McCann and MediaFront developed an application showing what really happens in room 512 at Scandic Vulkan Hotel in Oslo. To get the full experience you should go to Scandic and test the iPhone app, it´s available in Apple Store (Norway). Read more on the project on Kampanje or McCann and see all the different doors that was made in the Scandic Vulkan Magazine (page 20 onwards).

NetCom’s Youlekalender came second, and we think the case movies qualify for a medal too. (Photo via INMA)

We invite colleagues, competitors, clients and other skilled people from (or relevant for) the industry, for a coffee. Todays guest is Anders Gottlieb-Nygaard. Anders is the founder of Pocket&Comms – a communication/adverting agency with simple beliefs and grand ambitions. He believes in creative problem solving and making interesting things happen on client’s turf. He loves to collaborate with dedicated people and thinks wanky agency rhetoric sucks.

What inspires you?

I find people who can do more than one thing well highly inspiring. Our industry tends to breed talents in silos and then put them in one area to develop. I love when brainy people break that pattern and produce wide-ranging bits of magic.

In my mind, the guys from Tomato or/and Hi-Res! are spot on. – Dedicated, hard working, interested and genuinely nice people.

How do you keep exploring and learning?

We learn from the people we collaborate with, the day-to-day running of the business and the mistakes we make.

Since we’re a small and agency, we have the opportunity to bring in a wide range of skill-sets to the task at hand. In 2011 we used more than 50(!) different people to help us finish the projects. Different brains, more input.

And, we always try to benchmark and evaluate our campaigns pre and post. We learn from our mistakes. I believe it’s bad for business to sell the same errors twice.

When were you amazed last?

Music: Femminielli 

Art: Cy Twombly

Web: Check my StumbleUpon-links.

What is your favourite resource library?

I always tend to read a lot of varied stuff – and I’ve been collecting thought-provoking magazines, article cut-outs, photos, designs, viewpoints etc. for years. Now, this has become a little library of ‘stuff’ in our office. It works as a good resource in conjunction with the mandatory pages we read relevant to the brief.

What’s the biggest challenge the digital communications industry is facing right now, and do this lead you to some predictions?

Agencies are looking for ways to make money in digital – and as a result they keep recommending the same executions over and over. Microsites with content (ie. films), apps for smartphones or Facebook – or primetime TVCs encouraging people to go online.

I think there are too many ‘social media experts’ in our industry, not doing much more than blowing hot air out their overpaid asses; whilst showing some cool Keynote slides with large typefaces.I believe no one really ‘gets’ digital or is able to fully utilise its enormous potential, and I find this very intriguing. The best is yet to come, and I’ll love to have my stab at the ‘dark’.

My prediction: The death of Apps and the (re)birth of mobile Internet. HTML5 drives down the cost of cross platform development and takes mobile to the next level. As a result the consumer experience will be simplified and less fragmented; and we don’t have to go via AppStore to prolong the brand experience.

What inspires you?

It changes regularly, but I admire people who do the exact opposite of what I do. At the moment I’m tired of all the talkers in creative circles, me being one of them. I want to be more of a doer, and people like my friend Masa inspires me:  He moved back to Japan when everyone else left after the earthquake, and started PARTY creative lab in Tokyo. And Zach Lieberman, who I’ve never met, but would love to work with.

How do you keep exploring and learning?

I love going on Social Safaris. Usually places I end up by accident, or where I’m the pink elephant in the room. Could be eating pretzels in an Amish town or fistpumping in Jersey. I never talk to the hot guy at a party, but usually the weirdo that studied insects for 5 years. It’s not a brilliant way to reproduce, but I meet a lot of interesting people.

When were you amazed last?

I wish there was a better word to describe it than interactive, but this play kind of is: wearing a white mask you walk around in an abandoned hotel where actors appear/disappear. Feels like you’re in a David Lynch movie, drifting in and out of the storyline. Sleep No More: If you’re in NY, go!

(Oh, and yesterday when my brother told me I have the introduction book to Scientology in my bookshelf. Amazing. And very disturbing)

What is your favourite resource library?

Google for everything, really. I never got the hang of rss feeds, so I’m rediscovering blogs these days. And I’ve found adding them to twitter is the best trick. Then I can get all the beautiful/geeky/funny updates in one feed. But no, I’m not giving much back.

What’s the biggest challenge the digital communications industry is facing right now, and do this lead you to some predictions?

I think a lot of people in the industry are blinded by the endless digital possibilities. Just because an idea is feasible it doesn’t mean people will interact with it.
People’s needs will obviously change with the devices they use, like Foursquare apps are useful now, but wasn’t 3 years ago. But our job is interesting because we (still) communicate with human beings. And if our ideas are not entertaining and/or useful, why would anyone want to engage with it?

It’s very easy and quick. Try it!

See it in action.

1. Path (is stealing more time from Instagram and Facebook daily) Download Path

2. Flipboard (even the Facebook feeds seem interesting) Download Flipboard

3. Songkick (finally I have no reason for missing out on my favorite bands playing in town) Download Songkick

4. Shine(weather is very serious in Norway) Download Shine

5. Tumblr (Makes it easy to bookmark on the fly) Download Tumblr

6. Luxylight (this should be re-branded as “walking-my-dog-and-picking-up-s***”) Download Luxylight

7. Airbnb (Who doesn’t want to pretend to live somewhere else?) Download AirBnb

8. Plunderland (this game is highly addictive) Download Plunderland

9. Wordfaud (And I used to hate playing scrabble) Download Wordfaud

10. OLO (the perfect social two-player game) Download OLO

If you’d like to check out some of the apps I’ve made and please share your favorites!

iPhone:
Rimi Pluss iPhone
Statoil Kjørebok iPhone

Android:
H&M Android
Rimi Pluss Android
Statoil Kjørebok Android

Just felt like telling about this great feeling, about create things in the digital business.

We invite colleagues, competitors, clients and other skilled people from (or relevant for) the industry, for a coffee. Todays guest is Vito De Lucia, who has worked with web design and web development since 1996. He was part of the start-up Zoomit, which then merged with Kelkoo, where he led the User Experience and Design team until Yahoo! acquired Kelkoo. He was then Director of User Experience and Design for Yahoo! Europe (Marketplace). After quitting Yahoo! he went solo for a couple of years, advising large (e.g. Eniro) and smaller (eg Restplass) companies. He then joined Opera Software. He suddenly quit to take a position as doctoral research fellow at the faculty of Law in Tromsø.
His interest in design and communication has taken lately a more sociological and political shading, following the inspiration of – in no particular order – adbusters, Papanek, #SteveWorkers, the slow movement, Guy Debord and Baudrillard.

What inspires you?

The moment. Silence. Sudden associations. A walk in the woods. An
insightful read. A smile. People I work with. A conversation.
Inspiration catches me always by surprise, when least expected.

How do you keep exploring and learning?

I ignite quickly with enthusiasm for new things, and if/when I do, I
plunge into it and become intensely absorbed by it. Enthusiasm is a
powerful stimulus to explore and learn new things. Lately I have had
less time for indulging in these sort of plunges, but I have one or
two in the backburner.

When where you amazed last?

Since I became a father, I am amazed everyday, many times a day!
Professionally on the other hand, I am seldom amazed.

What is your favourite resource library?

At the moment the public (or university) library. Occasionally a
bookstore (preferably brick and mortar, so I can linger, open,
explore…). Otherwise the internet, of course. Twitter has of late
become more and more a source of surprises, tips, ideas and news.

What’s the biggest challenge the digital communications
industry is facing right now, and do this lead you to some
predictions?

Remain open (access), remain attuned to people’s needs and not only
corporations’. It’s unfortunate that most communication today is
besieged by, and embedded within, commercial frameworks. We need more
Diasporas and less Facebooks. We need less advertising and more
adbusters.

We need more developers! We are looking for frontend developers with knowledge and experience in at least one of the following areas:

• XHTML, CSS, Javascript, Ajax
• Flash / Flex / Air
• iOS / Android / Windows Phone

In addition to code experience you must also have the ability to work successfully in teams and be comfortable working with people in a creative environment. Experience and knowledge about social media API’s such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter is considered a big plus.

For more info or to apply, please contact:

Sverre Stabel
Interactive Director

+47 45458470

We are seeking a new flash and/or frontend designer/developer to join the MediaFront-family. You will work on both small and large projects and be involved in some of the most challenging interactive jobs there is in Norway. We’d like you to have some (or all) of the following qualifications:

• Flash / HTML / CSS / JAVASCRIPT knowledge
• AS3 knowledge
• Graphic (digital) design capabilites
• young-dumb-and-full-of-determination

Sounds interesting? Drop Sverre a line about yourself and remember to include a link to your portfolio or some recent jobs you have done.

Sverre Stabel
Interactive Director