I don't think this is so much of a site launch, as a site I've just noticed.

Help is a pharmaceuticals company with a trendy little site. Kinda like if Nudie/Innocent took over Panadol.

I reckon the web is more in need of better writing than design. And Help delivers. Especially for a company that sells something so un-web2.0 as headache tablets:

Extract from the website:

Coatings and dyes can make a pill look prettier but they don’t really help you with your headache, and that’s what we are trying to do. If you enjoy coatings and dyes, you will have to eat them separately.

Thank you. You have given me relief from my headache without adding to my pain by making me read your overly verbose T's and C's or look at heavily-flared photoshop designed packets.

Nice.

Posted by pete at 03:42 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Site Launch

This is fantastic, and silly, and not an ad.

A chick in Vancouver has painted a giant mural of Wally from 'Where's Wally?' (or 'Where's Waldo?' if you're in America), and has invited people around the world to find him using Google Maps.

Read about it here

Posted by pete at 09:27 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Articles

It wasn't until I saw the milk filled Guitar that I knew I liked the White Gold campaign.

The website has more content than I can comprehend and produced to a level that must have required serious investment.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 11:35 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Viral

I should probably wear these at Cannes. More info here

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 11:04 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Interesting Promotions

The site for the new Dunlop Volleys campaign is the first one in a while where I've actually taken the URL from a poster, and actually visited it. Hey, the system does work!

I've always liked volleys. They're a real basic sweet shoe you can't go wrong with. If you're a kid at school, your mum can buy them at Big W but you still won't get bashed up for it. And if you're an indie inner city skater, you can also wear them without fear of sneaker snobbery.

They've based the whole campaign on a middle aged guy in a knit sweater playing the tunes of classic songs, by making fart noises with his hands (you can't get much more un-snobbery than that eh?). Ending with one of the best taglines I've seen since the 60s: "Volleys - Exceptionally Average".

I like their site too. Nothing amazing about it. But it works, is unoffensive. And is worth a look. Straight into it without any fuss.

Just like the shoes, I spose.

Lovely work (posters, TVC and microsite) from the good guys at Marilyn & Sons.

< /end blatant attempt to score a free pair of dunlop volleys>

Posted by pete at 08:52 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Site Launch

In Internet time, this is now probably old news:

"Video! Video! Video! The rumours are true and “soon” is now. We’re thrilled to introduce video on Flickr. If you’re a pro member, you can now share videos up to 90 glorious seconds in your photostream.

90 seconds? While this might seem like an arbitrary limit, we thought long and hard about how video would complement the flickrverse. If you’ve memorized the Community Guidelines, you know that Flickr is all about sharing photos that you yourself have taken. Video will be no different and so what quickly bubbled up was the idea of “long photos,” of capturing slices of life to share. [...] "

The 90 seconds limit sounds wierd initially, but they have a fair point. We don't need more video sharing sites, we need more cool content.

The video interface looks nice. Interesting to see how it goes.

Posted by pete at 08:36 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Industry News

Ashley reports from his ivory tower once again

We posted in January about the fall in digital stocks in Australia and then again in Feb. Only recently have the print press started following the cases of the listed agencies closely as the stories heats up.

Let's take a look at where they all stand as of April. Those who who have been following will know all that the Opes Prime collapse. This has affected in a small way Hyro, Q Limited and Commquest. Other companies have missed targets and lost millions of dollars so that can't help either.

But all that aside all we want to see is the share price and how each company is performing. I'll start with STW which not only made a tiday profit last year but has seen it's share price swing up.



Mitchels is the only one with potential to go up. But that's only because it's taken a beating hard lately too. It's a long way to get back over $1 and back to square 1.

The rest sadly are all heading downwards. If you sold all your shares in January when I first wanred of the fall you should buy me something nice with all the money you saved.



















It's sad to see all the listed digital companies take such a beating. Will we see one of these giants fold and sell of the pieces or will they all solider on? I guess it's up to the market but confidence must be shaky.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 01:19 AM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Industry News

Sydney hosted it's first Red Bull Flugtag today. The even was a huge success with 50,000+ people cramming into Mrs Macquarie's Point. 45,000 of them in front of me which meant I saw the back of a lot of people's heads. Compared to the Sony Tropfest this on equal par but as Red Bull own this event 100% I think Red Bull got much better value for money. I think we'll see this as a regular event.

There was a few corporate entries with Myspace, Mortein (Louie the Fly), LG, Footy Show, Dirt Magazine

Here's a quick snapshot of the crowd. The entire area was packed with a huge mix of people young and old.

Red Bull now have this event and the Red Bull Air Race both of which encapsulate the brand really well. It also makes Coca-Cola's sponsorship efforts (um what are they?) seem insignificant.

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 09:12 PM | Link to this Article | 3 Comments
Archived in: Interesting Articles

Hi welcome to my Mypace page. But I'm not here! I'm at thisis50.com! That's what users are greeted to when they visit 50 Cent's Myspace page.

While Thisis50.com would be renamed thisisshitty.com as it looks even worse than his Myspace page it's sending out a big message to other bands and artists. Why are the big players leaving Myspace? What does this mean to his 1 million friends. How many will follow to the new site, how many even noticed. Is a friend just a badge like a sticker on your school book or is it something more meaningful like having them on speed dial. I know personally I only added friends as a way to say "yeah I like The Simpsons" I never actually returned to their profile.

I can see labels now asking their marketing teams why their band doesn't have their own social network?!? Do smaller bands without a huge fan base like 50, Pussy Cat Dolls or Kylie will still need the large social network audience? Or does it make it more special that you become part of a small niche "fan club" that reall means something.

More on fiddy's move here

Posted by Ashley Ringrose at 11:30 PM | Link to this Article | Comments
Archived in: Industry News