Hasta La Creative!

If you can make sense of this Digitas video “created to showcase the [Indian] office team” during the company’s Global Team Meeting in June, you’re smarter than we are.

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) — Anyone who thinks grandma and grandpa are out of the loop when it comes to consumer electronics is in for a surprise. Fifty-, 60- and 70-somethings use many technologies at rates comparable to those among younger consumers, according to a study by the Consumer Electronics Association and TNS Compete of 3,135 adults in November 2008.

Nouvel exemple de data-visualisation produite par ItoWorld : une impressionnante animation qui montre toutes les modifications et éditions sur le wiki Open Street Map durant de l’année 2008.

Music : ‘Open Electro’ by Vincent Girès

Objectified is a new documentary from Gary Hustwit who was also responsible for the cult-film fave of 2008, Helvetica.

Objectified focuses on industrial design delving deep into “personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. It’s about our relationship to mass-produced objects and, by extension, the people who design them.” Watch the trailer above and get excited for its early 2009 release.

More: Oh Boy, Your Packaging is The Same as Theirs!

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In the most serious case of “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” marketing we’ve ever seen or heard, Melrose Jewlers wrote a post on their Web site claiming that Rolex watches “played a major role in Owen Wilson’s recovery … wearing a Rolex Submariner and attending Rolex Benefits helped Owen Wilson realize his life was valuable and worth living.”

Remember that time Wilson slit his wrists in an alleged attempt to take his own life? Apparently, whoever wrote the post thinks that when you’re at the end of your rope, fancy material goods will bring you back. What?

Another amazing blurb: “Whatever the hawks of the media choose to write, it is clear that Rolex played a major role in Owen Wilson’s recovery. Back in good form, the actor is nothing less than a comic genius in a time when comedy is a necessity. Wearing a Rolex Submariner and attending Rolex Benefits helped Owen Wilson realize his life was valuable and worth living. Once again, the precision and quality of a Rolex proves to be a lifesaver in more ways than one.”

MelroseJewlers.com is a Web site for the Melrose Jewlers, which claims to be the largest importer of Rolex time pieces in the world. A December 15th post on the site contains the audacious claim, along with a number of photos with Wilson wearing various Rolex pieces.

Here’s a short list of more likely reasons why Wilson wears the time pieces:

A. He’s paid to, by Rolex
B. They were gifts
C. He bought them with his millions of dollars
D. They’re fakes he bought in New York
E. He won them in a bet where if he faked suicide, his friend Matthew McConaughey would give him like, 12 of them.
F. They cover the marks on his arms
G. A magical leprechaun popped out of his ass while he was in the hospital and told him that wearing a Rolex would lead him to the end of the nearest rainbow.
H. He robbed Melrose Jewelers

Any of these options would be more plausible for Wilson’s Rolex preference. There is no way in hot hell that dude slaps one on because it gives him a reason to live. If anything, watches are a reminder of life’s brevity, so we should probably all stop wasting our time and money on useless expensive shit like Rolex time pieces and give up our vapid ways. Where’s my whiskey?

Thanks to the Denver Egotist for sharing this with us. We agree with them that this will be a contender for the dirtiest marketing attempt of the year award. And today is January 7th.

Original post/Image

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LONDON – David Cameron is to set up a review of the creative industries, including advertising, to draw up proposals for a post-recession economic revival.

The New England Aquarium’s “See Turtles” campaign is an appealing exception to the no-pun rule.

If you ever thought for one minute social media is just another stupid new trend dreamt up by a bunch of buzzword-happy people who do nothing but “consult” and hang out on Twitter espousing bite sized chunks of wisdom in 140 characters, you seriously need to re-adjust your thinking.

Today, AdMob has launched download tracking for iPhone applications. Advertisers will now be able to track conversion rates for what they’re serving up to users. The company also released some insights about the behavior :

– Free applications have an average conversion rate of 10 percent, significantly higher than the average 1 percent conversion rate for paid applications.

– Games generally have higher conversion rates than other categories of apps, up to a 100 per cent improvement over non-game apps at similar price points.

Just a note on AdMob: the company served 4.5 billion ads in September 2008. With the economic downturn, no one is sure if mobile will be effected by the pullback in brand spending. Mobile advertising is still considered “experimental,” which means those budgets may have been the first things to see the axe. Like everything else, it’s a wait and see game. For more on mobile advertising predications and smartphone sales, check out this article from today’s Mediapost.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

The Muslim Ad Network, an online association that concentrates on the Muslim Market in North America, has partnered with advertising strategy firm, Desedo, to create a new advertising agency. Though we don’t know what the agency will be called (Desedo is not giving up the goods to us) we are very excited about this new shop.

For starters, the Muslim American market has been valued at $170B according to The New York Times. The Economist also has said that “Two-thirds of Muslim households make more than $50,000 a year and a quarter earn over $100,000.” Those are some attractive numbers. Still, it’s basically an untouched marketplace. What American brands have seriously tried to engender their loyalty? And yes, in an age where advertising messages can be segmented, an online communities serve every need, a Muslim-American ad agency sounds like the right move to make. Plus, with our first minority President getting ready to be the new leader of the free world, the conversation about race is only going to get louder. Brands would be wise to listen up.

More: American-Muslims And The Advertising Agency Dilemma

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media