SPINNING AROUND: SEVENTY SEVEN THINKING OUT LOUD

PUN EN FRANCAIS ...

Loved this ... le Barbiefoot ... from Colette celebrating her birfday ...

ANOTHER NOTE TO SELF ... GAME CHANGERS

Some folks might know that I do bits and bobs (few of late, it has to be admitted) with the IPA Strategy Group.

Well, the team did an event on Game Changers, those who are using strategy to come up with genuinely new stuff.

Hence presentations by Six to Start, Made by Many and Zopa. All of them are well-worth a watch.

Dan Hon from Six to Start from The IPA on Vimeo.

Tim Malbon from Made by Many from The IPA on Vimeo.

Giles Andrews from Zopa from The IPA on Vimeo.

GRAF ... NOTE TO SELF

This really is a note to self, so apologies for inflicting it. Um ... I'll try and make it sound like it was intended for a blog ...

Millsy span around a note from her (apparently lovely) mate Matilda, who runs (or co-runs or works at or something) End of the Line, which sorts out graffiti commissions.

One day, I just know that I'm going to need this. So I am going to stick it here because it's quite a handy spot.

For anyone who is interested (and for my future self of course), there's a portfolio and a short film of their work for Kia ...

MTV STICKY LAUNCHES WITH YOUTH TRENDS

Well-worth a look is this new site launched by MTV and Viacom: MTV Sticky.

The site has already got a bunch of interesting bits and bobs on everything from gaming to smoking, from fashion trends to music.

Valuable reading indeed.

A QUICK HAT TIP TO JON AND FELT

Just a quick one to mention that the lovely Jon Burgerman has got a solo show at Giant Robot in New York.

Which is nice. (BTW, some might know that Jon made some lovely T-shirts for a little sideline venture of mine ... ilovesideline)

Tho not as nice as the stunning felt representations of Jon's characters by Felt Mistress.

Which are just gorgeous, if you ask me.

You can check out more piccies of the characters on flickr and you can even buy the little fellas ... here.

LEGO AND 8 BIT TRIPS

1,500 hours of work, stop-motion animation. Some people have too much time on their hands. We love those people, they should be (and in this case, are being) celebrated ...

via Contagious

HATS OFF ... CASH IN COCKNEY

Enjoyed this a lot as I ambled in this morning ... a bank machine that does Cockney rhyming slang.

Bank Machine has introduced an ATM that uses rhyming slang in its menus in select machines across East London. Bloody marvellous idea, simple, effective and has gone global.

Top pieces that we've spotted (no doubt the PR team will be rifling through the papers) included The Times, the BBC - with a belting radio interview featuring Bank Machine's ironically Scottish spokesperson - as well as such titles at the San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Jamaica Observer and New Zealand Herald.

Blimey guv, a belter.

IN Bb ... QUITE REMARKABLE AND FUN STUFF

One from Fishburn Hedges Group's planning director, Marc Moninski this time ...

In Bb (In B Flat) is a project created by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls and "developed with contributions from users".

Basically, you hit play on a bunch of the YouTube clips, all pieces of music in Bb on various instruments with relatively little tempo or groove. Because they are all floaty textures, they can all be played together at once to make lots of really interesting little tunes and variations.

Isn't it interesting what a bunch of people will do when given the internet and each other to play with? It's a constant amazement to me, to be honest. Lovely stuff.

SEVEN INTERESTING THINGS ...

Quite a lot of design type stuff in this one, for no apparent reason ...

Johnson Banks are threatening to go into full-scale production of their notebooks, as sold at the V&A Fete. I kinda hope that they do ...

Box Bird is a gallery and printworks set up by Graham Carter (whose work I own a fair amount of and can heartily recommend as an excellent purchase) and Alice TeaguTypePad - Edit Poste.

I really liked these Pentone Mugs by asbury & asbury. Sweeeet ...

The London Design Guide will be good when it launches next month ...

As will It's Nice That magazine Vol II, which will be out at the same time. Pre-order here.

Mark Andrew Webber makes the most remarkable large-scale lino-cuts and, what's more, he's open for commissions ... check out his map of London as part of his "where in the world?" series.

Amusement is a quite remarkable new French gaming magazine. They're sort of doing for gaming what Wallpaper* did for design and what Monocle did for business. Check out their recent shoots ... Outgaming, the utterly odd Pixxxel, oh and the geeky made of myth (NB. all sidewise scrolling).

MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT JP PS CAMPAIGN

I was more than mildly cross when Alice sent around what is quite a cute Japanese spot for the new slim PS3 - which promotes the campaign website at Playface.jp.

Not cross with Alice, you understand, but with the fact that I knew I had seen the idea before. As it turns out, I had seen (and have blogged about) a project that looks almost identical to the Japanese work.

Which is mammothly irritating. And shows that you can't get away with seeing something somewhere, using it in a completely different country and no one spotting it. Which is a good thing in itself.

So I am now not sure what to think ... the Japanese ad is good work - nicely shot, gets the message across (a bit clunky around the packshot regions, but basically lovely. But it's more than a little a rip off.

Hmmm ...

The Japanese ad here ...

The project (Robbie Cooper, Immersion) from which it was lifted here ...

 

 

HELEN MUSSELWHITE PAPER SCULPTURES

This is just lovely, lovely work. Well-worth sharing and shouting about it anybody's book. Helen Musselwhite makes quite amazing and beautiful paper scuptures.

At some point - and I have yet to work out exactly what reason might make it valid - I'd REALLY like to use this in a campaign for someone somewhere along the lines.

So this is really a note to myself. Tho one that I thought was worth sharing as if someone else wants to come up with a good way of using her work, I'm just as happy.

TWEETING LA

More fine work from agency of the moment, Droga5. Their v4320 campaign (see also the Twitter feed) is simple but rather lovely for all its simplicity.

Basically, they grabbed a bunch of Twitter users (BIG Twitter users, you understand) and they took a bunch of them on the all-new Virgin Airways Sydney to LA flight to mark its opening.

Once there, they had to Tweet every minute - making for a total of 4,320 Tweets all-in (get it?).

Now, if you ask me, there is little if anything that I can think of that would be less interesting than reading all of these Tweets in one place detailing the minutiae of a trip to LA minute-by-minute.

But there are plenty of people who DO want to read that sort of thing. So many in fact that they crashed the server that the site was on.

Remarkable stuff and a great campaign for the rest of us to watch and learn from.

"SLINKACHU" ... GOD BLESS YOU!

Slinkachu is odd. A photographer by trade, the wee fella has made something of a name for himself on t'interweb with images of little people left in the city to fend for themselves (as above). As he says on his site of the project ...

"The scenes I set up, more evident through the photography, and the titles I give these scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works."

It's odd, lovely and eminently browsable.

HATS OFF ... BRIEFS IN NEWS

Okay, Okay, so it's a bit PR 101 ... Idea Number 12: Ban Something.

AND, it's the second time that Alton Towers has managed to pull the same trick (they banned children wearing high heels in a bid to evade the height restrictions on their rides, which is actually a work of genius).

Anyhoo ... Alton Towers has claimed that it is to ban Speedos in its waterpark for not being family friendly. Or that it is considering a ban on Speedos, in all truth. But it's newspapers, so the "considering" bit of the whole thing was neatly dropped.

My favourite take on the story was the Melbourne Sun Herald: Budgie Smugglers Banned from British Theme Park. Budgie Smugglers? Only in Australia ...

But the happy story managed to make across the nationals as news: The Guardian, Daily Mail, Express, Times, SKY, METRO et al all picking up the story (for silly season has hit hard this year).

And, what's more, the torrid tale of a curtailing of male self-express managed to make it to the comment pages with a variety of the major commentators weighing-in to the debate with much pondering over the Gallic vs British approach to poolside sartorial elegance in the Observer, for example.

The Mirror, meanwhile, followed-up with Celebs in Speedos, an altogether lower-brow take on the debating aspect of the story.

All of which just goes to show us a number of things still hold true in the happy world of PR. That the silly season still exists, that sometimes a cute idea is worth rolling out even if it's been done before, that sometimes, it's about the media you know.

And that the best things in the world is a brave client willing to take a punt and have some fun ...

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

Thanks to Izzy for this wee clip-ette ... Snatch Wars (not as grubby as it sounds, tho I wouldn't play it with those whose ears are a bit sensitive.

Mash-ups seem to be flavour of the month here in Seventy Seven (see this and this). We'll get over it shortly.

THE INKSTRUMENTALS ARE COMING

I just thought that this was a lot of fun. It's a new iPhone game thing created by the lovely Jon Burgerman (who the brunette and I got to make some lovely T-Shirts for our Sideline once upon a long time ago).

Based on the blurb on Jon's site, it's being created with the people who brought us Mouth Off and is called Inkstrumentals. Basically, a load of Jon's quirky illustrated characters who each make different sample noises when tapped.

Looking forward to its arrival, looks like fun ...

inkstrumental™ making of video from ustwo on Vimeo.

Inkstrumental WIP 02 from ustwo on Vimeo.

CAN ANY BRAND DO DIGITAL?

Nice work from the folks at Bensons Beds ... of all people. Shows that anyone can do good work online. Neat idea, well executed.

WHEN TOP GEAR MADE ADS

... they were actually rather amusing. Made me smile gently ... it's the idea that you have in the office, fall off your chair laughing about but know is too obscene ever to mention to the client. Hey ho ...

For those who might be interested, this was the effort that the boys came up with before Jeremy created the spot above and James "made" the effort below (which does actually look like a VW ad, to be fair to him and the team of people who helped him) ...

CLARKSON BEATBOX MASH-UP

Barking, but incredibly amusing.

via Nick Burcher (again).

AIR NEW ZEALAND BARELY DOES SAFETY

Nick Burcher saw fit to hat tip Spinning Around for the Thomson Holidays post ...

By way of return, he also mentioned a cute little number for Air New Zealand which makes use of the same "let's use our safety video as a viral stunt" tactic.

Sweet idea ...

MORE THINGS DIGITAL MARKETING

Following the post about all things digital, Paul Isakson has popped up another deck on, well, all things digital ... and how marketing needs to change in response to changing consumers. Well worth a look.

.

SEVEN INTERESTING THINGS ...

Seven interesting blogs this time around ...

This is fantastic ... Forgotten Bookmarks ... odd things that were used as bookmarks in books found by a blogger of (now) some repute. What blogging was made for.

Oh, while I'm on random finds, do give Sir Paul Smith's blog a go at some stage.

When I fancy an off-beat read about something between ad-land and the digital arena, I will potter over to the ever-lovely Rubbishcorp for a browse. I recommend that you do so too ...

Wolff Olins NY blog is often one that I swing by ... just to see what's been happening.

Ramzi Yakob is always worth a read, I reckon. Recommended reading on all things digital.

The Daily Dish is well-worth a read. Packed with ephemera of a vaguely designerly bent. Andrew Sullivan's personal interests writ-large across t'internet.

And finally ... do find time to mooch over towards Build's Blog. Every post gets a Michael C. Place illusatrtion, which just sets it apart from your average ...

THE UK'S TOP MARKETING WEBLOGS

Hello lovely people ... For once in recent times, we've sorted out the charts on time (more-or-less), So this month's tables and all that are all below. Hope that they find you well and generally having good months of it. Without further ado, those charts in full ...

For those who may be interested, this chart is based on the AdAge Power 150, the top UK bloggers on all things advertising and marketing on 1 August 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
1 (2)	27 (16)	Econsultancy's Internet Marketing Blog
2 (0)	38 (-1)	David Airey
3 (-2)	41 (-5)	Blogstorm
4 (1)	46 (20)	NevilleHobson.com
5 (5)	93 (29)	Nick Burcher
6 (0)	100 (-23)	Chris Garrett on New Media
7 (-3)	104 (-56)	russell davies
8 (0)	115 (-11)	Crenk
9 (0)	118 (-8)	FreshNetworks Blog
10 (1)	121 (2)	We Are Social
11 (1)	124 (8)	Only Dead Fish
12 (1)	137 (11)	Crackunit
13 (8)	140 (62)	SEOCO Blog
14 (-7)	150 (-49)	SEOptimise
15 (0)	157 (19)	Rubbishcorp
16 (-2)	159 (-3)	FeverBee
17 (-1)	167 (14)	Welcome to Optimism
18 (2)	178 (13)	This Is HERD
19 (5)	186 (50)	A PR Guy's Musings
20 (-2)	202 (-16)	London Calling
21 (8)	204 (44)	Blendingthemix
22 (3)	208 (30)	UK Affiliate Marketing Blog
23 (-6)	212 (-29)	Collective Conversation
24 (2)	220 (19)	HERD
25 (32)	223 (266)	That Canadian Girl
26 (13)	226 (107)	Modern Marketing
27 (-5)	230 (-2)	Event Manager Blog
28 (0)	233 (12)	adliterate
29 (4)	245 (51)	Faster Future
30 (6)	250 (60)	50-Plus Marketing
31 (-1)	310 (-48)	Interactive Marketing Trends
32 (30)	313 (249)	Simon Wakeman
33 (8)	315 (27)	Life Moves Pretty Fast
34 (9)	319 (42)	Mediaczar
35 (0)	320 (-13)	Andrew R H Girdwood
36 (13)	321 (83)	Spinning Around
37 (-10)	324 (-84)	PR Blogger
38 (4)	326 (17)	UK Internet Marketing
39 (-8)	334 (-50)	PR Media Blog
40 (-40)	335 (-335)	How To Make My Blog
41 (-9)	337 (-49)	The Engaging Brand
42 (4)	346 (27)	Hobo UK SEO Company Blog
43 (17)	353 (171)	Brendan Cooper
44 (7)	357 (59)	renaissance chambara
45 (-26)	358 (-169)	Social Media Trader
46 (-8)	362 (-35)	Drew B's take on tech PR
47 (-24)	366 (-132)	SEOgadget.co.uk
48 (2)	372 (35)	Make Marketing History
49 (-1)	380 (15)	livingbrands
50 (3)	390 (53)	Sturgeon's Law
51 (3)	392 (53)	Technobabble 2.0
52 (22)	397 (236)	greenormal
53 (-6)	401 (-18)	Fraser's Affiliate Marketing Blog
54 (4)	418 (99)	The Ad Pit
55 (-21)	427 (-128)	The Way of the Web
56 (-16)	432 (-98)	Feeding the Puppy
57 (23)	458 (227)	Real Fresh TV
58 (-21)	463 (-143)	Apple Pie & Custard
59 (-7)	468 (-26)	Liberate Media blog
60 (12)	474 (144)	Internet Marketing Made Easy
61 (-5)	499 (-19)	never get out of the boat
62 (11)	522 (99)	10 Yetis PR Blog
63 (0)	525 (38)	Beyond PR
64 (-3)	533 (26)	General Marketing Blog
65 (10)	555 (94)	The Web Pitch.com
66 (-7)	556 (-34)	PPC Blog
67 (4)	568 (49)	Digital Examples
68 (-4)	570 (0)	LitmanLive
69 (-4)	584 (0)	mediations
70 (-4)	587 (0)	25 letters in the alphabet
71 (7)	589 (82)	Creative in London
72 (-5)	595 (0)	Simonsays
73 (-5)	597 (0)	Tamar Search Blog
74 (-5)	598 (0)	Wadds' tech pr blog
75 (13)	617 (102)	Organic Frog
76 (8)	619 (80)	The Renegade Agency Confessional
77 (-7)	638 (-26)	Indolent.com
78 (1)	646 (34)	Nicola Davies
79 (-34)	674 (-303)	further and faster
80 (-3)	685 (-21)	Brandgym Blog
81 (5)	702 (4)	From PR to Eternity
82 (-6)	704 (-52)	Confessions of a Wannabe Ad Man
83 (-1)	722 (-30)	middledigit
84 (10)	723 (57)	CarbonGraffiti
85 (8)	727 (50)	(Almost) Always Thinking
86 (3)	730 (16)	PR Voice
87 (-6)	736 (-49)	Measurement Matters
88 (-3)	757 (-52)	The Rosemont Loving
89 (-45)	763 (-401)	Rock Star PR
90 (0)	769 (-14)	The New Marketing
91 (-4)	790 (-77)	Shiny Red
92 (16)	801 (119)	Engage: the Carve Consulting blog
93 (-38)	813 (-335)	Curiously Persistent
94 (1)	815 (-32)	Ginger and Proud
95 (1)	819 (-30)	Freshen me up
96 (5)	827 (26)	Unleashed on Marketing
97 (1)	828 (-11)	Nitmesh
98 (-7)	847 (-91)	Raw Stylus
99 (-2)	852 (-36)	Vincent Thome's Blog
100 (-8)	853 (-89)	Digital Marketing Viewpoint from Cheeze
101 (-2)	860 (-16)	[Bluurb] stuff and things
102 (-19)	872 (-178)	AdGrads
103 (-1)	885 (-26)	One Size Fits One
104 (-1)	887 (-27)	Living in a digital world
105 (-5)	888 (-42)	Norton's Notes
106 (-2)	905 (-28)	Buzz Attitude
107 (-1)	921 (-24)	A Mountain Dweller in the Thames Valley
108 (-1)	927 (-16)	All Things PR
109 (1)	936 (-10)	The Red Rocket
110 (-1)	941 (-20)	DaveChaffey.com
111 (0)	947 (11)	noticing
112 (-7)	975 (-94)	The Open Agenda
113 (-1)	983 (-17)	Punch Blog
114 (-1)	1006 (-25)	In the Cowshed
115 (-1)	1034 (-34)	PRwordSmith
116 (0)	1038 (-15)	Offer and Acceptance
117 (-2)	1041 (-20)	From the Cowshed

COMPANY BLOGS SHOULD BE LIKE THIS?

The World's Best Ever features a piece on all of the finest ads for off-beat fashion and lifestyle retailer, American Apparel. SEE, there IS a marketing-related reason for the image above.

Seriously, though, flicking through some of the ads, it got me to thinking that this is a brand that is utterly and remarkably of the moment. You can understand in so many ways, flcking through Dov Charney's almost-pornographic images, how the brand has gone global.

It's a business that wears its heart on its sleeve (sweatshop free cotton was where it started out), celebrates its people (many of those who feature in the ads are staff) and sells bloody good product at pretty reasonable prices.

But more, it's got a leader who feels like he still stamps a mark on a helluvalot that the company still does - including how it speaks to its consumers.

(PS. should agency blogs have posts like this on them - particularly with pics like the one above? Dunno, strikes me that if they don't have them, they should.)

NICE WORK THIS ...

Can't think of a time that I've watched a piece of marketing and wandered away at the end feeling a little more laid back and relaxed. This one had that very effect.

For those who may be interested, it's for Paul Rodriguez's third Nike SB limited edition skate shoe. Have a poke about here and there's a 2 minute version.