New Audi ad goes where no add has gone before

In a new advert Audi has brought together two actors who have played the same character. Both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto have played Spock in the Star Trek movies, with Nimoy portraying the character in the original series and movies and Quinto taking the reigns for the new 'rebooted' movies.

So it comes as no surprise that Audi is asking the question, which Spock is better? In the advert we see the two playing chess online, then a new challenge is laid down.

The commercial is comical, showcasing their latest car, but drawing on some past achievements of Nimoy with an interesting ending.

Created by the same team that produced the viral dollar shave club commercial, Paulilu and agency PMK*BNC.

Watch it below.

How To Manage your brand online

Brand reputation is the collective experience of those who work for or deal with an organisation or company; it’s not just about customer service. By Samantha Dawe, Director at The Think Tank

The value of your company and products’ reputation should not be underestimated. Reputation should be treated as an asset. Reputation is everyone’s responsibility. A good reputation buys you the benefit of the doubt when things go wrong.

The toughest lesson is to learn that sometimes it’s not what has happened that is the issue – it’s what people think has happened. Perception is everything.

What is an issue that can affect an organisation’s reputation?
“A condition or event, internal or external to the organisation, that if it continues will have a significant effect on the functioning or performance of the organisation or on its future interests”.

Potential issues

• Staff dispute
• Shortage of stock
• Supplier goes out of business
• Negative comments published online
• Computer virus
• Change in working hours for staff
• Health and Safety

Online
Sign up to relevant Google alerts around your organisation’s name. If appropriate use other software available that will help you monitor mentions online. Be prepared to respond to comments if needed but you must be straightforward about who you are and never let emotional language influence what you are saying.

Dialogue
Do you know who your organisation’s stakeholders are? If not, find out. Stakeholder groups can include employees, clients/customers, opinion formers such as trade associations and professional bodies, your local community, investors in your organisation and key media who will act as commentators on what you are doing.

Don’t wait until there is a problem to engage with people; be proactive wherever you can. This also means getting together with colleagues in other departments to share and help identify potential causes for concern, even if an issue does not actually materialise.

You can gather information to help identify and manage risks via:

• Staff surveys
• Industrial relations
• Customers’ feedback
• Product development teams
• Suppliers
• HR and Legal teams
• Health and Safety audits

Be prepared
Think about developing a crisis plan – you may need to get in expert external help. At least have a record of people/agencies that can help you if needed.

What threats can you anticipate? What do you know based on past experience? Do you know how to handle journalists, or who is the nominated person in your organisation that looks after this? This all goes back to having regular dialogue with your colleagues in other departments too – not just when the problem has happened.

Five core tips to get you started:

1. How much access during work time do your employees have to engage with social media and company data?
Blocking access to the internet or certain sites is often seen as the domain of the IT manager, but in today’s workplace this goes beyond merely the computer at your desk.In our networked environment people can access content and store information and data via their phone, tablet or laptop at any time of day. Therefore the rules are changing and your organisation needs to adapt.Expert Jamie Claret (www.amazingsupport.co.uk) suggests for starters you need think about:Good antivirus softwareSimple blocking systemsAdvanced blocking and monitoringPreventing sensitive data leaving your businessThe impact data leakage and wasted time during work hours versus empowering staff with access to these sources.

2. Does your organisation have a clear social media policy?
Social media encompasses a broad range of online activities, all of which can have a marked impact on the credibility, perceptions and awareness of an organisation. Outside the workplace rights to privacy and free speech can protect online activity conducted in someone’s personal social network with that person’s personal email address. However, the inevitable connections that can and are made with someone’s workplace can blur the boundaries. What is your organisation’s policy on this?

3. Have these policies been communicated to all staff?
Are they part of your induction programme?Your policy and procedures need to be communicated – don’t just rely on a document that sits in the drawer. Building this into your employee induction programme or at a team update meeting brings this to the forefront of people’s minds.Are your employees aware of the potential negative impact that online comments can have? Where social media interaction is not used exclusively for business, it is important to provide reasonable guidelines on online behaviour if any reference is made to the workplace. Furthermore you may need to draw attention to matters regarding confidentiality as they relate to your organisation or business, and how this can also cover photos or images posted online for example.

4. Are you aware of how other stakeholders might be looking at your organisation through social media?
Media management is likely to rest with either an external agency or your in-house communications team, or for smaller enterprises with a nominated employee or manager. The press have increasingly turned to social media channels not only regarding breaking news, but also to uncover more intimate details about an organisation.This can also be true of any stakeholders. And content posted online is hard to have removed… therefore you need to be as aware of what is being said about the organisation online, as others will be. Do you have any mechanisms in place to facilitate this?

5. Are you ready to act if something potentially negative happens?
You need to have a contingency plan; whether it’s customers commenting on a faulty product or poor service, or a disgruntled employee out to stir up some reactions or actually carrying out some form of deception. How will you react? Who needs to be aware of a problem as and when it occurs and importantly who should be tasked with sorting it out? Do you have an issues management team and plan? Does this plan map onto the online world?

New York London photo series

Award-winning photojournalist Daniella Zalcman has released an incredible series of photographs called New York + London.

The series was created as a way to connect the time she spent in New York with her new home London. The series was released on Instagram using a set of photos she took of New York on her iPhone during her last month in the city, she then took the same number upon arrival in London. She then used software on her phone to carefully overlap the images, created a merged image of the two cities.

The full collection can be seen on Yatzer here. Zalcman also has a Kickstarter to get the photographs published as a book here.

The best in Neon

London-based light artist Chris Bracey is currently displaying his works in his first solo exhibition at Scream Gallery in London titled 'I've looked up to heaven and been down to hell'.

The artist, who learnt his trade from his father, has manipulated his lights into incredible designs using themes he mixes with religious iconography, retro fairground bulbs and neon advertising styles.

Bracey has also provided dramatic installations for films such as Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Batman films.

Many of Bracey’s works are self-produced neons, referencing popular culture – “Shine A Light in the Darkness of Your Soul” was written by Martin Gore from Depeche Mode and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” is from a song by The Smiths.

His work also draws upon iconic imagery such as tattoo designs, Las Vegas and Soho.

The exhibition is on display until the 1st June 2013.

Now being a social influencer can get you into airport lounges

American Airlines has rolled out a new perk for social media users, use of their Admirals Club lounges, regardless whether you are flying with them or not.

To gain a one-day pass for the club, you need to have a Klout score of 55. What does this mean? Klout is a tool that measures your usage and engagement on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The perk includes almost 40 lounges across the world including airports in San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo and London.

With others already signed up to Klout Perks including Sony, Nike, Microsoft, Disney, Audi and Gilt, this is a major push by the social measurement tool.

A clever development, but one can't help to think that social influencers may see through it, regardless of whether they take advantage of it or not.

Strange Windows 8 videos found

A collection of strange adverts promoting Windows 8 have emerged on the Internet. The videos, called 'Training Camp', are meant to highlight the capabilities and features of the Operating System.

The videos, which were originally made for the Asian market, first appeared on Microsoft's general YouTube channel by mistake, but now are openly being shared.

Watch the unusual series below.

Google takes you back in time

Google has been working with the U.S. Geological Society and NASA to produce some amazing time lapse images of our planet.

Collating images from over 40 years of Landsat satellite footage, the search engine has produced a several timelapse videos, that start in 1984 and finish 2012.

They map out several major changes to the planet, from the Shrinking of the Amazon forest to the growth of Las Vegas. The project was also partnered with Time Magazine, for their Timelapse project.

You can read more on the Google Blog, and see the timelapse here.

Nissan's self healing paint

In a clever marketing campaign Nissan has released a special advert for those that read the news on their tablets. The ad itself is for their 'self healing' paint, which recovers from light scratches to look as good as new.

The advert, created by TBWA/G1 Paris, creates scratches in the paintwork of the car as users try to swipe through the ad, which then repair themselves.

Very clever use of the swipe motion that people use whilst browsing to highlight another innovation.

Watch the ad in action below.

Get personalised weather reports for your garden

IKEA is continuing their campaign to get people to use their gardens more, following on from their interesting Gnome ad.

The Swedish furniture company has this time sent out digital and direct mailers to customers, giving them a weather report for their garden over the recent Bank Holiday weekend.

The mailer, created by LIDA, was sent out to the 900,000 IKEA Family loyalty customers, encouraging them to make the most of their gardens, weather permitting.

There is also an online invite system so that IKEA Family members can create fun, bespoke weather reports with the help of its weatherman, Harry Caine, to encourage friends and family to visit.

The campaign could work well, with its level of humour and personalisation, coupled with the unpredictable weather we face in Britain.