Laaaaaadies and Gentlemaaaaan. In the red corner we have the trusted, seasoned veteran donning a familiar glossy blue gradient and compact rainbow array. And in the green corner, his nemesis – the all-enclosed, equally shiny new kid on the dock…  in a thinning black and blue number… the already bruised and BETA’d iTunes 10.0 logoooooooooooo!  Let’s get ready to rummmbllllllllllle.

Wired subscribers last week enjoyed this bout between ValuLeads Director Joshua Kopac and Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Kopac: Enjoyed the presentation today. But… this new iTunes logo really sucks. You’re taking 10+ years of instant product recognition and replacing it with an unknown. Let’s both cross our fingers on this…

Jobs: We disagree. Sent from my iPhone

Jobs’ defensive repartee was underpinned by the iTunes10icon twitter account which tweeted “Everyone’s so quick to judge me. I don’t judge you and that sh!tty, hipster music you listen to” on the same day. I discovered the tweet via a retweet from vector Queen Jessica Hische (who I encourage to design an alternative).

I confess. I’m an iTunes evangelist whose retinas mirror the iconic two beamed quavers and compact disc icon of yesteryear. There. I said it. Compact discs are yore. Jobs said in his keynote address this was the reason for the logo redesign. Sure, depicting digital media like MP3 graphically isn’t easy, but I’m not convinced a nebulous blue orb is a worthy successor.

It’s hard to fathom a logo has sparked so much fracas in 4 days. Alternatives are sprouting and I’m sure they’ll pose no consternation to Steve Jobs who undoubtedly has his response to these aspiring Apple iconographers locked and loaded. Sorry Mr Jobs. Although the new logo compresses more gracefully and lends itself to more environments than its predecessor, I think it’s too vague to deliver the killer blow. I’m afraid it’s a TKO to the icon in the red corner.

Derek Orr is an Interactive Designer at BCM

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Sunday was Fathers Day. Instead of waking to the usual ’sock and jock fest’, my kids presented me with an iPad. I was mightily impressed. Everyone gathered around and oohed and aahed on cue. Everyone was similarly in awe with the app store’s offering. And why wouldn’t they be? 250,000 apps and counting.

There has been stacks written about the iPad. Rupert Murdoch calls such devices a game changer for the publishing industry. Detractors though say it’s a toy, nothing more than an unwieldy, heavy smartphone without call capability.

What you can’t argue with though is its compelling multimedia capability and attractive user interface, making it a great personal device to read books, listen to music and watch video and movies. All good stuff. But if that’s all it does, then at this stage at least, it becomes a nice to have tool for early adopters and not much more.

Which brings me to the point of this blog. I’ve decided to to give the iPad a serious workout to see how it measures up as not only a leisure-related media device but as a business tool. My current Dell laptop is being given a rest for the next 4 weeks. For 28 days, as much as is possible (and practical) I will use the iPad.

So far it appears to be pretty good. Big ticks for its portability and touchscreen keyboard. And for the ability to meaningfully receive and respond to email. Also the RSS reader app (I’m using Pulse – said to be one of Steve Jobs’ favourites) is brilliant.

Gripes so far?

1. No USB port
2. No talkies with the Microsoft Office suite (a real problem if people send you Word or Excel files)
3. All things Flash are no go
4. No inbuilt print capability

Having made these negative observations, things are changing and changing rapidly. There are apps for all kinds of things. Wireless printing being one (although the HP iPrint app I downloaded failed to deliver to expectation and seems to have a mind of its own).

Anyhow I’ll occasionally update you on my 28 day iPad journey. If you know of any apps or tricks that will make the ride smoother, please let me know.

Kevin Moreland is a Partner at BCM

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Google’s Claudia Karvan: actress, flasher and blasphemer. Six search results (out of nine) and one video highlighting one unfortunate moment at the Logies.

Why is Google so unkind?

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It feels like yesterday my parents brought home our first (and last) CCS/IBM compatible computer. Booting games via the command-line interface (CLI) seemed like a small price to pay knowing that I’d soon be King Graham in Sierra’s “King’s Quest 2 – Romancing the Throne.” How times have changed.

In quick time we’ve witnessed an interface evolution from the CLI to the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to the NUI (Natural User Interface). A NUI is an invisible user interface where users interact with the device with everyday movements: a swipe of a finger… a turn of a wheel. NUIs are controlled without a mouse or keyboard and they’re highly intuitive. The iPhone is a perfect example.

I remember the day I got my iPhone. I ripped it out of the hands of the salesperson and wielded Excalibur aloft as if the technological sword had been ripped from its stone. You can see King’s Quest had a profound impact on me. I digress.

We’ve all seen people navigate a photo gallery using an iPhone (or similar). Brace yourself. This touch screen technology isn’t Apple’s (in the same way the Moonwalk wasn’t Michael Jackson’s). I know – crazy right? Apple bought touch screen founders FingerWorks in 2005, where the technology was developed to assist people with physical impairments.

Another common NUI interaction mechanism is orientation detection, where an iPhone’s accelerometer rotates the interface between portrait and landscape view. Again, accelerometers or tilt sensors are nothing new. They’re found in most contemporary mobile phones and digital cameras. The iPhone 4 includes an additional sensor enhancing its perception of how it is moved. Snazzy.

Jacob Nielsen says “…current apps are far from user-experience nirvana.” My two-year-old son Henry begs to differ. I filmed him playing a few motion-sensitive mini-games on my iPhone to demonstrate how intuitive the iPhone NUI is. Henry’s no technological noob – his favourite two sites are YouTube for the endless Bob the Builder videos and Poisson Rouge for Flash games galore. Henry’s not a computer geek. He much prefers mowing the lawn with Dad and beating up playing with his little brother Austin.

First, Henry plays his favourite Dora (tilt movement) before trying more difficult games in Fruit Ninja (swipe action) and Asphalt 5. Please note: no Henrys were harmed in the making of this video.

So where to from here? With the “Thrilling potential of SixthSense technology” at our doorstep, Henry’s generation is set for a brave new world of interactive technology that promises much.

Derek Orr is an Interactive Designer at BCM

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Recently I came across a report from Millward Brown which attempted to answer this gazillion dollar question. And the answer isn’t black or white. It would appear that it depends upon a number of variables including the brand, its size, its maturity and position in the market.

In a nutshell though, campaigns work best (according to the Millward Brown study) when a combination of emotional and rational triggers are employed. Exclusive use of one technique over the other has its limitations.  In fact based on the report, which reviewed 330 campaigns globally, a dual rational and emotional appeal had the highest likelihood of achieving a sales effect.

So regardless of what you’ve got to say,  in this age of decreasing attention spans and increasing clutter, if you want your messages to work hard then don’t settle for one technique exclusively at the cost of another.

A recent example of getting the right balance of rational messaging and emotional appeal can be found in the campaign that we have just launched for Wotif.com. This campaign promotes a core rational benefit of saving 70% off hotel rooms, but it does it in a way which taps into the emotional promise of ‘a fun escape’. Take a look and tell us what you think (or feel!).

Kevin Moreland is a Partner at BCM

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Wotif you wanted to make an unequivocal statement about your core brand values and declare yourselves the nation’s leading merchants of travel-related fun?

You’d do what we just did for our beloved clients at Wotif.com. Produce a couple of TV commercials designed to grab eyeballs, get people smiling, create a stir, make no mistake about the brand we’re representing, and communicate Wotif’s impressive value offering in an original way.

How? First issue a warning about the fact that Wotif washes its hands of all responsibility for what guests do with the money they save on accommodation. And then, helpfully, show a couple of hotel guests lashing out and living it up, rock-star style.

I mean, if you’d saved 70% on the rack rate at a posh five star hotel – Palazzo Versace in this case – why the heck wouldn’t you spend it on a bit of outrageous holiday fun? Seems perfectly sane to order a jet ski and have it delivered to the hotel pool. Or to ring up room service and have them substitute the queen size bed in your suite, for one made entirely of jelly. And then proceed to dive into it. Because those two scenarios are exactly the ones that play out in these fun little spots. The technical challenges were considerable, but I’m not going to reveal how we surmounted them, because that’d spoil the fun.

As an added sweetener, you’d also enrol the singular voice of possibly the universe’s most well-travelled man: Tom Baker – the longest serving Doctor on the BBC’s legendary Doctor Who television series. (He of the curly mop and ludicrously long scarf). We chose him for the incredible power, timbre and presence of his voice, his talent for absurdity (you may also know him as the unhinged narrator of Little Britain) and because his accent transcends borders. Wotif is a major player in New Zealand and elsewhere too.

My torn abdominals are still recovering after the most side-splitting sound recording session I’ve ever had the pleasure of running. The 76 year old thespian is a wonderful madman who proceeded to stretch the audio technology to its limits with his powerful performance (there’s a series of radio ads to come as well) and regale us with his tales of romancing the ladies across six decades. He also did the chivalrous thing and requested a date with one of the female clients in attendance, despite being 12,000 miles away in London. Good show!

And after all that, we couldn’t possibly just sign off the TVC with a stock-standard logo on plain background. So we made it the centrepiece of a Vegas-style hotel sign, replete with neon and Jetsons-inspired arrows. Not for us the easy option of CGI. We actually made the sign out of wood and wire and chewing gum and bits of string and neon tubing and shot it for real.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The ads are 15 seconds each, so they’re short and sweet (with an appealing lemon-lime flavour) but they make their point decisively. And pretty memorably too. We hope you like them.

Andrew Bartlett is a Senior Writer at BCM

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It’s mid 2010 and I think I must almost be the last person on earth without a smart phone. The ol’ Nokia 5210 has been a trusty companion and I have seen no real need to let it go. Recently however, I thought it might be time to upgrade the reliable brick and grab something ’smarter’.

In following the crowd, I was about to head down to the shops and throw away a year’s salary on the new iPhone 4. I was stopped however, after talking to a colleague who had purchased the new Sony Experia. It’s a great looking phone and got me thinking – what’s so special about the iPhone anyway? I’ve always been an Apple enthusiast, I own shares in the company, and think their marketing and design is second to none. However, recent events have made me question their longevity.

A big threat to the iPhone is the Android platform developed by Google. What is Android? It’s an open source operating system that “controls” the phone or hardware, and it’s gaining momentum.

A year ago, Android represented just 1.8% of the total phone market with Apple at 13%. Recent data though  shows Android has surged ahead of Apple to 17.2%, with Apple’s iOS relatively stagnant at 14.2%. The list of hardware manufacturers carrying Android is also impressive (with brands including Acer, Dell, Garmin, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Phillips and Sony Ericsson) and combined, rivals the awesomeness of the iPhone.

So what are the advantages of the Android platform?

1. Freedom of choice
   With Apple, there is only the iPhone. Android gives you the choice of hundreds of devices – all with different features. For example, I prefer the shape and size of the Experia to the iPhone. There is simply no choice among Apple’s phones. Apple also often has exclusive deals with phone carriers – the idea of being locked into a 2 year phone contract has been a big deterrent for many.
2. Hardware
   Android is implemented across different hardware devices. For developers, this means software can be created to take advantage of a range of hardware qualities – not just those available on the iPhone. The advantage of this is apparent, with Sony reportedly working on what can be described as a cross between a Smartphone and PSP. Using Android, Sony is planning to “redefine gaming on Google’s mobile platform”. God of War in 3D on your phone…? Yes please.
3. The Google Brand
   Google’s services like maps, search and YouTube will be seamlessly integrated on Android devices. The 20% ‘free time’ for Google developers will also surely lead to some kick ass new products in the near future – all of which will be ported across to Android phones.
   
4. Independent of iTunes
   This has 2 advantages. Firstly, music and content will be DRM free. iTunes tracks the number of times you can burn and share content – Google Marketplace will not. Secondly, developers do not have to go through Apple for approval of their applications. While the iTunes approval process has reportedly become better, the notion of having to submit your project to “the man” for approval surely will turn off creative geniuses out there.

So I asked around – if all this is true, why do so many people buy an iPhone? “For the apps” was the common answer. It is true. The number of apps available on Google’s app market is about 70,000 compared to the 225,000 available on iTunes.

However, with all the advantages listed above, and with Android devices now outselling iPhones, surely developers will continue to create apps for Android devices. Also, while Apple got the early lead in terms of hardware, the combined R&D of the manufacturers listed above will eventually match and supersede those of the iPhone.

What do you think? Is Apple reaching the end of world dominance in this category, or are they just getting started?

Michael Gray is an Interactive Producer at BCM

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I came across a small media story regarding American Airlines’ new economy ticket variant. If you pay a $20 surcharge you get a seat in the first 2 or 3 rows. Same seat, same service, same legroom just up the front for a quick getaway. A “pay as you jump,” queue jumping special.

That got me thinking about $2.50 extra internet movie ticket bookings that let you glide in on the “red carpet” line while the poor people queue up and watch you go by.

And for approximately 5 pounds, Luton, Leeds, Liverpool and Bristol airports offer you a special, high speed security check queue that has you straight past the ordinary people. Heathrow and Gatwick are reported to be salivating at the thought.

A number of American fun parks, led by Universal Studios, sell an “Express Pass” that gets you straight onto rides for which the poverty stricken may queue for over an hour.

There is even a “Jump to the front” ticket to go up New York’s Empire State Building.

More examples welcome.

Standing in line is by no means innate human behaviour. The base model behaviour is the Scrum, one’s ability to Push, Pull, Maim and Slaughter (PPM&S) is the basic success model.

It would not be Politically Correct to name any nation or ethnic PPM&S group but suffice it to say that the Chinese government’s propaganda machine is reported to have given extensive lessons on public behaviour, including how to line up, before the ‘08 Beijing games.

Nobody knows who “invented” queuing. Obviously the British claim the honour but so does the McDonald’s Hong Kong store that opened to a nasty, lusting scrum and had to quickly invent the queue.

There are subtle variations to the basic queue such as the tree formation whereby branches form off the trunk queue and start pushing in from the sides. Tree queues have been known to turn nasty.

But finally I get to my point. As people become richer and more time poor, the free market starts to challenge civilised behaviour.

Pay more and wait less. People are treated as consumers and therefore unequal. Those who can pay more are served, fed, loaded – whatever – before those who can’t.

The big question, then, is whether we are headed back to the original scrum configuration but with wealth being the success determinant rather than brute strength.

Deep stuff man.

Bill Bristow is a Partner at BCM

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Would Abbott or Gillard develop the most powerful brand? Who would make the deepest connections and provide the most compelling ‘reasons to purchase’?

Well, Saturday night’s result clearly revealed that neither came close.

Mr Abbott revealed his brand essence on last Monday’s Q&A program on the ABC when he replied to a question on “what was the one thing he stood for?”. His answer: “a more competent government”. Pretty uninspiring stuff.

And Ms Gillard not only failed to connect with voters on an emotional level, but she even failed to communicate any rational reasons to keep her in government.

Why? My view is that they completely misunderstood their objectives.

Both parties became so obsessed with each other that they forgot what to focus on. Their focus was on why their brand wasn’t quite as bad as the other.

So, it was like two big ticket consumer brands trying to convince you to buy their brand because it wasn’t nearly as bad as the other.

Just imagine a campaign for Bosch’s new dishwasher with the tagline ‘Not quite as bad as the new Dishlex’. It’s laughable. It would never happen.

Seasoned marketers know that when persuading consumers to connect with and ultimately buy their brand, customers are looking for meaningful differences – and distinctive brands make the decision easier. We’re overwhelmed with choice, so consumers reward marketers who simplify their life.

Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard’s objectives should have been to differentiate, to connect, to inspire, to persuade. Another point to make is that both parties tried to convince Australians to make a long term commitment to their brand on the back a 3-4 week tactical campaign.

Again, experienced marketers know that brand connections take so much longer than 3 weeks.

Great Wall Motors knew that they wouldn’t convince many people to buy their Chinese-built ute in the first 3 weeks of their campaign. It will take them years.

Now some may argue that the LNP and Labor aren’t new brands, so people were already very familiar with them. I agree. But brands need to reinvent. Even the superbrands like Apple, VW, Coke etc., have been through reinventions. They reinvent their product and their brand and then spend quite some time reconnecting with their prospects.

Regardless of how the numbers fall over the next week or so, it is clear that both the LNP and Labor need to completely reassess their business strategy. Get back to the fundamentals. How good is our product? Is it relevant? Does it reflect consumer needs? Will our offer ‘ring true’ coming from our brand? Does our product reflect our core competencies? Can we deliver on claims we make? What is our brand about? Is our brand competitively superior? Finally, how should we engage with our target?

Importantly, this needs to be considered over the next 3 years, not the last 3 weeks of the next election campaign.

If one party gets only half of this right then they’ll have the foundation for a successful tilt at a majority government.

So, what should each of the brands stand for ? What could their brand essence be?

Here’s my stab at it.

• Labor = Fair Go
• LNP = Nation Builder
• Greens = Protector

What would you do with the political brands? What’s your brand core for each of them?

Paul Cornwell is a Partner at BCM

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Welcome to the tale of the vaalia “It’s Hard to Hide When You’re Happy Inside” TVC. The basic idea was to build a ‘happy wall’ block by block with a time lapse visual aesthetic.

• 30 seconds
• 750 frames
• 154 blocks
• 9 featured cast
• 5 background extras
• 3 active cultures
• 36 hours in a special effects suite

Mix well… allow to set.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We hope it makes you smile a little.

Shane Ford is BCM’s Electronic Producer

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