Following on from the smart creativity of their last campaign – Pin Me If You Can (mentioned here), Contiki have only gone and done it again… but this time the search is on in Europe.

This Way To Amazing utilises the same game-play principals as Pin Me, but this time you have to track down the physical location of 4 travellers on their European vacation. Locational clues are time released in the shape of micro movies, making the whole experience pretty sticky, and once fixed in you used Google Maps and a Street View mashup to pin them down.

The whole gamification of the experience is heightened by the clever Facebook connection, bringing a useful social dimension to the campaign. And like the last version The Way simply feels smart.

It certainly worked last time and the experience is in no way diminished this time round. It’s a great idea well delivered.

This lovely little video has been created to promote Field Notes - Red Blooded notebook – which has recently been added to their standard product line.

The ad is a lovely little love story, told through the notebook itself, a lovingly crafted love letter dedicated to the creators true love.

Perhaps indicating that there’s no love loss between FN and Moleskine (going by the style and delivery of the ad), there seems to be a battle ahead for the hearts and passions of all us creative note takers. Still it is lovely to see such lovingly crafted work.

That is a lot of Love! Good job it’s Valentine’s Day.

Italy-based artist Stefania Rota created a stop-motion video that shows what baking would be like if it were done in Photoshop.

Rota created the stop-motion set of ‘Adobe Photoshop Cook’ using cardboard and kitchen utensils. Select ingredients and tools using your cursor, and edit the cookies to cook—don’t forget to save

The Nike+ FuelBand is designed for anyone who wants to be more active. It measures your daily activity and turns it all into NikeFuel. So you can set a goal for every day and then go out and beat it.

Life is a sport. Make it Count.

Another great idea from Nike+, and another great ad to launch it!…

Click here to view the embedded video.

It certainly seems that a lot of today’s ground breaking, digitally inspired, agencies are hitting 10 years old all at the same time. Must have been something in the air around the millennium.

The Barbarian Group is just one of those ground breaking, digitally inspired, agencies. From brand planning, to attention-grabbing ideas, to innovative applications, products and platforms you can’t ignore their impact.

Enjoy their first 10 years all over again – Barbarian Group X.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I can’t help thinking that in our world of quick hitting, time limiting, headline driven, speed gratification the delicate art of body copy is much overlooked.

Ok, so this great campaign for the Spring/Summer advertising campaign for Aizone, a luxury department store in the Middle East, isn’t exactly supporting my theory. But with a little imagination an interest in looking at beautiful body copy could lead someone into an interest in writing beautiful body copy.

Models were body painted in typographic sentences “Forget Regret” “The Time is Now” and “Talk Less Say More”. It does make you think.

Samsung have launched a new ‘transparent’ smart window screen, that’s set to add a digital layer directly onto your window based vista (yes, that right window, as apposed to your Windows based Vista!). Released at this year’s CES, the technology looks to be the next big ‘tech to have’ for all those avid followers of gadget fashion.

It’s an interesting idea, but you’ve got to ask the question why? Just… why?

I have to confess, even I am a little surprised to be posting about food. It’s not that often that you stumble across a recipe book that really does stop you in your tracks and makes you say ‘wow’!

Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking is one of those recipe books.

It’s a surprising book in many ways. Surprising that the world needs a six-volume, 2,438-page set of books (des­tined to rein­vent cook­ing – according to its authors). Surprising that you could reinvent food photography in such a powerful way. Surprising that you’d want to part with £311.05 for the pleasure of owning it. And, perhaps most surprising that one of its authors is an ex Microsoft chief tech­nol­ogy offi­cer – DR. Nathan Myhrvold.

So would I want to own a copy? Unsurprisingly – heck yes, it looks beautiful!

You know what it’s like, you’re rockin’ out at a festival, there’s a load of new people to meet, but you can’t be expected to talk to them all. That would be silly. There must be a way to streamline the tricky art of the conversation opener, find the people you want to chat to and avoid all that time consuming rejection!

At the Heineken Open’er Music Festival in Poland, event goers could visit the Heineken U-Code Dome to setup, personalise and print their own QR code stickers that would, when scanned by any others at the festival, connect strangers together to hopefully start a conversation!

The idea, created by Leo Burnett Warsaw, is an interesting one. It certainly a compelling way for brands to use QR Codes to help their fans reach out and connect with one another. One just has to ask whether it’s also adding to the death of the subtle art of verbal conversation?

Learn about (the always excellent) North Kingdom‘s mastery, passion and sense of business. Plus discover invaluable tips and techniques on ‘how to think digital’ in David Eriksson‘s amazingly open, honest and inspirational inside story into his business.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.