HEAT

Something Surprising: Mainstream Anonymity

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:02:25 -0700

Today The New Yorker launched a new service called Strongbox that lets you share information, messages, and files with the editorial staff while remaining completely anonymous and untraceable. They accomplished this with a technology called Tor, developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Last year, both Wired and Vice Magazine published articles about The Silk Road — a marketplace for illegal goods and services that also uses Tor. The New Yorker is the first mainstream organization we’ve seen endorse this technology. In a world of public profiles and streams, there’s still a need for anonymity.

–Aaron, 97 words

Beautiful spot for Getty Images from AlmapBBDO, as a follow-up...

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:40:51 -0700

Beautiful spot for Getty Images from AlmapBBDO, as a follow-up to their equally inspiring ‘From Love to Bingo’ spot.

Go Behind The Banner

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:02:08 -0700

Ok, ok, going ‘behind the banner’ doesn’t sound that interesting, but most people are likely unaware of the actual journey that a single banner goes through on its way to appearing in front of a web viewer. It’s a lot more complicated than simply an image with a message that gets handed off to a media team.

The Office for Creative Research did a visualization that showcases the ecosystem associated with ad placements, and how complex the journey of an impression and an ad unit really is.

The entire ad placement network is one of the most complex computational systems on the planet. Behind The Banner is an attempt to understand the underlying interactions that define this ecosystem, and how they impact our daily use of the web.

See for yourself: Behind The Banner

Betabrand Sets Up Photo Booth In Retail Outlet

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:01:30 -0700

Betabrand, the previously online-only fashion company made famous by a line of West Coast Workwear that includes a pinstripe hoodie, recently opened their first brick-and-mortar retail store in San Francisco.

To add some fun to the shopping experience, and to leverage showrooming to their advantage, they’ve basically turned their retail store experience into a giant photo booth:

While shopping at the store, if you find something you like, you can try it on, grab a few props, pose in front of pre-designed backdrops, and then share that photo through various social networks.

The photos people will be taking are perfect for social sharing, and it gives Betabrand content for their own channels, as well as a ton of distribution through their fans/customers, so it’s a win-win.

Plus, they’re an online retailer first and foremost, so any online promotion helps extend the reach of their in-store audience.

Daft Punk is doing some interesting things with the promotion of...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:58:02 -0700

Daft Punk is doing some interesting things with the promotion of their latest album, including streaming the entire thing for free through iTunes (as one giant 1 hour and 14 minute track) until the official release date.

Maps & Atlases stopped by the agency for another edition of...

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:45:33 -0700

Maps & Atlases stopped by the agency for another edition of Heat Sessions, and played Winter, the first track from the band’s second album, ‘Beware and Be Grateful’ (Barsuk Records).

‘Winter’ merges the band’s tuneful songcraft with tight, dense rhythms. According to frontman Dave Davison, “The initial inspiration to write the song ‘Winter’ came on a freezing cold evening during the Chicago winter. The song contrasts memory and the perspective of winter as a season of possibility and creativity with the bleak, stillness of winter nights in the Midwest.”

Happy Monday.

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:41:56 -0700

Happy Monday.

Instagram adds ‘Photos of You’ to their app,...

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:44:30 -0700

Instagram adds ‘Photos of You’ to their app, allowing users to tag other accounts in their photos. This has BIG implications for brands on Instagram, so keep an eye on this as it rolls out over the next few weeks.

Last night Target ran a bilingual/multicultural spot targeting...

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:24:38 -0700

Last night Target ran a bilingual/multicultural spot targeting parents during an episode of Modern Family. They are certainly not the first to do this, but it’s telling of the trends in the industry and the country in general. Smart marketing from Target, both in terms of the creative, and their choice of media placement.

Going BIG for MINI of San Francisco

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:02:35 -0700

Parking around the office is just getting ridiculous!

Actually, we’re excited to announce that Heat will be doing the print, digital, radio, television, and social media for MINI of San Francisco.

Check out one of the first pieces of work we created for them, documenting the move to their new dealership at 799 Van Ness Ave:

Something Surprising: Breaking News From The Anonymous Press

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:31:23 -0700

THE $134 BILLION TWEET

Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured via @ap
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) April 23, 2013

The hacktivist group Anonymous caused a ruckus this week with its most high profile operation to date. Upon gaining access to the official Twitter account for the Associated Press, they posted a rogue tweet about an incident at the White House. The tweet was deleted moments later, but not before it rippled across the Internet at the speed of light. Seconds after the tweet hit its effects were felt on Wall St in the form of a $134 billion sell off. The NYSE quickly corrected itself, but the incident proved that even a single tweet can have massive consequences.

–Aaron, 99 words

Heat Sessions: Maps & Atlases

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:02:38 -0700

On Friday, we’re excited to host MAPS & ATLASES at the agency, who will be stopping by for another edition of Heat Sessions.

They’ll be playing songs off their latest album “Beware & Be Grateful” (Barsuk Records) before their show that night at Rickshaw Stop.

Check out some of their latest:

Something Surprising: Just Dip It

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:30:21 -0700

Leave A Tip With A Dip

A new startup has plans to help bring an end to the cash in our pockets by dragging tipping into the 21st century. DipJar is a small device that sits near a point-of-sale terminal which lets customers leave a predetermined tip just by dipping their card into the reader. With no PIN, no receipt, and no cash to manage, it’s easy to see how this could catch on and bring us one step closer to a cashless society. DipJar is currently testing their device with at a few partner locations in the US.

–Aaron, 93 words

Something Surprising: Boredom Can Be Addictive

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:53:06 -0700

An Odd Sensation

A community called whisper or ASMR (for “autonomous sensory meridian response”) proves that even the most banal activities can form a rabid fan base. “ASMRtists” like GentleWhispering and QueenofSerene rack up hundreds of thousands of video views on YouTube as they speak softly while performing mundane tasks like folding napkins or tapping on surfaces. Others specialize in roleplaying experiences like spa treatments or cranial nerve exams. Fans of ASMR report these videos don’t just help you relax, but trigger a hard-to-describe tingling sensation or even a “brain-gasm.”

–Scott, 86 words

PS: America’s favorite TV painter Bob Ross is considered the godfather of ASMR.

alexcarantza: Decision tree for using a QR code

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:48:28 -0700

alexcarantza:

Decision tree for using a QR code

Something Surprising: The Storefront Is Watching You

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:01:15 -0700

The Mannequins Are Alive

Airport clothing store United Arrows teamed up with Microsoft to create an interactive and lifelike way to test out clothing using Microsoft’s Kinect. Mannequins strung up like marionettes in window displays mimic the movements of shoppers who stop in front of the storefront to play. When most storefront window displays are typically ignored or noticed in passing, United Arrows came up with a clever way to give consumers a deeper, memorable experience.

–Lauren, 72 words

Something Surprising: Share With Strangers

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:01:14 -0700

Share-Fi

Those with access to their own Wi-Fi typically lock it down with a password and keep it for themselves. That’s what makes this idea so darn nice: a mobile hotspot that encourages you to share, appropriately named Karma. For every stranger you share your connection with, 100MB gets added to your account. Share more, save more and everybody wins.

–Daniel, 59 words

Each month, YouTube posts a list of their most popular marketing...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:24:46 -0700

Each month, YouTube posts a list of their most popular marketing videos, and we’re excited to announce that our spot for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, called ‘The Rumble’, was third on the list for March.

Even though a March 25th release date meant it had less than a week to rack up views, we were the beneficiary of some fortuitous timing, as the video launched on the same day that Tiger won the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament, and regained his ranking as the #1 golfer in the world.

In addition to strong view numbers on YouTube, the video was also shown on ABC’s Good Morning America, ESPN’s SportsCenter, and Golf Channel’s Morning Drive, generating millions of additional earned media impressions from the mainstream news outlets.

Something Surprising: Everything Old Is New Again

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:01:19 -0700

The Secret Beauty Of Animated GIFs

With the Internet becoming an increasingly visual experience, we’re seeing a resurgence in one of the oldest internet image formats: the animated GIF. They’re more dynamic than a still JPEG, yet require less attention than a YouTube video - perfect for snack-sized length and suited for sharing. What has us most excited is actually how far GIFs have come since their start in the 90’s. Online artists are taking them to new levels of intricacy and detail as shown in the link above.

-Daniel, 83 words

Something Surprising: Piracy Sans MS

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:01:28 -0700

A Comical Solution To Dealing With Piracy

If you frequently pirate software you might just end up stuck in a world surrounded by everyone’s favorite typeface: Comic Sans MS. That’s one developer’s approach to decreasing piracy and pushing people down the purchase funnel. The Mac-only text editor Chocolat is free to download and comes with a 30-day free evaluation. After the evaluation period ends the application remains completely functional except for one thing – all fonts default to Comic Sans MS until you buy a license.

–Aaron, 78 words