Aussie Aussie Aussie!

We hope everyone had a great Australia Day and long weekend!Big congrats to Adam Goodes on taking out the Australian of the Year title. His win got us thinking about what other well-deserving Aussies were up for the gong. And considering we’ve just handed in another industry award submission (typical of us, we know!) we thought it was worth a sneak peak at who his competition was :)
Boy, oh boy - weren't we blown away by the calibre of compatriots up for nomination! Scrolling through the large list of extraordinary Aussies working for the greater good of others, our wonderful nation and indeed the world – we were struck by the profile of social pioneer Daniel Flynn. Flynn founded Thankyou Water, a cause empowering us to fund safe water projects worldwide through the sale of bottled H20.
Flicking over to the brand's website, we were pleasantly pleased to see how far Flynn’s initial project has come, which is now - after just half a decade, a fully-fledged international movement. To date, the business has contributed to more than 100 water projects across nine countries and assisted over 60,000 people with safe water access – brilliant!
Now known as the Thankyou Group, the company has expanded its product range to include food and body care products, available in most major supermarkets, in order to fund food and hygiene projects.
Check out their Thank You message...

Straya Day Sam the Lamb Man is back again

*All of you 'give meat-a-miss types' should look away now!*

And he’s back…Sam Kekovich has a lamb chop in hand and he’s taking his message to our nation’s younger people. The Lambassador is hoping that by educating our ankle-bitters, Australia’s national meat will not be forgotten.
Sam bemoans the perils of a lamb-less life, encouraging the wiser meat-lovers amongst us to take charge and make sure lamb is at the top of everyone's BBQ shopping list for January 26.

Another witty and verbally-entertaining piece for Sam fans to feast on….



McCormicks Foods Australia have enlisted Sam’s help to promote its Australia Day promotion – giving away a daily prize offer that includes a Weber BBQ and McCormick BBQing pack during January….perfect for those lamb chops, eh?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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...5 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS...

Happy Festive Friday!!!


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...7 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS...

Write Away this Christmas…or not? 

How are you going with you Christmas cards? Haven’t done them yet? Forget putting pen to paper – wine brand Jacob’s Creek have come to the rescue with an ingenious way of getting those meaningful messages out there to loved ones. 

True Greetings is an e-card generator that takes the hassle of personalising each and every individual card off your hands.

Connecting via your Facebook profile and the activity you’ve shared with individual friends, it gives you a selection of sentence options to choose from.

There’s a number of card ‘cover’ designs to make a selection from and you can share your e-card on Facebook, over e-mail or via snail mail, yup – the offer is still there to send one printed and posted card to your nearest and dearest recipient.

We’ve had some fun creating our cards – it’s quite entertaining, see for yourself here! 

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...9 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS...

Move over Elf Yourself, this Christmas a new fun and interactive festive messaging program has hit our screens.

WellChild, the UK national charity for sick children, has launched a fun festive microsite which allows visitors to create and name their own elf character, then share it across social media.

Donation capabilities are also set-up for people to give money to the charity,  which has Prince Harry as its Patron, and sign up to the charity’s e-newsletter.

Click here to experience it for yourself.

....13 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS....

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good flight!"

250 very lucky Canadian WestJet airline passengers received some early Christmas gifts this year, with a special surprise from Santa and some very organised and quick acting helpers.

It was a well-timed and executed achievement - with WestJet pulling out all the stops.

So, how did it all unfold? You’ll have to watch the clip below to see for yourself!

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....15 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS....

We can hear Santa's sleigh in the distance and we're all frantically online ordering our gifts so he'll deliver them in time!

UK shopping institution John Lewis has released a warm and fuzzy feature advertisement this year that has us all thinking about the emotional connection to purchasing gifts for family and friends at Christmas.

It's an effective and simple animation, matched with a beautiful soundtrack that makes you think about the occasion, the traditions and values associated with December 25.
    
Go on, take a look at it below and we're sure you'll agree that this is a darn cute video that pulls at the Christmas heart strings. 

FYI: Lily Allen lends her vocals to song (a cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know) and it's hit the number one spot on the UK Official Singles Chart. 

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Finalist for B&T Awards 2013

All the staff at 31ST:SECOND are proud to announce that we have been shortlisted for the B&T 2013 Promotion Marketing Agency of the Year Award. We are presenting our work this Friday to the panel, so wish us luck!!!

Painted Packaging

Check out these new works by Ben Frost, painted over preexisting packaging! This is taking recycling to a whole new level. Amazingly quirky!!!

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Dare to be tender

Milka, the famous chocolate brand, has used a simple product change to create a truly engaging experience for consumers. Milka has developed a new campaign that allows consumers to experience their brand message of 'Dare to be tender'. We all know the best piece of chocolate is the last one so whenever somebody brought a Milka product, one piece of the chocolate was missing. In the package there was a unique code where the people could then send the missing piece to themselves or to somebody they care about, with a personal, 'tender' message to go with the gift. Cute idea right?
Check out the video below
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Are you hot enough???

With the warmer weather fast approaching what better way to interact with a brand then with this installation from Lipton Iced Tea. Lipton built a vending machine that rewarded fans with FREE Lipton Ice Tea if they were hot enough. No, no, no this doesn't test how attractive one is, but infact detects body temperature. If the installation thinks you are hot enough it rewards you with your free Iced Tea so you can keep up with Liptons tradition to Never Lose Your Cool! This instillation not only created a powerful association with the brand but also made people become more active.

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Put on a SMILE

How's this for an interactive animation... Coca-Cola is spreading smiles and happiness around the world with their creation of a Wearable Movie. Each frame of the film was printed onto t-shirts and sent around the world to individuals who help make the world a happier place. In return every person was asked to 'put on a smile' and take a picture wearing the T-shirt, which represented one frame in the movie. The smile spread around the world and people interacted through Facebook to 'claim their own frame' and become apart of the Wearable Movie about two friends who wanted to make a pair of lips smile. Check out this clip to see how it all came together

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Jealous Sweets and How To Make a Simple Die Cut Effective

How super sweet is this packaging from British based company Jealous Sweets?

Granted they've used a few special treatments (that's making ohhh and ahhh); notably...

1. Raised Black Ink - on the word 'jealous' that adds a three dimensional effect.
2. Gold Foil - on the word 'sweets' which gives this product a feeling of premiumness - who doesn't like a good foil, especially on white!
3. Die Cut - it's not a complex one, but a well thought-out die cut. It add's a pop of colour from the patterned box underneath.

The last treatment is a big one and for us creates the most impact. The secret is in the simple diecut diamond, and the design of the packaging. A sleeve over a graphic and colourful box holding product. So simple, so sweet. Oh, and it helps to distinguish different SKUs. Clever stuff.

Do you need a break??

We all need time in the day to have a break and clear our minds from our busy lives. But in this modern world of technology would you be able to stand still for 3 minutes and do absolutely NOTHING??? No smart phones and no talking? We often can’t take a break on our own accord, so Amstel Pause have created an experiential campaign that will help you out. Just rest for 3 minutes in front of the installation and get a free beer. Sounds easy right? Check out the first instillation that makes you do nothing.

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Be More Dog

Here at the 31st HQ over the last few weeks we have been discussing which we like better, Cats or Dogs??? We are very divided, some of us LOVE cats and some not so much. At O2 they think that you can learn a lot from dogs, to them life is amazing. Balls are amazing. Sticks are amazing. Chasing their tail is amazing. So why not take a walk on the dog side of life? Check out the cat in this O2 advert as it thinks 'Why be Cat? Be more Dog'


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OAK Reverse Robbery

There’s only one cure for a store that doesn’t stock OAK and that’s a Reverse Robbery. What’s a Reverse Robbery? It’s when a group of guys wearing masks storm a convenience store not to rob it but to stock it with OAK.

This is a great case study by Advertising agency The Monkeys of how a brand uses social media to drive sales and awareness of the brand. OAK drinkers could use Facebook to request a Reverse Robbery in their neighbourhood.

To view more videos and read about the success visit here 

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Immortal Fans

Sports Club Recife has some of the most passionate fans in Brazil, so what better way to engage these die hard fans then with an integrated campaign that involved helping real patients on transplant list by creating a new reason to donate organs. The campaign engaged with fans via social media where first organ doner cards were given out to fans of the football team via a Facebook App in order to help save the lives of other fans like themselves. Organ donation increased by an incredible 54% in a year. Watch this incredible video to see the extent these fans are willing to go to make sure their organs are donated to Sports Club Recife Fans.





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From Concept to Cover

See how something goes from concept to cover in the video below. Toby and Pete created the lego-land-esque summer cover for The Huffington Post (commissioned by The Jackie Winter Group) which is incredible.

It's a fast version of how the cover goes from concept with initial sketches to cover - which is created in 3D rendering programs - which takes hours and hours! If you've ever wanted a world created for a advertising campaign, this is one of the techniques to do it.
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Ads with Purpose by IBM

Sometimes it's the simplest things that make the most impact.

These ideas make us think, 'why hasn't this been done before' moment. They may be simple billboards yet it shows us that a simple curve or fold can change it's purpose - change it's function. Often, we can get caught up using the latest technology or the most expensive stock or lights. But this campaign proves that it's all in the idea - not the fancy add-ons. Cause behind the bells and whistles that's what advertising should do;

- make life better
- make us smile
- make us stop and take note
- make us remember a brand

This campaign ticks all the boxes - great work IBM.

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Short Courses at Workshop

At 31ST:HQ every staff member can do one course of their choosing every year. They can choose to brush up on a chosen area or simply gather new skills - because we are all about continued learning. We work in an industry where it's imperative to keep up to date on all facets; trends to gossip to pop culture to hot styles to technology - so short courses are key for us.

We've spied the newest hub for short courses, Workshop - aptly based in the Central Park development. Their amazing space caters for all types of short courses starting from an incredible $20. Choose from cocktail mixing, macrame, stencil art, tattoo illustration, nail art or even honey appreciation. Plus there's even FREE classes. Fancy some yoga or meditation to ease your day? Just pop on over here to book.

Paper Artist : Bianca Chang

There's something restrained and magical about Bianca Chang's paper works. They are crafted layer upon layer (imagine the hours with that scapel?!) to create these 3D paper works.

Chang's released some new works and we are in love with the shift from her original graphic shape stacks (as seen in this OPSM commercial here) to a more graphic approach with lines and cubes. The works transition from paper art, giving the illusion of print from afar. It's not until you go close up to discover, these slits have been tirelessly cut with master precision.

Some 31ST:SECOND News

It's been a long time between posts. But we're back blogging here and will bring you some inspiration, some tips and tricks and of course a few funny things too.

A few things have been going on at 31ST:HQ...

BIG NEWS FIRST - we've won three big new clients! We've been churning it out and our team has been crazy-busy, working on pitches whilst servicing our existing clientele.

SECOND PIECE OF NEWS, we're APMA finalists for two campaigns; OakHeart launch for Bacardi Lion and Lunch Slices shopper marketing campaign for Arnott's.

THIRD AND FINAL PIECE OF NEWS, we've relaunched our website! Head on over here and check it out!

And because we love to share, here's a rather long but very useful video on Facebook and Email marketing, worth watching over the weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone!



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A Mother's Day Recipe

At 31STHQ we have quite a few mums. And as 'working mums' they are pretty incredible multitasking women. Shout outs to - Bec with three girls, Mel with two kids (Jeremy is a fav in the office), Adele with little Mia and Libby with Asher aka Peggy. All these Mums (and yours) deserve to put their feet up for Mother's Day on Sunday.

What do we recommend?

Forget the gift and give a gesture. We recommend cooking up this Campbell's Co Cog Vin for lunch whilst pouring a big glass of bubbles or vino. Letting Mum have a quiet Sunday, no running around and most importantly - no stress!

Here's the full recipe - enjoy.

Design for Vehicles

At 31STHQ each day is different. Some days we are brainstorming for new campaigns, other days we may be rolling out a shopper marketing campaign or designing a brochure or logo. Sometimes, we could be just sending out final artwork.

Lately, we've been wrapping a lot of vehicles. Yes, we really can design anything here.

We've just finished wrapping this ute for Bacardi Oakheart.

And this tram for Unilever specifically for Rexona F1.

This is an oldie but we've also wrapped a mini. Cute hey?!

So if you've ever thought can 31ST:SECOND help us with that? Just call us or shoot us an email, no problem is too big (or small) for us!

31ST Staff Q&A: Shelley

We've mentioned there's a few new faces at 31ST HQ – but in amongst it, is one of our old favourites – Shelley!

Originally hailing from the UK – bubbly and outgoing Shelley is our Account Manager for clients such as Bacardi, Arnott's and The Nail Lab. Her specialty at 31ST is Visual Display and Merchandising – and she is also a member of the 31ST Social Committee. 

Here we've asked Shelley a few questions to get to know her better... yeaaahh, buddy! (That's her favourite saying, by the way).

1. Any nicknames:

Shells Bells, Chippy (only my parents call me that... random)

2. An average weekend are spent:

Socialising with friends, being out and about, fitness, eating and drinking

3. One thing people don't know about you:

My family's surname was originally 'Bonvino' (which aptly means 'Good Wine' in Italian) 

4. The most played song on your iPod:

Matt Corby and Ed Sheeran, brother!

5. Book you're reading at the moment:

50 Shades of Grey…again!

6. Last SMS you received:

"Do we like this dress for Vegas!?" (with image reference) Sent by one of my girlfriends in the UK via our group chat on WhatsApp

7. Any secret talents:

I can do the splits (although haven't tried for a wee while…)

8. Latest splurge and steal:

Latest Splurge: Shipping my Mercedes SLK over from the UK. Latest Steal: One Teaspoon jeans on sale at half price

9. Favourite holiday destination:

It was Australia, so I moved here

10. What would you do with your last $20

Go out for a drink with someone special to me… and shout them also! 

A Guide on Running Instagram Promotions - Part 1

So are you thinking of running an Instagram Promotion?

It's easier than you think, here's our how to guide on running an Instagram Promotion.

1. Promotion mechanics
Keep it simple! This is the golden rule of any promotion, especially on social media. Too many steps = complication = low entries. Make the promotion mechanic entry easy - the golden rule of any promotion. We recommend a simple hashtag and instagram tag to enter (@username), take a photo about something or the most liked photo wins.

2. Hashtag
Create a hashtag so that you can keep on top of all entries. Use a hashtag that isn't used regularly like #foodstagram or #igersydney. Make your hashtag specific like #31STSECONDcomp. That way you won't be caught up in other commonly used hashtags.

3. Big Prize Pool
The more prizes available means the more chance of winning. If possible offer one major prize or more if budget permits! Then entice more entries by offering a pool of secondary prizes. We all like to think we may win... More prizes = more entries = more noise on social media = more opportunity to WIN!

4. Announce your winner on Instagram
Don't leave people in the dark, win or loose - everyone wants to know that someone did win! Do a shout out and tag the winners. Better yet notify your winners on Instagram, why not?!

Unique Facebook Campaign: Grey Poupon

No doubt we're living in the digital age, where usually the more Facebook friends or fans as you have – the better... so it's refreshing to finally see one brand going against the grain.

Grey Poupon is a high-end mustard brand that uses the element of exclusivity to differentiate itself from competitors, with its quirky "The Society of Good Taste" – the world’s first discerning Facebook page.

All wannabe fans of Grey Poupon are required to apply for membership through its "The Society of Good Taste" app, where a clever algorithm screens each potential fan's Facebook profile to gauge their interests, friends, grammar, restaurant check ins, etc – then ultimately assigning a score that determines whether they are 'refined' enough to be a Grey Poupon fan.

If the algorithm detects poor taste in music or TXT speak, for example, membership would be rejected. What's more – any fans that try to 'Like' the page without going through this process, will be deleted.

If this sounds ridiculously elitist, that's the point.

Their unique positioning fits the brand's lineage of being synonymous with refined taste and premium quality – whilst creating talkability and buzz to curate a smaller, but more engaged fan base.

To find out whether you cut the mustard for its exclusive membership, visit www.societyofgoodtaste.com.

Mentos 3D Gum

We're still on a high after winning 'Small Agency of the Year' - if you haven't heard yet - here's the full story. As we get off our little high, it's back to creating the best work we can for each and every one of our clients.

Speaking of clients, Stuart Alexander engaged us to relaunch of Mentos 3D Gum.

What 31ST:SECOND created is a shopper marketing and path to purchase strategy to get this product from the shelf to the shopper basket with the intent of repeat purchases. For the campaign, we created a strap line that encaptulated the product difference 'Flavour in 3D' with a drive to purchase 'get a triplelicious burst'. The artwork is super bright with the intent to stop shoppers in their tracks and into the shopper mindset - featuring shopalites and a complete point of sale suite.

We're stoked with the results. Keep an eye out for it!

We WON an AdNews Award!

Our small lil agency reached a LARGE milestone last night...

We at 31ST are thrilled to announce that we have WON our first AdNews Award for 'Small Agency of the Year, 2012'!!!

The win was completely unexpected, as there were many great agencies vying for the title – but we are honoured to be recognised for our (reasonably new 3-year old) company's huge achievements and growth for the past year.

Dressed up to the nines with our frocks and heels (and suits for our 3 boys) – everybody in the 31ST team attended the Award ceremony, along with the big wigs of the advertising industry.

We were treated to a delicious sit down dinner, while the absolutely hilarious Julia Morris MC'd the event – she had us in stitches the whole night!

In summary we had an awesome night to mark a great year. We would like to thank our lovely clients, business partners, suppliers, work mates, friends, families, loved ones and even our pets for this achievement.

Check out our some of our happy snaps below.
More photos will be posted on our Facebook page next week... Watch this space.