Who run the world? Collaborative filtering recommender algorithms. Also known as ‘Customers who bought this item also bought…’ suggestions. They’ve become ubiquitous in the online world, determining what we look at, buy and like.
Perhaps you’re worried that as your life moves online and Alexa moves into your living room, your decisions are essentially being made for you. Perhaps you’re worried you live in a bubble. Perhaps you’ve never thought about it.
Hopefully, you are now. Which was the point of putting these giant signs up in locations around New Zealand.
Further reading.
The project has been featured on everything from the BBC to Verge.
Rice pudding with fish soup. Broccoli smoothie with goat curry. Scrambled eggs with cat food. These are the sorts of combinations dishwashers deal with every single day.
When you think about it, it’s gross. So we made an ad that makes you think about it. That same ad then introduces Finish Dishwasher Cleaner.
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With the creative direction of Carlos & Laura, we produced a big, shiny ad. Along with some beautiful OOH.
It’s easy to visit a foreign city. There you’ll be greeted by McDonald’s. Starbucks and cliché souvenir shops. These things don’t make a city special. It’s the things you find in a gutter, down an alleyway or happen across that make a city unique.
‘Mystery Lucky City Box’ curates these curiosities and provides the cultural relevance. It pulls the shiny exterior of a city off and offers a raw, authentic look at what’s underneath. MLCB puts the feel, taste and smell of a city you’re not familiar with in your hands.
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Over a pint, Iain Tait mentioned a box of foreign objects his friend sent him. We took the idea and ran with it. Our London box was sent to W+K offices around the world and a limited number went on sale - and sold out - at tokyobike.
To read the booklet, click here. Simon Elvins was the designer.
Many springs ago, we noticed something peculiar. The magnolia petals scattered on the footpath were showing up distinctive marks.
Shoeprints.
The weight of people walking atop the freshly fallen petals - and the shoes on their feet - caused a reaction best described as bruising. During the London spring of 2017, we gathered a collection of the most iconic shoes we could find. Then we stood all over a bunch of petals. Here they are in all their beautiful bruised glory.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/11-iconic-shoeprints-on-fallen-magnolia-petals-2017-8/
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The first piece of art we've created together. An edition of 100 available from The Archivist's Gallery (London) and Subversion Gallery (Glasgow).
For fun, Scott designed a flag for every planet in the Star Wars universe.
The project was picked up by The Guardian, Dezeen, Wired and It's Nice That.
Someone even made a doco about it.
Check it all out for yourself here.
To raise awareness of their work, Amnesty International wanted ordinary New Zealanders to experience what it might be like to live without basic human rights. So we built a Facebook application that scans your Timeline and shows what your online behaviour might cost you in countries around the world, just for being you.
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One of a handful of ideas we presented to Levi Slavin and Nick Worthington. Fortunately, they picked this one.
The new Lurpak Infusions range is perfect for spreading flavour on wraps, pitas and flatbreads.
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It was also the perfect way for a couple of Kiwis to learn about British craft.
It doesn't matter how much we plan, the one thing we can count on is that unexpected things will happen.
And it's because unexpected happens, that Nimble offer smart little loans.
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This brief came from our Australian office and was put out to our entire creative department. We came up with the idea, line and first spot. The other two are included solely for your entertainment.
When you lose your dog every second counts. So what if there was a way to activate an army of scouts in the exact area your dog was last seen, with the push of a button?
Well, that’s PEDIGREE Found. Register your dog for piece of mind, and if they go missing just press the LOST button. This creates lost dog alert mobile ads in the area your dog was last seen instantly, geo-targeted to a pinpoint radius of 2.5 kilometers and personalised with your dogs information.
This, along with notifications to all Found app users nearby, gives our network of eyes all the details they need to bring your dog home safely, and quickly.
To create Found, Pedigree and Google collaborated on a revolutionary new system to push out dynamic, location specific display media in a matter of seconds – down from up to 30 minutes. So now, thanks to Found, your dog won’t stay lost for long.
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Before this idea, there was Share for Dogs. A proactive idea of ours that pushed the boundaries of what YouTube was comfortable with at the time. This ultimately forged a relationship with Google, which led to them approaching us with their new banner technology before anyone else, 12 months later.
Kids love to play and have fun, but sometimes they can hurt themselves and break a bone. It’s a part of growing up.
Anchor Calci+ milk wants to help. We gave kids a super tough decal for their casts that showed their actual X-Ray. Their unique decal also featured a barcode that could be scanned in supermarkets for free Anchor Calci+ milk while they heal.
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An idea we worked on for a year, that finally came out when we were on the other side of the world.
At the end of 2014, BBDO agencies around the world were asked to throw in ideas for the global repositioning of Pedigree.
Long story short, we cracked ‘Feed the Good’ and a TVC script.
That saw us flying to L.A. in April for a shoot with Lance Acord, alongside BBDO New York.
"Ben and Scott are two of the most impressive eaters I have ever worked with. Their formidable appetites are matched only by their prodigious talents, which I was fortunate enough to experience working with them on the global positioning and campaign launch for Pedigree. I look forward to working – and eating – with them again in the future."
- Greg Ketchum
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director at BBDO New York
Ben is passionate about burritos. Since setting up the Auckland Burrito Review (ABR) in 2011, he has officially opened several Mexican restaurants, reviewed nearly 40 burritos and taken several politicians to lunch, to see where they stand on the important issues like the guacamole tax.
In December 2014 he started a company that makes sausages which taste like burritos. This feat of innovation was achieved by putting all the ingredients of a burrito in said sausage: free-range meat, whole black beans, chunks of red cabbage and red onion… that sort of thing. Served in a tortilla with guacamole, hot sauce and sour cream, the Bangerrito was an instant hit.
Stocked in 14 supermarkets and at events around New Zealand, the Bangerrito is a humble sausage with global ambition. They'll be back on sale for the upcoming NZ summer and in London before you know it.
It was 75 years ago when the first M&M rolled off the production line. Since then this little snack has ridden shotgun to some of the most important moments in mankind’s development. This simple print campaign tells three incredible true stories of how a little round snack helped shape our world.
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A concept we came up with, wrote and art directed.
Blessed by David Lubars himself.
The Samsung Galaxy Note II is perfect for effortless and instant creativity. To prove this, we collaborated with the New Zealand Herald's legendary satirical cartoonist, Peter Bromhead, to demonstrate exactly what the phone is capable of.
Every day alongside a top online news story, Bromhead drew the cartoon live on a Note II in front of readers on nzherald.co.nz. The campaign became New Zealand's first live satirical cartoon and went beyond the banner, to become part of the content.
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A small idea that ended up being quite successful; that still makes us smile.
These days teenagers are inspired by musicians, movie stars and entrepreneurs, rather than books. But what shapes the people who shape the world? Turns out it’s books. So to remind teenagers of the power of the written word, we simply showed them what shapes the people who shape the world.
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A proactive idea we had, sold and executed. We’re now working with schools to create factual, custom cards for the inside cover of books on their curriculum.
