Web 2.0 Summit 2010: Mary Meeker, "Internet Trends"

Interesting presentation by Mary Meeker from Morgan Stanley on the 10 things companies should be thinking about if they want to utilize the digital media potential to its fullest. The presentation is supported by a number of statistics and market research that paints a clear picture of which companies are leading and why. It is definitely worth the time to watch:

Wieden + Kennedy's Skype Christmas Dinner

Here is an example of the integration of digital into the way companies and employees interact. A creative way to keep everyone together during the holidays and give them an opportunity to visit their respective homes. An added extra was that the participants could move the screens and cameras with a turn of their had thanks to an integrated motion sensor in the camera.

Social Media in B2B Context

Lee Odden is the CEO of TopRankMarketing.com and writes a regular TopRankBlog.com. This interview was recorded at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago, in October 2010. In this interview he talks about how social media can be used effectively for B2B businesses.

Social Media Taken on a Personal Level

This year the people at the Cannes festival wanted to do something different. They performed a unique social experiment which put David Perez in an unusual situation. He was to perform every task that people posted on his twitter page. His determination and this set up led David to do all kinds of crazy stuff as jumping with a parachute, getting a tattoo and getting a crazy haircut. The idea and execution was developd by global agency Leo Burnett to increase interest in the Cannes Wildfire conference.

Prime Example of Customer-Created Content

With the changing digital landscape one of the main trends that has been observed is the evolution of customer-created content. Consumers are now empowered to do pretty much whatever they want to express themselves, support or slant the brands they care about. Here is an example of a person that combined his passion for gaming and Lego and created this impressive piece of stop-motion animation.

Digital Translation's Next Level

Here's a video showcasing Apple's new app called WordLens that is capable of translating from Spanish to English and vice-versa instantly as soon as the came is exposed to the text or sign. The added cool thing about it is that it tries to match the appearance and font of the translated text and make it seem very real by replacing the text and putting in the translation. Have a look :) Seems incredibly useful...

How Online Video Helps Drive Global Innovation

Outstanding TED talk by Chris Anderson on how he sees the development of video and the Internet. Furthermore, he argues that online video has given birth to a unique practice - "crowd accelerated innovation" where people can build on each other's skills and passions thanks to online exposure and communities. Must-see talk in my opinion...

High-level Projection Mapping

Recently, a new H&M store opened its doors in Amsterdam and to prepare for the launch a projection-mapping experience was projected for 3 nights before the opening event. I was quite impressed with the complexity and beauty of it. You can see it below as well:



As impressed as I was I looked around for more examples of this. Then my girlfriend showed me Ralph Lauren's 4D experience from New York and I was blown away:

Theatrical Rich Media - what is it?

I've seen it several times now - seems to be gaining popularity - a campaign that transforms a website into a unique experience. It seems to be particularly popular with games and movies. Below are several examples that were nominated for the DMACS(Digital Media Advertising Creative Showcase) awards:

Viral Excellence

Recently, BrandRepublic posted a chart of the most successful and impacting viral videos in the past year. I want to use this post to share a few of them to demonstrate the different "hooks" that viral uses to accumulate millions of views. If I had to summarize in a phrase what it is that makes viral so..hm..viral is "Strong emotion". Whether that is sadness, guilt, passion, lust or inspiration the greatest viral videos always have to do with emotion. See for yourself in the below examples:





The Number 1 on the chart. TAC's campaign against drunk driving:

Impressive Interactive Banners

I was recently introduced to BannerBlog by a friend of mine and have discovered some real gems there in terms of sophisticated digital ads. Usually I am personally annoyed by banners but the banners I looked at on BannerBlog are special - they are not only relevant but also exciting and involving. I am personally fascinated by the gaming industry and the below banners are a great example of how banners can be utilized to market a game.

Developed by agency Biborg - the Assassin's Creed II: Brotherhood banner:
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2010/11/assasins_creed_brotherhood_internet_battle.php

Freestyle Interactive's Madden NFL 2010 banner:
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2009/08/madden_nfl_10_youtube_masthead_1.php

Wieden + Kennedy, Draftfcb and Sabertooth's Mass Effect 2 interactive banner:
http://work.draftfcbdev.com/me2/diorama/bannerDemo/me2_diorama.html

A Perspective on Post-Digital

I found the link to this post by Ogilvy Head of Planning, Russell M. Davies on a Twitter post by Mat Spencer from Strawberry Frog. Very interesting look on a term I had not encountered before - Post-digital. Have a read...

http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/2010/11/post-digital-an-apology.html

IAMPLAYR: a Unique Integrated Campaign Sponsored by Nike

Now here we have something special - a unique integration between social media, storytelling, website, interactive videos and gaming - all working towards a unique consumer experience where people can view the life of a professional football player from first-person perspective. The "game" was developed by agency We R Interactive.

This campaign might set new standards for social gaming. See below!

Using Social Media for Truly Connecting

I recently got introduced to an online platform which publishes presentations and performances by inspiring and innovative people around the world. They cover all kinds of topics and I am still in the process of going through all the great things on their website but when I watched the video below I thought it would be perfect to share on my blog to demonstrate how creative use of social media does not always have to do with a company's marketing communication. The speaker, Ze Frank, organizes social projects and initiatives for people and challenges them to create weird, funny and creative things. He is a person that seems to genuinely believe in the power of social media to connect people, even if they are complete strangers when they encounter one another in the digital world. Truly fascinating...you can find a link to TED's website in the Top Examples section to the right.

Fracturing Attention Spans and Drops in Productivity

Below are a few quotes from the New York Times article by Matt Richtel on the topic of how given us so many options and opportunities that we sometimes (more and more) get lost in emails, FaceBook, surfing etc. and stop paying attention to our work, social life and so on. Definitely something to keep in mind - digital is interesting but should not take over your life.

"The onslaught of cellphone calls and e-mail and instant messages is fracturing attention spans and hurting productivity. It is a common complaint. But now the very companies that helped create the flood are trying to mop it up.

Some of the biggest technology firms, including Microsoft, Intel, Google and I.B.M., are banding together to fight information overload. Last week they formed a nonprofit group to study the problem, publicize it and devise ways to help workers — theirs and others — cope with the digital deluge."

"The big chip maker Intel found in an eight-month internal study that some employees who were encouraged to limit digital interruptions said they were more productive and creative as a result."

"A Google software engineer last week introduced E-Mail Addict, an experimental feature for the company’s e-mail service that lets people cut themselves off from their in-boxes for 15 minutes."

"The fractured attention comes at a cost. In the United States, more than $650 billion a year in productivity is lost because of unnecessary interruptions, predominately mundane matters, according to Basex. The firm says that a big chunk of that cost comes from the time it takes people to recover from an interruption and get back to work."

"Companies are also realizing that there is money to be made in helping people reduce their digital gluttony. Major corporations around the world are searching for ways to keep software tools from becoming distractions, said John Tang, a researcher at I.B.M., who is a member of the new group.

“There’s a competitive advantage of figuring out how to address this problem,” Mr. Tang said. He said that there was “a certain amount of irony” in the fact that the solutions are coming from the very companies that built the digital systems in the first place."

Unique Twitter Campaign - Albion Bakery

A very interesting use of Twitter made to work together with Albion's oven. Whenever a new batch of buns or cake is ready the baker just turns the knob and presses the button which automatically sends a tweet about the fresh snacks to the followers of the company. Brilliant idea developed by British agency Poke.

The technology used to create this unique combination of hardware and software is called Arduino. You can read more on the technology on this link: http://www.arduino.cc/

BakerTweet from POKE on Vimeo.

Augmented Reality Introduction

"Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated sensory input such as sound or graphics." (Wikipedia)


In simple words - it is a digital tool that utilizes a special code on a piece of paper or another medium and uses that code for creating a visual image on your computer screen when you expose it to your webcam. AR has other uses as well - below you can see several examples of that - combining AR with mobile technologies to create a map and information resource of the place you are visiting is just one of them. Have a look :)

Social Media Excellence

Below you can see the case study of Old Spice's recent campaign. The campaign started out as a quirky and entertaining video that was posted online. The huge response to it though motivated an expansion in the campaign that produced unprecedented results. Kudos to the people from Wieden + Kennedy that developed this campaign. You can find the links to all the responses of the "man your man can smell like" on the link in the Top Examples section to the right.

Basics of Social Media

Below you can see an interview with Google's Vice Presidents and Chief Internet Evangelist. He touches on the fundamental value of applying social media to your communicaiton instead of using the more traditional one-way channels. It is interesting to hear about his view that when a relevant advertisement is placed in front of an interested individual it stops being an ad and becomes relevant information. From then on the marketeer's task is to give the opportunity and empower this individual to become an opinion leader by sharing the information they found through the ad on their various social networks.

Welcome to my blog! We start off with a high-level presentation by the CEO of one of the world's top digital agencies - Ogilvy.

You've heard of the 4 Ps of marketing. Now watch Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman & Global CEO OgilvyOne Worldwide as he explains the 4 marketing essentials for the digital age. You can find the link to the full presentation at the end of the video or in my Top Examples list to the side of the posts.