Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Symphonia

This symphony ad from Vodafone New Zealand has a real feel good factor about it; I have no idea how they did it...or if it is truly for real to be honest but great nonetheless - 1000 handsets playing the 1812 overture? Wild!



I am not sure if an ad like this would really drive new subscriptions but the viral effect of over 300,000 views so far must have got some MMS messages sent just talking about it

Thursday, 22 October 2009

Google Phone...Really?

I just came off a call with one of our team in Malaysia. They are banging on about these HTC phones that run Google Android. Now we are hearing that Google are going to release their own phone. Seems like they have been testing with Motorola on the Droid (which is a pretty cool phone from a company that really needs a hit)

The interesting twist here is that the Google phone will sell through retailers and not carriers. Its buying an unlocked phone but having total control over the functionality. Unlocked phones don't come cheap - the carrier usually subsidises them (which is why you see so many students with the 'next' handset)

Without a carrier to subsidize the handset, how cheap could they make it without it looking like a piece of junk? Maybe that's where HTC come in?

Can Google really be looking to out-design Apple? Surely that's a step too far for the cash-rich brains in Mountainview?

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Tough Love from Fitness First

I really like this idea from Fitness First in the Netherlands; sure its scary, even humiliating but everything about it just feels right



Waiting at the bus stop and your weight lights up the street? Sure to hit the spot and increase membership at the local gym. Conceived by Dutch agency N=5, this is brilliant stuff!

Thursday, 15 October 2009

Cashing in....

It's Thursday night here in London and a friend of mine has just offered me half a bottle of sancerre for a 1.2% stake in Analytics Arbitrage. What a shrewd investment - it values this blog at over £2200!!

Any takers?

AppFarts

I don't have an iphone (yeah yeah, still on the BlackBerry, moved to new Curve) but the AppStore is a complete phenom.

Given my love of data visualisation this is a beautiful thing



I wonder how the BlackBerry / Palm Pre wall is doing?

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Miley raps not tweets

Miley Cyrus has deleted her twitter account, apparently the tabloids were printing her tweets



Damn, how are we going to keep up now? We won't know what she bought from Kitson? We won't know that she got pissed off with her new BFF and we won't know how much she loves her fans...awww

However, she has had over 1.5m views on You Tube - what's that worth?

Nike Innovation

We keep hearing our clients say 'you need to be more innovative'. However what is 'being innovative'?

When you dig into this, typically clients use the word 'creative' and 'innovative' interchangeably. Creativity is shrouded in mystery - who judges creativity? is it just different? However, most of the best innovations are the ones driven out of R&D, you go into the R&D dept and its stacked with people with first class analytical skills.

One of our clients Nike gives us this



I love this, and its not only the domain of the 'wacky' types...

Friday, 9 October 2009

What's next for mags?

So more and more marketing dollars are moving online. Print is an endangered species - the publishers have to wise up and find a new business model where all their content is moved online and offered for free. That's the mantra. Oh and while they are at it why don't they look at what happened in the music industry and take a few tips from napster and itunes?

But wait, the online world is difficult to navigate and extract the information you need. Maybe offline ads with web addresses are more likely to drive readers to advertiser websites. A quick search uncovered that in the travel sector, 286 ads with web addresses drove consumers to the website, versus 100 ads that did not include a URL. This means advertisers should always include a web URL because consumers can't be bothered take the time to search for a website, particularly in low intertest categories.

We have been working on how to connect the on and off line version of the consumer journey (all help gratefully received). I also love magazines like GQ and increasingly free sheet Shortlist. I would suggest (based on a sample of one)that magazines consistently drive web traffic and online searches, and that magazine ads generate web traffic at all stages of the customer journey, not just searching and learning

So maybe its not all over for print media maybe print and online will co-exist and help each other instead of the web rolling over mags? I would love your views

Monday, 5 October 2009

You don't always add to something with technology..

I am annoyed by this. Did Erno Rubik really endorse this? Please.



I grew up trying to solve the Rubik’s Cube, get the top face and two rows...then make a cross on the bottom face - solved.

It's all change in Rubikworld. the cube has had a iPhone makeover. These days you dont crunch through the cube with both hands at warp speed, you swipe LEDs with your finger to change the colors. When you successfully change the color or “flip”, the TouchCube, as its known, will emit a sound.

But the thing that really gets my goat is the solve button. Now a 2 y.o can solve the cube!

The TouchCube is about $150, compared with the original which is $10. Someone has put a hell of a lot of thought to upgrade the cube but somethings just shouldn't be tampered with