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Design competition for Switzerland’s currency!

Marissa — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:05:39 +0000

The theme was called “Switzerland open to the world.”

In the beginning of 2005, as a part of the development for a new design for the look of their currency, a competition was launched.

Twelve artists were invited to take part in the challenge for designing all six denominations on the theme mentioned above.

The first place winner was Krebs Manuel from Zurich and his designs pictured here.

You may view the other designs here.

Twitter Trends

Simon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:06:11 +0000

There’s a new online tool that combines Twitter with Google Maps to give a visual layout of what people are talking about all over the world. Called Trendsmap, this tool provides real-time mapping of Twitter topics–so you can find out what people are Tweeting about right now, in any location.

What to know what people are talking about in Boston? In Mumbai? Just type your city into the search bar and start clicking. It’s a great way to stay on top of trends and hot topics. And it’s also just plain cool.

Facebook Fury

nshah — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:48:37 +0000

If you haven’t heard yet, Facebook attempted to change their Terms of Use under the radar to say that they OWN everything on Facebook, even if you cancel your account. Needless to say the 150 million users were not happy about the new terms saying Facebook owned their information for “forever”. The response was immense in the fight against the new terms of use. 64,000 users joined a group to fight it and thousands of people canceled their accounts.

I think its remarkable to see what an effect this has had on the social networks and how quick users are to react – in a matter of a day or two, online protests became a fury and forced Facebook to make a change. Amazingly, Facebook listened and reverted back to their original terms of use. The power of blogs and groups should not be undermined. This is the first I have heard of an online uproar at this scale and think that it can change the way we market. Getting a reaction from your audience is always the hardest thing to do but it looks like if you are dramatic enough, you will get the feedback you want (or don’t want).

Are the Cards stacked against advertisers to Steel time during the Super Bowl?

Trudy Jewett — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:41:08 +0000

Most American auto companies announced they are not going to advertise in this year’s Super Bowl because of a slumping economy. It’s my guess they don’t want over sixty million people to think the bailout plan included a marketing budget. Sensitivity to the current economic climate seems to be the common strategy.

But the slumping economy hasn’t affected the juggernaut known as the biggest game of the year. Surprisingly, thirty seconds of ad time hit its highest spending threshold to date – 3 million dollars. Last year, during one of the highest rated games in history, commercials fetched 2.7 million.

Who has extra cash to burn? Well you have your beer brewers who have strong sales during the recession. How else are we supposed to get through this difficult time? Budweiser’s ad featuring “party starter” Conan O’Brian was one of the few that I care to remember. And if you recall seeing a one-second Miller High Life commercial you were one of the few that didn’t blink during commercial breaks.

Movie studios also brought their A game. Although at times I felt as if I was in a theater forced to watch twenty minutes of previews before the main attraction. And I’m not sure anyone remembered to pick up their 3D glasses, much less wear them.

Soft drink maker Pepsi walked away with the “W”. McGruber was the favorite over Tony Polamalu.

And last but not least, the dot com job search engines. With so many people looking for work or to make a move, it is not surprising Monster spent over three million dollars on a commercial featuring a stuffed moose.If the slumping economy doesn’t turn around we all might find ourselves having to trade in our gold for cash.

To see your favorite ads from the Big Game visit: http://video.yahoo.com/network/100076996?v=4409180&l=5499020

The Mattress Impulse

Simon — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:54:44 +0000

I was recently made aware of some interesting guerrilla artwork that has been showing up in London. Apparently an artist by the name of K-Guy has been going around placing mattresses in front of financial institutions like Barclays. The mattresses bear messages like “Bank of Jimmy and Trish” and “Sleep Easy Family Banking.”

The joke, of course, centers on the huge shift that has recently occurred in the way people think about large banks. The common wisdom, until about six months ago, was that your money was safe with a large institution like Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns. They were seen as “too big to fail.” But all that has changed now. The big banks have lost a lot of credibility–and it’s really not unreasonable to wonder whether your money is safer under the mattress.

This poses an interesting question for smaller and regional banks. Given the downfall of big banks, will people now view their local bank as a safer bet? Will small banks be seen as less cavalier with their clients’ money, and therefore more insulated from failure? Or are they suseptible to the same troubles afflicting the big-league players–and possibly less likely to get a bailout should the need arise?

All I know is, for now anyway, my money’s staying under my Bob-O-Pedic.