Ok, so Twitter might actually be useful. 2gether08 in WC1

2gether08.jpg 

I have in the past been rather down on the whole Twitter malarky, '...little more than passing notes in class..' I believe I wrote, however due to work pressures** I am having to skip this weeks excellent 2gether08 ideas conference. But lo! i shall not miss the ball, as I am actually following the whole thing via Twitter in real time and then cross referencing to the speakers and /or blog comments mean i can pretty much keep abreast of some of the great thinking featured. NOT a convert to Twitter - just a grateful user! (neat how-to Twitter HERE) Thanks to David willcox.

** second client in a year to go into admistration, glory be, we've really upset the gods this week. 

am I missing something? Pimms Vs Club 18 - 30.



The current Pimms ad appears to be just a poor copy of the famous Saatchi's club 18 - 30 786072-1687633-thumbnail.jpg campaign or have I missed something? The Pimms ad shows a nudist beach (just in case we missed this there is a sign in the background 'Naturist Beach') everyones rude bits are then covered up by objects in frame. Only its not as subtle or funny as the Club 18-30 version, what's going on? -is it some kind of in joke?

Very poor intergration it would appear. Really does not seem to hang together with the rest of the Pimms campaign featuring a festival bus and online sunshine spotter.

ScribeFire

mmm this could be good. Trying out the 'publish-to-all' Firefox extension ScribeFire.

Write to as many blogs as you care via the Firefox window you are in. 

Only issue at present is i can't find the spell checker, which with my abilities is quite an issue.

(after test) Whoooa. look below! some weird clash going on with the 'copy and paste' function. Either that or i'm being a real plonker. Still a neat idea to streamline blogging.

Spineless Heinz?

todays Brand Republic

Gaydar Radio joins call for Heinz boycott

by Nikki Sandison Brand Republic 25-Jun-08, 14:10

LONDON - Gaydar Radio is following in the footsteps of gay rights group Stonewall by calling for a global boycott of all Heinz products in protest against the withdrawal of its Deli Mayo ad, which showed two men kissing.

Nothing like a bit of man on man action to get everyone worked up. The ad is an eye catcher, really quite harmless and a succesful way to get consumers to reconsider a ho hum FMCG product.

MFC08 the follow up (late as ever)

masthead.jpg
One of the problems with racing from one project to another is you often leave a few loose ends. Nico Macdonald (pulled MFC08 together and acted as genial host) has encouraged me to place links to my slides and images etc. My SLIDES here (also on slideshare) Flickr set HERE, Me in action HERE, Great bit on 'free' web from Alan Patrick at BroadsightHERE. More notes HERE.

Two points from the conference still on my mind.

1. The non-liberating effect of technology  in communications. In other words the lack of mass availability, understanding or affordability rather than what any box or service can actually do.

2. Why do at least three speakers at every technology conference talk about their kids using DVD players?

Media Futures Conference 2008

twittehrscreen.jpgBBC event at Ally Pally.


Odd multi tasking audience. -final session under way.
People here are on Twitter (passing notes in class) some posting to flickr (hand drawn sign 'this is dull') others blogging including video streaming from each talk.
Which gives me the overall impression no one is actually listening to any of the speakers.
My Talk went ok, short round of applause, a bunch of questions and 14 minutes later I was off. -good experience all in all, including some one passing me a note to say i was the best dressed person here (stuff the technology feel the cloth)

Will i finally buy an iphone?

Brand image? = Apple still feels brand warmth. This despite a slight prickly sensation on seeing so may new Apple stores opening, like THIS.

Fragile? = Will i break it? oh most certainly (x3 Blackberrys this year) At least i recognised my faults and did not buy a Mac Air opting for a black MacBook instead and a very padded bag.

Usability? = Maps. end of story

O2 18 month contract? = Anything is better than T-Mobile,  - coverage in deepest darkest Clapham? zero! 

Battery Life? = I'm a long time Mac user, I know the score by now.

Scratched screen? = I like worn, stickered technology and keeping my phone in a fluff and coin filled pocket

Camera? = If it works in the pub that's all that matters.

Art doesn't become Ad

mapface.jpg

As a follow up to the story about new 'art' ideas being copied for commercial gain. This, about Swedish artist Erik Nordenankar's global GPS drawing being a fake is funny. Here is a brand that resolutely failed to take advantage of a young artist.

Erik had claimed that with the help of DHL, a GPS tracker inside a case, he had 'drawn' a picture of himself across the globe. A really top idea and one supported by some great evidence; cool Youtube videos, stills from the Stockholm DHL office and lots of notes. Trouble was as rather a lot of bloggers pointed out - there were some pretty basic flaws in both his route shown and technology used.

But why fake it??? This could have been such a fantastic advertisement for DHL! why the heck did they not jump at the chance of making this young artists dream a reality? Erik appears to have simply been told by the Swedish DHL office to keep his video & photos within the confines of his art school. - not heard of YouTube chaps?

DHL have the technology, man power and time to have done this for real. Why would they let this just leak out onto the web? Now the story is doing the rounds, any attempt to actually do it and prove how worldclass your logistics really are will simple be a damp squib. A really shame. (This site is a neat example of what individuals can do- Theworldismycanvas)

Artist = Great idea, poor finishing 

Brand = Lack of imagination, missed a sitter 

Great little film

Just to prove some people have way to much time on there hands. This fantastically watchable clip was highlighted on Brand Republic today. Called MUTO by the artist Blu. The point being not just its a great bit of work. But opening up the debate as to which agency would be first out the blocks to copy it for an ad.  A fun cynical comment for sure. However that is the point of all new ideas starting small and then flowing out into the mainstream to be updated, amended, improved upon and finally destroyed by over familiarity.

 

 

Scam emails find a home.

One of life's little chores each morning is to delete all the spam emails from your inbox. I have been collating the most humorously bad or just plain inept for a web site called 'You Have Won'.

The counter thought of course is that no one would bother sending these unless in some small way they worked. Which of course begs the question, who??? who falls for this kind of scam? Can any sane person not see that sending bank details or worse $250 in response to a badly worded email will not result in a bad situation.

Since doing this I have been shown a whole bunch of other sites doing the same thing, including a few that go on the attack and scam the scammers (now can't find links -typical)

golddigga, Bebo and a very pink car

Q7_in_pink.jpgAs well as spending far too long on Bebo tracking our golddigga campaign. last week saw the launch of the first golddigga/Bebo branded car. (there is another bigger monster coming in the autumn) This very pink Q7 hit the Radio1 Big Weekend In Maidstone at the weekend. Luckily (!) I am one of the insured drivers on the thing and am looking forward to my turn behind the wheel. Fiona at t7F London was stopped by The Highway Patrol when she was driving it down, the patrolman commenting '..what a fantastic vehicle you have...'  going on to say it was normally only crappy first drives that normally get the pink treatment.

Cans Festival Waterloo

786072-1552027-thumbnail.jpgMy favorite piece of street art at this stencil fest was the Scalextric track snaking up the pavement. My Flickr set HERE. (loads of other Flickr users have uploaded as well.)

Out-sized Scalextric cars were also seen using the double yellow lines as pick-ups. There was one huge new Banksy image in the middle of the tunnel exhibition space. This was quite symbolic of the mans image/brand that pervaded the whole event - certainly most of the visitor comments i overheard were concerning capturing this image on there camera phones. Quite a weird experiance being at an exhibition where at least 80% of those viewing were doing so via a view finder.

Retail is not boring! (neither are the Dutch)

It must be said most retail stores web sites are pretty pony. While some like IKEA do interest most are dull at best. This site for Dutch retailer HEMA is inspired. It really rewards the wait for the whole thing to load. My current fav pure retail site is the online only Mydeco the work of very talented communicators. I spoke last week to a group of representatives of shopping centers across the UK. I was trying to enthuse them into the idea of making there online advertising more engaging. Part of the presentation HERE.

Hug My Dog


OOh go on, you know you want to. We launched a fab set of sites today for our client Merial.

Hug Your Dog
Hug Your Cat

Its all a bit of a cute overload - as well as being rather a neat way to talk about a dull subject (flea and tick prevention)
We based the whole thing on doing the one thing you can't do if you don't look after your pets coat - give it a great big hug.
We Added a photo competition and other links for stickiness. The photo gallery features the puppy that I'm thinking of getting (my first ever dog!)

TV spot what I wrote

Finally a whole year after we shot it my Fresh and Green commercial is on air. The brand is having a big push at the Natural & Organic show at Olympia this week as well.

The very lush look of the Fresh and Green TV spot is all down to Suzie Halewood. A very top lady who came with both an amazing camera team and lighting guys. She has just finished a feature called Bigga Than Ben starring Ben Barnes** and Andrei Chadov. A jolly tale of how to rip off London. Based on the infamous book of the same name.

** = Yes Prince Caspian himself. Loads more stuff here