Archive for December, 2011
Cherryflava 2011 report card: Our year in review
Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Alternate reality conferencing
As well as being the year of The Protester [Time magazine's person of the year] , for us 2011 has been the year of pushing ourselves into uncomfortable new spaces. We started this year with a mission – to take everything that we’d learnt from producing alternate reality games for our clients over the years, and packaging the unseen, fantasy mechanic for retail and event applications. In essence we’ve transformed ourselves from a marketing company, into a technology company.
This year we’ve focused on just a few key areas of specialisation. We’ve done a significant amount of work in the realm of 3D projection mapping, which on a global scale has seen a significant amount of growth as a brand presentation mechanism. We’ve concentrated our efforts on the production of 3D mapping, which culminated in the production of the Dimension Data’s Annual Sales Conference mapping on a custom built 14 x 5 meter set. We worked with the world-class team from Motif Studios to create a mixture of visual and audio delight that really blew the audience [and client] away. Having seen many of the mapping examples from around the world – we’re pretty confident that ours was right up there with the best of them, which is where we feel the most comfortable.
See our post on The re-engineering of a conference for more on what we created for Dimension Data.
The other area of specialisation that we really got some good traction with this year is RFID. It stands for Radio Frequency Identification and as a technology we’ve been exploring its uses as a means to trigger our branded experiences and integrate those real-world experiences with social media platforms like Facebook. In a very short space of time we’ve developed, prototyped and built some pretty powerful machines that talk directly to actionable applications like Facebook. The result was that we turned the recent Axe Cloud 9 Party into an interactive media space that added to the experience of being at the event and gave the Axe brand some very cool brand exposure on Facebook.
So this year has been a great one in the sense that, once again – we’ve prepared ourselves well for 2012 and our mission to help brands create fantasy experiences for their clients and stakeholders.
A huge thanks has to go to all of our business partners and clients for making 2011 the success that it was. The team from Dimension Data / Internet Solutions, Habari Media, BAT, G2, Steenberg Vineyards, You Know Who, BConfident, Go4Word, CCPP and Motif Studios – thanks for sharing the vision and pushing the boundaries with us.
The Cherryflava Team - Stefan, Heinrich, Jon and Dylan
As is tradition here at Cherryflava – at the end of every year we give ourselves a public grading for how we feel we have performed throughout the year and this time around we will give ourselves a B+ for 2011. We are exploring in a unique, niched arena not only in South Africa but globally, but with our unique background and mixture of talents we’re well set up now to deliver even more in 2012.
Thanks do much for reading and joining in with us this year – have a great holiday.
The blog will be taking a break over the festive season until posting resumes on the 9th of January 2012.
Lambo Mapping
Posted on 14. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Behold – a Lamborghini 3D projection mapping. That’s all.
The Commercialization of Childhood
Posted on 08. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Our children’s childhood is for sale. Corporations with loads of money and teams of psychologists have turned our children into a target market. This is the full length documentary investigating this.
Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children’s advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world. Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children’s marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids.
Harvey Nichols: Walk of Shame
Posted on 08. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
The morning after the night before dubbed by Harvey Nichols to be the Walk of Shame – should clearly be executed in stylish kit, rather than in something reserved just for a darkened environment. Is that the same as making sure you always wear clean underwear just in case you’re involved in a car accident?
We’ve always enjoyed the Harvey Nichols tongue-in-cheek style of ads. This one ticks that box with a thick, permanent marker. Walk of Shame? Come on.
[thanks Jacqui]
Previously: Harvey Nichols sale mannequins – Cherryflava
Katherine Heigl Hates Balls PSA
Posted on 08. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Perhaps our drunk driving ads need the Katherine Heigl hate treatment. Brilliant.
Link: I hate balls.com
[thanks Dave]
Trend prediction for 2012: Buy Small South African Business
Posted on 07. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
We made a trend prediction for 2012 on Cape Talk this morning, which is more of a ‘holding thumbs’ prediction than one based on any kind of analysis. The hope is – that as South African consumers, we become less seduced by big brands and their advertising illusion and rather start an active support of local entrepreneurs and small business.
We can talk until we’re blue in the face about how government should be offering tax breaks, support, less red tape and all that good stuff to entrepreneurs, but the fact is that buying the goods that entrepreneurs sell is the only thing that’ll really drive this economy forward. Talk and support and legislation is great, but what are you – the consumer – doing about finding and buying things from a small business instead of just blindly buying from large listed companies who’s profits [in the form of our money] head to some foreign investment bank as a dividend cheque.
It’s not that we are anti-capitalist, on the contrary we’re huge fans of a fair capitalist system, but for South Africa to prosper, it’s not the outdated notion of creating jobs that’ll do it – it’s the creation and support of a thriving entrepreneurial infrastructure. One where South African brands are exported to Europe and the US for a change – rather than the other way around.
The key to this prosperity is however not more workshops and talking about how we need small business – it’s about getting off our asses and finding products and services to buy from entrepreneurs and then telling others about the ones you really like.
Conscience Consumerism – one where you make active and informed purchasing decisions about what and from whom you are buying from – is the answer.
So our marketing and business prediction of the biggest emerging trend in South Africa in 2012 – is that we being to Buy Small South African Business. We keep money circulating within our communities and actively go out of our way to source, support and sing about great local small business.
It takes a bit of work and effort [the best cheese shop in Cape Town is off the beaten track in Obs - not Canal Walk], but our country’s future depends on the success of the ones that take the leap and start their own thing. They’re not going to stay in business unless they can do business with you.
If you’re reading this – make Buy Small SA Business your mission in 2012. It’s a revolution worth supporting.
[Pic courtesy of Antonia]
Previously: The ‘Make Africa Wealthy’ campaign – Cherryflava
Shadowgram turns your silhouette into a sticker
Posted on 07. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
Shadowgram is a special photobooth where your silhouette is captured and transformed into a cool sticker that you can then stick somewhere random for sh*ts and giggles. Perhaps we’re still being influenced by an 80′s Roland Sassoon poster here, but we think this is an awesome idea. What’s not to love about plastering a shadow depiction of yourself onto stuff.
Social media snake oil?
Posted on 06. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
There’s no doubt that Facebook is a popular online platform, but can it generate revenues to justify a valuation of $100 billion?
Well respected New York investment advisor Josh Brown is calling social media IPO’s a scam.
This Groupon ($GRPN) IPO was a disgusting scam, designed by the underwriters to present the appearance of a hot deal so that they can get Mark Zuckerberg’s attention for the real IPO coming next spring. Share counts were kept low for the media to see a “pop” – and then backs were turned as the market cap was cut in half over 24 days. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves. If I can take pride in one thing at year end, it’s that I kept a great many people from chasing LinkedIn ($LNKD), the Social Media ETF ($SOCL), Pandora ($P) and every other stupid “social media” thing they tried to rope you into.
How much more shit will they sell investors with the nonsensical “social media” tag attached. As though coupons delivered electronically (and unprofitably) is some major advancement of human civilization worthy of being priced at 5 times sales. Are you people high?
So if investing in the stock is stupid – is investing your marketing budget in this stuff equally daft?
CNN COP17 Ecosphere hologram
Posted on 06. Dec, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.
As part of the talks in Durban – CNN have an online tool that allows you to follow the global Twitter conversation about COP17. You sign up and then hashtag your Tweets which get added to the flash tree as part of a collective global though bubble. [Check it here]
What’s even cooler is that the tree has been projected as a hologram inside the conference venue too.
Much better than that annoying Twitter stream that conference organisers wrongly believe somehow add value to the overall experience.
