Alan Kittle, Creative Director at Mason Zimbler and Strange & Dawson, recently took time out with Shane Casey, Head of Digital and archetypal creative technologist, to discuss the rise and rise of user generated content (UGC) campaigns.

Their strengths and weaknesses; the brands that get it right and those who just don’t; whether lines between user generated and user centred campaigns are being blurred by the arrival of social platforms like Pinterest, Vine and Instagram; to try and craft some rules for themselves when considering whether to recommend one to their clients. Read more »

A recent report from global research firm Forrester – predicting that ‘digital marketing’ will lose its prefix and become just ‘marketing’ in 2013 – has sparked a debate between marketers who agree with the forecast and those who believe digital should continue being treated as a separate discipline. In an effort to put this dispute to bed, here’s my response to the prediction.

Integrated marketing has been around for a long time. The strongest integrated agencies added a strong digital offering a long time ago and truly integrated creative thinkers don’t think about channels at the conceptual stage. Read more »

I foresee two key opportunities for the industry creative this year. One is that ambient will become a key battleground for brands trying to disrupt audiences’ daily routines. The other is the move towards the big, the bold and the simple. Both these trends may well converge of course and I look forward to exploring their possibilities.

While Minority Report’s retina-scanning six sheets may not arrive in 2013, I think the drive towards mobile-first advertising and the arrival of 4G will have brands clamoring to become even more visible in our everyday lives. Using insight to identify where ambient opportunities exist will be imperative … so we may see sports drinks advertised on treadmill screens (available in a vending machine near your locker) or footwear retailers offering discounts on sturdy boots with graffiti on snow-covered pavements. Read more »