Full agency website in YouTube - very cool
I love this idea - a complete agency website built entirely within YouTube - work, bios, contact etc. It’s all there. Surprisingly easy to use and definitely a first.
Skinny Blonde gets brave
Australia’s boutique beer market is booming, sales of the big brand stalwarts are slowing, and new advertising/marketing tactics are being tried by everyone. Enter Sydney-based Brothers Ink with Skinny Blonde and it’s pack of six attractive (you guessed it) skinny blondes.
Now raunchiness is nothing new to alcohol marketers who have used it successfully over the years, but the idea of a beer label featuring a skinny blonde that slowly strips as the beer gets drunk is pretty neat. Check out the website as well which attempts to mimic the bottle tricks.
It’s winter now, just wait till summer!
Rethink music streaming - We are hunted
I came across a new music streaming site on Mumbrella this afternoon - We Are Hunted. The site tracks what’s being said about music on various blogs, social networks, forums and even peer-to-peer networks. It then compiles these into the top 99 that users can listen to and then buy (beating copyright infringement).
The site’s a collaboration between wotnews and Native Digital who got a bunch of press a little while back for creating EMI’s ‘The In Sound From Way Out’ MP3 blog.
Enjoy the fresh sounds…
Gallipoli: The First Day
Gallipoli, The First Day is a beautifully executed portrayal of the ANZAC’s ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, told through 3D animation, video and audio.
For me, this is a great extension to traditional storytelling (fact or fiction) as the audience becomes so heavily involved. If you’ve ever read Les Carlyon’s ‘Gallipoli’ (and you should), you can appreciate how this interactive piece condenses so much information into rich, palatable chunks. I can see projects like this becoming fantastic teaching-aids in schools and universities.
Another amazing project from your ABC!
Nike Air Troupe Design Battle
Once again, another fantastically concepted and executed site by Nike.
The Air Troupe Design Battle website has been created to launch a new range of Hip-Hop dance shoes that took over 2 years to develop.
Alongside the dance inspired developments of the shoe (more durable for multi-surface wear and 360-degree dragging/sliding) comes the ability to fully customise its look - everything from the colour of the laces through to the colour of the under-sole tread.
Once designed, you can purchase your shoe, send it into battle against other designers and judge other people’s creations.
Like all Nike sites, the Flash work is excellent and I particularly like the judging section - two opponents (shoes) are shown, and the user has three seconds to click on their favourite before the next challengers are displayed.
Vote Earth
It’s been around a while now but I still love this campaign for Earth Hour 2009 by Leo Burnett Sydney. Leveraging the hype of the US Presidential election, the campaign urges us to ‘Vote Earth’ by using our light switches - simple, effective and topical. There’s the usual send-to-friend, share socially and show us your support by registering functionality, but the real winner is the concept - it’s great to see big ideas in practice.
The artwork has been done by Shepard Fairey who famously created the iconic ‘Hope’, ‘Change’ and ‘Progress’ posters of Barack Obama. He’s also known for his “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign and subsequent “Obey Giant” clothing range. He recently curated an issue of Lost At E Minor and collaborated with DJ Z-Trip on the Obama mixes - amazing live.
This could be the biggest election of our lives…
NRMA gives motorists a voice
NRMA have recently launched RoadTube, a website dedicated to letting politicians and others know what irritates you about our roads and ways in which to fix them.
Users can submit comments, upload a video of their own or record videos in one of the specially designed booths touring Australia. These can then be linked through other social networks to spread the word.
NRMA president Wendy Machin said the organisation would use the groundswell of community action to lobby the State and Federal Government as part of its new Get NSW Moving Again campaign.
Nike disappoints with its new site
It’s not often that Nike disappoints, so I was supprised at my reaction to the new Air Jordan 2009 website. Don’t get me wrong, great execution (as always), powerful use of well-known athletes, etc etc… but I wanted more. I found the whole experience shallow and almost arrogant from a brand that got to where it is by being intouch with the people.
Love to know other people’s thoughts?
‘Made For Each Other’ by Frito-Lay
Check out the latest offering from the good folk at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for Frito-Lay. A cute, beautifully illustrated environment where the user’s task is to play match-maker between the chips and dips - hence the campaign, ‘Made for each other‘.
I had a lot of fun hunting around, interacting with the various characters and playing some of the hidden games. Some elements were slow to load, but hey, blame Australian infrastructure for that.
The combination of 2D and 3D illustration is really well done and the characterisation pretty cool. Some of the ‘blobs’ even reminded me a little of the ‘Sensibles‘ campaign for Spring Valley.
Ikea tries something different…
Checkout Ikea Sweden’s new storytelling site for their PS range of eco-friendly solutions (thanks to Adverblog for the heads-up). The site mixes, beautiful cutout-style animation with video and audio in a really successful manner.
Through a rather bizarre setting of flying objects, the user is encouraged to make a selection and watch a short video about the object through its designer’s eyes. Each of the settings is different and appropriate to the ’story’ being told.
Not being fluent in Swedish makes certain elements within the navigation difficult, but you do get the general gist of what’s going on. Upon a second viewing, I discovered the slide-up navigation on the bottom which stopped me from returning to the ‘weird flying objects’ scene each time - much easier!