Ad of the Week

Google may be an all-powerful global behemoth, who will quite possibly rule the world one day, but you can't help to love them when they make beautiful advertising like this. Building on the tone established in their print and TV ads for Chrome, they have created a great story around 'search', which feels like it could form a long running campaign. It stands out all the more when compared to the rest of this year's decidedly lackluster superbowl ads. Where was this year's 1 second ad?

Special mention has to go to the Safer driving campaign which gets a runner up prize for introducing innovation into a category which has relied on shock tactics for too long.

Political Mashup

If there is one thing which is already clear about a 2010 election campaign, it is that the public will be more involved than ever before. On the one hand this may mean campaigning and engaging in sensible debate, however it is just as likely to mean mashup culture and remixing.

There was the Cassette Boy remix of Nick Griffin for example, making him sound only marginally less ridiculous than in real life, the Soundbox of political speeches, and most recently the My David Cameron site. All are lessons to politicians that there is a community of people who need to be engaged in different ways. They are also a lesson that the most sensible debate can be remixed, and out of context becomes hilarious.

The Guardian Zeitgeist

Trending news stories is nothing new. All the major online news sources have a "most read" section, sites like Digg run entirely on the whims of the crowd, as does Twitter. However the fact that the Guardian is experimenting is worth a mention. Their new "Zeitgeist" section visualizes the most popular stories of the day, colour coding them depending on their genre. It also seems to be doing some clever things with how it chooses the stories; taking into account popularity of articles in that section, links and comments.

At the moment it seems less advanced than Newsmap, which has been around for a while, but we are excited about the possibilities.  We also trust the Guardian to create something innovative, after being impressed with their Iphone app and data visualization. If traditional news sources are going to survive they need to start looking at the Guardian and New York Times for tips.

Sky dive from Space

Branded Content has finally been proven to be more effective online than short tv spots. Admittedly it was proven by a branded content company, but we are happy to take their word for it if it means we get less of this and more of this. Red Bull have a history of creating great stuff (remember the awesome and completely unbranded Unflinching Triumph?) and their newest project is no different. Its well executed and feels spot on for the brand. Here are a selection of others we have enjoyed recently.

McDonalds- Monoski
Microsoft- Dr. Bing
Absolut- I'm Here
Banana Republic/ Vanity Fair

Ad of the Week

Walmart have created perhaps their first humorous advert, and their first viral (aside from People of Walmart). We like the insight that Dads are well-meaning but essentially useless.

An Infographic Obsession

We are big fans of data visualization but some are more impressive than others and the Feltron annual report is one the best we’ve seen. It documents a year in the life of infographic nut Nicholas Felton. This year his focus is on his relationships. He uses information harvested from 560 surveys he collected from his acquaintances. He finds, among other things, that his average relationship is 3 years, he had 4.8 encounters per day and his Djing to dancing ratio was 5:4. Though Nicholas is unusual in his dedication, personal data logging has taken off with services such as Nike Plus, Daytum and Track Your Happiness. Just as infographics help us understand the world around us, they can also offer insights into our own lives.

The Art of the Box

When you know a video of your impressive direct mail piece will be uploaded by bloggers, you can put more money and effort into making it awesome. Companies seem to be realising the value of hype, the influence of bloggers, and the beneficial effects of creating something unique.
Now start sending some to us.

Alice in Wonderland Book
Nokia Black Box
Dante's Inferno
Google Nexus unboxing - Not a mailout but worth inclusion because of the creativity.

Immerse yourself

Anyone remember those sites which let you put your photo on a magazine cover? They got old pretty fast, and the current trend of immersive videos, such as the Fight Club trailer we mentioned a while ago, are perhaps also a temporary phenomenon. However we are impressed with the creativity in the following examples as they keep the format fresh.

Hero Trailer - Innovative in the quality of the immersive experience.

Adidas and Starwars - Interesting for its use of Facebook Connect and Google Streetview.

The Kids are Alright

Barnados have always been adept at shock advertising, but in their most recent piece of work they have created something genuinely moving and interesting: A 17 minute “Teens Speech” which was broadcast on Christmas Day.

In it young people speak candidly and intelligently about how they lack a voice in society. We have seen this same message in Umair Haque’s letter to a generation and the Vinspired Voicebox Project.

Infographics- Democratising information

The world is a complicated place and if we ordinary Joes have any chance of understanding it we are going to need beautiful and revealing infographics like the following. Their brilliance is in making the esoteric, understandable to everyone. They seem to be part of a democratisation of knowledge, which empowers all of us to better understand the world.

GOOD Top 10

Web Seer - Visualizing Google's autocomplete options


Netflix data - Interactive DVD rental maps from the NYT