Digital Misfitz took place in the Science Gallery last night. This sold-out event saw Colm Grealy of Digital Reach Group provide commentary on, amongst other things, recent emerging trends in mobile technology. Colm spoke of the increasing influence of mobile technology and described the revolutionary and exciting new advertising platforms it brings with it. The Apple iPad has already sold two million units in the US alone and at last count, queries regarding the new device represented 0.8% of all internet searches; a staggering statistic considering its young age. As competitor devices to the iPad arrive in its wake, many with similarly exciting technical capabilities, myriad creative opportunities await.  Although the iPad doesn’t officially launch in the Irish market until mid July, Colm brought two iPads to the event, which we all took delight in testing at the end of the talk.  Apple Store be warned – given the fact that a total of only 150,000 units will arrive on these shores this year, you can expect lengthy queues snaking outside your shopfronts in July.

In the second part of the event, Deirdre Waldron of Agency.com spoke of the need for agencies to embrace consumer insights at all levels within their organisations. She further argued that a winning campaign will be based upon the exploitation of an insight rather than being based upon the mere targeting of a demographic profile. Deirdre presented a recent example of Agency.com’s launch of the Sony Playstation 3 campaign, in which mass excitement was generated to coincide with the launch of the latest PS3 with the help of some strategically-placed giant eggs in Dublin city!

Last but not least, Keith Lacy of Cybercom presented a campaign he had worked on for G-Star Raw. Although well-established in Europe, the Dutch brand had not yet broken the US market and employed Cybercom to assist them in achieving this goal. Cybercom launched a Facebook campaign to coincide with New York Fashion Week and succeeded in generating much excitement and conversation around the brand during this key period in the US fashion calendar year.

It was fantastic to see such a good turnout at Digital Misfitz. As Suzanne Fitzgerald rightly pointed out,by  meeting and sharing knowledge and ideas together, Irish agencies can continue to position themselves as  genuine contenders in the digital sphere.