash flow management, including payments and receivables; or to change the mix of marketing vehicles and sales models in response to the rising cost of traditional media and the growing effectiveness of new ones.
As customer preferences change, competitors falter, opportunities to gain distressed assets emerge, and governments shift from crisis control to economic stimulus, the next year or two will probably produce new laggards, leaders, and industry dynamics. The future will belong to companies whose senior executives remain calm, carefully assess their options, and nurture the flexibility, awareness, and resiliency needed to deal with whatever the world throws at them
Some have been there before. Nice. Fits in with the Black Swan Agency.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Mini Augmented Reality
From the lovely guys and girls over at metaio.com.
One of the trends for 2009.
Tags: mini augmented reality augmented reality advertisinggiles rhys jones
NY Planning Blog: Good Mobile Advertsing
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Yotta Tweak - The Mother Of All Tweaks
There are generally two accepted types of planners - the ad tweakers and the big idea thinkers. Alledgely one comes up with orginial thinking the other moves place settings around. The thinkers are held in high regard and the tweakers derided.
But I think the tweakers will be the winners.
We are a recombinant culture, we take other peoples stuff, add to it, change it and tweak it. Black Swan theory focuses on maximising tinkering and recognising opportunities when they present themselves. Google have an aggressive trial and error process and Tim O'Reilly coined perpetual beta. All give rise to the the phenomenon of the yotta tweak. The one, often small, thing that once changed that cause disproportionate impact.
Thought prompted and phrase coined by Nick F more on Dont Tell My Mum and finally i get to use this image.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Fanta Mobile: An Ad You Can't Hear
Ogilvy Advertising has developed a mobile application for Fanta that is only audible to teenagers.
The application is based on the same technology used to deter teenagers from hanging around outside shops and bus shelters, the Mosquito Teen Repellent, developed by Howard Stapleton.
The Fanta Stealth Sound System, uses high-pitched frequencies, only audible to the under 20s. It includes wolf-whistles, warnings, pssts and sound tags for phrases like "cool", "uncool", and "let’s get out of here".
Bo Hellberg played it all the way through my presentation to the board on branded entertainment. And yes, despite the prevalence of ironic t-shirts, difficult glasses and trainers hinting at at least a desire to recapture their youth, no one noticed. Not even me...
QR T-Shirt - A Sign Of things To Come?
QR and Shot codes still struggle to make an impact in the west. City AM, the free daily business newspaper, recently launched QR technology that allows readers to download financial news direct to their mobile phones and a couple of others have also played around to limited mass appeal. Now this new fashion company isnt going to change any of that fast but it is pretty neat and an ideal xmas present for the mobile/digi geek in the family (pay attention mum).
I can see a time when Zagats or Amex will integrate these into their merchant's stickers or tourist authorities label historic buildings providing copy, audio or animated information and guides.....
BMW & Microsoft Surface
So we have just got one of these babies in the Ogilvy Labs office - as demonstrated by the lovely Sasha.Good to see BMW putting theirs to good use. Too much money to invest in what is a glorified kiosk?
Hat tip Blogilvy.nl
Tags: bmw digital+advertising microsoft surface giles rhys jones
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
"Top Shop" Marketing Strategy
Or what if Philip Green owned an ad agency.
TopShop marketing: watching the market, seeing the fashion, copying the big innovative boys, moving fast, undercutting ands changing tack all the time.
I guess this is one take on the 20% of the 80/20 rule.
Will Recession Kill Advertising Innovation?
In the recession marketers can go to 2 extreemes. The bold ones will take the phrase "war breeds innovation" to heart and look to innovation to get them through and put them in a better place longer term. Others will retreat and stick to the channels that currently work for them delivering at least some return in the short term.
As mentioned in number of posts a healthy 80/20 mix of proven/innovative approaches is needed. I guess the question is will agencies respond with the people, the resource and approach to drive and deliver this.
In 2000 was at Agency.com working on the JV with Claydon Heeley Jones Mason that spawned Agency Republic when they walked half the company into one room and half into another to do the X-Factor. Globally we lost a huge number of what would be senior digital marketers in that cull and the concern is we might do exactly the same thing again.
I just spotted this diagram on Jmac's Screen: the Virginia Satir Theory of Organisational Change.
Pretty similar to Black Swan Theory - in that an unexpected event causes huge chaos, but ultimately improvement, until the next unexpected event does it all over again.
So this current and chaos in the market place will ultimately lead to an improvement in how and what we do, it is up to agencies and clients whether they want to be leading this or watching from a safe distance, then having to buy their way back in.
How To Solve A Problem
Click here then hover over the resulting page.
Click here to learn more about the who, why and how.
Sort of John Caswell and the Consulting Periodic Table's bastard son.
From JMAC
Tags: ideagram john caswell process visualization giles rhys jones
Friday, November 21, 2008
Marketing Trends 2008: How Did We Do?
So over 10,000 of you have read the post on 10 Trends In Digital Advertising for 2008 so I thought I would check to see how we did (‘we’ as this was a remix from most of your blogs). In preparation for this/next year's list a quick review would suggest that last years list wasn't too off the mark. What do you think?
1. The term “digital agency” as a catch all for doing everything digital not matter what the discipline will start to lose relevancy. As PR, brand, direct and design agencies all develop digital skills “digital” will just become a specialism within those disciplines.
9/10 - set to continue at a pace
2. Consequently roster agencies based on channel will become redundant as clients look to task based allocation of accounts, covering disciplines and channels.
6/10 - set to continue as the lines continue to blur
3. We will see more of the likes of Neo being appointed lead media agency, though the focus will shift from the traditional “buying attention” to understanding how purchased media can enhance “earned attention”.
4/10 – traditional media agencies are fighting back by buying up inventive & creative thinkers
4. To this end creative agencies will move from creating TV ads to creating experiences that they film and encourage others to and share. Think Sony Paint ad but designed as an event to participate in rather than just a few people attending the filming of a TV ad.
7/10 - set to continue. See Absolut
5. Whilst digital media agencies will become lead agencies less digital creative agencies will as the watch words shift from viral, widgets and microsites back to defining the big idea, and more people remember that “branded utility” can also mean being entertaining. Digital agencies will continue to creak under the weight of doing everything digital.
6/10 - set to continue though they are starting to build a good network of supplier partners to deliver, see below:
6. That said competitive agency lines will start to break down as partnerships will start to form in unlikely ways as agencies struggle to be masters of all trades and managing digital suppliers will start to replicate how we work with TV directors and production companies though specialist “conductors” with a large black contact books will become some of the most important people in the agency.
8/10 - set to continue as conductors become increasingly important.
7. A new creative dynamic will start to emerge with experience planners, technologists and even third parties become an integral and ongoing part of the development process rather than at either end.
8/10 - set to continue but only really happening in digital agencies rather than traditional based ones
8. Lack of specialist staff will continue to be a concern with more people looking to balance consumer culture with a positive work life balance. Agencies will start to offer individualised remuneration packages based on flexible working hours and locations as well as international and cross discipline opportunities, not just cash.
5/10 - credit crunch has put paid to that
9. Social media will also continue to play a part in advertising life as the power brokers of tomorrow meet across Facebook and twitter rather than/or as well as Soho bars.
9/10 - more, more, more
10. With 80% of the global economy based locally the importance of global reach and local expertise and ability to deliver on the ground will increase.
7/10 - efficiencies still driving large accounts this way
er...10a. The bar bell structure will continue to pervade with the big networks getting bigger and more encompasing, the few middle sized players being squeezed and loads of new and innovative companies like Anomaly, Callcott Marketing and The Ides Of March getting in on the game and taking a part of the IP for their ideas.
8/10 – set to continue with the larger players developing VC type models.
Tags: digital marketing trends agency of the future advertising trends giles rhys jones8:4:2 Branded Entertainment Defined
...or the half life of branded entertainment.
8 Channels, 4 levels of brand involvement, 2 ways of marketing integration.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Navigation By Paint
Nice find from the chaps at Ogilvy.nl. A first-person painting game by Ian Dallas. It is set in an white/black world. Players can splatter paint to help them find their way around. Dulux or Sony Bravia would be a great brand fits.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Cut & Paste Culture
Faris at Interesting New York talking about Recombinant Culture: "The remix is the very nature of digital." William Gibson. Essentially digital, at its core, is all ones and zeros so they get on, they are made to be remixed.
Other videos here including a nice one from James Cooper of another anomaly talking about setting up Celebrity Ping Pong magazine... whilst playing ping pong.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Behind the Scenes On Obama Election Night
Another great example of opening out and letting go of your brand. This Flickr photo set from the Obama campaign is fascinating.
Friday, November 07, 2008
The Black Swan Agency
I am on the plane back from Customer Futures Exec Council in Johannesburg presenting on the state of the South African digital marketplace. I just been reading The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, a book about randomness and uncertainty by epistemologist Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
I found a nice quote; " almost no discovery, no technologies of note, came from design and planning...focus on maximising tinkering and recognising opportunities when they present themselves... aggressive trial and error"
Great advice for a comms agency and some thing the smaller players and start ups seem to do as a matter of course. So how do the networks build a Black Swan agency process and way of thinking, avoiding the robotic approach but empowering and respecting the commonsense of the employee.
More Mr. T shaped people for a start, a skill & will cull for another, maybe abit of the floating fiver for another (another post for another day) and a good chunk of innovation and risk marketing. Finish off with lashings of black book conducting.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
South African Digital Marketing
As given to the Customer Futures SA Executive Council. Thanks to all the SA bloggers for your help - either direct or by pillaging your blogs and slideshares.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Check Out My Loaf: The Blogger Bake Off
Breadline Africa's campaign to raise funds to help alleviate poverty in Africa from the boys & girls at Quirk.
“With your support, Breadline
- Join our campaign.
- Submit your bread baking recipe.
- Make a donation to Breadline
- Vote for your favourite recipe.
- Bake a loaf of bread and blog about it.
- Bake many loaves of bread and host a bake sale.”
Check out my Pecan, Raison & Honey effort.
500g granary flour
1 tsp yeast
A handful of pecans and sultanas chopped
A couple of tsp of honey
1 tsp salt
2 tsp milk
350ml water
25g butter
Tags: blogger bake off breadline africa charity giles rhys jones
Sunday, October 26, 2008
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