Media Watch recently covered a few media gaffes and sighted one of our examples from our Media Gaffe section.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 01:31 PM | Link to this Article | 2 Comments
Archived in: Media Gaffes

We're just 1% behind in the webbys with 3 days to go. We can do it with your support. So all those people that havent voted as it's too much hassle to enter your email and click a link please pull your finger out and vote.

We're nominated in the Business Blog category.

And to all those that have voted thank you. We've come from 11% behind to almost snaring the win.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 06:27 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Awards

In an effort to make our lives easier and also get your banner posted here's a few tips on submitting banners to Bannerblog. 1: Name the files something obvious. brand_box_468x60.swf. We have many 468x60.swfs and have to rename them. 2: Try to avoid the 1000x1000 in situ banner unless it's important to the concept.. The banner by itself is what we prefer but if you need to show it on a page make it under 600x600 is you can. Good Examples: here & here 3: Supply Translations for all non english banners. No hablamos español! 4: One file is easiest for expanding banners. We can't easily set up the banners to limit ate Eyeblaster, Atlas, Pointroll or Tangozebra. So for us a demo that works on your desktop is the kind of files we like best. Note: We haven't published a few purely for this reason 5: If you banner uses .FLV video please supply a link to a ZIP file or send us all the files. 6: If your banner uses live data please allow www.bannerblog.com.au in the servers crossdomain file. More info here Note: The flash person who built the banner will know what we mean. 7: We don't reply to every email we receive. (Please, don't repeatedly send until we do reply) We also don't post every banner we receive. (Sorry them's the breaks) We also sometimes post banners months later (They get lost in the mail so to speak) 8: We don't post .GIF's unless they are amazing. 9: Please supply Agency name and country with submissions. Note: We will occasionally credit the wrong agency or forget to. Please don't get angry just send us an email and we'll fix it ASAP. 10: We normally credit the main agency for the work. If you were the production company we'll credit you in the comment.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 09:41 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: BB News

The In book and nominations for D&AD 2007 have been announced. Check the PDF here.

Will there be another black pencil winner this year? There were quite a few good campaigns so it's looking good.

The only Aussie winner in digital was Leo Burnett (iLeo) with Turtle. which is also a One Show finalist.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 02:52 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Awards

Great article here about the 12 different breeds of client. Don't worry is also goes through the pros of some of these breeds. We've all worked and work with a few of these.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 10:51 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Articles

As seen on Adrants. Google is to buy Doubleclick for $3.1 Billion. Twice what they paid for Youtube and their biggest acquisition yet.

This gives Google instant access to display advertising and with the recent Tangozebra acquisition means they now have a direct competitor to Eyeblaster, Pointroll and the other rich banner serving solutions. We'll see how this affects the industry in the next 12 months.

Also in a round-a-bout way this site is now sponsored by a Google company.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 03:05 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Industry News

Hyundai have launched a new competition called Mash and Seek which will mash up your face with 3 other random entrants. The first team of 4 people to correctly identify all team members wins a car each.

It's a confusing premise for a comp (people are confused by the format of Grindhouse) but it should generate a lot of activity. You'll need to make yourself visible and be on the lookout for other people participating in the comp. I wonder how Myspace, Facebook and the like will play a part in this. I'm not sure on the mechanics on how identifying the person will be done but it would be as simple as entering their email address to confirm.

Let's see how this one pans out. The game needs a large number of entrants to make it work properly but I like the original thinking behind it.

Oh and if you are a contestant please let us know how you're going.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 07:25 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Promotions

To promote her new book "No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July" the author herself has created the website to promote the book.

It breaks all the rules but sometimes you need to do that to stand out.

I haven't been this impressed by a low tech, original idea since I saw Will it Blend?.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 11:02 AM | Link to this Article | 1 Comments
Archived in: Interesting Promotions

I vaugly remember posting a banner with a wierd celebrity in it but at this time can't remember. Until then enjoy this gem from Japan.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 10:42 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Promotions

It's about this time I realised I'm a nerd. That I was excited (and waiting for) 1337 comments on the blog.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 08:31 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: BB News

With the explosion of Myspace and SecondLife BS filling up your inbox last year, we're interested as to what the next big thing will be in 2007.

We're currently road testing the three new "tools" shown above and will have a short report in the next few weeks.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 07:53 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Articles

We're chuffed to be nominated for a Webby Award in Blog - Business We'd love to get your vote in the People's Voice awards.

We'll be posting the best banners from the Webbys over the next 2 weeks aswell. There's quite a few goodies that we haven't seen before, so it's a win for everyone.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 08:43 PM | Link to this Article | 2 Comments
Archived in: Awards

I finally had time over the Easter Long weekend to sit down and check out Joost.

Now rather than go into the pros and cons of this new tech I'll show you how to experience Joost without having to download the program.

Take $20, go to your nearest Blockbuster (or independent video retailer) and ask them where the 20c weekly movies are. Then with your $20 spend all you have on the cheapest movies you can find. Don't worry about genres or titles just pick a few from everywhere. Take them home and pile them up with the spines visible.

Now sit back and tell yourself it's the future of TV.

Ok seriously though, now to actually be a little constructive with my feedback:

Joost is currently in Beta so it's still a little rough but with the content available right now it's probably a few good months away.

Adverts: The adverts have no intelligence to them and interrupt the shows at odd times. I was told they would be geo targeted but I saw 5 T-Mobile ads and I have no idea how to get a T-Mobile. Following that I had a heaps of Garnier ads on the GameStar TV channel? If they can Geo Target it and they have no relevant advertisers then don't show me anything.

Lack of Features:
There didn't seem to be a "favs" or "to watch" list. Unlike TV, I expected to plan a play list of shows I wanted to watch then site back. But I found myself constantly getting bored then flicking through the channel listings. I spend longer looking for good content than actually sitting back watching it.

Then there are feature which seem useless like Chat. Don't just add features in because you can, concentrate on what it's meant to be good at then expand from there. I'd prefer to read peoples reviews or comments on a piece of video like on Youtube. You watch and then read the comments. Some of the time you find out interesting tid bits about the video, a lot of the time its just banter but it still adds to the experience.

Show Info:
Most of the content is supplied with very little data. This may be due to it being so old, but having a gaming channel with no date as to when this show aired is useless. I don't want to hear about a crap game released in 2005. And what if I want more info on a movie above the supplied sentence?

All in all to me it feels really sloppy. It feels clunky and it's boring.

Oh, and for those that feel they are missing out here's the quality of TV on the Sci Fi Channel. The almost complete series of Total Recall 2070. it wasn't good in 1999 and it certainly isn't any good now.

Has anyone had a different experience with Joost? Maybe I'm jaded or expected more or at least enough to keep me interested for longer than it took to type this.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 07:18 PM | Link to this Article | 3 Comments
Archived in: Technology

Hosting a art/design competition isn't just for brands like Red Bull and and Pepsi. Now even brands like Tupperware are getting in on the act.

Art of Can
The Red Bull Can entries are for me the most exciting and varied. It's quote amazing to see what can be done with one base element and some imagination.

Translations in Tupperware
With the variety of products that Tupperware offer it should be easier to create something special. Entries close August 31st so there's plenty of time to get creative. Click here to view last years winners

I still remember my mum hosting Tupperware parties in the 80's. Do people still do that now or is it all Mary Kay these days?

Designer Glass
Bombay Sapphire has been running it's Design Glass competition annually and while it doesn't use the actual product itself the entries are created for the act of drinking it so I think this counts. The entries must also be functional glasses used for drinking which adds an extra element of difficulty above the previous two comps as they just need to look "cool".

Design Our Pepsi Can
Pepsi have gone design crazy with 35 different can designs and a comp calling for people to design their can aptly titles Design our Pepsi Can. They even created a site for the designs called Pepsi gallery. Don't hold your breath for a travelling exhibition for any of the designs. The winning can will receive $10,000 and have their design displayed on 500 million Pepsi cans.

These types of comps, when done right, can be a great way for people to engage with your brand.

Are there any other "art of the product" competitions I've missed?

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 10:11 PM | Link to this Article | 1 Comments
Archived in: Interesting Promotions

I think of blogs these days as Digital Puppies. Everyone loves a digital puppy but after a few months of having one you realise they are a lot of work to look after. Once the sparkle has worn off many are put to sleep, others are just mistreated and eventually die a lonely death.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 07:22 PM | Link to this Article | 3 Comments
Archived in: Buzz Words

AdNews in Australia has launched a new digital advertising focused blog called Digital Watch, touted as "designed to get your digital dollar working harder".

It's interesting the blog resides on the GPY&R URL and seems anonymous as to who actually is posting the articles. How can I judge the merit of a negative post about a project which for all I know could have been written by the receptionist.

Also by branding the blog so heavily with GPY&R they may alienate many other agencies/competitors. I made a conscious decision not to make Bannerblog a Soap Creative product. It was important for the blog to be unbiased and seen to promote online advertising and not my agency.

But my little rant aside it s a good step for the Australian press to cover more digital work which has been lacking in the past. We'll see how this blog pans out.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 06:57 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Articles

We quickly posted another banner to put us up to 667 banners as it's bad luck for blogs to sit on 666 posts for too long.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 10:54 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: BB News

I never added this one to the archive, and was reminded of it recently. Very nice post production / foley job, distributed online.

Click here to view the ecard.

Posted by phil at 09:02 AM | Link to this Article | 1 Comments
Archived in: Viral

I missed this submission (my email's a mess) for the Agency Xmas card article but I thougth it was too good not to post here.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 09:23 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Viral

Here's an interesting promotion for Doritos chips called Fight for the Flavour. Similar to the BK Chicken Fight this pits two new flavors against each other in a multiplayer fighting game. They also want you to vote on which flavor you like with the winning flavor staying on as a regular.

The art direction and flash work is great and the game is quite good. Worth checking out.

Below is the stop motion TVC which is quite fun too. Oh and those who can't get enough brands as their friends on Myspace you can check out the Myspace profile here.

Full TVC credits can be found here.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 08:20 PM | Link to this Article | 2 Comments
Archived in: Interesting Promotions

I had a discussion with someone about wanting to see the making of the Get the Glass site on the weekend and hey presto my wish has come true.

Click here to view the behind the scene photos, initial mockups and some early renders. I had no idea they actually made a scale model of the island! Insane!

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 07:58 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Articles

I love this embedable widget. Some are NSFW though so you have been warned.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 10:29 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Viral

The biggest expense for all agencies is staff wages and add to this the cost of advertising and training for new staff and it really cuts into your bottom line.

From what I've seen there are three main ways to attract and keep good talent within your agency.

1: Money:
You can't deny the power of money. Larger agencies usually can offer more money to talent than their smaller competitors and thus attract some of the best people. There's many agencies that wouldn't have anyone working with them if they wern't getting paid like royalty.

2: Creativity Potential:
Not everyone is motivated by money. Some agencies rely on their reputation to produce good work, great clients and win awards to attract and retain staff. It's hard to leave a wining team.

3: Culture:
Money and awards are all good but if you're staff are not having fun or are slowly killing yourself one brief at a time then you'll end up burning them all out. Some agencies rely on the team culture and good working environment to attract and retain staff.

The best agencies are the ones that utilize all three. A good example is Google. While not an agency it seems to have ticked all the right boxes when it comes to how to treat staff.

Is your agency special?
Please tell us how your agency does something different to keep staff happy or attract new staff. Anything beyond the yearly ski trip would be great. I''ll then do a followup article and showcase each agency. So free advertising for all.

The reason for this article is that I saw Fantasy Interactive advertising for staff on TheFWA. The ad showed the team at a ski trip and then various photos from regular outings. It was different and even though they do award wining work they focussed on what they can offer above their competitors.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 06:15 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Articles

The most annoying banner for 2007 so far is this upbeat Easter special for Hallmark. This audio version was activated on rollover and sadly I can't recreate that effect easily, so I thought I'd subject everyone to the same problem I have right now and that's "getitng the song out of my head".

Click here to view the banner.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 06:07 PM | Link to this Article | 2 Comments
Archived in: Campaigns