Well, not really. But it was really surprising the seamless personal experience delivered by MySpace, BBH and Domani Studios (which are becoming one of my new favorite interactive companies).

But better than the tech wizardry behind the thing is the “LOVEABLE MAGIC”, as @FranHazeldine calls it:

With the Myspace Fan Videos, the magic isn’t in the tech. It’s in the moment when 50 Cent hangs a picture of you on his wall, or Alicia Keys sings you a song. Sure the magic is tech-fuelled, but it’s the twisted cultural content, the playful reference to things I love or hate, that really makes it. Tech is the means, not a magical end in itself.

Tech magic is out. Loveable magic is in.

Details like the reflection of your Facebook profile pic in the glossy piano surface on Alicia Key’s video show that the magic is beyond tech and is more about making it simple, collaborative and easy to share.

Create your own video at http://www.myspace.com/fanvideo

Source: BBH-Labs

Also of Interest

• Really Interesting Animation
• Geek power
• Personal is the new social

Thanks, Vasco.

Also of Interest

• Whopper freakout
• Tiago Monteiro heads to Dakar
• Hail to Halo

To celebrate this escape from the smaller mobile and laptop screens, the Image Freedom movement was launched a few days ago.

You can find lots of video testimonials of people playing around this idea, with channels on Vimeo and YouTube feeding the large video experience on the website.

And just a few minutes ago, LG launched the product website at liberteaimagem.com, a full 3D experience, showcasing the borderless concept of the LG SL9000 model, the new high contrast LED with ultra slim design.

Go ahead, give the site a spin (literally) and check the gallery for some nice product footage. And maybe, just maybe, you’re free to choose LG when getting the new TV model for your living room.

So, if sometimes i don’t update this blog that often, then perhaps it’s because I’m actually working on stuff like this. Enjoy.

Credits:
Agency: Fulllsix Portugal
Creative Director: Rui Vieira
Interactive Design: Daniel Teixeira, Victor Afonso
Copywriter: Claudia Ribeiro
Web Strategy: Armando Alves
Account Management: Ricardo Costa, Sofia Delfim
Guerrilla marketing : Torke

Also of Interest

• The revolution will not be televised
• While waiting for Arcade Fire’s new album
• Upload 2.0 meeting

The age of microsite featured the usual broadcast tactics, pushing “shiny flashy objects” and applying the usual recipes of “spray-and-pray” or “build-it-and-they-will-come”. From those days, the web graveyard inherited thousands of zombie pages that became lifeless, after broadcasting their ephemeral commercial message.

FWA 2005 Site Of The Month: 4 out of 12 are no longer online

The kind of campaign websites listed above, is pretty much careless of what happens after the “campaign” ends. Not even the decency of doing a simple 301 HTTP redirect, with users stumbling upon a parked page, filled with AdWords by someone with a sense of opportunity. Don’t tell me that a company can’t spare a lousy hosting bill for an old sucessfull campaign or $10USD for a redirected or masked domain.

But enough about microsites, that i personally call “the web’s non-recyclable garbage”. Fast forward to 2009, where one would expect that some lessons from the previous days would turn companies more wiser when defining an integrated Internet presence. Well, not quite.

Photo by Laughing Squid under Creative Commons

Meet the social zombies

These are the kind of corporate presences on social web platforms and services, created only to serve a temporary tactical purpose. As with microsite, they’re nurtured during a few weeks with fresh blood (regular updates, a widget, a viral wannabe), but then left dying on the same kind of web graveyard. But now with a more bloody consequence, taking with them all the community (fans, followers, viewers, etc) that they’ve built while alive.

Examples include the usual Twitter account created for the yearly event, a Facebook page activated only for a new product launch or a YouTube channel with the 500 views viral wannabe. This “social media bribery” is again leaving pieces of rotten digital flesh all over the web.

DharmaWantsYou.com (An ARG for TV series Lost) has won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy, but is now defunct (or should i say lost)

A sustainable solution could be a wiki on the same domain, highlighting the narrative and interactions.

Sometimes it’s just brands experimenting and failing, and i’m ok with that. The problem is not caring to clean the mess once finished, on a bad example of interactive sustainability (how’s that for a buzzword?).
The social web is also about brands creating a sustainable presence on conversational destinations and managing the digital footprint for the long run (Google doesn’t forget). Once a campaign ends, don’t stick only to analysis, with the follow-up also including a post-mortem curation, by informing (updating the bio or description) or reaching out to the community (Tr.im open-sourced their service). And please, don’t just limit yourself to profile euthanasia.

Also of Interest

• Weekend links roundup
• How LEGO caught the cluetrain
• Crossover of Bank Of America’s “One”

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs 2009, the film is narrated by Gord Downie, featuring music by Sam Roberts, Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Rós, Robbie Robertson and Brian Eno.

Just enjoy. And think about it.

Source: Osocio

Related Articles

• Digital Documentaries
• GreenTube
• Pearl Jam: Ten Special Edition, the web game

AltLab

Taking the work of AudienciaZero and bringing it to Lisbon, the collective explores alternative media and physical computing every Tuesday, from 19h to 24h, at Geraldine.

Diodo

A new organization promoting the learning, research and experimentation of digital technologies, bringing together a diverse community on a open environment, exploring connections between art, technology and society.

Both projects take a local approach of the community work by MakeMagazine or CreateDigitalMusic, by Peter Kirn. So don’t be shy and join the Portuguese hackers.

Also of Interest

• LG sets the image free
• wee planets
• Amon Tobin, the music industry and the web

Yes, you got that right. An iPhone + screensaver + desktop app so you can have your “siesta” and wake with the sounds of a rooster.

Enjoying the warm countryside and a live stream of a rooster. Wait, what ? Just interact with the video above, and watch for yourself.

Branded applications are one of the more valid solutions for brands to be a part of consumer’s lives without resorting to commercial interruptions. This campaign for Cerveceria Del Pacifico by Perfect Fools isn’t goodies only, as they support the campaign with original content, blogging at “Claudio And I” the experience of a Mexican rooster farmer.

Source: Perfect Fools

Also of Interest

• El Ojo Interactive
• Sony Ericsson does YouTube special
• Get a Third Place

Digital Content & New Media

• R/GA’s digital signage project for Club Nokia
  
  
• Yep, iPhone was really huge in 2008. Here’s one app for A4 Driving Challenge (appstore link), developed by Factory Labs.
  
• Another landmark in digital marketing for CP+B, with the Whooper Sacrifice Facebook app.
  
• I’m a sucker for Branded Applications. Here’s ‘Find It‘ developed by Dare Digital for Sony Ericsson, right on time for the next Summer festivals. So, where’s my tent?
  
• A website about design being nominated for a Webby Award on best copy/writing is no small achievement. Design Observer has my vote.
  
• I had to mention an ARG, with a subtle but effective sponsoring by McDonalds of ‘The Lost Ring‘, developed by AKQA.
  
• The Best Job In The World. This one’s a winner. By CumminsNitro Brisbane for Tourism Queensland.
  

INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING

• Agency.com’s interactive video ad for Nike
  
  
• TBWA’s famous Get A Mac synced banner
  
  
• To balance the previous nomination, here’s a load of them for Microsoft, by FirstBorn:
  
  
• Shake-up Wario Land, by Goodby+Fi
  
  
• Pepsi’s open letter to Obama, with direct webcam recording. Created by R/GA.
  
• EepyBird (from DietCoke+Mentos fame) Sticky Notes experiments
  

Websites

• Nvidia’s Speak Visual, by Cutwater (and production by Odopod)
  
• Previously featured here, MrStrings, by Fallon London
  .
• In An Absolut World, by the Swedish crew of Great Works.
  
• Axe Chocoman Hunter, by Bascule Inc japan, specially the integration with QR codes.
  
• More goodness from Japan, by Uniqlo and Dentsu
  
• Also featured here, The Unloader by Nokia, created by FarFar
  
• Hotel 626 for Doritos by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
  
• Another one from Goodby, this time for Sprint with the Plug into Now widget
  
• Beautiful illustration, also featured here: Hello Sour Sally, developer by Kinetic.
  
• Even more dreamlike than the previous one is Coraline, by W+K .
  
• A fresh one for me, with the corporate presence of Lumina Communications created by Kilo Studio. Love the sound design.
  
• The unavoidable Coca -Cola Happiness Factory, by Sapient
  
• Another one you can’t escape from: NIKEiD, developed by R/GA. It’s about time we start seeing more engaging e-commerce sites.
  
• An old one from the old master (in Internet years) Yugop, Design and the Elastic Mind at MoMa.
  
• A treat for photographers: Boston.com’s Big Picture. Have a look.
  
  
• Syrup built a great community resource at SavvyAuntie.com.
  
• From the auntie tribe to the Urban Daddy. Wishing there was such a classy site for Lisbon
  
• It’s impressive how NASA managed to reinvent their web presence. Managing the transition of huge amount of content while embracing new tools is no small feat.
  
• I wonder if Obama has one more win this year, with SyrupNYC’s work for Hope. Act. Change.
  
• Had to mention one great self-promotional website from the mad minds of Gringo, with Andre and crew swearing practice. Legau p’ra cara***.
  
• One more self-promotional portfolio worth of notice is Whitevoid, with their innovative navigation
  
  
• ‘The Girl Effect‘ was highighted at Osocio.org, a work for the Nike Foundation created by Wieden+Kennedy. As a plus, it’s also one of the best examples of Progressive Enhancement in Flash that i know of.
  

Online Video & Games

• Lovely online strategy game for GreenPeace Brazil, by AlmapBBDO
  
• Content is always the Burger King. With Seth MacFarlane’s YouTube channel. By Crispin.
  
• PangeaDay, a TED prize initiative, used the power of film to share by millions of people our common humanity.
  
• The always inspiring video ‘Fifty People, One Question‘
  
• Even with its ups and downs last year, it’s still my favorite videocast: EpicFu with Zadi Diaz.
  
• Props to Donnie with ‘You Sujk at Photoshop‘. Tutorials can be fun.
  
• As for viral, being a proud web dude, my vote is destined to ‘The Website Is Down‘. I’m sorry, what?
  
• Last one, with a shameless plug for LoweDraftfcb’s Amsterdam nomination with Upload Cinema that i mentioned here a few days ago. I knew it was that good.
  

There. This should keep you busy for a few hours. Enjoy and don’t forget to vote on the Webby Awards.

Related Articles

• Cannes Lions have left this building
• Shameless PromoTion: Sapo Pond
• Osocio.org: Awards don’t feed the Hungry

The web based MMO playing game, created by The Secret Location and the playful folks at Phantom Compass, is based on Vision’s TV documentary “Iprophesy” , extending the show to the web, with players creating customizable 3D characters, that can talk with other players, and travel between 13 different environments, each reflecting an episode from the TV show on Vision TV.

It’s the next evolution of online forums, with posts available as external RSS feeds, with collaboration and chat amongst players. By exploring the multiple worlds and answering challenges, each player earns point with winners awarded on the TV show. With TV feeling the pressure from online media, it goes with the saying: “If you can’t beat them, join them”.

It’s nonetheless remarkable how long have we progressed these past few years, with the rise of broadband and better browsers allowing experiences that were once reserved to desktop or console games.

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• Best of the Web: One Show + Webby Awards