Well, if you’re Utrecht-based design studio Autobahn, you could carve your tweets in Belgian hard stone for the Stone Carved Tweets project!

Engraver Richard Wending along with Autobahn set up a Twitter feed #StoneCarvedTweets (no longer live unfortunately) for one day as part of Amsterdam’s ABC Urban Arts Festival on June 26th. Users were invited to submit messages that would then be physically printed out from a computer, deposited in a real-world inbox & carved in stone by Richard Wending.

Stone carving aint no picnic however & true craftsmanship takes time. The day of the festival proved long enough for only 1 tweet to be carved & at an average estimated carving cost of €1500-2000 per tweet, you’d want to pick your 140 characters carefully…

Surely this approach must give weight to the thought that Twitter, as a medium, is here to stay?

Check out the project here

Having already racked up millions of views on YouTube for their TV ads  and been awarded the Cannes Lions Grand Prix a few weeks ago, the campaign was already a viral hit. Then yesterday, the agency behind the campaign, Wieden & Kennedy led by Ian Tait (recently of Poke, London), took it to another level by using Twitter and YouTube to create and broadcast over 100 videos in real-time, with ‘TMYMCSL’ (actor and former sports star Isaiah Mustafa) fronting videos responding to tweets to the @oldspice Twitter account. Initially using sponsored tweets and sponsored Twitter trends, within hours the word had spread and everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to Perez Hilton to regular fans were getting in on the act.

These days, anyone can shoot a video and instantly put it online, but what’s exceptional in this case is the quality of the writing & performance – and the sheer volume of the content produced in such a short time scale. Hats off to the team at Old Spice and Wieden & Kennedy, and check out Read Write Web’s insight into how the videos were being made,   which documents the process from the initial gathering of tweets, to seeding the finished video responses back online.

Whatever your take on the TV ads (which have only aired in the US, but been seen by millions worldwide on YouTube), this is a truly innovative and hugely enjoyable extension of the creative idea using social media. Using Twitter offered everyone the chance to get directly involved and be a part of a campaign that otherwise might have remained a much-loved, but ultimately abstract concept.

As of midnight last night, US time, production came to an end on this mammoth effort, but you can check out the 100+ videos on the Old Spice YouTube channel and read wearesocial’s synopsis of the buzz generated so far via Twitter.

Expect this one to run and run… with no doubt more awards to follow.

We’re really excited about the new campaign for 98FM which launches today. We’ve been working with the team at 98FM to re-brand the station, and you’ll see the new logo across everything from the TV ad, to the website, twitter (@98fmdotcom), Facebook and of course the snazzy new Fiats driven by the Thunder Team.

The TV ad features a talking seal (sure why not?) who like 98FM, makes Now good for everyone he meets. You can check it out here.

If it’s been a while since you tuned in, then like our seal, we’d suggest you ‘Do it now’.

Have a great bank holiday weekend from all at Rothco.

We came across this rather groovy ‘pimp your beer’ initiative called Your Heineken.

“What a nice gift to receive,” we thought.

Because we are a curious lot, we asked our audience of beer lovers on our ‘Ask The Audience’ panel:

“If you were to receive them as a gift, which would you rather

A)     6 customised Heineken bottles or

B)      18 standard issue Heineken bottles, at a cheaper price?”

A victory for substance over style.

Our beer-loving audience voted unanimously in favour of “eh, I’ll have the big one please”

A             23%

B             76%

(No beer was spilled in the conducting of this survey)

Which one would you go for?

Some might ask what exactly is a digital creative. We know what an Art Director or a Copywriter is. And we know what a Web Designer is.
The Digital creative is a relatively new and evolving breed, and in its current form is somewhere between the three. You need a solid mix of skills encompassing idea generation, design, technical know how and – if not proper writing skills – at least the wherewithal to distil a message to fit the limited character count usually afforded by digital vehicles.

If you’re considering a move into digital advertising, there’s a very good chance that your background is either in web design or art direction.So you’ll not only need to demonstrate the skills inherent to your speciality, but also that of the other. i.e. a web design graduate will need to prove their design skills AND their concept generation skills.

Either way, the following applies.

It’s very simple. Your portfolio site is the single most important tool in your possession. The email, cover letter and CV are the last things that the Creative Director will look at. They go straight for that portfolio link in your email. And if it’s good enough, only then will they want to learn about your previous experience and education. And do not even THINK of sending a PDF. I still get those and wonder why a digital creative in their right mind would do that…Even if your technical skills aren’t the strongest, failing to set up a site for yourself isn’t the first impression you want to give.

A portfolio site is your opportunity to brand yourself. Advertising is all about brands so think hard about what makes you stand out, and reflect that in your identity as well as the design and interactivity of your site.

Obviously, the work itself is far from secondary. A great portfolio site with poor work is still a poor portfolio.
Simplicity is key. Make your work easily accessible, highly visual, and provide links and/or video every chance you get.
Nothing’s as fishy as a site full of screengrabs and no links.

Present your work pieces as briefs. Who was the client, what was the problem you were briefed to solve, and how you solved it conceptually, visually and technically.

Display your ability to work across as many different channels as you can. Websites, social networks, online ads, iPhone apps etc…
If you don’t have many professional pieces to showcase, publish college work or personal projects.

Now that you’ve got a solid portfolio, get noticed. Blog. Use twitter. Linkedin. Facebook even. Spot the creative directors of the agencies you fancy and send them a nicely designed HTML email with a strongly visible link to your site. Create a video piece and send it to them. Use spare time to develop scamps, a flash game or an iphone app. Anything that will show off your skills and ability to learn. As a digital advertising creative, you’re expected to understand  all the ways to connect with people digitally. So use them to get in touch with the people doing the interviews and impress them.

Alternately, you could just email me at alexisb@rothco.ie as it just happens that we’re recruiting…

Rory Sutherland, Vice President of Ogilvy U.K and President of the I.P.A, spoke at yesterday morning’s launch of the 2010 ADFX Awards in the beautiful surroundings of The National Gallery.

In keeping with the theme of these awards, behavioural economics was his topic of focus. How can human understanding be turned into revenue? Advertising hasn’t escaped economics’ increased influence. In an age where everything goes through a process of rationalisation, where media plans and budgets are being reduced, targeting moments as opposed to demography is fast replacing the traditional media selection model. In this new setting, advertising is becoming increasingly contextual, an audience’s frame of mind must now be taken into account.

A keen understanding of human behaviour has never been more relevant and yet market research rarely, if ever, reaches board level.

On that note, Rory Sutherland emphasised the need for marketers to educate themselves as to the nature of behavioural economics and to this end IAPI’s 2010 ADFX should produce some interesting entries.

Alexis was previously Joint Creative Director at Cybercom, where he worked on digital campaigns for many leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Powerade, Guinness, Aer Lingus, adidas & Vodafone.
He has an MSc in Multimedia Systems from TCD and a M.A in Irish Literature & History from the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.

And more recently, Pauline Ni Luanaigh has joined us as a Strategic Planner.

Pauline worked in Irish International for over six and a half years prior to joining Rothco. She has planning experience on a broad range of accounts including Bank of Ireland, Barry’s Tea, Simon, UPC, Mars Ireland and Sightsavers.
Pauline has a Master and Bachelor of Social Science from U.C.D and a diploma in Gastronomy from Université de Reims, which we hope she’ll also put into practice on us before too long.

And speaking of new recruits, just a reminder that we’re also still looking for a Digital Designer. So if you or someone you know would be suitable, don’t hesitate to send your CV and portfolio to alexisb@rothco.ie or give us a call in confidence for a chat.

We’ve produced a campaign including this TV ad to promote this offer throughout the tournament.
You can also follow Currys on Twitter @currysireland

What’s in it for you?
A lead design role within a fresh digital team in one of Ireland’s leading agencies, working closely with our Digital Creative Director and creative teams.
Working on leading-edge campaigns across all digital vehicles: brand websites, iPhone apps, microsites, social networks, online advertising etc.

What’s in it for us?
Your impressive design and concept development skills.
Your advanced knowledge of front-end coding
Your inspiring flash & animation skills.
Your solid understanding of emerging trends and technologies.
As well as your proficiency in any of the following: After Effects / 3D / Illustration / ActionScipt.

To apply, email your portfolio and CV to Alexis: alexisb@rothco.ie or for those of us on twitter @alexisbouckaert