Charlie Sheen premieres in two new ads

Advertisers in the US appear to be taking Charlie Sheen under their wing with two new ads featuring the infamous star premiering last week.

The first for Fiat sees him racing around his house in a new Fiat, making a point about being under house arrest, and the second sees him acting out the film Platoon with someone he meets in a Turkish baths for DirectTV.






Not sure whether the association of Charlie Sheen with mainstream brands is a good one and definitely question Fiat's choice of brand ambassador! What do you think?

Casting a new light on wallpaper

These LED wallpapers from Architects Paper are a great innovation and will make quite an impression in the right environment.

The paper has LED lights embedded within a circuit board design.

The designer comments, "The LED wallpaper offers very thrilling possibilities to illuminate rooms: Dimmed, enigmatic light hardly revealing where the shine is coming from or an urban vibrating atmosphere – to mention only a few options."

"It’s magic! A big advantage also is that the LED wallpaper can be hung in more or fewer strips and lengths according to the architecture and furnishing of a room. Interior designers have the choice."

See more on Trendir.

Invisible ink makes a come back

The solar energy association in Austria has recently issued its annual report. This may not be a mention-worthy event usually except that this year they have printed it on light sensitive paper.

When indoors the paper appears to be blank but as soon as it is exposed to sunlight the details start to appear.  This is a great way to reinforce the message from the association but must be a bit frustrating if its raining outside!

Remote control cafe demonstrates bad design

This year Helsinki has the accolade of being World Design Capital and as a part of the legacy of the event the organisers wanted to engage with a wider audience of local residents to explain why design is so important in all our lives.

They decided to get the conversation going about the impact of good and bad design by creating a remote controlled café. This cafe included a range of badly design items, to demonstrate what good design means to us all, whilst anyone could remotely control the environment through a web interface.

When local residents popped in for a coffee they would find their chairs raising and lowering, whilst tables adjusted and items like sugar and napkin dispensers just did not work.



The interactive space was a great success and gained a lot of publicity, including a feature spot on the national news with the newsreaders getting into the action.

Moleskine launches architects series

The Moleskine book has been a favourite of designers, creatives, writers and many others including Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway for more than two centuries.

Now, to celebrate the notepad's association with architects and their sketchpads, Moleskine has launched a new range of raw grey cardboard books with excerpts from the original notebooks of four inspirational architects, Zaha Hadid, Giancarlo De Carlo, Peter Wilson of BOLLES+WILSON and Alberto Kalach.


Providing unprecedented access to their archives and personal files these small Moleskine books show reproductions of their works alongside blank pages for the owner’s own use. Passages of handwritten text from the architects explaining their inspiration for the original sketches are also shown within the notebooks as well as replicas of line drawings on table napkins and scraps of paper and early plans for now completed buildings.

These are really interesting insights into the thought processes of some of the world's leading architects and a must have for architecture fans.

They are a bit difficult to find on the Moleskine website but if this link does not take you straight to them search for Architecture. You can also see more on Design Boom.

Sensory marketing that grows on you

Last week TTT met CURB, the natural media company that helps brands create innovative and award winning media.   

CURB uses attention-grabbing media such as chalk advertising or bespoke interactive productions where the individual acts as an instrument for creating the experience or message - pedal to charge your phone or dance to make the music louder!   CURB also uses natural media which they tailor to their clients’ briefs – to promote the movie Contagion they worked with a world renowned microbiologist to create an enormous Petri dish inoculated with mould, penicillin and Pantone-matched live bacteria. Over the span of a few days these grew into the movie title ‘Contagion’ (and yes, it went viral).



During the Multisensory Media demonstration TTT’s meeting room was filled with the scent of freshly-cut grass from the pitch of a well-known Italian Serie A football club. Unfortunately for CURB there were no football fans in the meeting to appreciate this particular experience; nevertheless we were amazed at how particular they can be with creating scents and sounds. We found out that specific scents can be used to change an emotion as well as perception of time and environments.

CURB has also developed a technique to package the scents in a way that is sustainable and fun. We enjoyed the experience of small customizable pouches that released a lovely scent with just one squeeze – some of the scents included the smell of chocolate truffles or red roses (a note to all men – do not use as a substitute for a gift).  

CURB uses entirely natural or sustainable materials that are recycled after they’ve been used. If that is not possible, the materials are upcycled; for example a huge poster of Michael Jackson’s album next to Heathrow airport was made out of plastic that was later upcycled to mobile phone cases and various other goods.  

To find out more about their fun and innovative approach to Out-Of-Home media, PR and experiential marketing, visit www.curbmedia.com

Turn your iPhone into a car, boat or ice cream van

If you have ever fancied turning your iPhone into a car then this is the app for you.

With the Makego app you can turn your iPhone into a racing car, ice cream van, or river boat, simply download the Makego app and select your vehicle. Then add Lego for cars or maybe a pencil case for a boat.

The app allows you to interact with the drivers via some very cute animations and sound. If you are looking for a second childhood or are just bored then get downloading.

Just the right amount of wrong!

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Hotel is running a great series of ads verging on 'just the right amount of wrong'.

These charismatic ads feature some classic tracks with the most recent being a very unusual cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

These are both worth a watch and are great fun.

'Sorry for Party Rocking' tops video viral chart

Want to keep up to date with the latest viral videos then take a look at the Viral Video Chart.

This week's top viral is a video called 'Sorry for Party Rocking' with 377,000 shares in the last seven days.
 

Research says that 80% of US brands respond to online customer feedback

In a recent article in Corporate Comms a survey by software company 'Get Satisfaction' measured how US brands monitor online converstaions and feedback.

Nearly 90 per cent of US brands say that they monitor online conversations and feedback while 80 per cent also respond to feedback. More than three quarters of those polled also distribute customer feedback internally and nearly two thirds thought that listening and engaging on social media has raised brand awareness.

The article also highlights that more than two fifths cited availability of budget as the greatest internal challenge to listening and engagement, while more than a third said the same about their difficulty in managing programmes across multiple platforms.

'Almost a fifth cited privacy issues as the greatest challenge, while 30 per cent said the same about availability of talent. The top five departments that create strategies to listen to consumers are, in order, the social media team, marketing or public relations, web-interactive marketing, product marketing and marketing operations.

Half of businesses say that listening to their customers on social media is not a core function of their business. Just six per cent of companies said that listening and digital engagement initiatives are integral to their organisation,' the article says.

It seems that brands in the US are taking social media engagement seriously. It would be interesting to carry out similar research in the UK.

Article by Emily Nicholls for Corp Comms Magazine.

'Anyone and No One' exhibition - Will Ryman

Two new sculptures by American artist Will Ryman are now on exhibition in 'Anyone and No One' at the Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York.

They are both massive installations created from everyday objects. 'Bird' is constructed from nails of various lengths and towers 12 feet tall whilst 'Everyman' uses a diverse variety of household items, such as paint brushes, bottle caps and work boots, to create a 90-foot figure within the gallery space.

Due to the sheer size and impact of both sculptures, Ryman's installation has been separated in two parts - 'Everyman' has taken up residence in the 293 Tenth Avenue location while the 27th Street space hosts the Bird, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's poem, 'The Raven'.

Beautiful structures that really catch the eye.

See more sculptures and how they were constructed on Design Boom.

Microsoft takes on Google in 'Moonlighting' spoof

Microsoft is taking on Google, challenging its cloud computing software in a remake of the classic Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd TV series, Moonlighting.

For those that don't remember Moonlighting it featured Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd in a romantic comedy tussle running a detective agency. The theme song was originally sung by Al Jarreau and if anyone can tell us who is now featured singing it we will add it to the blog.

Microsoft's version is called Googlighting and it is a must see. Can't wait for the Google response.

There have been some problems with this video viewing - not sure what is causing it - maybe a Google Gremlin!

Social media explained

Found this in one of the blogs we follow and it made us smile. By Douglas Wray.

Unusual and beautiful landscapes by Graafland

Dutch artist Scarlett Hooft Graafland produces her work in remote locations where the inhabitants have been forced to adapt to the natural conditions rather than the other way around.  

It is not about being where only very few people have been before, but about discovering an authenticity in a space, which often means that beauty and wonder simply combine into fantastic images.  

Scarlett comments,  "I am filled with nostalgia for places where people are very close to nature. Places where people have barely interfered with nature. The wonder of nostalgia for places you have never been to. The wonder of creating situations that have never existed before and will probably never exist again. Situations that are possible but very unlikely to occur again. Magic realism."  

See more of her work here

An Audi ad with real bite!

Audi takes a rather different approach to promoting their A7 in the States with a party out in the woods.

A bit of fun for vampire lovers!

Twitter opens up advertising to 10,000 small businesses

Twitter has started to broaden its revenue streams by rolling out its self-serve ad platform to 10,000 small and midsize businesses in the US through a partnership with American Express.  

From 16th February American Express card members and merchants are able to register to use the platform on a first-come, first-serve basis.  They will receive $100 in advertising credits to put towards bidding on promoted tweets and promoted accounts. Twitter had begun the rollout of self-serve, which lets advertisers make electronic payments instead of being invoiced by the sales team, in mid-November with a group of fewer than 20 advertisers and expanded the group to about 100.  

Dick Costolo, CEO, commented, "So many hundreds of thousands and even millions of small businesses have been using Twitter effectively for years already, so by opening up our ad platform to all these folks as a mechanism for them to amplify the value they're already creating."  

Find out more on Adage.

Is this a social media turning point?

A great deal has been written about social media and most of it about the opportunities that it offers brands and marketers. However, a recent survey by YouGov has suggested a negative side to using social media for marketing. Is this a turning point?

New research has revealed that brand engagement on social networks is not as positive as first thought.  

According to B2B Marketing Magazine, 'Although the uptake remains high, users are demanding more, with two in five participants claiming to be ‘getting bored’ with social media.  

The survey of 1275 British social media users found that just under half of respondents would not be positive about a product their ‘friends’ have followed and/or ‘liked’, with 43 per cent saying they are unlikely to talk about a brand on social media sites. In addition, just over half of participants revealed that they ‘do mind’ seeing ads on social networks that are based on their profile activities.  

Dan Brilot, media consulting director at YouGov, says, “It appears that while social media can be a key tool in the brand marketer’s armoury, in particular to maximise commitment among those already highly engaged with the brand, it has not quite reached the effectiveness necessary to be considered as a truly mass media marketing tool.”

James Bond wine cellar by Spiral Cellars

Spiral Cellars has launched a retractable round glass trap door, featuring a motorised action which drops one of the panels before swivelling under a fixed panel. Finished in satin polished stainless steel and sturdy glass it is the ultimate addition to a slick modern interior.  

They say, 'Cellars are sunk into the untapped earth beneath a house, working by using the earth’s natural attributes and a clever ventilation system, and can easily be installed into existing rooms or as part of an extension.'  

For those that collect fine and drinking wine but don't have the room to store it this is a great solution, holding up to 1,870 bottles.

Find out more about these great space saving solutions here.

Mobile Advertising Wars

There is a lot being written about the impact of mobile technologies right now.  The Financial Times’s Tim Bradshaw wrote a piece on Google and Apple lowering the price for mobile advertising in an attempt to encourage more marketers and application developers to use their technologies, ahead of Facebook and LinkedIn’s expected entries into the markets.

He cites how many brands are still unsure how to tailor their messaging for the small screen, thus available ad slots in apps and on mobile websites are often left unsold.  

At the same time City AM reports that Apple has shot past Samsung to “nab top smartphone spot”.  Around 427 million smart phones were sold in 2011, up 50% on 2010.  Apple sold 35.5 million in the fourth quarter of last year.  

One company which seems to have done some smart thinking on this is Domino’s Pizza UK & Ireland and says it has seen a “breathtaking surge” in online sales… yes, you guessed it, after the launch of two new apps last year which let customers chose a pizza via their smartphones or iPads, and which helped drive a 43 per cent rise in orders over the internet.

The FTSE 250 firm has 726 outlets in Britain, Ireland and Germany, and its franchisees created 1,800 jobs the company claims through the opening of new outlets.     

So mobile can also mean a neat “pizza profit” (piece of profit) it seems.

UK Pinterest users buck US trend

A recent study has shown that Pinterest is more popular with men than women in the UK. This is, at first glance, quite surprising seeing as 83 per cent of Pinterest’s US users are women.

However, a closer look at the data reveals that many UK users are in fact professionals working in the media industry. This perhaps explains why the gender split is more even in the UK (44 per cent female, 56 per cent male) compared to the US, where women have adopted the site for social rather than professional reasons.

We expect to see this gender trend reverse in favour of women later in 2012 as Pinterest grows its UK user base.

To read more about the research’s findings on Pinterest users click here.