Digital Examples

Things I Love - Friday 27th January

2012-01-27T17:33:00.001Z

This video of a Lego Man sent into (near) space by two Canadian teenagers. Full story here.

The amazing 'log cabin' effect for the Circus shop in Brixton Village, achieved by using cardboard tubes.

'Bon Joviver'

This clip that a Hungarian colleague sent me: It's like a clip from an unseen Reeves & Mortimer show. Jaw Dropping!

There's a whole meme around it, including this Prodigy version

Putting ads on pictures

2012-01-27T17:26:00.000Z

Vibrant media just bought Image Space Media, which means that Image Space's technology, which allows publishers to put ads onto online pictures, in a contextual way, could spread.

Have a look and see what you think:

In-Image Advertising in 90 Seconds from Image Space Media on Vimeo.

I find Vibrant's text ads pretty annoying. They make a box jump up if you mouse over a random word that they've managed to sell, like 'power' generally completely out of context. However if this is done well, a bit like the relatively unobtrusive YouTube ads it could take off.

The return of Ferris Bueller

2012-01-27T12:12:00.001Z

This is a teaser for a Super Bowl ad. Please let the full ad be good!

There's so much excitement on the internet for this. If it's bad it'll rebound badly on which ever brand it is. I think I'd forgive most sins if Alan Ruck was in it too, though, or Mia Sara, or Ben Stein... What's the betting Ben Stein does a voiceover..?

(Although I always thought that American Beauty worked pretty well as an unofficial sequel, with Kevin Spacey as Ferris)

Next Generation Media - January 2012

2012-01-26T09:59:00.000Z

This is my most recent Next Generation Media Quarterly presentation, showing examples and stats that have really impressed me over the past 3 months.

Take a look!

Next Generation Media Quarterly January 2012

View more presentations from Dan Calladine

Vicks use clever targeting based on 3 types of data

2012-01-25T18:27:00.000Z

This is very smart, and shows how brands can use the new sorts of data that are available to them.

Vicks used historical data from Google Flu Trends (see earlier) to predict which areas were most likely to be affected by flu outbreaks. They then advertised their Behind Ear Thermometer on mobile apps in these areas, but only to mothers, where they could identify them.

So they:

Constructed a model using historical search data
Advertised within apps, using geo-targeting
Chose apps that had collected user data, like Pandora, to target further demographically

Full info on Springwise

MINI - Fan The Flame & Burn The Rope

2012-01-24T10:30:00.000Z

A very clever bit of work from MINI at the Brussels Motor Show. A MINI Countryman was put on a slope, kept in place by a strong rope. A burner was put under the rope, and each time the page was Liked on Facebook a flame came out. The person who sparked the flame that eventually burnt through the rope got to win the car.

Very good!

Things I Love - Friday 20th January

2012-01-20T17:32:00.000Z

This frustrated letter from Douglas Adams, desperately trying to get in touch with an elusive movie exec regarding Hitchhikers Guide. That's how to do sarcasm. (I don't know if the call ever came)

A video of a year, with one short clip for each day. I love this even though I don't know any of the people. If this were one of my friends I'd love it far, far more. (& it's already 20 days too late to do this myself for 2012)

2011 from hey_rabbit on Vimeo.

The delicious chickens from Fosse Meadows Farm, available at various London farmers' markets. Yes, it's more expensive, but these chickens are properly free range; they have muscles where supermarket chickens don't! Never buying a supermarket chicken again.

'Hello' in movie clips - we all love this, right?

Hello from ant1mat3rie on Vimeo.

The Guardian's Guardipedia stunt for the day of the SOPA Wikipedia outage. A great way to have fun with the readers. Readers had to send in questions, the Guardian guy had to try to answer them. Qs got increasingly random and surreal!

VW's Star Wars Dogs

2012-01-20T09:39:00.000Z

Great stuff. I LOL-ed. Wonder what's coming next?

Stop PIPA and SOPA

2012-01-18T13:18:00.001Z

A very persuasive film made by American web entrepreneurs, including Foursquare

Our Internet from Engine Advocacy on Vimeo.

Get involved here.

Background

Invite Codes Available for Roamler

2012-01-18T09:17:00.000Z

I first wrote about Roamler last year. Roamler is a mobile network that lets you request or perform small tasts, for free or for payment. For example you might someone to provide a picture of how your product is being displayed in a certain branch of Tesco, or even to promote your product in an unusual way. Roamler can facilitate these (and many more) sorts of things. Roamler was launched in the Netherlands last year, but now it's available in London, for invited users only. So far it's only for the iPhone 3G, 4, or 4S

Watch the video to see more.

Roamler explanimation from Roamler on Vimeo.

I have some invites - please send me a DM on Twitter (if we're already connected) or @ me - I'm @DanCall1

Find your worth to advertisers with VisualDNA

2012-01-17T14:05:00.000Z

Data provider VisualDNA have an interesting quiz on their site called What Am I Worth?

It takes you through about 20 questions on your online shopping choices and what you're likely to be buying online, and then gives you an estimate of your value to companies wanting to market to you. You can then sign up to receive ads where you get a cut of the affiliate payment.

It's interesting. I'm not worth that much because I haven't got a car, and am not looking to switch utility providers or make any big purchases in the near future.

(I heard about it through Richard Wilson's slightly Monkey Tennis programme last night looking at the increasing automation that consumers face, from automated phone services to self checkout in supermarkets, to online cookies tracking your movements)

'Like' Kahlua when you watch The Big Lebowski on Facebook

2012-01-17T13:50:00.000Z

I found this little snippet in an FT story on how Lion's Gate is using Facebook for film rentals. If you rent The Big Lebowski to watch on Facebook, you can 'Like' Kahlua while you watch the film:

"Other films have also taken product placement to a new level, offering viewers the opportunity to “like” consumer products that appear in the film. When the main character in The Big Lebowski makes a white Russian, viewers can “like” Kahlua, which then allows Kahlua to deliver free marketing messages to that person’s news feed."

(Article here)

I haven't done it, so I'll take the article's word for it. It's pretty clever, and I think for many people it could even add to the enjoyment of watching the film.

Things I Love - Friday 13th January

2012-01-13T17:24:00.000Z

This video by A Place To Bury Strangers made by using different Instagram images spliced together. Yes, I know The Vaccines did it first, but this one tells a story

A Place to Bury Strangers "So Far Away" from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

The Opera Tavern's 'password protected' secret burger. A great use of passwords in the real world!

The film The Artist. If I see another film as good as this year I'll be very happy. An instant classic.

BBC4's series The Story of Musicals. Brilliantly done, a kind of alternative cultural history of the UK. I don't even like musicals very much, but this series is fascinating. Also, I never knew that Brian Blessed was in the original stage production of Cats. Bizarre.

#SmokedByWindowsPhone

2012-01-13T13:02:00.000Z

Earlier this week Microsoft announced that they'd be holding a competition at CES in Las Vegas - could your phone perform certain tasks quicker than a Windows phone? If your phone is faster you won $100; if theirs was faster you had to admit, on camera, that you got #SmokedByWindowsPhone.

It's a pretty bold move, and one that shows that they're confident of their technology.

Watch one of the videos here -

They won 88% of the challenges - but it adds veracity for them to admit that they sometimes got beaten.

Graham Coxon curates a line up of local bands for his tour

2012-01-12T12:44:00.001Z

Graham Coxon recently revealed details of a new album, A+E, and tour. For the tour, he wants to find local bands to support him at each date.

His website lets you select a date, then nominate a band. Others can then watch the videos and vote on the bands. The final choice is Coxon's (hilarity would no doubt ensue otherwise) but the votes give him a steer as to the popularity of the different acts.

For example The Spitfires currently have the most votes to support him at The Forum in London:

This is such a good, simple idea. It gives local bands a leg up, gives Coxon interesting support bands, and helps to publicise the tour in each of the towns. Excellent.

YouTube Takeover for Haywire

2012-01-10T12:18:00.000Z

This is a very good YouTube takeover for the new film Haywire. I suspect the film has a lot of the same energy!

Go to the YouTube page to see it

Goodbuzz - Get paid to share

2012-01-09T10:25:00.000Z

My colleague Graeme Wood sent me this example of a company facilitating paid sharing, prompted by discussions about what Chevy are doing for the Super Bowl.

Goodbuzz sees itself as a 'tipping' system for the internet - organisations upload an ad and contribute a 'tip fund', then all of the people who share that ad with their friends get a share of the tips at the end of the campaign, based on their contribution.

See the video, and then find out more here.

With only $23,000 on offer this month in total tips it seems like pretty small beer, but it's a model that has real promise, I think.

TNW article with more info here

Things I Love - Friday 6th January

2012-01-06T18:02:00.000Z

The site The Most Expensive Picture. Photographers pay $1 extra each day for the site to feature one of their pictures. Currently they're paying over $100. A great idea for a site.

This collection of Least Helpful Reviews on Amazon. Great idea for a blog, too.

Also, separately, I loved this review for the film Days of Glory, where the writer marks the film down for being subtitled:

I was shocked when I played film it was not in ENGLISH it was in French ; Arabic with Subtitles English that's I've given why four stars Amazon as it ENGLISH I'd buy book if I wanted a read. Good film thugh

Funny in a different way is PG Wodehouse's The Inimitable Jeeves, which I'm reading for the first time since I was a teenager.

This passage is perfect; Bertie has just been visited by someone called Cyril Bassington-Bassington:

"I've never heard of him. Have you ever heard of him, Jeeves?"
"I am familiar with the name Bassington-Bassington, sir. There are three branches of the Bassington-Bassington family - the Shropshire Bassington-Bassingtons, the Hampshire Bassington-Bassingtons, and the Kent Bassington-Bassingtons."
"England seems pretty well stocked up with Bassington-Bassingtons."
"Tolerably so, sir."
"No chance of a sudden shortage, I mean, what?"

The Stickygram service. Get your Instagram pics turned into fridge magnets.

A Wifi vending machine in Japan

2012-01-06T14:57:00.000Z

One of the trends that didn't make it to my '12 Trends of 2012' was vending machines. It ended up being just a small part of 'mobile payments', but I do think that there is a lot of scope for unusual vending machines, often activated by mobile, this year.

One of the best ideas in this area I've seen recently is this one by Asahi Beverages in Japan. In addition to snacks, this vending machine has wifi, and users can pay for a code for 30 minutes connectivity. The wifi is built into the vending machine, and works on a radius of 50m. This would be so perfect for cafes, pubs, sports halls or whatever.

It could even work for train or tube carriages. 30 minutes is all you need in most cases, but if not you could buy a second portion.

More here

Axe asks users to help design a real-time graphic novel

2012-01-05T17:52:00.000Z

It'll be interesting to see how this develops. Axe (Lynx in the UK) are allowing users to make choices - e.g. characters & location) and come up with story ideas.

It all starts on their YouTube page on 10th January.

Chevy rewards best seeders for Super Bowl ad competition

2012-01-04T14:23:00.001Z

This is an interesting example that's been generating quite a lot of debate among my contacts on Twitter this morning.

To help generate views for the user-generated videos that Chevy wants to choose a Super Bowl ad from, they have decided to hold a competition to see who can share the films the most.

It's all done through this MSN site. Entrants need to sign up, then share on their different networks. At the end the one who's judged to have shared the most will win $10,000 - although Chevy have given themselves up to two weeks after the end of the competition to award the prize, presumably to verify the levels of shares. All films need to be shared in their 'MSN' version, so no embeds or YouTube links, which is frustrating.

A lot of people have problems with what Chevy are doing, but I think as an idea it's pretty smart. All they are really doing is taking the paid seeding out of the hands of people like GoViral and let the sharers get involved directly. It's a like a 'media' version of incentivising people to create user-generated content - ideally they'd do it for free, but this gives a reward.

(Some film companies have been doing this for a few years. When Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz were released American Spaced fans to compete in posting links, banners, forum posts and so on, to win merchandise from the film. However this is on a larger scale, and involves a cash prize)

Of course it would be chaos if every brand tried to do this...

Google's 2012 Election Site

2012-01-04T14:00:00.000Z

Google has produced a site to focus on the 2012 American Elections. Things like elections and major sporting events are great for getting media and technology companies to innovate.

The election site aggregates lots of data and content together, and draws heavily on Google news to produce pages specific to candidates and issues.

What I like more though are the trends and visualisations - you can see both voting behaviour - the first Republican primary below...

... and current levels of interest in the candidates in terms of searches, Google News mentions, and YouTube video views.

There's also an 'on the ground' section where you can see news overlaid on a map.

It's a brilliant resource... Now I'mm waiting to see what Twitter can come up with.

Things I Love - Friday 23rd December

2011-12-23T13:20:00.000Z

This Tumblr of very low key rock & roll anecdotes

Tim Minchin's Woody Allen Jesus song. I can see why ITV didn't want it in a prime time show two days before Christmas, but now lots of people are hearing it anyway. It might even work better on YouTube, and I'm sure it would sell a lot of copies if it was available as a download.

This terrifying mountain biking video. Dear mountain bikers, I think of your mothers...

Jon Spira's excellent documentary Anyone Can Play Guitar, all about the Oxford music scene, and featuring Ride, Supergrass and Radiohead. It's also a great example of how creative communities work; the scene revolved around a venue that all the bands played in. There was also lots of movement between the main and peripheral bands. A lot like lots of other creative communities. Watch it!

The Divine Comedy's song Gin Soaked Boy. Is there a better 'list' song? Is there a better final couple of lines?

Oh - and my new 'long skinny' scarf from Tallulah and Hope!

Skype's Christmas YouTube Takeover

2011-12-22T17:34:00.000Z

Nice work from my colleagues at White Sheep Isobar!

It won't work embedded, so have a look here

Four companies Marc Andreessen talks about

2011-12-21T12:38:00.000Z

Marc Andreessen was one of the writers of Mosaic and one of the founders of Netscape. Since then he's been actively involved in lots of businesses, as an entrepreneur and an investor. He's definitely someone worth listening to.

In CNET yesterday he was interviewed about future trends and predictions. The whole article is essential reading, and I wanted to list some of the companies he talks about. All are potentially changing and disrupting the online world:

Fab is an ecommerce site. It sells niche homewares, for members only. When you join you're given access to the curated sales, but also given a percentage of sales from items that you share, and also from what people that you sign up buy. You can also get inspiration from what other people are buying, a bit like Pinterest.

Uber is a taxi service. Request a car (an American Town Car, rather than a taxi, and then track it online as it comes to you. You can also work out the cost online, and cleverly they charge you based on their distance or time taken for the journey, according to the speed of the car. If the car is going at more than 11mph they charge by distance, if it's less than that they charge by time spent.

TaskRabbit is an online services company, a bit like Zaarly. Find people to do small jobs for you, like deliveries, household chores, or even virtual assistance. All people offering to do the tasks are vetted by the company, and rated by members.

Shopkick is like a rewards-based Foursquare. Get rewards for visiting stores, checking in, or by scanning barcodes of specific items. They've just launched this promo with Visa:

Please read the full article - lots and lots to think about!

Lands' End Canvas promotion on Pinterest

2011-12-19T15:15:00.000Z

Pinterest has been around for a bit over a year, and I think this is the first marketing campaign to use it.

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking site. You can save images on different 'boards' and see other people's saved images for inspiration. I think it's been one of the hits of the year; some of the users have thousands of items 'pinned', and I've come across lots of non-geeky people who use it.

Lands' End Canvas are using Pinterest to spread the word about their collection and their presence on the site.

For the next few days they're encouraging people to pin some of the Lands' End images to their own Lands' End boards, in a competition they're calling Pin It to Win It. The owners of the most creative boards will win a prize. (What's in it for Lands' End is that pictures and links to their clothes are shared, and will be seen by many of the people who subscribe to the entrants' pages)

See the full ts & cs here.

Here are a couple of examples of boards people have made to enter the competition - The Budget Babe's board, and Susan Henry's board.

Things I Love - Friday 16th December

2011-12-16T17:05:00.000Z

The brilliant 'Pst a Pudding' service from The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop. Very fast delivery (& the box says 'Warning: Contents Irresistible'

The self explanatory site You Park Like a C***. Wonder if this'll be turned into a book.

This lovely interactive Christmas card

& this, probably the strangest site you'll see all week...

12 Trends for 2012

2011-12-16T13:18:00.000Z

Here's my new Trends presentation.

I've been doing predictions for the past few years now, and since my Next Generation Media presentations have proved to be popular I decided to do this as a presentation.

I look at the things that will be more popular next year. None of them are that surprising (although maybe they are - I'm very close to this sort of stuff), but they're all trends that will grow a lot next year.

Here are the 12 trends:

Mobile Commerce
Mobile Payments
Mobile + TV
Connected TV
Mobile in China, India & Africa
Mobile's Threat to Other Services
Ecosystems & Walled Gardens
Real Time Bidding & Automation
Education Enabled
Hijacks & Guerrilla Marketing
'eBay' for Services
Simplicity

12 Trends for 2012

View more presentations from Dan Calladine

Bohemian Hangouts

2011-12-16T13:13:00.000Z

I'd love to see this actually work...

More ads for the new Galaxy Nexus here

Converse Create

2011-12-16T13:00:00.000Z

Converse Create is an interesting take on FCommerce (Facebook Commerce). Instead of just being able to buy Converse shoes on Facebook, you can design your own, and then sell them to others.

It's reminiscent of the Kaiser Chiefs stunt from earlier in the year, although likely to attract more participation because people are probably more passionate about sneakers than Kaisers!

But it also reminded me of something else: In 2008 Keds did the same thing, but without Facebook. They let fans create and sell their own shoes through Zazzle. I don't know how well it worked for Keds, but the ubiquity of Facebook, and the tools they offer, make this much more likely to be a success on Facebook, I think.

Stephen Fry leverages his followers to promote Sherlock Holmes

2011-12-14T15:51:00.000Z

The second Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes film, A Game of Shadows, is out in the UK on Friday.

To help promote it the film company have persuaded Stephen Fry to post a daily puzzle to his 3.5m followers on Twitter. This is very smart, because the official account for Sherlock Holmes 2 has only 3,600 followers.

Fry is in the film, as Mycroft, and is a huge Holmes fan. When he was Celebrity Mastermind a few years ago he chose Holmes as his specialist subject. (Amazingly he didn't win; he hadn't revised enough and didn't remember all the details).

For the past few days Fry has been tweeting teasers to his followers at 2.21 precisely (geddit? - It's Holmes address in Baker Street). Followers need to answer correctly tweeting with the hashtag #GameOfShadowsUK and @-ing one of the partners - @BleedingCool, @LoveFilm, @IGNUK, @DigitalSpy, @msnmoviesuk, @HeatWorld, and @HeyUGuys

Here are Fry's tweets:

Lose me in a crowd, none can tell me from behind. Wealth, emotions, weapons, death: I play with what I find #GameOfShadowsUK
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) December5, 2011

You know my name and hear my voice, but cannot see my face. Another hides me from your view, held high above the palace #gameofshadowsuk
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) December6, 2011

If rich then I am good, if poor then I am ill. Fools say that they can know me, though I bend to no man’s will #GameOfShadowsUK
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) December9, 2011

I make friends into strangers, turn long streets into short. I take the city in a night, then vanish in a thought #GameOfShadowsUK
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) December 12, 2011

I hide away from sun and revel in the night, I dog your footsteps all day long and dance in candlelight #GameOfShadowsUK
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) December 13, 2011

Burn me and drown me, I grow stronger by and by. Dare to test my mettle and I cause sparks to fly #GameOfShadowsUK
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) December 14, 2011

The first person to get the correct answer (including the hashtag, and @-ing a media partner) each day wins a prize.

I think this is a very inventive use of Twitter to create anticipation for the film (& I'd love to know how much Fry got paid / or how it was tied into his contract for doing the film.)

Things I love - Friday 9th December

2011-12-09T15:29:00.002Z

A slightly longer one this week, to make up for not doing it last week (too busy)

The delicious beers made by Fyne Ales in Scotland. Great customer service too. Buy a case or two for Christmas - for yourself or as a present - you know you want to!

This excellent mashup of the best film trailers from this year. I need to see more films!

& speaking of mashups... We used this at the pub quiz I run (1st Sunday of the month) - teams had to identify both artists from 10 mashups. This was the best one:

The Procatinator

This QR Tattoo - it plays a random link each time. Try explaining this to your grandchildren though!

These Christmas cards from Ham. Officially this year's cutest cards!

Amazon's Price Check Day

2011-12-09T15:11:00.001Z

This is possibly the most blatant attempt yet to get people to use stores for browsing, but buy online.

Tomorrow in the US Amazon is offering 5% off on up to 3 items when people scan in store with their apps. Items will include electronics, sportswear, music, DVDs and toys. I think the stores must be furious. (Best Buy has even been reported as removing bar codes from some items to stop in-store scanning)

Discussion (& hat tip) on Metafilter

Update - some coverage of the stores' reactions here

Embedding Tweets

2011-12-09T11:22:00.000Z

The new Twitter makes it possible to embed tweets - for example:

#Stats 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the Android Market bit.ly/sFffOb Now running at over over 1bn per month
— Dan Calladine (@dancall1) December7, 2011

Cool, huh?

Simply 'open' the tweet, click on 'details', and then 'embed this tweet'

More info at the Twitter developer blog

New Twitter

2011-12-08T18:06:00.002Z

It seems only a few months ago that Twitter had a major re-design; now they're having another one. (In fact it was probably over two years ago)

Watch the video

& read more about it here.

It's much richer, and much more visual. I think it will also differentiate the mobile and desktop experiences a lot more. It seems sensible, as Twitter changes its demographic. Nowadays, as I've mentioned before, the trending topics are frequently dominated by teenage concerns, particularly (in the UK) One Direction. I'm expecting this re-design to cause lots of grumbles from oldies like me, but the younger people will probably love it even more.

Update - here's an article that argues the same thing, but much better: New York Times - A Twitter for my Sister

Extract:

"So why the big redesign that was unveiled on Thursday? The answer comes down to one thing: my sister.
As I wrote earlier this year, Twitter has had a problem trying to become relevant to new users who find it confusing. I came to this realization when I watched my sister try to use Twitter. She, along with dozens of other readers I have spoken with, simply didn’t understand how to use the service and found it incredibly confusing.
Specifically, non-techies find the @ and # symbols don’t make much sense. Twitter has known this, but couldn’t exactly remove them from the service, after all, these symbols have become the fundamentals of Twitter’s entire communications system. Removing these key characters would be like removing numbers from a telephone.
That’s where the new Twitter comes in. The company had to figure out a way to keep the site running for people who are more technologically adept and for those who understand and rely on the @ and # symbols to use the service. But, it also must make sense for those who think these characters are used as substitutes for swear words in comic strips."

Old Spice for Christmas

2011-12-07T18:11:00.001Z

The Old Spice guy returns, as MANta Claus:

Personal messages to bloggers and online celebrities with gifts,

Plus gifts for whole nations

YouTube premium channels launch: Kin Community

2011-12-06T16:30:00.000Z

Kin is one of YouTube's new premium content channels. It's aimed at mothers, and all content is made by YouTube's partners.

You can see examples of the videos:

Food:

Fashion:

Two other strands, Parenting and Stories are coming soon.

Full story on AdAge

eBay - Donate Christmas gifts from your smartphone

2011-12-05T11:03:00.000Z

This is a really good initiative from eBay in the US. They have set up shop windows in New York and San Francisco, showcasing a number of toys. QR codes next to the toys let people buy them, not for themselves, but to give to charity.

As we saw last year & this, mobile can be a real driver for donations. If you make it easy & convenient for people to donate, people are more likely to do it.

"A seat of learning worthy of the Anunaki"

2011-12-01T15:13:00.000Z

Well done to the University of Huddersfield for this very entertaining promo video. Perfect for the target market, and it also gives you an informative tour of the campus!

Via

Liz: 2 friends in common

2011-12-01T15:00:00.001Z

You've got to love the ingenuity of the people making ads online - even if they are completely untrue.

Strangely this one appeared on a page of the online news site The Drum. You can see that its from the Google ad network - the little box in the top right hand corner lets you set your targeting preferences.

Still - at least it's not quite as bad as this one:

Please tell me it's not just me that gets these!

MINI's Escape 'Tag' Game Comes to Tokyo

2011-11-30T10:59:00.000Z

Last year MINI ran a very successful mobile game in Stockholm. Players had to download an app, then try to 'hold' a virtual MINI, in a game of tag. If you get within 50m of the current holder you can grab the MINI, but then all the other players will be after you. The person who 'held' the MINI when the competition ended won a real one.

About 11,000 people played in Stockholm (playing an average of over 5 hours per person - see case study below), and now it's coming to Tokyo this Saturday, an area 32 times bigger. Last time it was for iPhone users only, this time they've also created an Android app. They expect over 100,000 people to play over the 9 days of the competition!

Here's the video announcement:

& here's an excellent case study of last year's competition in Stockholm:

"On the final day, parts of Stockholm were totally jammed with players"

Things I Love - Friday 25th November

2011-11-25T18:15:00.000Z

The book Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan - a novel about jazz & betrayal in the 1940s. Nominated for the Booker, and very good.

This set of classic album covers, re-created in Streetview

The fact that Hugh Laurie's debut album sold more than Matt Cardle's (I haven't got either. & yes, OK, in a month or two MC will have probably overtaken.)

Here's one of Hugh's favourite songs:

"I could never get a Samsung - I'm creative"

2011-11-24T09:12:00.000Z

"Dude - you're a barista"

Excellent new ad from Samsung!

Friday - The Ad

2011-11-22T12:15:00.001Z

Great opportunistic use of an internet sensation by Kohl, to promote Black Friday.

I wonder who got paid - Rebecca Black, the songwriters, or both..?

& I also wonder who's going to be the first to do something with Fenton & his owner!

Toyota FT-86 Fastest Painted Website

2011-11-21T12:25:00.001Z

This is a neat stunt that Toyota pulled over the weekend in Tokyo.

To promote the new FT-86 concept sports car, they created a website based on a painted wall that the very busy Shinjuku station. Web developers turned different parts of the painting into clickable links, and the site was able to respond in real time to tweets and Likes.

Check it out - it's only going to be live until the 26th.

& see the making of here:

Or alternatively, how about a website made out of chocolate..?

Things I Love - Friday 18th November

2011-11-18T18:35:00.000Z

My cousin Andy Farrell's book about The 100 Greatest Ever Golfers - so far it's got 4 5-star reviews on Amazon, and there's a quote from Arnold Palmer on the cover (& it's obviously the perfect Christmas present for any golfer)

This video on 25 ways to wear a scarf

Danny & The Deep Blue Sea at the Southwark Playhouse. It finishes tomorrow, but get a ticket if you can. It won lots of awards at Edinburgh, and both of the actors are on top form.

Herman Cain's 404 page - hopefuly that's what he'll be best known for!

This list of the best 100 dance tunes, from 1965 onwards, complete with YouTube links, starting with Shirley Ellis:

One Direction on Ustream

2011-11-18T18:18:00.002Z

Last night One Direction went onto Ustream to hold an hour-long live video listening party for fans to hear extracts of their first album Up All Night. This is on top of the mainstream media work they've done - breakfast TV, Children in Need, and so on. This gives them more time to talk to the hardcore fans though.

You can see most of the listening party on YouTube - first extract here:

They talk about the success of the 1DCyberPunk - which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago - all the stuff made by the fans and more.

So far the channel's had 71,000 tweets, and 13,000 Likes (Twitter more popular than Facebook among this audience it seems), and the album's out on Monday.

I think lots of companies could learn a lot about how 1D have built their community and kept their fans busy and engaged.

More next week!

Update 30-11-11 - One Direction acheived the highest sales for a first album this year.

Square's Card Case

2011-11-16T12:17:00.001Z

This is all sorts of amazing, and it shows what Foursquare is missing out on.

Card Case from Square on Vimeo.

It makes payment so much easier, and you can imagine that if you saw someone doing this in your local coffee shop you'd want to do it as well. As it's location-based it's a good competitor to NFC, something that Square dismiss as 'having no value'. Square is currently only available in the US, but here's hoping it comes to Europe soon. See the full details here.

Square have come so far since the early days (last year). Now Branson is an investor, they process millions of dollars each day, and colleagues tell e that it's becoming the main way to pay for taxis in some American cities.

Promoted Tweets in the Timeline

2011-11-15T18:50:00.001Z

This is a first for me - today I got a promoted tweet in the Twitter timeline for a brand I don't follow.

See the screengrab below. The tweet appeared at the top of my timeline, but then dropped when I refreshed.

I'm sure it was appropriate, and it was also something that I was interested in. I'm assuming it was because I follow similar accounts to Sainsbury, and also a lot of food-related accounts.

Twitter say that they've been rolling this out since September. I think it's not too annoying, but presumably the usual suspects will be up in arms about it when they see it. However it will potentially create lots of revenue for Twitter. You can currently roadblock (take over) Facebook for certain days for brands for pretty sizeable sums; with my work hat on this would be a good thing for advertisers to be able to do on Twitter too.

PS - this is what Sainsbury are promoting - the new Jamie Oliver Christmas ad.

Things I Love - Friday 11th November

2011-11-11T16:46:00.000Z

These 'Muppets' concert posters, created by Michael De Pippo for fun, and now very likely to actually go on sale.

Rick Perry's appalling blunder on live TV, plus the memes that immediately came out of it.

This incredibly brilliant QR code

The scarves from Timothy Everest's new online shop

The Velorution bike shop in Great Portland Street, perfect for unusual presents, like things made from old bike tyres.

Lou Reed and Metallica - together at last - on Later. Yes, they've both done lots of better things, but they look like they're having so much fun:

H&M use a Promoted Trend to offer something money can't buy

2011-11-10T14:07:00.000Z

I like this a lot. H&M are using a promoted trend with the hashtag #BeatVersaceQueue on Twitter in the UK today to offer an one lucky shopper per store a 10 minute private shopping session on the first day of sale for the new range by Versace at H&M.

This collection is likely to sell out on the first day, and queues are likely to stretch round the block for all stores.

By offering shoppers the chance to win something that money can't buy they're creating real buzz for the brand.

"We are giving 20 lucky winners the chance to beat the queue and shop The Very Best of Versace for H&M on 17th November before anyone else. 1 winner per store will be selected to have a special 10 minute allocated time before the stores open to the rest of the public at 8.50am.

For your chance to win, follow us on Twitter @hmunitedkingdom using the hashtag #BeatVersaceQueue and your preferred store. In 140 characters tell us why you would like to be the first to shop The Very Best of Versace for H&M collection?

The winners will be selected by 16th November."

Nicely done!

Kevin Spacey in multiple roles for American Airlines

2011-11-10T10:57:00.000Z

This is very clever - I love the pay-off!

Excellent use of a celebrity in advertising!

Jeep Wrangler - Call of Duty Special Edition

2011-11-09T12:06:00.001Z

Jeep have partnered with the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game. They're producing a special edition Wrangler Jeep with the game's branding on it, and as far as I can make out the Jeep also appears in the game.

That stats behind Call of Duty are huge - millions of players each day, millions of minutes spent playing - and probably a very good fit with Jeep's target audience.

That's what articles like this imply - can anyone confirm?

Update - PC Mag says that the Jeep features prominently in the game

How news spreads across networks

2011-11-09T09:45:00.002Z

This is a screen grab of the Bitly stats for the Sun's story about Frankie Cocozza being ejected from X Factor.

Click to enlarge

(Background - Frankie Cocozza is a young, not very good singer on the British X Factor. He'd managed tp stay in because he is popular with some people - he has over 300,000 followers on Twitter, acquired since the start of the competition - but he was always going out drinking and finally - reportedly - boasted about taking drugs in front of production staff)

It's an interesting story to look at because it was initially only in one source - The Sun - before being reported elsewhere.

The pattern of clicks shows that clicks started between 1pm and 2pm (15,000 clicks) rising to 25,000 clicks the next hour as the story spread. Then it started to fall as more sources started to report it, and the story moved on from the original news. However it still got over 1,000 clicks between 10pm and 11pm. (I've no idea whether Bitly track all the clicks accurately, but I'm assuming that they get the pattern about right)

Next look at the sources of the clicks. Twitter and Twitter's URL shortener account for over 60% of the clicks, then email, IM, apps and direct clicks, with 18%, then Facebook desktop (12%) and mobile (6%).

Not surprisingly, nearly 90% of the clicks came from the UK - it's a very British story.

I think it's interesting to see how news spreads - and the importance of Twitter in passing around this sort of news. Don't forget that this was a school day, and that many of Frankie's fans would have been at school when the story initially came out.

Company pages in Google+

2011-11-07T22:24:00.001Z

Launched today

The announcement

Some examples -

The Muppets

Angry Birds

Pepsi

FC Barcelona

Save The Children

Burberry

Toyota USA

Zen Bikes

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Live Action Trailer

2011-11-07T12:15:00.000Z

With Sam Worthington, Jonah Hill and Dwight Howard. Very clever!

They're stoking up the excitement on the official site - upload your 'anticipation' picture.

The game is released at midnight; expect records to be broken!

Things I Love - Friday 4th November

2011-11-04T14:27:00.002Z

Inspired by this regular post from Timothy Everest's blog, I'm going to start making regular Friday posts on random things I've found around the net.

This week:

Nelson, a graphic novel by 54 British artists, in aid of Shelter

Kitten Covers - classic album covers, with kittens

The very minimalist site for the restaurant Duck Soup

Honest Burgers in Brixton - now getting longer queues than Franco Manca

QR Code postage stamps that track their status

Jimmy Carr's Halloween outfit

How to be a Retronaut - a great repository of retro pictures and articles

Google's Easter Eggs - search for Do A Barrel Roll; also try tilt, askew, anagram and recursion

& Jon Ronson's investigation into Ark, makers of Rebecca Black's Friday

Converse's 'Take it Outside' Treasure Hunt

2011-11-03T17:38:00.001Z

A great competition from Converse. To promote their new boots, they're leaving some pairs around the UK.

Pictures are posted on Facebook, with a date and time that the boots will be left in the vicinity. Other details are added on Twitter.

For example here:

& here:

Users then have to find them. There's only one pair, so it they're the wrong size they can give them to a friend. A great low-tech competition. I particularly like the low-tech converse logos!

(I think if this happened a year ago you'd have had to check in on Foursquare as part of the mechanic. Foursquare seems to be getting less buzz these days)

& even if you don't find the boots you can win a trip to the 100 Club (sponsored by Converse) by emailing 100club@converse.com

GTA Five - Vinewood

2011-11-03T09:47:00.000Z

The new trailer

It plays on a classic film theme - the old gangster wanting to retire. Visually it looks very impressive!

Find out more about 'Vinewood' in the wiki here

Twitter Stories

2011-11-02T18:22:00.000Z

This is great - Twitter's repository for interesting, unusual and inspiring uses of the service

I love this one:

"Aaron Durand’s mother was in trouble. She had run an independent bookstore for nearly two decades when an economic downturn hit that threatened to close the shop. Aaron wanted to help his mom, but wasn’t sure what he could do. He wrote about his mom’s plight on his blog then tweeted it out, adding at the last second an offer to buy a burrito for anyone who bought $50 worth of books during the holidays at his mom’s shop.
The story took hold. The Tweet was passed along from person to person across Portland’s art and design community. It was retweeted and retweeted until hundreds of people had read the story.
Overnight, new customers started to arrive and business began to pick up. The story continued to snowball on Twitter. The bookstore went on to have its best holiday season ever, and has continued to thrive each season since."

(Doesn't always work, of course...)

See the stories here

JESSIE J IS TOTES AMAZEBALLS - or How Hits Happen on Twitter

2011-11-02T12:38:00.002Z

Trending Topics (TTs) are one of the most mysterious aspects of Twitter. How do they start, how do they grow, what takes off... These are all questions that have puzzled marketers at some time.

Twitter promote TTs as one of the most useful aspects of the service - allowing people to see what people are talking about to get early warning of breaking stories. Recently I've noticed TTs becoming more and more driven by pop culture, and not about news at all - the band One Direction seem to inspire at least one a day - and when one particularly strange one JESSIE J IS TOTES AMAZEBALLS trended in the UK last week I decided to investigate how it had started and become popular.

(I should say that I've seen Jessie J and I agree that she's pretty amazeballs, but totes? That's probably over-doing it a bit. Maybe after a couple more years)

To do this I used the analysis tool Radian6, which has access to the entire Twitter firehose - that is all tweets sent.

In all cases I've hidden the identities of the Twitter users, but I'll show the Tweets.

The phrase got a sudden flurry of Tweets on 27th October, to hit a peak of about 18,000 for the day:

According to my analysis, this was the first tweet, in minute 1 a user - with 1144 followers - tweeted:

It was then picked up by friends, first slowly, and then it started to gather steam, rising from 1 tweet a minute (TPM) to hit 14 tweets a minute by the 7th minute. In this time the first Tweeter Tweeted other versions 6 times.

I show the number of TPS for the first 90 minutes here

It continued to be re-tweeted, but it did not rise above 21 TPM until the 40th minute, when it suddenly started to hit 45 TPM on the 43rd minute.

What happened was that on the 40th minute it was tweeted by someone with 13,978 followers

and then in the 42nd minute by someone with 94,090 follwers.

(This last user is pretty amazing - a 23 year old from Ireland who 'loves Rihanna more than my mother'...)

This last one was re-tweeted more than 100 times, and the TPS started rising to hit 45, and then a few minutes later 51.

It then declined again, until it hit an absolute peak of 68 TPS in the 67th minute. I think thiw was caused by two tweets by users with nearly 12,000 followers each, in the 63rd minute. I also think that by that time it had hit the TTs, so other Jessie J fans had seen it and spontaneously joined in the fun.

So what does this all mean?

1 - Twitter works organically, but can be swayed by very popular users if they are in the mood. If you're a brand it helps to have some of these people; if you're a digital PR person it's essential to have either lots of followers yourself, or be on very good terms with people who do. But also the messages must be relevant to your followers.

2 - This can de-value Twitter's reputation. How so? Because they trade on the TTs as a serious, useful service. It's mentioned a lot in their presentations to agencies, and other companies, for example Nielsen, put a lot of store in the top trending topics. People are now actively starting to manipulate them - although there's not evidence that Jessie J's people were involved in this - and it's potentally going to be akin to SEO spam.

Twitter already block words in TTs - all the main swear words (I think) and other words like 'Assange' (once 'Sweden' was trending because it was ruled that Assange could be extradited there, but 'Assange', a word that featured in all the 'Sweden' Tweets, didn't appear). If Twitter can block these, why not address some of the other abuses? Block TTs in block capitals?

Or even do 'Trends among Friends' - i.e. just trends within who you follow. That would be a better solution!

Zero Moment of Truth

2011-11-01T15:11:00.000Z

Zero Moment of Truth is a new buzz phrase created by Google to describe the consumer's decision-making process:

The First Moment of Truth was a concept from classical advertising, the moment at the shelf when the consumer makes a decision. The Zero Moment of Truth is the step before that, when someone is researching online. According to the document, the Zero Moment of Truth is:

"A BUSY MOM IN A MINIVAN, looking up decongestants on her mobile phone as she waits to pick up her son at school.
AN OFFICE MANAGER AT HER DESK, comparing laser printer prices and ink cartridge costs before heading to the office supply store.
A STUDENT IN A CAFE, scanning user ratings and reviews while looking for a cheap hotel in Barcelona.
A WINTER SPORTS FAN IN A SKI STORE, pulling out a mobile phone to look at video reviews of the latest snowboards.
A YOUNG WOMAN IN HER CONDO, searching the web for juicy details about a new guy before a blind date.
ZMOT is that moment when you grab your laptop, mobile phone or some other wired device and start learning about a product or service (or potential boyfriend) you’re thinking about trying or buying."

Have a look at the video, and then download the book here.

The Hope Tank - Mending Broken Hearts

2011-11-01T15:00:00.000Z

The Hope Tank is a new project for the British Hart Foundation by my colleagues at glue Isobar, in aid of their 50th anniversary Mending Broken Hearts Appeal.

The Hope Tank virtual aquarium site is home to an increasing number of zebrafish - each one a representation of hope for the campaign. The zebrafish is a real fish that has the ability to repair its own heart, so scientists funded by the BHF are trying to unlock its secrets to learn how we can mend human hearts too. Show your support by creating your own personalised zebrafish here.

Hear about the amazing science behind it here:

Microsoft's Vision of the Future

2011-10-28T08:25:00.001Z

This is a good new video from Microsoft about how the world will look in a few years. A lot of it is based on display technologies, like Surface, and a lot on mobile. (& read this for background)

My only problem with it really is that it only talks about middle class or rich people, and current events suggest that in the future many will be less well off than today. This quote from a thread on Metafilter from a couple of years ago is still very apt:

"One of my friends points out that this future is very specific to the middle-class. The people delivering all those groceries, and driving the buses 24 hours a day, and presumably maintaining the garden-like restaurant (and somewhere, preparing the food pods to be dropped into the tubes) are not working from home three days a week."

However having said that I'm guilty of the same thing with recent posts on interactive toys for kids and the falling costs of smartphones, so let's be quite clear about this: This is what some will see, but many will not be included in this vision of a perfect world.

Almost anyone can afford a smartphone

2011-10-27T14:11:00.000Z

Now on offer at T-Mobile (other operators are available) A Samsung Galaxy Ace, for free, with a £15 per month plan over 24 months. A friend recently took up a very similar offer, that included unlimited internet, unlimited texts, and 100 minutes talk time.

Three thoughts:

1 - Smartphone penetration will keep growing very quickly to reach something like 70% within a year in the UK

2 - Apple is going to be seen as very expensive when lots of handsets are being offered for free, and will not be an option for most

3 - However there will be lots of additional (unlocked) handsets bought. With the best will in the world the Samsung Galaxy Ace isn't designed to last for 24 months

Toys interacting with mobile apps

2011-10-27T14:00:00.000Z

We're now starting to see examples of toys and games that mix real objects with mobile apps. Here are two examples, both from clients.

First, Lego, with Life of George, on sale here (£30)

Unpack the set, then the mobile app asks you to create pictures against the clock. Expect it to be a big seller this Christmas!

Second Pixar, with 'Cars' toys that interact with the iPad.

Also - added bonus - I love this video of a baby trying to interact with magazines:

One Direction's Cyber Punk

2011-10-26T16:53:00.001Z

One Direction is the band that came out of last year's X-Factor (a bit of background for anyone who's not in the UK). They're close to releasing their first album, and to stoke up the interest their 'people' (record company, management or whatever) have been playing an online game with fans.

The character 1DCyberPunk was introduced a couple of weeks ago through the main One Direction site. She's supposedly stolen their laptop, and will release images and more as fans complete a set of challenges. For example solving a cryptic clue to get an exclusive pic, getting a One Direction term trending on Twitter, or making a paper model of the band members.

Here's the section of the One Direction site

Here's the Twitter

This is a typical intro to a challenge

One challenge was to download & make paper dolls of the band members from patterns

An example

Then take fun pictures of them and upload to the Tumblr

(Slight update - 16-11-11 - fans have even made stop-motion films of the dolls)

(End of update)

The main action's happening through Twitter, and I think it says a lot about both how the young are using media, and how to engage through social media.

1 - Teens get Twitter. It's easy to do, and it's free (as a marginal cost). A friend recently got a smartphone on a contract with unlimited internet, unlimited texts & 100 minutes of talk time for £15 a month. Blimey. Twitter is perfect for kids to communicate, and these days so many of their heroes are on twitter. In the case of One Direction the band is on Twitter (twitter is promoted more prominently than Facebook on their site) and the 5 individual members are on too and active users. Furthermore, bands like One Direction are teaching their fans how to be expert Twitter users. I read a book once where a female journalist said that she'd learnt how to organise people by planning trips to see David Cassidy when she was younger... This is similar.

2 - Brands can use Twitter for engagement, but only when they are engaging in the first place. Twitter wasn't used to launch the band, TV was. But Twitter is used to keep the excitement and interest high. In this case it's 5 teenagers, so there's no shortage of news to spread about them - what they're up to, where they've been, what they want for their birthdays, what they're watching on TV. The challenge with brands on twitter is to be endlessly interesting - not how they can spend money to promote things that people probably aren't that interested in (Columbus are using the promoted trend today to promote a video that's 5 months old)

Hats off to whoever's running the One Direction marketing. I'd love to see some case studies when they've shown that if you get it right kids do still buy music!

The Museum of Obsolete Objects

2011-10-25T11:45:00.000Z

The Museum of Obsolete Objects is a treasury of information about - well - obsolete objects. These range from quill pens to typewriters to cassette tapes to cameras. Some are debatable - have hand-whisks really become obsolete? - but that aside it's a great resource.

The site is a YouTube channel. You navigate through a time-line, and the objects themselves are profiled in short videos.

This is the video for cassette tapes:

Opel Movano Filesharing Banner

2011-10-25T11:22:00.000Z

This is a very clever idea: To convey the idea that the Movano is good for transporting stuff, the banner let you upload a file and send it to a friend.

Next Generation Media - October 2011

2011-10-13T11:56:00.000Z

It's that time again - please have a look at my new summary of the best from my monitoring of what's happening in digital media from the past 3 months.

Next Generation Media Quarterly October 2011

View more presentations from Dan Calladine

Several of the stories should be familiar to regular readers of this blog, and my stats blog

The Next Bigger Better Society Conference

2011-10-13T07:48:00.000Z

My ex-colleague Matt Bamford-Bowes has created a new conference, Get Together, as part of an initiative called The Next Bigger Better Society.
It sounds very interesting and inspiring, and he agreed to answer some questions about the motivation for the conference, and his new project.
The conference takes place in mid-November, and if you go I’ll see you there.

Ben Hammersley - one of the confirmed speakers

Dan - What was the initial inspiration for project?
Matt - Easyjet. It might be a bit odd to think that Easyjet inspired a project about creating a collaborative conference, but here is why. I went to a conference with one of the partners at The Brooklyn Brothers. It was a pretty dire experience, poor speakers pitching about their "amazing" technology, and what really captured the essence of this was the guy sat in the row in front of us spending an hour booking flights on Easyjet. It made me believe there was a better way of doing conferences, one that involved the audience as well as the speaker.

D - Why a new conference? When does a conference work and when do books / blogs / whatever work?
M - Why a new conference is a question I have asked myself and am constantly asked. There were two reasons for it. The first was that I believed there was a gap in the market, a gap which could be filled by a conference that was more collaborative in nature than your typical conference. I have this genuine belief that this conference will been seen as intellectually important on the global stage, not just here in the UK. The second was value. I, like many people around me, would love to experience TED but the £4000 cost of a ticket is incredibly out of reach. It is a conference for the elite, the top 1%. I wanted the Get Together Conference to be about stimulating debate and curiosity about meaningful topic and themes, but at a price most people could afford. I guess you could say we are trying to be about the 99%. At £97 for our tickets, I think we are managing to achieve that.

D - What's the best conference you've been to, and what worked in particular?
M - Conferences fail for me when speakers are allowed to use it as a veiled pitch about their company. Why this doesn't work for me is that people go to hear from the speaker not from the brand. I don't want to hear about Coca-Cola for example, but i'd love to know how their CEO runs the business efficiently and effectively. I'd go to see him speak otherwise it just becomes another advert. By pioneering the idea of getting two speakers on stage at the same time talking about a challenge or an idea we have set them, I think this gives much more interesting conversation and hopefully post talk debate.

D - Any planned offshoots / follow ups?
M - We are already thinking about how we follow up next year with two events. One will be in support of our Get Together Fund, which is aimed at getting teens and their ideas off the ground through mentoring, microfunding and any other means. All the profits from this event will be put back into the fund and it will be driven by sponsorship. The idea of the event will be influential, modern idea curators talking to teens from around the UK, aiming to inspire them about themselves and their futures. The second will be a follow-up to Get Together and we are already in discussions with some really interesting speakers from around the world. We are also in discussions about a conference in Madrid, but we want to get the UK right first.

D - What is missing in conference landscape?
M - Dialogue. Genuinely I don't feel that there is much dialogue between speakers and audience at any conferences. I want our speakers to be able to interact with the audience and the audience to feel absolutely connected to what the speakers are talking about. If we fail in both those levels then no matter how many tickets we sell I don't think we will have been successful.

Get Together takes place on Friday 18th November from 9am – 1pm at The Wellcome Auditorium, NW1.
You can get tickets here.
You can find out more about the Get Together fund here, and The Next Bigger Better Society here.

Air New Zealand's Sheep

2011-10-11T13:46:00.001Z

Air New Zealand have a bit of a reputation for online videos. They've previously used All Blacks, body painters, and Richard Simmons to do their safety announcements, and generated lots of views.

To promote their new Cuddle Class Sky Couch bench seats they've taken the surreal route. For example:

&

& even

There's also a Facebook game to play here

Tweet Voting for Paranormal Activity 3

2011-10-07T14:26:00.001Z

The Paranormal Activity films have a bit of a reputation for innovative promotion.

The first film used the concert booking site Eventful to get people to ask for the film to be shown in their town, making it a low budget smash back in 2009.

Last year they promoted the second film by giving people a free download of the first film if they bought 4 tickets to see the second.

Now they're promoting the third with a tweet vote, supported by a promoted trend, using the same 'TweetYourScream' account as before, to pick the 20 cities in the US that will get the film first.

~~Only in America, sadly~~. Update - now you can vote wherever you are in the world!

The Vaccines Instagram Video

2011-10-06T11:08:00.000Z

Made using Instagram pictures submitted by fans

See the original call for pictures here

The X Factor Finalists on Twitter & Facebook

2011-10-05T09:25:00.001Z

This year's X Factor finalists have been announced - the 16 singers and acts that will compete in the live TV shows from now until Christmas.

Following on from my post on the websites for Apprentice contestants, I thought it would be interesting to look at the social media presence for each of the finalists. Just as it was pretty clear that someone who was self-employed would win The Apprentice (because Sugar wanted someone he could go into business with, not someone he could employ) I think that the level of understanding and competence in social media will be one of the 'factors' determining success in the competition (which has a public vote each week, and is effectively a popularity contest for a lot of the time). As well as doing the 'please phone for me' mime, contestants can now fire out messages live through their networks. The success of many of today's biggest stars who made it without a talent contest, from Lady Gaga to Lily Allen to Justin Bieber to the Arctic Monkeys has been partly attributed to their use of social media.

It's also a good way of illustrating the importance of social media today. 5 years ago contestants were pretty much at the mercy of their managers and the media; now they have their own voice. If any brands doubt the point of having a social media presence, watch how this series develops.

(All I have done is search Twitter & Facebook. I may have the wrong accounts in some cases - please level any corrections or updates in the comments)

So here we go:

The Girls:

Misha Bryan - Twitter - Facebook

Janet Devlin - Twitter - Facebook
It's also worth noting that Janet Devlin has a very popular YouTube channel, and was a minor YouTube star before she appeared on The X Factor

Sophie Habibis - Twitter (not found) - Facebook

Amelia Lily - Twitter - Facebook

The Boys:

Frankie Cocozza - Twitter - Facebook (not official)
(Frankie has by far the highest number of Twitter followers, at over 120,000. He clearly 'gets it', and whether he succeeds in the competition or not, he's building a very useful base of contacts. Whatever happens, he owes Ev and Biz a very large drink. He doesn't seem to bother with Facebook as far as I can tell - the account is run by his fans)

Marcus Collins - Twitter - Facebook

Craig Colton - Twitter - Facebook

James Michael - Twitter (not found) - Facebook (not official)

The Over 25s:

Sami Brookes - Twitter - Facebook

Kitty Brucknell - Twitter - Facebook (not official)

Jonjo Kerr - Twitter - Facebook

Johnny Robinson - Twitter - Facebook

The Groups:
The groups have a bit of a quandary - some have a 'group account', esp. on Facebook, some have individual Twitters, some have group Twitters.

2 Shoes - Twitter (not found) - Facebook (not official)

Rhythmix - Twitter (Jade) - Twitter (group) - Facebook

Nu Vibe - Twitter (Jordan) - Facebook

The Risk - Twitter (Charlie) - Twitter (Andi) - Twitter (Derry) - Twitter - (group) - Facebook

Let battle commence!

Will.i.am on Google+ Hangouts

2011-10-04T16:50:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago Will.i.am held a Hangout with fans on Google+ prior to a gig, and then put some of the gig on a hangout.

You can see a clip of the gig here (he even raps about Google+)

& the full 30 minute hangout here.

I can see this being used more an more by performers. It shows how flexible Hangouts can be (& how safe it is as a way for artists to interact with fans.

Full story here

Interactive video for the Lynx Effect in the UK

2011-09-29T12:10:00.000Z

This is pretty fun, and (I'm told) a first, in that it uses keyboard shortcuts in a video

Watch the video above, and click on the timeline (red line when the video plays) then click on the numbers 5 7 3 8 to get an amusing effect. You need to use the numbers on your main keyboard - the numbers on the numberpad don't work for some reason.

It's pretty good! ;-)

The new Delicious - Please give us our features back!

2011-09-27T09:33:00.003Z

I love the online bookmarking tool Delicious. I use it very heavily for work (I use it to write this weekly newsletter), and I also use it to save links to things I want to buy, things I want to do at the weekend and so on. I've even used it to find hotels - basically Delicious users are a pretty smart group, and if a few of them have bookmarked a hotel's website then it's probably going to be a good hotel.

However Delicious as a service hasn't really changed much since it first started. There was a re-design about 4 years ago, I think, but nothing really since then. Yahoo announced earlier this year that they were going to close it or sell it, and I was very pleased that two of the founders of YouTube had decided to buy it. Meanwhile I've also started to use other services, like Pinterest (for visuals) and Instapaper (for long articles).

Today Delicious introduced the new version. It's a lot more visual, and they're encouraging you to make 'Stacks' - essentially playlists of items. Here's a video to explain how it works.

However, in doing this they seem to have messed with some of the core features, and the more visual look is making it much slower.

Here is some feedback I've left on the YouTube video:

It's a lot slower than it used to be

It doesn't seem to auto-fill tags when I save things any more

The Chrome 'Save in Delicious' plug-in doesn't seem to work any more

The tags need to be alphabetical

Have you deleted tags? I'm pretty sure you have (or maybe they're not all showing). For example, I have the tag SanS which I used to bookmark good places in San Sebastian. It's still there (luckily) but it's not showing on the right hand side.

It would have been nice to have had warning of a switchover date, so that I could have exported everything just to be safe

Most importantly, how to I get to the second page of my links? E.g. I have a 'Page 2' option at the bottom of my main page, but not at the bottom of my page with 'Mobile' tags, for example.

(I've also heard that tag bundles (collected groups of links) have been deleted, but thankfully I never used these)

Here's an interview with Chad Hurley in AllThingsD - but it's pretty clear that the interviewer isn't a Delicious user, because none of these points have been brought up.

Update - I've now tried creating a Stack - this one is called FMCG Examples. It's pretty good, but it's quite hard to put your old links into a stack. It's as if they designed it for new users rather than the existing users. Also, why can't the URL be delicious.com/digitalnews/stack/FMCG_Examples rather than http://delicious.com/stacks/view/QpyhvK#m=full

KLM's 'Answers' on Twitter

2011-09-22T16:38:00.000Z

This is how you re-use someone else's idea - you do it in your own way.

KLM wanted to show how responsive they were to customer queries, so they created a number of personalised answers to tweets, but in a very different style to Old Spice.

The UK's first promoted trend on Twitter #gleeonsky

2011-09-22T14:15:00.000Z

Twitter has been selling promoted trends since June 2010, but until now they've always been global.

It's very frustrating to see a new film promoting themselves on Twitter, knowing that we won't see it in the UK for a few months (as Super 8 did), or a mobile operator offering a US-exclusive deal. It's also very wasteful in media terms; you're paying to reach people who can't buy what your selling.

Today that's all changed - in the UK at least - as Twitter introduces UK-specific promoted trends.

The first brand to use it is Sky, promoting the new series of Glee - #gleeonsky This is Sky's Tweet.

Although, according to Bitly, they've only had 71 re-tweets and 700 clicks so far.

Pepsi use Pongr for their X-Factor competition

2011-09-20T11:16:00.001Z

A really interesting new competition from Pepsi in the US tells us a lot about how mobile is used, and the future of QR. It's arguably a nail in QR's coffin.

Pepsi are the sponsors of X Factor in the US. They have produced special bottles with the Pepsi and X Factor logos side by side. All you have to do to enter the competition is take a photo of the logos with your phone, and email the picture to TheXFactor@Pepsi.com. You can see some of the pictures here.

Pongr 'Snap and Send' technology will recognise qualifying pictures, and send you back a link with a reward, like a behind the scenes video.

I really like this because it's so easy. Assuming you've got a smartphone you just need to use the built in operating system to email a photo. No external apps to download - Pongr does the work, not the user.

According to recent data from Nielsen, only 1 in 7 Android users has a barcode reader on their phone. I'd guess this would be comparable across operating systems, so it's far better to use built in technologies on the phones, rather than a QR code or similar.

Charlie Brooker summed up his feelings on QR at the weekend - and while I like QR in some situations (it sends you to a specific place, unlike mobile search) it can be very fiddly.

Also - what happened to the technologies from the PepsiCo10 companies, which are being incubated by Pepsi? Are any of them being used in X Factor promotions? If no, why not?

Consuming Less; Consuming Better

2011-09-20T10:51:00.001Z

Lots of brands are stressing their environmental credentials. Some recent examples -

Howies Hand Me Down - a range of clothes and bags designed to have a life longer than the wearer.

The IOU Project - items made from cloth made by weavers in India. Expensive products that are pretty much unique

A.P.C ask people to bring back their old pairs of A.P.C. jeans, and buy new pairs at cost price

Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative with Ebay - take the pledge to buy less, and buy used Patagonia items

Rapha's Jersey Downsize offer - if you lose weight as a result of your cycling, you can return your old Rapha top and buy a new one for half price

As a related point, I'm starting to think that just as the well off are now generally thinner than the less well off - a factor of changes in food production in the latter part of the 20th century - the more well off are starting to have less 'stuff' than the less well off. I think I've noticed this more since reading John Naish's book 'Enough'.

The more well off can afford better quality, so they need fewer items of clothing, they are more likely to have more digital technology so they can live more with downloads rather than physical objects.

What this means for marketers is a focus on quality, difference and scarcity. If you only want two pairs of shoes (rather than 20) you're going to make sure that those two pairs are pretty special.

Toyota Yaris Social Snap Shot

2011-09-19T16:14:00.002Z

Toyota Social Snap Shot is a handy tool (currently in beta) made by my colleagues at glue Isobar as part of their work for the new Yaris.

The theme of the current Yaris campaign is 'Outsmart Life', and the aim of the app is to make your life easier - so what they've done is to make a filter for your Facebook so that you see a digest of the best bits.

Select up to 10 friends - entertaining ones - and then the app creates a video at whatever frequency you want; daily, weekly, or whatever.

It then creates a video giving you those people's most recent posts, plus any upcoming birthdays, popular content and so on.

Give it a go here

My picture from Jack Draws Anything

2011-09-18T17:15:00.000Z

I'm delighted to say that Jack Henderson has now drawn the picture commissioned by me, and put it up on his Jack Draws Anything site.

I asked for a picture of Spiderman playing football with an elephant, and I think Jack has done a very good job!

Jack has now raised over £25,000 for the Sick Kids Hospital - and you can still sponsor him here.

Also, he's up for a .Net award, for Social Campaign of the Year. Click here to visit the .Net page and vote for him.

Baileys sampling a new flavour through Facebook

2011-09-16T16:25:00.000Z

Baileys are the latest brand to sample through Facebook.

Unlike Heinz, who sold a limited edition flavour, Baileys are offering you a free 5cl sample of their new Biscotti flavour, to be sent to your home, and one to send to a friend too. 200,000 samples are up for grabs.

I'll update with pics when it arrives!

The Pig With The Froggy Tattoo

2011-09-16T07:26:00.000Z

Keeping the fires burning for the new Muppets movie...

Selling Coldplay

2011-09-12T18:09:00.000Z

Details revealed today, including their first single getting it's first ever radio play, and then immediately available to buy on iTunes.

The album is called Mylo Xyloto, is out on 24th October, and available to pre-order now, in a variety of formats:

Digital download - £7.99

CD - £8.99

Vinyl - £16.00, including posters, and a digital download to actually play

Pop-up - £49.99, limited edition, including hard backbook, artwork, vinyl copy, CD copy, studio diaries, and a digital download. The package ships in early December, but the digital download arrives on the 24th October when the album is officially released.

Interestingly it's all through Coldplay.com - no special site for the album.

See also my posts on Drake, The Beastie Boys and Radiohead

Nike MAG

2011-09-09T15:28:00.000Z

In Back The The Future Part II (the one in the future, not the Wild West one) Michael J Fox wore some Nike sneakers that have been called 'the greatest sneakers never made'.

Now they have been. Nike has produced 1,500 of them, to be sold on Ebay, in aid of the Michael J Fox Foundation, which is raising money to find a cure for Parkinson's Disease.

You can see more about the shoes here, and bid on them here. They're currently selling for about $4,500 a pair.

What mythical goods would you bring to life?

David Guetta sells his album through Facebook

2011-09-08T13:53:00.000Z

I think this may be a first. David Guetta is selling his latest album Nothing But The Beat directly to fans through Facebook, using Facebook credits.

Each track costs 19 credits, or approximately £1.10, or the album 150 (£9.50). As it's Facebook credits, Facebook takes 30% of the payment in commission.

You need to use the app. The buying and purchase process is pretty smooth.

French Connection - I Am The Suit

2011-09-08T11:14:00.000Z

This is the new 90" ad from French Connection. It's going to run exclusively in The X-Factor, in the same way that Yeo Valley did last year.

French Connection UK - The Suit from paydirt on Vimeo.

I think it's very good, and while it is likely to stop the traffic in some homes (& send people to their laptops to watch it again), I think it'll also create a lot of bafflement.

However it's also going to be very easy to parody, re-work, and I'm guessing that it'll attract lots of attention, and controversy (the 'milk' bit).

I'll try to update in a few weeks when we know the sort of stir it creates.

Quitting Smoking with Mobile & Social (Concept)

2011-09-06T16:42:00.000Z

This is a great concept from a group of students at the Miami Ad School. It integrates a mobile app with Facebook so that your friends can pile on the peer pressure.

(It seems that great minds think alike - here's a similar concept from the Cannes Future Lions)

I'd love to know whether it is actually possible to integrate in this sort of way, and get it approved by the app stores. I suspect not, but it's great that students come up with impractical (but brilliant) ideas. Maybe when they graduate they can make it happen!

Via Adverblog

Vauxhall with Noel Gallagher

2011-09-06T08:05:00.000Z

The new Vauxhall ad appeared on TV on Friday, during the England - Bulgaria match.

It's all about their sponsorship of the England football team, and features Noel Gallagher's new single AKA... What A Life. It's a great deal for him - paid (presumably) lots for the right to use the song, plus lots of primetime airplay for the single.

There was an article in the Evening Standard last night about a return to longer TV ads (French Connection are making one too), and it'll be interesting to see how well this does. It looks great, and you can imagine cut-down versions working very well too.

"This is what it's like to be shot at with an AK-47"

2011-09-05T17:12:00.000Z

Amazingly good product demo from the Texas Armoring Corporation, who make bullet proof glass and more.

Clearly I'm not likely to ever need to buy any of their products, but it's very impressively done, and it raises the bar a bit for the Will it Blend guys!

Google Offers

2011-09-02T10:25:00.000Z

Google Offers, Google's version of Daily Deals is currently in beta in the US. It's interesting that Google are doing this, when others (Facebook, Yelp) have recently withdrawn, and people are questioning Groupon's economic model. Can Google get it to work?

Google has been promoting it via the Google home page. Some of the recent ones have only had about a 100 buyers, although today's offer of 80% off at the American Museum of Natural History had over 16,000 buyers. Let's see how this one pans out!

Willie Nelson sings Coldplay for Chipotle

2011-08-31T10:10:00.000Z

This excellent video, made by Johnny Kelly, was produced by Chipotle to promote the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation which focusses on sustainable food, and not exploiting farmers.

Via Adweek

"You Will" - Predictions that stand the test of time

2011-08-26T14:13:00.000Z

In the week that everyone's been posting old Apple ads, you have to take your hat off to AT&T for this series of ads from 1993.

Also, AT&T had the first ever banner ad. See it here

Charlie Simpson's crowdfunded album gets into the top 10

2011-08-23T13:34:00.001Z

This is a pretty special week for crowdfunded music. The idea of fans helping to pay for an album to be recorded has been around for a few years, but this week Charlie Simpson's album Young Pilgrim, funded through Pledge Music, has entered the UK album charts at no. 6.

Full story over at Music Week.

Here's the original listing on Pledge Music. Charlie got 544 pledges, and well over 100% of the money he asked for. At the lowest level the pledger got a copy of the CD; at the highest level they got a concert at their house.

It was easier to fund the album than it might have been because Charlie isn't unknown - he was previously in Busted and Fightstar, but it's still a great achievement.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers QR Posters in London

2011-08-22T09:52:00.000Z

Spotted this weekend on Hackney Road:

If you scan the code you get sent to this site.

It's all to promote the new RHCP album. You can see more on the main site here.

They're organising 6 listening parties (translation: you stand in a bar while the album plays) around the world today. The London one is in Hoxton Square. You'll also be able to listen online.

Follow all of the action using the hashtag #ImWithYou

It's a pretty good way of bringing the album to the world. I'll check back tomorrow and look at the buzz created.

SBTV in a Google Chrome Ad

2011-08-21T08:58:00.001Z

The first ad in the first break of the new series of X-Factor was this ad for Google Chrome, featuring youth site SBTV, and its founder Jamal Edwards.

Really inspiring, really excellent!

In other X-Factor news, Janet Devlin already has a flourishing YouTube channel (was she talent spotted to be on the show..?)

& Frankie Cocozza has gained 7,500 followers on Twitter already

Ikea - the World's Most Liked Showroom (concept)

2011-08-17T14:22:00.000Z

This is an idea by two students, so it's not real yet, but I'm sure it easily could be:

This is how it would work. Ikea collects 'Likes' for its product, and every week showcases the most-liked products. The products then are discounted, depending on how many Likes they get.

IKEA "The world's most liked showroom" from Jeena van der Heul on Vimeo.

Very smart!