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Adverplanner
Creative Strategist in the industry previously known as advertising.
This is the digital me, apparently.
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Bio
- Creative Strategist @ Poke London.You’ll know who Poke are. And that’s where I work, riding the wave between all things strategy and all things creative. Here's a lovely summary as to what a Creative Strategist is using sexy venn diagrams.Before then, I worked at Blue Hive as a Creative Strategist on Ford after starting off as a Planner at Wunderman.Co-founder of We Make Awesome Sh.You won’t know who We Make Awesome Sh are. Or maybe you do. Maybe that’s why you’re here, finding out who on earth spent time building a website about cats. Which is how WMAS began just over a year ago. Since then we’ve built a series of digital services, sites and technologies that have enabled us to work with the likes of Intel, Warner, EMI, Microsoft, Universal, Sony and Diesel.Our latest piece of work for Calvin Harris hit the top 10 UK apps, chosen for the new/noteworthy and featured section of iTunes. It’s also had some great write ups in the likes of PSFK, The Next Web and The Guardian, appeared on BBC Radio 4, Google Creative Sandbox and FWA Mobile Site of the Day.Recognition & Awards.Google Creative Sandbox. Calvin Harris.FWA Mobile Site of the Day. Calvin Harris.Best Awards 2012. Best B2B campaign. Land Rover.Blades 2011. Finalist. Land Rover.Caples 2011. Finalist. Land Rover.International Automotive Advertising Awards 2011. Gold. Land Rover.International Automotive Advertising Awards 2011. Silver. Ford.Time Magazine 2006. Person of the year.To check out some of the work I’ve done, click on the "My Work" tab. Or to browse the creations of We Make Awesome Sh, click on the "Awesome Sh" tab.Or simply explore the rest.Enjoy.
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Tweets
- RT @wemakeawesomesh: And because you brands and “community managers” have all been asking for your own versions, you now can: http://t.co/8…May 21, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- We’ve just had our 5 MILLIONTH page view on @SearchInstagram. To honour it, here’s a brand new version http://t.co/F5lxd0fLG0May 21, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @lucyeblair: New blog for @midem: how developers & startups are changing music inc @SoundCloud @wemakeawesomesh @powster @tomahawk http:…May 21, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @wemakeawesomesh: them:“Do you ever want anything illustrated?” us:“master chief stroking a cat in front of cardiff millennium centre” h…May 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- May 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @ministryofsound: What's your favourite #mosmoments photo? Tweet it to @ministryofsound to win the ultimate Club VIP experience! http://…May 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @wemakeawesomesh: we’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with @ministryofsound with their #mosmoments campaign http://t.co/PD5OQRjcXVMay 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- LOL - Tottenham #fail http://t.co/tIfeTXEA50May 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- I'd never usually link to The Sun, but... Half-naked man's escape as couple argue on balcony http://t.co/3KLdORVshTMay 19, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Ray Ban Reflections http://t.co/XNT4ec0QXY
- To top off an epic day of paintballing... we just met Jay Z's "best mate"... sort of. He wouldn't give me Shawn's number. Shame.
- A weekend of work based war: Poke does paintballing. http://t.co/REaG6LGCYg
- Best cooking site ever: "Eat a goddamn salad. Fuck it. Eat ten. It's like plant nachos." http://t.co/B1OTOoS6C3May 17, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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Photos
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Posts
Model for a timeless garden by Olafur Eliasson adjusts the frequency of a strobe light to make water appear almost frozen in midair
The haze of Rose (2007) makes intersecting beams of light visible, revealing a luminous star in which light appears to solidify.
In Conrad Shawcross’s words, the constantly moving shadows in Slow Arc inside a cube IV describe a ‘radiant geometry’
- Corporate communications bulletin - Harlem Shake Roulette
Good evening and welcome to a special bulletin from the corporate communications team working with business development. We have done some careful analysis on the Harlem Shake Roulette project to ascertain the ROIs and KPIs and FBIs.
TV advertising used to work like this: you sat on your sofa while creatives were paid to throw a bucket of shit in your face. Today you’re expected to sit on the bucket, fill it with your own shit, and tip it over your head while filming yourself on your mobile.
Charlie Brooker- Holographic printing, social influence and the launch of the new Ford B-MAX
Our latest piece of work aims to get people talking about the upcoming launch of the new Ford B-MAX, so we’ve combined some traditional DM principles with innovative holographic technology and new school digital thinking. It’s an appreciation that there’s still no better way to experience something than by putting it in people’s hands, but in an age where the DNA of digital knows no boundaries, the way in which we invite audience participation has to evolve from the days of bought email lists and databases.
The problem with participation and the emergence of social influence
Online participation and the notion of social influence has been a hot topic of late. Since 2006 the 1:9:90 rule has dominated theories of online participation with claims of 90% of the population being lurkers, leaving just 1% to create, and the remaining 9% to edit and modify content online. However, since 2006 the web has changed a huge amount, and as such the relevance of such simplistic classifications of online participation and social influence have been called into question.
Indeed, recent research by the BBC claims that the 1:9:90 rule has become outdated and that participation online is now the rule rather than the exception with 77% of the UK online population being active in some way, driven by the rise of “easy participation” such as likes, shares and other one click actions that once required great effort but are now relatively easy and expected.
In essence, the definition of participation has become too broad.
So when marketers and agencies are increasingly being judged on the talkability of their work and campaigns, it’s not surprising that this opportunity has been grabbed with both hands by companies such as Peer Index and Klout looking to put a more scientific value or score on one’s propensity to participate and ability to influence. And consumers themselves are more than happy to offer their social graph data to these companies in return for status recognition and rewards.
Capturing the magic middle
There have been a number of objections to social influence scoring systems such as Peer Index and Klout. Some have commented on the inaccuracies of the scoring system itself, others the fickleness of only approaching those deemed highly influential and the possible ramifications of a future web shrouded in digital classism. Yet there is no denying that if used correctly, companies such as Peer Index can use their wealth of users’ social graph data to allow us to talk to the right people; not only in terms of influence, but in terms of relevance.
So that’s what we’ve done to launch the new Ford B-MAX. Working closely with Peer Index on their biggest Peer Perk to date, we’ve spent time identifying the right kind of consumers that will be interested in our campaign, before segmenting them into classes of influence. That way, we know that the majority of users are likely to find our content relevant and interesting and will hopefully go on to share that content to their networks and peers. We’ve developed a system that’s less like a popularity contest, and more like a dress code. If you’re the right kind of person with influence in related topics and categories, you’re on the list and you’re invited to the party.
Choosing the right perk for your peers
Putting your brands advocacy in the hands of influential consumers is risky business, so you’ve got to make sure that what you give them is going to be worth the effort and generate positive sentiment rather than a negative backlash. As our Head of Digital Innovation often says, “it’s all about the value exchange”.
So what could we provide as our “Perk” that would do the technology packed and stylishly designed Ford B-MAX justice? The answer: Holographic technology.
We’ve teamed up with Zebra Imaging, a company based in Austin; Texas, that specializes in genuine and remarkably cool holographic prints. These prints are as thin as a piece of card, don’t require any sort of silly 3D glasses and can be viewed simply by shining a light source on the hologram itself. Simples.
The result is pretty extraordinary and you can see a video of the hologram in action below. Depth, perspective, the ability to peer through the windows and easy access doors to marvel at the B-MAX’s classy interior design, the ability to rotate it in front of you – it’s all there. And it provides, without doubt, the best way to experience the vehicle before it launches and you can climb in one for yourself.
Over the next couple of weeks the first influencers that have claimed their B-MAX holographic print via Peer Perks will receive them in the post. Obviously the hope is that they will find it awesome, before going on to share copious amounts of content about the hologram, the campaign and the vehicle itself.
So, if you want to get your hands on one of these limited edited prints all you have to do is apply to win via the Peer Perk. You can log in via twitter or Facebook oAuth. And if you don’t win one through Peer Perks, don’t fret, anyone can still win one simply by tweeting #BMAXhologram.
It’s not quite Princess Leia projecting from R2D2’s midriff, but it’s pretty bloody cool. Well, we think so and so do these people. Let us know what you think in the comments or @mention us on twitter.
- Planning Porn: Make Things People Want or Make People Want Things?The Future of Marketing: Make Things People Want or Make People Want Things?View more presentations from John V Willshire
- Draw Something Animated GIFs
Draw Something. Everyone’s playing it, well, 35 million people anyway.
It’s brilliant. I don’t need to say why, because chances are you’re one of the 35 million. But it’s essentially social Pictionary on steroids. And the almost “real time” element of seeing users pictures as they were drawn and people guessing your drawings makes for an incredibly compelling, creative and somewhat addictive mobile game.
Some of the images I’ve seen have been amazing, and the fact that over 119,000 images have been uploaded to Instagram using the #DrawSomething hashtag prove that people are wanting to share their drawings outside of the application.
So, without further ado, below are a few animated GIFs of my “Draw Somethings”.
Enjoy!
Bowser:
Asterix:
Kirby:
Batman:
GIFs were created simply by screen grabbing my phone as I drew…something (?!) …and then uploading to http://gifninja.com/ .
The Behind the Social Media Campaign Series is supported by Oneupweb, a relentless digital marketing agency focused on search, social, and design for mid-to-enterprise level brands. Learn how to track your social media conversions with our new technology, ROSI trax™. Watch the demo. When i…Sometimes accidental shots are the best ones - on a 90 minute open cab ride from a waterfall trek in Thailand, started playing about with some out of focus HDR shots - the result - lovely bit of Thai motorway #bokeh (Taken with instagram)
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Uploads
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Info
- Summary
Creative Strategist @ Poke London
http://www.pokelondon.com/Co-founder of We Make Awesome Sh
http://wemakeawesomesh.it/FWA Mobile. Judge.
http://www.thefwa.com/mobileRecognition & Awards
- Google Creative Sandbox. Calvin Harris.
- FWA Mobile Site of the Day. Calvin Harris.
- Best Awards 2012. Finalist. Land Rover.
- Blades 2011. Finalist. Land Rover.
- Caples 2011. Finalist. Land Rover.
- International Automotive Advertising Awards 2010. Gold. Land Rover.
- International Automotive Advertising Awards 2010. Silver. Ford.Experience- Aug 2012 - PresentCreative Strategist / Poke
Riding the wave between all things creative and strategy at Poke, London. Poke is a creative company driven by a passion for the endless possibilities of digital media.
- May 2010 - Aug 2012Creative Strategist / Blue Hive
- Aug 2009 - May 2010Account Planner / Wunderman
- Sept 2008 - Aug 2009Graduate Planner / Wunderman
- Aug 2008 - Aug 2008Internship / McCann Erickson
Education-
2005 - 2008Cardiff University / Prifysgol CaerdyddBSc, 2.1 in Business Management (Marketing)
Activities: Set up the first Institute of Direct Marketing Chapter at Cardiff University, still going strong today.
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Honors:Gold 2010 International Automotive Advertising Awards: Land Rover - Don't Handle With Care Silver 2010 International Automotive Advertising Awards: Ford - The Fiestaval Movement The Blades 2011 Finalist: Land Rover Caples 2011 Finalist. Land Rover Best Awards 2012. Best B2B campaign. Land Rover FWA Mobile Site of the Day. 3rd December 2012. Calvin Harris Google Creative Sandbox. Calvin Harris
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Photos
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My Work
- Click on the top link to view all my projects on Pinterest, or click on the individual links below.
Ford B-Max. Hologram.
March 2012
Social Media, DM, Earned Media, Digital, PR + Outreach.
"We used world first US military grade technology to spread the word of a brand new vehicle launch from Ford"
The Challenge:
Spread awareness of a new vehicle being released from Ford, the Ford B-MAX, communicate its innovative features and class leading panoramic opening door system, and do it in a way that results in PR and coverage from influencers across Europe.
The Idea:
Partner with Peer Index to identify 1000 of the most influential bloggers and social media users in the tech, design and automotive fields across Europe. Partner with Zebra Imaging to create a world first holographic print which uses US military grade technology to quite literally put the vehicle in your hands. Encourage advocacy, social sharing, PR and user generated content to increase reach.
This next generation 3D technology not only dramatised the ingenuity of the car, it stimulated thousands of tweets, photos, videos, content and editorial giving us over 14 million impressions on twitter alone. Coverage on blogs and media publications across Europe put the campaign in front of millions more.
Ford Fiesta. Fiestagram.
October 2011 – December 2011
Social Media. Digital. Mobile. Experiential. Digital OOH.
"The first pan-european social media campaign with Instagram at its heart, spreading the tech credentials of the new Ford Fiesta to millions"
The Challenge:
The Ford Fiesta was recognised in niche automotive press for its intuitive technological features, so people contemplating car purchases would likely discover the Fiesta’s benefits during their research. But Ford wanted us to extend awareness of these benefits to a wider audience across Europe, specifically to people in fashion, style and tech circles, so that the Fiesta would be top-of-mind when they became ready to buy a new vehicle to complement their busy, tech intensive lives.
The Idea:
We created Fiestagram, the first European-wide photography competition on Instagram, where different Fiesta technologies (and their benefits) provided the photographic challenge and inspiration. Partnering with Instagram simplified user participation for a multinational campaign, whilst influencer and community outreach engaged existing users. The campaign hub lived on Facebook using Instagram’s API. But we took the campaign into the real world too, exhibiting photos in galleries and digital billboards, presenting them in real-time as submissions poured in from across Europe.
Over 16,000 photos were submitted. Community outreach and influential judges resulted in Fiestagram content regularly appearing on the Popular Page of Instagram. The Facebook hub had an average dwell time of 3.4 minutes and added over 120,000 new fans whilst coverage from influential blogs and media resulted in the Fiesta technology message being communicated to millions.
Due to its success, the campaign ended up being replicated across a number of non-European Ford markets around the world.
You can see the case study video here: https://vimeo.com/36414462
Ford WRC + DiRT 3.
May 2011
Social Media. Online video. PR and influencer outreach. Partnerships. Gaming. Events.
"a content centric earned media campaign, a takeover of Battersea Power Station, Ken Block, Mikko Hirvonen, various bikini clad Monster Energy and Zoo Magazine models and a Ford of Europe record for cost per engaged minute for a piece of online video"
The Challenge:
Launch the new Ford World Rally Championship Facebook Page, whilst simultaneously pulling in a new, younger and more digitally engaged audience to follow the team in its pursuit of the WRC title.
The Idea:
We partnered Ford's WRC team with Codemasters for the launch of DiRT 3. Battersea Powerstation was booked out. Influential bloggers and media invited. And Ken Block and Mikko Hirvonen turned up to hoon it around a specially designed gymkhana course.
Special guests earned themselves a ride along which was filmed and given back to them to blog about, and three main videos were shot and released online post event.
Partnering with Codemasters, Monster Energy and DC Shoes immediately got the Ford WRC Facebook page out to a huge audience of young and digitally savvy extreme sport and rally gaming enthusiasts. In just 3 weeks, fans of Ford WRC on Facebook shot from just 3,000 to over 17,000. Post views increased from 126,000 to around 1,000,000 and post feedback increased by an impressive 828%. Total views of video content, all of which included the Ford WRC Facebook page URL, were in excess of 4.5 million. Blog coverage and earned media and influencer outreach led to over 34 million impressions on blogs, news and online media sites. The online video asset itself had a cost per engaged minute of £0.02 - a Ford of Europe record.
Ford Kuga. Can you keep up?
February 2011
Interactive Digital Film.
"the highest engagement and most efficient ROI for a Ford online product film to date"
The Challenge:
Create an interactive product film that can live on all Ford's local market sites across Europe, and allows consumers to explore the new features of the Ford Kuga in an engaging and 'sticky' way.
The Idea:
Integrate the online product film for the new Ford Kuga directly into the TVC. That was the idea. And by doing so, allow users to delve deeper into the specific features of the new Kuga, whilst continuing the same storyline from the TV ad and print executions they've already been exposed to.
By filming everything on the same shoot, the online film had both the highest production quality yet cheapest cost. Add to that the highest engagement and most efficient ROI for an online product film to date, and you've got a nice little IDF.
Blue Hive Agency Xmas Card. Merry Doodle.
December 2010
Social Media. Digital. Experiential. Mobile.
The Challenge:
Create a card to help generate buzz for our new agency, as well as involve our staff in an event they'd want to talk about.
The Idea:
Set aside a 12m by 3m 'doodle wall' in our office then fill it with tweeted messages of goodwill, illustrated live (on webcam) by artist Lizzie Mary Cullen.
We photographed every message and uploaded it to Flickr so people could comment and share it too. And in just 3 days we received thousands of tweets, logged over 2,800 live viewer hours and saw a 632% increase in traffic to our website.
Land Rover. Don't handle with Care.
October 2009 - January 2010
DM.
"Land Rover's most successful Defender pack to date"
The Challenge:
Land Rover needed to talk to the most down-to-earth people imaginable - farmers (specifically members of the National Farmers Union, who qualified for a special 5% discount). The challenge was to place the vehicle clearly in their world in a mailer that showed them, no matter what the job, Defender would get it done.
The idea:
The no-frills nature of the vehicle was replicated in the utilitarian nature of the pack, made from 100% recycled, unrefined paper. The pack unfolded with a series of warning stamps, the sort you see on delicate parcels but in this case the meanings were reversed. 'Do not handle with care'. 'Not fragile'. 'Do please turn upside down'.' Do not be careful'.
With a response rate of 6.8%, it is set to be their most successful Defender pack to date. From 16,000 mailings, 1,089 people requested a test drive and 787 requested a purchase voucher.
Ford of Ireland. The Fiestaval Movement.
May 2009 - October 2009
Digital. Social Media. PR.
The Challenge:
With no media budget, how do we market the Fiesta to 25 – 34 year olds across Ireland?
The Idea:
We used Facebook as the sole channel to launch ‘The Fiestaval Movement’ – a page that gives you the chance to take 50 of your friends to any music festival, absolutely free. Simply upload a photo of your favourite festival moment. If your image gets more 'Likes' than anyone else's, you win.
The campaign also featured on an episode of the Irish Apprentice and helped launch Ford of Ireland into the world of social media. Two years later and they are the second biggest automotive page in Ireland.
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Awesome Sh
- Some personal projects include:In just over 12 months we've grown, from a team of two, to a team of six making various bits and pieces for a huge range of clients including Universal (& EMI), Sony Music, Warner Music, PIAS, Ministry of Sound, Diesel, Coca Cola, Microsoft and Intel.
It started as a side project, but has become a much bigger business than we ever dreamt of, and we have built an awesome team (albeit deliberately a small one). Prior to 2012, none of us knew anyone in the music industry. In 2012 alone we worked with 24 huge global artists, including Blur, Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, JLS, Kylie Minogue, Plan B, Rolling Stones and Swedish House Mafia. The Swedes loved our work so much they even let us party with them in Stockholm, which, in theory, became the first WMAS company outing. That was fun.
2013 has seen us win a range of industry awards as well as being a finalist in the .net awards for "Best new digital agency", the results of which are released at the end of May.Mobile & PR.
"a work of art from a digital rights management perspective"
The Challenge:
We needed to convince people to buy Calvin Harris's album, 18 Months, when over half of the tracks had already been released as singles. Most of his fans would have bought these singles, and we needed to convince them to buy the whole album. And we needed to do this to a mobile centric audience and in an industry where piracy is an ever important issue.
The Idea:
We decided to launch the new album by giving it away for free but with a twist. You had to be dancing to listen to the music.
The app went to number six in the app stores, was featured on the iTunes homepage and 'New & Noteworthy' section, generated a 26 per cent click-through rate to buy the album and was coined "a work of art from a digital rights management perspective". Fans and users loved it, with some even using it as a companion exercise app and asking for more artists to follow suit. We won our first FWA for the campaign, it was featured on Google Creative Sandbox, recommended as an app of the month by The Guardian, covered by industry publications such as PSFK, The Next Web and eConsultancy, and it was even played with live on BBC Radio 4. Oh, and the album itself went to number 1 in the album and dance charts.
You can see a rather tongue in cheek case study video here: https://vimeo.com/63045684"Instagram + Cats = surely the very nexus of the internet"A personal project with @Sydlawrence. Recognising that anything to do with cats tends to go "viral" (I hate that word, apologies), we decided to play with the Open API for instagr.am and create Instac.at. Lots of tweets, blog coverage and self promotion followed. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon!Online search engine."over 5 million views in two years and the catalyst behind the birth of We Make Awesome Sh.it"The Challenge:Just a couple of hours after Instagram released their API, myself and Syd Lawrence created a ridiculous website called Instac.at that simply pulled in a live feed of cat images being uploaded to Instagram. Fuelled by the site going viral, we wanted to turn the idea into something more useful.The idea:Create the first search engine for Instagram. Search Instagram.com was born.The site has had just over 5 million views in 2 years and currently gets anywhere between 10,000 to 40,000 unique visits a day. It was also the starting point for the birth of We Make Awesome Sh.it.We added Facial recognition software to our website, Search Instagram. The software automatically detected any face appearing on our site and automatically added a mo to the image. A link to our Movember page then turned this fun little hack into an automated bit of exposure for users to donate to the Movember cause. The hack was featured in a number of high profile blogs such as The Next Web and over 50,000 people visited the site and were exposed to our Movember campaign during November 2011.You can see more We Make Awesome Sh projects here.
