Whopper freakout
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Viral videos: this is the real shit. And not the Dan Ackerman stuff.
Client: Burger King, http://whopperfreakout.com/
Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Archive for December, 2007
New York Times reference search
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In one of those “duhh” moments, i became aware of a new feature on the New York Times. It happened while reading the priceless piece about Radiohead, and incidentally double-clicking a word. Surprise, surprise, a new window opened with a reference search on the highlighted word.
The feature is powered by Answers.com, although i’d love to see a Wikipedia powered one (perhaps with a Greasemonkey script ?).
In web design, it’s a best practice to gracefully conceal power-user features, and this one is a really useful life hack, specially if you’re used to Firefox’s context menu search. Take note of this simple and effective idea, and if your site has specialized or dense content you can use it as a cross-reference shortcut to provide enhanced interactivity and semantic help.
Best Music Albums of 2007
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Get used to it, as each year i will bother you with my ultra-subjective selection of favorite albums. Or maybe it’s just me giving away ideas for Christmas.
The list goes without comments, but feel free to completely disagree. I can handle your arbitrary music taste.
- 20) Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
- 19) Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
- 18) Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
- 17) Burial – Untrue
- 16) The National – Boxer
- 15) Panda Bear – Person Pitch
- 14) Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
- 13) Stars Of The Lid – And Their Refinement Of The Decline
- 12) The Field – From Here We Go Sublime
- 11) M.I.A. – Kala
- 10) Sigur Ros – Hvarf-Heim
- 9) Kanye West – Graduation
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Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer - 7) Robert Wyatt – Comicopera
- 6) Roisin Murphy – Overpowered
- 5) Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
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4) Justice – Cross
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3) Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
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2) Radiohead – In Rainbows
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1) LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
One last note for Portuguese band The Soaked Lamb and their first album “Homemade Blues”, where co-worker Vasco plays keyboards. It’s a great album, and if you don’t believe me listen them at myspace or have a look at their delicious website.
Unsubscribe me
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(Cross-post from Osocio.org)
Tired of putting your name on web forms? Don’t give up yet as you can do something different for a change and unsubscribe.
Amnesty International UK is inviting people to do just that, on a message to governments that citizens are no longer quiet while human rights are attacked under the false pretext of ‘the war on terror’. And while most petitions ask you to sign up, the British AI is asking citizens to take your name off.
The campaign uses email and social media to encourage others to spread the message, and at the same time building a humanitarian life-stream conscientiousness.
With a subscription process that feels like a regular social network service, you’re invited to write your views on the subject and share it to your friends.
Data visualization is also one of the main features of the “true” social network, with live updates on the progress you and your friends have made to stop the government manipulation of public opinion, with a call to action against such acts as the ones being perpetrated at Guantanamo.
It then extends itself to other networks, such as Orkut, MySpace or Facebook, and links to other online media activists, again building on the concept of networks and how these can make a change. With such a magnitude, I guess we could call it human-rights crowdsourcing.
And of course, with a widget that you can use to share the campaign latest film:
Credits
Client: Amnesty International UK
Link: unsubscribe-me.org
Agency: Drugstore
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Today i stand on the shoulder of these two giants.
Print and TV are dead
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When you read that one of the world’s leading creative magazines has a monthly readership of only 13,000 you know there is no contest between print and web. Sites like Digg probably get that many people in twenty minutes.
Flash Player 9 On
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The newest release of Flash Player 9 Update 3 comes with a companion website: Adobe Flash On. To fully experience it, it’s advisable to install the latest plugin version, easily accessible with an upgrade option (or choose the standart mode).
Agency Credits: BigSpaceship
On screen, you can choose amongst a shuffle of video thumbnails, with a HD option delivering a full-screen experience on high resolution, powered by the new H.264 codec.
The Flash Player Update 3brings some impressive features (that i’ve pointed before), such as new H.264/HE-AAC video codecs and a performance boost.
Now all I need is some generous bandwidth and some fiber-optic connection to fire my cable company and store the TV for good. I’ll stick with the projector for series and good movies.
Processing powered ads
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Robert Hodgin (Flight 404) and Nando Costa (which i met last year at OFFF), joined forces to produce a series of promos for Fox TV Japan.
The unusual thing is that Robert wrote a application in Processing that Nando could use to build his own customizable flocking behavior, based on perlin noise algorithms.
Code can indeed be beautiful.
Source: Motiongrapher
My Advent Calendar
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Well, i guess i’m on a re-blogging week, this time with a few words for Adverblog’s advent calendar.
Adverblog was one of my inspirations to start blogging last year, authored by Martina Zavagno, an Italian interactive marketer and one of the masterminds behind the Diesel Heidies campaign.
So, here’s my 2 cents on it:
1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
Orange Unlimited, for reminding us that simple is beautiful, and building a successful integrated campaign. Other notable projects include the Heidies by Diesel or the recent one by Rexona Power, Spain, “Quien Es Fermin“. As for agencies, Northkingdom and FarFar still amaze us with outstanding work, with some great work coming from Eastern Europe, like ParkStudio‘s work for Fanta or Nokia.
2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
I’ve learned to quit looking at my own bellybutton, and start looking to what regular users are doing online. Call it interactive etnography or something like that, but the truth is that we professionals are so much self-absorbed that it all feels like a big echo chamber. For instance, it amazes me the tons of people that don’t have a clue what twitter is, but instead use regular email to keep their friends updated.
3) As a creative person what’s on top of your agenda for 2008?
I haven’t looked too much into social media, specially widgets, so i’ll try some hacks on OpenSocial et al. And speaking of Google, Android and similar platforms will be a fresh terrain for agencies to explore. I wouldn’t see it as the boom of mobile advertising, but rather as the beginning of a new bread of mobile experiences.
4) What, in your opinion, will be a killer application/key trend in interactive marketing in 2008?
Tactile, sensorial, all that connects users on a closer level. It’s a solid trend that has been shaping up this year, with the iPhone, multi-touch displays, light graffiti, etc. Doesn’t matter if it’s web based, multimedia or mobile, the challenge will be to add a new layer of perception on top of integrated campaigns.
5) Which book would you give as a Christmas present to Adverblog’s readers?
The Laws of Simplicity
Prevent-it
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(Reposted from Osocio.org)
From Canada, an update on the workplace safety campaign by WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario).
The ad invites us to visit the website prevent-it.ca, where users can learn more about workplace safety.
The recent addition on the website uses the desktop metaphor as a quick access to many resources on workplace safety, such as rights and responsibilities, downloads or WSIB videos. Or you could play the prevent-it challenge, a linear narrative where we must spot the hazards on the workplace, with helpful tips on safety.
If you’ve enjoyed the site, there’s plenty of sharing tools to spread the message.
Advertiser:
WSIB
Agency: