Westin Wellness Collection

Clever initiative by Westin Hotels & Resorts.  The hospitality giant has teamed up with Amazon.com to create the first hotel branded storefront in Amazonland, encouraging customers to “restore balance in your life”.

Westin has always been a leader in innovatoin in the hospitality category.  In 2000 they pioneered the hotel-retail experience by selling their Heavenly Bed, which has sold almost 40,000 to date, as well as 100,000 pillows, more than 32,000 sheets, and more than 10,000 signature Heavenly spa amenities,

“The digital storefront will also retail signature Westin products including the iconic 10-layer Heavenly Bed®, Heavenly Bath amenity collection and signature line of White Tea scented candles and diffusers.” – Lodging

To promote their new storefront, Westin guests who stay twice from Sunday-Thursday (in the US and Canada) from February 22nd through May 13th, 2010 will receive a $100 Amazon.com gift card.  Wonder what they’ll buy… A Westin White Tea Candle, perhaps?

What a great way to create a power hospitality brand, creating and enabling guests to maintain the in-hotel experience in their own homes.  In addition, Westin will feel even more like a home away from home when you’re on the road.  Heck, you could even start charging your friends to hang out at your house! Housekeeping uniform not included.

Read more about the partnership here and get your Amazon shop on here

chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

Casey Neistat has done us a favor and run some stats on the explodingly popular international random chat forum, Chatroulette. He conducted a few tests with a sample of 90 people (in the middle of the day), and found the participants to be in the following percentages:

71% boys, 15% girls, 14% perverts.

In the video, Casey illustrates a pervert by showing a masterbating puppet.  I imagine that if Casey was a girl, the pervert figure would rise significantly in percentage points!

He also goes over some Chatroulette lingo.  Nexted is when a random stranger clicks the next button immediately after seeing what you look like... ouchhhhhh. 

Casey got nexted a lot.  Then he called a cute girlfriend, Genevieve (sp?) and got her to try.  Well, shock me shock me shock me, Gen only got nexted one in ten times! Indeed, everyone was really nice to her! "This really hot Icelandic girl (even) offered to show her boobs". Awsome..

The last few lines of the video sum up the overall experience:

"There is something magical about Chatroulette.  If you can ignore all the masterbaters and the rest of the fuckheads you're left with something that transports you around the world, into a strangers life, and does it over and over again".

I can definitely see the appeal here of being transported around the world to a strangers house.  This all depends, of course, on who this stranger is.  Is it some brilliant artist in Brazil, a master chef in Lyon, a lion tamer in Hanoi?  No, no it's probably not. But it might be a flashing Scandinavian or a well endowed muppet... In any case, the fantasy is clearly there, and with over 20,000 users a day, who knows where it will go?!

And on that note - you probably saw this coming - a quick plug of the Creative Global Socail Experiment.  We launched the CGSE last night on Skype and were really pleased with the large number of participants in just our first week!

The CGSE aims to bring people in creative industries together to connect, collaborate and share ideas and news with each other.  I see it as Chatroulette, but a much more targeted experience, and minus the pervert factor (hopefully)!

We use Skype as a platform for this group.  To participate, update your Skype name to [your name] #CGSE_city airport code_company you work for.  Then search Skype for #CGSE to find other participants.  Come here for more detail on the community and how to get involved.

What do you think of these types of experiences (connecting with strangers)? Have you tried either Chatroulette or the CGSE yet?? What do you think?!

Right message, very odd creative.

Yes, smoking is addictive and in many cases smokers do become slaves to tobacco.  But they don't get on their knees and ...  The sexual connotation here is much stronger than the anti-smoking message, and I don't like the equation of "smoking slavery" to sexual slavery.  Not a fan.

Agency is BDDP & Fils in France, for the Association de défence contre le tabac.

via I Believe in Adv

Tikaro Interactive's P8tch

Ever wanted to wear a URL???

Tikaro Interactive, a Pennsylvania-based company, is selling 2x4-inch, velcro-backed patches (called p8tches) with “Mysterious Commando Designs” on the top, and a QRCodes on the bottom.

While QR adoption rates, statistics and trends are difficult to find, Mskynet , one of the largest 2D barcode makers in the US, claimed in December 2009 that their QR Code Generator usage had well surpassed the 10,000,000 (10 Million) QR Code impressions per month (Mskynet Blog).  Therefore, while US penetration has long lagged behind countries like Japan in QR adoption, the trend seems to be on the rise.

I think the penetration of QR codes in the US and UK will increase  with advances in mobile technology and subsequent drops in handset prices, where more and more consumers will own smartphones.  More importantly, though, QR codes will be able to make a comeback (not that they ever really made a splash to begin with) as people become more comfortable interacting with new mobile technologies, such as AR applications, and are willing to engage in other online/offline blending behaviours.

I can imagine a really cool laser-tag-like offline game where people compete to drive the most traffic to certain sites, or to find certain locations based on QR code-directed maps.  It could also be a fun way of tagging people – I might order a bunch of sosticky P8tches and “sostick” them to buses, lamp posts, tourists, etc…

I could go on and on imagining fun QR code games, but my geek meter is blinking orange, so I’ll leave it with you.  What are your thoughts on QR codes and do you think that personal offline applications of the technology, such as P8tches, will hit the radar?

P8tches come in a variety of nerd-tastic designs and can be purchased for $24.95 at Tikaro's shop in the Boing Boing Bizaar.

P8tch design

via Springwise

Update - just came across these Foursquare Nerd Merit Badges! According to Mashable their production is pending approval from Foursquare. @NerdMeritBadges has almost 4,500 followers on Twitter... wowwwww.  A nice idea for the geeks in your life :)

Nerd Merit Badges

Penguin, London

Penguin, Paris

Penguin, Hong Kong

Like these three simple and very effective print ads for Penguin by DDB Hong Kong.

Based on the insight that a good book can capture your imagination, removing you from even the busiest intersections and areas in the world.  Now if only I could do this on the tube…

via Ads of the World

I've just added a new Sticky tab to the right page navigation - So Sticky Labs, a place to experiment and share some of the ideas I'm throwng around.

I’ve been playing with this idea for a while now and have finally decided to write myself a mini brief for The Creative Global Social Experiment (#CGSE), a international creative community.

What is it?

CGSE is a simple way to connect people in creative industries across the globe. Different time zones will make this a continuous, live and organic experience.

The possibilities are endless for a project like this - the CGSE could include a working group that develops innovative concepts which redefine the way we engage with products, brands, the internet, and most immediately, each other!

Who will use it?

Professionals and students in creative industries worldwide.  Fields may include marketing, advertising, the arts, music, technology, fashion, photography, etc.

Why will they use it?

To connect and communicate with likeminded creative professionals around the world, to educate, inspire and collaborate with each other. And maybe make some new friends along the way ☺

How does it work?

Simply edit your “full name” in your Skype profile to include:

#CGSE_city airport code_company you work at.

For example, I’m: Jackie Prince #CGSE_LHR_Skive.

The #CGSE hashtag is necessary for searching users who participate in the community.

Then, search for other participants by entering #CGSE into Skype search and chat away!

It is recommended that users have short [3-5 minute] chats with one or two people initially and build relationships accordingly. Users can agree themselves whether they want to enable video chat.

Why Skype?

I’ve chosen Skype as the platform for this experiment because of it’s high global penetration and the increasing amount of VoIP and video calls that are being made. According to Techcrunchies.com, the volume of traffic on Skype in 2009 was 13% (54 billion minutes) of total international traffic. Additionally, 34% of Skype-to-Skype calls use video (Skype blog).

Launching The CGSE

Let’s kick off this community with a bang!

Please send this to all of your friends and contacts in creative industries worldwide.

We will have the first session next Tuesday, February 23th, 2010 at 10:30pm GMT [2:30pm PST; 5:30pm EST; 9:30am EDT]. For other cities, check the time here.

Ideally we'd like people to keep their hashtag name and search for connections whenever they wish. If you want to get started before next Tuesday, change your name now and start searching!

Remember to login to Skype and change your full name settings to the format above [name #CGSE_CITY AIRPORT CODE_COMPANY]

Share Your Experiences

Let me know what you think about the CGSE!! Comment on this post to begin a dialogue of your experiences and any constructive connections you've made.

Alternatively connect with people on Twitter or Facebook using #CGSE.

Future opportunities in this space?

I would eventually like to expand this idea to teenagers, with the goal of connecting children all over the world. The service would enable them to learn about various cultures and people, demonstrate their similarities and differences, and work toward a more tolerant and understanding global culture.

***Please note that this idea is not affiliated with Skype's business (I've tried to run it by them but have not been able to get in touch!)

New! Join CGSE Group on LinkedIn

The Virtual Strike

Twenty five ad agencies in Belgium are participating in a virtual strike by dedicating their websites to a collective expression of discontent of how clients conduct pitches in the county.  

The action is organized by the ACC (Association of Communication Companies) in Belgium, which is a national trade association developed to protect the interests of commercial communication companies. The "story" is told across the following agencies:

 VVL BBDO, Boondoggle, Famous, Punta Linea, LDV, AIR, N-BBDO, Saatchi, Open Here, Fe Online, Kunstmaan, Bubka, Polygone Group, Tagora, McCann-Lowe, JWT, LBi, Ogilvy, 7 Beaufort, Happiness Brussels, TBWA, Publicis, DVN, Grey, G&CO.

Basically, clients in Belgium have been inviting up to ten agencies to pitch on new business.  The ACC's point is that pitching for new biz is both very expensive (citing up to 80,000 euros) and time consuming. Where agencies should be servicing their existing clients, resource is being spent on pitches, which often (when you're pitching against nine other agencies) is a waste of time.  The point is to encourage clients to narrow down their choices before engaging with an agency.  They're clear about how this can be done:

"... judging an agency isn't rocket science..."

The Virtual Strike

I'm really impressed with this effort because clearly it has become a big issue for agencies in Belgium, and it's great that they've united to take a stand.  The experience is fluid and clean and I think it definitely makes its point!  Agree or disagree??

Check out the strike here.

via adjoke

When thinking of Old Spice, sexy is not usually the first thing that comes to mind...  Key word being old... Indeed, as @webkitten so aptly put it, " the first thing I think about when looking at Old Spice is my dad!"

The market for male grooming products has experienced double digit growth over the last few years, with male skincare leading the way.  While some products (such as skin care supplements) are targeting men directly, Old Spice is spicing things up by aiming their latest ads primarily at women.

The key message here being: smelling like a woman (unless you are a women) is not sexy.  Women should buy their partners Old Spice instead of leaving them to their own devices, and men should stop using whatever is lying around in the shower and smell like their strong, manly selves.

Old Spice is "not saying this body wash will make your man smell into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it".  This cheeky tone is a nice change for the brand, which has been around since 1937 and was in need of a refresh.

The ad stays true to Old Spice's nautical theme (ships are their brand trademark) with The Man That Your Man Could Smell Like hitting us up with magical oysters and diamonds, topless on a boat... Sounds good to me...  

I watched the ad yesterday on YouTube, where it had about 700K views in one week.  Today it's up to almost a million.  What do you think of this "Manmercial"?