(untitled) digital creative blog

Roll Baby roll

alex — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:04:00 +0100

Ten years after their byebye baby campaign, Evian is back with a new concept: dancing babies. You might have already seen these teasing videos for the new Evian Live Young Campaign starring the Moon Walk and the Break Dance babies. Here is a little reminder.

Very recently, the brand has finally broadcasted their ad: babies dancing on roller skates. Brilliant! Kids are growing so fast these days…

Life is better in slow motion

Dudley — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:44:00 +0100

Why is it that everything that is in slow motion (especially things exploding) looks so much better, maybe this is how we should live our lives but then we'd probably not get anywhere. I just got sent through this video from a friend of amazingly coloured paint balloons exploding on the blue man group's faces, check it out:

Also check out this amazing footage of a bullet being shot through different objects, its so eye catching which is why it works so well as an anti-gun advert. Then just for a ilttle bit of fun check out this schweppes advert which proves life is better in slow motion!

French customers will stick to Coke

alex — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:38:00 +0100

As I was surfing through websites looking for a crunchy post for our blog, I came across a new experiential marketing concept developed by a French agency called Marcel for the Coca Cola brand.

In order to promote their “new” packaging ‘Grip and Go’, they have displayed ads made from velcro on bus shelters all around Paris to prove that their bottles really stay in your hand.

A hidden camera has filmed a few people and their reactions, take a look.

careerplayer

Rob — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:52:00 +0100

Whilst we love working with big brands, there’s definitely something exciting about working with a start-up and a great idea. CareerPlayer is just that.

Aimed at graduates, CareerPlayer gives the user a unique opportunity to see industry professionals talking openly about their respective positions, and how best to break into their industries.

The site includes tips, advice and job profiles all delivered through our custom video platform, which allows you to interrogate the business experts and easily jump up, down and horizontally through the site’s content.

Producing the site has been a great challenge for the team; strategically we’ve loved being involved in the positioning of the service and all things digital, from initial site architecture through to user profiling and longer-term strategy.

Creatively, we have had the pleasure of working with a company in its infancy, so have had the opportunity to shape the brand and create its online identity.

The tech team have developed to their heart’s content, fully integrating with our “tent” CMS solution, introducing specialist hosting partners and a global content delivery network and generally combining the best technologies to deliver an awesome experience.

There’s more to come too; we’re particularly excited by the psychometric tests that deliver video results rather than usual text babble - A world first we think.

We’ll keep you posted.

Do not cross the line

Atri — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:40:00 +0100

I have just found this amazing concept to keep bicycle riders around the city safe at night. The light fixture is attached to the bike and shines 2 lines of light along the side of the bike effectively creating your very own cycle lane. To me there is no doubt the laser lights are giving cyclists a bit more confidence at night. It’s like shouting at drivers DO NOT CROSS THE LINE. According to LightLane's website it was originally created for a design competition to promote commuting by bicycle. Although the concept did not win the response was overwhelming, encouraging the inventors to continue development.

Fact zone - stats of the month

Rob — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:42:00 +0100

For those of you who don't receive our monthly newsletter, I though I'd pop our three stats of the month up...

How big?

As it reaches 500bn gigabytes, the world's digital content is equivalent to a stack of books stretching from Earth to Pluto 10 times.

Find out more at the Guardian.

No, Really!

The English language GSCE will now teach students how to use social networking sites.

How the world learned about Michael Jackson’s death

Atri — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:25:00 +0100

After the effect the internet has had on the Iranian movement we have another fact proving the power of the internet and social networking.

Even when the first reports came out on mainstream news sites such as Sky News that Jackson may have died they were only sourcing this from the gossip website TMZ which had reported the death a whole hour before anyone else.

GoogleNews said on Thursday its search engine received so many search queries about Michael Jackson’s death that as a result users saw a “we are sorry” page before being shown the actual article. This was In fact due to Google mistaking the surge in searches for an automated attack. To give you a sense of the traffic just have a look at the graph below.

It was also reported by the twitter tracking tool Twist that around the time of Michael Jackson’s death 22.61% of tweets contained the word ‘Michael Jackson’. Pete Cashmore from Mashable also reported that ‘MJ’ accounted for 9% of tweets, ‘Michael’ for 25%, which in total meant around 30% of tweets were about Jackson’s death (but even this was likely to be an underestimate).

The traffic was so huge that twitter even crashed leading illustrator Raul Orozco to create the dedication image at the top of this post, which is based on the fail whale image that appears when twitter is down.

It’s amazing how in only a few minutes, people found out about Jackson’s death through social networking sites instead of official news channels and websites. All that is left to say is RIP Michael Jackson, you will be missed.

United for freedom

Atri — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:09:00 +0100

I just came across this Snickers commercial, which was made 2 years ago but seems relevant today but for completely different reasons.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m Iranian and that this could in some awkward way symbolise the green movement in Iran (the symbol of unity and hope for the future) but I really love it.

I will never forget how people around the world started supporting Iranian people, especially here in London when I saw people wearing green armbands and ribbons. So many people tried to help in so many different ways. For example on June 24th Iranian Superstar Andy Madadian went into an LA recording studio with Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and American record producers Don Was and John Shanks to record a musical message of worldwide solidarity with the people of Iran.

The lovely Joan Baez also sang her famous song ‘We shall overcome’ part in Farsi.

However, most importantly for me is the amazing (untitled) london guys who put a green ribbon on their twitter account (like thousands of others) which brought tears to my eyes. News from Iran has only been able to get out through social networking sites such as twitter and facebook and the internet became the front line of the movement (shoulder to shoulder with demonstrators inside Iran) and every individual became a reporter.

Maybe this post is the best opportunity to thank you all. Thank you a million times. I will never forget.

Sea Dog's Doodle of the Week

Kieron — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:30:00 +0100

Who’s in for a giant darts game?

Alexandra — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:20:00 +0100

A Canadian town has been victim of a dart attacks as yellowpages.ca promoted its new website. Giant arrows were placed on restaurants, shops and commercial cars to represent the online search engine as ‘fast’ and ‘targeted’. Yellowpages had three main goals for this campaign: increase usage, create buzz for the brand/service and excite current retail customers. The challenge: demonstrate this in a dramatic, relevant way.

This campaign has also been backed up by a series of television adverts in which a giant yellow dart crashses down unexpectedly in everyday situations.

What’s next? The promotion of the whitepages.ca?

Ade's project of the month...

Adrian — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:59:00 +0100

For me it has to be the re-launch of Ukash, they’re one of my main clients after all!

It’s great to get so involved in a client’s business and its stakeholders. It’s that type of relationship that allows us to develop with the client and ultimately to deliver the best results.

Since our appointment in 2008, we’ve worked across a variety of projects – brand evolution, character development, global site re-launch, CMS solution, display advertising, microsites, email marketing, even a TV advertisement - I think we may able to use the “integrated agency” badge without cringing!

Of all the work, the website is the perhaps my favourite (and biggest!) Ukash project to date – a fully reviewed strategy, redesign and development, deployed in 7 languages and 20 countries and all globally managed though our “tent” CMS.

We’ve introduced a unique 4-stage registration process that facilitates a targeted and automated eCRM strategy. Once registered, users enter MyUkash, a fully customisable user interface with targeted news and offers.

There are dynamic FAQ’s, Ask Ukash functionality, search, focused category landing pages, advanced shopping directory, clear user journeys supported by directional signposting, social bookmarking, RSS and combined technologies – resulting in a memorable experience and a site that delivers real results.

Talking of results, we enjoy delivering beyond expectations and ensure ROI is built into the fabric of any campaign. With Ukash we’ve even surprised ourselves - a growth in registrations of over 200%, a doubling of time on site and a 40% increase in overall traffic!

Checkout out the feature on NMA or visit Ukash.

The Hop Farm Festival

Rick — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:14:00 +0100

With the Hop Farm Festival fast approaching, our lovely artwork is spreading like wildfire across the capital. Look carefully and you will see our beautifully illustrated advertising adorning a flock of double-decker busses, billboards, bus shelters and in the national press; including the Metro, Times, Guardian, NME and a whole raft of other publications.

Have you spotted it yet?

Not forgetting the web, www.hopfarmfestival.com has been our focal point, featuring all of the gorgeous illustrations, with each area of the website showing off a different aspect of the festival.

We’ve made sure the social communities are involved too, and supported this with a blog and forum that continues the personality of the site and lets users interact and know the latest news from inside Hop Farm HQ.

You may not know it, but behind the scenes of this tasty flash site sits our robust “tent” CMS to ensure the Hop Farm site is always up to date.

The website brings this all together to deliver an exciting user experience. Perfect we feel to get across the "no sponsorship, no branding" message of Hop Farm - and of course have the masses swarming to Kent this summer. See you there!

Oceans 14

Kieron — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:50:00 +0100

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts etc were not at the Sydney aquarium recently, but I was. Broke out the old camera again, Look there's a shark! and another one! Check the pictures out here...

It's all Buzz baby

Claire — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:46:00 +0100

Dudley'll be loving this. With Toy Story 3 on the horizon, Buzz lightyear has arrived to "claim his rightful place at the top of the robot-based-on-Disney-cjaracter heap." With clever facial animations, spangly moves and catch-phrases, there've been some new developments to make this toy even more er.. buzzing. He responds to a few voice commands, can play a laser tag with a remote (included) and has 'puppeteering programming' which means you can make him pose for your own animations. Also if you tell him he's just a toy he can suffer an identity crisis. Seriously, is this made for kids or 20+-something men? (and women, yes)

iPhones responsible for yet more silly youtube videos

Claire — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:28:00 +0100

Youtube video uploads are up 400 percent thanks to the launch of the iPhone 3GS. With an overall growth of 1700 percent in the last 6 months, the head chiefs say that the phone's release - more specifically, new video-enabled phones on the market - are responsible for this. It's easier to take a video, easier to upload and share the videos, and now with improved handsets the picture quality's better too.

So does this mean an improved wealth of entertainment and intellectuality? Based on this, I'd say no - although it's some good product testing.

Like this one, where iPhone meets Mr Swimming Pool...

Mass Moonwalk at 6pm?

Claire — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:09:00 +0100

Michael Jackson's death last night flooded the Internet. News came first via gossip website TMZ and then spread unusprisingly to twitter. At 11.30pm last night least 30% of Tweets involved the topic of Michael Jackson.

During this time the TMZ website crashed from the surge of users, as did celebrity gossip site PerezHilton.com and twitter was frequently over capacity, struggling to fully load profile style sheets.

Social media trumped traditional print media with many early editions of newspapers missing the headline, such as the Independent, The Guardian, the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and Metro.

A topical satirical message came across the internet airwaves, relating to the recent Habitat Marketing embarassment.

"Very sad about Michael Jackson. HABITAT - for all your furniture needs - habitat.co.uk."

A more interesting idea came from twitterer @robmanuel who said: "If I claimed there was a mass moonwalk being organised for 6pm at Liverpool Street Station would anyone believe me?"

The idea of a moonwalking flashmob is remeniscent of a similar stunt held by T-mobile earlier this year which saw actors and some eager passers-by dance around the station to music from the announcement speakers.

Using the twitter search, it's possible the see how many re-tweets (how many users have passed this on) there have been. In half an hour there's been 60 re-tweets and growing. Will we see mass moonwalking at Liverpool Street at 6pm today? Might have to head down with some shiny shoes and find out.

Macbook Transformer

Claire — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:21:00 +0100

Really nice use of CG here from a big transformers fan. A french man's busily working on his Macbook which suddenly decides to start transforming. Very nicely done.

via: newlaunches.com

Burger King creates pun storm in Media.

Claire — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:05:00 +0100

Burger King have just brought out this pervy little ad to Singapore (at the moment). The newspapers had a field say making up headlines such as "Burger King blows its advertising wad" and so on. Enlightening.

It's not the only sex-related ad Burger King have brought out in the past. One starred Pieras Morgan with very few clothes in an effort to smell a cologne that smells like meat.

Is it working?

(untitled) pool league

Dudley — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:02:00 +0100

Since getting Freddie (the football table) the pool table has been forgotten, so much so that I can’t even remember his name...and yes we do have names for inanimate objects around the studio. So that is why (thanks to a suggestion from Claire, our blogger/tweeter extraordinaire) we now have an (untitled) pool league and an amazing* post-it note extravaganza scoreboard! We'll post some pics when we actually get playing and when we ge some scores on the scoreboard.

*it might not actually be so amazing as post it notes don’t appear to like hot weather

Sea Dog's Doodle of the Week

Kieron — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:56:00 +0100