The Melbourne Office fit out is now well under way. As you can see from the photo, the feature wall is coming along nicely, as are Cerns’ posing skills. The office is expected to be completed end of March. Not long to go now! Exciting times!

Stay tuned for more pics as the fit out continues…

Look who popped up in B&Ts recent poll on the Top Ten Digital CDs in the country.

Old what’s his name?

Well done mate.

As Jennings would say.

Public Hero.

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.

Twitchhiker is a blog set up by a guy named Paul, who attempted to travel as far around the world as possible in 30 days, relying only on the goodwill of people using Twitter.

He managed to get all the way from the U.K. to New Zealand. Pretty impressive – but he’s probably wondering:

1. What do I do with my 11,566 twitter followers now?

2. Do I really have to go back to the U.K.?

(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

My bad, this post got lost in pending purgatory (that’s what pitch madness will do to a blog). About a month old but it still is NEWS.

“the White Agency, has appointed Mat Medcalf into the position of General Manager in its Melbourne office.

Medcalf’s role will be focused on further building the business and consolidating its strong position within the digital arena in Melbourne.

Medcalf joins White from Spin Communications where he was most recently Commercial Director and Head of its Melbourne office. Here he worked with clients such as BigPond, Disney, Nintendo and Kia Motors. Prior to this, Medcalf was Head of Innovation at Naked Communications during which time he was in charge of developing new ways to communicate a brand message working with leading brands including Coke, eBay, Nokia and ninemsn.

Medcalf said he was really excited about working with one of the premier digital agencies in Australia and was looking forward to making inroads into the Melbourne market where he feels there is a big opportunity for digital specialists.

“In this climate, clients are increasingly looking for powerful yet cost effective ways to gain market share and customer engagement and I feel this offers an amazing amount of opportunities for digital to leverage,” he said.

White’s CEO, Miles Joyce said Medcalf will bring extensive experience in delivering successful, innovative and result-driven solutions to clients. This, coupled with his strong management and business development skills, make him a great addition to White and further strengthens the highly talented team we already have in Melbourne.”

“Melbourne is a very important market for us so this appointment is crucial to ensure we continue to deliver our high standard of work while growing the business and the Melbourne digital marketplace overall.

The White Agency is part of STW Communications Group, Australia’s leading marketing content and communications services group.”

End serious bit.

]]> http://ffffff.com.au/2009/03/13/hola-mat-new-gm-appointed-white-mexico-melbourne/feed/ 0 http://ffffff.com.au/2009/02/05/hi-rfid-5/ http://ffffff.com.au/2009/02/05/hi-rfid-5/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:17:06 +0000 Paul Jeffress http://ffffff.com.au/?p=332

Do you Poken? Now this might seem a little bit cutsey and there might be an easier way to do this… but still. Little RFID chips in these toys swap social networking information (or any contact details) when you Hi-Five them, you then plug them into your computer device thing and manage the level of engagement you want to have with that person. You could do it other ways sure, but the interaction seems nice. Grown up applications to come. Via: Springwise

Weekends, holidays, late nights… Pitches do funny things to people (mainly Cerns it seems).

Also makes you proud to work with such hard working talented peeps.

Woot.

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!

Online Divas – Online Business Networking Group

At last, somewhere where entrepreneurial women can come together, and share a common vision – running an online business.

I have just watched a local TV news report on this site, and was pleased to discover that The White Agency’s Kate Chatfield is already there making her mark as one of the Diva’s. What a great way of sharing online knowledge with like minded women eager to succeed in the digital world.

So many times we tell ourselves, if only I had done that. It seems with the Diva’s help your idea could be creating the next ground breaking, money making sites.

Buckle up, get your stilettos on and get ready for digital dance floor.

Where: onlinedivas.com.au

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