Posts tagged Things we think
Facebook Goes Offline
Feb 3rd
People are using ‘Facebook terminology’ more and more in general conversation so it’s not that surprising that a ‘Facebook verb’ was named as The New Oxford American Dictionary’s ‘word of the year’ last year.
Brands are always keen to talk to consumers in ‘their language’ so many of them are starting to harness this trend and make use of ‘Facebook terminology’ in their ads as a result. In fact, Skive were involved in one such campaign last year for Nestlé Skinny Cow.
I’ve noticed that some brands are now taking this a step further by including what appears to be a very clear visual reference to the Facebook ‘like’ or ‘thumbs up’ in their ads. The ad below for First Direct is one such example (pardon the bad photo, but you get the idea) and I saw a supermarket (I think maybe Sainsbury’s) use a similar reference in an ad just before Christmas.
Obviously people have been using the ‘thumbs up’ sign for years as it has very old origins, but it seems that some advertisers now feel it resonates more with audiences given its use as part of the current Facebook experience.
IAB Social Media Council : Social Media Week Event
Feb 2nd
I’m going to be Social Media’s answer to Jeremy Kyle, Kilroy or maybe Trisha. I will be chairing an event at the IAB for the Social Media Council and I will do my best to uphold the humble British tradition of chat-show host.
In July 2008 the IAB launched the Social Media Council – a group comprising all the UK’s major players in this space, established to help advertisers fully understand the formats available, and how to use them.
The IAB holds regular panel discussions to work through in an open forum the pressing issues and how to make most of opportunities and to work out the best way to provide value through social media.
As part of Social Media Week the IAB will be holding a discussion entitled…
The importance of picking your battles online: when, where and why should brands respond to consumers in social media?
“Years ago if consumers were dissatisfied with a product, service or particular brand, they simply told a friend, wrote a letter to Which? magazine or participated in a ‘That’s Life’ phone-in. Now, in a digital era dominated by online reviews, blogs, Facebook groups and Twitter feeds, the consumer voice is louder than ever, and brands are being discussed (behind their backs) at length.
Social media has opened our eyes to the strengths – and weaknesses – of businesses. Thanks to the internet, bad news can spread like wildfire and, unless managed ethically, responsibly and immediately, can tarnish your reputation for good. Or can it?
This session, as part of Social Media Week, will examine the extent to which you should incorporate the digital rants of the public into your communications strategies, and at what point a minor grievance becomes a significant one. Should we actively seek feedback from consumers and how should we be interacting with them online? And should foes be listened to more than friends, fans and followers?
Our panel of experts will provide case studies and practical guidance, encourage debate and answer questions on when we should listen to unhappy customers online, when we should get them involved in our brand campaigns and whether the noise of a few vocal, unhappy customers makes any difference to the bottom line.”
The panel will consist of:
- James Turnbull, senior marketing manager, British Gas
- Ronnie Brown, marketing director, Outside Line
- Robin Grant, managing director, we are social
- Iain MacMillan, CEO, RMM
- James Bromley, Managing Director, Mail Online
- Cheryl Calverley, Senior Global Brand Manager, Axe Skin
I’d like your suggestions on which classic British chat-show host to emulate and I’m also keen to hear your the questions that you’d like to level at the panel.
tom@skive.co.uk
@ale_2point0
Digital is nothing to be scared of…
Jan 27th
To paraphrase a Mr Adam Ant, c. 1981 (digital) ridicule is nothing to be scared of. I meet more and more marketing people who seem overwhelmed by the level of change caused by the digital marketing revolution and paranoid about their lack of knowledge. This is understandable as digital is becoming increasingly complex, hence why there are specialist sectors in all areas from ECRM to search and now social media.
Even as an MD of a digital agency for nearly 10 years, I feel I am working harder and harder just to keep abreast of the ongoing change. This is probably a natural human reaction to our 24/7 society as we all try to get to grips with the real time web. It is ironic, however, that we all receive more information than at any time in history, but many people still feel that they don’t know enough.
If you are one of those marketing people intimidated by the digital marketing industry, here are my top 10 tips to improve your knowledge and remove that fear…….
1) Try and learn something new every day…..
How do you eat an elephant, as the self-help cliché goes? One bite at a time. Pick one subject a week and try to learn something every day. Make a commitment to spend 10-15 mins per day, learning something new.
2) Use all your senses…
Experiment with the way you receive information. Of course you can read blogs, trade mags and books but also try podcasts and watch youtube videos and slideshows.
3) Try the real world….
A great way to improve your knowledge of the virtual world is by getting out more in the real world. Resolve to attend more digital events in 2010 and see expert speakers and attend networking events.
4) Get a digital buddy..
If you work with someone who also feels they need to learn more, buddy up with them, and share what you have both learnt over lunch or coffee once a week. The best way to ensure you have learnt something is to try to teach someone else. Recently I heard that Time Warner pairs its most senior executives with young graduates. It recognises that even the most experienced media professionals struggle to keep up digital innovations, so what better than to learn from the new digital natives within the organisation.
5) Set up or join a group
Set up a digg or tumblr account so that your department or company can start sharing interesting digital news and work. Join a linkedin or facebook group and connect with people with experts in the areas you want to learn about.
6) Develop your personal Twitter newsfeed
I found Twitter fantastic for listening and learning from some of the brightest and best people in the world (and Jermaine Defoe).
7) Use digital to pursue your passions
If your passion is photography, sport, art, films or train spotting become more active within the relevant digital communities. Find more groups, participate more in discussions, write a blog post, record a youtube video. Get involved!
8 ) Ask for training
Ask your company if they will pay for training in any form of digital training. If they refuse, offer to co-fund it. Invest in your own future. Ask if your company could invite specialist guest speakers. At Skive, clients pay us to train their marketing staff, but very often for prospective clients we initially offer free training sessions.
9) Don’t be afraid to ask silly questions….
If you are with digital people who are using terms that you don’t understand, ask them to explain. If you don’t know, there is probably someone else in the room who is also baffled.
10) Be excited, be very excited…..
Try and change your feelings from digital dread to a real excitement about learning something new and different. No one knows it all and we are all learning as we go……
And, for my next trick … Augmented Reality and Marketing
Oct 28th
I like my Augmented Reality (AR) like a Swiss Army knife utility, functional. Just because you technically could make an egg whisk for the knife, should you? At what point does something that can offer lasting value become a cheap trick, done only for the sake of using the technology?
Although this does necessarily mean that I am advocating a tyranny of practical utility on AR, rather there should be context, purpose, relevance and meaning in an execution; not just an augmented overlay on the physical world, used only for whimsy effect. For every working execution, for example, the UPS Package application, there are playful and fun romps, such as the Bigfoot AR, that showcase imagination and usefulness – making us smile is still one of the greatest tricks that a piece of advertising can play on us.
There is a range of possibilities with AR, and over time, rather than look at how the medium can entertain, consider where is can extend and change what people are doing in society for the better.
Technology as Anthropology is an emerging theme that agencies, businesses, and academics are analyzing – how technology influences culture and creates new behaviours. The iPhone is changing not only how we spend our time on a commute, but though applications like FixMyStreet, how we can interact with our local authorities to make our community better and safer.
Brands that harness core human values for improving and bettering our condition, in a way that Johnson and Johnson has for parents, through the BabyCenter site, will lead; and those that do for cheap effect, such as the Pepsi Amp App, shall follow.
Technical solutions should enable these socially-led marketing executions to go beyond what is just titillating or amusing. The TED lectures are a responsible zeitgeist that demonstrates the possibilities of blending technology with social conscience.
A recent collection of apps that allow you to locate underground transport , created with the GEO / Orientation features of the iPhone, and AR, show what meaningful executions are possible. With time, more data is going to be either embedded into objects, situations and via devices, people - then the possibilities start to get very interesting. Real time display of beliefs, vital life signs and knowledge could be shown for others to view and interact with, enhancing communications and value exchange.
Otherwise, without a compass to why and how, we are just adding additional functions to the campaign, those that are not only unnecessary, but damage the utility of the core use of a tool, to help – to have sometime to pass down, not just on. We need to avoid the absurd conclusion, irrational in its rationality, that one more item, feature or piece of functionality gives us more, not less.
In short, more reality, less augmentation.
Adobe MAX ‘09: An insider’s story
Oct 23rd
After the success of my Augmented Reality business card application I was fortunate enough to be invited to Adobe MAX 2009 in LA by the O’Reilly guys, to talk about my experiences with AR. Here are my impressions of the conference.
The keynote kicked the conference off with a real bang. These initial talks are renowned for being fairly dull affairs but Adobe pulled out all the stops to make this one something to behold. It started with an incredible dance performance by one of Adobe’s charitable endeavours, the Peapod academy. A discussion on the developments of the Flash platform followed. This included discussions of the new features built into AIR, a sneak look into the the latest developments in the openscreen project and a discussion of ColdFusion and LiveCycle with a look at some extraordinary enterprise projects. The climax was the announcement (after a hilarious Apple slanging Myth-Busters take off) that Apple was now accepting Flash applications into the App store. Now this isn’t exactly Flash in the iPhone browser but it’s certainly a positive step forward.
But by far the most awe-inspiring spectacle was the extended screener of James Cameron’s Avatar. A pair of 3D glasses, a 6th row seat and a massive 50ft screen heightened the experience to the point where I literally shivered in my seat. The producer John Landau passionately introduced each scene and discussed the extent to which Adobe software was used in the making of the movie.
Although there was a vast amount of sessions, as an interactive artist and non-Flex using Actionscript developer, I initially struggled to fill my schedule. There was a whole host of top flight Flash developers such as Ralph Hauwert and Andre Michell (regulars on the Flash conference circuit) missing from the list. However, the day before the conference started, I learned that Influxis had flown a bunch of them over to talk at the FITC Unconference sessions. For me, this development filled several gaps and led to my schedule being significantly reshuffled.
My main highlights included:
Joshua Davis was as inspirational and entertaining as ever in his Space talk. His latest experiments and influences were explained with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, impressive for a 9am slot. I enjoyed watching the developments of each project from initial idea through to the finished product. His investigation into bezier curves was fantastic, as was his installation and iPhone work. This will be Joshua’s last speaking engagement for 2 years as he plans to have a well deserved rest.
Being an Augmented Reality monkey, I was inevitably going to end up attending Tomohiko Koyama AKA Saqoosha and Yoshihiro Shindo’s talk on FLARToolkit and the Japanese open source Flash community the Spark Project. It was great to hear about the history of the project and the inner workings of the AR library from the guy who wrote it. Almost as impressive was the huge tea-cosy like bear hat that he wore throughout the talk and for the rest of the day. I had a chat with Saqoosha afterwards and gushed like a schoolgirl whist droning on about how much I loved using his code library. He didn’t seem to mind. Nice guy.
A few great FITC Unconference sessions followed. Seb-Lee Delisle wowed us all with his playful work. Highlights of the talk included a look at his 5kb 3D Lunar Lander game, a walk through his fantastic 3D Big and Small website and participating in a 3D version of Pong with the rest of the audience. Ralph Hauwert was up next. Ralph is one of, if not the top 3D Flash developer on the planet. By the end we were all stunned by his experiments with fluidic, dynamically lit, interactive geometric shapes. And all this in Flash, and at a very high frame rate. Koen de Weggheleire was up next with a talk on some of the latest features in Flash Player 10. He deserves a special mention for dancing around like a crazed baboon to cheesy house music whilst demonstrating the TriangleMesh feature. Sheer entertainment.
The Adobe MAX awards ceremony followed with special guest Mark Hamill. An inspired choice considering the crowd, Hamill was highly entertaining throughout. We left before the sneak peaks to get ready for the evening but I was later reliably informed that one of the Adobe guys did some live coding dressed in a Chewbacca costume. Wild.
The MAX Bash followed and was an impressive affair. Adobe had taken over almost every establishment in the L.A. Live park. In addition to a Star Wars themed area, complete with Chubacca and Darth Vadar exhibits, Mark Hamill joined the party and was predictably mobbed the moment he arrived. Later that night we met up with some great guys from Sapient and had a ball at the Latin club.
The following morning was my talk, Augmented Reality in the Flash Player with Jesse Freeman. Both halves went very well, we got an above average rating and there were plenty of questions and positive feedback afterwards. Jesse introduced the FLARToolkit library and discussed some of his own work with limitations and the future of FLAR. My half was a discussion of my experiences with FLAR and a discussion of promotion in the field My advice for anyone planning a presentation – make sure you have lots of comical images in your slide show. There’s nothing like a few cheap gags to get the audience on your side. A bit of research is also useful.
I’m pleased to say that we had an above average rating for the talk and had a great write up on digitalarts.co.uk.
Breathing a huge sigh of relief after, I ventured out to see a few of the other MAX talks. The best of the day was A Deep Dive into 10 Innovative Projects for Flash by Thibault Imbert and Michaël Chaize. Some of the better projects were Tomek Augustyn’s face tracking library, HiSlope, due for release soon, and the WiiFlash server which allows Flash developers to use WiiMotes, Nunchuks and Wii Boards as input devices. Another great talk included Kevin Hoyt’s Integrating Flash and Hardware. In a nutshell this session explained how to use a variety of different sensors in Flash using electronics equipment. A must for any aspiring installation artist.
Although initially it was a struggle to find relevant sessions, I was consistently impressed with the scale and quality of the event, the welcoming and informative staff and (in the end) the range of talks on Flash. My fiance Juliet Lall accompanied me, and found the talks on After Effects and Illustrator to be very helpful. I would definitely recommend Adobe MAX to the typical user of Adobe’s range of software. And if Influxis continue to invite the top Flash guys I would recommend it to the atypical rest.
FOTB 09 Geeks on the Beach
Sep 24th
![fotb09_jeramy[1]](http://blog.skive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/fotb09_jeramy1.jpg "fotb09_jeramy[1]")
Here is a run-down of the most interesting talks:
Day 1
After the interesting keynote which was kicked off a Mexican band, a few of us went to see Visualising Voice: Using the Flash Microphone for advanced interaction by Chuck Freeman. Chuck discussed his quest to persuade Adobe to extend the microphone feature in Flash whilst impressing us with his examples and research.
Dr Woohoo! was next up. We were all blown away by just how much incredible work this guy was doing and his imaginative combination of technology. In one example was using face tracking in openFrameworks to plot 3D points in Maya. These point where then used to create a stunning digital painting of 3D ribbons. Impressive stuff.
The inspiration session that evening was Epiphany by Joel Gethin Lewis. This was right up my street as an interactive artist with visions of grandeur. He introduced us his impressive body of work which included the Massive Attack sound reactive light shows, the world’s first interactive Christmas lights on Regent St and the breathtaking interactive multi-screen floor, Contact.
DAY 2
![fotb09_joa[1]](http://blog.skive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/fotb09_joa1.jpg "fotb09_joa[1]")
Leaving the Sandbox by Joa Ebert resulted in a thoroughly well deserved standing ovation, and the longest round of applause I’ve ever heard. The guy is working on some truly intense frameworks including a plug-in for eclipse that checks code for any possible optimisation and a library to manipulate and optimise ActionScript Bytecode. He also showed us his AS3 decompiler which automatically generates UML diagrams and class hierarchies. He finished off by compiling a SWF from C# and then another from Java! He nonchalantly mentioned that he knocked it up in his room the day before.
Hacking the newsroom by Jeremy Thorp was up next. Jeremy guided us through his Data Visualisation experiments that came from toying with the New York Times API and Processing. His work was both beautiful and informative. I found it fascinating how his visualisations would reveal trends of public thought in relation to events and periods of time.
The inspiration session was Choose your own adventure by Craig Swan. This was just the most awe-inspiring talk and one of the best of the conference. It was a personal journey in which we were introduced to the phenomena that is Cymatics, the formation of fractals and patterns from sound waves vibrating a substance. There was a great discussion on the power of intention.
He played a clip from The Secret Lives of Plants that astounded me. It appeared that positive or negative thoughts were having an influence on the plants.
His multi-directional speaker was a truly strange experience. It seems to project this sound to wherever it was pointing. It was extremely unsettling having the sound seemingly travel through me as he brushed it past the front row. Chilling stuff.
Notes from the Danderground – FOTB Wednesday
Sep 24th
Just because you read the words, “vector, 2D, 3D, madness” and “fun,” do not assume that this relates to anything creative. Trapped in the middle of a row for an hour of Koen De Weggheleire and what became clear was maths, code and more stuff looking like coded maths, was a little too much for a morning session.
Do not assume that ‘connecting the dots’ relates in any way to the age-old art of dot-to-dot drawing. Mario Klingemann delves into the complex patterns that infinite prime numbers can form when twisted and turned, pretty mind blowing, followed by an attempt at compressing and representing the Mona Lisa into Unicode Chinese symbols, all within 140 characters.
James Jarvis’ live drawing was a welcome distraction from the flash, indulging us with tales of a past life as a semi-pro runner, desires to be a sporting hero, love of Tin-Tin and how he develops the worlds his potato headed characters inhabit.
Josh Davis followed, showing off a few examples of his generative artworks and how they loosely related to the concept of space. Some great work, 2 cans of red bull and a plug for his iPhone app, at £1.79 – the sliding finger action of an iPhone unlocking was seen all around – He’s now taking 2 years off for some rest.
