So yesterday @RyanSisson, our Account Strategist at DO, calls me into his office raving about this Arcade Fire project. Let’s just say that I was amazed and felt like I actually saw something I hadn’t seen in awhile … creative use of technology.

From the Google Blog (post here):

“Today we’re excited to launch a musical experience made specifically for the browser. Called “The Wilderness Downtown”, the project was created by writer/director Chris Milk with the band Arcade Fire and Google. Building this project on the web and for the browser allowed us to craft an experience that is not only personalized, but also deeply personal for each viewer.”

This HTML5 Case Study features the following:

• HTML5
• Google Maps integration
• an integrated drawing tool
• multiple browser windows that move around the screen
• Chrome and HTML5 supported browsers

The user experiences the following:

• A bird’s eye view of your street (if you input your hometown address)
• the feeling of motion
• integration of illustrative elements with video
• constant eye tracking from one browser window to the next
• an engaging experience personalized for you, tapping into nostalgic memories of your street

If you have 10 minutes, go check out this awesome HTML5 project from Arcade Fire and Google.

Amidst everything that happens here at the DO office from day to day, this week I managed to snap some pictures around the office and of my commute via train every morning from Carlsbad. Enjoy, and expect more photos every week up on the blog.

August 23 is the date. Mark it on your calendar. Facebook will be stealing 240 of your precious pixels.

Custom app tabs will go from 760 pixels to 520 pixels. Not to mention that boxes on the left hand side will be removed as well. If you are a page admin, you can see how the pages will look when they make the change now. If your content is wider than the new 520, you will have some major layout issues and potentially images being cut off (on the right side).

The work required to accommodate this change is more design heavy than tech heavy. HTML and CSS are relatively easy to adjust compared to having the design team rethink the layout and design elements.

Unknown to most, this change was originally announced back in October 2009, but has had little mention or indication as to when it would be pushed – until recently.

It makes sense that Facebook wants to reclaim the left column and make everything uniform, but 520 pixels? HTML emails are designed wider than that. Is this a step forward or backward? How will the change in fan page width affect your brand?

There are quite a few big brands that have some work to do over the next 2 weeks to get ready for the change. Here are few that caught my attention. This is what they will look like after a 240 pixel reduction.

X Games

Best Buy

Pringles

World Poker Tour

Adidas

Aflac

Digital Operative Partners With San Diego Surfrider Foundation

Taking the opportunity to give back is part of the culture at Digital Operative. Since the founding of the company it has been important to find ways that we can support those that are doing great work in the local community and abroad. As part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) program here at DO we looked for ways that we could be actively involved with a cause and not just by cutting a check.

Digital Operative is excited to announce a partnership with the San Diego Surfrider Foundation. DO will work with Surfrider to design the new surfridersd.org as well as provide them with continued ongoing support in the digital space. The DO team will also be taking part in volunteer Surfrider events such as beach clean ups in order to provide the whole team an opportunity to support and give back.

Surfrider is a natural fit for the DO team in that the beach and ocean play an important role in many of our lives. Whether is playing beach volleyball at Mission Beach or paddling out at La Jolla shores our team knows the importance to fighting to keep our beaches great. We are looking forward to supporting Surfrider San Diego and helping them to become more effective in their work.

The project is intended to recreate the online presence for the Surfrider San Diego chapter. This includes a complete site redesign as well as moving to the new Wordpress 3 platform. With the many different initiatives and programs the Surfrider Foundation leads it was vital to create a user experience that is communicating all the key information without overwhelming or distracting the visitor. The surfridersd.org site plays an important role in the amount of people they can reach for support through donations and volunteering.

“A strong digital presence helps us reach more potential volunteers and supporters by documenting our programs/campaigns along with offering a platform to promote events and volunteer opportunities.” says Bill Hickman, San Diego Chapter Coordinator. “Surfrider is all about grassroots activism and support.  If we can get local people and businesses involved to help out in their area of expertise it makes Surfrider a stronger organization and helps to empower our existing volunteers and supporters…We’re stoked to have help from a local group that cares about our mission. After meeting with your group I get the feeling that DO really wants to be proactive in helping organizations that you care personally about.”

The new Surfrider San Diego site is set to launch early this fall. For more information visit www.surfridersd.org

About the Surfrider Foundation:

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research, and education.

We recently launched the newly designed website of Mark Ramsey Media. The all-new site is a merger of the original markramseymedia.com and the popular hear2.com blog. The new markramseymedia.com showcases the one of a kind content that is created by Mark Ramsey along with the background on the company as well as lists of services and easy ways to connect with Mark via all the key social media channels. The site contains all the latest features in social media integration including

o Facebook Like features
o Blog share features
o Disqus commenting with Twitter & Facebook integration
o Vimeo video player
o Easy to use audio player that pulls the mp3’s from Hipcast

In addition the new markramseymedia.com provides a complete archive of blog posts, audio tracks, and videos from the original hear2.com blog. The new site is a valuable resource when looking to learn more about the media industry from one of its key insiders and thought leaders.

Digital Operative took on the task of creating an all new look and feel that supported the latest in social media web integration, all the while being built on the most recent WordPress 3 platform. From initial concepts through launch Digital Operative handled each and every step along the way. We are excited to showcase the new site, which you can see here at www.markramseymedia.com. We also asked Mark a few questions about his new site and the work that was done…

DO: Why did you decide to not only redesign markramseymedia.com but also combine with the popular hear2.com blog?

Mark: The original site design was a homemade affair (thank you iWeb). The thing about those homemade affairs is that it doesn’t take long to graduate out of them.

The blog has always been the driving force of the effort since it’s the most dynamic part of the digital portfolio and drives whatever attention the portfolio gets. So merging the two under one banner allowed me to (gradually) retire one brand name and place the emphasis on the brand that was monetizing the strategy.

The hear2.0 blog itself is very old for a blog – about 6 or 7 years. And it was professionally designed at a time when “blog designers” were all the rage and blogs didn’t necessarily cohabitate with the rest of a site’s digital portfolio.

This change allowed me to switch from Typepad to Wordpress and place the whole site, blog and all, in that up to date environment.

DO: When taking such an important step as to redevelop your website presence why did you decide to go with Digital Operative?

Mark: Two reasons.

First, I had heard great things about your team from uninvolved third parties and really wanted somebody locally-based to work on my stuff. I wanted a wide range of experience and no roots in the world of media per se. That is, I wanted to bring best practices from everywhere to my media-oriented site and produce something unique in all the firms which focus B2B in media – and that’s exactly what you’ve done – and you’ve done a great job with it.

Second, I had a vision where the Blessed Virgin muttered your name.

DO: How does the digital presence (website, social media, email) for Mark Ramsey affect the impact of the physical work being done?

Mark: My content is all about pushing the digital boundaries of media in general and radio in particular. It makes sense that the context for this conversation would be state of the art. So that context allows me not only to get the word out to every corner of the media galaxy, but also to emphasize my credentials – to prove my value – in resolving those problems and propelling media companies ahead profitably.

Overall, these facets allow me to do more stuff, do it better, make it look better, without a huge incremental effort.

DO: What was the overall experience like for you as you went through the process from concept to launch?

Mark: The experience was pretty much trouble-free. I like that DO kept pressing forward on the timeline – even when I was the bottleneck. There’s a clear emphasis on getting results and getting them on schedule. I like that.

Plus I like the team involvement. Everyone seemed to have a stake in my project, which I appreciate.

DO: Are there any thoughts that you have about working with Digital Operative on this project as well as just the MRM.com website in general? …Please provide only good thoughts!

Mark: You guys should send a digital “congrats on your new baby” card when you birth these new sites.

I’m happy to work with DO on this and other projects, and I look forward to working with them again. The reviews from my clients are in and they’re all “thumb’s up.” Thanks D.O.!

www.markramseymedia.com

About Mark Ramsey Media:
Mark Ramsey Media is one of the best-known research and strategy providers to media companies in America. MRM President Mark Ramsey has worked with several television and innumerable radio broadcasters over his career, including all the biggest names, from Clear Channel, CBS, Bonneville, Sirius XM, and Greater Media in the US to Corus and Astral Media in Canada. Clients from outside broadcasting have included EA Sports and Apple.

Incase you haven’t seen it yet Old Spice recently launched a campaign that responds to peoples questions from Twitter, YouTube, and Redditt. The key difference in this campaign is that they use video. Using video allows for Old Spice to leverage the personality of their newest spokesman, Isaiah Mustafa (aka “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like) as well as create the viral element, which has made this campaign so incredibly successful. Sure your company can Tweet answers back to customers, which in most cases is very useful, but to go an extra step and produce videos for each and every response bring the campaign to a new level of personality and customer appreciation. Of course having an amazing staff of writers and a one of a kind spokesman also plays a vital role in pulling off one of the best social media pushes that we’ve seen.

Some of the numbers the campaign has produced so far:

2 Days

180 Videos

5.9M Views

22,000 Comments

More responses in a 24-hour time frame than President Obamas victory speech and the video of Susan Boyle. (Mashable)

Now it’s not known yet how many bottles of body wash or sticks of deodorant have been sold since the launch of the campaign but there are certainly a much larger group of people that are familiar with the Old Spice brand.

Here are a few of our favorites.

So when we were thinking of what June’s topic was going to be, I received an email from Holiday Matinee featuring a local artist’s work done for some Ford campaign. I was immediately enamored  by this concept. So I reached out to Dave Brown, we met up and the rest is history. Isn’t all social media just storytelling anyway? This was a great story about how this event came about. Gotta love the digital platform for this email newsletter to email correspondence to offline meeting at coffee shop to real event conversion path!

Four months ago, Ford Motor Company gave Dave Brown and his buddy Zack Nielsen (of Sezio) a 2011 Ford Fiesta, a gas card, a fully loaded Macbook Pro and a Canon SLR. The only catch was they had to spend Ford’s money on a variety of creative missions all over San Diego. Fast forward four months months and they’ve successfully promoted multiple independent businesses, added art to a local neighborhood, threw a massive concert for an unsigned band, designed a clothing line for pro athletes and made a short film highlighting their amazing city. In total, they’ve logged 15,000 miles and pumped over $50,000 into San Diego. Thanks Ford, Dave Brown and Zack Nielsen for sharing this story.

Check out the Fiesta Movement website

There are currently 35 confirmed and 15 maybes, so the space is filling up quickly. RSVP here.

I’m glancing through Google search results for digital marketing and I see this Wall Street Journal article on how Hearst Corp. is buying iCrossing, a digital marketing firm. I actually did not realize that iCrossing was fully a digital marketing firm as much as they’ve always been in the search marketing space. But hey, it’s just a category right? The acquisition is valued at $325 million and supposedly could hit $400 million based on iCrossing’s forecasts. There are a couple of interesting points here from my perspective:

1. Traditional media doesn’t get digital, so they simply buy it.
2. Consolidation isn’t always a good thing.
3. Just when you thought tech startups were where the money was … wanna sell your agency? (Didn’t Hearst buy Kaboodle.com back in 2007?)

So what do you get when you join Hearst Corp?

• Newspapers – actually 15 including Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, Albany Times Union and San Antonio Express-News
• Magazines - 14 US, 20 UK & 200 International including Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Popular Mechanics, Seventeen and more
• Broadcasting – 29 tv and 3 radio stations
• Entertainment & Syndication – A&E, ESPN, King Features, Lifetime and more
• Business Media – Its B2B services division

Some potential good could come of this if Hearst looks at integrating iCrossing into the actual operational side as opposed to just playing consultants and trainers for its traditional media staff. I can tell you one thing Hearst improves immediately is it’s social presence. @HearstCorp is a fairly weak, unmanaged, non-interactive account. So remember, digital is a commitment, not something you can just buy.

If I told you that a local business was offering quick service, free wifi, kona coffee, cold A/C, and a tiki lounge what would come to mind?

Well it’s probably not a smog station. Here is a photo though of just that, a smog station that offers all the amenities (if not better) of your local coffee shop. Smog Oasis is a new addition to my neighborhood and I must say that I am impressed. Now when you think about a smog check you’re probably like me and picture a garage with a couple chairs, a mechanic or two, and the smell of grease. A smog check is also most likely an experience that you would choose to forget and would like to avoid, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Even a smog station can benefit from more time and thought put into user experience.

Understand what your customer or client really wants, even without them telling you directly, and provide them with a product that goes above and beyond what your competitors are doing and set yourself a part from the rest. Be extraordinary.

So what ways can you take your “ordinary” product and turn it in to something extraordinary? Remember before Apple started turning computers into works of art you probably pictured computers as large ugly boxes you hide in cabinets not something that you want to show off to your friends.

The latest commercial for the iPad has just been released by Apple. You’ll notice that even though the camera views of the iPad in action are similar to those from the original commercial that aired during the Oscars but there are some significant changes to the messaging.

• New Apple voice over voice
  • The original commercial only had music. Also this voice over is powerful in the key words and phrases they use such as “magical”, “you already know how to use it”, “its already a revolution”, “its only just begun”
• Clips of the iPad in action outside of the home
  • They bring the iPad into multiple settings and uses such as academic, music lessons, carrying it on your scooter, and showing charts during a presentation. This is especially important in that the original add characterized the iPad as a tool that trendy and contemporary people might use while sitting on their couch or around their house.
• More ethnicity
  • In the first commercial you will notice that the only people using the iPad were white. In the new commercial the clips transition not only from different settings but to different ethnic groups of users as well.
• New music
  • The music is more aggressive and less trendy giving the impression that the iPad is more powerful and not just a cool toy that some people use for browsing the web and sending emails.
• Close the generation gap
  • There is a couple clips in the new ad that show a small child with their parent using the iPad. It’s not just a tool for grownups and is simple & intuitive enough to use even for a kid.

The new ad shows that Apple is really reaching out to position the iPad as a common device for the masses and not just a nice to have luxury gadget.

New iPad Commercial

iPad Commercial From The Oscars