I can’t resist a good simple mash-up. Enjoy these (Coldplay is a cracker!).

Amy Winehouse is shit. Say no to drugs

U2 are well shit. Apparently this is the actual recording of U2 taken from the mixing desk on the David Letterman Show. Oh dear.

And my favourite, Coldplay are shit. And here’s proof .

If you enjoyed these, watch some more over at his YouTube channel ‘dryadssaddle’ here.

Hot on the heels of iD3, AMV has just launched Doritos final campaign of the year (phew!). We’ve teamed up with the legendary Guitar Hero with the aim of spawning a nation of wannabe rock gods and groupies.

What better way to advertise the on-pack promotion than with a song! And a guy named Alan…

We’re already racking up the YouTube hits and sparking A LOT of chatter across various social platforms which we like.

But it doesn’t end there. At Doritos.co.uk we’ve created a whole wealth of engaging content – a live video action advergame to enter the promotion, a rock god generator, and a mad game where you have to collect groupies by getting your friends to take and upload a picture of their pants. Clean ones of course! Nice huh. Essentially we’ve just created lots of fun things for people to play with and share. And like iD3, the site is fully integrated with Facebook Connect to push and pull out content. We like to keep things social.

We’ve also teamed up with Spotify to give away premium accounts (1 a week) on Twitter so get involved here @doritosuk. A simple tweet could rid you of Spotify ads.

As ever with Doritos, the project was a HUGE enjoyment to work on. Hands down the best meeting ever when the creatives’ first sung us Alan’s song

I’m still pretty sceptical about the mainstream appeal of Augmented Reality. Yeah yeah yeah I always blog about it but I’m a geek okay

There seems to be too much faffing – what with downloading software, printing stuff out, turning on your web cam, etc etc. But I’ve recently come across two very interesting AR outdoor campaigns. This seems like a great idea to me. Consumers get all the rich experience, minus all the faffing.

In this example, passerbys become a part of the film Coraline leaving them with a lasting impact (and button eyes!). Besides Augmented Reality, the signage also utilises audio, gesture-based interactivity, video, and holographic displays. Found via.

This was an outdoor advertising campaign  for the TV series Vampire Diaries. It appeared in Los Angeles and New York and utilized augmented reality to make your reflection disappear (just like a vampire!), leaving background figures, cars, etc still in plain view.  It also featured Bluetooth. Found via.

What I like about both of these campaigns is that they use sophisticated technology, but in a way that has mainstream appeal. The people in these videos have probably never heard of Augmented Reality, and quite frankly that doesn’t matter.

I’m warming to Augmented Reality but only when it’s either a) Useful (such as this USPS and IKEA), or b) entertaining (but easy to interact with).

I went along to the IPA Social gig last night. I didn’t have a ticket and managed to gate crash at the last minute thanks to @tompgibson

It was a fun fun fun and dare I say interactive evening. I thoroughly enjoyed the speakers (Mark, Amelia, and Neil) and the brilliant host (James), but even more so the chance to join in the conversation, rather than just listen to it. I guess it’s important to live what you sing! Here are just some of the conversation starters…

Is this all about ’social media campaigns’ or are we actually striving for ’social campaigns’?

I love this because it moves the conversation on. Social Media is not as easy as creating a Facebook fan page, setting up a Twitter account, and ticking it off your to-do list. Social ideas can live and breathe on their own, both in the digital and the real-world. Just look at our dear friend the Meerkat.

Be interested, and interesting.

Take ‘Doritos iD3′ for example – not only did we openly engage in conversations across key social platforms, but created a memorable and entertaining brand experience. Being interested is as important as being interesting.

Technology changes, humans don’t.

Actually I believe that human behaviour does change and adapt, but the motivations and fundamental nature of human beings stays the same. It’s common sense right? But we often need reminding of it. There is a need for brands to ‘humanize’ – it’s kind of odd having to remind clients how to speak like a regular human being when it comes to social media.

Is it about conversations AND campaigns?

IPA Social’s “Conversations not campaigns” was meant as a conversation starter, and it certainly got me talking. Is it necessary to separate the two? Can conversations without campaigns work for all brands? ‘Campaign’ is NOT a dirty word. Or at least it doesn’t have to be . Campaigns like ‘Walkers ‘Do us a Flavour’ are engaging and involving, and worked as a brilliant conversation starter. Of course brands need to engage in continuous conversations, but employing social media to activate and amplify big campaign ideas still seems like a good idea to me.

Interested? Join the Facebook group, and read all the tweets #ipasocial.

It really felt like the IPA Social was the start of a bigger conversation, so watch this unfold…

This is another official update to the original ‘Shift Happens’ video. The 2009 version includes facts focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist. Traditional advertising is in steep decline folks, while digital is growing rapidly. Don’t we all know it

I get the tube several times a day, and while I look at the ads, few generally stick in my mind. Until I came across this brilliant feather rustling Dixon’s ad. Awesome insightful planning.

The client must have had a lot of balls to sign this off (which I admire). It’s mocking but in a clever and relevant way – it struck a nerve with me because it’s true! Rarely do I have a connection with an ad I see on the underground to feel compelled to blog about it.

Despite no name dropping…Harrods,  John Lewis, Selfridges, to name but a few, are all riled with some even threatening legal action.

Bravo to Dixons for being ballsy enough to say what we were all thinking anyway. I’d love to see some retaliation advertising to really get the conversation going…

First day back from holiday (Ibiffa!), and I’m bringing you a taste of Project Natal. It’s the X Box 360 controller-less gaming interface. Yes that’s right, controller-less! Hard to imagine (think Wii minus the controller), but this nifty little demo from Microsoft showcases it well. Not only does it recognize voices, it can also recognize faces and even facial expressions.

When the Wii entered our lives and living rooms, it completely transformed gaming into a rich and more social experience. Project Natal is another revolutionary development to the gaming industry. It starts to break down the barriers between generations (even more so than the Wii), and between gaming and entertainment.

Project Natal takes digital beyond the browser and into the real-world.

If the actual thing is even half as good as this cheesy looking demo, I’ll be after one. I wonder how much it will cost?!

In an attempt to completely fill up your diaries next week, there’s one event running all over the capital you cannot miss.

London Digital Week is a weeklong festival of [mostly free] events, awards, and exhibitions. So if you want to help your clients use technology [NOT be used by it], you should be getting involved with LDW!

Anyway, some things not to miss:

PROTEIN FORUM

Protein Forum have some very special speakers coming down – filmmaker, director, game designer Lance Weiler, and David Bausola of Purefold [an open media franchise developed in partnership by Ridley and Tony Scott].

The event is on Monday 21^st 7pm at Below 54, EC2a 3QR. Register here to reserve your free place.

PLAYGROUP @ SHOREDITCH HOUSE

Come and join Playgroup over breakfast [9.30am start] at Shoreditch House on the 24th September, to discover how to engage generation Y in a conversation with your brand. They’ll be looking at how social media can be used to engage the youth market, and why ‘play’ is integral to all of this.

RSVP to catherine@playgroup.com to reserve your free place. 

CREATIVE SOCIAL

Three Top Socials, Laura Jordan [LBi], Flo Heiss [Dare], and Dave Bedwood [Lean Mean] will be presenting the Good, the Bad and the Ugly on a chosen campaign of theirs.

The event is on Thursday 24th September, at 7pm at JWT, 1 Knightsbridge Green, SW1X 7NW. RSVP names to creativesocial@yourmumlovesyou.com if you are interested in attending.

CONTAGIOUS TRENDS

A crash course from Contagious Magazine. “Of all the thousands of words that have been written about changes in branding since the inception of the Internet, the only ones that are actually true are these: now, you have to give something back.”

The event is on Friday 25^th September, at 6.15pm – 7.15pm, at 380 Old Street [Shoreditch Town Hill], EC1V 9LT. Register your free place here.

FROM ART TO AD

There is a current trend emerging for existing art to be re-used or used as inspiration in advertising. This has been encouraged by social networking and sites such as YouTube. The event will look at how this emerging trend leaves artists’ work open to those in advertising, who sometimes use sources such as YouTube for inspiration to communicate a commercial message.

The event is on Tuesday 22nd September, at 6.30pm Street Lecture Theatre, SE1 6SB. Register your place here.

It’s nerdy, it’s sexy, it’s cool. I love it. Using conductive ink, electronic musician Calvin Harris has collaborated with a team to make a synthesizer out of himself and 15 bikini clad models (sure why not), to perform an interesting version of his new single Ready For The Weekend.

The performers stand on the pads, and touch hands to complete a circuit and trigger a sound. Different combinations of pads trigger the different sounds needed to play the track.

Via

I have been working alongside Initials on a really exciting campaign to support the launch of Doritos iD3: a limited edition mystery flavour. The alphanumeric name and mysterious black packaging invites consumers to guess the mystery flavour at www.doritos.co.uk/iD3 for the chance to win a chuffing £20K reward.

But guessing the flavour is just the beginning…

iD3 is not only an original product launch. It is also a three-part episodic online adventure for Doritos fans which uniquely blends film and gaming (starring Layer Cake’s Tamer Hassan). The iD3 adventure allows fans to become the hero in their very own ‘choose your own adventure’. Set in London’s shady underworld, the player goes undercover to help unlock the truth behind a mysterious case of mistaken identity, with huge prizes to be won along the way. Check out our thrilling trailer…

Doritos is no stranger to inviting consumers to play with the brand, and the iD3 advergame delivers just this by putting consumers in the driving seat of their very own personalised adventure. And the mystery flavour is a unique product innovation which will no doubt get consumers talking and engaging with the brand on a deeper level.

The adventure itself pushes the boundaries of technology. Each adrenalin-filled episode blends slick live action footage with 3D interaction, giving the whole experience a distinct high-production cinematic feel. The advergame is uniquely integrated with Facebook Connect, which enables a more personalised experience for Doritos fans by dynamically inserting content from your Facebook profile into the film. It also pushes c0ntent out to Facebook, as a result making the game more social.

We’ve created a number of secret levels and experiences (including the Konami Code) for experienced gamers (not me then…).

Even the support for the campaign is shrouded in mystery – with grassroots seeding and an exclusive blogger outreach programme. A live Twitter feed and Facebook fan page will keep Doritos fans up-to-date with the adventure.

The campaign has only recently launched, and yet Doritos iD3 is already gaining attention on blogs, forums, reviews, and of course Twitter. What’s more, there is high engagement on our Facebook fan page, with hundreds of fans guessing the mystery flavour. It just goes to show that the best ideas are the simple ones, and like Walkers ‘Do us a Flavour‘, they come across as somewhat obvious. Although in reality finding and creating them takes great understanding and insights.  And the activation of the idea has to be engaging and involving.

To guess the mystery flavour and play the game, you’ll need to pick up a special pack of Doritos iD3 – each pack code gives you 6 lives. Seeing as I’m a part of this little project, I do have a few free player codes I’m willing to give away to my readers  (though you can’t win prizes with my dummy codes).

Comments and feedback encouraged as always…