Round-up 17//06//08

TALKS / COURSES
Online Marketing Show 24th + 25th June – this is FREE guys, some of us should definitely go. Including a variety of talks including: Creative Directors showcase, Marketing through Social Networks, Widgets / Web Apps.

TELECOMMS
Orange to launch innovative virtual balloon race. Nice new Sony Ericsson G700. The negative impact of the iPhone on other carriers and makers.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Social networking site Bebo has commissioned a 2nd series of online TV show Sofia's Diary starring the 17-year old Sofia and her friends at college and work. Sofia’s Diary which was sponsored by Unilever’s Sure Girl deodorant first time round was also broadcast on digital TV station Fiver where it attracts 250k viewers. Channel 4 has turned to Facebook and Bebo to trigger interest in Big Brother 9 with a Facebook fan page and application which users can use to watch and rate the show + get news as it breaks. Research by Thinkbox and the IAB shows that using TV and online together in ad campaigns can result in 47% more positivity about a brand. The research also shows that the likelihood of buying or using a product increases by more than 50% when the two channels are used together…really interesting article debating in-house vs. out-sourcing when it comes to the production of engaging digital content at a time when agencies such as AKQA are setting up film departments in-house. From Nada - a clever campaign from Penguin that tells stories through Google Maps + Twitter...oooh.

GREEN STUFF
Innocent is running its ‘buy one get one tree’ campaign again which plants a tree for every bottle of Innocent bought. The site also includes digital badges, Facebook widgets and information on UK forest walks. Here's what Contagious has to say about it. Discovery Channel have launched a Planet Green channel. At a time of real concern for the number of plastic bottles hitting landfill (which take 150 years to decompose!), research shows that the UK is the fastest growing bottled-water market. To attempt to reverse this trend, the Evening Standard launched the Water on tap campaign alongside Mayor Ken (Boris continues to support it) encouraging London restaurants to pledge to offer tap water as standard to make drinking tap water more socially acceptable.

WII-NOVATION
You can now use your Wii remote to create street art with Wii-graffiti. Quit smoking with Alan Carr, Ubisoft and DS:

JUST COOL / CLEVER STUFF
Customise your moleskin. Clever advertising for Alzheimers charity in South Africa. Clever and simple. A site where you can find movie title screens – might come in useful one day?!

THE WORLD WIDE WEB
Apple launches films on iTunes. A really impactful video and website for charity, the girl effect which aims to empower females in poverty-striken countries. Coldplay preview new album on MySpace. To support new release Adulthood – the sequel to last year’s Kidulthood, Pathe has created a Facebook fan page offering ‘fans’ the chance to win screening tickets and access exclusive content such as trailers and film stills. This is genius – NZ campaign to encourage reading (and slacking at work) with book scripts presented in powerpoint. The Green Room + E.I have launched a new microsite for Christian Aid called ctrl.alt.shift. Ctrl.alt.shift differentiates Christian Aid from other charities by not just asking for money but by empowering people to make a difference with matters they’re really passionate about - giving them a voice and a platform to express it in a way that reaches + inspires others. The community-based site asks its users to create content that helps raise awareness of the various issues that Christian Aid supports, with the best being posted to the site. The initiative is being supported by top music names, Estelle and Sway.

YOOF
The Ruby Pseudo blog has these great timelines to show what’s pertinent + personal to kids’ aged between 11-16, broken down by year: 11-12's / 12-13's / 14-15's / 15-16's
Interesting Mobile youth Marketing to Generation Y presentation. And even better than that, MTV Asia has written this great pres on youth behaviour – full of great stats and insights.

CAKES
F*^k off-off. I noticed on W+K’s blog that they’ve had bake-offs and Jack-offs, and last week they held a Muff-off. And sources tell me that Iris often hold bake-offs – and while I know we’re planning a bank holiday Jerk-off, I can’t help thinking we need to avoid the whole ‘off-ing’ thing. So wrack your brains for thoughts on how we can each demonstrate our creative talents in a fun way that brings us all together. Alternatively we could take the bake-off thing to a new level of wholesome’ness and do it for Breast Cancer Care who’s asking people to hold strawberry picnics this June.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Looks cool - Clive Boursnell exhibition on historic london. And another exhibition about the last few months of the Routemaster in London. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY next week - so I'm going here on Friday if anyone would like to join me for a night of pass the parcel, limbo + burlesque...no, really!

JUST WEIRD
Jeeeezus.

One for Lucy – social media (baby book) for babies.