Urban Bowling

Another parody of the Sony Bravia bouncing balls ad from TBWA Paris. It’s been ages since the last one so it actually made me laugh.

Louis C.K. reminds us

So you may have already seen this, but one of my favourite comedians, Louis C.K. reminds us just how far technology has come.

It might also make some of us think twice before having a whinge when our wi-fi device doesn’t pick up a signal for a few seconds.

Louis C.K.’s slightly autobiographical show Louie is currently on FX and it’s hilarious. (but it’s also NSFW, depending on where you W)

Drum Roll! The SOCIAL ELECTION is launched

Launched last night at the Social Election and on Twitter @socialelection, the new Election-analysis blog features commentary on how – and how well – Australia’s political parties are using social media, plus how the major leaders, Gillard, Abbott and Brown, are resonating with people during the election.

Amnesia Razorfish is the only digital agency publishing its full insights into the election and the political parties’ use of all social media and online platforms, including monitoring and analysis.

The 2010 Federal Election, widely touted to be the ‘digital election’, comes after recentexamples of the US and UK elections which used social media to engage and stimulate supportand demonstrated social media’s ability to impact an election. It’s clear that Australian political parties, however, are struggling to understand how to use social media.

Amnesia Razorfish Social Strategy Manager Karalee Evans writes in the Social Election’s opening analysis

When the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced the election for Saturday 21st August 2010, I, for one, believed both the Liberal and Labor parties would hit the ‘activate’ button on pre-planned social campaigns.

Just like the war chest of above-the-line campaigns of attack TV commercials, print ads and pamphlets, I was expecting a social barrage – but I’m still waiting.

The social media efforts of Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and to a certain extent Bob Brown and the Greens, have been embarrassingly poor, even arrogant.

More and more, people are seeking information, participation and validation from our three party leaders via Twitter and Facebook. And in return people are getting a lot of talking at – not to.

The social movement is happening, with or without Gillard and Abbott.

The Social Election will look at how social media provides a finger on the pulse into how people are responding to each party. Results will be reflected in weekly articles and polls, the socialpulse of a feed of online conversation, a real-time share of voice worm-board and aggregated content.

Topics and issues of most importance, and who they matter most to will be analysed, along with how each politician is resonating with the public, and who is really being heard.

Amnesia Razorfish will consider share of voice between who is being talked about most and will analyse social media sentiment, trending topics, key influencers and reach of each party and leader.

These insights are critical to understanding which way the election will go and how the voting community engages with social media during the election. We hope it will also assist in solidifying social media’s place as a credible channel for people and brands to achieve their own business objectives ~ Karalee Evans.

More content and elements will continue to be added to the blog, such as YouTube, Facebook and other online and social platforms, demonstrating that Amnesia Razorfish is the only one publishing election insights across social media and online platforms.

Crust Free Pizza Fail

When talking about Twitter accounts which do it well – which engage users, spark conversation and create evangelists, I’m usually not one to go past @Crust_pizza, who do it right.

Their Twitter account has risen to huge popularity using the Weekly #crustfreepizzafriday competition which – every Friday – is practically viral.

Their day-to-day content is targeted at the younger audience, with videos drawn from the vein of Funniest Home videos, music tracks which they’re into, movie trailers, in addition to a sprinkling of corporate news like store openings. And, perfectly, they respond to customers in realtime.

However, today they tweeted this:

What, did they put the Work Experience kid on Twitter for the day?! More on this, after the jump.

Sometimes it’s the human things that matter in social

A nice little story for a Friday. When it comes to effective community management in social, sometimes it’s the human things that matter and get results.

Case in point, P&O Cruises

The P&O Australia Facebook page has an established community of over 13,000 fans, who are there 24/7 helping out absolutely anyone who has a question about upcoming cruises, locations, services – really anything and everything to do with the brand.

In the process, they’ve developed a very strong and active community.

So when one of the high-profile community members fell ill and went into hospital, the community swung into action – and so did P&O.

It’s the human touch

P&O sent this dedicated fan a get-well card and flowers. Small thing to do, right? But importantly it is what you would do for any friend or family member if they fell ill. So why wouldn’t you let one of your biggest social brand advocates know you are thinking of them?

Check out the response on their Facebook page which gleaned 28 comments and discussions:

Brands can and should be human particularly in social media. Because it’s humans who speak and interact and small things like sending some flowers to a valued fan can make a big difference. So, how can you make your brand ‘human’?

Disclaimer: P&O Cruises are an Amnesia Razorfish client.

~ Karalee Evans, Social Strategy Manager, Amnesia Razorfish

Amazing motion-tracked Super Mario Bros. speed-run

It’s hard to say what’s more impressive in this video – Super Mario Bros. being beaten in 7 minutes or the way it was motion-tracked onto a roadside barrier.

Via Gizmodo

Why don’t you slurp it?

this has to be one of the coolest things I have seen all year. I wouldn’t have a clue how this works, but it is awesome – just point and slurp

 

The camera of the future concepted to you by Canon

I am a keen photographer and over the years I have bought multiple lenses that I always carry around with me on big trips to make sure that I have the right lens for the job.

Now Canon came up with a new concept – the Wonder camera

Canon is pretty confident that by then it’ll have figured out how to do a single lens capable of going from macro shots all the way out to a 5000mm focal length. This non-interchangeable lens is backed by an all-touch interface, an extremely high-resolution sensor, and image stabilization so advanced as to make shooting at high zoom range a viable option.

The only thing i don’t agree with is the video-only capture. Canon argues you won’t need to shoot stills when its video is capable of keeping everything in focus all the time — you’ll just pick out your favorite scene from the movie reel.

no matter what – I want one!

Here is Canons revelation

found here

@maniac13

Play any game on a multi touch display with Magic

iBuyPower created a new system that will enable any game to played via multitouch, regardless of whether the game’s creators gave it so much as a thought.

Magic, which is short for Multitouch Advanced Gaming Interface and Control, is a proprietary piece of code designed specifically for the company’s own touch-enabled laptops, and it works by linking a multitouch gesture to a command the game already understands, emulating multitouch commands by mapping keystrokes or mouse clicks. Best of all, it’s available now as a gratis download

Right now it is only for their own hardware, but no doubt hackers will have this working on Dells, Alienwares, Lenovos and HPs etc.

simply awesome

found on engadget

@maniac13

Sony NEX-5 … “Want that one”

 

Nex-3 and the Nex-5 both look amazing, sound amazing and hopefully they take amazing shots. Here’s the lowdown:

DSLR-style quality and shooting responses: compact and easy to use with interchangeable lenses.14.2 megapixels Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor, HD 1080i movie, 7.5cm LCD, Sweep Panorama. 16mm lens.

Does anyone own one? Anyone from Sony want to send me one to test?

@handypearce

The Human LCD

Great idea executed brilliantly. Love it

@handypearce

The Speed Camera Lottery

The Cannes award winning VW Fun Theory set a competition to come-up with cool ways to make boring things more fun. Here’s the winner

@handypearce

Why I’m an Amnesiac (oh, and check out BRW!)

As an ex-PR professional, I’m used to the workings of the media and profiling clients and CEOs in mainstream media outlets such as newspapers, radio and magazines.

But, and I’m embarrassed to admit, it’s a different kettle-of-fish when you’re the one being profiled!

Interviewing for a piece about my role here, I was nervous and felt the pressure. I had to stay on message, had to sound ‘intelligent’ and above all, call the agency Amnesia Razorfish.

Today the latest issue of BRW Magazine came out. And my mug is in it. On a full-page no less thanks to the lovely Jessica Gardner at BRW. My little ego has grown just a bit today, but the reason why I’m posting here (well, blame Jennie Bewes my gorgeous boss, who made me do it) is because the article highlights why I’m so passionate about my role here at Amnesia Razorfish.

You can read the profile here as it’s not pay-walled, but some highlights include:

“Late 20-something” Evans had handed in her notice as communications and partnerships Manager at headspace, the youth mental health foundation, to see work at an advertising agency…. to publicise her campaign, in true generation Y, social media savvy style, Evans began blogging anonymously and set up a Twitter account under the moniker ‘skirt for hire’….

“I was impressed that the agencies that I had on my wish list were the ones that did indeed contact me.” Digital marketing agency Amnesia Razorfish hired Evans as a social strategy manager. Her role will be to push for social media integration into marketing campaigns for clients.

So there you go. I’m passionate about communications, community, innovation and people who have the balls to push the boundaries and the team here at Amnesia Razorfish do just that. That’s why I chose this wonderful agency. And you know, one month in, I’m loving this agency even more!

Amnesiacs: the cool kids

Ok, done. Now enough about me, no more PR and back to work

~ Karalee Evans, Social Strategy Manager (and the Skirt).

Custom Built Tron Light Cycles

Tired of playing Armagetron and wishing you had your very own Light Cycle to blaze a solid trail through cyberspace on? Wish no more! At least, wish a little less.

You won’t be cruising the innards of any computers on this baby, but you can definitely cruise the streets. As long as you’ve got a spare $35,000 USD, you can pick one up on eBay right now.

If you feel like buying me one for Christmas, I’m completely okay with that.

@tali3sin

[HT @bluerandom via Technabob via Geekologie]

Original 1979 Pac-Man Drawings

Toru Iwatani created Pac-Man. He still carries top secret documents with him to game conferences. No, really.

Iwatani was a speaker at the recent Festival of Games. To the surprise of the conference’s host, Iwatani was carrying the original Pac-Man sketches with him.

via Kotaku

What Google Caffeine means to Brands

The launch last week of Google’s “time-sensitive” search engine, Caffeine, is more meaningful to your business than you might think. Its ability to deliver – and promote – real-time content within minutes of it having been written, means that the ability to control your brand image has just become harder, and resisting social media more risky than ever.

With Caffeine, Google has essentially created an international soap box which amplifies and promotes public opinion regarding products and services that consumers are searching for, at a time when they are likely to be most influenced by opinion, that is, when they are comparing brands before making a final purchase decision. No one should under-estimate the power of public opinion: according to a survey by research company Nielsen, last year, recommendations by personal acquaintances and opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising.

Companies need to consider the impact of public opinion when calculating the return on investment from digital advertising and promotions.

In order to assess this – aside from knowing what consumers are currently saying about your brand online – it is essential to have a plans in place to improve consumer experience/perception, and to manage any future PR crisis immediately and effectively. Google Caffeine means that these plans have changed from a “nice-to-have” to “must-have” for effective online marketing.

With Google’s continuous drive to make search more personally relevant, that “must-have” will soon become “critical”, as social search capabilities are enhanced.

By its own admission, Google sees tremendous potential for social information to improve search, and is “just beginning to scratch the surface”.

Social search, which is already available in beta to registered Google users, filters and prioritizes results by those most closely connected to the user, which means that the impact of the recommendation and/or opinion is further heightened. Nielsen reports a whopping 90 per cent of people trusting online recommendations from people they know.

Let’s look at a potential scenario to show how this could play out.

John is looking for a mobile phone and can’t decide between iPhone or Blackberry. He enters “iPhone vs Blackberry” into Google and gets a page of results that shows both iPhone and Blackberry sponsored ads, followed by Twitter and blog comments from his close circle of friends, bullet-pointed by their avatar for ease of identification.

His eye is immediately drawn towards the avatar of Steven, a trusted friend with a similar taste in technology.

He sees that Steven is complaining about Blackberry, stating how he wishes he had opted for the iPhone instead.

John scans the other Google results to find that Steven is not alone in his view; with three or four other trusted friends holding a similar view.

Now, despite seeing a killer offer from Blackberry advertised at the top of the Google results, John’s mind is made up. iPhone it is.

Now all he has to do is Google some mobile network providers.

While John could have asked individuals about their thoughts on his dilemma, it was much quicker, easier and less intrusive to get multiple opinions from his trusted network, through Google, and more trusted than both the manufacturer websites, which he deems to be biased and complicated to compare, and a generic reviews website, where he does not know the people giving their opinion.

(While the manufacturers’ websites may have less influence in the brand consideration phase, it certainly doesn’t make the websites redundant – it simply addresses a different lifecycle stage which, in John’s case, is to compare models to find the right fit for his needs, to complete the purchase and to later refer to for support.)

Given this new world of consumer-to-consumer advertising, how do we ensure that brands are being represented in the best possible light? By placing genuine focus on customer experience, feedback and engagement, to improve consumer opinion.

The more you allow your consumers to guide (implicitly and explicitly) the evolution of your products and services, the greater sense of ownership and respect they’ll have for your brand. This respect will come through in their communication with their peers, and be picked up in social search to influence like-minded consumers considering your products, which will ultimately increase digital marketing effectiveness and positively impact sales.

• The Official Google Blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com) January 27, 2010.

Jennie Bewes, social media & new business director

As published in The Australian Financial Review | 17 June 2010

Want to work at Amnesia Razorfish?

Do you breathe all things PR? Have a passion for all things social media? Want to join a team that is kicking goals (and plays Foosball every Friday afternoon)?

We’re looking for a smart cookie to come onboard as our Digital PR Exec. With fantastic clients, great projects and a fun team, how could you not want to apply? You can find the full job ad here.

And for a bit of fun, the social team made this to entice you:

Email us: jobs.sydney@amnesia.com.au

~ Karalee Evans, Social Strategy Manager xx

Parrot AR.Drone hits the US this September for $299

we have been talking about this over and over again and it finally got announced and the hands on video from the engadget guys wants me to have it even more.

 

If you are listening carefully to the video there is a girl talking about it and if I understood it correctly you can fly one of these for 12 min straight before it needs to get recharged for 90 min – not great, but a good start.

As previously mentioned the drone is controlled via an app for your iPhone,iPod or iPad (and there is an Android one now too) – You get a free download of the control app in the App Store, as well as a simple combat app in which your view on your iPhone is overlaid with missiles, lasers, and explosions as you duel with another Drone.

there are rumours that more and more apps will be released in the future with new “missions” so it will never get boring

I personally can’t wait and I will talk my boss into buying one for the office.

@maniac13

The World Cup recreated brick by brick…….

 

It’s been over 40 years since England last lifted the Jules Rimet trophy, otherwise known as the World cup.  England began their perpetual odyssey towards ultimate disappointment (no doubt via a penalty shootout) against the relative minnows of the USA on Saturday night.

In the true tradition of English World Cup campaigns past, they snatched a draw from the jaws of victory courtesy of a calamitous goalkeeping error fro Robert Green.  Anyone who woke up from a coma on Sunday morning would have thought nothing else happened in the world on Saturday other than a slight goalkeeping faux pas.

Rather than watch the endless highlights on Youtube, why not check out this kinda cool German website who are recreating this years highlights using stop animation and LEGO….yes those stick brick toys much beloved of children who should really get outside in the fresh air a little more.

See it here -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2010/jun/14/world-cup-2010-england-usa-brick

They have created an entire back catalogue of games including a rather wonderful moment back in 1966 when Football came home and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal at Wembley.

This an all manner of other stop animated LEGO-Y goodness can be found here.

 http://www.legofussball.eu/

ESPN’s brilliant, possibly borderline offensive 2010 World Cup Posters

On the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, this brilliantly executed set of 33 posters (including 1 from each of the 32 nations competing) is sure to cause a stir and hopefully a laugh or two.

 

Australian poster

Why pantless?

 

French poster

Note Henry’s glowing hand. Cheeky. (nicely spotted Stephen)

See them all here or download them from ESPN’s facebook

[via World Cup Buzz]