Tag: 5things

Things of note for the week ending Friday March 18th, 2016.

1. SO, YOU WANT TO GO VIRAL
Or do you?

If you’ve been around or near the Internet over the past couple of weeks, you probably would’ve seen or read this tweet:

If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn’t need to waste so much plastic on them. pic.twitter.com/00YECaHB4D

— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) March 3, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

It’s funny. Amazing. Saddening. All of the things, basically. And, as you can tell, it went super viral.

You might be thinking ‘Hey, how awesome that is for the lovely Nathalie. She gets an endless amount of internet-adulation-induced dopamine hits and there’ll be smiles all round!’ – right?

Yeah, maybe.

If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to go viral, Nathalie has a good write up (and a healthy pov on the world) – so go read.

2. ADIDAS AND CONTENT

I read this article last weekend:

‘How Adidas is using newsrooms to create five great pieces of content a week, not just five great ads a year‘

…and I thought ‘Eh? Surely, all brands approaching some level of social media / content publishing maturity have adopted this kind of approach? How is this news?’

I mean, like, what, seriously?

Case in point:

Real-time marketing needs to be about more than just ‘now’ at the world’s second biggest sportswear business. It needs to be laser-focused on telling the bigger brand story rather than content tied to the latest headlines in order to boost the relevance of social communications.

Wait, you mean… we have to tell brand stories? In social? In 2016?

NO. WAY.

I don’t know, maybe I’m feeling particularly bullish after a long week but, to me at least, this just reads like an inconsequential puff piece.

Read it.

Tell me what you you think.

3. GAMES FOR GOOD

I this. SO much.

I mean, what else is there to say?

Red Cross took a bunch of old arcade games, stuck some collection boxes underneath them, and then whacked them in airports.

It’s called ‘The Charity Arcade‘ and it made me really, really happy.

Well. Done.

4. TWITTER’S METRICS NARRATIVE

Yeah, so maybe it’s just a bullish week.

What started as a noodle after doing some Super Bowl research for a presentation ended up as a 750 word provocation on what Twitter was, where it is today, and where it’s going tomorrow.

If you follow me on Twitter you’ve probably seen me link to the article already (if you missed it, it’s here) however what you wouldn’t have read is the how.

Larry kicked it off, Flic was my first sounding board, Marshall prodded it further, Annabelle let me read it out loud, Sophie rearranged sentences and created statements, and Rob edited me down (from 1200 words).

In short, it’s rare that something I publish for the trades only goes through one set of eyes. And I thought that a) you should know that and b) the people that help should get thanked.

Oh, while we’re on Twitter.

1. The above article made someone question my use of the word ‘narrative’ – actually made my day.

2. There’s a thing going on about the ‘Twitter Snackarchist’ (you can read the awful press release here (with thanks to the third paragraph of last week’s Web Curios)) – I genuinely can’t explain the level of indifference that’s going on right now on this. The interesting thing however is the (ASA-alert-worthy) faux attempt at getting ‘slebs on board with the thing. I’ve complained to the ASA about stuff before and I considered it for this one too but then I thought that perhaps I’d just playing into the campaign’s hands. So I’m not going to. But hey, if you want to – go for it.

Or you could just never consider Frank PR for a pitch, ever.

One of the two.

5. GNI

One of the better things I’ve read this week. I’m not telling you what it is. I’m just going to let you click through and LOSE YOURSELF.

________________

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Orson Wells doesn’t care.
• The PSVR got priced and dated this week. Yup, I’ve got one on preorder.
• The worst ad I’ve seen all week:

‘Guys, I’m not sure this ad promotes a positive image of women in tech’

‘Stick ‘front end developer’ on it’

‘OK!’ pic.twitter.com/IPwz3YdRCd

— James Whatley (@Whatleydude) March 17, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

…and a reminder: when you see this BS – call it the eff out.

OK? Thanks.

Have an amazing weekend, y’all.

Whatley out, x

Things of note for the week ending March 11th, 2016.

1. #IWD2016
That hashtag stands for Internation Women’s Day 2016. That was on Tuesday. My contribution was to embark on some mad ‘Follow Friday’ on Twitter but a) not on a Friday and b) specifically for AMAZING women.

Today is #IWD2016 – tweets today will consist of one super long chain, all recommending you go follow the amazing women I follow on here.

— James Whatley (@Whatleydude) March 8, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

If you missed it, you can find the many, many recommendations right here. Do me a favour and RT it when you get there so others can find the whole thing too.

Thanks you guys.

___

2. CALMZINE – OUT NOW

Seen one of these before? No? Look harder!

Just before Christmas, the lovely people at CALM (hi Jojo!) asked me if I’d like to put something together for its Q1 edition of the free magazine it puts out – aka CALMzine (see above).

I love CALM. Big fan and long time supporter of the Campaign Against Living Miserably (never heard of them? Please go look them up – it’s an incredible cause) so of course, I said yes.

And I made it in!

Said edition is OUT NOW and available at (select) Topman stores across the country.  A fact about which I am immensely proud and generally super pleased.

Speaking of ‘super’, the piece itself is called ‘How to be a Superhero‘ [in five easy steps] – I like fives, who knew? And has been lovingly illustrated by the rather talented Samuel Williams.

If you can’t make it to your local Topman any time soon then you’ll be pleased to know that the article is available to read online as well (pages 6-7).

Or if all else fails, I have a copy of the mag in my bag right now so if you see me in the street say ‘Oi Whatters, show us your piece!’ and I’ll know exactly what you mean! 😉

___

3. BATMAN ’89

iO9 has this coverage of a (sadly canned) proposal for the ‘BATMAN ’89’ comic book series. Set to pick up straight after Tim Burton’s Batman movies, the pitch included more of Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman as well as an introduction to Burton-universe versions of Poison Ivy et al.

If you’re a bit of a bat-geek, you’ll love this.

___

4. GALAXY QUEST STUFF

For no reason other than I found a couple of interesting articles on this this week.

First is this ‘Oral History of Galaxy Quest‘. Featuring such nuggets as:

“Tim Allen used to kick the door open to the make-up trailer. We would be all lined up and he would say “Number one is here!””

And

“When I was in that Captain’s chair I was not mimicking William Shatner, with whom I’m now friends because of this movie. I liked the way Yul Brynner sat in his throne in “The Ten Commandments.” I worked off of that. I studied that. Well, I rented the tape.”

I found the link to that one from this list of ‘33 things you probably never knew about the making of Galaxy Quest‘ - which, while occasionally doubling up on factoids, is also a bloody good read.

___

5. KIDS: DON’T POST ABOUT ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

This is interesting.

The New York Times writes:

“Recently, university researchers asked children and parents to describe the rules they thought families should follow related to technology.

In most cases, parents and children agreed — don’t text and drive; don’t be online when someone wants to talk to you. But there was one surprising rule that the children wanted that their parents mentioned far less often: Don’t post anything about me on social media without asking me.

As in, no pictures of them asleep in the back of the car. No posts about their frustration with their homework. That victory picture after the soccer game? Maybe. The frustrated rant about the fight you just had over laundry? No way.”

If you’ll forgive the oxymoron, I find this as unsurprising as it is surprising. Why wouldn’t children, children who have grown up not only with social media platforms being an every day presence in their lives but also with their parents having their own pages and profiles on said platforms, want a say in what is said about them online?

This has been a long time coming and the babies that were born the same year as Facebook was founded quite rightly want to exercise control over how their own digital legacy is being shaped.

Intriguing.

Much to noodle on, wouldn’t you say?

___________

____

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Porsche and Mercedes say congrats to BMW (classy)
• The clocks at Grand Central Station are wrong (on purpose) 
• Atlas shrugged (at what we all knew already)
• There’s solid in here.

___________

 

AND YOU THOUGHT WE’D GO THIS FAR WITHOUT ME MENTIONING THE CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR TRAILER?!

Amazing.

Things of note for the week ending Friday March 6th, 2016.

1. GHOSTBUSTERS

So, the new trailer dropped.

I watched it. I thought, without really thinking, ‘Oh, y’know, that looks okaaay…’ – I wasn’t paying attention.

That’s my excuse, at least.

And then I saw this.

(click on the image to see the tweet)

And it changed my mind completely.

Completely.

I felt stupid. Small. And idiotic.

Watch the trailer, then click on the above image to see the tweet-chain that changes everything about it.

_______

__

2. CONTACTLESS NONSENSE

Seen this (or something like it) lately?

Yeeeeeaaah, it’s BS.

Like, complete and total B. S.

TL:DR – theoretically possible, but the crime would need to be very sophisticated, meaning it would be very rare. According to relevant entities, this crime has not been widely reported. You’d also get refunded. There are also bigger worries when it comes to contactless payment technology.

Want the facts? They’re right here.

Basically, feel free to go tell your crazy uncle on Facebook that he has no idea what he’s talking about.

_______

__

3. SORRY

As a great man once said: ‘Is it too late now to say sorry? ’cause I’m missing more than just your body, oh. Is it too late now to say sorry? Yeah, I know-oh-oh, that I let you down. Is it too late to say I’m sorry now?’

Now imagine said man was a Brit. He wouldn’t be asking if it were too late to say sorry. He would be saying sorry for asking, and then would apologise further for the interruption. And then maybe say sorry once more for the hell of it.

Why?

Let the Beeb explain.

_______

__

4. #NOFILTERFEB
It ended on Monday. I wrote about it when it started a little over a month ago, here. It’s ‘over’ now (well, as much as it can be).

If you missed it, you should go read the debrief.

Please.

_______

__

5. UNPUBLISHED AMAZING PHOTOS

From National Geographic, no less.

That’s two.

You’ll find another 23 over on Bored Panda.

If you’re a bored panda, you’ll enjoy this casual browse.

_______

__

Your bonuses this week are:

• Shaken Cocktails have launched a bottle shop – YES GUYS.
• Seen Deadpool? You gotta read this.
• In the #OgilvyTrends2016 presentation (available on slideshare and presented most recently at the new Ogilvy Amphitheatre (see image at the top of this post) amazing) I said that we had hit ‘peak millennial’. The Drum asked some super smart people for their opinion on this and boy, did they give it. Great reading.

And that’s me done.

It’s the weekend! YES!

And you know you’re gonna spend it in front of Netflix, BINGE-WATCHING HOUSE OF CARDS — DON’T YOU?!

Whatley out.

x

 

Things of note for the week ending Friday February 26th, 2016.

People of the Internet, hello.

Oh, that reminds me of something. Do you have to give presentations or ever have to speak publicly at all? Next time, instead of saying ‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen’ – say instead ‘Ladies and gentlemen, good morning’.

You see, by the time you’ve finished saying the former, the crowd have only just realised you were talking to them but missed the first bit because they were looking at their phones/still talking etc. In the case of the latter, you’re addressing the crowd first and only then do you say ‘Good morning’ (or good evening, or whatever).

Try it.

And when it works, explain it to the audience too.

Right then, we have some things to get through don’t we?

Onwards!

1. #OBAMAANDKIDS

This hashtag is adorable*.

There’s so much to say about this wonderful, wonderful thing. Business Insider has a great run down of the 60 best photos, Twitter made a moment, and Time has a piece on it too.

This:

We’ll probably never truly be able to measure the impact that President Barack Obama has had on our children. As we enter the final year of his presidency, we will cherish and hold onto the great moments of progress and accomplishment. We will celebrate not just Barack Obama as a president, but also as a husband and a father. A man who has led this country with a deep love for all of it citizens, especially the ones who have yet to understand the historical meaning of the past eight years.

Beautiful.

Go browse the links above and enjoy.

*Yep, never said that before.

—___—

2. NASA’S TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

These have been around the block over the past fortnight but they’re simply too gorgeous to ignore.

Visit Mars!

Visit Europa!

Visit HD 40307g!

There are more (with some interesting copy too) over at the source.

_____________

3. WATCHING ROCKY II WITH MUHAMMAD ALI

This is one of my favourite reads of the week:

July 31st, 1979. And this Roger Ebert is at Muhammad Ali’s mansion to accompany him to a special screening of the newly released Rocky II.

It’s at this point in the FToF proceedings that I tend to pull out a direct quote or paraphrase something from the article I’m imploring you to read.

Not this time. No no.

This time you’re just going to have to go read it (it’s won’t be disappointed).

_—_

4. PHOTO OF THE WEEK

You’ve all seen it.

But what you may not have seen is this killer opening paragraph from The Verge:

The image above looks like concept art for a new dystopian sci-fi film. A billionaire superman with a rictus grin, striding straight past human drones, tethered to machines and blinded to reality by blinking plastic masks. Golden light shines down on the man as he strides past his subjects, cast in gloom, toward a stage where he will accept their adulation. Later that night, he will pore across his vast network and read their praise, heaped upon him in superlatives, as he drives what remains of humanity forward to his singular vision.

AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING.

That is all.

_-_-_

5. CAKE OR DEATH?
This isn’t an Izzard story (but I do love this retort) – sorry. It’s just an excuse to post some photos of amazing cakes.

Don’t want death? OK – cake it is.

There are many more…. at the link!

_-_-___-_-_

… ./

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Beyonce at it again? And by ‘again’ I mean, this example from ages ago. The FTC will not be happy, yo.
• Lol.
• I’m a big fan of The Awl but this week’s edition properly made me laugh.
• Remember in November (see item 2) when I said that Facebook’s new ‘immersive ad’ unit would launch in Q1 of 2016? Nailed it.
• I wrote a blog post this week about how the launch of Sky Q made me reconsider my Sky TV package, end up cancelling the whole thing, and replace it with an Amazon Fire TV. It’s one of the most popular posts of the past 12mths. If you missed it, you can find it here.

And that’s it, I’m out.

…

Anyone got a Darth Vader outfit I can borrow?

 

 

Things of note for the week ending Friday February 19th, 2016.

Before we kick off, quite a few of you got in touch to tell me that you couldn’t access the ‘Dumb ass stuff we need to stop saying to Dads’ post from last week’s bonus items.

I’ve no idea why the original author’s website is [now] private, however I did find it republished over on Huffington Post (same author!). So go check it out.

I’m a Dad, and I appreciated this – much.

1. MOBILE, SMARTPHONES, AND HINDSIGHT

Ben Evans is off to Mobile World Congress. As he sets off on his grand adventure, he reflects upon how the conference used to look some ten-fifteen years ago.

My, has it changed.

A good read for myriad reasons but, if you’ve ever worked in or even had a passing interest/sway towards all things mobile – go read Ben’s latest post.

___________________

2. I SAW DEADPOOL

Seen it yet? Yes? What did you think? No? Why not?

Me? I thought it was ace. Definitely worth seeing too; to my mind it’s a pretty good antidote to every superhero film you’ve ever seen ever.

That said, James Gunn, director of the last super amazing comic-book-film-that-everyone-thought-would-fail-because-it-was-so-unlike-everything-else-that-came-before-it (Guardians of the Galaxy), gave a pretty good quote on why he thinks it works.

Clue: it isn’t what Hollywood thinks.

Ahem –

“After every movie smashes records people here in Hollywood love to throw out the definitive reasons why the movie was a hit,” he said. “I saw it happen with Guardians. It ‘wasn’t afraid to be fun’ or it ‘was colorful and funny’ etc etc etc. And next thing I know I hear of a hundred film projects being set up ‘likeGuardians,’ and I start seeing dozens of trailers exactly like the Guardians trailer with a big pop song and a bunch of quips. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

“Deadpool wasn’t that,” he continued. “Deadpool was its own thing. THAT’S what people are reacting to. It’s original, it’s damn good, it was made with love by the filmmakers, and it wasn’t afraid to take risks. For the theatrical experience to survive, spectacle films need to expand their definition of what they can be. They need to be unique and true voices of the filmmakers behind them. They can’t just be copying what came before them.

“So, over the next few months, if you pay attention to the trades, you’ll see Hollywood misunderstanding the lesson they should be learning with Deadpool. They’ll be green lighting films ‘like Deadpool’ — but, by that, they won’t mean ‘good and original’ but ‘a raunchy superhero film’ or ‘it breaks the fourth wall.’ They’ll treat you like you’re stupid, which is the one thing Deadpool didn’t do.

“But hopefully in the midst of all this there will be a studio or two that will take the right lesson from this — like Fox did with Guardians by green-lighting Deadpool — and say, ‘Boy, maybe we can give them something they don’t already have.’ And that’s who is going to succeed.”

Shame Hollywood isn’t listening though.

___________________

3. APPLE VS THE FBI

You’ve probably read the letter already. But what you probably haven’t read is this excellent explanation of the entire sitch via Troy Hunt.

Definitely worth five minutes of your time.

And, when you’re done there, catch up on the latest updates still developing.

___________________

4. STEVE MARTIN DOES STAND UP

Big woop, right? No no, really. It really is.

This is a wonderful article.

Well, it would be. Except, I saw Steve Martin – LIVE – in person at the Montreal Just For Laughs festival in July 2010.

(that’s my actual thumb)

I remember it being a huge deal because a) he hadn’t done stand up in SO long and b) in the history of the show, he had never appeared at the Just For Laughs festival – EVER. So the festival had a lot to celebrate. Anyway, Martin was charming, musical, and very, very funny. I felt so lucky and blessed to have seen it and experienced it.

Just like the author of this article.

Sincerely, do read it – it is an excellent piece.

___________________

5. FRIGHTENED RABBIT

Frightened Rabbit used to be one of my favourite bands. They came out with an incredible debut album, stayed number one of my all time top played Spotify tracks/playlist for like, ever, and then… well, and then I went to see them live and afterwards in the bar the lead singer unsuccessfully attempted to chat up my then girlfriend.

You can kinda go off people sometimes.

THAT SAID… FR have a new album on the way out and you can listen to the new track from said LP right here.

I hold a grudge for no man.

…

___________________

Bonuses this week are as follows.

• I was supposed to include this ‘How to Snapchat like a pro‘ article in last week’s edition (when it was fresh news). Chances are you’ve read it already. If not? Read it now.
• Some words are great metaphors, ‘Rape’ is not one of them <- I thought long and hard about putting this one in but honestly, it’s an important conversation to have and something to think about, and even call out, when you hear it being thrown around in such a way. The article articulates it far better than I ever could – so go read it.
  
• Agency navel-gazing or genuine industry change? I wrote some words re: ‘digital’ job titles (would love your input).
• ‘Why I walked out of Zoolander 2‘
• In our 2016 Digital Trends, Marshall Manson and I said to lookout for mobile networks moving into the adblocking space. Oh, lookie here.

….

…

..

.

And that’s me… now go enjoy your weekend!

Things of note for the week ending Friday February 12th, 2016.

Hello and welcome to this week’s Five things on Friday. It’s been 163 editions of this bad boy now and, as I write this to you, I wonder if you’re out there… and how you’re doing.

Do let me know.

Shall we?

1. THE TWITTER ALGORITHM (AND HOW TO TURN IT OFF)

^ Which was pretty much the reaction of the entire Internet ^

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past two months, you’d be forgiven for not knowing a single thing about this:

If you missed the memo: Twitter now has an algorithm. The point of which is to serve up the Tweets that it thinks you’ll want to see first. And by ‘first’, it means – when you open the app. After that, you can just pull down on the app as per and you’ll go back to your normal timeline.

Lovely.

A few things to note –

First, it’s not that bad! Give it a go, you might like it.

Second, any marketers out there throwing your toys out because you want traditional Twitter, just stop. Think about it for a moment – all those [average] users out there who’ll wake up with this feature switched on and just won’t switch it off? I’d gamble the number would be quite high. These users, they’re the ones you’re talking to. So why not ensure you’re having the same experience as those people? Y’know, so you’ve got an idea about what you’re actually talking about?

Third, if you’re still freaking out about it – here’s how you turn it off:

Web:

iOS:

Android:

So that’s that. All clear? Great.

Shall we move on?

Oh! Wait! Bonus Twitter stuff!

I got asked for a quote about what it this all means for brands. The published version looked like this:

“These changes will have little to no impact,” claimed James Whatley, digital director Ogilvy & Mather, “ultimately the best content will shine through.”
–
Discussing tests Twitter ran around organic tweets and posts from events, both of which noted an increase in user engagement, he told The Drum: “As a result, two kinds of things will happen. On one hand you’ll have the knee-jerk marketer, who will quickly try to fill their content calendars with more organic content covering a vast array of live events.
–
“On the other, the savvy marketer, who will continue with their well thought-through content strategy and perhaps keep an out on when this change might become relevant to the brand that they work on.”

The unedited version is below (my answers in italics):

How will brands adapt their content to riff off and make best use of these latest developments?

For our many of our clients, these changes will have little to no impact. Ultimately, the best content shines through. Twitter itself stated that with this feature switched on, users Tweet and Retweet more on the platform meaning brands such as Pizza Hut Delivery, Kronenbourg 1664, or WWF can reach a more engaged potential audience.

What impact will the move have on the way brands produce organic content around trending topics?

Twitter ran some tests that proved that organic Tweets from brands, as well as Tweets around live events; both saw an increase in user engagement. As a result, two kinds of things will happen. On one hand you’ll have the knee-jerk marketer, who will quickly try to fill their content calendars with more organic content covering a vast array of live events. On the other, the savvy marketer, who will continue with their well thought-through content strategy and perhaps keep an out on when this change might become relevant to the brand that they work on.

What will be the main concerns for brands/marketers around new timeline?

The main concerns will be around how it’ll effect the monthly reporting. The lower end of the poor performing content will get poorer and poorer. And explaining that one away YoY will be tough. There’s one simple rule: [it’s like Facebook all over again] don’t make awful content.

I’ve been quite bullish on things like this of late. Maybe it’s the now 10 years I’ve been working in digital now. Crumbs. Maybe.

———————————————

2. A NEW 3D PRINTER (IT’S SO FAST)

I’ve 3D printed stuff before. It’s amazing but it takes TIME. And lots of it. Hours, days, weeks even. Especially for complicated jobs. It’s hard enough to make the tech go mainstream as it is – even in the face of such expensive hardware – that level of time investment just isn’t viable.

There’s a new process in town though, it’s called ‘The Intelligent Liquid Interface’, and it speeds up 3D printing to this level –

Well, that might be sped up slightly but look at the minute counter on the bottom left – 0 to 8mins and boom, super quick 3D printing!

I think this is awesome.

Fastco.exist has more.

———————————————

3. TARANTINO (TWICE)

I stumbled across these couple of videos this week. They’re pretty old but I really enjoyed them. They’re two interviews with Tarantino as he discusses one of his all time favourite films, Taxi Driver. If you’re a fan of either Tarantino or Taxi Driver, then go watch them.

That is all.

———————————————

4. FORMATION DOESN’T INCLUDE ME (AND THAT’S JUST FINE)

The above image, and title, are taken from an incredible piece by Kate Forristall. There is a lot that’s been both said and written about Beyoncé’s performance at the Superbowl.

This is one of the many that stood out.

(the article she links to halfway through it pretty amazing too)

If you missed it, then go educate yourself.

If you didn’t miss it, then go read it and add more to your POV.

———————————————

5. THE EX-AMERICANS

How’s this:

According to the US Treasury, a record 4,279 individuals renounced their US citizenship or long-term residency in 2015 – an increase of 20% on the previous year, which was itself a record-breaking year. In 2010, just 1,006 gave up being US citizens, but since then the numbers have risen every year.

The main suspected reason? Tax. Or in the case of Americans working overseas: double taxation. I’d heard of this before but the BBC has a really good piece on it and once you read it, you’ll understand why so many US citizens are considering renouncing the nation that makes them so proud.

———————————————

Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Things to stop saying to Dads.
• Instagram ads? They’re longer now.
• Everyone’s got an opinion on Twitter – including Wall Street.
• Steve Waddington is one of the most useful men on the Internet.
• GRAVITATIONAL WAVES!!!

Right then, that’s me.

Off to bed.

Whatley out.

 

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.