In the news this week: ‘Louder’, the song by DJ Fresh, produced through a partnership between Lucozade  and Ministry of Sound, and used in the recent Lucozade Sport Lite advert, has reached number one in the singles chart. The song had a record-breaking 140,000 ITunes pre-orders.

This idea of producing mainstream music in partnership with a major brand creates enormous buzz around the yet-to-be-released track, which in turn creates good press for the brand, making them appear cool, current and cutting edge.

Suzy Smith, marketing director at Lucozade, said: “There have been number-one singles from adverts before, but by simultaneously producing the ad, the music promo and the track together with Ministry of Sound, we created a campaign that engaged with the public on a number of levels across three months, resulting in the hit single of the summer.”

On that note, we’d like to celebrate this innovative blending of advertising mediums, by looking back at a few musical success stories brought about by the humble ad.

We have to start with John Lewis, whose last three ad campaigns have resulted in chart success for the featured track.  In 2009, a folk cover of Guns N Roses’ anthem ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ aimed to recapture the childish excitement of Christmas. The song, recorded by Swedish band Taken By Trees reached number 19 in the singles chart.

The following year, the brand reduced the nation to tears to the tune of Billy Joel’s ‘She’s Always a Woman’, covered by Fyfe Dangerfield, which reached number 7 in the charts. Most recently, Elton John’s ‘Your Song’, covered by Ellie Goulding, was selected for the top-secret Christmas ad campaign and peaked at number 2.

But John Lewis isn’t the only brand to have generated the successful revival of an older song. One of the year’s best ads, produced for T-Mobile and released in the run up to the Royal Wedding, featured boyband East 17′s 1992 hit ‘House of Love. T-Mobile teamed up with Rhino UK to re-realease  a special edition of the track after the brand’s facebook page was inundated with requests for the song.

We predict that we’ll be seeing more of this trend in the future. As the lines between advertising, traditional marketing  and music production continue to blur, we will see brands producing these multi-disciplinary campaigns that engage audiences across a variety of platforms.

For more information on what is dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this video, which is quite depressing, sheds light on the capacity of this phenomenon.

On a lighter note, it’s Friday! Our advertising this week comes from Mother New York for Target and features an amazing light show done at the Standard Hotel in New York City. The event actually happened last year, but we just came across this video today, and had to share. Watch below:

Though the extravagance of the lights wholly distracted us from the clothing featured, we thought this was a great ploy on Target’s part. As evident in the video, people all over NY got to see the show, even if they weren’t planning on it. This seems like something a major fashion house would do, so kudos to Target for executing it so well.

Happy Friday!

(source: Dvice)

Although the app is still in the conceptual stages and we have no release date to mark on our calendars (or our iCals), we are really looking forward to the concept coming to fruition.We love that Adobe is working to generate more resources for our creatives! Now, if only everyone in the office got a complimentary iPad 2. . .

(Source: Photography Bay)

The imagery in the video is absolutely stunning, and its hard to believe that this spectacle is not cinematically crafted, but a natural phenomenon caused by the sun’s radiation. To shoot the Northern Lights, Sorgjerd sustained -25° C temperatures every night for a week, taking nearly 22,000 pictures near Kirkenes and Pas National Park, near Norway’s Russian border. We can’t imagine seeing this with our own eyes, and are so appreciative that Sorgjerd endured such conditions to share nature’s beautiful art with the world.

The next video we came across is just as beautiful and inspiring, but on a much different level. The video is an advertisement for the Topsy Foundation, a UK registered charity that “provides a range of services to support families and meet the needs and personal development of orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS in poor rural communities in South Africa.” The ad shows 90 days in the life of a women living with HIV/AIDS and the amazingly positive effects that ARV treatment had on her condition.

The time lapse effect in this video shows the effects of ARV therapy in a way that most Westerners would never get to see–a great way to appeal for donations in order to change the lives of others like Selinah. Check up on Selinah’s progress here.

(Sources: MSNPhotoBlog and boingboing)

Following a public Bible reading he did, the Prince of Wales claimed “what amused me so much were the comments that came in afterwards that I read on Twitter and Facebook.” We think the mental image of Prince Charles Facebooking is funny in itself, but overall are happy to know that the material joy gained from social networking attention is not lost on the royal family.

And, since it’s Friday, we’ll share some advertising we enjoyed this week. Our pick comes from Lynx, who set up a camera and screen at London Victoria and had some angels fall from heaven into the station with the passengers, who experienced a very cool Lynx Effect. Check it out:

We think this was a really great way to get potential consumers involved with the brand, as well as to extend their already credible falling angel campaign. The image portrayed on the screen is so realistic, and we wish we had been at Victoria to witness it for ourselves! What do you think of this Lynx campaign?

Happy Friday!

(Source: The Drum)

We were so intrigued that we sought out some more Diego Stocco productions, and this is what we found:

The most awesome part of the video above? Diego invented the instrument he is playing in it! It’s called the Experibass, and Diego was inspired to create it in order “to hear the sound of violin, viola and cello strings amplified through the body of a double bass.”

We love that Diego combines his artistically toned ear and appreciation for nature to create such beautiful music. He has an admirable ability to hear the beauty in things that  others hear without a second thought everyday.

(Sources: Boing Boing and DSSessionVideos)

The Wizard of Oz

The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland

Great Expectations

The posters were featured on Kickstarter, and NovelPoster has already surpassed it’s original goal of $5,000 by over $3k, and the campaign still has 53 days to go! We can certainly see why so many are eager to back this very cool idea. In full size, the text of every work is completely eligible.

On top of the literary works, NovelPoster is now featuring iconic images created from the twitter feeds of popular celebrity tweeters such as Kanye West, Stephen Colbert, and Lady Gaga. Watch the video here for more information from Matt and Alex, as well as a preview of the Twitter posters.

(Sources: My Modern Met and Kickstarter)

We’ve found a video of 5 sharks hunting for a snack in a middle of a school of fish, but the little fish are giving them a hard time, dodging, as a group, the predators which also include a heron trying to take a chance on the shore.

(Source: Neatorama)

(Source: Ads of the World)

Pouring a pint takes time, about 30 seconds, and usually results in quite a lot of waste: getting the head right can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.

But someone in America has come up with a genius idea. What if instead of pouring a beer, you filled the glass from the bottom, which would solve the head and waste issue? The question is how.

Well, the way this system works, is with plastic cup, and a magnet which fills the hole at the bottom of the glass. When you remove the glass from the tap, it pulls the magnet to the bottom of the glass, and with the pressure from the liquid, the magnet stays in place, sealing the glass.

And on top of that, it pours a pint in about 5 seconds. Saves time, avoids waste, which keeps customers and bar tenders happy. A revolution for any future big event.

We’re just not too sure about the magnet waste though. And does it actually save more money, than traditional taps?

(Source: Youtube)