It’s absolute Balloonacy

Orange and Poke have revived and revamped their award-winning campaign ‘Balloonacy’. I could write about how it is really-very-good, and is a sound creative application of technology and generates conversation and participation. But instead I’ve signed up as a race host and you can launch, prod and poke your balloons around my beautifully crafted words. Enjoy.

The Wilderness Downtown

Absolutely incredible use of HTML5 from Chris Milk and Arcade Fire. It’s engaging, it looks great and the track is also top notch (as is the rest of The Suburbs).

I highly suggest that you visit http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/ and check it out for yourselves. If not, just peruse the video below to get a feel for how inspiringly ground breaking this work is. If there was ever evidence that Flash is dying a slow and horrible death this is it.

Digital in the real world

I went, I saw, I conquered, and now I’m back. In fact I’ve been back for since September, and it’s only just dawned on me that tomorrow it will be November, and really I shouldn’t leave it 206 days between posts, it’s not acceptable, I know.

However, the more astute among you may have been following my trip around the globe, if not, you can still check out my epic journey by selecting a topic from the list on the right hand side of this page.

I’m back, and I’m back into the wonderful world of advertising. Whilst wondering around reacquainting myself with the beautiful city of London I noticed a couple of digital ‘things’. Brands are embracing digital, we know that, but now brands are using non-digital (or traditional) spaces to drive people to digital spaces. More obviously we have seen brands you the web to build conversations and ultimately drive sales, whether they be online sales, or sales in store. Now, we see the reverse, big retailers driving consumers on to the net (but not necessarily away from their store).

Nike Town Shop Front, Oxford Street

First up, Nike and Nike Town on Oxford Street. Nike have recently launched their top-notch Nike+ GPS running app for the iPhone, a nice addition to any users collection of apps. What we see here is Nike giving over prime store real estate to drive online sales of an application, but not a classic Nike product. This certainly tells us what many have postulated for some time, digital matters. The digital sphere is a perfect place for brands to create meaningful and unique conversations  with their consumers, without the boundaries imposed by traditional forms of media.

Other major retailers including Nike’s next door neighbour Topshop and mobile operator Orange are in on the act as well. Their shop front is adorned with calls to ‘follow’, ‘friend’ and ‘like’ their brand, using three films by visual artist Laurance Ellis. To be fair, Ellis’ films are stunning and they do a great job for Topshop. This intelligent use of retail space to drive consumers online allows brands to carry their interactions from their stores through to their online presence. I like things that integrate analogue and digital, real and virtual. Whether it be a delightful bit of tech, or a glorious integrated campaign, I don’t think it’s analogue vs. digital that we should be thinking about, but more of a ‘digilogue’ approach, conversations that are inherently digital but take place in reality as well as online. Good examples of which can be found here, and here, and here. IT IS GOOD.

And away we go…

So, the time has come to go and explore the world. I’ve put my career on hold for 5 months to travel across SE Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore), Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. As a result, all of my usual musings will be put on hold, the remainder of which can be found mixed in with all things foreign here.

So, until September,

Au Revoir

The sky is falling, YouTube is down

That’s right, YouTube is down, and as a result the global online population are fearing for their lives. Since the site has been down the term ‘Service Unavailable’ has rocketed up the trending terms on twitter, as well as Google search terms. Speculation that YouTube has crashed due to their dispute with Chinese officials is rife, and Tweeters all around the globe don’t know what to do with themselves. Let the digital pandaemonium ensue.

(Images courtesy of BB)

Seatbelts and Doves

Two things that have caught my eye of late are possibly two of the most ingenious things I’ve seen in any February, ever.

The first is an absolute cracking concept that has been brilliantly executed by the music boffins at ‘Black Cab Sessions’. The premise is pretty simple, use the time that bands spend in between a gig/recording session/eating/boozing to record a sublime track – in the back of a black cab. The artists aren’t nobodies either! The Maccabees, Mumford and Sons, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes and Badly Drawn Boy all feature, even Brian Wilson gives us a rendition of California Girls. But possibly the best four minutes and thirty-six seconds on there come from the most insanely talented indie-rockers from Wimslow, Doves. They serenade the cabbie with a rendition of ‘Kingdom of Rust’ from their latest album of the same name and I’d go as far as saying this BCS session is better than on the album, ‘it sounds dead tight’.

The second, and completely unrelated hyper-gem that someone at work unveiled was this new take on the ‘wear your seatbelt’ brand of ads. Moving away from the typical if-you-don’t-wear-your-seatbelt-you-will-die advertising that is commonly found in the majority of the governments ‘Think’ campaigns, the ‘Sussex Safer Roads Partnership’ has decided to take a more emotive route, and it works an absolute treat. This is ‘advertography’ (it feels like the end of an episode of Lost), beautifully shot, nice soundtrack, great message. Another ground-breaking aspect is that it speaks globally, not just to a tiny demographic of recently-passed teenage lads. In the words of MJ – this a “lover not a fighter” the ad moves away from supposed ‘shock-tactics’ and gleans a family-based emotional response from its audience. It’s beautiful. Watch it.

Jingle Bells goes digital

It’s Christmas and that means one thing – its a digital Christmas-card-off between agencies. This year has seen a wealth of digitally minded options from DLKW’s Live Snow Globe to Publicis’ leaked internal catastrophe “I’ve Got a Feeling”.

Amongst the crowd there has been one outstanding shining light of creative genius from the guys at Soup. Their online offering is based around the classic Christmas Bell-ringing tradition previously famed on The Generation Game, and by a host of German children. But put all your preconceptions behind you – bell-ringing is cool once more. Soup’s digital Christmas offering is powered by a Arduino Duemilanove micro-controller linked to eight individual locking motors which replace your bell-ringing hands, and rock the bells for you. All of this is linked to a front-end flash app for you to write and record your own Christmas jingles.

Once recorded your tune is placed on the play-list and you can sit back and watch the bells ring out your Christmas Concerto (or at least 20 seconds of it) via the live webcam stream. Ace!

Check out my musical virtuosity below. Give it a go yourself here.

Blind Keepie Uppies

EA Sports have launched their latest campaign along with Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam to promote the latest in the long line of FIFA video-games. The already successful franchise of games has truly reached its pinnacle with its latest offering FIFA 10, blowing rivals such as PES 2010 out of the water – or off the pitch. This latest viral sees the world’s best footballers don a blindfold with the aim of completing as many keepie uppies as they can.

Viewers are encouraged to give it a go themselves. As of yet I haven’t given it a go – I don’t think the office would appreciate me aimlessly booting a ball around smashing flowerpots as I go…watch this space.

The result? A nice viral campaign supported by the world’s greatest, and a YouTube Channel bound to ping around the internet quicker than a Cheryl Cole sextape.

Super; Super Busking

The Feeling - Super Busking in Covent Garden

Friday saw the return of the superbly Christmassy Super Busking in Covent Garden’s Market Building.The secret gigs took place at seemingly random times from 4th-14th December. This is busking with a difference, instead of your classic bearded guitarist at Baker St or the vivacious violinist at Victoria you have some high-flyers taking to the streets to serenade passers-by.

The gigs took place under the innovative new LED installation, which acts as a space-age equaliser. From The Saturdays to The Stereophonics, the Super Buskers wowed the crowds, and all for a good cause too – CRISIS – the charity for single homeless people.

The precise time of the super busking gigs were kept a secret until four hours before the acts are due to start, with fans receiving the gig times after they text Covent Garden for information. £1.24 from each text sent went to the Crisis charity.

Alas, the Super Buskers are now safely packed away for another year. Great campaign with great music for a life-changing charity – I’ve got that warm Christmas feeling already.

The Full Line-up:

The Feeling: Friday 4th December
Gabriella Climi: Saturday 5th December
Jamie Cullum: Wednesday 9th December
Ben’s Brother: Friday 11th December
Stereophonics: Monday 14th December

And a personal favourite: The Feeling- Sewn.

Radiohead: 15 Steps – 12 Cameras

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Radiohead went digital a while back with the release of In Rainbows online giving the fan the option of how much to pay (or not)-”it’s up to you”. This resulted in 1.2 million downloads before the album was officially released and put the band firmly on the digital map.

More recently Radiohead launched a collaboration with Japaense TV Station WOWOW, which allow you to create your own Radiohead:live video. The site allows you to edit together a live performance of ’15 Step’ from a choice of 12 colourful camera angles filmed live during their tour of Japan. The finished product includes a retina burning rainbow timeline indicating which clips you have selected during the song. You also have the option to export your recording to an online database along with budding editors which results in a pixelated ecstasy encompassing your screen. Check out my ‘cut’ below or give it a go here.

If you enjoy online audio-visual tomfoolery check out the video to happy-go-lucky Japanese popsters Sour’s 日々の音色 (Hibi no neiro) from the guys at BBH Labs. Nice bit of user-generated content, and despite thinking I was a bit of an editing god after my Radiohead excursion  I don’t envy the guys who edited this together. Enjoy.