In what is fast becoming a bumper week for blog posts (and an inefficient week for doing other work), here is another post. Shopbabbles is a blog focusing on where social media and shopping overlap. Its Saatchi & Saatchi run, and seems to have a lot of interesting stuff worth checking out.
Old Spice is back, and the general consensus seems to be that this is, incredibly, even better than the original. The same quirky wit and innovative 1-shot execution remain, and it has already been viewed almost 300k times. Well done W+K and P&G.
In many ways it is pretty easy to show you care as a brand these days, as with pretty minimal investment you can monitor what people are saying and respond. However Wheat-thins have taken it one stage further, and in replying to a tweet have also got some great content for a hundred thousand people to view.
UPDATE: In fact looking at the comments they may even have started a meme. Look out for "Aaah I'm out of___, My life is officially over" popping up elsewhere.
This video was featured over on the Three Billion blog, and we felt it was worth posting here too. Its a great bit of skills-based awesomeness and as such is the perfect viral, if we are to believe the New York Times research that the most shared stories "inspire awe". It has been done before, but it is a good move for Head, and indeed Andy Murray, who gets to show his previously-hidden fun side.
Until very recently Gatorade meant nothing more to me than sugary orange water which Americans drank, but since Gatorade Replay I have taken more of an interest. This is the latest video I have seen from them, and although it is clearly self-promotional and marginally ridiculous, it does show a commitment to social media and conversations which most brands are still scared of. In fact this video could work to sell in greater social media awareness to other clients, who have not considered the amount of resources, and plasma screens, their competitors are now devoting to it.
Touching Stories is a new interactive Ipad app/ video game/ movie. Preloaded ipads were handed out at Cannes to build up buzz. In essence it is another interactive story, just like Choose a Different Ending or Lexus Dark Ride, but this one is exciting for being the first to use the Ipad's functionality. At various points in the story you can shake and tilt the Ipad to influence the action. As PSFK suggest, this raises questions about all media as it gives artists the ability to involve people in their work. I'm sure we will see a lot more of this over the next few months.
In the latest issue of Wired UK, John Battelle illustrates the shift in online behaviour, now that "checking in" has been integrated. We can see what people are doing, what they are buying, what they want, who they know and now we also know where they are. Location has been central to all of the biggest tech developments of the year, from Twitter places to Stickybits and Facebook Location. With smart phones to outnumber desktop PCs by 2012, location-based services are not going anywhere.
Here are a selection of things which have piqued our attention this week:
The Art of Analog Computing (above)- Lovely little video about the world as a computer. The Flake Ad- Finally unveiled and is splitting opinion as predicted. (I agree with Ben Kay) Uniqlo - More Twitter fun from the innovative clothing company Fun Theory - More fun, this time installing slides in a German underground station Crowdrise - Stylish community fundraising The Most Awesomest Thing Ever - What is the most awesome thing in the world? Find out here. Dulux - Lovely stuff from the Dulux "Let's Colour" campaign Community Centred Design- Inspiring article from Mike Arauz." Read it. Underwater base jumping - Just Epic. OMG Cat vs Robert Green - Lastly a return of the OMG Cat, reacting to some football action.
At last, the planets have aligned and I've been gifted an opportunity to mention Arrested Development on the blog. Actors from the most underrated sitcom of all time have been popping up all over the place, most recently in this bit of "branded content" from Orbit. It is so watchable that it seems ridiculous to call it "content" rather than comedy, and unlike many forays into online video, Orbit have not shied away from getting the product in there. They have woven it convincingly into the narrative, meaning it isn't just an intrusion.
Though to be honest they could have made every character dress as chewing gum, I'd still watch Will Arnett.
About 9 months ago, just before I started posting on the blog, Tom G wrote a post about Nike "just doing cool stuff". They are still doing that, but I think recently what has become more obvious about the "stuff" is that they are very good at finding how their ideas live offline. Chalkbot was the best example, and will do well at Cannes this year (it got nominated anyway), but recently they have also given us the chance to write a message on Wayne's boots, and broadcast messages on the Johannesburg skyline. There is something so much more exciting about these ideas because they allow you to have an effect on the world beyond your computer screen. Let's hope Nike continue to innovate.
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