Fit and healthy

Posted on by Zack Chia

A while back I talked about how technologies can make a difference to our lives. That is, if you allowed it to do so. There are definitely people who embraced change while there are many who are traditional deep down. The place where I worked gave me opportunities to speak to people that uses trackers like fitbit. Patricia Lauder took notice of her Fitbit when it begin to display a peculiar result of her heart rate. It reports an alarmingly high resting heart rate exceeding 140 beats per minute and this caused her to notify 911 immediately. It was later confirmed that there were blood clots in both her lungs and her heart would have to work more in order to balance from the lowered oxygen levels. She was able to get the clots treated and removed within 24hours. Data is important, especially data that can protect our valuable lives.

Parcel right at the door step

Posted on by Zack Chia

You can’t expect anything more crazy than this. A literal yet impactful approach taken by Volkswagen Denmark to introduce the direct sales of cars online. I think the idea of having it so direct creates the powerful message of how easily one can own a Volkswagen. Funny as this stunt might seem to be, it sure delivers a good conversation starter. Das Auto.

Back to the future in 40 years

Posted on by Zack Chia

Simple yet concise. There are things about the Japanese culture which makes it so unique and attractive. Be it their music, culture or fashion, everything seems to have that very special flair that could almost transcend reality. Clothes that might look so weird and ideas so radical making its way on to the streets, becoming an everyday affair is proof of the society’s acceptance to constant change. How did youth culture transformed traditional mentality into what it is today? Check out this video by Japanese agency, Hakuhodo, as they create this amazing mash of music video to illustrate the transition of times for Beams in the last 40 years. Amazing work.

Mercy.

Posted on by Zack Chia

Im going to mumble the exact same word she used in the video. “Mercy.” BMW recently released a video featuring Clive Owen, Dakota Fanning and Jon Bernthal in a short action packed movie with fast paced action simulating an escape scene. Needless to say, this is a high budget commercial with lots of planning and cast. Obviously, it is not an everyday affair that creatives can work with such handsome budget and awesome cast. Anyway, the idea of a brand investing this much to create a blockbuster work is commendable. Although the story line is far from being really diverse, the commercial is atypical of most auto car commercials. It place the new 5 series in good light by revving up its reputation further. Nice work.

Everyone is born an athlete

Posted on by Zack Chia

Always a big fan of all the works created by powerhouse ad agency, Wieden & Kennedy, Portland. In particular, those kick ass Nike commercials they had ran over the last couple of years. They hold a dominant spot in my memory and I believe the same goes to all those who appreciates the level of creativity they implanted in all their videos. Now, they made a new high. Check out this commercial for the Olympics. The ad, ‘Unlimited You’, brings on a heightened brand message that illustrates how great athletes are born from birth, as they transformed from unprepared amateurs to world-class athletes. Very cool and extremely high budget production. Nice.

Make dreams happen

Posted on by Zack Chia

A video that will not take you too long to figure out the importance of having the right support for you as well as your children’s dreams. This is probably not the first time we have seen such a script, but stories like this tend to warm the heart and deliver the message effectively. It resonates with many and gives you that tint of light, enough to drive you forward and accomplish that one wish you had. Simple, inspiring and lovely.

The future the way we want it

Posted on by Zack Chia

I have my fair share of appreciation for such videos which portray technology and its benefits. As much as I like how Fisher Price is embracing this full fledge, there is a chasm we need to bridge when we show ‘the future’ to ‘the present’. Before we embark on this fantasy ride, there are several factors we need to work out. The logic is simple: how then could technology helped us to improve our lives? heck, even to help us complete our parenting roles? This video illustrates engaging graphics coming to life and interacting with both parents and child. We also see how the alarm clock snoozing came into effect with just a simple hand gesture. While working out some concepts for my clients before, I remembered a particular case where I had to provide directions for a rather futuristic video. I cringed at the fact that people are dashing into this whole technology craze. But as I soon realised, there is an emerging need for brands to be seen as forward thinking. Innovative. Rather, LOOKING innovative. It well positions them as leaders in their field, giving them an added edge against their competitors. Branding and marketing has become significantly crucial as we progress into a tech-civilisation. I still appreciate what Fisher-Price had done here. Its just that sometimes its all about the goal rather than the objective isn’t it?

Ad spending in China continues to drive up

Posted on by Zack Chia

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Great to hear that our friends in China are taking online advertising seriously. The shift in budget to the digital space is evident that there is strong digital demand and companies are rushing to fill that spot. In retrospect, the internet was probably a small percentage of the overall country’s consumption of advertising. Today the amount has whipped up by more than 30% from an estimate of 14% to a staggering 49%. This would place China significantly ahead of the entire world. I remembered working with several China counterparts whom I felt they are ever so keen to embrace new technologies and trends happening on the digital space.

These days in China, advertisers are serious in understanding the consumer’s appetite and analyzing how people are getting themselves comfortable with what the online world had to offer. Especially for mobile consumption, data and content are often used for streaming, shopping and chatting. With the launch of major companies like Alibaba and Taobao, the use of mobile is imperative as e-commerce becomes integral to our daily lives.

Regardless of the current economic climate, the power of digital and its possibilities gave people strong faith and continues to boost ad spending throughout China. I do find the statistics to be rather impressive, considering the regional prudence in this economical uncertainty continues to loom across the region. Definitely very exciting as digital innovation becomes more and more prolific. The opportunity to grow and create new exciting options is readily available. Im expecting to see more awesome work happening in China!

More info and details can be found here.

Read for me, please.

Posted on by Zack Chia

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Undeniably technology has slowly changed the way we live. Today, it can be said that humans are starting to rely on them to the extent where we are almost living on a lackadaisical routine. As cringing as it might be, technology does have its advantages especially if it could help to benefit physically impaired patients. Amazon’s new update for its Alexa digital gadget now incorporates a new smart speaker technology. The ‘Echo’ now narrates Kindle books and it can be activated simply by instructing the gadget with words like, “Alexa, read ‘book title'”.

This function immediately triggers Alexa to start the reading program. But do not expect real human reading with emotions but rather, a more robotic approach. Atop of the reading functions, it helps to track the books you were reading and also included smart voice commands like pause, go froward or resume. The complexity of the program is still in its infancy, so don’t expect it to be able to perform operations like jumping in between chapters within your Kindle book. Still, this can be a great help for people who wishes to listen rather than read. But truly, are we over relying on technology or are we really leveraging them to our greater convenience?

Talking fries

Posted on by Zack Chia

I love crowded sourced content. The power of people cannot be underestimated. When curating popular content, one must anticipate spontaneous reaction from their fans. Take McDonald’s, Australia for example, their newly released social film was directed using script provided from over 3 million fans. They helped gave creative ideas, copy and direction for this movie. The film, “Loaded”, was created in slightly over two weeks with an episode being launched almost every 3 days in tandem to its gathering of ideas from their fan base. It helped mould the final movie which lasted almost 8 minutes. Not only is it humorous, its also very creative. Be sure to watched till the end credits! Well, its basically french fries doing most of the talking!