I love it. Russia’s History told by the worker of a Tetris Factory.

Mai 14th, 2011 • Politics, We like
Tags: Cool, Creativity, Funny, Games, Gaming, history, Ideas, Lifestyle, Music, Politics, Russia, Tetris, visual, We like

I guess the following film tells one of the smartest stories in a music videos that I have seen so far. It was created by the ‘world’s best neo-post-post-music hall anti-folk band’ Pig with the Face of a Boy and it stages the story of Russia from the perspective of a worker…well…who is responsible to spin the Tetris blocks that fall down from the sky. A great metaphor to describe life in Russia since the 1870s and a very nice, clever song. Well done guys. I hope you become really, really successful. Check out the band here…

Smithsonian. Historically Hardcore.

März 21st, 2011 • 16 comments We like
Tags: Ads, Cool, Copywriting, Creativity, Funny, Ideas, Media, Museums, Smithsonian, We like

The following campaign for the world’s largest museum complex ‘The Smithsonian‘ has generated some buzz lately. Unfortunately it is not real – it is the product of copywriter Matt Kapler who indeed came up with a brilliant idea to bring the history section in a museum to live in an unexpected way – Smithsonian, historically hardcore. Very well done, Matt. I love it particularly as I studied politics and history. Topics that need a bit of spice to be interesting for a lot of people (even though the Osman Empire was fucking interesting). In fact it reminds me a bit of another fake campaign targeted at Nerds for Wikipedia. Thanks to Behance for the link.

Visual 1

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Visual 2
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HORT. An Interview with Eike Koenig.

März 14th, 2011 • Friends, Interview, We like
Tags: Agencies, Berlin, Cool, Creativity, Design, eike koenig, Friends, hort, Interview, People, We like

Many of my readers probably know Eike Koenig and his Berlin-based design studio HORT. And some of you may probably know Eike personally. Eike hasn’t just created one of the most innovative design studios in Europe, he has also created a professional creative playground for himself. An extremely interesting guy to have a conversation with and definitely one of the most fearless designers in Europe.

This is an interview of Latvian design blog Plikums with Eike who visited Riga’s Latvian Art Directors Club and talked a bit about his aspirations in work and design (via Better taste than sorry).

The Truth. How TV (Advertising) Ruined Your Life.

März 8th, 2011 • 1 comment We like
Tags: Advertising, bbc, Funny, Industry, People, Truth, TV, UK, World

If there is one thing about the UK that I am really, really jealous of, then it is Charlie Brooker. This is his episode 3 of his latest BBC2 six-part series ‘How TV ruined your life’ (along with advertising). This time it’s about aspiration. And even though it is 29 minutes long – every minute is worth it.

Edding Live. Check out the Wall of Fame.

Februar 24th, 2011 • 1 comment Brands, Friends, We like
Tags: Agencies, Cool, Creativity, demodern, edding, Friends, Funny, Ideas, Live, live data, Media, Tech, visual

Just a quick link to a great project from my friends at cologne-based design studio demodern in collaboration with kempertrautmann, Hamburg. Thomas and Kristian have just launched a playful and fun little web special for Edding, the well known cult pen brand. On Edding’s ‘Wall of Fame’ special you end up on an interactive drawing board where you can either draw with an Edding pen or compete against other users over the ownership of a pen.

The whole experience is real time. Users actually draw live and interact live in an online experience which is pretty close to reality. As you can imagine (and as demodern commented) it has been quite a challenge from a technical as well as from a design standpoint. Good news is – they made it and Edding’s ‘Wall of Fame’ made quite a buzz lately. Good to see that demodern is doing more than alright. Well done!

Check out Edding’s Wall of Fame here

Wikipedia. 10 Years of Contributors like You.

Februar 14th, 2011 • 1 comment Ads, We like
Tags: Agencies, Cool, Creativity, Funny, Ideas, People, Truth, wikipedia, World

I was not aware of Wikipedia doing any ATL advertising. But it seems slovak ad agency Jandl has come up with something that looks like a ’10 Years of Wikipedia’ activation campaign. I do not think it’s an official Wikipedia campaign but rather a quick agency-driven award concept. But any hint here is appreciated.

The campaign is nice and pretty true and comes with a good activation insight. Wikipedia is run by passionate nerds who like to share their knowledge. My nerd moment was my article about the Geneva Framework in Germany’s Wikipedia. But that’s a different story.

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Hysterical. Groupon’s ‘Save the Money’ Super Bowl Campaign.

Februar 7th, 2011 • 9 comments Ads, Allgemein, We like
Tags: Ads, Agencies, Brands, Charity, Cool, CPB, Creativity, Funny, Groupon, Ideas, Lifestyle, Super Bowl, TV

‘Money is one of our most important natural resources. Sadly, thousands of dollars are wasted every year. Until now.’

Groupon.com and Crispin Porter just launched their new ‘Save the Money’ campaign during Super Bowl. Yes, it was fucking expensive. And it has followed the handbook of many successful superbowl commercials – Make the commercial talk of the town. Cuba Gooding Jr., Timothy Hutton and Elizabeth Hurley star in Groupon’s first three commercials which allegedly seem to raise money for charity….but wait…they don’t.

There is a thin line between being ironic and being cynical. And campaigns like this one are designed to spark outrage… One comment underneath the Tibet commercial says

Please boycott this corporation and tell everyone you know to do so. Additionally, please pressure all businesses that advertise through it to end all dealings with it. The vacuousness and utter amorality of 21st century capitalism has been put on display, and we need to collectively say that we’ve had enough.

I personally think Groupon’s commercials are hysterical. Plus if you follow the link to Groupon’s Save the money site you will find Donate buttons to contribute to the four good causes that Groupon makes fun of. I think this in fact counters the cynicism charges adding a lot of money and awareness to these charity projects. Simply because Groupon doesn’t make fun or whales, Tibet or the Rain Forest – it makes fun of Political Correctness. And I sense this Political Correctness all too often is more cynical than to spoof it. Or as @e_fink accurately commented…

“Amazing. More people are offended by Groupon’s ads than the coarse objectification of women in EVERY SINGLE OTHER AD!”

Groupon ‘Save the money, Whales

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Copywriting. A Beginner’s Guide to Bum Signs.

Januar 24th, 2011 • People, We like
Tags: Advice, Bums, Copy, Creativity, Funny, People, Truth, World

I don’t know, but I guess Bum signs sometimes deliver a marketing message quicker and more efficient than what most copywriter’s produce. Time for some advice from the streets. Here is the beginner’s guide to Bum signs…

via reddit

KLM Surprise. How to effectively stage a small social idea.

Januar 5th, 2011 • 7 comments Brands, Experimental, Mobile, Social, Twitter, We like
Tags: Airline, Amsterdam, Brands, Cool, Creativity, Foursquare, Funny, Ideas, KLM, klmsurprise, Location, Netherlands, Social Influence Marketing, Tech, Tools, Twitter

Big ideas? Well sometimes you can make a difference with a nice little idea that costs $100 and makes people smile. What happened was simple – KLM Surprise follows passengers who tweet or login to Foursquare while they wait for their flights. KLM has checked out their profiles in advance and gives little personalized travel presents to them. Total costs? $100? $150? A small team with a low end social listening solution. And even though I doubt it was a highly effective campaign idea it at least generated this image video below. Something you would have called a TV commercial in 1994. A TV commercial about a caring, tech-savvy airline. Well done KLM. (via)

Carlsberg. The most useful ad in the world.

Januar 4th, 2011 • Ideas, We like
Tags: Beer, Brands, Cool, Creativity, Funny, Ideas, Print, We like

Did anyone say print is not innovative enough? Not useful. Just focused on stupid big ideas that no one is interested in? Then check out this best ad in the world very useful tool to directly interact with Carlsberg booze without even using the word widget once. High five, Carlsberg. I love it. (via Adfreak)