Category: 5things

Things of note for the week ending Friday February 5th, 2016.

Well, last week was a bit of a crapshoot wasn’t it? To those of you that read the newsletter of this lovely weekly listicle, my sincerest apologies for the double whammy last week. I had

1. THESE GIRLS

Four girls, 3000 miles, and two world records.

No big deal.

Gee Purdy, second from the left (bright orange top – screaming with joy), works at Ogilvy. From the moment the company found out she (and her team) had an ambition to not only become the youngest but also the fastest all-woman crew to cross the Atlantic – BY ROWING – everyone got behind her.

This week, they smashed it.

And this write up, courtesy of Stylist, is actually really quite effing awesome. Read it to find out about the highs, lows, whales, dolphins and an overall two fingers up to all things sexism.

Gee – I’m proud to work under the same roof as you.

This is an incredible achievement.

Blaze new trails indeed.

2. THOSE TOPSY REPLACEMENTS
Topsy was such a good social media search engine that it was once even referenced in an episode of The Newsroom (yeah, Sorkin was all like ‘Yeah, Dev Patel’s character knows how to do this because X’) and now? Now it is dead. At the tail end of last year, Topsy searched its last Tweet.

And you can thank/blame Apple for that.

Idiots.

Anyway, if you’re now completely stuck on what to use when searching your favourite social media platform, Link Humans has compiled a handy list of [potential] replacements.

None of them are as good as Topsy but nearly all of them will get you mostly there.

Mostly.

___

3. THAT MAIL RAIL

I have a list of fairly airy fairy rules when it comes to FToF. One of those rules is never really letting anyone completely hijack a ‘thing’. As in, if there’s something cool out there and it has found its way to me – then *I* will be the one to write about it.

I’m breaking that this time around – but for good reason. A couple of weeks ago – an AMAZING individual thought to invite me along to the press launch/announcement of the brand new Postal Museum opening in London next year (yes, 2017).

The main attraction of which is the actual ‘Mail Rail’ line that runs under London.

At the very last minute (literally, 12hrs before) I had to cancel.

Gutted.

(Thanks a lot [REDACTED])

The good news is: the smart people in charge of the PR for the Postal Museum gave me a plus one which meant my long-time partner in crime, Robbie Dale, was able to go along [albeit without his heterosexual life partner].

Fun facts about Mail Rail (via Robbie):

Thanks Robbie!

Mr Dale is also a dab hand with a camera so if photos like this:

…really excite you, then you should go check out Robbie’s Flickr album of the Mail Rail and then, once you’ve done that, go look up the Postal Museum and plan your visit (for 2017 – when it opens).

I know I’m going to.

—

4. THIS MIRROR

Yep. It’s real.

Max Braun, product maker at Google, decided that he’d had enough of waiting around for the future to arrive so he just built it instead.

The above image is nabbed from this Medium post on the subject of how he did and, being only a 3 or 4 minute read, I can’t suggest enough that you go and check it out.

Super geeky. Super interesting.

Want one.

___

5. DIS GUY

Actual bullet time footage (the stuff that put The Matrix on the map – or maybe the other way around), made with a single spinning iPhone, snapping photos of the subject as the handset twirls in the air. Like a selfie-stick, but on steroids (and with less ‘ugh’).

This is the ‘centriphone’ and it is amazing.

There’s video at the source too.

Go check it out.

Tres cool.

_________

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Marshall Manson and I are presenting our trends doc on a globally accessibly webinar in a couple of weeks. You can get your [totally free] invite right here.
• Uninstall Facebook, save a life. Well, the life. Of your phone.
• Me, chatting about Twitter.
• Boredom killer.
• Gave a talk this week and got possibly the best feedback I’ve ever had. Made my week. Thanks man.

 

And that’s me.

 

Things of note for the week ending Friday January 29th, 2016.

First off, apologies to those of you who wanted to read The London Escalator Experiment last week. Muggins forgot to link it. Well, in case you didn’t get around to JUST GOOGLING IT, you can find the article right here (and it’s still awesome reading).

Shall we crack on with the new stuff?

OK then!

1. #NOFILTERFEB

I like this.

“MAKING THINGS LOOK EFFORTLESS TAKES EFFORT”

As the website says:

“It’s easy to forget sometimes that social media is a collection of hand picked moments. What we see has usually gone through a few edits to look the way it does. It isn’t always the full picture and it shouldn’t be a benchmark we set for our own lives.
–
#NoFilterFeb is a challenge to detox your Instagram of all the filters that have become a default go to.
–
By dedicating a whole month to being filter free we’re hoping to bring a bit of perspective back into news feeds and use it as a reminder that the world doesn’t always need a touch up.”

There are a TON of reasons why this is an awesome idea.

Most of them stem from the whole OH MY GOD THIS FILTERED PERCEPTION OF LIFE THAT WE ALL PROJECT OUTWARDS IS A HUGE LIE AND IS CAUSING HUGE EXISTENTIAL CRISES OF DEPRESSION ALL AROUND US thing.

Y’know, this stuff:

Actual. Cultural. Impact.

For reals.

This February, go properly no filter.

Go #NoFilterFeb.

Oh and unlike dry January, this exercise might actually be good for you.

——-

2. A FULL DAY OF MUSIC VOL. 3

It’s that time again.

Eight hours of fairly decent music compiled (by me and my mate Sarah) into a one hit Spotify playlist for all your aural needs.

Get it.

(or read about it)

You’re welcome.

3. THE F*** OFF FUND

This was doing the rounds a couple of weeks ago and I finally got around to reading it last week. It’s painful reading. But – especially if you have children – print it off and save it somewhere.

Powerful stuff.

4. CRY HAVOC

My friend (and some time film quiz enemy) Tiny Master sent me the PDF of issue one of the above comic book a couple of weeks ago and it’s pretty awesome.

So we’re clear: this is the book The Guardian called “a joy to read”, the Nerdist called “flawless,” and Alan Moore described as “an electrifying account of black ops, black dogs and weaponised folklore unlike anything you’ve ever seen – best in show.”

It’s about a lesbian werewolf who goes to war and to say much more about it would probably mean SPOILERS.

Looking for a new read? Go pick up CRY HAVOC.

It’s really, really quite good.

(and I’m hooked).

Side note: Tiny Master also called me an actual ‘cross-discipline connoisseur of culture’ (to be fair, it was followed by a ‘oh sod off’ but still) and that’s a WIN from me no matter what.

Read more about Cry Havoc over on its dedicated Tumblr page.

5. WORF EMAIL

A Twitter account set up for the sole purpose of sharing the entirely fictional emails from the Starship Enterprise’s Chief of Security?

OK. I AM IN.

SOLID.

GOLD.

Go get.

——–

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Did you miss this interesting Whatsapp news? Big love to Gemma Milne for reminding me of it – Whatsapp as Facebook Messenger M? Oh, messaging is the future.
  
• ‘Twitter reveals insights from the best campaigns from 2015‘ – and by ‘best’, we mean ‘spent most money’.
• Why do whales explode?

Thanks y’all.

Imma go hit my weekend now.

BYEEEEEEEE.

 

Things of note for week ending Friday 22nd January, 2016.

Well, that was a CRAZY BUSY WEEK wasn’t it?

It’s 17:48 in a Friday evening and I’ve got approximately 42mins before I’m due in the bar to celebrate my FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY of working for the big O.

Shall we?

1. THE BIG SHORT

Earlier this week, those lovely people at Paramount invited yours truly to a special screening of this quite frankly fantastic film that you should all make time to see.

As the poster above states, THE BIG SHORT is based on a true story (and the film quite neatly points out which bits are completely true and which bits perhaps aren’t – it’s very well done); covering the financial crisis and specifically highlighting a group of people that both a) spotted it coming and then b) betted on it actually happening – it’s an incredible tale. Some parts of which you will hold your head in your hands in complete and utter disbelief.

It is hilarious, heartbreaking, sickening, and ultimately makes you feel good about being left to feel empty and helpless (no, really) and I can’t endorse that you see this film enough.

The four main leads…

-Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale-

…are brilliant but special mentions to Gosling and Carrell for individual brilliance (that you’ll only recognise when you of course, go and see it).

So if you don’t have plans this weekend or next week in fact, go and see THE BIG SHORT.

The part with Margot Robbie made me laugh so loud people looked at me.

2. BRANDS PREFER NATIVE

This is interesting.

YouTube links now equate to less than 25% of all video content shared by brands on Facebook.

The above grab is from this article over on eMarketer. Published earlier this month, it points to one of the outputs of ‘The Video Royale’ – a trend that Marshall Manson and I highlighted at this time last year.

In short: at the turn of 2015 we challenged/advised brands, both within our agency network and without, to – in the face of the incoming Video platform wars – be prepared to ’embrace native video publishing’. By that we meant uploading raw video content direct to the platform you’re sharing it on and not simply sharing the link to your YouTube page…

Go and look at the chart above again. Go on, I’ll wait here.

..

I’m not saying that these numbers are a result of said call to arms however it is quite reassuring to see that this is the way the trend is [predictably] going.

etc

3. GERVAIS

Another thing I found this week was this TIME article talking about the difference between British and American humour. Written by one Mr Ricky Gervais, it is an excellent read.

But the bonus part of the article that really put me in a chipper mood were the accompanying collection of video interviews embedded within..

THEY ARE SO GOOD.

Go for the writing, stay for the videos.

4. GAMESMASTER

This is great.

Were you a young gamer in the 90s? Do you remember seeing Patrick Moore rehashed as some batsh*t crazy master of gaming (above)?!

Then you’ll love this: ‘GAMESMASTER: The Inside Story‘

Containing such AMAZING nuggets as exactly how Mr Moore was paid…

Cynics might assume Moore was only in it for the money, but they’d be wrong. McAllister still remembers the salary negotiation: “Patrick said, ‘Ah, yes. Well, I did something before and they asked me what my fee should be, and I told them, and we drank it.’ That was his approach – a bottle of whisky.” Moore was never on the set of the live show. His sections were filmed separately over a couple of days and then he and the production team would go out to lunch.

Brilliant.

It’s a long read but if you ever had a cheeky chuckle at one of Dominik Diamond’s double entendres then it’s 100% worth it.

5. THE LONDON ESCALATOR EXPERIMENT

One of my favourite reads of the week was this wonderful Guardian piece about when and why Transport for London stopped people walking UP escalators.

Monsters.

If you’re unfamiliar with this ridiculous idea, allow me to enlighten you:

“It’s British lore: on escalators, you stand on the right and walk on the left. So why did the London Underground ask grumpy commuters to stand on both sides? And could it help avert a looming congestion crisis?”

You start reading and you think they’re bonkers but, by the end, you (like me) could very well be convinced…

..

.

Related anecdote:

The tube to work is funny now. I now have to get off at a nothing station. Southwark. I mean. Who gets off at Southwark?! All the Wharf-bounders get grumpy. ‘You used to be one of us’, they stare silently. They all have to move when I’m getting off now and they get proper narky about it

Silly people.

And yet I grin.

Upon departure I look ’em in the eyes and say, with an assertive clarity only matched by its cheerfulness, ‘Excuse me, team!’ – and I giggle.

Starts my day off brilliantly.

Try it!

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Tenacity
• This is how you do red carpet interviews
• Related, and important

Have an awesome weekend y’all!

Whatley out.

 

 

 

Things of note for the week ending Friday January 15th, 2016.

1. WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR

Reminiscent of the late Oliver Sacks’ take on his last days of life, ‘Sabbath’ (see item one back in FOTF #138), Paul Kalanithi’s take on the meaning of life from the perspective of someone who, after having planned the rest of it, is told he barely has any left…

“At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.

When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away?

Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.”

I’ve just ordered this.

You should too.

H/T Brain Pickings (where more excerpts and analysis can be found).

This one is for the people we’ve lost this week.

For Bowie, for Rickman, and for Grandma Pyper.

And breathe.

*******

2. SOMETHING PRETTY
And now… something to lift you up.

Emily Blincoe is a photographer based out of Austin and, after discovering her Instagram account the other day while browsing Design Taxi, I felt compelled to share it.

So I am.

Go check it out.

PS. I am also on Instagram. Nowhere near as good as the above, obvs. But y’know, just in case you fancy STALKING ME THERE TOO – you can.

*******

3. OGILVY @ SEA CONTAINERS

If you’ve been living under a rock (and by that I mean ‘not following me on any of my social media accounts‘) this week, then you may have missed the fact that Ogilvy & Mather Group UK has kicked off its move over to the amazing SEA CONTAINERS building on the south bank.

The ad agency, O&M (the bit I (predominantly) work for) were first in and next week we’re joined by Ogilvy PR and a few others… by the end of next month, the full group (plus MEC – splitters), will be spread across the 12 amazing floors…

…with floor 13 reserved for the very awesome things like the amphitheatre – expect to hear about our first talks / events there very soon.

And it’s lush.

The views are ridiculous and while it still has that everso FRESH feel to it right now, we’re doing a very good job to making it look as lived in as possible. A special shout out goes to Helen Lawrence and the Twitter UK gang for being the first partner to formally welcome us to our new digs.

Inspired hashtaggery.

So yeah, two things on this

First – if you’re near and fancy a tour, let me know (Twitter normally works). I’ll show you around. We’ll be at capacity within a few weeks and all the fancier bells and whistles (top floor restaurant etc) will be open shortly after. But for now, I’d be glad to show you around.

Second – as obvious as it sounds, we are no longer at Canary Wharf! This is important because I very occasionally get sent things to feature in Five Things on Friday (pancakes, Batman origami, and craft beer – to name just three examples from last year) so you’re one of those people, Ogilvy has a new address:

Ogilvy & Mather Advertising London
Sea Containers
Upper Ground
London
Se1 9RQ

So y’know, send me your stuff.

*******

4. RETROBLASTING

Found this this week. And it’s ace.

No, not the (rather fantastic) Dungeons & Dragons cartoon from the 1980s (oh no) but this really quite excellent review of said TV show by the super smart team over at RETROBLASTING.

If you enjoyed the cartoon show depicted above, you’ll love this video.

Go watch.

*******

5. THE MARKETING ACADEMY

‘The Marketing Academy is a non-profit and voluntary organisation who develop leadership capability in talented marketers from the Marketing, Advertising and Communications industries through mentoring coaching and experiential learning. All of The Marketing Academy programmes are provided free of charge.’

In short: it turns the marketing talent of today into the leaders of tomorrow.

I did it way back in 2010 and since then every year, the MA Scholarship takes around 30 new people to put through this incredible course.

If you know anyone who you think would benefit from this training then do please put them forward..

Nominations are NOW OPEN.

*******

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• The Dragnet is the story of how a man accused of a million dollar fraud uncovered a never before seen, secret surveillance device. This is a great read.
• London Crossrail is coming. As a result, we should rename all the stations yeah?
• Lynx is about to kick off a long overdue reposition of its [highly outdated] brand. It starts here (and is a very good thing).

And I’m out.

Things of note for the week ending Friday 8th January, 2016.

1. AVATAR & CULTURE

This article has been doing the rounds this week.

Obviously driven by the fact that AVATAR has just been knocked from its ‘highest grossing movie in US history’ status (by that STAR WARS film you might’ve heard about) the piece takes a look at the history of the film and explores some of the other perhaps not immediately noticeable impacts it left on movie-goers…

But that’s not why I’m sharing.

When I saw the link (originally posted on a friend’s Facebook wall) it immediately got my head racing to a million different places.

For example: I wondered if you could perhaps construct quite a decent analysis about the lack of branding in AVATAR.

When you think about the cultural impact/footprints of other major films, in our recent (and not so recent) history, the sociological science behind what makes a ‘pop culture footprint’ would no doubt include the art of branding.

My immediate frame of reference for this is Tim Burton’s 1989 BATMAN (no surprise there). The branding of that is ripe for pop cultural footprintery (and arguably set the marketing approach of all superhero movies since).

When compared to the greats, AVATAR is bereft of [this kind of] branding. However the author of the piece referenced above should’ve probably gone into more about his definition of what constitutes a cultural footprint.

I’m just kicking stuff around here so not really sure where I’m taking this but I just wanted to explore the thought/thinking about what actually contributes to leaving a cultural footprint.

For what it’s worth, I think it’s unfair/completely wrong to say that AVATAR left NO cultural impact – that’s wholly untrue. Can you walk into a fancy dress store and buy a N’avi outfit? Yup. Are there huge Avatar parties every weekend? I don’t know. BUT THERE MIGHT BE.

However, aside from an unbelievable realisation of a whole other planet through the use of computers, there are no major stand out points that could impact culture [as significantly as say, I don’t know… STAR WARS].

And that contributes to it too.

Anyway, it’s a good piece and it got me thinking. It might get you thinking too.

Go read it.

***********

2. GET RICH OR DIE VLOGGING

It was all so painfully awkward. That night, Brittany Ashley, a lesbian stoner in red lipstick, was at Eveleigh, a popular farm-to-table spot in West Hollywood. The restaurant was hosting Buzzfeed’s Golden Globes party. For the past two years, Ashley has been one of the most visible actresses on the company’s four YouTube channels, which altogether have about 17 million subscribers. She stars in bawdy videos with titles like “How To Win The Breakup” or “Masturbation: Guys Vs. Girls,” many of which rack up millions of views.

The awkward part was that Ashley wasn’t there to celebrate with Buzzfeed. She was there to serve them.

Being super rich with theoretical dollars ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. A tough read but so telling of the world we created for ourselves now live in, this story, from Fusion, talks about how difficult it can be when you’re trying to make it as an up-and-coming Internet superstar. Even if you only have a passing interest in digital influencers and the whole premise of internet-celebrity in general, then you should absolutely read this article.

***********

3. ’52 things I learnt in 2015′

As written by Tom Whitwell. There are a great bunch of random facts in this cheeky [and easily digestible] Medium post. Go read it.

***********

4. SUPERHERO AND SURVIVOR

I don’t know if you have or have not made/found the time to take in Netflix’s second Marvel series (DAREDEVIL was the first – and it was awesome – S2 coming soon) JESSICA JONES yet however if you have, I would recommend reading this really quite excellent praise piece, via The F Word, entitled ‘Superhero and survivor‘.

Jessica Jones is just that – a superhero and a survivor; and nothing I’ve read on the subject nails it better than this.

Off you pop.

Ps. If you’ve not watched JJ yet a) go do so and b) don’t read the above yet, it’s kinda spoilery.

5. DISAPPEAR

Got an iPhone? Really dislike the default iOS apps that you just can’t get rid of? Well, here’s a tip to make them just… disappear!

Oh and btw: no jail-breaking required.

***********

_____________

Bonuses this week are as follows –

• Goodbye Motorola (I do not think this is a superb idea)
• I’ve been sick this week and have caught up on a TON of stuff. For one: Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. I think I’ve talked about it before. It’s great. It really is!
• No offence (which my brain tells me I’ve shared already but I can’t figure out if it’s just my drafts playing up this week -which they have been. A lot)

Have a great weekend y’all.

This one’s for Theo.

Whatley out, x.

 

 

 

Things of note for the week ending Friday December 25th, 2015.

IT’S CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAAAS!!!!

Yes, I know it’s Christmas and yes, I know the last thing you’ll be doing is looking at email/the Internet. I was going to write some lark about how you shouldn’t worry about me as I wrote this several days ago etc…. but it wouldn’t be true. I am, as I type to you now, hurtling up the A505 to Norfolk for to see some extended family in a BARN of all things.

Quite fitting when you think about it.

Anyway, wherever you and whatever you’re doing, I hope you are having / have had a lovely Christmas. I’m scheduling this to go out shortly after Doctor Who (wasn’t it great/awful/brilliant/annoying – delete where applicable / add your own – EDIT: I LOVED IT) so I’m hoping you all will be fairly vino’d up and at the point of bursting by the time you read this (the rule is: if you can reach it, you can eat it).

So if if granny has slipped off into a nap and your rude uncle has gone down the pub with Dad, you’re more than allowed to sit and stare at your phone for a while.

On that note… to the things!

1. THE YEAR IN PICTURES

\

The next edition of FToF will arrive on Jan 1st, 2016 so we may as well get all the year end round ups out of the way now, right? Remember when everyone used to go nuts for the YouTube one? Yeah, how time flies.

For me, the big round up I’d like to share is the admittedly somewhat sombre effort from the New York Times. I looked at this a few days ago and there were definitely a few tears.

Maybe save this one until after Christmas Day.

2. SAD TOPOGRAPHIES

Big love to my dear friend Zsa Zsa for this slice of Instagram fried gold.

Looking for somewhere to go when you’re feeling low? The relatively new Sad Topographies Instagram account is there for your every need.

Featuring such wonders as ‘KILL’, ‘PITY ME’, and ‘CRYING CHILD ISLAND’ (someone was definitely having a bad day that day), Sad Topographies really is quite brilliant.

Go check it out.

And on a kind of related note: aforementioned friend and discoverer of the above has recently kicked off an ambition to write every single day over on Medium. Strong start so far and definitely worth checking out if you fancy something different to read [every day], some of them are in fact that good that I’ve actually installed the Medium app just so I wouldn’t miss an edition. There’s some high praise indeed.

Remember, it is a marathon not a sprint but if y’all go subscribe/read/share/like or whatever, it’ll help drive my dear friend forward (no pressure, Frith). Plus! Did I mention it’s pretty good stuff?

See: quitting vs giving up for example.

3. ANDRE THE GIANT

Some of you know him as a fearsome WWF/E wrestler. Most of you should know him as the friendly giant Fezzik from The Princess Bride. A handful of you might even recognise him from the piece of graffiti / pop culture known simply as ‘OBEY‘.

However you know him, André Roussimoff, aka André the Giant, was a true wonder of the world. Earlier this week I happened across an article that was part of an ongoing serious known as Camera Obscura. The objective of which is to take a deep dive into a famous photograph that is seemingly ‘inexplicable’.

The photo in question for this article?

This one – of Roussimoff’s maw clutching a beer can.

It’s a wonderful photo.

What’s more, the story behind it is truly quite lovely.

It begins:

There are 42 half- or full-page ads in the December 21, 1981 issue of Sports Illustrated, and 29 of them are for alcohol or cigarettes. But that two page photo spread featuring what appears to be a new miniature version of the Molson beer can? It’s not an ad at all. It’s the opening image to an amazing story about one of the largest characters the world has ever known: André Roussimoff, aka André the Giant.

This small glance into the life of one of the world’s largest men is a great read and is probably my favourite thing of the week.

Go read.

4. PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

On the hunt for a New Year’s Resolution? Try this.

Go on.

I dare you.

5. ZEITGEIST 2015

You can always rely on Hype Machine for an epic end of year round up and their Zeitgeist playlists once more do not disappoint.

___________

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Support your local girl gang.
• Movies to look forward to in 2016.
• The book about how Dr Sue Black saved Bletchley Park is out now (expect more on this from me, soon).
• I can’t remember if I shared this when it came out and to be honest, the signal is so bad on these roads I can’t actually check (don’t worry, I’m not driving). Point being: check out these stunning unreleased movie posters. The SKYFALL one is just beautiful.
• LCD Sound System gone and done a Christmas song.

And that my friends, is that.

The last Five things on Friday of 2015.

I hope you enjoyed both this edition and the rest of interesting things I threw your way throughout 2015. Feel free to send feedback via the usual channels.

Replying to this, tweeting me, whatever.

Y’know what – just have a nice Christmas and sincerely, the hugest of well wishes for the year ahead.

Great things are coming.

I promise.

. .

Whatley out.

Things of note for the week ending Friday December 18th, 2015.

One week ’til Christmas.

1. DIGITAL TRENDS FOR 2016

The first time we did it, it was so successful that we joked that we were probably already on the hook to do it again the following year.

The second time we did it, we half-joked that we’d probably made a yearly rod for our backs.

This time around, our third in the series, we just got our hands dirty and got the darn thing completed via late night emails, corridor conversations, and the occasional early morning breakfast meeting.

And so, with a decent support team (special thanks to Leo and Ed), Marshall and I cracked it.

The deck is available on Slideshare [for viewing, sharing, and downloading] and comprises of three main sections:

Section 1: a review of our trend predictions from the previous year (eg: did we actually get anything right last time)
Section 2: our key digital trend predictions for 2016 (the good stuff)
Section 3: a few bonus things (that we’re still noodling on and may have more throughout 2016)

It’s about 80 slides (but that’s mainly because of the slide builds) and it’s fairly digestable. 12,000 people have read it since it went live on Wednesday, so why not go make it 12,001 and see what you’re missing out on.

—

2. MOVIES
It’s Christmas for movie people – not least of all because OH MY ACTUAL GOD I’M GOING TO SEE ACTUAL NEW STAR WARS TONIGHT WAAAAAAGH (sorry / not sorry) – but also because all the trailers came out this week.

Ready for this? 

• Bryan Singer is completing the ‘First Class Trilogy’ with X-MEN: APOCALYPSE. Trailer makes it look a bit silly but screw it, the rest of [these versions] have been awesome, so I am IN LIKE FLYNN.
  [watch the trailer]
• Haters gonna hate but the new trailer for STAR TREK BEYOND looks IMMENSE and I will be seeing this one big and loud at the IMAX when it hits later next year.
  [watch the trailer]
• Missing the world of Harry Potter? It’s barely a teaser but we’ve had a first glimpse at FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM this week and, it has to be said, I got shivers.
  [watch the trailer]
• This one came out of nowhere. HIGH-RISE. I will say no more. Just watch the stunning trailer and then count the days until March.
  [watch the trailer]
• What else? Well, howsabout HOUSE OF CARDS S4: #FU2016. Love it.
  [watch the trailer (if you can call it that)]
• And finally, INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE is one you should all look at too. Yeah, it’s been ages since the original but what the hell, I’m a sucker for a good switch-your-brain-off actioner.
  [watch the trailer]

Much to look forward for next year (and tonight too – did I mention I’m seeing STAR WARS later?) – YES.

Right, where were we?

3. FEMINISM IN 2015

God this makes some sombre reading. One could argue that we’ve come so far in the realms of equality but when you read this, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’d been going in reverse.

Read this and remind yourselves just how many times people just GOT IT WRONG on so many levels throughout 2015. Go on, I dare you.

Oh, and if you ever see something resembling anything even barely close to any of this: CALL. IT. OUT.

Thanks.

PS. Who you gonna call?

4. TRANSPORT IN MESSENGER

Game changer? Possibly the start of one.

So this is only in testing phase in some parts of the United States but the whole FACEBOOK MESSENGER WILL EAT YOUR LIVES thing (see Thing 4, here) is slowly coming to pass (and do please expect more of this in 2016).

In short: if you’re in the test group, you can type an address in Messenger, tap that address to see an Uber quote, then book said Uber to that address, and then track /travel etc… all without leaving Messenger.

Astonishing.

We live in interesting times, my friends.

Ps. There’s a video too.

5. GETTING A CONSOLE THIS CHRISTMAS?

If you’re buying one for yourself or for someone else this Christmas, of if you know someone buying one for themselves or for someone else then please do pay attention to what I’m about to tell you:

If you’re gifting or getting any of the big three consoles this Christmas – aka: a PS4, an Xbox One, or a Wii U – I would 100% recommend OPENING THE BOX and installing all updates before wrapping it up / opening it on Christmas Day.

Here’s why:

1. A LOT of people will be getting consoles at Christmas – the servers, for all of them, will be overloaded and it will take a LONG time to download 30GB+ of updates across each one.
2. Servers could even go down (last year, both Sony and Microsoft suffered attacks from hackers throughout the holiday period).
3. You will want your console to work RIGHT AWAY and not have to wait for many, many hours/days to get it up and running.

So please – if you’ve got a console under that tree, do this.

You’ll thank me on Christmas Day.

H/T Lifehacker.

Bonuses this week are:

• Christmas Party pain kicking in? Maybe you need a visit to the hangover clinic. And yes, if any of you have spent enough time with me you would’ve heard my pitch for a similar idea. This kind of gets most of the way but not completely in line with my overall vision for a hangover shop but hey, there’s still time.
• The first annual ‘Comedy Wildlife Awards’ came out this week and they are ALL amazing. Go, laugh, and enjoy.
• JackFA80 is new to Instagram but he’s one of the most respected mens’ style voices in the agency. Do me a favour and go follow him – he’s going places.

___________________________

And that, ladies and gents, is that. My hangover from last night’s Christmas party is kicking in so, for now at least…

Whatley out, x

PS. Got feedback? Reply, tweet, or comment. I’d love to hear from you.

Things of note for the week ending December 11th, 2015.

Today, at the time of writing, is Friday.

Aren’t Fridays are amazing?

1. [PUT IT IN YOUR] POCKET.

OK, so I don’t actually use this product* but after reading about this latest update, I’m kinda tempted to start. If you’ve not used it before, the iOS and Android app known as Pocket is a read it later service that lets you save stuff for reading… you guessed it… later.

But this is not news.

(if it is – yay! I’ve just changed your life for the better! (But for reals, this app/service has been around for time))

The NEWsworthy part of why I’m telling you about this is that Pocket has just rolled out a brand new feature that everso reminds me of the halcyon days of GOOGLE READER (remember those?) – check it:

Millions of people – including your friends, tastemakers, and the writers and editors behind the stories you love – have already been using Pocket to curate the best, most interesting stories on the Web. And starting today, you can follow them to see what they’re publicly recommending as being worthy of your time and attention.

WHICH IS ACE.

If you’ll recall, the best thing about Google Reader was the fact that you could follow and subsequently be recommended articles from people you know/love/enjoy and basically swim in the amazing and curated content recommendations from the smart people in your life.

And now Pocket does that too.

I might give it a whirl.

You should too.

2. NASA: APOLLO

Oh my God this is so achingly beautiful is probably my most favourite this week.

This short film (3mins) is made up entirely from photographs taken the Project Apollo Archive and is worth your time right now.

Just watch it.

3. IAN MCKELLAN BEING AWESOME

This thing was found via the rather wonderful Mental Floss (check it out – if you fancy losing HOURS of your life). Basically, it’s Sir Ian McKellan being fantastic (in the year I was born, no less) and giving an ‘in studio masterclass’ on how brought one of Macbeth’s soliloquies most famous to life.

Got 12mins? Go watch.

Honestly, it’s wonderful.

4. SPOTIFY YEAR IN REVIEW

Your year in review.

Done it yet? YOU SHOULD.

Wanna know mine? YOU DO? OK!

Track one for 2015?

Great song.

Speaking of great songs.

Most streamed track

Such a good album.

Also, these are my most listened to genres this year –

Like what? INDIETRONICA?! How is that a even a thing?!

Well, it is.

And there’s a cracking playlist too!

Now go do yours.

Off you pop.

5. DARK STAR LOVE

The wonderful people at Dark Star sent me a box of alcohol yesterday (just in time for the [first] Ogilvy Christmas part – amazing). You’ve all learnt this by now, right? Send me FREE STUFF and the chances are it’ll appear on this newsletter/mailshot/post thing.

LOOK!

A lovely pale ale and yes, that’s right, a CRÈME BRÛLÉE flavoured beer as well. It’s insanely good. Admittedly the feedback was varied but still – I liked it.

THANKS DARK STAR.

(all of you must now go buy / drink some – etc)

Abi Titmuss everybody!

_________________

Bonuses this week are thus:

• Ode to the death of the video store.
• Trumpets
• This video of skydivers surviving a plane collision is old but still incredible.
• Pablo is useful.
• I’m reading this right now.

OK, and we’re done.

But for real guys – IT’S THE WEEKEND!

YES!

Until next time,

Whatley out.

Things of note for the week ending Friday December 4th, 2015.

Oh, hi December.

Shall we?

1. DEATH BY HYPERBOLE

I am – would you believe – a fan of the understatement. That said, I am also achingly guilty of a number of things laid out in this wonderfully on point article from the NYT.

It begins –

“The text exchange was unspectacular: a friend explaining a video that had been posted by a classmate to his Snapchat feed. Jordana Narin, my 20-year-old research assistant, was half paying attention, sitting in my living room working on a project, texting between breaks.

“Omg literally dying,” she typed back, not missing a beat. She turned back to her computer.

But Jordana wasn’t literally dying. She wasn’t figuratively dying, either. In fact, she didn’t even crack a smile.

“I don’t even know what she’s talking about,” she told me when I asked. “I want to be like, ‘I don’t care.’”

But instead, she typed what to some may seem like the most dramatic response imaginable. Except that it wasn’t.”

The whole thing is so good, I can’t even.

Read it.

2. BIGGEST NEWS THIS WEEK?

This is up there with NASA saying they found water on Mars. In a week where the Zuck announces a 99% giveaway of his really-actually-quite-well-hard-earned wonga to [mainly] charitable organisations – ‘philanthropic, public advocacy, and other activities for the public good’ – you could almost be forgiven for missing this other huge and potentially world-changing investment…

From this guy (and his pals).

3. WINTER IS COMING HERE

No, this isn’t about Game of Thrones (but hey, six months to go [oh, and if you know where to look – the first trailer just dropped – woop! – but this isn’t about that]!) this is for those of you suffering with a blocked up nose or cold right now (like me, last weekend).

Here’s a one minute video featuring two handy tips on how to clear a blocked up nose INSTANTLY.

The first one is super weird and makes you feel like a nincompoop but it 100% works – legit.

It’s actual magic.

4. BATMAN V SUPERMAN

The first full trailer for this quasi-sequel to Man of Steel dropped a couple of days ago. It pretty much gives away almost the entire plot and also the big bad (which hitherto had only been rumoured).

So if you’re up for and want to know nothing: avoid it.

But if you don’t care and fancy it, it’s here.

5. #DANCEMBER

This is my favourite thing this week.

Lee and Luke are back. What was once known as ‘The Art of Dancing’ has mutated into #Dancember. It’s still two amazing men dancing in the best possible way to some of the greatest music ever made but this time it’s for charity.

It is the best advent calendar I’ve ever seen.

And it will be your favourite too.

Go see.

______

 

Bonuses this week are a variety of articles that have been open in my tabs as the days ticked by; here they are for your enjoyment –

• The Decay of Twitter – one of the better ‘This is why Twitter might not be growing anymore’ articles I’ve read of late. H/T to Mike Butcher for that one – W_W
• The Last Message Received collects last messages received ex-friends, lovely, deceased relatives… and is the saddest / most poignant Tumblr I’ve read in a while.
• Thanks, Advertising – brilliantly written and expertly put; on point
• Heavy but powerful use of Twitter Moments – via Matt Muir
• Fairly big Facebook news.
• The prettiest US National Parks this Winter – 20 of them

And that’s this week’s Five things on Friday.

Y’all have a good weekend.

Whatley out.

 

Things of note for the week ending Friday November 27th, 2015.

1. INTERESTING SOCIAL MEDIA THINGS

May as well get this out of the way first. Nothing major / particularly newsworthy but a few interesting developments across a couple of the main platforms nonetheless.

Instant articles launched on Facebook last month and you may have already seen them appear in-feed. You can tell them apart from standard articles because they have a little lightning symbol on the top right of the image.

Like this:

If you see that little icon, that article will load SUPER QUICKLY (one might say ‘lightning fast’ – you can see what they did there, right?) – so yeah, keep an eye out for those, friends.

While we’re on the Facebook thing, something else it did last month was open up its search functionality to all TWO TRILLION posts.

And that’s kinda awesome. What’s also awesome is that Facebook has also decided to push this on you to let you know it’s there. Like this:

So that’s cool, right?

I mentioned a while ago that Facebook would need to start taking search seriously and, by the looks of things, it finally is. Next stop: indexing the web, right? Oh wait.

While we’re on the subject of social platforms doing new and exciting things – I spotted this on Twitter this past week and thought it too was worth sharing.

I’ve edited out the potential #WalkingDead spoiler but the key thing you’re looking at is the part in the blue circle:

‘Well hello there algorithmic content-serving suggestion, how the hell are you doing? I say old bean, someone’s used a jolly popular hashtag and wouldn’t be it just be super of us if we directed the people out there to other similar content related to aforementioned conversation anchor? Then let’s!’

You click on that button and you get this:

Pretty snazzy.

As Twitter continues to try and prove its waning relevance, media partnerships (?) and content curation in this manner will only increase.

Something to keep an eye on.

Shall we move on?

2. HERE ARE SOME BATMAN THINGS

James Whatley in ‘writing about Batman’ shocker. Yes, yes – I know. Back in your box. Anyway. Two things of note here – both around the same subject.

Frank Miller, much loved/maligned comic book author, returned to the series that perhaps he is best known for: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (if you haven’t read it, please fix that – immediately) with the third book in the [now] trilogy: The Dark Knight III: Master Race (Dark Knight II: the Dark Knight strikes again is a sore point, we don’t talk about it).

Master Race came out this week and as a result there is much lovely Batmanny things out there for me to share with you.

First off, let’s look at some art shall we?

Those lovely folk at iO9 collected the best of the variant covers for TDK:MR #1 and published them all in one place. Here’s a selection of my faves –

That first one is just beautiful.

There are more at the source so yeah, go check ’em out.

Oh, the other Batman thing I wanted to share with you was, if you’re that way inclined, a brief history Frank Miller’s Dark Knight. Worth a read.

3. FILM STUFF FOR YOU

Three things here. Two trailers and one film recommendation. If you’ve been living under a rock you may well have missed the release of the next big MARVEL feature: CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.

Yes, of course I am excited.

Watch the Trailer.

The other trailer that you should watch this week is for a film called The Big Short.

From the author behind The Blind Side and Moneyball, and starring Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, and Brad Pitt – this looks really good.

Watch the trailer.

Finally, watching that last trailer reminded me of another, similar film covering the bank scandal – Margin Call. Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci… ach, it’s such a good film.

Seek it out this weekend.

4. A TUMBLR OF CINEMAGRAPHS

Where you can find such beauties such as:

And…

Wonderful!

Off you pop then.

5. POSTURE

It’s important. If you’re worried about your own, then maybe you should fix that.

____________________

Bonuses this week are as follows

• Did you see the Breathless Choir? (you might cry)
• Sia has a new song out.
• Tyler Cowan has listed his films of 2015.
• Best stocking filler I’ve seen yet.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

Oh, and thanks for all the lovely birthday messages too.

You’re a lovely lot.

Whatley out.