cloverfield

if you have managed to get to the cinema this weekend to watch Transformers you may have seen a strange teaser trailer for an unknown film. i haven't actually seen Transformers yet (heard mixed reviews) but I have managed to see this (very cool) teaser trailer (codename "Cloverfield") on youtube today and its brilliant!!

the trailer is for a film due out next year from the maker of Lost; JJ Abrams.
there will no doubt be a frenzy of people scouring the net searching for whatever info available on the film; I have to admit I will be one of them and ill keep this blog updated with any new news on this film.

i know its been said so many times before but this kind of "underground" anticipation being built before a movie release is remarkable (its not out until Jan next year!?) and would never have been possible to do effectively in the past without the Internet.

let the hype begin...

herbs from Tescos making me angry today...

ive just got back from a "Big Shop" at Tescos with Emma and feel so angry that they fly in common garden herbs like Basil all the way from Israel?!

considering the current climate (excuse the pun), why would a supermarket like Tescos feel the need to source garden herbs from another country to be flown all the way to the UK? If I can grow Basil and Thyme with no problem at all here in my micro garden in Bow, then why the hell should we have to fly it over all the way from Israel?!

needless to say i didnt buy any herbs from Tescos today as they all looked like they had been flown in from glamourous sounding countries.

"Widsets"

my mate Sam posted this on the Hyper blog today about “Widsets” and the demise of O2’s i-Mode. combined with the news today that Virgin Mobile are scrapping their mobile TV offering with BT’s Movio, has got me thinking that perhaps the future of mobile TV also lies in some kind of “Widsets” application that could act like a mobile Tivo device that streams content that you specifically ask for (Arsenal FC news stories) and also automatically streams Match of The Day highlights for example?

Again, I think people are just getting fed up with the cumbersome nature of viewing web content and TV content via their mobile handsets, this would further simplify the process of watching TV via your phone?

cloudy and murkey "negative SEO"

there has been lots of talk about "Negative SEO".

however, there seems to be conflicting reports and it seems to be a murky area as to if it is technically possible. obviously Google are denying its possible but by the looks of things it is rife and "if you understand the rules of search...you can use them not just constructively, but also destructively."

...comforting thought for brand owners and agencies alike.

brilliant street stencil game

a mate at work sent round this link.

She Loves The Moon is an interactive, ambient, street art game, type of thing...
Its basically a love story that 2 people can follow around the streets of San Francisco and you get given multiple choices to follow through different streets and districts. If the players make the right choices you end up meeting each other at the end. (romance, love, sex not guaranteed)

It reminds me of those old-school adventure game books that allowed you to "turn to page 18 if you choose to try and fight the giant dragon or turn to page 12 if you choose to turn and run...", except much for fun and involving...brilliant.

More here

the simpsons avatar creator

...I love it!!
So simple but brilliant.
I love the way Matt Groening has illustrated these famous little yellow people. I find myself just laughing at Homer not doing or saying anything at all, its just his expression alone that does it for me.
Ive made myself fatter than i am in real life as i think i look funnier. (honest)
Ive included Emma on here too as I think she looks HOT!!

Have a go!!

fun in the sun with Accenture

Why do I get a warm feeling inside when I think of brands like Accenture and UBS?
These aren’t normally the type of brands that you would expect to feel “warm” inside when thinking about and I think I may now realize why I get this feeling any time I see these giant corporate monsters.

I am so used to being exposed to these two brands (and other similar ones) when im either at an airport check-in on my way off on a nice holiday to a sandy beach or in a hotel room when watching CNN.

I know this is no revelation or colossal insight but I just think its interesting how a consumer can have a totally different take on a brand to anything that their marketing department would ever want someone to take out from their communications, or is this their plan? By using obvious business people’s touch points like airports and hotels they are also benefiting from a halo effect for the non-business traveller?

Sorry no real structure to this thought but I just needed to verbalise it to try and help me understand what im trying to get at?!

Ramble over...

nielsen scraps web page view rankings

There is a shift happening away from the original model of site measurement.

Website page views are becoming less important when judging the strength of a site and site stickyness will become a more important benchmark in the future.

Digital planning tools like ComScore will now surely follow suit and revise their site analysis metrics to include a measurement tool of a site’s stickyness not just the number of impressions it generates.

This shift is born out of the fact that more and more advertisers are developing digital advertising and communications that rely on time spent viewing and engaging with content (video streaming, rich media ads, interactive ads, widgets etc.) not just clicking on banners…

i personally think this shift should have happened a few years ago, even when video streaming ads first started to really take off..

link

1st post.

greetings!!
let the adventure begin, this is the first post on my new blog and hopefully the first of many more to come in the future.
i would appreciate any feedback both negative or positive...Enjoy your stay!