• Tumblr of the Week: Ryan Gosling Disneyland Cats

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    Hundreds of years from now, historians will debate: Why were most of the great Tumblrs Ryan Gosling Tumblrs?

    Enjoy.

    http://ryangoslingdisneylandcats.tumblr.com/

  • Work Submission: Appshaker Broadcast Augmented Reality for National Geographic/UPC

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    Appshaker Ltd., a digital creative agency based in the U.K., is allowing people to experience National Geographic content in a whole new way, and look pretty damn goofy in the process. Appshaker’s latest augmented reality launch for National Geographic and UPC contains immersive 3D scenes of footage from National Geographic’s archive.

    Alex Poulson of Appshaker said about the event:

    It allowed us to place people right inside the content, allowing people to see themselves next to the content. In short we built 5 broadcast quality 3D scenes of: leopards, astronaut, dolphin, storms and dinosaurs. We had a huge reaction when launched last week, with tens of thousands of people interacting and 1000s more sharing pics and vids on Facebook.

    Live Augmented Reality for National Geographic Channel / UPC from Appshaker Ltd on Vimeo.

    The event is currently running in three 5 day deployments in Hungary.

  • Welcome to the Future with Rounds, Square and Asana

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    We present you with three exciting events on this illustrious second day of November, 2011:

    First, Facebook video app Rounds is escaping the clutches of its initial platform. The “interactive video chat experience” is ready to go mobile. Thus far, they’ve raised $3 million in an investment led by Verizon Investments. While they’ll keep their place on Facebook, Rounds aims to use their FB popularity to make it in a new space. Get ready for mobile video chat far beyond FaceTime. [via Fast Company]

    Next, Square has made mobile payment hands-free. With a new version of its application, Card Case, Square will let your favorite merchant know when you’re within 100 meters of them (hey hey, America’s getting metric!). A tab will then open on the merchant’s mobile device. When you say your account name, the merchant can then charge your item to that account. Everything is pre-confirmed and automatic, like Paypal combined with Google Maps. No more juggling wallet, keys and cup of coffee. Plus it’s just really cool to walk into a store like you’re a local with a tab. “They know me here,” you can tell your awestruck, less tech-savvy friend.

    Third, two former Facebook guys, Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein, have finally presented their clandestine project under their software company, Asana : it’s a “souped-up to-do list,” says the New York Times. The pair have been working in secret for two years (so as to avoid a Social Network 2 experience, undoubtedly). The result is a web app with which a productive group (office, family, whatever) can break a project into tasks, assign the tasks, add notes, and then track progress in real-time. Sounds a lot like Google Docs, but maybe it’s way cooler? Try Asana out and let us know if you become a superhuman organizer. Fingers crossed; we could use that capability.

    [Photo from Jay Mug]

  • A Closer Look at HUGE’s #IsYourBusinessNext Campaign

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    Posters from the city-wide print campaignPosters from the city-wide print campaign
    The mobile book store at Bryant Park todayThe mobile book store at Bryant Park today

    After we got wind of HUGE’s innovative street-corner campaign for CEO Aaron Shapiro’s book, Users Not Customers: Who really determines the success of your business, we knew we had to see the movement for ourselves. I took the 1 train uptown to Bryant Park, where HUGE had set up their book carts (complete with a French press and old receipt calculator “for the Borders’ aesthetic,” clarified freelance marketing strategy contributor JD Beebe). Former Borders employees took up their familiar task, selling books, while also telling their personal stories.

    Melissa Bonilla worked for Borders for four years until, “Customers came up to us [and asked], ‘Are you sure you guys aren’t going out of business yet? There are all these rumors.’ And even – we have a morning meeting before the store opens – and they’re like ‘We’re going to be fine, we’re going to be great,’ and then a couple of hours later: ‘Oh, Borders just filed Chapter 11.’”

    Mo Kahn didn’t know his store was closing until a customer told him the news. His manager officially announced it the next day. Mo is starting a new job as a member of the meat cutter’s union next week, but Melissa hasn’t fared as well. She hasn’t found a job yet, but has applied to go back to school.

    When Melissa was approached to work on the Users Not Customers campaign, she was immediately willing because she says she found the book interesting and thought, “Oh, I can sell a book on the street. I can promote a book. I did that for four years.”

    Some people who pass by the makeshift store actually confuse it for a Borders. But anyone who stops will realize how it's in fact a play on that store's non-existence. "We’re here today to talk about how businesses need to be a little more responsible in terms of their business strategy, and we’re using Borders as an example. I think that it’s really about telling managers, CEOs and other people that they need to evolve their business strategy and digital is a big part of that,” says HUGE Senior Marketing and Communications Manager, Melissa Gore. “It’s really thinking about the end user, rather than a customer, and solving for them. We’re here trying to make people a little bit more aware and a little bit savvier in business making decisions.”

    As Gore says, Borders is just one example of the mighty now fallen. HUGE also cites Circuit City and Blockbuster in its print campaign. They hit the right pressure points by targeting both business names and the people who do the work. Corporate bigwigs, managers, and cashiers alike can relate to this campaign. When businesses fail to adapt, everyone gets screwed (though the higher up an employee is, the less likely they are to falter in their professional trajectory).

    Andrew Kessler, creative director of the book stunt, speaks to its effectiveness via emotionality: “Using Ex-Borders employees seemed like a very human way to tell an important business story. It’s a warning for us all to heed. The missteps in the C-suite can put you out in the cold. And then, who could resist using a book to tell the story of a book store that closed down but would still be open if only management read the book—yeah, put that in your pipe."

    [Photos from HUGE Flickr]

  • Work Submission: Plan B Lists the Top Protest Signs You’ll See at Occupy Madison Ave.

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    Plan B (not the product you rush to the pharmacy for after a passionate tryst gone awry, but “The Agency Alternative”) has released a list of the top 11 signs they’d like to see at the Occupy Madison Avenue protest scheduled for November 4th. The protest was created by disgruntled advertising industry employees seeking to kvetch about “job security, stagnant wages, and, of course, ‘stupid copy changes.’”

    Plan B’s top five dream protest signs are:
    1.“Angry and unemployed. I can’t believe none of you have hired me yet!”
    2.“I’m a Miami Ad School student, so you old farts probably don’t ‘get’ my sign. But, I assure you, IT’S GROUNDBREAKING.”
    3.“The NYC protest scene is totally dead. Portland is where the REALLY creative protesting is happening these days.
    4.“This protest is a total rip-off of a protest I saw on Tumblr.”
    5.“Show me what democracy looks like! Seriously, these 2012 election TV spots aren’t going to concept themselves.”

    To see the rest, head over to Plan B

  • Former Borders Employees Hit the Streets to Tell Businesses It’s Not Too Late to Adapt for the Internet

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    To all in the ad business, it seems clear that digital is not going away; it’s worth making the transition. But clearly, not everyone understands its importance. Borders Bookstores is one such big-name that never fully read the memo (probably because they never checked their hotmail account).

    Digital agency HUGE has capitalized on this ineptitude by hiring former Borders employees to run mobile stands selling Aaron Shapiro (CEO of HUGE)’s book, Users Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business. The dynamic campaign is accompanied by a billboard on the corner of 39th and 8th along with various print ads around the city. People can engage digitally by speculating which company might be next to go out of business with the Twitter hashtag “#ISYOURBUSINESSNEXT.”

    “By 2012, half of all consumer purchases in the U.S. will be digitally driven. What happened to Borders is a good example of what will happen to any company who is not treating this evolution in consumer behavior as the most important issue facing their business right now,” said Shapiro. “Borders is just one tragic example. Companies need to make the right investments in digital now to ensure they don’t end up in a similar situation.”

    Damn right. It’s high time for an evolution.

  • Mentos' Bizarre Social Campaign

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    So, Mentos just released this Facebook campaign app, where a weird guru dude eliminates random "negative" tweets (ones that include negative keywords like fail) by blowing on them in a "custom" video. Really, the only thing custom about the video is that the negative tweets change in real-time, which doesn't really present a reason to watch the video more than once. And it's a pretty boring first-watch, anyway.

    Sometimes, social campaigns baffle me.

  • #Basketballneverstops is Hot

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    Like many Americans, I spent this weekend drunk and watching football. So, I saw the new Nike Basketball commercial about 50 times, and I have to say that it's damn well-crafted and smart. Showing my favorite players on the playground makes the "dream" of basketball feel closer; they play on the same blacktop as me, except they do things like get the ball in the basket and don't fall down all the time. Nice work, Nike.

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