Are we looking at the future convergence of digital and real life? RealFiction‘s Dreamoc product is getting us close. How long will it be before digital jumps ‘out the box’ to join us in the living world? An interesting thought…
Looking at RealFiction’s pretty cool Coke Zero holographic demo, we can see the innovative ways in which digital production is infiltrating into real world presentation. Is this the future of dynamic product display?
Checkout the lovely new Jeter Throwback site. It’s a visual and interactive marvel that encourages you to ‘pick up’ Derek Jeter’s signature baseball trainer and have a closer look. You can spin it, find your perfect colour option, or simply break it apart – in a way you’d just not be allowed to do in your local Schuh!
The site has a really nice ethereal feel to it – especially when you’re looking at the component details, and Derek’s ‘moments’ are a delight.
The site is yet another beautiful creation from Academy, showing that there’s no let up in the creative juices coming from the Blast Radius digital power house. Brilliant work.
Fancy yourself as the next Madison Avenue ad director? Reckon you’ve got the ultimate FMCG commercial in you? Well check out the Doritos King of Ads site and you could win a packet (well, more attractively – 200k!).
With the site looking for fresh, innovative ideas for their next commercial, Doritos are looking to engage with anyone interested in crisp crunching the brand image. The outcome of the contest will see the production of the winning consumer generated commercial and its director grabbing the up to 200k.
It’s an interesting concept – looking for customers to generate content… Hang on a second, are we going full circle here? First we had brands generating content for customers, then we had customers generating content for customers, now we have customers generating content for brands. Well, that’s nearly a circle!
Anyway, good luck to all those who get filming. But if you don’t win the packet, at least the site will give you a great lesson in how to create an TV spot.
Having just finished the excellent book: Conversational Capital by the team at Sid Lee, I thought I’d pop a quick post together that looks at a recent experience that imparts some of concepts presented within.
But first, a very quick review of the book: buy it!
In Conversational Capital, Bertrand Cesvet, Tony Babinski and Eric Alper present a well constructed, captivating and inspiring argument around how to create positive word-of-mouth.
The book is packed full of example of how their ‘way of thinking’ has made a positive impact on various brand experiences. The guys call upon their obvious weighty industry experience, to look into what makes people talk positively about certain experiences, but not about others (a key element that this blog also looks to unravel!).
By Following the 8 components that make up Conversational Capital, the reader is both inspired and educated in the why’s, where’s and how’s of the central idea. Throughout, the reader is encouraged to ‘speak out’ and answer thought provoking question (a conversation continued through the accompanying blog). After the theory comes the practice, the book concludes with an excellent practical guide to implementing the idea into your brand.
This book is a must read for anyone looking to implement positive work-of-mouth marketing strategies. In a world where we no longer listen to mass marketing messages, can you afford not to know how to get your customers talking?
Anyway, back to the view on Conversational Capital’s surprising ability to appear in unexpected places… (more…)
It’s not everyday you hear of a truly innovative story from the design world. Enter the 444 by VW.
When VW wanted to launch a new limited edition Polo aimed at urban types, they asked their creative agency – the brilliant – ACHTUNG! to have a little think. The result – to develop a pair of highly exclusive trainers that came with a complimentary VW Polo. Brilliant.
The collaboration saw Hong Kong Stunt Team craft both the trainer and the car at the same time, designing the totally unique VW Polo 444.
The name comes from the Polo’s length in shoe size, and it’s a real piece of urban fueled art. It’s a great idea, lovely design and a real magnetic concept. Interested in getting a pair? Pick your size for just € 23444,00 at Freshcotton.
Go over and have a listen to Solar Beat. It’s a lovely example of the purity of design within powers greater that ours. It’s beautifully simple and interesting to – but man, living on Pluto must be pretty dull!
Not so long ago, having a ‘WebShop’ was all the rage. Everyone with some products to sell wanted one. Why? Because of the billions of new customers having one would bring. This new digital retail environment was the talk of the high street. Everyone from technologists to retail magnets had something to say about the mass ‘reach’ a WebShop would bring, and its impact on customer sales.
E-Commerce was created, and all you had to do was to pop your products into a big online list and sit back and watch the cash roll in. Let the good times begin.
Of course, and with everything on the web, there were some teething problems. The technology was new and difficult to setup at first, there were logistical and delivery issues to overcome and the consumer fretted (justifiably) over the security of web-based financial transactions. But, quicker that you’d think, these initial problems were ironed out and we all started to buy stuff online.
Yes, there were winners and losers. And some were better at it that others. Buy overall clever retailers sat back, watch their hits rise and their profits soar.
For a time things were great, people bought and FedEx got busy. But as with most commercial enterprise – some got lazy, they took their eye off the ball, they weren’t focused on their customers any more – all they were interested in were the numbers.
The consumer got bored. Where was the shopping experience in this new space? How were we supposed to ‘feel’ the product? What did we get beyond the product itself?
Today the digital retail space is changing, and it’s changing fast. Retailers who want to just sit back and let their ‘shop’ do the selling will perish. Those who take an active interest in helping their customers get a full shopping experience will thrive… (more…)
Over the last couple of months I’ve been doing a little reading. Partly as a kind of homage to those groundbreaking creatives who forged an industry out of connecting people with products, as well as those who continue to pickup the baton of modern communications and run. Partly as a nod towards the adage ‘knowledge is power’, for if we are to truly understand what makes certain communications magnetic, we must first understand their heritage, their dna and their resonance.
Held within the chapters and pages of this small collection of creative books are the ideas, thoughts, concepts and structures of what makes magnetic communications.
I believe that tracking the flow of thinking, the changing emphasis and the increasing sophistication of delivery, will combine to enrich the reader with a powerful sense of why, how and where certain campaigns ‘just work’.
Magnetising your thinking with strong concepts takes more than just jumping in and getting your hands dirty – you must first grasp where you are and how you got there.
With the proliferation of lists, suggestions and word-of-mouth recommendations, this in my submission for a ‘Create Book Club’… (more…)
Why do we remember some things more that others? Why do some campaigns hold our gaze whilst others pass us by unnoticed? Why are we physically and emotionally attracted to certain messages when others attain no response?
We Are Magnetic is an exploration into the magnetism of communications.
It looks to examine the stickiness of messages. Aims to track new and emerging channels. And plots trends in creativity and technology.
Cataloguing intelligent design, digital innovation and clear brand narrative, We Are Magnetic aims to profile great work and great people.
We Are Magnetic is the creative thoughts and findings of its author Gavin Johnson.
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