Meet and get familiar with the MediaFronters one by one in this winter’s Coffee Break series. Today we’re chatting with MediaFront’s CEO, Børge Sandengen. Børge has a versatile background; he’s been 2nd Lieutenant in the UN Protection Force, studied international business at University of Colorado at Boulder, lead INMA and Gulltaggen to great success as Marketing Director and been Honored by the same Gulltaggen Award to the closest you can get to a “CEO of the internet.”

“Børge is a truly inspiring leader with great communication skills and a big heart!”

“Børge has the ability to make people think positive, even in difficult situations!”

“Børge makes people feel valued and important.”

“Børge always challenges people to become the best they can be!”

“He gets people onboard the bus!”

“He is a pioneer and a visionary!” It’s easy to see that our CEO is a leader with a heart and that he makes things happen. Now meet what inspires the inspirer!

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

People. People with passion and will. People that try. People that challenge. People that live with 404 as default page – and suddenly and sometimes unexpectingly unlock the magic. People never stop to surprise and amaze me.

HOW DO YOU KEEP EXPLORING AND LEARNING?

First, never be afraid to get out of the comfort zone.  Never say no to a challenge. Try. Push. Play. Second, hang with people that are smarter than yourself. Third, keep an open mind. Listen more, talk less. (It’s really hard, but I keep trying:-)

WHEN WERE YOU AMAZED LAST?

It happens quite often actually. I believe there are hidden treasures of magic to discover pretty much every day. Mostly when people step up, do something that was unexpected and over-deliver. Last night at Alex Sushi. A new division of food experiences –  The chefs skill and love for the profession shines through in the delivery. The same experience often leaps to mind at work. Great initiatives by smart minds who love their field, play and deliver!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESOURCE LIBRARY?

Bright minds around you. Ask people and you will learn. If for nothing else – for a second opinion. If there are few to ask, try TED.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS FACING RIGHT NOW,

AND DO THIS LEAD YOU TO SOME PREDICTIONS?

Fragmentation. It becomes hard to gain the overview these days. Important not to loose perspective and draw false conclusions just because you think you see the whole picture, when you in fact evaluate issues by the wrong angle.

Meet and get familiar with the MediaFronters one by one in this winter’s Coffee Break series. Today we’re chatting with MediaFront’s new Chief Client Director, Trine Weidal. Trine just joined us as Digital Advicor, she has more than 15 years experience with branding, marketing, digital services and integrated communication projects for a number of clients. On the private side Trine is looking forward to install her new whisky dispenser and to go on her yearly trip to the islands of the Lofoten archipelago, a destination she loves – and visits at least once a year! Welcome, Trine.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Positive people who sees no obstacles – only opportunies!
Innovations, new thoughts/ ideas/ways of solving things.
And of course, competition and the feeling of a good win.

HOW DO YOU KEEP EXPLORING AND LEARNING?

I try to stay open minded and curious, the goal is to leave my comfort-zone as often as possible. The best way to learn is to just start, try, make mistakes and try again
– without to much consideration.

WHEN WERE YOU AMAZED LAST?

I am in constant pursuit of happiness and easily amazed. I find myself often thrilled by the funny, intelligent, enthusiastic or just nice people I surround myself with.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESOURCE LIBRARY?

My fellow colleagues – and now being new – I´m really looking forward to tap into the brain of all the skilled Mediafronters I´m lucky to work with!

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS FACING RIGHT NOW,

AND DO THIS LEAD YOU TO SOME PREDICTIONS?

The big challenge for brands will be to exploit all the possibilities in digital platforms in the right way. For us as an agency it’s all about helping our clients to prioritize their marketing budgets in a new way, to move from visibility through media spending to relevance through valuable digital content and services.

Predictions? I truly believe brands who manage to combine storytelling with digital services and/or content that adds value, will win!

Nettstudier er mer populært enn noensinne. MediaFront skal hjelpe NKS med å få flere studenter og tilrettelegge for enda bedre nettstudier.  

Pitchens utgangspunktet var en nettløsning som skulle fungere sømløst på alle flater, men endte i at MediaFront også får oppgaven med å tenke kommunikasjon og løsninger uavhengig av kanal.

- Underveis i prosessen etter en leverandør til justeringer av NKS sin nettløsning, så vi veldig tydelig synergiene med å legge selve kampanjebiten hos samme byrå. Etter en grundig runde bestemte oss for å “legge hele pakka” hos MediaFront. Vi opplever MediaFront som dyktige, sultne og nysgjerrige på “vår verden”, og ser med glede fram til å starte samarbeidet, sier Cecilie Bryner, markedssjef hos NKS Nettstudier.

NKS Nettstudier er et nettverk av høyt kvalifiserte veiledere og anerkjente høyskoler, som sammen skaper et unikt studiested for de som ønsker høyere utdanning. Studiene er spesielt tilrettelagt for nettet, med en intuitiv, pedagogisk tilnærming.

- MediaFront tror på integrerte tanker satt inn i en helhet, og vi gleder oss stort til å bistå NKS. Ikke bare er de visjonære, de er også en institusjon innen utdanning, som gjennom nesten 100 år har utdannet rundt tre millioner nordmenn, sier Børge Sandengen, daglig leder i MediaFront og rådgiver på prosjektet.

Norsk ydmykhet er sjarmerende, men det nytter ikke å stå med lua i hånda hvis man skal konkurrere med de beste i verden. Så tirsdag 29. januar skal vi se nærmere på norske suksesshistorier i utlandet. Hvordan differensierer de seg, hvordan kommuniserer de, og har de skandinaviske røttene egentlig noe å si?

Vil du være med? Meld deg på Breakfastforward hos McCann Oslo, tirsdag 29. januar 08.00-10.00.

Meet and get familiar with the MediaFronter’s one by one in this autumn’s Coffee Break series.

Today we’re chatting with our Irish alibi; Kevin Murphy. Well educated with BDes in Industrial Design from NCAD Dublin and an MSc. in Computing & Design from UU Derry, well experienced with thirtheen years in the industry as designer, coder, UXer, prototyper and advisor. Kevin is using his insights as a Senior Interaction Designer/Head of Design at MediaFront, apart from being “et råskinn“, Kevin will take you Forward to reality and inspire your thoughts on the mobile future. 

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

I get inspired by brilliant ideas and smart solutions. I am inspired by people who stand up to the bullies of this world – those who make life hell for others. I get inspired by people who share the fruits and knowledge of their hard work (open source movement for example). The internet as a medium for sharing knowledge is one of the best things about it. (Hat tip TB-L!)

HOW DO YOU KEEP EXPLORING AND LEARNING?

By enjoying it. I love both reading and tinkering about with stuff. I make furniture for my home, fix up bikes, make toys, draw, through all of which you explore and learn. For example everything I’ve made I have wished I could have another chance to start from scratch and do it again…a better way…a way that became apparent during the building process.

WHEN WERE YOU AMAZED LAST?

I don’t get “amazed” that often as I am a bit of a sceptic however, landing a robot on another planet and seeing high quality images of that planets landscape shortly after is about as amazing as it gets.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESOURCE LIBRARY?

The one I use most is of course Google, however my favourite is looking through books.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS FACING RIGHT NOW,

AND DO THIS LEAD YOU TO SOME PREDICTIONS?

Itself – The rate of change in the industry and the resulting level of choice is a big challenge. Versions, platforms, systems, devices, models, newer, better, faster…How will it deal with all this choice? Is it in danger of drowning in a sea of it’s own device?
Regarding predictions – I anticipate the death of todays ‘shoe-horning’ methods (forcing traditional communication methods into current media platforms) and the rise of more intelligent, value-based techniques to reach the masses.
This rate of change and choice creates an exponentially demanding audience.

Meet and get familiar with the MediaFronter’s one by one in this autumn’s Coffee Break series.

Today we’re chatting with Timothy Scott, over the past 14 years Tim’s been a Jack of all trades working in Web Development, Graphic Design and Information Technology for various small businesses in South East Queensland. At the age of 16 he starting work as a PC technician and through self-education worked his way up to top level I.T. Administrative roles. While having a strong presence in I.T. support and administration, he also performed graphic design and web development, hand crafting print materials, digital marketing, company websites and CMS systems, more recently working as the head UI developer for a leading council management software product focusing on framework development, accessibility, W3C compliance, HTML semantics and MVC architecture. Puh! Still with us? Oh yeah, he’s Australian too. And his title at MediaFront is not that complex; Web Developer.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Small details; I find inspiration in the finer details, a clever little design element, interaction or development technique that’s so brilliant it goes unnoticed 99% of the time.

HOW DO YOU KEEP EXPLORING AND LEARNING?

I get bored easy, so I like to look at emerging technologies that have limited implementation and start playing with the possibilities.

WHEN WERE YOU AMAZED LAST?

It’s pretty cliché to say I’m amazed everyday by my peers here at MF, which I am, but the last time I was truly amazed was in Antoni Gaudí’s church; Sagrada Família, in Barcelona. The attention to detail and remarkable vision of the design and construction makes all those famous roman cathedrals look like bus stops.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESOURCE LIBRARY?

W3C: Dig around in the specifications and you’ll unearth all sorts of cool stuff you never knew.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS FACING RIGHT NOW,

AND DO THIS LEAD YOU TO SOME PREDICTIONS?

I see two major challenges: Number one is Focus. There are so many distractions in the industry. New techniques, devices and a tendency to try and out creative each other get in the way of effectively delivering content. Number two is knowing the medium. Most of the industry is not using the technology available in the way it’s meant to be used. All sorts of problems are created because we’re trying to impose traditional approaches, such as print design, on a digital medium.

Meet and get familiar with the MediaFronter’s one by one in this autumn’s Coffee Break series. Today we’re chatting with Linn Johnsson, educated at Stockholm university and Berghs School of Communication, with work experience American Express, Cnet Direct, Gota media and Saatchi & Saatchi Stockholm. Linn is from Bergkvara, a small village in the south east of Sweden, were she grew up in the countryside spending more time around horses than humans. Nine years ago she left the forests behind and have since been living in Greece, London and Stockholm, before love recently brought her to Oslo and MediaFront/McCann as a Planner.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Getting any kind of new impression is always inspiring. But I’m especially inspired by meeting new, interesting people.

HOW DO YOU KEEP EXPLORING AND LEARNING?

I’m extremely curious and very often when I come across something that I don’t know much about I google it immediately and if I find something interesting I can be lost surfing on that subject for a long while. I also ask everyone I know a million questions about their opinions and feelings to see what they’re thinking. When it comes to staying updated rather then trying to find new angles I read a lot of blogs and papers on subjects like trend watching, behavior and communication.

WHEN WERE YOU AMAZED LAST?

I recently moved to Norway and Norwegian nature amazes me all the time.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESOURCE LIBRARY?

I got to say I Google everything and isn’t that source focused, I evaluate sources as I go. A lot of good stuff is found via twitter too.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS FACING RIGHT NOW,

AND DO THIS LEAD YOU TO SOME PREDICTIONS?

I think one of the challenges is that the rest of the industry has gotten pretty integrated in strategic thinking as well as execution meaning digital idea generation does not hold a separate process (or budget) as often as it used to. There’s a lot of occasions when digital holds unique qualities and therefor should be treated in a separate idea process (not always strategically though). It’s important for digital industry to make those occasions and qualities visible to the rest of the communication industry and clients.

Han kom bankende på MediaFront-døren som nyutdannet designer i 1996, full av energi, med et snakketøy som aldri sto stille, svartkledd og med oransje hår. Den positive energien, den herlige snakkesaligheten og de svarte klærne har vært med ham siden, også inn i sykdomsperioden og frem til den uhelbredelige kreften satte et betingelsesløst punktum.

Christian var den første MediaFront ansatte. Han ble partner i 2002 og var en viktig person innen digital design og produksjon. Hans faglige kompetanse, kombinert med en absolutt pålitelighet og utforskertrang løste alle utfordringer.

Cannes, Eurobest, Webby… Christian har vært delaktig i det meste av edle metall som er vunnet her på MediaFront. Mest som en bakmann; han var mer opptatt av et sosialt jobbmiljø enn å høste anerkjennelse. Christian var kanskje den viktigste frontmannen for den kulturen og lojaliteten som har vært så sterk og vesentlig i MediaFronts historie.

Crude var ikke bare mannen som kunne alt, han visste også det aller meste. ”Crudipedia”; det levende oppslagsverket. Hadde han ikke svar, så fant han det til deg. Ofte tilsendt på e-post med linker og egen analyse. Han var kunnskapshungrig og engasjert, men han gjorde det like mye av godhet, for å glede deg.

Du ble bare 38 år gammel, Crude, men mange av oss har rike minner av deg som fra et langt liv. Som en dyktig og alltid hjelpsom kollega, men mest av alt som et tvers igjennom godt menneske, og som en alltid interessant og interessert venn.

Hvil i fred, Crude. Du har etterlatt deg udødelige inntrykk hos alle oss som er eller har vært innom MediaFront. Hos oss vil du leve i all fremtid.

Våre tanker går til Lin og familie. Vi sørger med dere.

Meet and get familiar with the MediaFronter’s one by one in this autumn’s Coffee Break series. Today we’re chatting with Karina Hillestad, Art Director turned Copywriter, a Jane of all trades digital, passionate about the web, sports and electronic music. In MediaFront Karina works with concept development and will be able to tweet you in the direction of what’s going on in the industry; on the behalf of @MediaFront or as @inahill.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

The Flow/Holy-Shit-moments experienced now and then, these moments that appear when you least expect them. When the words all of a sudden started tapping themselves on paper at five-ish in the morning before a deadline, when out for a run on a day I feel like shit and end up feeling like I’m flying, or that moment of rock climbing when I felt weightless. These moments are impossible to forget, but they seem to only appear after hard work over a period of time, so they inspire to get back into the hard work. This is a useful checklist: Which moments produced feelings of “flow”? Where were you? What were you working on? Who were you with?

HOW DO YOU KEEP EXPLORING AND LEARNING?

A former colleague and senior creator once pointed out that an inverted question mark is a fish hook: “¿”. So first of all asking all the questions related to a task or challenge, but also refining them into a questions that opens up for interesting exploration. Secondly, I follow my dads advice to always look up answers right away. That used to be looking up something in a 20 volume encyclopedia. Now, the answer could be a few clicks away, with good search skills (a friend nicknamed me Miss Internet Detective) and enough curiousity to follow through. I tend to become a little obsessed (apparently I like 2209 pages on Facebook) with exploring topics, at the moment I’m in a phase of exploring the use of hashtags, and I get complaints on Instagram for using too many #YOLO, but it’s about finding out how things work by being an explorative user, testing all the possibilities, clicking every button, signing up for every new service – I believe that makes me a better maker, eventually. If not, it’s an interesting and sometimes stumble upon, serendipitous and interesting way of learning. And knowing memes and hashtags is a funny way of following popular culture and tendencies.

People complain that e.g. Twitter is overwhelming and full of crap. It’s not, it’s the way you plug into it that makes it overwhelming. Plug in Better and make it the best teacher/newspaper/inspirator you ever had, follow people or topics that interest you, put them in lists (you don’t even have to follow them, just tap into the list when you want to look at this spesific topic). Some of the people I’m grateful to follow and learn from: @rands  (leadership and nerdy stuff), @cindygallop (guts, game-changing), @bud_caddell (invention, strategy), @shbadr (versatile guaranteed source of interesting stuff), Penelope Trunk (sometimes controversial advice at the intersection of life and work) , Kristin Aase  (mentor who introduced me to Ennagram types), Jonathan Harris’ work and his storytelling platform Cowbird.

WHEN WERE YOU AMAZED LAST?

I try to put myself in situations where I know I have a high percentage chance of beeing amazed, where I can easily enter a state of mind or absorb a mood. This could be encouraged by art, movies, reading or music (party mood at Sonar, a little darker at Berghain) or meditative/total concentration activities (running or rock climbing).  I’m amazed by how my son can dance like Michael Jackson and choregraphs differently depending on the vibe of the song. And about how a simple oldschool written newsletter can be this good – the web needs more than visual content! (And of course; that it’s actually possible to find a new track I´ve been looking for in less than one minute, Soundcloud is fantastic. I suggest these tools to find your track: Tunatic, Shazam or TuneUp) This project could turn into something amazing: The Human Face of Big Data.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESOURCE LIBRARY?

That’s a hard question to answer for a taboholic/list- and post-it addict/quantified self-fan from before using a computer. I´ve  always been kind of a horder (colllecting stuff like running-results, stamps, magazines, vintage kitchy stuff) and I love to organize the items; so too online. I would say my resource library is everywhere on the web, but I tend to organize it very tenderly, so that when I start researching a new project, I always have a good base of insights to start with from what I have noticed and colllected.

I make libraries for every topic of interest – in different places based on the type of content. Should I have been a Librarian? Google Reader (blogs, news), Delicious (links) Svpply, Amazon, (wish lists), Evernote or Notational Velocity synced with Simplenote (projects), Twitter og Facebook lists (people, topics), oh this lists is endless, and I’m still looking for THE one startpage to gather it all. Favorite tools are probably a good old Blackboard and Post-its in bright colors – in my face every time I look up!

Hans Kristian snapped my stickies screen last week (!).

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS FACING RIGHT NOW, AND DO THIS LEAD YOU TO SOME PREDICTIONS?

The way we (still) look at and treat digital as a separate part of the whole. One of my heroes in our field, Bud Caddell, answered this perfectly. I recommend reading his piece “More than a few words of digital marketing”. In short, if we understand what he is saying, and stop treating digital as a separate channel, in our work environment and in the brands marketing, we solve a big part of the challenge puzzle.

Meet and get familiar with the MediaFronter’s one by one in this autumn’s Coffee Break series.

Today we’re chatting with Paulo Paes, 30 year old brazilian born and raised in São Paulo, one of the biggest cities in the world. Paulo already worked with some of the biggest brands back in Brazil (Samsung, Renault, Mastercard), before hitting Oslo and MediaFront. As the only main developer he made Migux; a social platform targeting children, for more than six million users. With a Bachelor in Advertising (PUC-SP), an emphasis in Data processing and programming techniques from High School, Paulo now has more than 12 years experience as Interactive Programmer with expertise on front end development, the last four years with MediaFront. He loves spending time with his wife, travelling to learn from different cultures, cooking, sports (football!), but recharging the batteries with true brazilian chilling is also important!

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Inspiration can come in different ways and from all kinds of sources; a a movie, a picture, a landscape, a great idea, a simple idea, a smell, a flavor, a smile…

HOW DO YOU KEEP EXPLORING AND LEARNING?

“Hunger is the best sauce.” When you have big problem on your hands that’s when you learn most.
But don’t forget to be curious. That always helps.

WHEN WERE YOU AMAZED LAST?

Watching the sun rise above the clouds through an airplane window. It’s a wonderful and peaceful view.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESOURCE LIBRARY?

Google. If you know how to ask you will always find what you want.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS FACING RIGHT NOW,

AND DO THIS LEAD YOU TO SOME PREDICTIONS?

I think that the biggest issue nowadays is that the social presence still is not very well planned, it misses a strategic thought behind it. It’s important to be out there, but it’s more important to know the why and the how. Some companies already saw the need for this, and there are some promising social CRM and results measurement tools being set up that will help the digital business to do it the right way.
Let’s see how it plays out.