Visionary

Throughout my career I come across many business problems, it's my job to solve it, one question I always ask clients is; do you want to solve this problem for the short-term or long-term? Can you guess the vast responses to that simple question? #clue>> They comeback 6 months later, with some more problems that need solving. The plus side I suppose it keeps me in work.

Sticker Beacons - Welcome to Nearables

I came across a company called Estimote,with a great offering, not only is this very functional but the design is just delightful. I love this. Here's how it works; they are tiny adhesive beacons that can be attached to any surface to help unconnected objects interact with smartphones. Smart. Despite their thin shape, each Estimote sticker contains an accelerometer and temperature sensors, as well as a processor and bluetooth connector. If an item is picked up, extra information from the price or user reviews can be automatically pushed to the customer's phone. Estimote is calling its stickers 'nearables' (I like that. They provide similar benefits to wearables without having to be attached to the user, and offer more information about the immediate environment. The Estimote stickers Developer Preview Kit can now be pre-ordered from the company's website To me this is great concept where tech connects to a much greater experience, great connected thinking. A 'very good' sticker goes to Estimote, top of the class in tech for you matey.

The Idea Catchers

What value on creativity? If an idea is profound enough, it can change the course of history...no pressure then. Keeping looking for truffles rather than mushrooms.

The customer journey is nothing but straight forward.

Great piece via econsultancy with digital, the traditional buying cycle has gone out of the window. Brands and agencies struggle with this, they're not dictating the journey but people are. It's a struggle for many but to build a successful brand you have to let it go a bit and let your customers lead.

Beautifully Sad

Solidarités International et BDDP Unlimited veulent faire couler de l'encre from ici Barbès on Vimeo.

I came across this on my feed and as I started to watch this film I was immediately transfixed. The choice of music really set the scene and the pace of the film was spot on in telling the harrowing story of millions of children who die each year drinking dirty water. Very sad to watch as it unfolded but at the same time watching the art direction coming to life was something else. Award-winning art direction in my view but more importantly it was a very clever way to dramatise the story and draw attention in spreading the word, and hopefully for all of us to give aid to Solidarites International

Teachers Pet

Well well, look who's teacher's pet SapientNitro's end of year report - great effort from the whole team within the offices, till next year.

See the future of TV now.

Here's a whole new TV viewing experience, I know you've seen this in all those Hollywood films, but this is a reality now, it takes watching TV to whole new level. TV isn't dead it just evolved into something that I find bloody amazing.

Best Conversion Rate by colour

I have worked at various digital campaigns from finance to fashion brands and have always looked at how best to optimize the performance of the campaign. One thing I have learned is that you never stop learning and tweaking. Take this infographic from Quicksprount around the use of colour, amazing how one change of the CTA (Call To Action) button from say green to red can make all the difference in the success of a campaign. I did a similar test for a campaign for one of the big banks in Australia 2 years ago - I was told time and time again that a green CTA gets higher click throughs - I asked where's the prove? No one had real concrete stats, just an assumption- as in; 'green is the colour for go!! an action colour some would say' Well, I said let's put it to the test, the outcome; red won hands down. It was one of the most successful campaigns the bank had ever ran. Now I know what some marketing directors are thinking, 'I'll apply the colour red to all my CTA's' well, that would be a mistake, and here's why; trends change, people's behaviour change on what gets an interaction. So next time you run a campaign, look at reference like this infographic but always test and learn along the way. Some more info here

Skate Ballet

Love this as always when you get one thing and pair with something completely unconnected - you create something pretty special, this dude can pull some tricks. Nicely shot too, great storytelling.

Sport tech tracking clothing

As with all fitness nuts - we love data, obsessed with our performance and to see where you can make even minor adjustments in your training, there's a plethora of gadgets from Nike Fuel Band to a whole host of running apps. But more recently more and more start up companies are looking at ways of incorporating tracking technology into our clothing, still at early stages but here are two examples that I found that interests me; one is called Athos The Athos workout gear has sensors throughout that pick up on muscle exertion from the chest, shoulders, arms, back, quads, hamstrings and glutes, plus heart rate and breathing. The module insert transmits that info over Bluetooth to iPhones and iPads pretty cool and useful for fitness freaks, one slight snag is the price, still pretty heavy but I'm sure over time will come down. The other one I like which is less 'wearable' but more of an attachment almost like a cufflink is a Kickstarter project for a company called Notch currently they are aiming to produce $50 sensors with snap-on mounts, along with athletic and street clothing to hold it. So far, the campaign has raised $10,000 of its $100,000 goal. So they have the price nailed, not as tech advanced as Athos clothing, but as always there's a balance to be struck, in cost over utility. I would out of the two put my money on Athos to win this tech clothing race. Watch this space

Click, click, click

This is a lovely piece from Goodby Sliverstein, highlights how you track your ROI when it comes to display, how many marketing managers really know how well their comms are doing.

ADOBE "CLICK BABY CLICK" from Isaiah Seret on Vimeo.

L'Oreal an amazing transformation

Now here is a piece of content from L'Oreal, where they avoid the run of the mill model and plump for a less conventional model AKA Zombie Boy, Dermablend takes you behind the scenes with 'Go Beyond The Cover' this is an old school great demo for the product called Dermablend. (Dave Trott I'm sure would approve). Very watchable, and watching it unfold, dare I say; it's flawless.

Twitter Blueprint - The Perfect Tweet

Infographic via @gordonmacmillan