I haven’t posted for a while. As a (very) part-time blogger I only blog when I feel I have something to say, or something to work out. I’ve been busy with a new job growing a creative agency out of a tech firm, it’s hard work, and there are lots of insights I’ll write about when I get time.
This post has been inspired by other Man Week posts I’ve read by the likes of @MarkPollard, @ServantOfChaos, @JyeSmith, @zacmartin, @joelyrighteous, and @juliancole, who have all inspired me with their incredibly personal stories. I consider these guys professional colleagues and I admire their work immensely. In different ways I aspire to be like them and their Man Week posts are no different. It’s not often that you get to see what makes the man, at least not in professional circles. That’s one thing I love about social media, it lowers those bullshit barriers that exist in business and in life.
So, this is my attempt at contributing to Man Week. I’m more than a little nervous about it but I hope those who read it get as much from it as I did from the other Man Week posts.
In his book Imaginary Futures Richard Braybrook observes that “The Future Is What It Used To Be”. By this he means that the future as imagined in the 1960s when he was a boy, is the same future we currently imagine. When are we getting those hover cars driven by humanoid robots damit?
I’ve been feeling like I do a lot of Insights posts so I’m trying to do more Ideas posts to balance it all out.
This one is via Cool Hunter and I just like the way they’ve turned what is a mundane and depressing place into something that is completely captivating and immersive.
This is an interactive bus stop produced by Saatchi’s London. It’s a nice piece of work and certainly the first real example of a game-in-metrolite that I’ve seen.
Thing is, I have some questions about how it actually works to drive sales. To my mind, there are a few key things it does well and a few that it doesn’t do.
Gets me engaged - If I happen past the screen, I’m likely to be attracted because a) the screen moves/invites me to play or b) someone is actually playing it. There’s novelty in that and I’m at least going to have a squizz.
In doing that I’m then reminded of creme eggs.
It reinforces the ‘fun’ aspect of the creme egg brand.
It doesn’t change my mind about Creme Eggs though. Personally I hate them but I am prepared to believe that many people might love them. I’m even prepared to believe that there might be enough people who love them already, or haven’t tried them at all, that Cadbury don’t need to shift perception or re-position at all, just remind/inform people of their existence and link that with a sense of fun. Seems unlikely though.
Or at least that’s the headline from the article in Adnews referencing this IAB Online Advertising
Expenditure Report . Growth is tipped to slow as the economic situation bites but I’ve got to say, I’m glad I’m in digital right now. I feel pretty glad that I can measure the impact of everything I do and put it into a nice little chart for my clients.
Words are a woefully inadequate instrument with which to describe The Nawlz best you go visit. At a push I’d describe it as an animated graphic novel. Online. Or something. However you’d describe it, I guarantee you’ll be rewarded by a visit.
In his book 
