Since moving to BMB we've done some pretty cool work. Something that I've not worked on but am incredibly proud of is the Carling iPint which was launched on 11th July.

The iPint is an iPhone application that turns your dull and boring iPhone into a virtual pint of ice cool Carling. The application takes advantage of the iPhones techincal wizardry so that when you tip the iPhone you lose some of your virtual lager. You can sip, sup or down the pint.



The application has been such a success that it's knocked both Facebook and Apple off the top of the free download list.

Download it here.

We've just finished working on this campaign for MessageLabs and we're quite pleased with it.


Here's the story:
"For our new marketing campaign we have worked with a digital artist to graphically show what cyber threats actually look like. The images are generated from the actual code from each of the threats.

"Alex Dragulescu is a Romanian visual artist whose practice embraces both traditional and new media. His projects are experiments and explorations of algorithms, computational models, simulations and information visualizations that involve data derived from databases, spam emails, blogs and video game assets.

"His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions worldwide in Madrid, Venice, Florence, Rome, Sao Paolo, St Petersburg, La Habana, Arad, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki and the Biennial of Young Artists, Bucharest."

Alex's web site is www.sq.ro.

Have you ever had the thought that with all the wifi and portable wireless devices that we all carry round we shouldn't really need network carriers and cables anymore?

Well Whisher have.

They've created a piece of software that allows everyone to share their wifi connection essentially allowing you to get free wifi where ever you are in the world (providing someone is prepared to share too).

According to Whisher the network is powered by users sharing their wifi and all networks registered through Whisher are protected, so no security worries and you get to choose who can access them.

I love this idea and it's just a large step towards the people reclaiming the Internet by democratising access to it.

BTW it works on Macs, PCs and Linux!

simplicity + depth = great advertising

Even though this was made more than 30 years ago, the special effects are still so much better than anything that's happening now. I guess this is because they are authentic: that is they're real models that have been shot, not computer generated 'perfection'.

This film is a lovely piece with clips from the film and interviews with the key protagonists.

via WebMaster Republic

In a beautifully put together video, Jeffre Jackson of the OIA talks about interestingness and why it's important for a brand to be interesting. One of Jeffre's reference points is Howard Gossage whom he cites as a great influence. I thought it would be worth digging deeper into Gossage's history.

Known as 'the Socrates of San Francisco', Gossage was an unlikely advertising man. With a military background, he didn't start working in advertising until his mid thirties. In 1957 he started his own agency Weiner and Gossage which was an immediate success.

Gossage was known for his unique and forward thinking philosophy; that advertising should be involving for the audience. In other words that they should be rewarded for seeing and/or hearing the message. Gossage would say:

"People don't read advertising per se. They read what interests them. And sometimes it's an ad."

It's only now, in the era of the Internet and sit forward media that we are really taking Gossage's ideas to heart. Disruption is being seen as a bad thing whilst engagement is becoming more and more important.

One of Gosasge's pet hates was outdoor advertising and it's here that the internal conflicts of the man become most clear.

Something worth bearing in mind in this digital era:

"Is advertising worth saving?" "From an economic point of view, I don't think that most of it is. From an aesthetic point of view, I'm damn sure it's not; it is thoughtless, boring, and there is simply too much of it."

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