Technology Meets the Real World.

I absolutely love it when cool new technology gets used in an innovative way. I find it even more exciting when it gets used in a way that real, everyday people would get excited about as well as the 1% mega tech savvy super early adopters.

Here are three examples of what I’m talking about;

Paddy Power using skywriters to show fans' tweets over the Ryder Cup.

The Little Deck of Banging Ads

Whenever anyone asks me for examples of ads that are a bit like this, or campaigns that are similar to that, I lose the ability to think of any advert I have ever seen. This being quite annoying, I thought I’d start a project to arrange ads into decks as I work, that way creating a little library of research. I also thought I might as well share the love, so here is the first installation of The Little Deck of Banging Ads. This one's about non-traditional media, the hottest buzz-phrase in town. I'm sure you've all seen these ads before but if you're anything like me (can't think of a single ad when prompted) it might be helpful to have them all in one place. Feel free to use / download / do with it as you like.

                 

P.S. If you do find it in anyway useful and you can find it in your heart to give the project a little shout out on Twitter that would be very much appreciated.

Can everyone stop LYING about numbers please?

I understand that people want to make things sound as exciting and impressive as possible. I am however, sick and tired of seeing numbers wildly exaggerated to the point that they are clearly total fabrications / falsely inflated / any other euphemism you’d like to use. What annoys me the most about these gross manipulations is that not only are they then quoted by others as if gospel but they are also fairly easy to disprove, should one undertake just the tinniest amount of research. 

Three of these forgeries I would like to call out now;

1. One billion people supported droga5's Beyonce campaign

The Real Winners of London 2012; Paddy Power, Nike and Beats.

The Olympic advertising rules and regulations were always going to provoke some great work because they forced brands to think beyond the obvious and they intrinsically required a bold and innovative solution to be by-passed.  Three things in particualr stood out about them for me;

1. Inspiration can come from anywhere.

The Real World Has Been Stolen And Digitised; Royal Mail Fights Back.

                                                       Image from FP7 via Behance.net 

Digital isn’t the answer. It’s the question. The answer is yes… Or is it? In a world where communication is judged on efficiency (both environmentally and cost), ease and above all speed, letter writing has long been consigned to the scrap heap.

Game Changers from the IPA Modern Briefing.

Picture from @Amelia_Torode

Today's IPA Modern Briefing conference was packed to bursting point with insightful and thought provoking ideas and information, some of which I think could be game changers. I've tried to get them down for you here;

1. Try version numbering your briefs from Glyn Britton (Albion) @glyndot

Pinigit To Win It; A master class in branded apps.

Apart from having a very funny ad the Barclays Pingit app is a genius piece of consumer focused innovation. Pingit allows you to transfer friends money via their phone number. This is a genuinely desirable product that will help Barclays acquire new customers. Operating in a notoriously difficult environment (you are more likely to get divorced than change your bank account + everyone hates banks) Barclays have made some very smart strategic decisions in the conception and introduction of Pinigit. These decisions have helped transform it from just being a branded app for existing customers to a powerful strategic marketing tool which will help them steal market share.  I believe Pingit will be a massive success with longevity and here are three reasons why;