Digital Media Monkey

Apps are the buzzword of the moment. Whether on your iPhone, desktop or bolted on to your browser, ‘add-ons’, ‘applications’ and ‘clients’ are the tools that help us get what we want from technology.

I’ve compiled a list of a few apps that have significantly changed the way I do things online, whether at work, blogging or browsing. Whether I’m searching for information, referencing media or managing my workload these little applications have completely changed the way I go about a particular task or project:

Screenjelly

Screenjelly revolutionised the way I could share online ads

So I see an online ad that inspires me to write on this blog or show to a colleague or client. But of course you can’t save a flash ad from the page easily in a format that shows you it’s full capability. Screenjelly lets you record what’s happening on your screen quickly and easily, allowing me to record ads (particularly useful for showcasing expandable and video formats) but crucially also record a click, the landing page and the journey beyond.

+ simple to use, you can log in with your twitter account

- quality not great for recording fast moving video or flash, java app can be slow Read the rest of this entry »

Todays definitely a snow day. If I take twitter as a reputable source then there’s been anywhere between 4 and 8 inches across Leeds this morning. And it’s still going strong.

Most of the UK will be making snowballs instead of working today, or just maybe hiting the world wide web for some shopping

What does this mean for the economy?

Buses can’t get anywhere, the post will be delayed, schools are shut, people won’t get to work and productivity will be as bad as on Tyneside when an ex-Real Madrid and England striker signs for Newcastle.

Not to mention the high streets who will have to endure wet umbrellas and slushy entrances all for a handful of bedraggled punters who braved the conditions or are stuck in the town centre.

All round, snow days are probably slow days, economically.

But I wonder whether the same applies to online retailers? Surely a day when many people are usually cooped up at work shouts opportunity to those flexible enough to move on their feet. There’s potentially a lot of people at home today with a little more time to turn the PC on whilst the kids are watching the box and have a browse for the replacements for those unwanted presents or a holiday to get away from all this weather?

If you’ve got some spare budget and are willing to take a punt, I’d be tempted to take a gamble and capitalise on this theory, ensuring PPC visibility, a burst of display and maybe even a well-worded, quick-thinking email, and maybe just turn a slow snow day into a blizzard of online enquiries or sales.

The last few weeks have been a bit bonkers and hugely exciting for me, with some great successes personally and for people I know.

Just over a week ago I attended the British Guild of Beer Writers dinner in London and put faces to the names of many bloggers and beery folk I’ve met through the internet over the last 6 months, spending a day rambling around London with some great people and seeing some new friends pick up well deserved awards.

At work we scooped a DMA award for the Best Online Display Advertising for our campaign for Republic, fighting off competition from some really fantastic campaigns, brands and agencies (you can see the best online display ads here on the link above)

Rick Harrison who works with me at AWA also scooped the top prize in the National Trust and Sunday Times photo competition for his shot of a walker descending a steep path in the Lake District. I’m deeply jealous of his new Nikon D90 but my claim to fame is that the winning shot was actually taken on my camera (albeit by Rick before he sold it to me!)

Golden Twit Award commendations for Real Ale Reviews: I'm a commended social media practitioner now I guess!

And to top it all off, I recently found out that my beer reviews blog, Real Ale Reviews, had won two commendations from the inaugural Golden Twit Awards organised by The Drum magazine.

The award makes the Real Ale Reviews team particularly proud because of the categories it is in: ‘Writing’ and ‘Information Service’. These nicely describe two of the pillars that the blog was built on – to help add to the great beer blogging and writing that is out there, but to also make beer reviews accessible to a wide audience and to provide useful information.

I’m hoping that the next few weeks and months will be just as exciting, although there’s a lot to live up to now!

Spotted an interesting online display ad from Auto Trader yesterday, the basic premise being that you could draw your own car in the ad (as you can see I was going for a kinda Ford Fiesta Mark I meets Delorian model, as opposed to the 2004 style sitting on my drive!).

The ad leads you to then sell your car, which is a nice way to get people interested in the banner ad but also ties in nicely with Auto Traders desired outcome. I quite like the way the robot man jumps up and turns just before the landing page appears – nice touch!

In fact since I took the video the landing page has changed to this, which improves the string of relevance a little with stronger calls to action on selling your car:

Landing page for Auto Trader's 'Draw Your Car' display ads

This is a nice little idea, but I’m going to have to be very biased in favour of my employers and point out that we’ve done something similar before. (I’ll let you be the judge of which you prefer!). These ads promoted Republic’s mix ‘n’ match promotional offers for men and women and showcased some clever use of the drawing API in ActionScript and external serving of product images into the banner.

With both ads I’d love to actually see the drawings that are input by online users. No doubt there’s been a few more salubrious designs and potentially some very nice artwork, but the cost of tracking this would probably undermine what arte both ultimately direct response campaigns.

Both these ads show just a little more of what we can do with the internet, and also highlight how much online advertising just doesn’t make use of a medium that offers not just an advertising platform, but the opportunity to revolutionise supply chains, business processes, customer interaction. These ads are only a tiny step that show break the mould of banner ads simply being ‘online wallpaper’ or outdoor ads on computer monitors. Whilst I’m sure there’s a role for that, it isn’t on my computer screen thanks, I’m ready for the next generation of ads that actually amke use of the technology we use every day.

By the way if you like the Republic ads you can see the whole portfolio on the AWA website. I think they’re bloomin’ brilliant, and the IDM thought so too!

AWA is the agency that I work for and they specialise in web development and digital marketing.

I stumbled across two great finds today, firstly a great ad for Land Rover, and secondly a great little tool which will allow me to show you this ad!

From what I can see Land Rover took over the MSN (UK) homepage today with an expandable format in the typical leaderboard position and a central above-the-fold MPU to complement it.

Rather than use a load of screengrabs or try to describe the ad, I’ll just show you it and you should see what I mean (this being the great little tool I found (courtesy of www.screenjelly.com).

So this ad has ‘wow’ factor, and rightly so. How many brands can take over MSN with such bold and exciting creative?

But beyond the spinning landscapes and fancy rich media, there is a strong emphasis on response, particularly to ‘book a test drive’.

There’s no doubt this media placement and the ad development were pricey (not to mention the rich media ad serving costs) but when Land Rover’s products costs what they do, and in times of not only economic recession but increased ‘green’ awareness and a backlash against ‘gas guzzlers’, there’s surely a need to wow and fascinate your audience. And, whilst doing so, also leading them towards conversion via the immediacy of the interweb.

It’s certainly one of the more interesting ads I’ve seen recently and one that’ll be having my brain whirring on overtime as I’m considering media options for upcoming campaigns.