A testament to how effective this interactive piece is from Intel is whether you feel like touching your computer screen when you’re watching it…

http://www.contagiousmagazine.com/2010/01/intel_1.php

Direct You Tube link:

Intel InfoScape Double HD Touchscreen Internet Experience

That was 2009, sunshine.

But it kinda went by so quickly I missed most of it…

Too late, anyway we’re steaming on with 2010, Krubrick style.

C’mon just a recap?

Nup… listen every man and his social media NOOB has done a yearly wrap up and most have already pumped out a 2010 trends/predictions/tea leaf futurism piece…

Please?

Psssssffffff… OK just a quick one then let’s you’ll have to let go, it’s over.

First.

Banner Ads.
Banner ads are still alive! Yes of course they are and here’s a great article about the constraints they’re breaking out of… Beyond the banner And probably the most simple banner and “yet” most engaging banner ads of the year this little cracker for Pringles…

Right here, right now and in 3D.
Location based services and Augmented Reality… how many times did we hear those buzz words last year (and the year before that)? Well we did because they’re starting to make (or have well made) the leap from gimmick town to useful utility city… and we’re holding it in our hands Layar (now 3.0) probably being the leader on this front and the platform seems to be expanding… (see also: wikitude & twitter-360). Need to find a Stellar quickly… you might need this…

Then there was the foursquare too much info weirdness, which will make more sense when you’ll start getting free beers…

Plenty of brands had a dabble in the webcam augmented reality space with very few producing anything of real value… there were some exceptions such as… this

The Cloud brought to you the Googles.Realtime Search, Chrome, the Wave… next up the the android explosion and the OS. When do we wave the white flag? Maybe when their interfaces get a little prettier. Seriously the Cloud is a great thing and products/services such as Google Wave (although slightly over-hyped and a little lonely at first) are/will get us working as collaboratively as a finely tuned beehive… it’s like all my wildest hopes for yammer coming true… remember yammer? er… no…

Memes
These things power the internet… last year we had Kayne and “I’mma let you finnish” but the winner had to be… Keyboard Cat. What will the memerverse throw up this year?

Semi-Translucent Aggregation
Everything from anywhere, anytime for anyone overload. First we had skittles.com which was basically an overlay interface (where have we seen that before) on top of various social sites, so if your tweet contained “skittles” it would basically end up on the skittles home page. Which is great when people are saying nice things… to their credit Skittles let go of the fear and the site is still up. The never media shy Crispin Porter + Bogusky took the concept a little further and turned their own agency site into an aggregation portal. So if you were talking about the agency it would end up on their homepage etc… the neat thing they did though was to have a filter where you could select individual clients and then get a live social media snapshot of the buzz around that brand (buzz that they’re generating apparently).

A couple of weeks before they launched theirs tho’ we squeezed our own aggregation baby out of the coding test tube… and introduced Whitegoods

Here you can follow the twitter, delicious, flickr and blog feeds from le white agency… sweet.

Decks of the year (or presos that were worth while sitting through).

Or Aaron Koblin’s amazement.

The best by far… by a long shot… by a country mile was this WHY I LOVE THE INTERNET… there’s no pictures tho’

Campaigns N’ Stuff

This was a great simple one Shocking Barack (electric motorbikes) I wrote some words about it here.

Nikes Chalkbot got talked about (almost rhymes).

+ (nice pun) Although it was done a little while ago Adweehnamed this as “Digital Campaign of the Decade”

Now does that look like an ad to you?

Mos Def released an album as a Tshirt

RA DIOHEA_D and google made a film clip with LAZERS!

Something Something Twitter.

The White Stuff

I wore a the same t-shirts a lot.

So did some other people.

@kukestar produced a stellar performance for our Christmas Card…

Our peeps in Melbourne moved into a new Crib.

We cut a tralier… a first!

We made a showreel! woot!

B&T rated our site numero uno of digital agency sites… not bad if that the sort of business your in

We got all data vizzy for our super swell friends at The Commonwealth Bank (+ commbank.com.au won yet another round of awards)

We went hybrid in the pursuit of perfection for Team Lexus (+ we gave their site a super tune up)

We gave parents a helping hand when it comes to talking to their kids about drinking.

We helped people to “choose pink” for a good cause

And did we mention Whitegoods?

So kinda there it is…

Done.

This year tho’ is going to be another whole level of awesome… grrrr.

Google and Apple both unveiled key mobile initiatives yesterday, underscoring the collision path the two companies are on, and how long-term, video is poised to benefit from their battle.

First, as you no doubt already know, Google introduced the Nexus One, an Android-powered smartphone that it is selling directly to consumers. It is Google’s first foray into consumer devices and many more products sure to follow. Meanwhile, Apple, in a rare significantly-sized deal, acquired Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising company, for around $300 million. Quattro represents Apple’s first real push into advertising, an important shift from its traditional iTunes-driven paid media model.

With its own device, Google is primarily looking to compete against Apple’s iPhone, which has practically owned the U.S. smartphone market since its introduction 2 years ago. And Apple, with a toehold in the exploding mobile advertising market, is positioning itself to disrupt Google’s planned dominance of mobile advertising through its pending $750 million AdMob acquisition. If Apple were to make additional acquisitions, particularly in the online video advertising space, that would further strengthen its position.

Mobile video is poised to be a real winner in the Google vs. Apple face-off. At a minimum, the two companies’ considerable marketing spending (plus those of competitors Palm, RIM, Nokia and others) will mean smartphones in millions more consumers’ hands, dramatically expanding the video-ready universe. In addition, the experience of watching mobile video will just keep getting better. For example, the Nexus One’s screen resolution (480×800) surpasses the iPhone’s (320×480), which only means Apple will need to up the ante even further with its next generation. The range of video applications is sure to surge as more and more players stake out their ground.

Importantly, because there are no powerful incumbent distributors in mobile video – as there are in the living room, with cable/satellite/telco – I believe there is more flexibility in how premium video can be distributed to smartphones. Until recently mobile was an “on-deck” world where everything had to be approved and carried by the wireless carrier. But mobile is quickly evolving to take on open Internet-like characteristics, where applications and services are not gatekeeped by a distributor. In short, mobile looks to be more like online distribution than traditional video distribution. As power in mobile shifts to players like Apple and Google, it should also be a wake-up call to the FCC, whose planned wireless carrier-focused net neutrality paradigm already looks out of date.

While there have been recent rumbles about Apple doing something with subscription video for the living room, instead the company likely has more latitude in mobile to go well beyond the pay-per-use iTunes model, especially if it can also bring in advertising. Meanwhile, by having its own device and operating system, Google is optimizing the YouTube mobile experience. As this YouTube blog post points out, the Nexus One is an improved way to search, view and upload YouTube videos. With YouTube enjoying such benefits not just on Nexus One, but on all Android phones, YouTube becomes an even more valuable partner for premium content providers looking to generate mobile usage.

Google and Apple will be jousting for years to come in the mobile space. The opportunities for growth for both companies are sizable. I fully expect that video is a going to be an increasingly important part of the battle.

Credits: Everybody @ White + Andrew M for the name

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

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!

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.

(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 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.

_

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!

Hungry? How hungry? Would you sacrifice 10 of your Facebook friends for a Whopper?
If this neat little campaign was running here in Australia I would have a smaller number of friends…
without hesitation. Most likely the work of those damn CP+B’ers.

Yep, we got one last night @award for the Sprite Truth Hunters Campaign. Nice work team. Head hurtz now.

That would be Australia.com… for Tourism Australia. As in the site people all around the world go to when thinking about popping down under for a little poke around or that massive transforming voyage of self discovery to experience the vast majestic beauty that is Terra Australis, New Holland… Oz

Or you may have come across it searching for some little movie that may have just come out starring that little red headed girl from BMX bandits and that Wolverine dude. Anyway…

Continuing our theme of undertaking some of the biggest site launches in the country this year (trumpet blown) we have another high profile project that should leave everyone involved with it, walking a little taller this week. And if that wasn’t enough how about throwing in the design and build of Tourism Australia’s media site as well. Are these people robots?

No they’re not, just a swell bunch of talented, hard working clever people.

Hat Tip to: Fiona, Heath, Daniel, Duncan Pete V, Cearns, Mr David Carson esq and Mike Barry*

The photo below sums up the whole “vibe” of the project.

* I’m sure more peeps were on this… tell me…

A little while ago we completed a small project called “CBA Webolution Phase 1″which meant we did a quick refresh of the personal banking section of a new up and coming bank who you may of heard of before, The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, anyone? No? Didn’t think so. Anyway they seemed to like the pixel polishing we did for them so they asked us to work on another project called “CBA Webolution Phase 2″ No problems, easy, should knock that one off on a Monday morning before lunchtime. Right?

(Puts joke aside)

Seriously now. Wow. 12 months later and several lifetimes of work have been lovingly poured into the redevelopment of CBA’s Business and Corporate banking sections. And it shows. Top, top work from all those in the agency who touched this project with extra hat tips to Matt, Kathleen, Ellie, Mike, Fabulous, Luke, Jamie, Penn… and (thank god for blogs as I will have to update this list several times). I hope everyone involved feels all warm and tingly, because it really is a massive achievement. Well done guys!

For the entourage fans. You know the show Jonny Drama is famous for ‘Viking quest’? Well here’s Viking Quest the game. Keep in mind this show does not and has never existed, but all done in the interest of engaging more fans in the story. There’s even a link to buy the non-existent 6-disc dvd set.

PS: Check out the warning copy @ the bottom of the page

Netflix Origami a neat little site that has instructions on how to create origami using the tear off piece from the Netflix DVD envelopes. Netflix of course being the online/mailout DVD monster in the states with the distinctive red envelope. From all appearances it looks like an endorsed thing from Netflix, until you read the disclaimer assuring us that they are in no way connected. Shame. This would be perfect for them them to bring in house, have little competitions, simple bit of the ol’ UGC. But no. Missed branding opportunity No. 3,242.

So you may have been watching the tube (the telly one) lately and come across two tongues with geezer accents and a hoity-toity eyeball with stalk legs. Well if you did, chances are you were watching Coke Zero’s new campaign. In a nutshell it’s about two tongues who think they are drinking Coke but in reality are drinking Coke Zero, they just can’t tell the difference because they have no eyeballs. Just taste buds. And their taste buds tell them they’re drinking regular Coke… and I think you get the picture.
So to enhance the lives of these pink slimy dudes we’ve created some online adventures where they’re on the hunt for that bottle of Coke (really Coke Zero, but you knew that). Trust Your Buds

It’s been an amazing job with some truly inspirational effort poured into it, so instead of me rabbiting on about it as I have already… we now get part of the team who worked on it to give us a little background into it. So introducing Alister McCann (Copywriter) and Fabian Hupfauf (Art Director) to take us on a little journey.

Open on a street scene in Balmain café.

Two ruggedly handsome gentlemen sit opposite each other. Both stare blankly at the Coke Zero brief that lays limp and lifeless between them. Al, the copywriter, was premiering his new t-shirt. Disappointment etched across his face as Fabs the art director had not bothered to mention it or, worse, hadn’t even noticed. Idly they stirred the milky froth of their decaf macadamia, half soy half regular milk lattes.

Al: What if we do a game starring two slimy tongues, with weird little rhino feet, on a relentless mission to snatch a bottle of Coke from the other side of the kitchen?

Fabs: Sorry what? The waitress just bent over to pick up something. (Grown-ups note: Al & Fab spend so much time trying to think like young males 18-25 that parts of their brains are permanently 18-25.)

Al: I said, ahh forget it.

Fabs: Wait, I’ve got it! Let’s do a game starring two slimy tongues, with weird little rhino feet, on a relentless mission to snatch a bottle of Coke from the other side of the kitchen. But here is the kicker – the tongues don’t know it’s Coke Zero. They’re totally blind so they think it’s real Coke. And they need this eyeball dude to help them reach the Coke, I mean Coke Zero.

Al: My frontal lobe just melted.

Inspiration goosed Fabs’ brain into a creative flurry, while Al made a beeline for the little boys’ room.
Fabs began sketching out the images that would make up the three levels of the game, while Al scribbled his thoughts on two and a half scrolls of bog roll. When they reconvened both had completely different ideas on how the game should play out. Compromises were made over a slight variation of scissors, paper, rock involving a rusty bike chain, a can of Rexona and a lighter.

Cut to four months in the future. Al and Fabian in a dingy café in Ultimo

Al: Wow, Trust your Buds goes live today, I hope the kiddies like it.

Fabs: I’m already working on the sequel. It turns out that the tongues are actually from a post apocalyptic future and they were sent back to warn us about an army of sexy killer robots that are going to enslave mankind.

Al: I’m sorry what? The waitress just bent over to pick up something.

Err… thanks guys.

So, to help with the boys’ in-depth analysis of the work I thought I’d show some of their initial scamps and then a couple of screens of the final product after our digital alchemists have worked their magic. Speaking of which, big ups to the blood, sweat and tears Aiden and (he’ll hate this) Jennings put into this project. There was a cast of thousands working on this project but these two practically passed kidney stones of love on this puppy. Anyway go play, go play.

Trust Your Buds

It’s been around for a little while but still a great read. A wonderful article by the Japanese company information architects on how your interface can be your brand or vice versa, mehbe? The interface of a cheese burger.

A great presentation from Iain Tate, on how the band Radiohead have such effective and relevant experiences online that they have taken him from being someone who disliked Radiohead into being someone who may not love them, but certainly likes the idea of them. His ultimate point being that this is the outcome that a lot of brands want out of the online experience, but to do this you really have to experiment with the medium and to a large extent re-invent the medium regularly. This means you really have to do new things and not wait until you see someone else doing it first successfully before feeling comfortable about doing it. Remember they only give out medals for bravery.

Not only have we got a wonderful new building, a brand spanking new logo (sorry) but if all that wasn’t enough… how about a freshly pixelaphonic new site straight out of the coding oven. Just smell the aroma.

In the words of Mr Matthew Grogan CD, Esq etc “the theory goes something like this. Any successful agency is always busy and any busy agency puts their clients’ work as a priority over their own website. Knowing that, it could be another 3 years before we have the time to focus on the next instalment. So we decided to stay away from a crazy flash site that’ll go out of date in a week and create something that is simple and 80% about the great work we do for our clients and 20% about us.”

The navigation is minimal letting the work speak for itself. Simplicity. Is. Good.

And it comes in six different collectors editions.

The Cerns.

The Eliana.

The Fabian

The Jennings

The Mike.

And The Pablo.

Now that’s about the size of it (above). I think about a billion people were involved in this one, and all involved deserve a massive, massive backslap and one breath’s rest before jumping back to it. In the meantime get in there and have a go.

Yep you sure can. Now this has been slowly introduced rather than a grand A-lister mega launch, but along with our brand shiny new office, we have a hot new visual ID. Years of development and a cast of thousands have been involved with this project and now it’s starting to appear everywhere and in every format. Even a new roll of stickers can cause normally sedate people to start woo-hooing.

The old and the new.

The Quest. A new ARG from Doritos/FritoLay. If you manage to get through all the levels you could be one of three to go into the final round for $100,000. Doritos really have been adventurous with Marketing2.0, some have efforts worked, some have been a bit obvious (UGC). This might be a bit more of a breakthrough for them. It certainly had several people in our office who were well within the triangles demographic trapped under its powers for periods longer than any traffic department would deem healthy. All within lunch hours, honest

Brand Tags, a project by Noel Brier. You see the logo then tag it with the first thing that comes to mind.
Then have a look to see what others thought. Perception Vs Reality or just the reality?