Ad of the Week

Walmart have created perhaps their first humorous advert, and their first viral (aside from People of Walmart). We like the insight that Dads are well-meaning but essentially useless.

An Infographic Obsession

We are big fans of data visualization but some are more impressive than others and the Feltron annual report is one the best we’ve seen. It documents a year in the life of infographic nut Nicholas Felton. This year his focus is on his relationships. He uses information harvested from 560 surveys he collected from his acquaintances. He finds, among other things, that his average relationship is 3 years, he had 4.8 encounters per day and his Djing to dancing ratio was 5:4. Though Nicholas is unusual in his dedication, personal data logging has taken off with services such as Nike Plus, Daytum and Track Your Happiness. Just as infographics help us understand the world around us, they can also offer insights into our own lives.

The Art of the Box

When you know a video of your impressive direct mail piece will be uploaded by bloggers, you can put more money and effort into making it awesome. Companies seem to be realising the value of hype, the influence of bloggers, and the beneficial effects of creating something unique.
Now start sending some to us.

Alice in Wonderland Book
Nokia Black Box
Dante's Inferno
Google Nexus unboxing - Not a mailout but worth inclusion because of the creativity.

Immerse yourself

Anyone remember those sites which let you put your photo on a magazine cover? They got old pretty fast, and the current trend of immersive videos, such as the Fight Club trailer we mentioned a while ago, are perhaps also a temporary phenomenon. However we are impressed with the creativity in the following examples as they keep the format fresh.

Hero Trailer - Innovative in the quality of the immersive experience.

Adidas and Starwars - Interesting for its use of Facebook Connect and Google Streetview.

The Kids are Alright

Barnados have always been adept at shock advertising, but in their most recent piece of work they have created something genuinely moving and interesting: A 17 minute “Teens Speech” which was broadcast on Christmas Day.

In it young people speak candidly and intelligently about how they lack a voice in society. We have seen this same message in Umair Haque’s letter to a generation and the Vinspired Voicebox Project.

Infographics- Democratising information

The world is a complicated place and if we ordinary Joes have any chance of understanding it we are going to need beautiful and revealing infographics like the following. Their brilliance is in making the esoteric, understandable to everyone. They seem to be part of a democratisation of knowledge, which empowers all of us to better understand the world.

GOOD Top 10

Web Seer - Visualizing Google's autocomplete options


Netflix data - Interactive DVD rental maps from the NYT

Essential Reading

Contagious have just released their Most Contagious list for 2009 and as ever it's packed full of great stuff. You can download the full report HERE.
Along with Google's 87 Cool Things they provide a pretty good summary of the year!

The Ultimate Rematch

Definitely one of my favourite campaigns this year is Gatorade’s branded content piece Replay.
An epic documentary that sees two rival high school football teams from 1993 replay a grudge match that ended in a tie 15 years ago. As honorary coach Peyton Manning put “What athlete doesn’t have a game or a moment they wish they could do-over?”
A great example of a brand moving beyond traditional advertising and creating compelling content.
Check out the trailer:

Beyond Fan Pages

I've recently come across two simple but brilliant ways of using facebook to engage your audience.

The first one comes from Ikea who utilised the popular tagging tool to generate awareness of a new store opening.



The second example advertises the 10th anniversary edition of Fight Club. Rather than try and explain it you should try it for yourselves HERE.
A little gimmicky but lots of fun.

Normal Service Resumes

After a couple of quiet months the Book of Revelations is back! With the addition of an extra author, Tom Callard.
Tom is the new Insight Manager here at 80 Charlotte Street and will be co-authoring the blog with me. You can follow us on Twitter @saatchilondon or individually @tompgibson and @tomcallard.