A few thoughts, musings, ramblings and other things from MediaCom people...

QR codes put to good use

Underrated and often misused, QR codes are always seen as a bit of a joke by both our and industry digital experts.

Therefore I love it when someone uses them right. Well almost.

On 13 April 2012, the spanish rail service teamed up with book publisher Random House to place posters on the exterior of the central carriages of ten services traveling between Vallès Oriental and Baix Llobregat. Each poster encourages commuters to join the ‘reading train’ and once inside, interior posters provide riders with a selection of 40 book titles from which the first chapter can be downloaded via their respective QR codes.

As well as seeking to improve the literacy of residents using the train service, the scheme also serves to publicize works of literature, while readers are also entertained during their commute.

A good idea. However, just imagine that they linked this to iBooks or Amazon to allow passengers to download or order, and it would have been truly brilliant.

Source: Springwise.com

Brisbane conquers the 1kg burrito challenge

To achieve something completely pointless (and probably stupid) James, Thad, Dave and I (along with a cheer squad) took a stroll down to Mad Mex to take part in their 1kg burrito challenge ($18 for a 1kg burrito and if you eat it all, you get a free t-shirt).

Long story short - those burritos didn't stand a chance. James smashed his first in about 12 minutes, followed by Dave, then Thad then myself.

 
 
 
 
 
 

We're all needing a siesta now and possibly our stomachs pumped.

Jeremy

 

One big...one small

Tim 'aka Mr Gorgeous' and Marc "aka Mr International Face' enjoy a funny cab journey back to the office this afternoon. Because life is all about enjoying yourself.

 

 

Firefighters in the house

 

Last Friday Fire & Rescue NSW invited Jamie, Al and myself, as well as some of the Channel 9 guys, along to their Alexandria training centre to give us the complete firie experience in preparation for their 2011 Winter Fire Safety TV campaign. Rest assured MediaCom, next someone overcooks their popcorn, you are working shoulder to shoulder with some of the elitest volunteer firefighters Australia has ever seen....

 

Aaron Hampson-Smith

 

Augmented Reality in the real world

Great example from Mindshare London for Lynx

A QR code finally put to good use!

 
In July 2010, Calvin Klein posted a large QR code across two billboard locations in New York City to mark the launch of the Calvin Klein Jeans Fall 2010 collection. The billboards featured the QR code alongside the call to action: 'Get it Uncensored'. Passersby who used their mobile smart phones to capture the QR code were then shown a 40-second ad featuring model Lara Stone.

And for those of you who are now desperate to see the ad, click on the following link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvWaw3YFY70

Happy viewing

James

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

Yes that is correct Mediacom Melbourne has been deemed the Most Fashionable Agency by Marie Claire, not that we needed a magazine to tell us that. To say that the lead up to the final was intense, challenging and creatively consuming is an understatement.

The recipe to our success:
1 x Tim Burton inspired theme
1 x long sewing session (with an occasional beverage sponsored by Foster’s)
50 x copies of The Age
6 x meters of Tulle
1 x out of home skin
A dashing of gaffe tape
Un-limited inspiration
Uncontrolled amount of creativity
An unhealthy amount of hairspray
Topped with a derelicte way of mind for seasoning.

Our theme was based on derelicte and we went to town (or to a back alley) with it. As you can see the winning shot captures a tale of homeless love chic with a touch of controversy. The controversy didn’t just play a part in our shoot, but also with our competing agency Starcom. They copied our idea!

Pity for them, cohesiveness of their outfits failed to get them across the line, despite the extremely bitchy walk off that involved team member against rivalling team member. Mediacom got their catwalk on and owned Starcom.... the photographer seemed to love our strutting and focus all lenses on us.

It didn’t end there, the judges thought they would throw in a mini challenge for good measure ‘create a new outfit for someone not in your team & by the way you only have 15 minutes’ WOW. The teamed pulled together like a hurricane thrashing through New Orleans. A whirlwind of magazine covers, brown paper and some ‘fragile’ tape just to hold it all together; and there we had it 1 x super cute outfit to co-ordinate perfectly with the shoot (thank you very much Sophie Brown).

As the night neared its grand finale, the crowd (90% Mediacom) exacerbated its cheering and support by holding up signs that read ‘Will pose for change’, leaving Starcom slightly intimidated considering their agency support was minimal. It was a credit to the Melbourne office that everyone made the effort to attend and stay for the whole event. (Apologies to any folk that tried to contact any of us – we were out winning).

The image of the people below jumping the air is all I have to say about out reaction to winning. If urban dictionary ever turned to a visual format this would be the official visual description of what winning looks like. Win win win. We love to win.

Overall Pac Mags put on a great competition and we wouldn’t have got as far as we did if it wasn’t for our amazing team, Josie Oddo, Gideon Hornung, Chris Stanley (professional hoists for props), Phil Phelan (for making the finale an all staffer), Bernadette Montalto for her bottle caps, Blake for amazing sign and Ben (Gemma’s friend who came to our rescue time and time again).

Until next year... WE ARE THE FASH-ON CHAMPIONS.
Over and out Rando.

Look out Grease - MediaCom is the word!

 

Last night the Brisbane office (kitted up in Pink Ladies jackets, Grease T-shirts and one particularly hideous wig) battled it out against a bunch of other agencies in a 50s themed bowling comp held by Nova. Complete with a jukebox, a dance-off and a 50's live band, the night was great fun. And whilst our result placed us firmly in the middle of the pack (we're convinced that crew at Starcom had hired some professionals for the night!), we sure showed everyone who's got the most 50's flair. MediaCom's the word baby!

Oprah and the mob

There's a saying that by the time your mother has joined your social networking site, it's time to move onto something new.  The same thing can probably be said when something appears on Oprah. 

This is is a few months old (hey, I don’t watch much daytime TV) but it shows the precise moment where flash mobbing jumped the shark - about the point where the big O says "that is the coolest thing ever".  Still, it is a bit cool...

DT

 

 

FUN O METER

They say it is always more satisfying to give than to receive and no where is this truer than in the realm of ideas. This doesnt mean giving away the blueprints to the latest vaccum cleaner innovation or posting your award winning sitcom idea on the internet but sharing creative thinking can be a liberating and fulfilling process.

There are lots of example of this in action notably TED, slideshare etc.. but also this and every other blog that exists on the web but why limit this sharing to the digital world or conference halls.

The democratisation of ideas has reached the streets of New York where someone called Jake Bronstein (a self labeled 'ideator') turned simple toy vending machine into Fun O Meter's. In the Fun O Meter's he put toy capsules with ideas of fun things to do and started placing the machine in various spots around New York City. Within each capsule was an original toy, an idea, and a map to guide you to the location for your idea. In other words a Kinder egg for the creative generation.