You may have seen a lot of the 87 things in this presentation… but it’s great to see them all in one place.

Maybe not breaking news anymore but we came out on top in a B&T review of Australian digital agency websites.

So then another digital mob from Newcastle (didn’t quite make the B&T review unfortunately) ran their ANLYZR tool over the same candidates and we ranked a paltry 10^th based on the more reportable stuff like SEO and search scores.

Now I know which one I care about more but it raises an interesting question: Do Marketing Directors of switched on brands really google ‘digital agency’? The findablilty v experience is an old debate but for an agency site, surely it’s more about conveying your personality and your work, no?

San Diego.

Yeah! We’ve just helped launch The Commonwealth Banks new YouTube Channel… As Mathew McBertie McBertros says in his own words… Special mentions to Rachael M who delivered a wonderful watertight strategy and to the man of science for his platybank sketches, creative vision, and getting the word awesome into a final live design multiple times… T_E_A_M  youtube.com/commbank

We should get this plate for our Agency / Blog car (because a blog really needs a car). If 6F’s was a car though it would definitely be a Lexus RX 450h – smart, progressive and far less CO2 emissions than any other agency blog.

Sure it was announced a couple days ago… but good news is good news. Yes as mentioned a couple posts ago Australia.com was in the running for a People’s Voice (Tourism category) @ the digitally prestigious  Webby Awards. And guess what? It won. As the marvellous mUmBRELLA reported much closer to the announcement…

“The australia.com site – designed by The White Agency – was the People’s Voice Winner in the Tourism category of The Webbys, which were announced earlier today, Australian time.

The Webby Awards have run for more than a decade. One of their unique points is that when winners make acceptance speeches they are limited to just five words. In 2005, failed presidential candidate Al Gore’s was “Please don’t recount this vote.”

Tonight White Agency boss Miles Joyce said: “Had a taste? Come walkabout.”

Well done to all involved on this very high profile project that deserves the accolades. Go Team!

Very happy to announce that that our design for Tourism Australia’s consumer travel site, www.australia.com, has been nominated for a Webby Award in the Tourism category!

This also means that australia.com is eligible to win a Webby People’s Voice Award, which is relies on votes from the world wide community. Please feel free to jump over and vote any time up till April 30th at http://pv.webbyawards.com. Go on, get in there. You know you want to.

You can check it out, along with the other nominees here: http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=13

Taking it to the streets is so 2008. Want to effect change 2009 style? Social media should be your first port of call confirming that the pen (or keyboard) is indeed mightier than the sword.

Nick Galvin, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, says, “TWITTERERS, bloggers, podcasters and Facebook users are getting behind Earth Hour in unprecedented numbers as event organisers embrace the explosion of interest in online social networking.”

With almost 700,000 online friends in 80 countries, Earth Hour’s John Johnston says almost anything goes to send the Earth Hour message viral and reach the target of one billion participants.

Galvin continues, “The latest effort to push the Earth Hour message is through a new social networking service called 12 Seconds. The 12 Seconds service, likened to a video version of Twitter, allows users to post 12-second videos about any subject that catches their attention. Earth Hour organisers are asking supporters to make 12-second promotional videos and put them online.”

Social revolution is just a click away.

Read the full article here.

A top post from Mr Iain Tate (9 reasons japanese interactive work is awesome) who after Judging the One Show Interactive Awards recently became a little bit of a Digital Nipponophile (that sounds much ruder than it really is). I don’t agree with everything in this post, but its good to take a step back and look at digital on this scale sometimes. I rate the politeness and craft as the two most distinguishing features – they just don’t throw stuff in your face as much, and they always seems to have incredible polish on their stuff.

Speaking of things from the land of the rising sun, these guys are one my top 5 digital agencies in the world… informationarchitects (iA) The digital trends maps they out are amazing, next one due out soon, but latest one here.

(From Adnews March 13th 2009)

How is 2009 shaping up for digital agencies?

Bring it on!

More and more companies are now realising the power of digital as a key business driver. In this environment, can companies afford to choose a generalist over an expert?

Our promise to clients – Better, Faster, Cheaper, Flexible – has never been more on the money than right now.

What’s more, our ability to deliver against these pillars is in stark contrast to some of our larger integrated agency competitors.

We have seen from the fully integrated agencies’ claim after claim, restructure after restructure and senior hire after senior hire, that, if you scratch the surface, they are the same old mainstream agency with digital tacked on…..animating print ads, TVCs online.

Unless every ounce of your agency’s DNA is digital, you are behind the curve and subsequently your clients are chasing not leading.

Technology is no longer just that guy in the corner playing Dungeons and Dragons, it is the gateway between business, marketing, customers and prospects. Your agency must live and breathe technology, developing the best solutions, aware of all innovations and, equally, the limitations. This is the pedigree of digital agencies, minimising risk, saving time and money, creating innovative solutions and improving speed to market.

Digital creates rivers of data, and you can sink or swim in this data. It comes in real time, wave after wave of information. Digital agencies are accustomed to this immediacy of information, turning on the taps, filtering and optimising the work. Data sits across all departments. It is no longer about post analysis – it provides insight, it informs and it enlightens.

Interaction is so much more than just a click or a person voting on their favourite viral piece. Interaction is a way of thinking beyond the traditional; broadcast/reaction, cause/effect – it is about capture and engagement. Digital agencies grab the interaction possibilities; taking a great idea and making it live and breathe online.

As digital finally lives up to the promises extolled for years, clients should expect more than just window dressing. 2009 could well prove the year that truly steels the future of digital agencies, the year that sets the direction for years to come.

As I said at the outset, 2009 bring it on!!

For more information contact:
Craig Galvin – Executive Director, Partner, the white agency

It’s always exciting to see brands being brave which is true of the newly relaunched Skittles website – http://www.skittles.com/

It’s a really nice example of a quick to produce/cost effective solution that leverages different social media sites, all linked together through a really simple primary navigation/promo space box that floats in the top left corner of each section/site you navigate to.

Their ‘homepage’ and ‘products’ pages are actually their www.wikipedia.org page, their ‘chatter’ section of the site is the brand’s twitter page, the ‘friends’ section of the site links through to their Facebook fan-page, and their ‘media’ section links through to their YouTube & Flickr pages.

This is a fantastic approach that intelligently leverages existing consumer and brand generated content, bringing together communities of brand advocates.

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It’s another great example of brands needing to be increasingly brave and letting go of some control, as true brand ownership shifts to sit with consumers. Skittles recognises that they can only participate in these conversations.

It’s a huge step for a brand – nice one Team Skittles!