Thursday, December 03, 2009

White Christmas Guaranteed

iPhone app from Ogilvy. Syncs with your camera and adds gently falling snow to any scene. Take a photo and send to confuse your friends.

Disproves the mantra - An app is for life not just Christmas.

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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

More Virtual Bums



You wait ages for a virtual bum and then they all come at once. Love this online fashion tool from Fashionista too.


Does My Bum Look Big In This?



A range of different sized virtual women model a variety of underwear. KnickerPicker is the best online shopping experience I have seen in a while. Practical for chaps - my mrs is a cross between blonde #1 & brunette #2 - and women can actually see what their purchase might look like. I love the "get your own Virtual Underwear Catwalk" feature and the effect it might have on my dwell time scores...


Hmmm, I wonder if there is a market for PantPicker.com, with a selection of string vest and saggy boxers.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

@Ogilvy Shortlisted - Golden Twits

Your company: ogilvy

Twitter username: @@ogilvy

Why do you deserve an award?: i harnessed ogilvy employees blogs to deliver a credible & representative voice to a large corporate & spread great marketing ideas globally

What were the objectives?: 1. to experiment, learn & walk the walk. 2. to spread & harvest great marketing examples, thoughts & opinions across geography & discipline

What have you achieved?: 16,500+ followers, #1 ad agency, 5%> unfollow rate, 1:1.5 RT ratio, positive anecdotal feedback & some good banter

http://www.goldentwits.com/b2c/22-10-09182847/

Saturday, October 31, 2009

BK Augmented Reality Dollar



another great use of augmented reality. i say 'another' but there are very few out there. good to see people are starting to realise how to use this nice shiney object, rather than just doing it for doing its sake. who do you think will be the first to tag their whole product catalogue - unilever or p& g; hold up a product and it tells you how to use it, shows you a recipe or adds it to your basket...

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Ogilvy Speak At TED



What value the intangible? Everyone in marketing should watch Ogilvy UK Group Vice Chairman, Rory Sutherland speak at TED on how advertising adds value to a product by changing perception. That change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value.

Comments suggest this is up with the best TED talks ever...

Disclaimer: I am lucky to work with Rory/hang on his coatails.

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Augmented Reality Cereal Box



Breakfast will never be the same. Do you think they will do one for adults on the restorative effects of All Bran.....



Thursday, September 10, 2009

dont do digital...

...do innovation.

agencies who are not being bought as digital shops should leapfrog digital and sell innovation.

more later.

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Monday, September 07, 2009

Socialising Whitepapers

Pretty much works for product demos, case studies and broader content.

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Friday, August 28, 2009

Rebranding London

There is an interesting pitch on at the moment to create a brand for London. In response to the Mayor's public tender, MovingBrands have decided to throw the process open to the public - inviting Londoners to give their views on London via Twitter @we_are_london and comment on our their pitch website.

Pitch website.

hmmm remember the toe curling - if we roll, we roll big Subway/agency.com disaster.

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Got A Digital Chip On Your Shoulder?

To celebrate the 10th edition of NMA Top 100 Agencies they are asking a bunch of guys who managed to survive the past few years for their thoughts - mine below. Please add, ignore, delete...

1) What inspired you to start working in interactive?
In '95 two days before the pan european print and poster advertising review I had painstakingly spent weeks collating via post, ups, fax and and old school 4 colour printouts, which was carefully laid around my desk, the cleaner at saatchi & saatchi threw the lot away. 48 hours of hell ensued during which I made enemies across the whole of the network and couldn't help but think "there must be a better way". Out of that frustration 'saatchi brains' an internet based digital asset management system was born. Everthing I looked at from that point I kept thinking "there must be a better way" and it went from there.

2) What has been the biggest challenge of the past ten years?
The digital chip on most digital peoples' shoulders

3) What's been notable about the way client needs have changed?
The used to need to be pushed, now they need to be held back.

4) What's been most overhyped in our industry? What’s not been hyped enough?
Over - The digital consumer
Underhyped - The consumer

5) What innovations are just around the corner that excite you?
The whole notion of Innovation Marketing; the phrase that McKinsey coined afew years ago. An 80/20 budget split; 80% on what you know works and 20% on measureable innovation. This will radically change how we and our clients work and are remunerated.

6) How does the agency landscape need to change?
Apply 80/20 to yourself. Send out tug boats - some will sink, some will drag you in the right direction to survive.

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Man Charges Brands For Queuing

Twat adds no value, but charges for it.

Some bloke recorded all the time he spent with various brands, both through his own choice or not. i.e watching aTV show, queuing at a shop or waiting for a delayed train. Because he is spending time with the brand charged them for it based on a discount of his hourly rate.


I can't help but think he is abit of a twat and considering setting up a microbilling site so everyone who reads his posts can charge him.

See how he likes that.

Anyway hourly rates are a redundant way to account for value. what he should have done is asked for contributions from his readers of the brands for the thoughts he provoked about how they might change their business or approached based on his observations...

As one of my colleagues, Frank Durden said, the person who comes out with most credit is Julian Metcalfe. He certainly knows how to make 66 quid go a long way. . .

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The Day Media Died



Toe tappingly good.

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Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Disney CEO Tells It How It Is

"We are not really embracing technology, we are embracing the consumer." Disney CEO Bob Iger

Warms the heart.

Full video at Tweed

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Moma & Facebook Personalise Your Summer

Excellent website launched by the MoMA in New York to help visitors planning their visits at the museum.

Summer at MoMA connects to your Facebook profile, scans it, analyses it and matches your preferences in the social network with the experiences currently offered at the museum. In less than a minute you receive personal recommendations that you can add to your profile and send to friends.

Turning pervious social media on its head: Dont create an app to go on Facebook, use Facebook to power and personalise your content.

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Twitter Fueled Ads

71% Heterogilesrhysjones is 71% HeteroHow hetero are you? How hetero is Martha Stewart? Try out any Twitter name and get the real picture. Are we really the words we use? Hope to see you at Stockholm Pride!




I am loving this spate of interconneted ads. Pulling feeds from various social sites to personalise and populate. See this VW twitter matcher. I think 71% hetero is about right. In touch with my feminine side and all that.

Who will be first the build an app that automatically connects your social profile with all external advertising...

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YouTube Killed United Airlines


As the world now knows, last year a guitarist named Dave Carroll was sitting in a window seat on a United plane at O'Hare airport in Chicago when he looked out and saw baggage handlers hurling guitar cases through the air.

He pointed it out to flight attendants; they responded with indifference. When he arrived in Nebraska, he found that his instrument had been smashed.

After months of complaining to the airline and getting no response, he wrote and performed a song, "United Breaks Guitars," and posted it on YouTube. It was viewed more than 4 million
times in its first 14 days.

This is a classic example of all 4 key behaviours that people exhibit in this web 2.0 world. The 4 c's - create - the pro-am, collaborate - working together in communities, challenge - the status quo & poor service and control - my media on my terms.

Did they not learn from My Dell Hell...



Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Pick Your Knife Fight


Choose a Different Ending / Drop the Weapons campaign with the Metropolitan Police shows you how real people can turn away from violent crime.

This was recently peeked on MTV Base, no URL just the simple line: Search 'Choose a different ending'.

This then links through to a scenario based story on YouTube where you can decide on the outcome of your characters life. Choosing different scenarios lead to different outcomes.

Shocking at times, realistic throughout - the story-based model delves into the pressures / complications and implications of London's youth. It's authentic and compelling; a perfect way to approach the affected target groups....

Moving the media on from Samsung Island Of The Lizard King.


Hat tip Nick B.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Facebook Makes You Hero In Game Trailer

Much use is made of APIs that pull in details from one social platform to another.

This game trailer for Prototype asks for access to Facebook then uses the details and imagery to put you as the protagonist in the game.

Not a Facebook game or app but a game that uses Facebook. Neat. It would be great to levergae more of FB though: invite friends, post to profile, share etc....



Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Choice Architecture & The Value of Crap Ads



I am currently reading Nudge and how the architecture of choice can affect results. Some great examples here of how additional options can drive. Next time I try to sell some work I'll take an ugly version of the route I want to sell.

Hat tip Dave Birss

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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Nike Robot Graffitis Tour De France Route



Great campaign from the Lance Armstrong/Nike Livestrong campaign at this year's Tour de France.

As you may or may not know it is customary for fans to chalk/paint messages on the road before the riders go by to show their support/disdain/abuse whatever. TV cameras usually pick up the messages in their coverage as well.

Now Nike are offering you the chance, wherever you are in the world, to create a message of hope or support online & on mobile and then have it actually painted on the road in France by a chalkbot!

They will also send you and image of it with the relevant googlemaps reference so you can find your message en route and can work out when the riders will be going past...

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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Art Or Information?

Here's an example from Go Figure titled The Past and Future of Information. I say "sort of" because no numbers were used to create it. It is openly unscientific.


Brilliant, say some. Meaningless, say others.

"The fuss is partly because it reignites a row between those who think data visualisation should have some data in it, particularly if it looks as if it's a graph, and those who think it has merit if it simply captures feeling or ideas in a compelling design."

And if you like that - check out the OECD Factbook eXplorer website.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Mos Def Releases New T-Shirt Album

Rapper Mos Def is putting out his latest album, The Ecstatic, as a t-shirt.

The shirt has the cover art on the front, the track list on the back and a code to download the songs on the shirt’s hang tag.

Using the album as a marketing ploy, giving people a physical purchase.

Nice work...more here.

Via @donmak




Monday, June 22, 2009

Saatchi & Saatchi London Hacked

www.saatchiandsaatchi.co.uk hacked by asa bailey. Their new next door neighbour...

Can't see him popping round for a cup of sugar and getting very far.

I spent my formative years there, love the place and have a certain amount of sympathy but cover your arse guys.

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Sunday, June 21, 2009

IBM & Wimbledon - Tweet, Set & Match

There’s a mobile, Twitter based version of the android app mentioned in the previous post.

The IBM Seer app aggregates a number of Wimbledon relevant Twitter feeds and pushes them to your phone.

The IBM Wimbledon scout feed provides the latest updates on everything that’s happening in and around the grounds. The app also delivers twitter feeds from players, tennis celebrities and the official Wimbledon blogger.

To get the inside line on all things Wimbledon text “smart” to 60999.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Wimbledon - Strawberries, cream and augmented reality balls...

IBM Wimbledon Tennis Mobile Campaign

The IBM Seer Android is an innovative application being trialled at Wimbledon 2009, it takes a live video feed from the handset’s camera, and superimposes content and data associated with various points of interest into that video stream.

By making use of the T-Mobile G1/G2’s digital compass and precise GPS coordinates, the application offers a ‘heads up display’ to show the user what they are looking at. It augments this with other live data from the scoring systems and IBM scouts reporting from around the grounds, to give the user a comprehensive and dynamic insight into their surroundings.

Pointing the camera lens towards a court will not only identify the court number, but also display details about the current and subsequent matches.

Want to where the strateberries & cream stand is - done.
Any spare seats on court 12 - done.
Shortest queue at the loos - done.

Nice work from the guys and girls at Ogilvy.

Not just cool but fundamentally useful.

Disclaimer: I work at Ogilvy and had some involvement in helping with this element of the campaign.


Monday, June 15, 2009

Dixons Tax Free Scam?

I am looking to buy a OLYMPUS MJU TOUGH 8000 for my holiday. Being the OCD kinda guy I am I looked at all options for a good deal and found some interesting stuff.

Dixons have it on their tax free aiport site for £295.64, a supposed saving of £40, yet it is on their normal UK site it is £263.98.

Nowhere to hide... thought people knew that already.

I have shot them a note similar to the above and will let you know what they say.

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Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Only Numbers You Need In Marketing

80/20

80/20 paretos law - 20% of audience delivering 80% sales/content/contribution
80/20 creative media split - 80% media budget, 20% creative budget - swop them
80/20 innovation marketing - 80% on proven techniques, 20% on measureable innovation
80/20 distribution - 20% on your destination, 80% where your audience are

any more?

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