Penguin Dating

Another genius idea from the clever book people at Penguin.
Penguin have created Penguin Dating; a new dating site that matches people together based on their favourite books and authors. There are no fears that the wont work or not have enough of a userbase to make worthwhile as its powered by Match.com

I love the idea as its such a simple yet compelling idea. It’s the sort of service that any publisher could have done but only Penguin would have thought of it.
There is a real theme behind a lot of Penguin’s work and it really is simplicity. Even something as potentially complicated as an ARG was made so simple and easy to engage with the We Tell Stories game they created earlier this year.

Its got me thinking if this match-making idea could work with other kinds of publishers such as record labels or even film studios? Perhaps film is too broad but music definitely can bring like-minded people together.

Awesome stuff.

Thanks to Kylie for this!

"I Am"

Not new news, but I’ve been thinking about the latest Orange campaign – “I am Everyone”. Aside from the ads themselves, I was thinking specifically about the strapline on their outdoor/press ads directing people to search for “I Am” online for more information. Initially I thought it was a bit of w*nky ad-thing to do but thinking about it again it’s a really nifty way of encouraging people to take on your creative strategy and bring your brand into the vernacular.

Off the back of the recent news that 88% of people are now searching for brand specific terms online (as opposed to generic terms like “mobile phone tariff”), I think we could see this tactic being used even more as clients and agencies really start seeing the value search/PPC can bring to your brand as opposed to viewing it as just another sales driving platform.