A nice presentation on immersive branding

I found this website called Under The Influence through Christiaen Verschaeren's Twitter updates (subscribe to the man!). It's a series of presentations in pubs by incredibly interesting people.

Must. Have. Web presence.

Three nights in the world famous Dublin Castle. Three killer headline acts. One iconic beer brand as host. And since yesterday morning, a new online home for Heineken Music’s Green Energy.

Marketing Magazine Jan'08

Boondoggle Dublin bringing the 'conversation economy' er... conversation to the Irish marketing community in Ireland's Marketing Magazine in January .

Meanwhile in Dublin

Waking up this morning as an award winning agency in Ireland really takes the edge off a Champagne hangover.

We had planned to keep drinking water between glasses of wine, but when you win your first Irish Digital Media Award, in the best website design ahead of some of big names in the Irish digital and interactive scene, well, your plans for constant hydration kind of take a back seat to serious celebrating.

So, in that cheesy Oscar way, we'd like to thank BT2 our brave client-partners, who sat beside us last night and watched us sweat (literally) as the nominations were read out. The BT2 guys don't just talk about taking risks with their brand they practice it. And both our nominations - artdublin.ie and our award winning digital brand platform  bt2.ie in the same category - really prove that.

It's nice to be a winner.

Art really does have a heart...

What happens when your client is a brand who doesn't believe in staying between the lines? What happens when the brand is itself innately creative and widely regarded as a youth culture force in Ireland? What happens when such a brand wants to 'do art' with a sense of credibility and authenticity that won't come off as yet another corporate activism crusade?

Welcome to BT2... and ArtDublin07 - part exhibition, part art sale, but with all proceeds going to support the homeless charity Focus Ireland, all about a bigger picture.

60 emerging and established contemporary artists, working across a variety of mediums created over 300 individual artworks dealing with that most emotive and complex of ideas 'Home'. Taking over BT2's flagship Grafton Street store, ArtDublin, now established as a leading creative and cultural event on the Irish calendar, is what we technically call a 'Big Gig'! 

One of the great things about this job and industry are briefs like ArtDublin and brands like BT2 - as a creative organization themselves BT2 understand the power of the conversation economy in shaping their brands ability to go beyond the ordinary.

As human beings they realize the power of their brand and their creatively attuned audience to make a difference, to start a wider conversation based on creativity, community and communication.

Boondoggle were to be able to generate and bring the 'Home is where the Art is' proposition  to life across a number of activities and touch-points, ranging from creative conceptualization, visual identity develop and off line design support right through to developing the online 'home' for the idea, the art, the artists and the cause.

Call that what you will: digitally led integration, channel neutrality, 'full service', 'through the line' thinking, whatever... we prefer see it as proof positive of a great idea's ability to work anywhere.

But what we're even prouder of is working with BT2 and Focus Ireland to make a difference.

BT2 Rocks!

   
They really, really do.

Election2.0 (how not to do it)

Our health minister in Ireland starts a conversation.  She then get's an immediate response .

The most influential Irish blog takes a 'balanced' approach. Who do you think is creating the bigger vibe?

It's an election, yes, but not as we know it!

i-merge Ireland in Marketing magazine

Me, writing about Reality2.0  and shifting strategies in Marketing magazine - Irelands leading marketing business publication.

The article is an edited version of the original I wrote just before Christmas.

Labour Pains

Couple of months back, I alluded to a subtle change in how Irish political parties may address the electorate for the upcoming general election.

The Irish Labour Party are first out of the blocks with this - dipping their toe into the digital arena, hoping to inject some much need 'interactivity' into Irish Politics.

Initial response from Irish digitalized audience has... er... been less than positive

I'm sitting on the fence on this attempt by Labour. By this I mean, I want to like it. I feel I should say something positive about this engagement strategy - but really I just can't. It feels false. Contrived. Top down. The idea has something  - but the execution leaves me cold, univolved and Labour feel remote.

Question: why didn't they give ordinary voters video cameras to make their own Quality of Life 'diaries'. I mean, where's the ordinary voters reality? Why isn't the site open to people in a meaningful way. You want to start the debate online than that demands you partner... you don't 'preach'.

Here's a small hint for Labour strategists up on Ely Place - just because you upload what is essentially a campaign broadcast online before you broadcast in the traditional media doesn't change the fact that it still feels, looks, sounds and smells like a campaign broadcast from Pat Rabbitt.

Authenticity in engagement, folks, that's where it's at.

Agency2.0, anyone?

Seems UK digital agencies are having to rethink what being an agency in a Web2.0 (or a Reality2.0) context really means.

NMA  (15-02-07) carries a story the I believe undescores the real challenges facing all agencies dealing with the digital dimension - when creativity and technology collides, who wins? And how do we bridge the gap between tech-solution focus, digital creativity and media?

This comes on the heels of the British agency DNA appointing it's former head on interface design as Creative Director. DNA's MD explained the appointment in a what I'm calling 'creativity applied' fashion outlining that creativity from a digital agency perspective means more than just creative 'product' and that this 'creativity applied' is becoming more about the creative thought required in terms of building technology based platforms and solutions for clients.

Naturally 'Creative' agencies see it differently - with one MD describing the gap as being based around 'it's the difference between what you can do - and what the consumer wants' (my emphasis).

A couple of weeks back myself and Tom de Bruyne talked briefly about this very issue  - referencing it with the Reality2.0 thinking I had expanded on from Tom's thinking on Marketing2.0 and Web2.0 issues.

The big question for my money is going to be what will the term 'digital' agency mean? Why? Because we're seeing end of 'mindless integration' which means technology based shops are going to move into the 'creative' space more agressively. In turn, I believe 'Creative' shops are also going to have to make the leap to becoming more 'discipline' driven and look at expanding their strategic marketing and brand guardianship abilities.

Within this the final element how will media agencies like Mindshare, Universal McCann etc. move within the channel/discipline debate  - will the continue to  approach digital as a stand alone channel silo rather than a point of integration (thanks Tom!).

Don't believe me? Look at WPP - they've just launched WPP Digital as a centrally planned initiative to maximise pan-group digital potential and opportunities  - spanning the technology-creative-media divide across companies like Wunderman, Ogilvy, JWT, Goodtech, Visible Technologies, JumpTap and Mindshare-Interactive.

This whole debate kinda reminds me of 'Funky Inc.' - the fictional, virtual, hetrodoxical company model espoused by Ridderstrale and Nordstrom in 'Funky Business'.

  Agency2.0 debate.