Grantham is my hood and this is where I be for the rest of the week, as I attempt to write my first mini, factual, insightful adventure.  First I need to get into the mood so I whip off my socks to unleash those size 10 surfboards and lay them to rest on the spongy cream carpet.  There is a cup of Tetley Tea to my right, and a couple of ‘Nice’ biscuits to my left. I’m ready.

The adventure will be called, ‘London to Edinburgh via York, Pickering, Grosmont, Whitby, Middlesbrough, Newcastle.’

It’s time to put all those letters, words and fragmented sentences to use.  Good use.  I’ve never written an adventure before so I’m not sure how long it will take.  I’m hoping to get this done within a couple of weeks.  Want to get it right.In the mean time, feast your eyes on some photography that I captured during my trek up north.

More images HERE.

O yeah, I almost forgot again.  We won gold at the Campaign Big Awards for our Barclaycard Waterslide online work, including the i-Phone game.  You can see the moment captured on CCTV below.

]]> http://bitchbag.co.uk/2009/09/22/epileptics-worst-nightmare/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:28:43 +0000 bitchbag http://bitchbag.co.uk/2009/09/22/epileptics-worst-nightmare/

Here is a very ‘boss’, yet pointless link from the all mighty Flo Heiss.

Click HERE and prepare yourself for a mesmerizing experience.

The mouse control makes me hard.

He may be dead, but his inspiration will live on forever.

Is advertising to blame for binge drinking?

Below is what Flo Heiss thought…

Re: Is advertising to blame?

Is the English language responsible for swearwords?

Is the pan responsible for food poisoning?

Is the telephone is responsible for blackmail?

Is the internet to blame for porn?

GMTV = Daily Mail TV.

Bazil has made the big time.

Ok, The Sun.

Join his flickr group to see more photo crashes, or even to add your own.

I thought I was getting spammed on Friday and that someone had managed to get hold of my Twitter account. I was getting about 20 people an hour adding me but I didn’t have time to delve in so headed off to The Big Chill Festival, deciding it could wait. Why add me? Good question. It’s only tat on there and nothing meaningful.

Turns out I ended up in Revolution managazine’s Top Ten Tweeters. Concerns over. Sort of.

However how did they make up this list? I mean it REALLY is tat that I write about. Our lovely Social Media Planner Helen Lawrence was in there last week which makes sense and this our big creative boss was too; Flo Heiss – he should be in there as anyone searching for the Giant Squid should be.

Anyway, let’s see what all of these new people have to say for themselves.

‘But it’s crap’

‘Twitter?’

‘Yeah. It’s garbage’

‘Well you’re using it wrong then. And while you’re at it, stop taking everything so serious’

I’m squeezing in this post whilst at work, so will keep it short, simple and delightful.

1. We did an iPhone game for Barclaycard.

2. It’s now number 1 in the top 10 ‘free apps’ chart (see below)

3. We are very happy.

CLICK HERE

I heart blogging and the only reason, to which my blog has suffered recently, with the lack of new posts, is that… wait… is that… I’ve been busy.  Ok, what a shite excuse, but it’s the truth.

Fresh out of A&E, a slight concussion is currently making me uber scatty.

There is no hero story, just the fact that I shut the car boot with my head in it.

Not in a gangster way, but poncy way.

Here is a visual account to why I’ve been too busy to blog.

Explanation is in my draft box.

So it’s been a long time coming but the Pipe and Slippers at Dare is finally open.

Pipe & Slippers

A space for all Dare folk to congregate, drink and be merry. Maybe have a meeting or two as well but definitely the former I think. In keeping with the importance of the event, there was only one person befitting the occasion and that was our very own chairman John Bartle and Flo Heiss was on hand with his trusty N95 to capture (after a few red wine’s) the moment.

John Bartle makes it official

Of course Mr Dare himself, Mark Collier gave the lead up speech and was there to lead the celebrations with a glass of fine wine.

fine wine in hand

All in all, a rather fab afternoon and here’s to many a fun day/eve in the Pipe & Slippers.

]]> http://marcbresseel.com/2008/02/11/195/ Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:50:16 +0000 Marc Bresseel http://marcbresseel.com/2008/02/11/195/

Think one of your recent advertising campaigns has stretched the creative, innovative and strategic boundaries of possible? Time you enter the 4th edition of our Creative Awards -rebranded by partner agency Johnson Banks- the Mouse Awards.

• Who can participate: any European media/advertising agencies running their campaigns on the Microsoft network (see complete rules )
• 5 Competition categories: Charity&NGO, Consumer goods, Financial services, Teleoms, Media&Entertainement, Transport&Travel
• 3 Success key criteria to elect winners: strategic approach, innovation and creativity (+ special prize for Microsoft Advertising advertising network best integration)
• Prizes: 3 cash prizes + First winner receiving a trip to the Cannes Festival in June to compete for the Cyber Lions award
• When: entries are open. Submit yours till March, 10th
• More questions?

Personally I have enjoyed judging twice with different groups of talented – and most of the time also pretty stubborn and opinionated – creatives. This year will be no different. I am looking forward to meet them all again – so here’s to the judges:

Good luck to all. Will see the winner in Cannes

I have long dreamed about doing interactive videos in the literal sense. A video you can totally interact with. Look around, move, etc.

This is getting pretty close.

http://adn.blam.be/papervision/

I can see many applications, game, etc. coming out of it. But as it’s on the web, first come first served. The first one to use it cleverly for his client will get a Cannes lion.

Game on!

Originally found on Flo Heiss’s blog, the Way Things Go.

Two weeks ago I was due to go to Budapest for the judging of our third annual Creative Awards. As things go in life: those you want most are most difficult to get to… So Murphy showed up with a last minute urgency and I had to send a replacement to join the fun group of creative directors having a blast – and hot debates – in Budapest. Quick stats: impressive 327 entries were received, 30% more than last year. However, only nine awards were given, from a possible 15, across five categories. It’s been a tough judging panel and I like that. They felt that the quality of some entries did not stand up to the level of innovation that we have seen in past years. So fewer awards and no best in show award being given. There was a sense at the judging that the lack of innovation across some categories was down to increasing pressures on digital creatives to get work done and online, with less time available for real innovation to be demonstrated and shine through. The following campaigns stood out and received the recognition they deserved from the judging panel:

• Consumer Goods/FMCG: Clean and Clear’s ‘Get Your Face Out There’ Windows Live Messenger campaign, entered by Tribal DDB London, scooped the silver award in the Consumer Goods / FMCG category for its focus on interactivity and its relevance and appeal to the target teenage girl audience. Bronze was awarded to Carat and iChameleon for the Guinness Hands campaign. There was no gold award given in this category.
• Telecoms, Media and Entertainment: Gold was awarded to Lean Mean Fighting Machine for the extremely well executed Virgin Games Casino campaign. The concepts behind the ads were praised for their humorous appeal and effectiveness. The judges did not feel that any of the other campaigns sufficiently pushed the boundaries of creativity to merit second or third prize in this category.
• Travel and Transport: BBDO Oslo and MediaFront in Norway scooped the Gold award in this hotly debated category. Awarded for its Christmas Campaign for Widerøe Flyveselskap, the campaign was praised for its tongue in cheek tone and broad appeal. Silver went to Glue London for its Da Vinci code for Eurostar campaign. The creative use of a series of different executions resulted in an engaging, visible and highly memorable campaign. The Bronze award went to Agency.com in Belgium for its humorous Fake Events campaign for Eurostar.
• Financial Services: Financial services brands are embracing online more than ever before but the awards given this year demonstrate there is still a way to go before this sector totally embraces the creativity of online. The judges awarded bronze to Glue London for its Say Yes campaign for Virgin which sets the precedent for other brands to embrace creativity in this sector.
• As with the Telecoms, Media and Entertainment category there were no gold or silver awards given.
• Charity/NGO: There was a vast improvement in the campaigns entered into this category and those awarded are raising the standards for others to push creativity and innovation in this sector. Silver was awarded to Lean Mean Fighting Machine for its COI Anti Smoking campaign and the innovative and engaging use of interactivity. Two bronze awards were given too – one to Glue London for the Royal Navy recruitment campaign, and the other to Euro RSCG 4D Digital for its Paranoid campaign for the Department of Communities and Local Government.

As always all winning campaigns were awarded with cash prizes and all Gold winning campaigns will be entered into the coveted 2007 Cannes Cyber Lions Awards and their creators invited to the festival, which Microsoft Advertising is sponsoring for the sixth year running.

THANKS to all judging members, Joakim Borgstrom (Chairman) – Wieden + Kennedy, Ben Clapp – Tribal DDB London, Benjamin Przespolewski – Duke, Flo Heiss – Dare, Georg Lauble – McCann Erikson, Johan Kruse – Daddy, Martin Kristensen – Framfab, Sicco Beerda – Euro RSCG, Simon Waterfall – Poke, Daniele Busi – DDB Milan, Vincent Jansen – i-Merge, Vidar Singh – Bates. And thanks to David Pugh-Jones and Emma Newman from our teams for standing in for me