Hasta La Creative!

Too busy to keep up, even on Twitter? The Latest is the latest invention from Farfar/Blast Radius alumni Per Stenius (formerly known as Per Hansson, he took his wife’s last name after getting married) and Oskar Sundberg, along with B-Reeler Bjarne Melin. It will keep you up to date on the most interesting happenings on the platform — at least those things written by a group the creators have deemed to be the 1,000 most interesting people on Twitter. The site collects all their links and updates in real time the 10 most popular links among those.

No time to go to the site? Follow @latest_is and you can see those uber-popular Tweets there as well.

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Kanye West takes no prisoners, as displayed during his rant against Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh on novelist Bret Easton Ellis's podcast on Monday.

"I got into this giant argument with the head of Zappos that he's trying to tell me what I need to focus on. Meanwhile, he sells all this shit product to everybody, his whole thing is based off of selling shit product."

Zappos swiftly responded by launching a new item on its website called "Sh-t Product," a $100,000 plunger complete with product photos and a video demonstration. Item information includes the bullet point "The perfect gift for the man who has everything"—which is linked to Kanye's tirade. Zappos enthusiasts are leaving rave reviews: "Yo Zappos! Imma let you finish … but this is the best Sh-t product of all time!"

In an interview with AdFreak, Hsieh says, "We don't have a formal process or team to respond quickly to media events … the Kanye thing was just a random fun idea that someone came up with yesterday morning and then a bunch of employees from different departments jumped in to help make it happen quickly. As for Kanye himself, I admire him for always being on brand."

Shots fired!

Zappos wins this round, Kanye.

As 2014 winds down (and time flies even faster), we figured we’d break the monotony a bit by picking the brains of various agency folks and gathering their thoughts on the year that was and/or what to expect from the industry come 2014.

First up to bat is Scott Seymour, VP/chief creative officer at Hilton Head, SC-based creative agency, BFG Communications (no relation to BFG9000, obviously), which has worked with brands like Buffalo Wild Wings as well as on entertainment efforts for Fox and Warner Bros. Here, the 20+-year ad vet tells us what to expect from brands next year in four shorts parts. FYI, we’ll have more input from industry folks as the weeks progress and will scatter them throughout what’s left of 2013. Anyways, take it away, Scott.

1)            Shift to Understated

This one’s simple. Simple — meaning that brands will begin to fully understand that simplicity is a consumer desire both emotionally and aesthetically. Brands will shift from overt branding to subtler, more understated styles. And, as early-adopting brands gain traction, this trend will gain momentum. Other brands will see the benefits through a cleaner approach. This will eventually move to branding across all mediums as brands forgo “screaming” their names, logos and messages in exchange for sophistication. It will be about a quiet exchange of the megaphones in favor of more intrigue, more discovery, resulting in deeper consumer connections.

2)            Embracing Quirky

It is said that beauty can best be found in the imperfections. This coming year, brands will stop saying it and start doing it. This doesn’t mean we won’t see beautiful or “real” work. (Real has already happened.) What this does mean is that the age of transparency will finally catch up with marketing — forcing a divergence from the cookie-cutter, safe route. Brands will step away from canned, stock photos and lofty, aspirational images. Instead, they’ll focus on uncovering stories, shedding light on character and celebrating quirkiness — the stuff with real substance. The real breakthrough marketing.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Perhaps summing up this Mike’s Golf Club Shop ad the owner, Mike Mixson, shot with his camera phone, YouTube commenter, VicInNocal wrote, “That’s what all ads should be – just something quick that describes what it is you do or what service you offer, and where people can find you. Not some forced & lame attempt at being funny or groveling for customers like most modern day commercials do. This ad reminds me of “Head On, apply directly to the forehead. Head On, apply directly to the forehead.”

And Regina Rae chimed in,”Um, did I just sell my golf clubs to Mike? YES! Guy is a true entrepreneur. He doesn’t need a camera crew or a production team to run his commercials. All he needs is his Iphone3, a sunny day and his charm and personality. The rest is internet gold.”

The ad is running locally on television. Yes, it’s not just a YouTube thing.

And that’s really all there is to say about that. Sometimes simplicity is the best solution.

Hara Design Institute a imaginé récemment toute une série de niches au design étonnant. Chaque niche a été réalisée et pensée par un architecte différent proposant ainsi des structures adaptées aux différents types de chiens. Une réalisation très réussie « Architecture for Dogs » à découvrir dans la suite.

If you don’t already know the heartwarming story of Batkid, the latest Make-a-Wish Foundation initiative and one of the most elaborate projects the non-profit organization has undergone, it goes something like this: Five-year-old cancer survivor Miles Scott wished to be “Batkid,” Batman’s sidekick, so Make-a-Wish Foundation, with the help of thousands of volunteers, turned San Francisco into Gotham City for a day and staged a series of events and crime scenarios, culminating with Batkid rescuing Gotham and receiving a key to the city from Mayor Ed Lee (as well as thumbs up from past and present Batmans, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck).

As a side project, a group of  hometown creatives decided to create a digital comic book telling Batkid’s story. There really couldn’t be a more appropriate format (aside from possibly a print comic book). Every panel in the comic was sourced from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. “We just wanted to share the Batkid story, and we thought it would be nice to re-tell it from the perspective of those who helped make it happen, and that’s the people of San Francisco,” explains one of those involved, AKQA art director, John Ta. The site takes a series of shared moments and crafts them into a digital experience, resembling a comic book, that tells Batkid’s story in a fun, cute way. It’s well put-together, and easy to digest. Following the Batkid comic, visitors to the site are encouraged to donate to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Although they’re undoubtedly proud of the work and hopes it finds an audience, there’s really only one opinion Ta and Gavin care about. “Really, we just hope Miles thinks it’s cool,” Ta said. Since he’s now the star of his very own digital comic book, it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t. Check out the Batkid comic here, and donate to Make-a-Wish Foundation if you’re so inclined, so there can be more stories like Miles Scott‘s. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Just when it seemed flavored booze couldn’t get any sweeter, here comes Cinnabon vodka.

The sinful cinnamon roll brand is partnering with Beam Inc. on the product, which will be branded as Pinnacle Cinnabon Vodka. The variety joins other Pinnacle vodka flavors such as caramel apple, pecan pie and salted caramel.

“We’re thrilled to partner with such a powerhouse consumer brand as Cinnabon, and we’re confident this great-tasting vodka innovation will delight our consumers and bring an exciting new twist to the flavored vodka category,” Bill Newlands, Beam’s North American president, said in a statement.

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Soliciting testimonials from alumni isn't a new way to advertise a university, but this example definitely takes it to a new and charming extreme.

Canada’s Royal Roads University decided to let alumni speak for themselves by physically embedding them in what passers-by assumed to be digital ad kiosks.

In the case study below, the university and agency Cossette Vancouver show how they constructed a special display box that hid a live alumna inside. When people pressed a "Connect" button on the display, a panel dropped down, revealing the actual woman they thought they'd be hearing from digitally.

Some were so surprised that they thought she was a very realistic video or perhaps a robot.

Nothing screams "I love my university" louder than a woman’s willingness to stand in a claustrophobic box all day and talk to surprised strangers. But the clip would obviously be more effective if we saw high schoolers or even parents praising the approach rather than hearing seniors talk about how nice it was to talk to a "real person." Still, I look forward to other inventive executions in this campaign.

CREDITS
Agency: Cossette Vancouver
Client: Royal Roads University
Creative Director: Michael Milardo
Art Director: George Lin
Copywriter: Pierre Chan
Director of Account Services: Chris Miller
Strategic Planner: Ute Preusse
Account Supervisor: Robyn Smith
Account Team: Philippa Groom, Megan O'Rourke
Producer: April Haffenden

The agreement with A24, an independent film company that has acquired a number of provocative titles, represents the latest skirmish over streaming.