While Pinterest is fast becoming the new darling of Social Media, my head’s been turned by Cinemagram. Literally.

As an avid user of Instagram I love its clever way of making me look like, in my mind, an accomplished photographer. It’s one of a slew of apps that have taken the old complexities of uploading photos and made it simpler and significantly more rewarding. Instagram has stood out from its many competitors, mainly thanks to its pure simplicity and the often surprisingly professional looking results it produces.

Ford’s Fiestagram campaign tapped into our increasing desire to share images of the mundane made beautiful by Instagram’s array of tilt shift and filters. Their simple competition mechanic asked Instagram users to create and tag images inspired by the technology behind the Fiesta (#starting #entry etc.) for the chance to win a car. And it worked. It tapped into a meme resulting in over 16,000 photo entries.

But now there’s a new toy to play with. Cinemagram allows you to create what are essentially animated gifs. Like Instagram you capture what you want, but with Cinemagram you take a short video rather than a photo. An incredibly simple interface allows you to choose which area of the image to animate and gives you a selection of Instagram style filters.

The results are intriguing, clever, occasionally unnerving but mostly utterly charming. Users are already experimenting with what they can create and every time you see a new Cinemagram it sparks further ideas of how to create something even more interesting.

Perhaps Cinemagram will remain a niche social tool. The £1.49 price tag will put many off. But with social apps and tools focused on visual expression growing their user bases rapidly, Cinemagram offers something new and unusual.

See examples: http://cinemagram.tumblr.com/
Get Cinemagram: http://cinemagr.am/
Find me on Instagram: t08yg
Find me on Twitter: t08yg

by Toby Gunton

As part of EngineDare, WCRS have created a series of four bespoke documentaries for BMW.

The films have been created in partnership with leading British documentary directors and leading GB athletes.  Our friends at Dare have built a YouTube channel to house the films, whilst Engine’s sponsorship experts, Synergy, were responsible for producing Monday’s BMW Presents launch event at Millbank Cinema.

On this project we have had the good fortune to work with exciting UK directorial talent, including Bafta award-winning Asif Kapadia of Senna fame, Richard D’Argues TT3D ‘Closer to the Edge’ and Stevan Riley ‘Fire in Babylon’ to explore what it takes to takes to deliver The Ultimate Performance on the world stage.

Each of the four films focuses on an athlete from the ‘BMW London 2012 Performance Team’, and is a unique insight into their world as an athlete and the parallels with BMW as a car and a company.  The films will be shared over the period of four weeks, starting this week, on YouTube (www.youtube.com/bmwuk).  

The first film ‘Man and Machine’ is a documentary by Yannakis Jones on the Paralympian David Weir and his relationship with his wheel chair. It explores how David Weir needs to connect seamlessly with his chair to deliver his ultimate performance. At the same time it shows how the connection between the driver and the car is also central to BMW in delivering the ultimate driving experience.

Watch the film, here.

by Olenka Lawrenson

We’re all about new talent, new thinking.

We want fresh, interesting, original ideas people for our creative department.

If you think you’re up to scratch then have a crack at joining our placement scheme.

We take on two teams (although talented individuals are also considered) at any one time for placements of 1 month. You’ll get to work on a range of famous brands tackling a variety of briefs.

At this stage, your attitude is as important as your work.  If you prove yourself on both counts then you could extend the placement to 3 months. And if you’re top notch, you might even get hired. Here’s how our placement programme works…

1. Fill out the form in this link.
2. Send your form to creativeplacements@wcrs.com
3. One of our Creative Directors will review the work on your website.
4. If we like your ideas, we’ll contact you and ask you to come in for an initial meeting.
5. If that goes well, you’re onboard and we’ll book you in for your placement.
6. Get ready to work hard, and have some fun.

We prefer to take on teams of two but we’re not that fussy, as long as you can prove you’re top gun. So you don’t have to have an ad degree, just a truckload of ideas and a website showing them off.

Good luck and we hope to meet you soon.

All the best,

Everyone at WCRS

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1112293/Appointment-View-Behind-scenes-Suns-Olympic-ad/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

In the words of one of the judges: “A fantastic example of an incredibly brave strategic decision to shift a small FMCG brand from one market to another. Ovaltine successfully created a new role for the product, generating excellent results.”

We live in an age where you can (finally) buy those Nikes from ‘Back to the Future’, we can now measure the speed of ‘neutrinos’ – which are apparently whizzing around faster than the speed of light (I’m not referring to the offspring of ‘Neutrino’ from ‘Oxide and Neutrino‘ fame) – and there’s an app for your phone which makes it look like you’re drinking a pint.

We’ve seen a fundamental shift from the ‘open web’ to, well, Facebook; and even your grandma probably now has an opinion on the privacy issues surrounding this. The use of social ‘tools’ and platforms has become ubiquitous, and advances in technology have facilitated a cultural shift in the way we communicate, forge, maintain and manage relationships – whether that be with other people, or indeed brands.

For brands to succeed in this new era of consumerism, creating a seamless ‘social’ brand experience is key. The consumer is now in control of the conversation, and it is those brands which recognise this and successfully facilitate and deliver ‘collaborative experiences‘ (for want of a better term) that the customer values, who will fair best.

As noted in a recent IBM report ‘social media is ultimately about interacting with others with an expectation of getting something in return. Even if that “something” is intangible, such as a feeling of connectedness or affection, participants are actively, purposefully seeking value. For businesses, the challenge is unlocking what their customers care about and creating social media experiences that deliver that value.’

No-one can ignore the phenomenal success (sadly posthumous) of Stieg Larsson’s novels about hacker and private investigator Lisbeth Salander, eponymous heroine of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The ‘Millennium’ trilogy has sold 27 million copies across 40 countries, and has a blockbuster film adaptation to boot. Since Larsson made Swedish crime fiction hot property, the profiles of other writers like Jo Nesbø have also been raised. Already well-known in his native country, his novel The Leopard has triumphed in the UK charts this summer. In all cases, Sweden itself features as a major character in these books: contemporary culture and rugged landscapes – it seems British readers can’t get enough.

Continuing to showcase Scandinavia’s stunning scenery is a film from neighbouring Norway, recent ‘found footage’ horror, The Troll Hunter. Though the title may suggest something more along the lines of Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus… after critical success, it has been subtitled for English audiences. Meanwhile, in 2008, Sweden provided a much appreciated counter-point to the angsty hysteria surrounding all things Twilight, with sophisticated vampire thriller, Let The Right One In.

To return to our favourite lycra-clad quartet, Mamma Mia (the film version with Pierce Brosnan’s singing…) brought ABBA’s music to a new generation, but Sweden’s influence on popular music goes beyond Dancing Queen and Chiquitita… Modern-day exports include Robyn, and Swedish House Mafia, who teamed up with with Tinie Tempah last year to reach no.4 in the charts with ‘Miami to Ibiza’. Less visible, however, are the Swedes working behind the scenes in the music industry, crafting hits for the stars that dominate the Top 40. Producer Max Martin is responsible for Britney’s early hits, and has worked with Usher, Pink and Celine Dion (to name a few). He’s also behind most of Katy Perry’s tracks, five of which from her second album Teenage Dream topped the US Billboard Hot 100 – the only other artist to achieve this feat (5 No.1s from the same album) was Michael Jackson – impressive or disconcerting?

But even if you’re not a Top 40 mega-fan, it’s clear Sweden is a force to be reckoned with in contemporary culture, producing sophisticated artistry, as well as thoroughly mainstream bed side tables. Absolut anyone?

And check us out…AD OF THE DAY ON CAMPAIGN!