Sleep Art

@vclaireh from the London office loves how Ibis Hotels are turning your dreams into beautiful works of art. They’ve embedded sensors into beds in their hotels in Paris, Berlin and London which measure temperature, movement and sound, and an art algorithm translates the data into a painted canvas, via a robot with a paintbrush!

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pQnq74JEGw

All aboard the Bond Bus
@LauraPortch from the Sydney office was all geared up for “Global James Bond Day” last Friday as the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Bond franchise and the release of the BOND 50 Blu-ray Collection. In true Splendid style we had the genius idea of renaming Bondi Beach and bringing to town a special London double decker bus which ran a free morning shuttle service of the “007 route” from the Beach to the City.

Check it out here: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/all-aboard-the-bond-bus-to-bondi-beach/story-e6freuy9-1226489044759

The Reunited Cast Of “Clueless”
@StyleRealist from the New York loves this interview with the reunited class of “Clueless” - everyone was there but Paul Rudd (and Brittany Murphy :-()

Check it out here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/watch-an-interview-with-the-reunited-cast-of-clue

Fly Guinness Class

@HunterNiki from the London office loves that Guinness Europe has launched a digital campaign to promote the way it is rewarding consumers for drinking “the black stuff” by taking them on a private jet to Dublin. Consumers found to be drinking a pint of Guinness in one of 1,000 participating pubs across the UK by the brand’s own flight crew, between 6pm and 8pm, from 5 October to 1 December, will be entered into a prize draw to “fly Guinness class” and win a trip to Dublin for four people. A dedicated Facebook app gives consumers information about the campaign, including a viral ad featuring the Guinness stewardesses, a participating pub locator, and a winners’ gallery.

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IAMPw2IzkQ

Real Italians Test Nigella Lawson’s New Italian Cookbook
 @Michaella_SM from the New York office loves how Italian nonnas have tested Nigela Lawson’s new recipe book, to unsatisfying (hilarious) results!

Check it out here: http://eater.com/archives/2012/10/01/real-italians-test-nigella-lawsons-new-italian-cookbook-and-ask-is-she-mad.php

Snap and Smile
@mileseames from the London office loves the Barclays’ launch of Personalised Debit Cards. There’s always a photo that makes us smile and now you can see that photo every day on your Debit Card!

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq01YXVMOW0

LEGO Monster Fighters

@salmo_90 from the London office loves how LEGO kicked off the countdown to the Halloween season - by inviting the New Orleans community to build a 12-foot tall LEGO vampire by the light of the full moon in the company’s first ever all night build. Set against the backdrop of Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral, they built spooky LEGO Lord Vampire.

 
Check out the time lapse video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTjJUZ766Y

Tweet Shop
@salmo_90 from the London office loves the campaign for Special K Cracker Crisps and the cereal brands’ move into the savoury crisps market. Special K has opened a pop up store where customers pay in ‘Tweets’. The Tweet Shop’ in Soho’s Meard Street, London, wants customers to put away the cash and pay for their goods in “social currency”.

Check it out here: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/09/25/special-k-opens-tweet-shop-where-customers-pay-social-currency-instead-cash

Masterpiece (face) paintings
@Laur_Linz from the New York office loves Halloween (even if we’re a bit early to talk about it!), and these three young ladies dressed up as Warhol, Picasso and Lichtenstein paintings are just excellent.

Check it out here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/halloween-can-never-start-too-early

Pint & Packet of Crisps?
@HunterNiki from the London office loves how Burts Chips has teamed up with Guinness to launch the world’s first stout-flavoured crisps. The hand-cooked Guinness Burts Chips, which have been in development for six months, roll out this month at 75p for a 40g pack and £1.99 for a 150g pack.

Check it out here: http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/ambient/crisps-nuts-and-snacks/guinness-and-burts-link-up-to-launch-stout-flavoured-crisps/232650.article?utm_source=RSS_Feed

Nike’s new range inspired by the Togakushi Shrine in Nagano, Japan
@Michaella_SM from the New York office loves this new range from Nike - Definitely the coolest work out gear we’ve ever seen!

Check it out here: http://nikeinc.com/news/nike-x-undercover-gyakusou-fw12-collection#/inline/14550

Beautiful Data…?
@livgibson from the London office is loving this mesmerising video of the first 5 million trips made using Boris Bikes. Every journey is represented by a blue line, curving from starting point to destination. The curves do not represent the exact route travelled, since this is not known, but rather the direction of travel. The less travelled routes fade after around 15 seconds, with major hubs such as King’s Cross, Waterloo and Hyde Park soon becoming clear.

Check it out here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/sep/25/five-million-boris-bike-trips-mapped-video?newsfeed=true

Grand French Commute
As a commissioned collaboration between the Versailles estate and Encore Eux http://www.encoreeux.com/, the interiors of some RER C rail line trains, which transport people between Paris and Versailles, have been transformed to echo the grand motifs found in the famed Royal Chateau. @samya183 from the London office thinks this is “…an incredible idea, the paintings look amazing and it would brighten up anyone’s tube/bus journey. Plus, it’s also a great way of promoting culture and re-living the past.”

Check it out here:http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/encore-eux-palace-of-versaille-train

Google Maps goes Underwater
@frankiedoodle from the Sydney office loves this extension to Google Maps Street View! Last week Google announced that the company has added its first underwater panoramic images. The service now offers 360-degree views of what are generally considered to be six of the world’s most beautiful underwater vistas, including Apo Island in the Philippines and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The new panoramic underwater views are accessible in the Street View feature of Google – here are some of the amazing things you can do under the sea…

• Find a sea turtle swimming among a school of fish (Barrier Reef)
• Follow a manta ray (Barrier Reef)
• Experience the reef at sunset (Barrier Reef)
• See an ancient boulder coral, which may be several hundred years old (Apo Island, a volcanic island and marine reserve in the Philippines)
• Join snorkelers in Oahu’s Hanauma Bay (Hawaii)
• Drift over the vast coral reef at Maui’s Molokini crater (Hawaii)
  

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7syWPIZt9B4

Reebok FitList
To announce the Reebok FitList, a new Spotify application, Reebok transformed shoe boxes into sound-reactive speakers. @TishLondon from the London office loves this because: “…as someone who likes to flirt with keeping fit, this caught my eye: a Spotify app to help fitness enthusiasts create personalised playlists for their workouts called the Reebok FitList, which launched earlier this week. Users can also view the most popular tracks for various fitness activities - from running to yoga - as voted by the Reebok FitList community, as well as voting on and sharing playlists.”  

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Wp_OXoboY

MoMA lets you explore the collections digitally
@Michaella_SM from the New York office loves this very cool and very modern approach to gallery appreciation by MoMA.

Check it out here: http://www.moma.org/

The New Kid on the Block
@frankiedoodle from the Sydney office was lucky enough to be invited to the opening of the QT Hotel in Sydney this week.

Taking over two of Sydney’s historic buildings—the 1920s heritage-listed State Theatre and the former Gowings department store QT Sydney might just become a new landmark in the harbor city. The first member of Design Hotels in Australia, the property features 200 rooms in 12 different styles, each with bright splashes of color and unique touches that bring to life the building’s past incarnations.

Bowler hats as lights, lollipops and gingerbread men at the minibar plus a menu of bathtub designs. Signature touches such as 2 martini glasses, Belvedere Vodka, Tequila and a Nespresso tempt you to become your own bedroom barista.

The launch event was pretty spectacular with dancers on arrival and helpful wait staff at every turn serving champagne and delicious canapés. In the bedrooms, a series of different scenes had been staged including pillow fights and a rock n’ roll band partying the night away. Not bad for a Tuesday night.

Check it out here: http://www.qtsydney.com.au/

Alien Invasion
@vclaireh from the London office LOVES this website which allows you to highjack any website with little animated creature, cartoons!  Claire says: “Try it out on Splendidcomms.com, it’s funny!”

Check it out here: http://www.tumbly.at/

Scantily Clad Cabaret Girls
The Crazy Horse cabaret is coming to London! The legendary show, which opened its doors in the French capital in 1951, calls itself ‘the most avant-garde’ cabaret in Paris, and claims to have been seducing Parisian audiences for 60 years.
 
@alexwhitelaw from the London office loves this because “…it shows just how successful a simple, strong PR shot can be.”

Check it out here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2205163/Ooh-la-la-Pariss-risque-Crazy-Horse-cabaret-comes-London—launched-VERY-cheeky-photocall.html?ito=feeds-newsxml http://www.tumbly.at/

Did I see that right?
@LauraPortch from the Sydney office loves healthy competition between brands, but Graham Smith has gone one step further by incorporating company names into the logos of their competition. Pretty confusing…

Check it out here: http://www.sadanduseless.com/2012/09/brand-reversions/

Here is a guest post from Amanda Young, who is currently interning at the Sydney office.

Sunday the 9th of September marked Bondi Beach’s long running annual Festival of the Winds. The kite flying festival saw Sydney’s most famous beach transform into a platform for Australian and International kite flyers to show off their hand-made creations.

The  Sydney weather provided a perfect backdrop for the colourful celebration with glorious blue skies, warm temperatures and light winds throughout the day.

The stalls scattered aroung the pavillion provided tasty treats, kite-making workshops, and vibrant music and dance workshops. Some artists even showcased their talent by contributing to the Bondi Pavillion Murals with their own creations.

With kites of every shape and size on display, I had a hard time deciding on which one was my favourite. I finally settled on the huge whale soaring lazily in the sky - a creation that easily stood out from the sea of floating artworks.

Festival of the Winds is presented by the Bondi Pavilion in association with The Australian Kiteflyers Society.

Pass it on…

@alexwhitelaw from the London office shares a great piece of music marketing -  Adam Tensta launched his latest song online in a format which meant that only one person could listen to the track at a time. After installing the necessary app from Tensta’s Facebook page, fans that wished to hear “Pass it On” had to take a place in the digital line.
 
Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adam-Tensta/9063853779?sk=app_193844710685813

Pamela Love’s Pop Up Tattoo Parlour for Fashion Week
@SamTheFurst from the New York office is celebrating Fashion Week in a different way this year. She says “Fashion Week may induce cravings for an “It” bag or a pair of shoes that last only a season, but the jewelry designer Pamela Love is hoping to leave showgoers with something a bit more permanent this time around. In the ultimate test of designer devotion, Love has nixed her usual presentation to host a pop-up tattoo parlor at Milk/Made’s Digital Bar from Sept. 8 to Sept. 9.”

Check it out here: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/tattoo-you/

For One Night Only
@emilykatevb from the London office loves the new campaign from Monkey Shoulder Whisky - they will be transforming disused spaces around London and turning them into unique drinking experiences, once a week for the next three months. Open for one night only, each event will harness the talents of London’s young creatives to bring an unforgettable interactive night, celebrating classic whisky cocktails in the most unconventional ways imaginable. They will be teaming up with the likes of Lomography, who’ll be responsible for re-interpret the meaning of ‘Old Fashioned’, and One Dot Zero, who will be pushing boundaries with a cutting edge, digital celebration of what a ‘Blazer’ cocktail might be. The experience will take place every Friday with tickets costing £20.

Check it out here: www.monkeyshoulder.com/foronenightonly 

Spend Your Life Well with ING DIRECT
@grace_rowe from the Sydney office loves a spontaneous orchestra - ING DIRECT communicated their latest campaign message via a spontaneous orchestral performance on a busy morning ferry in Sydney. ‘Spend Your Life Well’, encourages customers to bank with ING DIRECT to enjoy a better life. The views aren’t very high in the last week, but I like the activity & the idea.

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FlVoRhpd1ns

The kindness of strangers
A reddit user recently posted a photo of a gift pack that parents of twins gave to everyone on their flight – full of sweets with an adorable note attached. @salmo_90 from the London office loves this because, “it shows we can all still be kind and considerate human beings – I wish I was on that flight!”

Check it out here: http://twentytwowords.com/2012/09/04/parents-of-infant-twins-give-a-treat-bag-of-apology-to-everyone-on-their-flight/

Branding goes hipster
@sasha_miller from the Sydney office loves the Tumblr ‘Hipster Branding’ – taking all the familiar logos in our lives and adding a hipster angle. She says, “This makes me feel like getting arty!”

 

Hanging
@alexwhitelaw from the London office loves the special Facebook-integrated hangers that C&A has introduced across stores in Brazil. The hangers display the number of times items have been ‘Liked’ on the brand’s Facebook store, updated in real-time, so that shoppers can see the popularity of specific products.

Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/ceaBrasil/app_185396351576200