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Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:24:35 +0200

Forbes has released what a group of judges have assessed as the...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:22:12 +0200

Forbes has released what a group of judges have assessed as the 10 best travel and tourism campaigns. These efforts have been lauded for their ability to be memorable and to generate interest in their country, state or region. How many do you remember?

Here’s the slideshow of the top travel and tourism advertising campaigns.They range for efforts for U.S. states to national tourism. To be honest, I am not familiar with many of these campaigns. Here are a few of my favorite recent tourism commercials.

The can spout out enough ash to stop the entire world, produce...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:17:37 +0200

The can spout out enough ash to stop the entire world, produce more awesome musicians per capita than seemingly possible, and go wild with 24 hours of sunlight every summer. Well, they’ve just produced a video promoting tourism and let’s just say they know how to showcase their spectacular scenery and inherent awesomeness better than just about anyone.

It’s one of my theories that when people give advice, they’re...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:14:46 +0200

It’s one of my theories that when people give advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past.

This book is me talking to a previous version of myself.

These are things I’ve learned over almost a decade of trying to figure out how to make art, but a funny thing happened when I started sharing them with others — I realized that they aren’t just for artists. They’re for everyone.

These ideas are for everyone who’s trying to inject some creativity into their life and their work. (That should describe all of us.)

Some time ago, artist and writerAustin Kleon , a keen observer...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:11:26 +0200

Some time ago, artist and writerAustin Kleon , a keen observer of and participant in the creative economy of the digital age — was invited to give a talk to students, the backbone for which was a list of 10 things he wished he’d heard as a young creator:

Awesome activation idea

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:57:26 +0200

In order to curate the vacation photos Toronto visitors take and put online, we unleashed 21, 8-foot snowmen designed by top contemporary artists and placed strategically at key tourist spots in the city. When you take a photo with the snowmen, a famous Toronto scene is featured as the backdrop. And to encourage the photos would be shared, Tourism Toronto is donating $2 to Starlight Children’s Foundation for every snowman photo uploaded to the campaign’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/visittoronto, up to $50,000. And, we’ve integrated each photo takers’ network, by offering another $1 for every ‘Like’ each photo generates, further expanding this campaign’s reach. To date, more than $24,000 has been raised.

via Adsoftheworld

There are good people left in advertising

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:09:21 +0200

Often times when an agency loses a big piece of business (or two), they lay off perfectly awesome talent. Take Goodby, Silverstein and Partners as a recent example. But instead of leaving them out to wander around hunting for a new job, an old Goodby employee, JD Beebe, came to the rescue and started the site ”Grab some Goodby.” Here prospective employers and recruiters can browse for Goodby talent, contact them and/or post jobs to the site. Very nice to see there’s still good in the world.

via Adrants

What the world tweeted about in 2011

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:53:56 +0200

2011 was a pretty crazy year for Twitter, and probably more for those who tweet. So here is a nice infographic round up of what the world tweeted in 2011, if twitter were the news, which, it pretty much has become the unofficial and quite often the official, source of!

Created by Frugal Dad, the infographic shows the biggest event of the year…

When social starts to get really exciting for brands

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:50:45 +0200

For me, this is one of the ways social starts to get really exciting for brands, and it’s not with a cool Facebook app or innovative social play, just smart thinking combined with the drive to make it happen. So, IKEA created a seriously good PR stunt, the Facebook Fan Sleepover…

After finding a Facebook group with almost 100,000 people called “I Wanna Have A Sleepover In Ikea“… IKEA themselves created a competition for their Facebook Fans to be part of a giant sleepover at the Essex IKEA store for 100 people. What a great way to turn fans into advocates.

Not only was it a PR stunt, but a great way to actually have people test out products like mattresses for longer than 10 minutes! Complete with a sleep expert on hand for advice. Via PSFK. Thoughts?

Agency people, Does this sound familiar

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:29:10 +0200

This is officially the best Tumblr of 2011 - because every agency person has heard at least 10 of these stomach-turning sentences flow out of an account person’s ass - I mean mouth. Even if you’re an account person guilty of such blasphemy, you have to laugh!

How to address your customers concerns

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:23:23 +0200

Delta Air Lines sent a hardcase with six outward-facing video cameras as checked baggage aboard a flight from Atlanta to New York City to show the behind-the-scenes journey of checked baggage.

Now imagine we did this at OR Tambo International Airport, what would we see?

resolutions pretty enough to fulfill

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:15:07 +0200

No matter how good our intentions are on January 1st, by the end of the month (or week in some cases) our New Year’s resolutions have gone down the pooper. But maybe, just maybe, if we had something on us at all times to remind us, say on our mobile phone, something that looks beautiful, we would stick to them a little longer.

That was the thought Chris Streger had when he started the To Resolve Project last year by asking a bunch of talented designers to create mobile phone backgrounds based on their resolutions. These are just a few of the awesome ones from this year’s bunch but you can find much more on the project site. Love these!

Engagement: The Facebook X Factor

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:10:27 +0200

Facebook continues to dominate social networking sites. With more than 800 million users, 50% of them checking in daily, there are no other contenders at this time for the number one spot. That doesn’t guarantee their hold on the ‘King of Social Media’ crown long term but for now their reign is established and secure.

Most small businesses can grow their network of potential clients, expand their influence in the marketplace and positively impact their bottom line by having a strategic presence on Facebook. The ultimate key to their success on this social network is engagement!

A November 2011 white paper released by Parta Dialogue, a social media agency, states it this way, “On Facebook, engagement is the driver that determines which content users receive, and the reach of every piece of post content.” They go on to say, “The essential take-away is that if you want your posts to show up prominently in the News Feed of other users, you must ensure that people interact (engage) with your content.”

Engagement isn’t as easy as it sounds but by developing a social media plan of action, being consistent and investing time in the process you can get there.

Lessons in Creative Vision

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:50:24 +0200

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin It! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

In the summer of 1984, Sheridan College student Jon Minnis set out to complete an ambitious project, armed with only PANTONE markers and paper. After four months of writing and polishing a clever script, he spent another three meticulously storyboarding and animating it into an elegant, minimalist 4-minute film titled Charade, which Minnis voiced himself.

The gem went on to win the 1985 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and remains a heartening example of dreaming up a project and bringing it single-handedly to life.

Route 17, South Africa as captured by Google

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:44:57 +0200

With apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram, everyone likes to fancy themselves photographers these days. And now the Google street view car is getting in on the action, thanks to real photographer Aaron Hobson.

Aaron has gone through tons of Google street view images and curated a selection of images that could pass as art, painting a beautiful and slightly haunting image of the world. It is quite something to see, and you can check out his findings here. And props to Aaron, who is equally as talented.

Why Telecom Operators Deliberately Slow or Stop Your Surfing

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:01:29 +0200

Wondered why your favorite Web page gets hung up or downloading of a large file inexplicably stalls? An expert reveals that the blame often lies with the telecom operator, which selectively slows broadband speeds to keep traffic flowing on its network, using a sorting technique called throttling.

What’s the Big Idea?

To detect whether broadband services are being throttled by a network operator, people around the world are turning to software called Glasnost, which measures whether operators are slowing uploads and downloads. The latest results suggest that throttling occurs worldwide, though operators are reluctant to discuss it much beyond confirming they use it.

Read it at The New York Times

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/morethanqr/

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:51:29 +0200

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/morethanqr/:

Mobile Marketing Isn’t a QR Code!

“Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them.”

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:54:49 +0200

This cinematic take on the now famous Holstee Manifesto, one of these 5 favorite manifestos for the creative life, is an exquisite piece of visual poetry, bound to give you goosebumps and leave you itching to get up and do — or make — something great. Enjoy:

Why we love NYC

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:47:00 +0200

This absolutely stunning short-film called A Year in New York, created by Andrew Clancy with a Cannon 7D and S95, will make you remember why people love NYC so much.

grow a virtual mustache

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:40:21 +0200

It’s that time of the year again, when many a man has an excuse to let his facial hair go. That’s right, it’s Movember.

Are you the type that’s too lazy to partake, embarrassed that your hair doesn’t grow in just right, or you’re a girl? Now you can use the PIcamo iPhone app to select one of 30 realistic looking mo’s, snap a pic, and share it. The beauty of it is all the profits from the app will go towards Movember.