Check out the new Nando's homepage. It's all flash and fun and pretty much devoid of corporate drivel-type stuff that nobody reads in anycase. Just makes you wanna click everything to see what pops up. Mmmm...chicken.

The South African Reserve Bank probably won't be too impressed with your idea, but here's a good way to make your useless small change more useful.

This restaurant, that has used US pennies as floor tiles, is in New York. For a real money shot, substitute the 5 cent coins for 5 Rand coins. It's one way to lock capital into your business.

via

Looking almost exactly like the Illy pop-up store from a few years ago, here's another example of a solar-powered lunch box - this time from Montreal Canada.

It goes from shipping container to fully-working restaurant in less than two minutes - which is just about 30 seconds faster than the motorbikes that turn into sidewalk stirfry bistros in Thailand.
Cool music in this promo video for the concept. Sounds like something out of El Mariachi or From Dusk till Dawn. Throw in a Desert Eagle .50 and a few snappy one-liners and we'd be there like a 'cleaner'.

via

Not as elegant or 'sexy' [for most of us] as the original Grand Prix award winning versions, but they still manage to drive the point home. We are animals - so wear and pair of Wranglers and avoid getting lassoed by a cowboy. [thanks Alexis] 

Step 1: Buy a ticket [how to do that here]
Step 2: Arrive on Wednesday 8 July at the Grand Daddy Hotel in Cape Town ready to score
Step 3: Absorb the experience of our presenters [here's a taster of what they'll be covering:]

Mike Ratcliffe - Seen in the wine industry as somebody who is using innovative thinking to carve a unique niche for his Warwick and Vilafonté brands, Mike has been using tools like blogging, innovative packaging design, special events [like the Design Indaba], video and t-shirts to break the traditional marketing mold.
Mike will share his thinking, strategies and plans for the future of how he intends to build on his successes.

Gareth Cotten - The man with a plan, Gareth sprouts business ideas like other people grow facial hair. Although he admits to having a bedroom door filled with Post-it notes of possible new business’ to start, Gareth will share with us his ongoing practice of how to take an idea and get it going before it goes stale and somebody else does it before you.
Fear, laziness and self confidence are all barriers to germinating your ideas - this is how to overcome all of that and just do it.

Andrew Smith - Having started a business in exactly one weekend and constantly prototyping, testing and executing innovative new media marketing ideas to drive online sales, Andrew still hasn’t forgotten the ‘analogue’ touches which make a physical product purchased via an online store a complete brand experience.
Andrew will share just a few of his tricks and ideas of how he turned a three year old online store into one of South Africa’s most powerful online brands without ever turning to traditional advertising.

Nikki Friedman - Knowledge of how to use innovative marketing tools is useless unless you give your work a soul.
People don’t fall in love with a blog page or Twitter feed - they are attracted to the honest story behind the tools.
As a professional story engineer, Nikki will share a few insights into how you can capture an audience with an honest and open story [even if it’s 140 characters long] and keep them coming back for more.

Jon Cherry - In between, we'll be sharing a flurry of new ideas and trends on where the lines between digital media and reality are being blurred.
We write about then all the time here on Cherryflava, now we'll pack them all together into one presentation to get your innovation juices flowing.

Step 4: Get your hands dirty.

Warwick wines have kindly donated samples of their product to experiment on, Digicape are supplying Apple computers, Nokia have hooked us up with N95s and the Grand Daddy the inspiring space. Armed with knowledge and tools the group will brainstorm and then execute innovative ways of turning a wine bottle into an engaging and value-adding media tool. Wild ideas and theory will become reality all in one afternoon.

Step 5: Leave armed to create your own and take your customers to SECOND BASE.

We've never been a big fan of flashmobs. The idea of a group of people pitching up at some random venue and acting like idiots without being fueled by copious amounts of beer seems pointless.

But something called the Improv Everywhere MP3 Experiment makes a lot more sense when it comes to a collective urban experience. The idea is that a whole bunch of people download an MP3 episode, gather at a specific location and at exactly the same time hit play. They then follow the instructions given and see where is takes them.

It's a bit whoop whoop and would definately appeal to Americans more than South Africans, but an explorable idea all the same.

video link [watch it for more]

[via Wooster Collective]

Behold the Cannes Grand Prix Film winner, which is a 2min 19sec long promo for the new Cinema 21:9 LCD TV.

A mixture of Heat, The Matrix and The Dark Knight - the short feature is filmed in one continuous tracking shot and offers an exploration into the world of movies being made for the cinema screen through the eyes of the director and the special effects and lighting experts. During playback of the movie [at www.philips.co.uk/cinema], users have interactive touch points in which they can access additional content and feature demonstrations.

Video link

Check out the 'making of' video here

Copy: We are animals - Wrangler

At least that's what the judges at Cannes felt and then handed the agency that made it, a Cannes Grand Prix statue for their trouble.

We had all but forgotten that there's a jeans brand that goes by the name Wrangler. We may even have owned a pair when we were ten. Throw in a dolphin-print lilo and pool noodle and you probably could have taken the same picture back then. Edgy.

Check out all the Grand Prix category winners here.

In between watching Schalk Burger trying to claim a Lion player's eyeballs as souvenirs and gawking mouth-open at Mphela firing a rocket past Brazil from halfway over the weekend, we were amazed at the Michael Jackson tribute ads Musica were already flighting and the speed at which they were able to put that all together. Apparently even here in SA Michael Jackson's 'number ones' is top of the charts, edging out 'Bliksem dis koud Winter Sokkie Treffers' and the new Black Eyed Peas album. [thanks Nadia]

Check out the Michael Jackson TVC right here

Best pic we could get with the sun shining into the lens of a cameraphone, but the MTN 2010 'building-wrap' just outside Woodbridge Island looks impressive.

It's perhaps not as dramatic as a version done for Adidas during Germany 2006, but it's early days and things are still just warming up.

It also kinda helps that every radio station on the planet is playing your music and everyone hearing it is going 'Oh yeah, that's a wicked tune - I remember dancing and snogging Betty at the school disco thanks to that tune. What a laugh. Good times...snigger snigger. Lemme get that one for the ol' collection'.

Gizmodo has a nice piece on the 'Secret of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" forward leaning move'. The gravity defying stunt is at 07:15 on the clip. From music, to the dance moves to the fashion - the MJ brand was built on innovation.

Sad.

A marketing idea that saves money, adds value, saves the planet, helps you drive better, wins an award and all neatly packaged in a simple USB drive. Excellent.

More

Winning a Grand Prix at Cannes is pretty big. It's like winning the Rugby World Cup and getting to drink Absinthe with Barack Obama, Susan Boyle and The Stig in the changeroom afterwards. Not much comes close to it in the ad world.

TBWA Hunt Lascaris also won a Grand Prix in the outdoor category for the banknote billboard which was created for The Zimbabwean.

Great accolades for the South African creative industry. Nice one!

More: Zimbabwean newspaper campaign turns worthless banknotes into gold - Guardian

NET#WORK BBDO SAYS:  “YES WE ‘CANNES’ AGAIN”

Net#work BBDO has scooped its second Cannes Grand Prix.  It was announced at the 56th Cannes Advertising Awards last night (23 June) that its radio campaign for Virgin Atlantic Airways, called ‘Plain Insanity’, is the best in the world.

This comes in the wake of the Grand Prix that was awarded to them in 2007 for their unique solar panel billboard for Nedbank. This was the first ever outdoor Cannes Grand Prix for South Africa.

The two Grand Prix means they are the only advertising agency to bring such creative recognition to our shores.

Net#work Executive Creative Director, Rob McLennan, was in Cannes to proudly walk onto the world stage, which he described as indescribable.  “The magnitude of winning a global award is hard to comprehend.”

22 652 entries from 86 countries were received this year. Half way into the competition and South Africa has already received two of the most coveted annual advertising accolades so far. McLennan says the other Grand Prix win by TBWA, in the outdoor category for The Zimbabwean Newspaper, has elevated the South African advertising industry to new heights.

Chief Creative Officer Mike Schalit says he is really proud of the consistency of the work across all mediums. “One Cannes Grand Prix was an overwhelming accolade for us and now another one two years later ... and its SA’s first for radio. I guess our healthy paranoia every day about how fresh, how original and how relevant the work needs to be for our clients has paid dividends. Viva creativity. Viva consistency. Viva to the next generation of Net#workers who are steering us through even fresher waters.”

“It’s getting harder to get acknowledgement for radio through all the new media clutter,” says McLennan. “These days it is not often this medium delivers a message that cuts through, entertains, endears and adheres itself to the consumer.”

 He says, “I was in the fortunate position to chat to the President of the Jury and other jurors. They said it was a clear winner right from early on in the voting process. The competition is fierce, so this makes me feel especially proud to bring this statue home to put on our mantelpiece.”

The woman who brought us the designer swine flu masks is at it again. This time she's producing a line of unemployment attire and trinkets which make you feel better about being laid off.

Who says that the economic slowdown should be a time for profit. Apparently the creator, Irina Blok, is an unemployed art director herself who is still struggling to find a job.

[via Josh Spear]

This remarkable advertising innovation was spotted last week in the traffic in Pretoria. On a day like today in Cape Town - there would be little chance of surviving a bike ride with a small nuclear-powered, electronic sign strapped to your back. But tough times call for tough men.
[thanks Tasos]

On Wednesday 8 July 2009 Cherryflava will host an experiential marketing workshop in Cape Town called SECOND BASE - Less talk, more touchy-feely.
The workshop brings together some of Cape Town’s most creative and progressive young entrepreneurs in a unique marketing workshop designed to not just talk about new media tools that are radically changing the marketing landscape, but to learn how to effectively use them in an afternoon of hands-on, rapid prototyping.

It's a must-attend event for marketers, creative professionals, entrepreneurs and strategists keen to gain insight into new media trends and how to really use the tools to drive sales and create a more complete brand experience.
Tickets to the conference are once again limited. Only 30 are available for purchase.

The presenter / facilitator line-up includes:

Mike Ratcliffe [Warwick Wines] - How Warwick touches people.
Andrew Smith [Live Alchemy] - How to use the Internet to create a brand experience that’ll keep them coming back for more.
Gareth Cotten [Chariot Group] - Stop collecting ideas on your fridge, put them to work in under 2 hours.
Nikki Friedman [bigwordsscareme] - New media tools are useless without a sticky story.
Jonathan Cherry [Cherryflava] - How to put a ‘try me’ button on products other than Barney.

This unique workshop can’t be missed.

When: Wednesday 8 July 2009
Where: The Venue, Grand Daddy Hotel Cape Town CBD
Time: 1:00pm - 5:30pm

NB: Places are limited, only 30 tickets available

Price: R950 per ticket

To book your seat: E-mail Jon Cherry - jon@cherryflava.com
Bookings close: 2 July 2009 [no tickets to be sold after this date]

Here's another link to the episode.

Elegant balance, soft tannins, striking label - it all sounds like an obvious product endorsement, but we were blown away by a bottle of Tamboerskloof Syrah 2005 at lunch this afternoon.
Now you wouldn't think that a Hungry Lion burger and this peach would blend well, but rest assured - whether it's Carne or KFC, it's the business.
Tastes like pouring room-temperature Lindt chocolate with a hint of white pepper down your throat. Throw in a medium-rare steak and a side salad and you've got a Bon Jovi concert in your mouth.
Yummy dot com.

Last week's winner: Ken Block Gymkhana

[via]