Communications nutter, artist, thinker and all-round good egg, zefrank, has launched his latest project: Young Me, Now Me.
The internet "artist" has got people to send in photos of themselves as babies and children and to recreate the pose as adults. The result is an strangely compelling set of photos on his ColorWars2008.com website.
See more here.
If you work in marketing and don't wish that you had come up with this ad, there's something wrong with you. I reckon.
A read of the ever-entertaining Lunar BBDO weblog reminded me of this ... the Design Police print-em-yerself sticker set for pedants and sub-editors alike.
I have long-loved Creative Review - Centaur's advertising and graphics monthly.
It has that wonderful mix of visual arts and balances the creative with the craft and technical to rather wonderful effect. One of the few magazines that can be read cover-to-cover, month-after-month.
So when they launched the CR weblog, it could only be a good thing. An almost daily combination of the best of the magazine and original, just-for-web content that highlights great work from around the world.
What's more, they have allowed the web content to lead the magazine stories - a piece on Aussie ad and design collective, the Glue Society, sparked a profile article, such was the strength of positive feedback from blog readers.
But the best thing about CR Blog is the fact that it is such a rich source of good things from around the web - and always has content on it that is professionally useful and personally engaging.
Some recent picks include ... Adam Buxton's (of the C4 Adam and Joe Show) BUG night, an exhibition of posters at apeloig.com and coverage of an exhibition of posters from the collection of Paul and Karen Rennie at Central St Martins (which is just up the road from Seventy Seven).
Enjoy ... we do ...!
Working on the premise that "anything looks better in HD", the BBC's spots to promote its relaunched hi-definition service have hit our screens.
And what a thing of beauty ... though it has to be said that YouTube doesn't really do it justice.
A spot of Antiques Roadshow and then Fiona Bruce in high-octane Avengers-esque action sequence? Who'd have thought THAT would work. But it does.
Hats off to Fallon, who created this small dose of ad-land pleasure.
The new Mercedes campaign broke this week - and what a thing of beauty and lovliness it is, too. Sadly, nowhere on the interweb can I find a clip of the work.
According to the news reports of the new campaign, there will be three films in a new series that has been created by AMV (Seventy Seven's parent, just so you know).
The first stars Josh Brolin (he of No Country for Old Men fame) and, fleetingly, an SL. In it, he speculates over the notion of "presence" - if you have to worry whether you have it, you probably haven't". The next films in the series will focus on "attraction" and "ambition", by all accounts.
Do stop and watch if you get the chance - they seem to be playing out in heavy rotation during Grand Designs Live (hardly must-watch TV, but when you have a child on the way, nesting seems to feature heavily).
UPDATE ... found the wee fella ...
Based on the AdAge Power 150, the top UK bloggers on all things advertising and marketing on 1 May 2008.
If you feel that you should be included, you can get in touch with AdAge here, who will sort you out. As soon as you're in, I'll pick you up in this filleting of the AA chart.
| UK | Global | Blog |
| 1 (=) | 42 (-17) | David Airey |
| 2 (=) | 56 (-10) | Blogstorm |
| 3 (+1) | 57 (+4) | russell davies |
| 4 (-1) | 61 (-6) | NevilleHobson.com |
| 5 (+1) | 80 (+27) | adliterate |
| 6 (-1) | 105 (-15) | The Engaging Brand |
| 7 (=) | 116 (-2) | PR Blogger |
| 8 (+2) | 130 (+13) | Only Dead Fish |
| 9 (-1) | 138 (-10) | Crackunit |
| 10 (-1) | 166 (-27) | Modern Marketing |
| 11 (+5) | 170 (+19) | Make Marketing History |
| 12 (-1) | 171 (-24) | Welcome to Optimism |
| 13 (NEW) | 173 (NEW) | HERD |
| 14 (-2) | 178 (-5) | A PR Guy's Musings |
| 15 (-2) | 193 (-15) | Crenk |
| 16 (-1) | 201 (-15) | PPC Blog |
| 17 (-3) | 208 (-26) | Fraser's Affiliate Marketing Blog |
| 18 (+13) | 228 (+128) | Blog Till You Drop |
| 19 (-2) | 249 (+1) | Hobo SEO UK |
| 20 (NEW) | 261 (NEW) | Spinning Around |
| 21 (-3) | 266 (-15) | greenormal |
| 22 (+1) | 305 (+12) | Drew B's take on tech PR |
| 23 (-4) | 313 (-50) | Life Moves Pretty Fast |
| 24 (+6) | 327 (+28) | livingbrands |
| 25 (+4) | 328 (+26) | Beyond PR |
| 26 (-6) | 329 (-51) | Simonsays |
| 27 (=) | 330 (+15) | The Way of the Web |
| 28 (-6) | 333 (-24) | mediations |
| 29 (-4) | 350 (-14) | Wadds' tech pr blog |
| 30 (-9) | 353 (-45) | Interactive Marketing Trends |
| 31 (-3) | 370 (-22) | Faster Future |
| 32 (-8) | 375 (-46) | 50-Plus Marketing |
| 33 (-7) | 379 (-35) | Raw Stylus |
| 34 (+1) | 396 (+23) | Lewis 360 |
| 35 (+1) | 418 (+11) | Brand Strategy Magazine Blog |
| 36 (-3) | 446 (-47) | The Friendly Ghost |
| 37 (+10) | 454 (+71) | Living in a digital world |
| 38 (+2) | 457 (+17) | Nick Burcher |
| 39 (-5) | 465 (-57) | (Almost) Always Thinking |
| 40 (+5) | 480 (+31) | Pudding Relations |
| 41 (=) | 484 (-1) | Simon Wakeman |
| 42 (-4) | 492 (-23) | Tell Ten Friends |
| 43 (+1) | 494 (+13) | The New Marketing |
| 44 (-5) | 495 (-25) | [Bluurb] stuff and things |
| 45 (-8) | 504 (-40) | A Mountain Dweller in the Thames Valley |
| 46 (-4) | 510 (-26) | Brandgym Blog |
| 47 (-4) | 522 (-18) | Unleashed on Marketing |
| 48 (+1) | 530 (+18) | All Things PR |
| 49 (-3) | 543 (-28) | PR Voice |
| 50 (+1) | 562 (+5) | Indolent.com |
| 51 (NEW) | 565 (NEW) | In the Cowshed |
| 52 (-4) | 567 (-29) | Offer and Acceptance |
| 53 (-3) | 588 (-36) | PRwordSmith |
| 54 (NEW) | 597 (NEW) | Yet Another Planning Blog |
The European Cup is upon us - not that we in the UK have much interest in it. However, for Nike and adidas, the marketing orgy has begun ...
... and while Nike have gone all "take it to the next level" ... adidas have asked us all to focus on those who "dream big".
You can see all 12 of the films that have been made - in which Gerrard, Becks, Kaka and a host of other visit some of the world's smallest teams (including the Scilly Isles, a league of two teams, Andorra and San Marino) - at adidas.com/football.
All lovely work.
An absolutely beauty, the new NikeFootball.com campaign: all about taking it to the next level. Lovely, lovely, lovely work. All kicks off on 29th April. Meantime, this teaser is whetting our appetite ...
Hot on the heels of the (still running) Doritos campaign, another user-generated advertising thingy has popped up.
The director of Watchmen (comic-book inspired superhero flick) has asked fans of the character to make fake ads that will then be shown in the backgrounds during the movie.
Zack Snyder (the director in question) can be seen explaining it all here:
big hat tip to W+K for that one
Every weblog should have a section called "designerly ephemera".
It's an ideal spot to put random stuff that you just like.
Such as these rather fab poster studies by Jonathon Yule: "a freelance designer currently studying in the York/Sheridan Bachelor of Design program in Toronto, Ontario. I'm particularly interested in typography, grids and the intertwinement of design and play".
I thought they were great.
Ten days, well over 2 million views. Average creative, tho.
If reports in the Independent and on the NYT's "The Moment" weblog are to be believed, water could be the latest eco-battleground.
A new project - Waterfootprint.org - (started by a bunch of academics in the Netherlands) is encouraging people to think about the amount of water has gone into the production of their milk (1,000l of water for a litre of milk), wine (120l a glass), beer (75l per pint), bread (40l per slice) ... you get the picture.
An interesting trend that is catching fire across the web today.
Thanks this time must go to some more folks who have seen fit to link to us for various reasons. Thank you all for your kind words (and hat tips right back at you all ...) ... Brain Based Business, Speed Promotion, Flooring the Consumer, adver-whatever, net-savvy, Paul Isakson, blog till you drop and Find Substance. Ta from all at Spinning Around
Based on the two Fallon campaigns out today, you would have to say that they have lost their way.
Okay, so the follow-up for Sony was always going to be tough - music like no other was cute, but the whole thing was starting to feel a little bit flat. Foam City, on the other hand, is just nonsense. As Scamp says ... WHY?
At the same time, their work for Budweiser is out. The brand is looking for a return to the good old days of "Wassup?" and this ad sort of shows that quest without massive evidence of them getting there in a hurry.
There's plenty more interesting they could be doing with this as a concept - right now, it feels like a combo of the aforementioned Sony MP3 work and a certain gorilla.
Maybe they will go to work on expanding the concept they've created with this first offering - if they don't, you are once again left with a certain emptiness after watching the ad - Chinese takeaway style, you feel quite full while you're there, and left rather empty a couple of minutes later.
This made us chuckle, from Goatboy, an online T-Shirt co in Australia.
Thought that it would send you into the weekend with a smile. Weather looks like it's going to be shit, so try to enjoy it as much as possible.
Since GPS seems to be the latest technology to get brands excited, we thought that we would do a quick round-up of three of the interesting applications that it is being put to by various businesses.
Adidas in Japan has created a tool whereby runners can track themselves using their GPS-enabled phones (registration required). Setting-up their own accounts, runners enter their desired run distance. The site then tracks runners and records their distances. A brilliant application of GPS to create a tool that is of genuine use to a core audience. See also Asia Scout Network.
Meantime, Nokia has created a GPS-enabled phone mascot in Stavros. The self-proclaimed artistic genius creates GPS-art by recording the trail he creates while wandering around major cities. Folks can then follow his progress on the "the world is my canvass" website - with a blog of his art-making tour of Rome featuring video and image content. A cute idea - but a real shame that there is no application that anyone can actually USE.
And finally ... Urban Mixtape. Mobile social network, Socialight (which enables mobile users to submit suggestions for eateries, sleeperies, drinkeries and other places of interest), has created an online GPS application (for LA only so far). The app enables someone to go onto the website, select a number of venues from a list, enter their mobile number and have their list of destinations sent to their GPS-enabled mobile. The phone then gives directions to each place (more detail here). A lovely tool, we thought.
SO ... GPS is the app du jour for brands and we are now getting the old thinking caps on to come up with some cunning applications for our clients. Fun times indeed down the boozer.
We are WELL behind with this one, but thought that we should share. So far, 3 million plus YT hits. It deserves the opportunity for more. A valuable reminder of the lesson that if you are being interesting then you need little else ...
via PunkPlanning
Alice found this and span it around. I like it a lot ...
Dunno if you spotted it on TV last night, but I just happened to catch the new Berocca ad ...
And thought about the OK-GO "Here It Goes Again" video that went nuts on t'interweb a couple of years back (the YouTube clip below has clocked up 32,600,846 views alone) ...
So it's interesting that this is another example of something being a huge hit in the digital domain and creating a massive viral effect before being appropriated for a brand on mainstream media.
But it also got me to wondering whether there was a point at which a rip off is Okay if EVERYONE is going to know about it: where it could be considered a sort of "homage" to something that has worked for someone else.
That, rather than nicking something with the distinct whiff that everyone was rather hoping that nobody would find its antecedent - as it sort of felt like with WCRS and "Do The Test".
I spose that the concern is that Berocca may put people off by a "homage" to a much-loved piece of viral content if the audience that made it huge feel a sense of betrayal at its being lifted by a brand.
But then what do I know. Maybe there was a deal done with the band, they endorsed the use of it and all is well. Would love to know.
It's Nice That is a blog created all the way back in 2007 by designers Will Hudson and Jez Burrows.
Will works at brand designers Third Eye Design and also has his own site - WillHudson.co.uk - while Jez is part of a design collective, Evening Tweed.
ANYHOW, INT is celebration of lovely stuff. It exists, the boys say, "to locate, collect and share nice things within the creative world".
And an eclectic collection they have created indeed. Graphics, art, products, illustration and photography form the rump of the site's writings, but there are few areas of design that escape INT's roving eye.
Why do we (I, actually) love it? Because there are so few blogs in the world that you can take a wander to on a weekly basis safe in the knowledge that there will be SOMETHING interesting to look at. This is very definitely one of them.
Loving the work, chaps ...
Previous Loves ...
Seventy Seven Loves ... This Ain't No Disco
Seventy Seven Loves ... KnickerPicker
Seventy Seven Loves ... 10x10
Seventy Seven Loves ... My Deco
Seventy Seven Loves ... The Sartorialist
Two presentations on all things "new marketing" that have been doing the rounds.
I have never been terribly good with del.icio.us and favourites and all of that sort of thing, so figured it's easier to post them here - I know where they are and share them with others at the same time. Genius
First up, Aki Spicer's ten social networking trends. Given that the slides appear rather small in this version, you might want to download the PDF that Aki very kindly made available.
And then there is Paul Isakson's really excellent presentation on the future of marketing:
Thanks to both of them for writing and sharing these. Excellent reading in both cases.
There was a debate in the office about the finest headlines going.
This prompted a new, occasional set of columns for Spinning Around in which we will dig out particularly fine examples of the art. As a starter, though, it was felt that some of the finest headlines should be captured.
If you have any other examples, please stick them in the comments below?
(Book Lack in Ongar was a story about the lack of library services in Essex, by-the-by.)
On the PM returning to the front line by air:
CHURCHILL FLIES BACK TO FRONT
On the polar explorer, Dr Vivian Fuchs, setting off on a new expedition:
DR FUCHS OFF TO THE ANTARCTIC
TPT's ass all over The Sun:
TARA RAW BUM DISPLAY
Inverness Caledonian beat Celtic in a cup match:
SUPER CALEY GO BALLISTIC, CELTIC ARE ATROCIOUS
Sex change copper keeps his/her job:
NO KNOBBIE BOBBY KEEPS JOBBY
George Michael arrested in public toilets:
ZIP ME UP BEFORE YOU GO GO
Asylum escapee sexually assaulted a woman in a launderette and ran off:
NUT SCREWS WASHER AND BOLTS
A win by a small Surrey football team was celebrated by:
EFFINGHAM BLIND 'EM
Following the attempted diamond robbery at the Dome:
I'M ONLY HERE FOR DE BEERS
Any more for anymore?
Mike Stimpson made the news this week so we thought that we should raise a glass and take our hats off to the PR.
Actually, the news hit thanks mostly to Bournemouth News and Pictures, the local agency for those parts. They found Mike, who recreates famous photographic images with LEGO. A very slightly mad idea, really.
Still, Mike managed to score some fantastic coverage across the nationals with his quirky images with as pieces appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, METRO, Daily Mirror, SKY News, and a host of others.
What's more, it prompted trendhunter magazine to create a gallery of 33 other odd projects that pay homage to the world's favourite Danish toy bricks.
Great work, Mike.
The Modernista website is one of the finest things that has been seen in Seventy Seven for a long time. Just loving it - it's bloody clever and more than a little original. Fabulous. They've really pissed Wikipedia off though, as the disclaimer says ...
Modernista's homepage, which overlays their own logo and navigation elements over the upper-left area of a page, chooses this page to display by default. Wikipedia has no affiliation with Modernista and some adminstrators have requested that Modernista cease this use of this website. Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view and does not endorse nor condemn Modernista, but is opposed to being used as a promotional mechanism in this manner for any third party.
via ITIABTWC?
Sui Generis, gauravonomics.com, A New Marketing, TIGS and Only Dead Fish have all linked to us of late. Thank you!
We'll get back to writing interesting things now - rather than being grateful and shouting about what chart we've moved up in. And about bloody time, eh.
We'll stop doing this now, but we just found that Spinning Around has risen to become the number 9 advertising weblog in the UK according to Scamp. Thanks very much!
Some more thanks ... Junta42, my 2 cents, Social Hallucinations, Greg Verdino's Marketing Blog, Scott Monty, CheapThrills, Mind the Gap, Perfect Life Project, Wishful Thinking, Media Hunter, Levite Chronicles, j a s o n o k e, J. Erik Potter and The Marketing Spot. Thank you very much for mentioning us!
We found out that we have been included in AdAge's list of the biggest marketing bloggers - the Power 150.
Only in marketing, with all its awards and lists, could an agency get into a Power 150 at number 261. Still, we could have ended up at 584 (the total number of blogs currently in the chart).
Anyhow, we're pretty pleased with that as a first showing - amongst the UK marketing, PR and advertising blogs, it puts us in at around the top-20, so that will do nicely.
Loved this a LOT ... made the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror as their April Fool story too.
Based on the AdAge Power 150, the top UK bloggers on all things advertising and marketing on 1 April 2008 (with no comedy additions what with it being Fool's Day and all).
If you feel that you should be included, you can get in touch with AdAge here, who will sort you out. As soon as you're in, I'll pick you up in this filleting of the AA chart.
Movements below are since I first tried a run of this fella in mid-March - and relate to shifts in the UK-only list and the Global list respectively. If nothing else, the moves showed that there is sufficient movement in the chart to make it worth tracking.
| UK | Global | Blog |
| 1 (=) | 25 (+4) | David Airey |
| 2 (=) | 46 (+6) | Blogstorm |
| 3 (=) | 55 (+5) | NevilleHobson.com |
| 4 (=) | 61 (+1) | russell davies |
| 5 (+1) | 90 (+5) | The Engaging Brand |
| 6 (-1) | 107 (-22) | adliterate |
| 7 (=) | 114 (+8) | PR Blogger |
| 8 (=) | 128 (+7) | Crackunit |
| 9 (+1) | 139 (+9) | Modern Marketing |
| 10 (+1) | 143 (+17) | Only Dead Fish |
| 11 (-2) | 147 (-2) | Welcome to Optimism |
| 12 (+2) | 173 (+15) | A PR Guy's Musings |
| 13 (+2) | 178 (+12) | Crenk |
| 14 (-1) | 182 (-2) | Fraser's Affiliate Marketing Blog |
| 15 (+1) | 186 (+9) | PPC Blog |
