We stumbled across this rather impressive example of ambient advertising over on Liveleak recently, seven HD projectors were used to create a massive digital screen that projected specifically fitted graphics onto the surface. The effect was pretty astounding, we need say no more, just have a watch.
Our friends over at Scully Media have a range of ambient projection options available, drop by the site for a look.
Dublin/Ireland seems to be getting more and more awesome at the moment. It would be easy to resort to blaming the recession for people’s desire to make, do and play, but like the recession it’s been coming for a while. Never before has there been such a creative frisson in the city and beyond. Awesome gigs aplenty, make-and-do nights, Knit and Bitch sessions, clothes swaps, exhibitions, creative collaborations.. the list goes on.
Some of our favourite examples of this creative flow are…
Synth Eastwood A Dublin based music, art & technology group whose aim is to present creative work from around the world in an atmosphere more akin to a gig than an exhibition.
Le Cool magazine A free, weekly, online, cultural and entertainment guide launching on the 14th May in Dublin. It’s already available in Barcelona, Madrid, London, Lisbon, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Milan and Rome
Rankin’s exhibition for Oxfam Cheka Kidogo (Swahili for ‘laugh a little’), an exhibition by fashion photographer Rankin will be in Wolfe Tone Park (beside the Jervis Centre) and O’Connell St (opposite the GPO) from Thursday 30th April to Friday 31st July 2009. Rankin travelled with Oxfam to a refugee camp in Eastern Congo and the images he took paint a fascinating portrait of life for the survivors of the ongoing conflict in the Congo
Fashion Evolution clothes swaps Fashion Evolution is declaring Saturday May 2nd as NATIONAL SWAP DAY! Check the site for swap events around the country.
The Small Print Richard Seabrooke’s new independent project with creativity at its core. Developed to promote great creativity its many guises it hopes to grow beyond the blog into live events, art projects, publishing and much more besides.
If you’ve been reading your nerd sites recently chances are you have heard of the Pirate Bay, the file sharing site that for years has been directing illegal downloaders to ill-gotten booty. By not actually hosting the files on their servers they just about managed to stay one step ahead of the law (and rub many a legal department up the wrong way). The record companies have finally caught up with them though and their long running legal case has taken another turn.
Just a week after the four people behind the torrent site were found guilty of breaching copyright law and served with a combined 3.6 million euro fine and a year each in prison, their lawyers have sought an appeal on the basis that the judge in the case is a member of the Swedish Copyright Association. The judge has come out and said that this bore no impact on his decision but lawyers for the Pirate Bay Four are pushing ahead with their appeal and Judge Norstrom isn’t doing much to calm matters, check out his quotes over on cnet along with the rest of the story.
Illegal downloading has been a problem ever since Napster came on the scene all those cyber years ago, things are changing though, as the nice people at Tower Records will testify, vinyl sales are up massively and sales of their USB turntables are also increasing. A definite backlash against the poor sound quality and risk of virus’ associated with illegal MP3’s. Ask your dad about the feeling of picking up a longed for 12” with its warmer analogue sound and perfectly sized artwork, it even beats the joy of browsing a collection of favourite CDs.
To see Tower’s latest vinyl additions, visit the Facebook page Notes or send an email to vinyl@towerrecords.ie
While this song is by no means new, the video takes it to a whole new level. We dug it up after a heated discussion on mash-ups in general. (for those unaware, a mash-up or bootleg is where the vocals of one song are placed over the music of another, a video mash-up adds footage to the mix) The DFA remix of Le Tigre's 'Deceptacon' was a big club tune a few years ago, appearing on iconic electro clash comilations like Tiga's 'DJ Kicks' and City Rockers 'Futurism 2'. This video mash-up is the original though and is spliced with footage of 80s classic cartoon Jem.
How ecstatic are we to find out our Provon Revive (Glanbia Nutritionals) ambassador Rob Kearney made it into the British & Irish Lions along with 13 other grand slam winning Irish legends this week!
At only 23 Kearney is a class act not to mention a complete gentleman so no better man for the job and will surely be one of the stars of the tour. Whether he’s used at full back or on the wing the man with surely the sweetest left boot in world rugby will be a winner for the Lions on their tour of S. Africa.
Provon revive is a unique nutritional sports recovery drink designed to give athletes that extra 15 mins during exercise, check out the new video from the launch of this year’s series of partnerships to support sports nutrition in sporting communities.
From tomorrow (April 22nd) pizza lovers can get a taste of the underworld as cult New Zealand gourmet pizza chain Hell opens its gates to the first Irish hellhole on Dublin's Wexford Street. The Hellish experience, far from any other pizza encounter Ireland has ever seen, will excite even the most devilish soul.
Although coming from Hell and named after the seven deadly sins, the pizzas are far from evil. Fresh, fast and healthy, all pizzas are made from scratch onsite daily with only the best gourmet ingredients.
Hell caters for all vices including vegetarianism & vegans without forgetting the red blooded creatures with its best selling meat lover's pizza aptly named 'Lust'. Coeliacs can even now get in on the pizza game with gluten free bases available in Hell.
Pizza fans can begin their descent into Hell by registering @ www.hell.ie
This week's TOTW was a unanimous vote amongst the Thinkers. Tipped as 2009's 'Next Big Thing' this London based electro-pop duo have just been confirmed for Oxegen (along with Frankmusik, a previous TOTW winner). It's the nineties vocals from La Roux's 'In for the Kill' that won us over and the brooding dubstep remix from Croyden producer Skream that sealed the deal.
Here at Thinkhouse we have been scouting for a fresh thinker for Internship and luckily, amongst an amazing army of applicants, have shortlisted the right person. This placement starts in May, so are no longer accepting submissions for this date.
However, we’re always on the lookout for talented youth communicators. If you want in for Thinkhouse’s September internship or just think Thinkhouse is for you, please let us know why on jobs@thinkhousepr.com
Weather aside, this week we just can’t hide our excitement about working with Tower Records in support of the second annual World Record Store Day
This amazing idea was founded in the US and was set up to celebrate the art of music and the unique culture surrounding independently owned record stores.
Get your vinyl groove on this coming Saturday 18th April and head down to the Wicklow Street store to sample serious musical treats including guest appearances from Mundy, Neil Hannon and some amazing local bands who are supporting the day…
There will also be extra special vinyl releases including Tom Waits 7", New Order 7", a Sonic Youth & Beck split 7" and many more, see full line up for the day:
Heathers Hooray For Humans 202's Story of Hair The Laundry Shop One Day International Neill Hannon Mundy
The below is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the current issue of IMJ.
Working with brands to impress and engage youth audiences, the most fickle, sussed-out and media savvy bunch that exists, is often considered the most challenging. But it’s what whets the appetite of Thinkhouse and is what has defined the agency. For brands and agencies, determined to make their brand feature in the brains, hearts and ultimately the pockets of 18-35 year olds, what’s necessary?
Firstly - the product. A good product (or service) will engage and win the hearts of any audience. A product that is beautiful, useful and memorable. A product that matters and has a place in today’s society. A product that innovates and actively seeks out ways to outperform the competition. And while many PR professionals think that product development is outside their control – why should it be? Good marketing and brand teams should have PR at the heart of every brand stage, right from conception to launch.
Secondly – the message. Catering for today’s Y generation means communicating to them in a way, and an environment, that they are comfortable in. As today’s youth audiences are just as likely to be found tapping away on social networks as they are plonked on the couch watching the latest episode of SKINS, that’s where brands need to be. In a very fragmented media environment, connecting with youth audiences is done on many levels; from on-street and online to traditional media and word-of-mouth.
Thirdly – them. Today’s Y generation want to be involved. They are more willing than ever to contribute to brands. We can see this popular trend almost creating ‘user generated’ brands - brands that are ultimately designed by and for the end users. By interacting with the brand developer – usually online- brand fans are creating their own trainers (NIKE ID) Credit Cards (Permanent TSB) Flavours (Ben & Jerry’s) Teams (The Guardian Fantasy Football) to name but a few.
Lastly – engagement For an audience that digests endless brand messages from their mates, from their desks (YouTube; Facebook ; Twitter) from their heroes and from the media, today’s youth generation know marketing as well as we do. Once we recognise that, we’re on-side. Once we capitalise on that, we’re winning.
In a brand-bashed environment only brands that ultimately understand the nuances of youth culture, communication styles and techniques will be effective in engaging and ultimately winning younger brand fans.
Thinkhouse, specialists in youth communications. www.thinkhousepr.com
Myspace has teamed up with The Simpsons to celebrate 20 years of the ubiquitous TV show with a competition allowing American users to upload their own couch gag. Possibly the most famous family on the planet, The Simpsons is so engrained in popular culture that it is hard to imagine an evening without them. Just think about when the last time you heard a Simpsons reference, perhaps the last time you ordered a salad, or booed someone? They came even closer to the hearts of Thinkhouse when Barry's (one of our delicious brands) appeared on a recent episode. Well, now Fox is giving some lucky viewer the chance to get even closer to our extended TV family with this Myspace based competition. Unfortunatly it seems to be only available for US users at present so there is no hope for any Thinkhousers in bagging the top prize of a trip to the season 21 LA premiere party and other Simpsons goodies.
It’s a nice way to bring people back to Myspace who have lost a lot of ground to Facebook in the last few years, Fox, who show The Simpsons in the states bought myspace in 2005 for 580 million so no doubt are starting to look for a bit of return on that investment.
This week Chelsea FC make a fresh effort to communicate to fans with the launch of an official Twitter account… shame mourinho’s not still there… imagine the tweets….
The office was a 50-50 split this week, we have decided to roll out Bell X1 live this week and the other option has been shelved till next. So here you have it, Bell X1 live in Dublin (we think it might be Vicar St but if you have any better suggestions please leave them.) Enjoy!
We have been working with Easi-Singles recently on its partnership with Vyvienne Long whose song 'Happy Thoughts' was used in the recent 'cloud' TV ad. The Easi-Singles offices were inundated with requests of the singers identity, internet gossip was rife and the ad received hit after hit on youtube. Spurred by this, Easi-Singles decided to see the track released for download and we were charged with spreading the word.
To this end, Vyvienne was on Ian Dempsey's breakfast show yesterday, we have a recording of the slot here or you can watch the whole thing below thanks to the Today FM website.
You can see Vyvienne live around Ireland this month.
Thurs 16th April, 8pm Kilkenny Cleere’s Theatre
Fri 17th April, 8pm Limerick The Belltable
Sat 18th April, 7pm Cork The Crane Lane Theatre
Thurs 23rd April, 7pm Galway St.Nicholas’ Collegiate Church
Sat 25th April, 8pm Dublin The Village, Wexford St
Thinkhouse is a youth communications specialist agency that’s always on the lookout for fresh thinkers.
We have developed an internship programme to attract the best, talented creatives to experience Thinkhouse and learn with us. If you enjoy getting stuck in, fancy yourself as a youth communications expert and reckon Thinkhouse is for you - we’d love to hear from you, email us and tell us why you should get a shoe in.
We love a good gag here at Thinkhouse and this year’s April Fools joke from Chemisty was by far the best we got. It details plans by the creatives to buck the current trend in advertising and increase charges while at the same time decreasing the level of service. We particularly like the new fantastic range of stock photography clients will have available including:
- 'A naughty child sitting in a high chair.' - 'A kitten clinging to a washing line.' (should really be in every PowerPoint presentation) - 'A man and woman, standing in an office, looking at a laptop, the woman is sassy.'
You can download their new rate card for just €15 or send a SAE for a hard copy. We have long been fans of Chemistry's work and this little number just sent them higher in our esteem.
We have been busy collecting testimonials from our Movember campaign for movember.com. It's great to hear the different experiences people had and the ways in which Movember changed people’s lives. Here is one from TTV's Liam McCormack that speaks for itself.
I had never grown a full moustache before, not because I couldn’t but because I never felt the urge to do so. That was until I heard the call from what would soon become my Mo Bros. It was reminiscent of that scene in Field of Dreams, I was Kevin Costner and stood in my corn field, what did I hear? “If you grow it, they will come!” Thinking I was moderately insane but knowing what must be done, I proceeded in growing a MO. It was a month filled with itches, stitches, and some very tasty dishes, most of which attached themselves to my monster ‘tache, which could come in handy at a later stage if I needed a snack on the go! It was a time when men were men, and cars were bicycles, and women ran in fear crying; “Dear God, what is that Beast a top o’er your lip, that while disgusts me overwhelms me with longings I never thought possible!” And when the growing was complete and the month had almost come to an end, myself and my fellow Mo Bros, known only as the Tashmanian Devils made our way to a Super Secret location where we had what would go down in infamy as the Movember Ball! Every man if he’s honest wants to look like a 1970’s ‘fillum’ star and that night the stars were out in full hairy force!! And so we Bug-a-looed ‘til half past two, I was there, were you?
Before I leave you, I’ll let you know this, if you Moust-ash-me a question, go right a head!
Thinkhouse is a Dublin based PR company specialising in youth communications. Keep up to date with all of our latest news and see what's currently floating our collective boat on the World Wide Web.
