magic marker

Scratching the hand that feeds you

2012-01-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

As you may know or not know I have recently joined an agency called Sputnik they have offices in Melbourne and Sydney, and I will be based in Sydney I've only been here a week but I wanted to share something the guy sitting opposite me emailed me, say hello to Barry Saunders (A UX gun) it was a memo that was written in '58 by Leo Burnett.

Yes it was written in '58 but still holds true today, and in the digital age to me even more so. The reason the connection with joining Sputnik Sydney and this memo from Leo Burnett is; before I joined Sputnik Sydney, I have a Westpac account, my kids eat Weet-Bix and they have done the Weet-bix TRYathon and I use Google apps- and yes they're three of Sputnik Sydney's major clients.

It also reminds me of a time when I worked on Blackmores as their digital CD one of the designers was not a subscriber to the Blackmores database and he was working on their sign up process, the designs looked all very nice but they didn't work, why do I know that? Not because I was their CD but because I was a Blackmores subscriber.

How can you possibly understand your audience if you aren't the audience. FULL MEMO HERE

Vinnie CPR staying alive

2012-01-06T22:56:00.000-08:00

I laughed out loud when I saw this viral from The British Heart Foundation, great casting using Vinnie Jones and his two henchmen are wonderful. The writing, performances to the way it is shot is spot on. The choice of sound track from those disco kings the Bee Gees again is a stroke of genius.

One thing as a Surf Life saver is the fact that the BHF did not encourage 2 rescue breaths in between compressions. Apparantly many people felt uncomfortable doing rescue breaths and when they did, they did it wrong (Not the correct head tilt)

Anyway as the motto goes; Whatever it takes' is my view.

What's your thoughts, good education or misleading?

All agencies and marketing directors take note

2011-12-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Ways Marketers Waste Money

View more presentations from Darren Woolley

Thanks for Trinty P3 in sharing and @timBuesing for posting

Race against the Tube

2011-12-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

Now you all know I'm a running nut and love digital ideas well look at this little puppy, my favourite running shoes Asics, who ever came up with this idea really understands a runners mentality that if something moves, then you have to race it, great idea, race the Tube and mind the gap.

ASICS Tube Race from AnalogFolk on Vimeo.

CNN launches data visualisation tool

2011-11-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

CNN launches data visualisation tool

This is really pretty cool. CNN has launched a great Twitter data visualization tool called ‘Ecosphere’ in support of the COP17 climate change conference in Durban, which starts this week.

The site picks up every tweet tagged with the #COP17 hashtag and uses them to stimulate growth in a plant or tree in the Ecosphere that represents a certain topic, such as sustainability.

The Ecosphere constantly listens to the global conversation on Twitter and every new tweet tagged with hashtag #COP17 is brought into the
environment, scanned for keywords and then grouped with similar contributions, connecting input from around the world, and building conversations within the dynamic environment.

It produces a lush 3D environment that allows you to explore, view content up close or zoom out to observe the visualisation as a whole. It is beautifully distracting.

The Ecosphere will culminate in Durban with an installation piece at the COP17 Conference that renders this globe as a 3D holographic image.

Lovely work and it looks stunning

Mirror Mirror

2011-11-29T04:54:00.000-08:00

The Magic Mirror [nytlabs.com], developed by The New York Times Research & Development Lab has just been selected as one of Time's "50 Best Inventions" of 2011. It is probably the best gadget to fullfil those urgent craves from the data addicted, during those few moments they cannot reach their smart phones. This is very neat but if you want to know what the weather is like outside surely you'd look out the bloody window:) seriously though this has great potential especially from a health perspective.

At first sight, the mirror looks like any normal plain, reflective surface. However, next to showing one's reflection, this mirror is also able to deliver daily news and weather details while brushing your teeth or combing your hair. It combines a Philips Mirror TV with a Microsoft Kinect camera to allow you to access all sorts of information while admiring your own reflection. For instance, the mirror can check one's daily calendar and social feeds, and displays all sorts of statistics regarding one's health, including historical sleep patterns or walking activity.

The top creative minds in digital, where's Australia?

2011-10-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

Read this last night in Adweek a great piece by Gabriel Beltrone who wrote a who's who in the Global village of top digital creative's, and when you read the roll call and see what they have done you can't really argue with it. (Well apart from one in my mind but we won't go there.) But my point; no one was selected from Australia or New Zealand, yes I know other countries were left out too but I'm in Australia so I'm looking at this area. Isn't anyone from this neck of the woods who could challenge this group? If so who would it be and if not, why in your mind do you think that we haven't the talent? Interested to know. Read in full here

CAN YOU GUESS THE CREATIVES FROM JUST THEIR ILLUSTRATIONS?

Doing Good - so good you want to eat

2011-10-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

Everyday objects that can be improved on, you just need to be a creative thinker ahhh this is a little idea that has everything that I adore about creativity; beautifully simple and functional, Thank you Gyeongwan Koo who turned a very good idea into an even better one. This idea starts life in your hands just like an ordinary set of chopsticks except it’s tipped with a starch cap hiding a seed. When you’re done with it, stick the starch end down into the ground and watch as new life climbs up your recycled chopstick. This idea is so good I could really eat it,what a tasty idea.

UX should be child's play

2011-10-14T23:01:00.000-07:00

I watched this video a couple of times over the weekend and as it's pretty amazing in that the child only seems to know or understand the interactions of an iPad above a hard copy magazine, at first I smiled and thought; WOW how times are changing that our kids will naturally interact in iPad mode rather than a hard copy mind you it's not surprising considering this kind of interaction is already on everything from touch screens in public places to smart boards in our kids schools you can even drive a car and model airplane via your iPhone! So
when I looked at it a second time I couldn't help feeling a tad sad in the fact that, here is a child that finds turning a page in a magazine so alien, why should I feel sad? Having 3 kids of my own I encourage them to explore and do things that as a child I did - climb trees, make dens to reading books. There's still something very stimulating about books - the touch the smell to the sound of the pages turning etc. No iPad version can replicate that. Neither is right or wrong but I do think it's a right of all children to interact with much information as possible regardless if it's from an iPad or from a book.

Hopefully then we'll have kids who'll grow up to be thinkers rather than robots and just conditioned to think in a certain way.

Marketing directors losing direction?

2011-10-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

A new IBM (NYSE: IBM) study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers from 64 countries and 19 industries reveals that the majority of the world's top marketing executives recognize a critical and permanent shift occurring in the way they engage with their customers, but question whether their marketing organizations are prepared to manage the change. The four main challeges facing Marketing Directors are:

Data explosion: Every day we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data - so much that 90 percent of the world's data today has been created in the last two years alone. The increasing volume, variety and velocity of data available from new digital sources like social networks, in addition to traditional sources such as sales data and market research, tops the list of CMO challenges. The difficulty is how to analyze these vast quantities of data to extract the meaningful insights, and use them effectively to improve products, services and the customer experience.

Social platforms: Social media enables anyone to become a publisher, broadcaster and critic. Facebook has more than 750 million active users, with the average user posting 90 pieces of content a month. Twitter users send about 140 million tweets a day. And YouTube's 490 million users upload more video content in a 60-day period than the three major U.S. television networks created in 60 years. Marketers are using social platforms to communicate - with 56 percent of CMOs viewing social media as a key engagement channel - but they still struggle with capturing valuable customer insight from the unstructured data that customers and potential customers produce.

Channel and device choices: The growing number of new marketing channels and devices, from smart phones to tablets, is quickly becoming a priority for CMOs. Mobile commerce is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016, representing a compound annual growth rate of 39 percent from 2011 to 2016. Meanwhile, the tablet market is expected to reach nearly 70 million units worldwide by the end of this year, growing to 294 million units by 2015.

Shifting demographics: New global markets and the influx of younger generations with different patterns of information access and consumption are changing the face of the marketplace. In India, as one example, the middle class is expected to soar from roughly 5 percent of the population to more than 40 percent in the next two decades. Marketers who have historically focused on affluent Indian consumers must adapt their strategies to market to this emerging middle class. In the United States, marketing executives must respond to the aging baby boomer generation and growing Hispanic population.
Full piece here

Snaptags better than QR codes

2011-10-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

SnapTags are rings, with visual information aligned in a pattern of bars and breaks, that tell a reader app what content to pull up. And where the SnapTag is unique is that each tag also has an SMS short code, so people who don’t have smart phones can send and receive text messages that will connect them with a campaign, very smart.

I also love the idea that visually snaptags look so much cleaner and can be branded easily, the ease of use too in my mind could over take the growth of QR codes,as we know all the faffing around to get content from QR codes will always be a barrier for mass market comms, Snaptags could be a much better alternative.

This poster has a cold

2011-10-06T02:14:00.000-07:00

The promotion for the new movie Contagion has truly gone viral. Ahead of the release of the film, Warner Bros Pictures hired microbiologists and immunologists to create an unconventional billboard.
Teaming up with CURB Media and ad agency Lowe Roche, they installed 2 huge petri dishes full of live bacteria in an abandoned storefront in downtown Toronto. Over a period of a few days, the bacteria multiplied and grew to spell out the name of the film, Contagion. Love this and the art direction and type reveal looks amazing, this also reminded of a campaign my old copywriter Jo Arscott did while at Saatchis where they produced a 48 sheet poster and sprayed the headline in glue - over the coming days the fumes and dirt from London streets revealed the message; 'This is what your kid breathes in everyday' it was for kids with asthma, love how both pieces play with the type and dramatised the key message.

Steve Jobs the best quotes for all creative people

2011-10-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

Below are some of the best Steve Jobs’s quotes to inspire us to think differently and up our game through innovation and collaboration, wonderful but today a tad sad reading.

1. “The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.” Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer

2. “For something this complicated, it’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

3. Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

4. “That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

5. “Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”

6. “When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions.”

7. “We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.”

8. “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

9. “You’re missing it. This is not a one-man show. What’s reinvigorating this company is two things: One, there’s a lot of really talented people in this company who listened to the world tell them they were losers for a couple of years, and some of them were on the verge of starting to believe it themselves. But they’re not losers. What they didn’t have was a good set of coaches, a good plan. A good senior management team. But they have that now.”

10. The system is that there is no system. That doesn’t mean we don’t have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that’s not what it’s about. Process makes you more efficient … But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.”

Thank you for inspiring me

Zombie Running App - genius

2011-10-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

Yes you have Nike+, Runkeeper and MapMyRun and I've used them all great functional apps but I came across this last night that literally changes the game and more importantly puts the fun back into functionality.

Zombies, Run!, to be released early next year for iPhone and Android, is an app in the style of Runkeeper, with an exciting undead twist.

You start up the app, plug in your headphones and go for a run. As you begin to sprint, jog or walk to your destination of choice, you’ll hear the narrated story of a zombie-infested, dystopian future. You’re a “runner” in this world, which means that your job is to go out and collect supplies like ammo, medicine and batteries for your ragtag base of human survivors. The more you run, the more stuff you’ll acquire.

“We want to tap into a fantasy that we think a lot of people have when they’re running or deciding to get fit — that you can be the hero of your own action movie,” said the game’s designer, Adrian Hon, in an e-mail.

“After all, why does anyone want to run? Probably so we know that if things get bad, we can rely on our bodies to get us out of trouble.”

The idea first came from a class for amateur runners, which Zombies, Run! writer Naomi Alderman had joined. During an introductory session, one of the organizers asked the group why they wanted to run.

“To outrun the zombie horde,” said one of the participants. Everybody laughed — except for Alderman. Her mind was busy running races of its own.

Hon says you’ll be able to make meaningful decisions as you progress through Zombies, Run. For example, once you’ve finished a running session, you’ll be able to allocate resources to different areas of your city, choosing which people to help out. He hints that your decisions could result in life-or-death consequences for some of the game’s survivors. Bloody genius and as always an idea sprung from someones passion, in this case running.

Fans have flocked to Zombies, Run!, which has garnered over $53,000 on crowd-funding site Kickstarter in the past month. Hon and Alderman say they’re psyched about the positive reaction, noting that the game already has a “guaranteed audience.”

Combined with fun and functionality that's intune with your target audience, wonderful work is created.

Linkedin profile as an infographic

2011-09-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

vizualize.me - Kevin's profile I came across this last night, such fun and pretty impressive, simple but functional. Interesting Linkedin over the last couple of months have really enhanced their platform. This by Vizualize.me is just another cool add on.

2011-08-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

Someone asked the Dalai Lama what suprises him most. He responded, "Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived."

Super Fly better than looting and burning

2011-08-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

Win a car that made your dad look cool - shot and art directed this for Ribena in the UK- based on the campaign idea - Ribena 'Grow Up One Day' - all based around pranks, this promo was part of the campaign. I wanted something a bit more different and fun than giving away a cool Vespa - so we went for a second hand Capri - Ribena gave away 5 in total, the retro guy - seriously dressed liked that all the time- easy casting.

Twitter promo that's a little cracker

2011-08-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

If you haven't picked this up on Twitter then in the next day or so you will - this appeared about 4 hours ago it caught my eye as it has been streaming through my tweetdeck under the hashtag #tweetcracker and it takes you to a site where all is relieved- it's a cross promotion with Samsung and Intel the idea is beautifully simple just log on using your Twitter handle tweet the correct code to disarm the lasers, bust the safe and win what's inside: 10K worth of gold and a Series 9 notebook, and as they say: the only thing that is stopping you are evil lasers and a lucky tweet, lovely work, I also love the video where we see a fit looking looking James Bond leather clad women place the prize in the safe, and arm the lasers, great promo and great fun, a great way to use Twitter as a promo platform site here

5 keys to successful online video.

2011-07-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

1. Create context (label and tag the videos to help with searching)

2. Encourage snacking (which is the term they use for displaying related videos around the main video)

3. Produce for the medium (i.e. short form content, bearing in mind not all genres are equal).

a. Av length is 2.6 mins. (In a 2010 report from Cisco, 30% of Internet traffic is currently video. By 2013, 90% of Internet traffic will be video.)

b. Less videos provide fictional narrative and drama more at news, paparazzi video, individual personalities.

4. Use internet distribution.

a. Allow consumers to embed your videos.

b. Organise syndication with internet video distributors.

5. Monetize (for non branded sites)

a. Need to thinking through how to integrate 15 sec pre-rolls.

b. For brands, the creation of 15 sec pre-rolls is an important strategy

Hey dude you were a 1969 lifestyle visionary

2011-06-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

Great video, love the music and voiceover but what is amazing is this was done in 1969 and none of this stuff was even invented, all the things we now take for granted; eShopping, paying bills online, email etc. Creative tip: When someone says; 'it can't be done or that idea is crazy'you know you're onto a winner.

3 billion women are wonderful

2011-06-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

Seen this ad for the Body Shop - anyone who has kids especially girl's should show this ad to them, I have three girls so this is something close to my heart.

Kids should be happy, healthy and keep in good condition with regular exercise and remember:

> 'Supermodels' most of the time don't feel super.
> Diets don't work.
> Keep active, eat healthy foods, fresh fruit and veg- crunchy is best.
> Never skip breakfast...ever.
> Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
> Nearly all fashion ads with women in them have been 'retouched'
> Always keep your back straight and be proud of your body...you look wonderful.

Data Tracking tool - Userfly

2011-04-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

userfly.com from Chris Estreich on Vimeo.

Have digital people got a chip on their shoulder?

2011-03-10T22:30:00.000-08:00

Digital life is a bowl of cheeries

Interesting at Ad-tech last week I didn't manage to see much apart from the last session around mobile GPS and how marketeers can leverage it. Nothing of real substance in there, speakers shared loads of stats on why mobile is important, and its usage, the ongoing battle between Foursquare and Facebook regarding checkins and an old favourite for many digital marketeers, QR codes. (I thought no one bothered with QR codes anymore)? What was interesting though was the last speaker Seb Chan from the Powerhouse Museum, he shared two pieces of work he had done at the museum around photo tagging using geo location. (As their head of digital he's doing a great job in bringing the Powerhouse experience to the streets, literally).
But what was interesting was Seb having a slight dig at QR codes and marketeers and agencies constant reminder of how good digital is considering that the last speakers were talking of it's capabilities and it's customer interaction Seb said the contray he admitted his first experience of using QR codes was a 'disaster’ basically the reward for the effort was so poor most people felt the whole thing a bit of a faff, in the real world, it just wasn't working. Admittedly it's changing, but what was glorious to watch was the other panels faces, it looked like Seb had just farted in their geo-fenced location.
This friction in this presentation got me thinking on why do so many digital people in marketing and agencies always share stat after stat on why a particular piece of technology or platform is so much more superior that any other form of media? As in reality it's new and there's no real concrete facts around it. I see it time and time again on blogs, presentations, tweets and at events like Adtech - stat after stat of digital been better, better ROI, better engagement, better recall, better than any traditional media. We are obsessed with it and much of it is ‘cherry picked’ in that you’ll see a stat or casestudy that brand X email campaign had a 99% open rate with zilions of new members etc. What they fail to mention is that this eDM was part of a much bigger campaign with an on-pack promo, radio and posters.
Another example I picked up recently was a tweet that said;
Huge! RT @Warlach Cadbury UK pound on tv vs pound on digital. TV returned 60p, online retuned £2. #atsyd (via @ordnung)
Now that is a pretty impressive stat and as a marketing director I would be licking my lips, but much of Cadbury’s advertising was first spent on programme sponsorship and with this ran many successful TV campaigns yes TV which then went online and became very successful viral pieces, not through any great planning just the ads were funny and entertaining I wonder what the ROI if they had just done online? look at 'Gorilla' with the Phil Collins soundtrack and the two kids with the 'dancing eyebrows'. Brilliant. Another I can recall was John West ‘Bear’ where the fisherman grabs the salmon from the clutches of the hungry bear, this started life as a TV, many of us in the digital business forget that bit. It happens all the time, stat after stat is used at any given opportunity.
Does digital have an inferior complex? Why don’t we just do what we are doing well and everything else will come our way? Without selling all the virtues of using online, we all know it works just like TV it depends on the creative, the media placement and with online the technology behind it.
The smart people know successful digital campaigns do rely on offline communication. Not all but most, and there’s campaigns out there where it’s mainly all online, Old Spice is a a good example. (Ironically that idea was conceived by a so- called through-the-line agency, W&K). My view as always; it's down to the idea no matter what the channel and in my mind the campaign success is greatly increased if there's true channel integration.
Do you agree that digital 'cherry pick' stats?
Photo by Tim Irving of Opart.

My hero

2011-03-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

We all needs heros people we look up too, mum and dad are always in there but my one and I have many (Spike Milligan, Martin Luther King, JFK) but one person even when I see an image of him I get a shiver and that's Ali. I saw this and I thought it was such a great piece, below is the background to the project, lovely work.Michael Kalish created this elaborate sculpture that, when viewed from the right angle, looks like Muhammad Ali:

Artist Michael Kalish went big, using 1,300 punching bags, 6.5 miles of stainless steel cable, and 2,500 pounds of aluminum pipe to construct a 22-foot-high installation that took three years to complete.
The idea for the project came to Kalish as he was falling asleep one night in 2008: an array of custom-made, teardrop-shaped speed bags suspended in midair that, from just one vantage point, align themselves like pixels into an image of Ali’s face.
It’s not actually quite done yet. Ali himself will hang the final bag at the unveiling.

How would you like your creative Sir?

2011-02-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

Saw this and I think it applies to the creative idea process it was done by From Up North

Nice work

2011-01-18T18:59:00.001-08:00

An installation by chinese photographer and artist yang yongliang, black and white photographs are collaged and piled to mimic cigarette ash. The tip of a huge cigarette sculpture hung vertically in the installation space is revealed upon closer view
to consist of cut and layered images of city skylines. Neat.

USA,USA

2010-12-24T04:25:00.000-08:00

Just read a newsletter from blogger about some of their fancy new add on tools two in particular caught my eye the background upload and the fact within the dashboard you can view at glance your traffic I tried it out and was surprised where my traffic was coming from below is the pageviews by the top 4 Countries

United States
818
Australia
352
United Kingdom
73
Russia

Playing soldiers

2010-12-20T22:35:00.001-08:00

For someone growing up I loved playing soldiers and I was even going to join the English army when I left school but my dad been Irish had other ideas anyway I love this, this guy is dressed and sprayed green just like your favourite toy soldier

Christmas Cheer and beer from Zuni

2010-12-19T19:34:00.000-08:00

Yes the cases of zuni beer arrived today just in time for Christmas

And the small print on our lager says: A crisp clean refreshing taste that will get your creativity flowing' and thank you to Brewtopia who are the company behind the personalised beer - great service and concept. cheers.

Join the crowd or stay as you are

2010-12-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well, there you have it. I’ve moved from North Sydney to sunny, leafy Stanmore - not much difference apart from the array of delightful food and as the team from Zuni will testify, amazing dumplings.

I’ve been working at Zuni for over a month now and yes it has flown by - the usual agency stuff, pitches, creative reviews, processes, marketing, our website, blog, twitter and some client work thrown in there too and like any agencies, especially a new fresh out of the wrapper one like Zuni, this has been amplified ten fold.

But here’s were it gets very interesting, imagine as a creative director you didn’t have a team! Blind panic, no team! Yes no team as in physically any teams sitting in the office. No flashguns, creative teams, writers’, techy geeks and all the usual freaks you have in traditional digital agencies.

What if your ‘team’ was a collection of people handpicked who came from all over the world and they were experts within their discipline? Your job was to facilitate and guide the creative process. Yes that’s what CD’s are suppose to do but when you have the ‘team’ operating not just out of Australia but from all over the world, it puts a new perspective on it.

Exciting but bloody scary and from someone who came from a traditional above the line agencies through to traditional digital agencies with internal teams this is a totally new approach in managing a creative floor and yes in tweet world, many digital agencies who were the new guns in town are now seen as traditional agencies - how ironic.

To be honest I was spooked and something that really did rattle me around crowd sourcing was the quality of work and the perception from clients and agencies as a cheap way to get ideas, that’s something I really didn’t want to be a part of, thankfully nor does Zuni.

At Zuni we have been working to refine our platform and how we crowd source our work from a cost and bounty perspective to groups.

Some Zunified crowd sourcing approaches we are looking at:

We have a team here at Zuni with a tremendous amount of experience in their field. As a team we will review and hand select our own crowd - we will invite people we rate and have worked with in the past - encourage them to invite others – with a view to pay a fee for recommendations.

By crowd sourcing our groups into ‘clusters’ with grades and rates from creative concept thinkers, designers, technology, film directors, illustrators, graphic designers &, writers etc., will make the search process easier and more streamlined.

Allow a project to pay in phases rather than one idea with one final bounty payment., by breaking it down into phases throughout the delivery process we feel the work will be stronger as you have a specialist working at that particular phase.

Keep the crowd open at the start as ‘amateurs can bring surprises’ and filter towards the end of the process.
We will grow and reinvest in our crowd – by collating the best work that didn’t get made for one reason or another – and make it - all creative’s worth their salt want their work made. That way we’ll keep the quality and have the best people onboard.

Encourage your crowd to participate and review and over time facilitate meet ups, even hold events in different parts of the world.

Yes it’s different but the world is changing and many people are finding this approach a really effective way in working and in time this could become the normal way in working especially in the communications industry.

I would love to hear your thoughts or if you are interested in becoming part of Zuni’s crowd sourcing team then let me know via email: kevin.ferry@zuni.com.au or on twitter @kevinferry, and who knows you could be doing some great work and get paid well for your efforts

Print is it dead?

2010-12-13T16:28:00.000-08:00

Last week I was over at Reactive (very nice offices in the heart of Sydney in Crown Street also they have very nice pizzas too) anyway this was one of our regular creative gatherings at Creative Social this time we had two dudes Murray Bell from Snakes and Ladders and Pete Murray from Semi Permanent talking which was very interesting especially when Murray started talking about the niche magazine Movement Magazine for those that don't know as their Google search describes are: Movement bodyboard magazines official website. All things bodyboarding. Professional riders, with contests and competitions

As the talk went on and as the audience were mostly all from the digital space the question came up as it always does, 'Is your magazine sales decreasing'? and as always digital folk lick their lips in anticipation on hearing that it's all going rat shit, with cobwebs developing on the printing press.

Well the the response was the opposite in that it has remained steady, sales haven't dropped off even with the access of the web especially for this audience you would have thought sales would drop. Murray said that it's changed but the print option hasn't declined so why hasn't sales dropped? Murray's and the Magazines response was; they made the mag more desirable by increasing the weight of the paper, they hired more top draw photographers and upped their content in quality with more substance ,for instance they did a piece on Hawaii not just the tourist side of things but also the number of homeless people living there. They have now attracted a much broader audience beyond just surf dudes- from film, art and culture demographics. Smart move.

The magazine became more of a 'coffee table' magazine which was much more tactile and that's were digital will always lose out - the fact that you can touch and feel the mag and see the images in their full glory will always be a big pull that's not to say digital doesn't play its part for instance; what about video content, comments, and eComm functionality are all better experiences than just using print, so print isn't dead it's just evolved and the most successful brands are working more hand in hand with digital. As always you've got to know your market, and the team over at Movement Magazine certainly know their audience.

Warmest Christmas with a tweet

2010-12-07T16:31:00.001-08:00

Spotted this little gem called 'Twitter Knitter' and reckon this is the best agency christmas card so far, as we all know in agency land most people roll their eyes and shudder with the thought of doing a 'cool card' as CEO's like to say. The idea is basically the agency will be selecting the most festive Christmas tweets, containing the hashtag #WarmUpCamden, to knit as messages into scarves.
The scarves will be distributed to people in Camden, (It's were the agency is based and if anyone has been to Camden Town in London parts are how shall we say; bloody scary, they will approach people who look like they need warming up. (Bloody brave but that could be fun filming that while some creative luuvies get bashed by a bunch of old Scottish drunks, that would go viral).
Anyway all of the #WarmUpCamden tweets appear on twitterknitter.co.uk. Visitors can watch the winning tweets being knitted into scarves live from within the agencies via three webcam links. A 'cool' idea that warms the heart around this time of year. Below is a selection of some of the tweets.

Plaster art

2010-10-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Someone who loves art and I love the work of many especially urban artists like Banksy but I came across this dude – he’s taken it to whole new level. Not just using the wall as a canvas he ‘turns the wall’ into the canvas. Lovely work, so next time some old plaster falls from the wall I might just start having a go myself.

Powerful storytelling with music and imagery

2010-10-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Woah slow down

2010-09-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

A 3D-like illusion of a young girl playing in the middle of the street it's a campaign by drivers to slow down ironically this campaign was aimed at parents who were dropping their kids off on the school run- very powerful stuff and certainly would stop anyone in their tracks even some crazed hoon in his jumped up Holden but I can’t help thinking that this could be a dangerous road to take (excuse the pun) in that people could mistaken this as one of those adverts and it turns out to be a real kid.

Judging by the road deaths every year and people’s driving skills especially in Sydney,I wonder if a campaign like this would work in Australia?

Social media via your mobile

2010-09-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

Another one of those infographics from Flowtown I love their work, this is a cracker, it visual shows how people are interacting with social media via their mobile and yes some very tasty piecharts

Some Work

2010-09-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

My Ma always asks: 'What thee beJesus do ya do for a work Kavin?'Well mum and my apologises for the bad Irish accent but here's some work I have done over the last 18 months at Bullseye, hat tip to Rod, Brian, Dave and Tom for bringing all this tomfoolery to life

Blackmores brings the community together

2010-09-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

As I'm doing the #bsrf10 half again this year I always like to track how the event is doing. Looking back at the last two events, the online campaign is growing in participation, much of the tone is around support and below is a snapshot from last year's event.

- Training product recommendations
- An online product sales component with a free training singlet
- Registration that assists the user to chose their appropriate event in the SRF
- An online fitness training calendar (tailored to the user's chosen event in the SRF)that delivered a training calendar (provided by the event Personal Trainer)
- 'Ask a Trainer' facility
- Dynamic content (feeding from the BSRF09 Twitter account)
- Course maps and videos

The campaign for Blackmores Sydney Running Festival 2009 was the most successful to date in terms of online engagement, as shown in the comparative data between 2008 and 2009.(Google Analytics)

• Visits increased from 46,626 to 89,433
We did not see an increase in new visitors to the site from the previous year, but we did see double the amount of visits. This demonstrates that we achieved our goal of improving the level of engagement race participants experienced on the site. Much of this can be attributed to the training programs offered – 10,000 people signed up for personalised training programs. This figure represents nearly 1/3 of all race entrants.
• Page views increased from 211,727 to 243,934 (+15.21%)
• A recommended new URL strategy for this years’ site. This helped push a 1046% increase in search referrals from the previous year. (20,661 referrals > up from 1,802 referrals in 2008).

New tools and resources were added to the site to help attract more visitors to the site and engage them more effectively. We also used social media tools to create Blackmores Sydney Running Festival communities.

• Embedded video allowed runners to view live footage of themselves crossing the finish line. The videos were watched a total of 127,957 times. This clearly demonstrates the viral power of online video, as a total of 32,007 people actually ran the race, but they used the Blackmores training site videos to relive their race day glory with friends and family an average four times each!

I think this year will again see a good result or as runners say: a PB

Happy running and good health

157 Mobile App Stats You Should Know About

2010-08-25T21:44:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: Finally someone who knows what they are talking about regarding mobile apps with some great stats

157 Mobile App Stats You Should Know About

View more presentations from stuartdredge.

Let's analyse this a bit closer, how about sod off!

2010-08-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

I saw this and laughed out loud and then thought about it for a split second as I really didn't want to over analyse it too much as I could have fallen into the same trap but it's so true in advertising land we have all these people who some how complicate and look into every tiny detail - humour sells stuff make me laugh.

Social Media is the business

2010-08-02T01:03:00.000-07:00

Love this

2010-07-29T04:31:00.000-07:00

I saw this and I thought it was wonderful called "Digital Orca" a sculpture in Vancouver by Douglas Coupland. To the viewer simple yet playful and all things combined that I love; art, digital, and killer whales

End of the road for digital

2010-07-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

I read this last week and I found it fascinating and have replayed this question many times on my long runs home and it's a question that Martin Bailie head of planning at glue Isobar put in a intro to a whitepaper he has written he states: 'we wondered what would happen if we banned people from talking about "digital", "social", "viral", "mobile", "ATL", "BTL" and "TTL". As an exercise, it's revealing. What do you sell to clients? What do they buy? What do you "make"? What do planners talk about all day? Well I know, lots of people would be scratching their heads from agency folk to marketing departments on how to communicate to people in the real world.Like the picture I reckon they would turn green and turn all spooky. Many seem to forget that these channels are just that, channels or platforms to reach people. they are not the execution and I agree with much of what Martin said. A thought; next time you pitch an idea - decide on the channel once you get the idea. Ooooh! I'm turning green, I feel dizzy.
The full article is here

Curse them all- especially the ref

2010-06-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Something the boy's did at Bullseye after Australia was knocked out off the World Cup - we thought 'curse them all 'was very apt, as football fans we can all feel the pain when our beloved side gets beaten, the English are going through it right now, poor bastards (I think even some of the Aussies felt for me on that one or was that a wry smile from Rod in the corner?)

This type of work is a great tester for the creative department in that you have to work very quickly and the creative still has to be sharp, and from the digital side the collaboration between the creative and development is paramount.

Well done Rod (Liverpool) Brian (ManU) and Steve (West Ham) for their work and effort, shame England didn't deliver the same commitment.

Why do everything in one agency

2010-06-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

I was chatting to one of my team members and he asked the question: 'Give us your top ten reasons why you should have all your marketing budget in one agency' - I then remembered that I listed this about three year's ago to the same exact question, I still feel it true today, what do you reckon?

1. Cost efficient : No rework etc. – shoots can also incorporate online comms

2. Time saving: Saves time in account managers/project managers relaying and sending files to other vendors.

3. Minimal risk: Less FU’s(Fuck Ups) More vendors more likely work gets lost in translation, bad artwork, wrong picture supplied etc. Compared to been housed in one shop.

4. Relationships: Better internal comms between agency and client- know who’s doing what and when- build stronger working relationships.

5. Transparent: Offline and Online marketing directors are across all comms.

6. Synergy: Work is truly integrated rather than just ‘matching luggage’ and digital becomes more than just an afterthought.

7. Flexible: Turning around projects quicker- better equipped to do tactical campaigns.

8. Success: Fact – more integrated campaigns have proven time and time again they get the results compared to individual micro campaigns.

9. Less egos: Get straight to the point without harming anyone’s feelings- ‘tiptoeing usually results in stubbing your toe’. Kevin Ferry

10. It’s more fun

I'm interested to find out if you have any others reasons or do you disagree?

It's all mapped out

2010-06-08T05:19:00.001-07:00

Now I'm in training for the Blackmores Sydney Half and I have a couple of takers from client side willing to take me on my challenge I thought I would share via MapMyRun and RunnersPlus how my training is going, mainly an incentive to keep the training going and a bit of 'peacocking' to my competitors, now what have you got?

Run home from work
Find more Runs in Sydney, Australia

Warm and fluffy display ads

2010-06-08T03:51:00.000-07:00

Real people in the real world as in digital world on the whole hate banner ads I think they're on a par of next doors dog craping on your doorstep especially when they are just blanket buys and have no real creative idea usually that's a good 80%, the other 20% are mostly on bannerblog or in OneShow so I'm not saying all but you get my point so imagine my pleasure when I came across this little idea where you replace your banners and turn everyday web browsing into donations that support green initiatives and movement for positive social change.The site is called Do Good I love this as it is appealing to my better nature and trying to save the world rather than save $1 on your next purchase. Since I downloaded the software I have clicked on nearly 20 different banner ads, and shock horror there's no hardsell and throbbing starbursts or type just a powerful targeted message that in most instances I want to find out more, I can't help myself but I know each time I click I'm helping someone else, it's a beautiful thing.

Race a marketing director

2010-06-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time again with the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival approaching and now is the time to get some mileage under your belt.

Just finished the Balmoral Burn last week my legs aren't exactly jumping with joy on another run at the moment but as all runners say; 'I have some time to the next one'.

Last year I ran the half in the event and it was great day yes I would say that as Blackmores are one of my clients but this is a must for anyone in Sydney at that time who wants to run a race - and what a race, with the bridge closed and finishing outside the Opera House, you can't get much better.

Anyway to my point as I ran last year live tweeting I wanted to do something different again this year and this idea popped into my head while running home the other night.

CHALLENGE:

As Creative Director and having worked on a vast array of products and brands over the years from soft drinks to washing up liquid I have a bit of experience when it comes to coming up with ideas around marketing. SO get on with it Kev and stop blowing your own trumpet, your point is?

Well, I will give any marketing director a campaign idea for their brand or product IF they beat me in this year's Blackmores Sydney Half in September. Prove will be determined by the 'relive the glory' video that gets posted up after the event.

I will if beaten work and give you a timeframe on a campaign that I will scamp and show how it will work online via a site, social media, rich media and offline if you fancy, up for it? well post here your name and job title etc and confirmation of entry and let the challenge begin.

My best time for a half 1:17 and last year while tweeting ran 1:25

# No ringers will be acceptable only the marketing director can take the challenge also if I get nailed by say 50 MD's I will sit down and work through a timetable on delivery. (And yes this will be all done at weekends).

If I beat you then the only thing I ask would be a suitable donation to my surf club North Steyne Surf Club

Pain no gain

2010-05-29T18:43:00.001-07:00

Pain
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

Just returned from the Balmoral Burn - that is such a hard run - 420m straight up sprint on a very very steep hill on Awaba Street in Balmoral.

Got second again got nailed by the same guy last year - we both were way ahead of the field, but I had nothing in the tank when I needed to kick.

The fittest guy won on the day, well done today but we will return for other encounter.

Chin chin

Consumer engagement - love it

2010-05-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Busy tweeting for your business

2010-05-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

There's an on going debate about how much businesses should be using social media channels like Twitter to promote themselves, well if your thinking like this, then stop! You're already in the wrong mindset- the fact you want to 'promote' your company is the wrong tack, instead think of your company sharing knowledge and advice around your profession and that might not all involve around your company on that I picked this up early this morning via Chris Brogan this is all your business needs to know about using social media in particular Twitter, my personal opinion on using Twitter for business is it's vital, without it you can't reach out to your customers in an engaging manner, it's also a valuable channel as a source of research, so here's the first steps in building your business further:

First Steps

1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
6. Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
8. Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
10. Talk about non-business, too, like @astrout

Ideas About WHAT to Tweet

11. Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
12. Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.
13. When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
14. Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
15. Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.
16. Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
17. When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
18. Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.
19. Don’t toot your own horn too much.
20. Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the others, too.

BBC you have my vote

2010-05-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

As most of you will know there was a general election in the UK, now with me all the way over in the 'lucky country' tracking and seeing the votes unfold where else would you go apart from the BBC? As someone who loves data and is very visual this site was a organismic visual and data trip.Just by tapping in your district you get detail from a interactive map, with live streams of the results, with comments from in and out going MP's and all the results in real time with the colour map changing just as fast as the results were coming in. I spent an age pouring over the results, here's my area I lived when I was in the UK of Romford in Essex

This site had everything, the debates,and I particular liked the section called 'make it clear' so for instance when it was announced that it was heading for a hung parliament they had a full chart explaining what will happen and the next steps that will follow, wonderful.

But it was the BBC TV Channel that made the whole experience informative and entertaining the live stream was fast without buffering and they kept changing from one programme to the other without a single judder, for one moment I could be sitting in front of the TV with a beer in hand in sunny old Romford instead of cold wintery Sydney Australia. (It's winter here).

So I thank you the BBC and that's why you'll always get my vote.

Share the love of music

2010-05-01T00:19:00.000-07:00

Came across this, a music site called We Are Hunted a online music chart.

They listen to what people are saying about artists and their music on blogs, social networks like Facebook and MySpace, message boards and forums, Twitter and P2P networks to chart the top songs online everyday, neat idea pop pickers almost
a new Top of the Pops.
In the physical world, charts are built on shipped albums. Online charts have been a simple count of digital downloads. This New Model Army is different. They discover new music from around the web and detect sentiment, expression and advocacy to understand what people like and dislike. They also have the ability to buy the track you've played from the site, good business model.

Mix business with pleasure

2010-04-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

Social media is a wonderful thing you can keep in contact with family and friends from afar, make some new ones, make friends you never knew you had and some you'd wish you never came across usually this is through Facebook with a dusting of YouTube, on the other side of the social media ladder we have the more business side which usually involves Linkedin and Twitter the same can be said of your business connections, some are worthwhile and good for your network, many are not like headhunters who use you and tap into your network (this is one of the reasons why I booted off most headhunters from my network as it was all one way).

But the question I wanted to ask and something that has happened to me over the last couple of months is that these social media channels are started to merge into one were family now sit happily along side a work colleague or do they? Is my sister in Ireland does she really give an arse if most Twitter users average age is 39 and are media influencers? The same can be said that a CEO of GSK is he really that interested that my sister in Ireland has had another baby and posted them up on Facebook?

I'm confused as to weather to keep the two channels separate or not but with Facebook especially it has become more business savvy in it's approach and took Twitter by its word and 'followed' them, what do you think? Do you keep the two channels separate? or as my sister in Ireland would say; Feck who gives an arse!

For me business social media is:
>Twitter
>LinkedIn
>Slideshare
>Delicious
>YouTube
>Blogger
>Tumblr

For pleasure
>Skype - Keep in contact with family in Ireland
>Mobile -SMS - ditto
>Private email/MSN Messenger

Business with Pleasure:
>Facebook
>Flickr

It depends how you look at

2010-04-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture which reminded me when I was a junior art director, I remember I was sitting on a couch in the creative department and a brief came in were the project manager said there's a brief for Woolworths, the problem was, it was a small space ad and even smaller budget.

I remember the look of horror on one of the 'star award winning' creative’s who responded: 'You have to be F'king joking I can't do anything with that, the budget's crap and anyway they'll be doing a TV spot soon, so I'll work on that'

Now this was a turning point for me as I could have thought the same way, but at that stage of my career it wasn't really an option so I put my hand up and said I'll work on it, lots of glares from all the other creative’s followed. (I think I broke the creative code at that time which was don't be too keen. So hear I was, this eager grinning kid with his hand up offering to work on it.

I wasn't trying to impress, I just looked at it in a completely different way than the 'pros' at the time. To me this was a challenge, like a test to see if I could work in a more constrained environment.

The ad was produced and the following year I got my first creative circle award for a print ad for ‘best use of small space’ The idea was for blank cassette tapes(yes it was that long ago) and the idea? The ad was completely blank with a tiny headline that read: Blank tapes at Woolworths only 4.99.

Some things that I learned from this:
1: Always treat every job as an opportunity.
2: Never become complacent and keep the creative fire in your belly.
3: Learn the rules and then break them.
4: You can win awards with bugger all time and budget.

Sexy Social Media Stats

2010-04-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Seen this and it looks beautiful wonderful design it was done by this mob not sure these figures are global but still pretty informative.

Social Media Counts

2010-04-18T19:47:00.001-07:00

Long live The Revolution

2010-04-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

There’s been a revolution happening and it has been going on for sometime – it started off quietly but over the last two year's has gained a lot of momentum.

The revolution? Many companies are looking a lot closely on how they are perceived and the effects their products are having on the environment. Much of this has been driven by 'people power' with many online groups setting up fan pages or as I like to call them ‘ban pages’ and what a powerful force these communities have become.

Many companies have for sometime had polices in place but much of this was only really highlighted internally and never really pushed outside their own environmentally green walls. In Australia Westpac I can recall was one company who pushed that they're more than just a bank with an obligation to their customers but to the environment as well.

More recently I received via a follower on Twitter that Puma have announced they've redesigned the good old shoebox to save on the environment. The story is told via a video presentation on how Puma will make less impact (excuse the pun) on the environment because as we all know the shoe box once home goes straight into the bin or in my case saved for the kid’s next school project.

Yes I know many of you will be cynically towards many companies who in the past have had a bit of a checkered history when it comes to our environment and are now on the green bandwagon, but in reality who cares? We all know it’s a good thing, if they were forced, so what, the point is they've changed and if it makes the world a much nicer place to live in while wearing our Pumas, then as a man once said let it be as ultimately everyone wins.

Happy Easter

2010-03-31T21:00:00.001-07:00

As it's Easter and a time when the good fella rose and handed out lots of chocolate eggs and turned KFC drumsticks into chickens I thought I would post some ads with rabbits in it, sod the chickens - I've seen that ad for Chicken Tonight.

Great Honda and yes we love rabbits

and yes we love big rabbits especially with a track by the Stones

We also like kinky rabbits

Lucky bloody rabbit

Running Story

2010-03-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

As you know I love running, I also love great ideas, well this little puppy has both, I watched this video on the history of ASICS and it is an amazing piece of story telling it's so well done in execution and writing after viewing you'll know why as a runner I only run in ASICS, Brilliant work Mabona Origami

Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

Blackmores new site is live

2010-03-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

Blackmores new site has finally gone live and with the help of a lot of talented boy's and girl's over at Bullseye the vision to build a website that will be Australia's No:1 health and wellbeing site has began, but where did it all start? Well the site itself took 12 months to design and build but prior to that it took a further 6 months to workout the wireframe and designs. We had a vision to build Australia's No:1 health and wellbeing site and we knew what we wanted the site to become so we worked very closely with Blackmores to bring it to life. This was a massive project but what's interesting is the original scamps I did haven't really been lost in the final design, we still have embracing online communities with one to one interactions with relevant content.

Much of this is down to the client and the team at Blackmores yes we guided and advised as we went along, but they had ideas too, it was a really good collaborative. This all makes for a much better working relationship and the end result is something we should be all proud of, the hard work that has been done I'm sure will pay off.

The big fightback in the creative stakes

2010-02-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

Interesting this week in that I've been judging New York Festival Awards, and was one of the judges on Banner Blog and Creative Brief who's hot and who's cold in the digital agency rankings

There has been much debate from the many digital agencies who didn't enter 'Hot and Cold' who thought that it was all a bit shitty in that you had a bunch of digital creative's judging the work and it was only judged on pure creativity which is incorrect and as we all know in the digital world it can never be as straight forward as that. I posted on Amnesia's blog my thoughts and why this should continue. Ash the CD over at Soap who kicked started this (I bet the poor bastard wish he never brought it up) he did try to put each agency under different segments from full service, pure digital to production houses,this helps mark out the digital landscape but we all agree it still has some way to go.

But besides all this and the hand bag fighting that has gone on,what has been very interesting is to see that the top end of the chart many are 'full service' agencies, I must state 'full service' and not 'full service digital agencies' this is an important distinstiction we at Bullseye are a full service digital agency as we only do digital.

I also noticed while judging NYF that again the full service agencies seem to be performing well along side more specialist trendy boutique outfits- there's not much in between apart from your AKQA's and Co.

Another little trend that I have also noticed and that I reckon is connected to the above observation is that I'm seeing all these new job titles I have never heard of but they are popping up all over the place at the moment for instance I've seen: 'head of ideas' and 'lead digital advertising division' I bet the person who has this on their business card feels very smug, but what does these titles say about the companies? The companies who invented these 'creative' job titles will fail because they should have had this in place before they kicked started the company. Trying to reinvent yourself sometimes works but on the whole you are so desperate to 'turn the tide' it's to late, either you go under or get bought out.These two new roles created are hardly from the hottest creative shops and there's a lot of agencies who are still trying to find their feet or find new shoes, if you haven't found your niche by now, you could be in trouble.

So what did the full service agencies start doing and why are they starting to make in roads into the digital space? They stopped fooling themselves in thinking they have a digital offering apart from outsourcing the odd banner ad, they went back to what they're good at, and that is; coming up with the ideas. They got the idea and THEN they looked at the channels including digital, if the idea needed to be online they got the talent who could work within that space in bringing their ideas to life by not outsourcing but hiring full digital teams or in some instances buying independent successful digital agencies. That's why I think they are doing well now they stopped chasing the digital bandwagon for a while and they've now caught up.

So what next?

Some of the bigger shops will carry on and grow their digital department and those will be the ones who were a very good creative outfit from the start, the others will struggle and fizzly out in the space and carrying on getting the odd banner to do. The smaller specialist outfits like mobile and SEO companies will grow or get bought out. Pure full service digital shops will grow if they started out as a creative agency most will get bought out or merge with other digital agencies, but a word of warning, they will grow in revenue but if they get too big in the number of employees they have on their books they will go the same way as many production houses have gone, they will need to produce work quicker to substain the numbers they could turn into full production houses and not grow as margins become tighter.

So expect a lot of mergers in the coming months, there's a lot of shifting sand within the industry at the moment so we'll see what the landscape will look like in the coming months.

But there's one thing that will never shift; the idea will always win whatever company you work for, interesting times and exciting depending which corner you are in. Ding ding.

Let us know what you think, agree? or disgree?

Black Balloons - Without the hot air

2010-02-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

I like simple ideas, and I especially like simple ideas that tell me something I didn’t know in an engaging manner. I’d saw this campaign on TV first and, on first viewing, thought; “What a great idea!”.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s the TV ad where they use a black balloon to visually show the amount of energy we waste around the house. It’s all part of the Government’s ‘You have the power. Save Energy’ campaign.
From viewing the ad I learned that a balloon can hold on average 50 grams of greenhouse gas, and from someone who was never good at maths and more of a visual person at school, this execution dramatised the damage we are all doing to our environment really well.
Now here’s the strange bit: I went from the TV and typed in the URL. Yes, a digital guy who lives in the online world, typed in a URL from a TV spot, shock horror! I can hear the tweeting frenzy now.
TV isn’t dead as many industry folk would lead us to believe. What’s dead is wasting energy telling or selling something that doesn’t connect to people. This TV ad connected with me because it offered relevant content and compelling imagery.

So from that initial touch point I went onto their website and they continued the engagement. The site was very clean, the use of colour was well placed and the navigation was easy-to-use. One slight gripe is that social media connectors should have been included to a Facebook group or a Twitter account, but besides that it had everything else; from useful online tools, energy calculators and energy facts to what your community is doing, a checklist of facts, and energy saver incentives and discounts. The site had everything I needed to know about saving energy.

So I’ve joined ‘Save Power’ and made a pledge, read the posters and tweeted this campaign for some time – simply because it’s true integration without the fluff. And reading some of the blog posts and tweets around this campaign, a lot of energy is being used to praise the site. Thankfully, it’s not wasted.

I have man boobs

2010-01-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

Came across this and I've been playing with it ever since, wonderful interface and design- and a great concept, it’s called The Profiler the idea is wonderfully simple It allows you to combine data from your Facebook with your YouTube and Flickr accounts, the website allows you to discover things you and your friends find interesting all in the one location.

Look, share and view your profile as a mosaic, great interaction and I love the design and interface even though my mosaic profile seems to have given me some man boobs.

YouTube You Beauties

2010-01-21T20:09:00.001-08:00

Well YouTube with this site called YouTube Disco have done it again and came up with this, what a stroke of genius so simple,where you just Find> Mix> Watch> just type in your fav artist or tune and it comes up - nothing new indeed but I haven't seen anything like this apart from Pandora where your taste in music can been seen and played in the one location, music to my ears.Yeah baby!

Seamless experience

2010-01-19T22:42:00.000-08:00

There I was when it happened snail mail had arrived most mailers especially at work I throw in the bin but this one was different the 'outer' as they like to say at direct marketing agencies read: 'To the very talented Kevin Ferry' - with some niffy illustrations too it grabbed my attention - the mad fools, talented in what? I needed to find out what they thought I was talented in so I opened it up and discovered a newspaper (recycled I might add) size full of illustrations which was wonderful all contrasting styles from Jacky Winters Illustrations and my talent? apparently I'm pretty good at spotting talent, well in this instance they're right.
What I particularly liked about this mailer it lead me towards their URL and to their show-reel- the website Well designed, good user experience and not to fancy - let the work do the talking which it did so much so I told the rest of the design team- good work Jacky Winters you know your audience well

The Jacky Winter Group 2009 Showreel from Jacky Winter on Vimeo.

Tweet Tweet

2009-11-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

From TweetCloud this has been going around the net and it shows the most popular words you have used in this instance over the year some positive words would be interested to get this looked at by a psychoanalysis - loves running but always moaning about the kids perhaps - he uses running as a form of escapism.

Polar bear

2009-11-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

First up please take into consideration this TV spot is pretty horrific and graphic – it’s from Mother in the UK and demonstrates the effects airline flying has on the environment. We all knew that but this ad shows graphically the impact; literally. It reminded me the first time I saw the ad from Greenpeace Anti Fur spot shot by David Bailey. it had a lasting effect on me in that I didn't think to much about some posh bird from Chelsea wearing a fur coat until I saw the ad, this ad really started the change in what people found acceptable. The idea from Mother could follow suit in that it may start the process of people seriously reconsidering how they travel and how that effects the planet we live in.

One thing I also think of when I see this is the attack on the twin towers, those horrendous images of people jumping, maybe that was intentionally I don't know.

What do you think are you over this kind of shock tactic?

Or would you take action?

Polar Bear from Plane Stupid on Vimeo.

LA shoot

2009-11-22T11:56:00.001-08:00

LA shoot
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

Came across this after getting some pictures shipped over from the UK- this was a shoot I did for Ribena- Kevin Morris and Austin White are in the picture - notice the map of Australia above my head, maybe it was all laid out that I would one day work in Aus hey

Hot new young creative joins Bullseye

2009-11-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

This is my youngest called Anna she wants to be a creative- she's on her way as she has tantrums.

Surf Manly Flickr Slideshow

2009-11-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

I really like how Flickr allows you tag and share via their slideshow, you can embed the code so easily they really embrace social media and sharing content this is tagged #NSSLSC which is my Surf Club at North Steyne.

Manly

2009-11-15T11:48:00.001-08:00

PB010049.JPG
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

I'm no photographer but I love this picture I took of Ella body surfing I really like the effect of the background almost like a layered cake, water, wash, water, washout

Interactive on the street

2009-11-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

Came across this idea from a guy called Chris O'shea such a lovely idea, really simple but truly interactive, look at those everyday people interacting - how many times do you see creative work that agencies say is 'interactive' and in reality no one has the time or for that matter gives a toss?

This is different, simple and interactive and more importantly doesn't take itself too seriously, nice work fella.

Hand from Above from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo.

The art of copy writing isn't dead

2009-10-29T03:06:00.000-07:00

I was sent this ad by one of the creative's at Bullseye Digital I thought the art direction was wonderful and as an art director I can't help myself, I look at the art direction and how it is layed out or how the image was cropped, style of illustration etc. I usually read the main headline and then decide if I like or dislike the ad. This ad was different, in that I did something much more and to many people was a dying art; I read the copy, all of it, every last word of it. As you can mostly tell from reading this blog I'm no master when it comes to writing copy but when I read something that tells a story and takes me on that journey I say thank you even if I feel slightly depressed from reading ads like this that I didn't try harder at school.

DDB New Zealand
Creatives:
Toby Talbot (Executive Creative Director)
Mike Davison (Head of Art)
James Tucker (Art Director)
Simon Vicars (Copywriter)

Walk back

2009-09-20T16:57:00.001-07:00

Walk back
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

After the race, time of 1:25 felt good in parts, great day out #bsrf09

Twitter vest for Blackmores

2009-09-18T00:14:00.001-07:00

Twitter vest for Blackmores
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

Here's my vest I'll be wearing on Sunday

SRF_Top

2009-09-17T20:02:00.001-07:00

SRF_Top
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

This is what I'll have printed on my vest while running and live tweeting the Blackmores Half, really excited I better run well and not make an arse off myself can you imagine; had to stop and I've shit my pants, nice

Irish rocket fuel

2009-08-23T20:25:00.001-07:00

P8230152
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

I did the pub2pub this weekend great fun and Paula and Anna had a nice cold Guinness waiting for me at the end.

Usain Bolt Breaks 100m World Record and Hitler Reacts

2009-08-20T20:39:00.001-07:00

This made me laugh so much yes I wet myself- what more can I say really

Widget

2009-08-04T02:06:00.000-07:00

Ideas

2009-08-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yes the dreaded blank piece of paper. The room now empty as the suits have briefed and discussed what the client needs. It’s just you and your marker pad staring back at you. Sitting opposite with the same blank expression is your partner and no matter how good the brief or the amount of work gone into preparing it, I still get that gut wrenching feeling every time, ‘Is this the one where I screw up and I don’t get that idea’?

Don’t be fooled, you might think looking at creative people as a collective that they have an air of confidence (or as a planner I once worked with politely put it ‘those arrogant little twats down the corridor’). Yes they are, but if they are worth their salt and talented, most will all inwardly be a gibberish wreck inside.
So what sets the best creative thinkers apart? Well, the good ones revert to child like behaviour (that doesn’t mean they throw creative tantrums and sulk), no it’s where they ask all those questions like my daughter does when we go for a drive; why is the sky blue? How does a car move? This is the start of the creative process; creative people ask lots of questions.
Once you uncover all those why’s and where’s around the brief then you can start creating some ideas. First I start by using a mind map, most will know what this is; but it’s where you circle a key word and from that think of words or images that are associated with it. It’s at this stage that you are still in the mode of asking questions but they become more a ‘what if’? This is a very important stage in getting that idea.

‘Be curious not cautious.’ It’s also a time where in the back of your mind deadlines loom, and negativity starts coming into play in your sub conscious and your train of thought becomes blurred. Usually this is where the panic sets in and the ideas stop flowing but you must keep doodling. To help you fire up your thinking start recalling of all the books and films you have ever seen, recap on stories you’ve read or your friends have told you.
This is where the legendary John Webster once said; ‘treat your brain like a library and store all those images and stories so when you need to you can start flicking through your library’. This must not be confused with looking at YouTube! This is usually done by lazy creative’s, so avoid at all costs this temptation; it can contaminate your thinking.
Also creative people never ‘switch off’. The mind is always thinking so put everything down on paper, scribble on whatever you can lay your hands on (I have scribbled ideas on my kid’s colouring-in book as I had an idea for a kid’s yogurt). It’s at this stage nothing is wrong, some of the best ideas have come from silly suggestions.
Don’t just sit at your desk, go for a walk. I used to know a creative in London who would ride the Circle Line on the tube to think of ideas. I much prefer to go for a run; I find it’s a great way to think without taxing the brain. I can relax and the ideas then begin to ‘pop’. Thoughts rain down inside my head and the heart pumps, I get that tingle down my spine and concepts start flowing.
So here’s the bit you really want:
• Think as a child would. As Pablo Picasso said;
‘It took me 30 years to draw like a child’.
• Don’t think about winning awards- 100% guaranteed to fail.
• Be curious not cautious – ask lots of questions.
• ‘Blinkers kill thinkers’ quote by me while writing this.
• Train your brain to store information like a library.
• Read more books- Guinness ‘Surfer’ came from Lord of the Rings.
• Avoid YouTube– real people have done it better and you’ll come out badly.
• Look at award books- but see what else you could have done better.
• It’s healthy to fear the blank piece of paper- so enjoy.

Baa Baa HELP! Baa Baa

2009-07-29T04:03:00.001-07:00

Passed my Bronze for Life Saving and my first rescue was a....sheep lovely Dee Murphy wrote this piece about the poor sheep who needed a surf rescue.

Sheep Rescue

Unnamed Government sources released a statement today in relation to the concerns raised over a covert operation in the locality of Stroud over the weekend.

It was made known that a rogue agent only known as “The Mosselly” defected to the other side was seen in hot pursuit, chasing silent operatives across hostile territory onto an remote island where the operative only known as “the sheep “ was stranded. Details remain rather woolly at this time.

Above picture illegally obtained said to be “The Mosselly”

It has been reported that a crack team under the leadership of Commander Kevin (no last names issued for security reasons) launched a covert rescue operation known as “Sheep Rescue ”.

The hand picked elite team assembled in the early hours of Sunday morning for a lengthy breakfast sorry briefing before the dangerous and daring rescue could take place.
Specialist equipment was brought in under the secrecy of night and taken from the barn in the early hours.

The elite special ops team headed off in to the wilderness under the guidance of Commander Kev .
It is also known that several undercover operatives came to assist one known as “The Buddy” or “The Sweeper” .The former code name due to his superficial attachments to anyone who will feed him.
““The Sweeper” kept the team safe by his constant surveillance during the dangerous time .As communication was on silent so not to cause distress to the agent being rescued.
As Commander Kev directed his team further coverts were activated from the field .It appears they came out of no where to offer support. They looked a lot like horses in blue jackets but I was informed by the unnamed source that these agents had been in deep undercover for sometime and are a crack squad whom are known to blend well with the scenery.
One was seen conversing with Major Beale at some length. They disappeared shortly after that.
Commander Kev and his specialty equipment was launched into icy, deathly waters with little concern for his own safety (watched closely by his loyal team) swam with gusto to rescue the stranded agent now known as only ewe”.

She was promptly lead to safety by the rest of the team for a debrief.
Brave Commander Kev who has been nominated for the Victoria Cross for his heroic efforts lead his team back to base for a debrief and celebratory drink. Which I believed carried on long into the night.

“ Ewe ” was unavailable for comment and I am informed has gone back to covert duties.
The rogue agent has since been decommissioned and returned to headquarters somewhere in Sydney.

An unnamed source deep within the Commanders camp has made serious allegations that “the Ewe:” was pregnant and Commander Kev was the father. He had informed his wife he was going on long recon missions and runs but has been rendezvousing with this agent “the Mossley”knew about it and was jealous hence the altercation.
Commander Kev wife did not want to comment but stated she had noticed some of her best underwear was missing and there were credit card statement for several 5* hotels , the finest French champagne and plates of very expensive grass.

TwoKevs shooting in SA

2009-07-22T20:22:00.001-07:00

TwoKevs shooting in SA
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

The boy still makes me laugh the Posh one with the cheap gags and aftershave

Spot the difference

2009-07-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Now this ad was done about 6 years ago for the Halifax Building Society I remember clearly(he was looking very smug) my then copywriter Kevin Morris (Posh Kev) picking up loads of awards for best copy at many international awards from One Show to Creative Circle so when I was running pass this poster on the Sydney Road I thought the ad was running over here, but alas no it's for the ING and instead of a silver haired old boy we have a ginger haired Scots man in Billy Connelly.

I'm bias but like most things I prefer the original, the gag was new then and the art direction was much cleaner.

MANLY

2009-07-11T14:46:00.001-07:00

MANLY
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

Eveytime I look at this I get a rush of calmness, wonderful how pictures like this can be so powerful.

So funny I had tears in my eyes

2009-07-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

I watched this and as I was watching it I was laughing out loud to the point I had tears running down my cheek it then turned to real tears as all to many of us know this is exactly how some clients behave, they ask for everything but have only so much money to spend.

We can all work within tiny budgets if you are a good creative thinker you can get some great work done and to stand out the client has to be brave (Some of my most successful campaigns have been on a tight budget) but the difference between a good client and a bad one; the good client is realistic on what can be achieved and up front on the budget.

Everyone is happy and no tears before bedtime.

Quick question are you finding this is happening more during a recession or are clients more up front about the budget?

From Flickr

2009-06-30T14:00:00.001-07:00

KF surf
Originally uploaded by kevin ferry

New from Flickr where you can link your pictures via Flickr to Twitter, smart.

Where do all those ideas come from?

2009-06-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

I did a presentation a few months back on how to think about coming up with ideas, it has been viewed and faved by a few people mostly teachers and lecturers for their students, I thought it was worth posting on here for you to have a look, it might kick start your thinking. Relax and enjoy the creative thinking process, think like a child again.

Where ideas come from

View more documents from Kevin Ferry.

Blackmores Showcase

2009-06-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

My apologizes for not putting up more posts recently but I've been in training for my Bronze so the blog has looked a bit dusty of late, but here’s something that should blow the cobwebs away and get the old faithful magic marker squeaking with delight.

It’s a showcase of the work Bullseye have produced for Blackmores over the years a lot of the work is fairly recent, but looking at all the work as a montage it clearly demonstrates to me that if you have a good working relationship with your client then you’ll get the results that you and the client set out to achieve- in this instance; strong digital creative work that builds on Blackmores as the #1 health and wellbeing community site in Australia.

Slo Mo My God

2009-05-08T04:05:00.000-07:00

HD super slow motion video of big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom in a 12 foot monster barrel the first shots of their kind ever recorded.

Such beauty and as I watched it the piece reminded me about advertising and coming up with ideas, it's all about timing and pure persistence capturing that moment on film to commuicate the idea, visually this is stunning,the camera positioned underwater where you see the surf board cut through the water and that closing frame, wonderful.

Very much like the Guinness surfer ad from AMV - The best things come to those who wait.

New Big Pond site for kids big and small

2009-04-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a brand spanking new site we at Bullseye have just designed, it was a really great project, won the pitch, and the whole project was very smooth, the site was actually tested by my three girl's when we were building it they loved the interactions around the Big Pond World.

If your kid's say they like it then you know you're on the right track. Chin chin

Sink or Swim in Social Media

2009-04-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

There has been a great deal of excitement in the industry surrounding the escalation of social media, yet many marketers are not yet tapping into the wealth of opportunity this phenomenon presents them with.

A large concern facing marketers about including social media in their online marketing plan is their ability to protect their brand. These are viable concerns, however reluctance to participate is likely to result in lost opportunities, particularly as the range of social media tools continue to grow. Social media may involve a higher level of risk than other media, but soon the opposite will be the reality. Not acting will result in significant losses and damage to your reputation. The online public speak regardless of whether or not you are involved in the conversation. What are they saying right now about you or your competitors?

How can the effectiveness of utilising social media for marketing purposes be maximised, while also minimising risk? Here are five key steps in achieving this aim:

· Participate in the conversation

· Use the web as a research tool

· Generate ambassadors

· Show your brand’s true personality

· Stop shouting, start listening

Brands that are winning in this space are doing so because they have adapted themselves to address the above points. It is widely accepted that word of mouth marketing is the most effective promotion method and social media gives you an unmatched opportunity to leverage WOM to your advantage. There is no doubt that this adaptation involves a large investment of time in the first instance, but what other marketing medium promotes an interactive conversation about your brand?

Developing your ‘online footprint’

According to many industry professionals, traditional media and related methods will no longer generate awareness or action. Marketers need to develop an appealing point of difference by using social media tools to remain at the cutting edge. The following steps give a practical approach to developing your online footprint.

Step 1: Subscribe your company to the following online services. It doesn’t matter if you don’t use them all immediately, but it is important to get a general understanding.

* Facebook
* Myspace
* LinkedIn
* Twitter
* Digg
* Technorati
* Feedburner
* GoogleAnalytics
* YouTube
* Flickr
* Wikipedia entry
* Slideshare
* Vimto

Step 2: Experience new media tools for yourself and build your staff’s capabilities. Utilise the cost effectiveness of new media to promote your business, particularly in economically strenuous times such as these. To achieve success, you have to understand that motive matters, these tools need to be used with integrity including declarations of interest. Several brands have suffered the consequences of trying to deceive the online public.

You must also be consistent in order to be effective. The web is constantly moving and changing so you must ensure you’re up-to-date to remain relevant.

Step 3: Create a company blog, specific to your target audience. Provide useful information and resources. This is a great opportunity to build relationships and trust with your customers.

Step 4: It is important to resist the urge to pull down negative comments. Instead, use this conversation as a way to resolve their disaffection. Many companies use social media as a research tool as the comments they generate offer valuable feedback and act as an indicator of what is happening offline. Your customers and prospective customers will hold your brand in much higher esteem if they feel you are genuinely interested in their ideas and opinions.

In instances where it is required, it is pertinent to have a plan ready to address significant PR issues. Staff should be briefed on how to issue a quick and professional response. (Don’t repeat Irish budget airline Ryanair’s situation where one of their staff called a customer a ‘liar and idiot’ on the company blog).

Step 5: Continue expanding your brand’s online footprint using other media tools such as eNewsletters, online surveys/polls, PR, presentations (SlideShare), downloadable whitepapers, PPC (AdWords), Ebooks and article marketing (EzineArticles). Webinars are also becoming a very useful tool to reach a global market. Sharing content has a positive impact and increases the reach of the organisation.

There is no better opportunity when your competitors are cutting back than having a strong presence online. Generally it comes at a fraction of the cost of traditional media and can have a huge impact on your bottom line.

Find a savvy online partner

So, you have all this in place. Your staff are Twittering away about new product launches and you have a thousand friends on Facebook, but what about finding a digital partner who can bring your vision to life and enhance your online strategy?

For marketers just moving into the space, here’s a top 10 check list of credentials for a savvy digital agency.

Your digital partner should:

1. understand that digital goes beyond your browser

2. encourage more use of “pull interactions”

3. leverage virtual communities

4. use the technology they are recommending

5. have the technical expertise to bring their thinking to life

6. be Web 2.0 and social media savvy

7. understand consumer behaviour

8. demonstrate strategic thinking

9. have branding and creative capabilities

10. be able to measure success

To sum up, all marketers have that fear factor of ‘losing control of their brand’ but once you understand the space and have all the above in place, this will subside. With the help and support of an online partner and a solid online strategy campaign in place, all you have to do is step forward and join the conversation.

In the spirit of social media I will love to hear from you or have you comment on this conversation.

Life in pictures

2009-04-05T03:42:00.000-07:00

As you know from my posts I love pictures and one of my favourites has always been Life magazine I have copies back in the UK that as an art director always turned to for inspiration, the site is still in Beta but just going through the images I get tingles down my spine, wonderful stuff, enjoy.

Shock, horror the client has had a good idea

2009-04-05T02:53:00.000-07:00

I.T horror stories yes we've all had them and for some reason in my case becoming more common, this is a small project we did for Hitachi and it is such a good idea , sadly it wasn't my idea it was the clients!! bloody hell firstly should I admit that? and secondly should I ever listen to ideas from a client? the answer without doubt is yes and yes, as I said the end goal must always be at the benefit of the customer, no egos must get in the way, it has taken experience and confidence to except that ideas can come from any where I hope you like the idea as much as me, thank you Tim Smith

Here’s how the idea works: The site is designed to appeal to IT Managers who have an IT Horror story to share, (you might be one or know of one) the best horror story will be hand drawn in comic fashion by award winning artist Katie Houghton-Ward which will be signed and framed the site also has access to over 20 data recovery downloads. The site will take information and contact details from those who register, for Hitachi to turn into sales leads. At the end of the campaign the client will be able to tell what problems each user is experiencing in their workplace, and from the whitepapers they download they can tell what issues they are most interested in finding a solution too. Very clever and immersive communication.

Bang! Behavioural Targeting

2009-03-19T03:28:00.000-07:00

I always knew behavioural targeting advertising works, why? because all the best work that has had the best response either through buying a product or getting a quote has come from ads I have done that is target specific, the last two campaigns for Blackmores and ANZ credit cards, the response rate was nearly 3 times higher than the average and it's a much more cost effective approach than the standard approach of 'spray and pray' which I personally hate.

One thing that was interesting was that targeted groups were willing to have their browsing history monitored so long as no personal details were stored.

A Creative Revolution?

2009-03-11T03:05:00.000-07:00

Read a blog on a new start up agency in the UK called The Creative Orchestra yes yet another company banging on about a new way of working with some bullshit bingo terminology we've heard numerous times before but, hang on a second; this outfit might be onto something and to start it up during a recession, only the brave or very stupid would venture to do this, me? I reckon it's the brave and I think it’s also a very wise move on their part, here's why it will work:

• Its aim is to change the way that creative’s are rewarded for their work as well as to bring on a new generation of diverse talent. (Agencies still give away one of their prize commodities, ideas at a drop of a hat.

• It will take on briefs across advertising, branding, design, digital and new product development from commercial and public sector clients and agencies but will not take part in pitches or give ideas away for free to commercial organisations, which it says devalues talent. (See above, how many times do we see companies just 'fishing'? usually for the agency it becomes a very expensive fishing trip).

• Rather than billing clients by time it will charge either by selling ideas in response to a brief or licensing its own ideas. Neat, clients do licensing deals on music, photography, illustration and models so why not for the advertising idea?

• In a recession this model will work as it stream lines the process of the idea to the client.

The founder Chris Arnold believes that Creative Orchestra will become one of the most important sources of new creative talent for the marketing industry within three years.

All well and good but the true test will be how to harness that creative passion and drive around a business model that will flourish for a client and the agency, now that's harmony.

Holey Moley

2009-02-22T01:46:00.000-08:00

I came across this site over the weekend it's a collective of over 2,300 photos of Moleskine sketchbooks that are participating in The Sketchbook Project, WOW! I love to see people's work and talent, especially when it's all in the one location. I was only just casually surfing and I ended up being on the site for nearly two hours, 'just one page' I kept saying to myself. The work was great and everyone had their own unique style from pen and ink to watecolour. I did wonder though that the project should have encouraged a lot more conversation between the viewer and the site itself, for example; an ability to rate drawings would be useful or even have a sketch face off between artists, sketch and upload your drawing then another artist has to follow on from there, you could have a whole Moleskine collection of sketch books that could be reprinted and sold. Ahhhh the trusted Moleskine sketchbook unlike my Visa card at the moment 'I never leave home without it' and not only that, everyone knows carrying a Moleskine sketchbook around also has that air of coolness, not that anyone says that but we all know baby.

Research but not as we know it Jim

2009-02-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

Came across this the other day, Sodahead which I thought was really good way to reach real people in a way that is against the more traditional and sterile way ideas are judged, the dreaded 6 house wife's from Slough method where you sit behind a two way mirror and see if they like your idea or in most cases not all. They yabber on while sipping free cheap wine all supplied by the research house, don’t get me wrong I love gaining knowledge and understanding what people think but I found this site a better a gauge on what people really think regarding everything from their health to what they think of a particular brand, I’m hooked on this site, reading the responses is shall we say...very insightful.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-09T04:22:00.000-08:00

Sex and animals you can't go wrong really.Client: Wellington Zoos

Icons come to life

2009-01-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

I came across this which I just had to share, I love the concept of when something that is so recognizable and iconic as a pedestrian sign ‘man or woman’ comes to life. This project was created by New York artist and costume designer Yvette Helin called the Pedestrian Project which consists of performers wearing entirely black custom- made costumes they’re then put in everyday real situations like shopping or waiting for a bus, the fact they are real and on the street they have a very surreal feel about them, a great simple idea that has a lot of impact. I always knew growing up those signs were watching me as I crossed the road.