Foursquare Used to Steal Agency Talent

Admitting it isn't at the top of the list when it comes to digital agencies, EURO RSCG Brussels set out to change that by becoming the most visible virtual agency. How? It set out to check in on Foursquare at 42 of its rivals until it became mayor. When it did, it posted the mayorship on Facebook along with a message encouraging area creatives to join the agency to help make it better. Sadly, no word on whether or not the effort actually paid off.

more »

Browser Address Bar Becomes Ad Space

For their client Cellcom, McCann Erikson Israel invented a new advertising space to promote the brand's teen-focused First Love website. Cute little love messages - followed by a promotional message for the site - were displayed in the address bar next to the site's URL. See it in action here.

Speedo Hopes to Eradicate Improper Use of its Swimwear

We may never be able to educate those crazy European bathers (or Donny Deutsch) that Speedos are specifically designed for competitive swimmers and not 45 year old men who wish they were 25 but this new work from New York-based Syrup might help. The agency, part of LBi Group, has launched The Speedo Club, a site on which the lithe muscles and bodies of competitive swimmers are highlighted.

On the site, videos illustrate muscle movements and proper swim form. Visitors to the site can join a community and create "swim teams," study training modules to improve their own swimming and download a mobile app that can log workouts. ANd, of course, there's the latest styles of swimwear to be perused as well.

Interactive Ecommerce Advertising is the New Normal

This contributed article is authored by Kirk Davis, EVP and Co-Founder of Liquidus, a solution which connects with a marketers database and places relevant information in online banners in real time.

For consumers who use smartphones or tablets to manage more and more of their daily lives, they expect a certain level of interaction. Images and content are expected to be dynamic and can be expanded or manipulated at will. This desire contrasts sharply to the model of online advertising that remains a flat and static image combined with text. Interactive online ads are a dynamic alternative that are improving in quality at a rapid pace, moving towards custom-produced commercials that give consumers access to the right product in less time.

more »

Girl Travels Across Internet in Search of Magnum Ice Cream

So we've seen iterations of the site-to-site travel thing before but we really like the way Unilever went about this site jumper for Magnum ice cream. The purpose of the game is to catch as many pieces of Magnum ice cream as fast as you can as you traverse across a collection of websites. The site was promoted on MSN sites around the world.

The game highlights the brand's "for pleasure seekers" approach by sending the player across a multitude of pleasure-related websites. Though it takes a while to get to the end of the road, the trip is quite engaging and catching all the pieces of ice cream gets a bit harder as you move along.

Google, R/GA, W+K Win Cyber Grand Prixes

Wednesday night during the Lions Awards at Cannes, Google was awarded a Grand Prix for its Wilderness Downtown site for Arcade Fire. R/GA won a Grand Prix for its Pay With A Tweet work for Innovative Thunder and Wieden + Kennedy won a Grand Prix for the Old Spice Body Wash Response Campaign.

For Wilderness Downtown, Google released a new Chrome Experiment in partnership with the band Arcade Fire which resulted in an interactive music video for the band and a chance to demonstrate HTML5 programming technology. By drawing on data from Google Maps and Google Streetview, The Wilderness Downtown integrated visuals of the viewer's childhood home into the narrative, creating a unique, emotional experience. Spread across multiple browser windows that opened and closed as the experienced progressed, The Wilderness Downtown worked towards changing the way the web (and music) can make people feel.

R/GA's Pay With A Tweet was an attempt to create a social payment system where people would use the value of their tweet to spread the word about a product and, in return, get the product.

Wieden + Kennedy's Old Spice Body Wash Response campaign resulted in dozens and dozens of customized videos featuring Isiah Mustafah who responded to people's tweet, videos, emails and blog posts.

'Unstaged' Delivers Ultimate Digital Concert Experience

Digitas' The NEWFRONT 2011, showcased 'Unstaged' where brand meets content on the digital frontier to bring in-concert and at-home viewing experiences to it's greatest heights yet. Proving that the music experience is alive and well; transforming to deliver music everywhere the fans are and in ways that they want to hear it.

"Unstaged", is a series featuring breakthrough artists playing at landmark venues across the country, while tapping influential filmmakers to direct the live-streams and infusing digital & social media to connect the online audience to the live shows in unexpected ways. The series kick-off featured the musical genius of John Legend & the Roots teamed with the always surprising Spike Lee.

Read the rest on Yahoo! Scene

Marc Jacobs Makes Sailor Backpacks Now, and If You Get One, You Could Be Like This Guy.

Quirky yet delightful Spanish firm PeSeta has partnered with designer Marc Jacobs to produce the Marc Jacobs PeSeta Sailor Backpack, a harmonious marriage of sailor utility and sailor kitschy-chic.

And what better way to promote a line of sailor bags than with a sailor having an ass-shaking bag-inspired fetish fest all over a dock? At least that's what one of their ad people must have been thinking, and evidently the whole world unanimously agreed, because they gave us this magnificent piece of work.

more »

Go From Intern to WINtern With Little Debbie (Deux!)

Agency interns, take heed! Observing that you are hard-working, underpaid and apparently extremely hungry, Little Debbie's holding its second annual Intern Hero contest.

The prize: piles and piles of breakfast yummies. The demand: create a sign asking Little Debbie to send you breakfast -- the more creative, the better. Snap a photo of yourself with the sign inside or outside your office.

The conditions: you must be an employed intern, over 18 and a US resident.

Entries wrap July 18, 2011, so whip out your Sharpie quick if you want to win you some Blueberry Creme Rolls! Here's more on how to enter.

Good consistent social work (not in the Precious sense, though) by Luckie & Co.

Ken Leaves Barbie Over Compulsive Deforestation

Remember Greenpeace's zealous campaign to get KitKat parent Nestle to stop killing orangutans? New year, new take on the mission.

This time, the target of Greenpeace's gleefully effective marketing is Mattel, whose low-cost packaging options contribute to deforestation in Indonesia. The weapon of choice? Barbie's off-again, on-again beau Ken, who, well, isn't into dating "serial killers" (no, not even the kind with exploding conical bras).

more »