CGI Audrey Hepburn Starring in Galaxy Chocolate UK TV Ad

Audrey Hepburn is always one of my favorite actress. Although I cannot witness her glory during her life time, I am surprised and happy to see her back on TV ad again recently!!

In this TV ad, we can see Audrey sitting on a crowded bus wondering when she can enjoy her hidden bar of Galaxy. After catching the eye of a passing motorist, she leaves the bus to join the hunk and dine on her sweet treat in peace.



Just see how vivid she is! Thanks to Galaxy chocolate, the company uses CGI technology to bring her back again.


This is the second time I am amazed by the CGI technology(Computer-generated imagery). 
The last time was Ang Lee's "Life of Pi". 
No doubt, it was a mind-blowing experience by all the extraordinary visual effect 
used in the movie.



In John Patterson 's movie review (the guardian film critic), he also praises the CGI tech and even said "CGI can save cinema".


"Then there's Life Of Pi, which, because it's made by ultra-professional good taste-merchant Ang Lee, and thus has been fine-tuned and pre-set to within an inch of its life, is simultaneously entrancing, inspiring, exasperating and enervating , like all of Lee's movies. The CGI, the colours and a succession of staggering images – anocean of jellyfish, terrific storms, meerkat islands – that sail across the ravished retina: all of it is absolutely state-of-the-art, the way Avatar was; pioneering, envelope-pushing. Really, I'm sold: CGI can save cinema."

Wonder how magic CGI is? Here are two behind the scene videos to show you the CGI making process of Life of Pi.

Enjoy!

Which brands best used social media during hurricane?

As Hurricane Sandy approached the US in October last year hundreds of thousands of people used social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to keep abreast of the storm. When the dust settled, people turned to those networks again to follow recovery efforts and find out transport information.

At the second day of social media week in New York on Wednesday representatives from Con Edison, MTA and JetBlue gathered to discuss their interactions with people through the storm and how that had changed their practices after Sandy moved on.
Michael Clendenin, director of media relations at Con Edison, said the @ConEdison Twitter handle that the company had only set up in June gained an extra 16,000 followers over the storm. He was also able to clarify that the much-shared “explosion” that happened at the company’s 14th street power plant in Manhattan, was not actually an explosion.

“It was more of a flash”, Clendenin said. “It was a power relay that went out.” He said “that piece of equipment never blew up”.

Video footage of the intensely bright light flaring close to the East River Park was one of the most shared items as the storm battered Manhattan. Clendenin said the 25 videos Con Ed posted during the few days before and after the storm were viewed more than 100,000 times, while the images it posted to Flickr got 140,000 hits.

“The most important thing we gained from all of this is people notice someone is paying attention”, Clendenin said during the panel discussion at the offices of Affect, a New York-based public relations and social media company.

“It gives people at least some kind of satisfaction.”
Aaron Donovan, media liaison at the MTA, said the agency had focussed on Twitter, Flickr and YouTube in its Sandy response, but noted that “Twitter had the broadest pick up in a very immediate way”.

He said MTA employees were encouraged to take photos and video while they were out inspecting lines or surveying damage. Television media would pick up on those raw, unpolished videos and run them in broadcasts, Donovan said, while the photos were widely shared.
“The photos that we send out in real time are the photos that get the largest pick up. It’s more important to be timely than it is to be good quality,” Donovan said of the images MTA posted to its social accounts.

He said during the storm the MTA had a “round the clock” social media presence. “First to communicate changes to service then throughout the storm itself,” he said, but later to let people know what they are doing to update service.

Another lesson the MTA learned, Donovan said, was to pay attention to the information people were asking for.

“We have incoming tweets asking us questions all the time. We do not have the resources to respond to each and every questions all the time,” he said. Instead, “the incoming feed is almost as important as the outgoing feed”.

MTA would look at what people wanted to know – Donovan cited a lot of interest in when the G train would resume – and would “respond to everyone, rather than hitting each person back one by one”.


(This article titled “How companies used social media during Hurricane Sandy” was written by Adam Gabbatt in New York, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 20th February 2013)

Taiwan Celebrates Ang Lee’s Best Director Oscar Win for ‘Life of Pi’

When Ang Lee won the best-director Oscar for 3-D movie “Life of Pi,” Taiwan was quick to rejoice, with family, fans and even the president expressing gratitude to the filmmaker for shining a spotlight on the island.

Taking a deep bow as he grasped his award, Mr. Lee thanked author Yann Martel for “writing this incredible inspiring book” before going on to thank Taiwan, his place of birth.

“I cannot make this movie without the help of Taiwan,” Mr. Lee said in his acceptance speech, which was greeted with a standing ovation. “We shot there. I want to thank everybody there [who] helped us, especially the city of Taichung.”

“Xie xie. Namaste,” he concluded in Chinese and Hindi.

In a telegram to Mr. Lee, President Ma Ying-jeou said “everyone in Taiwan shares your most shining and proud performance. Taiwan is proud of you,” according to a press release from the Presidential Office.

Meanwhile, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu said he plans to make Mr. Lee an “honorary citizen” of the city in central Taiwan, calling the director “a living testament that Taiwan’s movie industry can have a spot in the international arena,” according to a report in the state-run Central News Agency.

Mr. Hu added that prior to the ceremony, Mr. Lee had spoken with him on the phone and promised to thank Taichung in his speech if he won.

Officials in Taipei, the capital, also offered their congratulations. “[Mr. Lee] has brought honor and glory to Taiwan,” said Chu Wen-ching, head of the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development of the Ministry of Culture.

Major television outlets interrupted their regular programming to announce Mr. Lee’s win, with one station reporting that its entire newsroom erupted in cheers. Local news channels followed the reaction of the director’s mother and brother, who shouted and clapped when the director’s name was announced. “This is not an easy accomplishment,” said Mr. Lee’s mother of her son’s achievement.

Facebook users also were moved by Mr. Lee’s mention of Taiwan, with posts proclaiming: “Lee Ang moves me to tears!” and “His speech made me cry!”

Mr. Lee’s best-director Oscar was his second, following his 2006 win for “Brokeback Mountain.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2013/02/25/taiwan-reacts-to-ang-lees-best-director-win-at-oscars/

Scientists Accidentally Discover A World-Changing Super Material

"The graphene supercapacitor is capable of charging up to 1,000 times faster than a normal battery."

Kaner and El-Kady are profiled in a new short film, talking about how they stumbled across their discovery. “There are only accidents in the sense that we were trying to find something else, and we realized what we had was better for a different application,” says Kader:

I think the eureka moment [was] when Mahar dragged me into the lab and said ‘take a look at this.’ He turned on a light bulb using this little piece of graphene. But the amazing thing is, it doesn’t stop working. After charging for two or three seconds, he ran this light for over five minutes. I thought, 'We have something very important here.'

They had accidentally created a graphene supercapacitor, which charges more quickly (and with more power) than regular batteries, making it a potential candidate to power a future generation of super-efficient gadgets, cars, and systems. While carbon nanotube capacitors are old hat, this supercapacitor solves the problem of electrical conductivity that has plagued other researchers. Kaner describes the device as “like a battery, but charges and discharges 100 to 1,000 times faster.” He imagines charging an iPhone in 30 seconds, or fully charging an electric car in minutes. Equally important are the supercapacitor’s environmental benefits: Unlike batteries, which contain toxic chemicals and metals, graphene is entirely biodegradable.

Art with Salt by Bashir Sultani

Art With Salt - The Joker from Saud Abdul Aziz on Vimeo.

http://www.theinspiration.com/2013/02/art-with-salt-by-bashir-sultani/

Understanding China's youth through social media

An interesting TED talk by Yang Lana, a television star and media entrepreneur in China.

She talked about the development of China's creative industry, and how to understand Chinese youth through Chinese diverse social media.

"China's younger generation is "going to transform this country while at the same time being transformed themselves."

Cracking China: Tips For Foreign Advertising Professionals

Tips for Pitching Digital or Social Media Campaign Ideas to Companies in China

1) Prepare for each client meeting as if your life depends on it

I have presented to C-class executives from various age groups. What are they impressed with?

• An understanding of their company’s needs,
• Firm grasp of the brand and products,
• Awareness of their competitor movements online i.e. search and social,
• Actual track record in creative problem solving for relevant clients.

Doing such homework is incredibly important, especially if you are a foreigner new to the market.

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2) Leave the award book case studies behind

Some of my clients have told me that they find it refreshing for a creative who can use his own market-relevant work to support breakthrough campaign ideas, rather than relying on overseas work from other agencies.

They have no reason to believe anybody who cannot put their own professional beliefs into viable work in their markets. And when in Asia, focus on doing work for Asians.

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3) Your ideas are only as big or as great as your insights

China is one of the most data-orientated markets. This trend heavily influences local brand managers’ tolerance for risk when it comes to experimenting with global or well-known brands under their care.

To sell disruptive and breakthrough ideas, it is important to lead with a highly relevant user, product or market insight, supported by a creative strategy that is backed by the type of creative executions you have in mind. Such insights provide cover for the brand manager, as well as an easy lead-in for him and her to pitch the idea to the brand’s decision maker.

For such insights, try social media listening when you can and follow highly informative China-based reports from sites such as:

http://www.chinainternetwatch.com

http://www.damndigital.com/

http://advertising.chinasmack.com/

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4) Remember that idea and media need to work as one in China’s digital and social media scene

Having a keen finger on the most current media behaviour is critical to selling your ideas for a digital and social media campaign. In China, media agencies tend to have the ear of your clients when it comes to digital and social media ideas. Having a strong knowledge of user behaviour on the various SNS platforms is critical to selling your idea.

Simply put, media agnostic thinking does not work in China. In China, every idea requires positioning it within the right media environment or social context/occasion to best position the idea to the client as a workable one.

Some research insights for the China market:

• The Chinese starts everything with search before consulting colleagues, friends and family. 内事百度知，外事谷歌晓。 For local, domestic or home affairs, ask Baidu. For international matters, check Google.
• Business decision makers are increasingly using the internet to do research on the market and competitors.
• Social media impacts decision making in China as the opinion of your peers and colleagues matter to you.

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5) To secure large budgets for digital and social media campaigns, avoid proposing silo campaigns

Don’t go in with a social gaming idea, a Weibo community generation idea, or even a pure online video campaign that are too narrowly focused in function. Think of ideas that can be presented as an integrated brand idea that lives across the arenas of media, technology, brand strategy and communications.

Note that every client is contemplating on spending on social/digital. The question is how much. If you pitch social media to Chinese B2B companies as nothing more than community management in China, you may get more than 1 to 2 million RMB for an annual retainer. If you can show how to link your social media efforts with the company’s e-commerce efforts, branding building initiatives, CSR campaigns plus SEO, you have a better chance of going after a far larger budget. So is your social media proposal scalable?

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6) Push the ROI question to linking social media buzz to an increase in search volumes for the brand, product or campaign

When it comes to a user/customer intent to know more or purchase, nothing beats increasing organic search volumes to show an increase in intent. Drive search volumes with the help of social referrals on your brand’s content and product and increase in sales will often follow. This is something I’ve noticed in my experience with digital-led and social media campaigns in China and Southeast Asia.

Food for thought.

Originally posted on Advertising @ chinaSMACK - Interesting advertisements, advertisers, & ad agencies in China

Chinese fast food: the battle for breakfast

LIKE everyone else, Chinese people love fast food. Western purveyors of salty, fatty delectables such as McDonald’s and KFC serve up vast quantities of lunch and dinner to the world’s most populous nation. But not breakfast. Chinese consumers have yet to be won over by the Egg McMuffin or even the breakfast platter (a mix of sausage, scrambled eggs and hash browns). No Western fast-food chain has figured out how to please hungry Chinese mouths in the morning.

Paul French of Mintel, a research firm, reckons that the Chinese foreign fast-food market, valued at RMB 87.8 ($13.9) billion, is “underpenetrated” at breakfast time. Only 21% of Chinese eat fast food in the morning, compared to over 75% at lunch time. Why is this? “People want congee [a sort of porridge with goodies in it] for breakfast, not a sausage sandwich,” says Mr French.

Domestic restaurants see a gap in the market, and are rising early to fill it. They are copying the foreigners’ chief selling points—fashionable decor and clean tables—but keeping the menu strictly Chinese. Local fast-food chains such as Manfadu and 82 degrees are building new stores with plastic menus and western-style layouts. They serve congee with pickled vegetables and youtiao (deep-fried dough). Hungry locals flock in. Mr French reckons that 82 degrees is opening two stores a week to meet growing demand. He also reckons Manfadu now holds 10% of the Shanghai breakfast market, up from 2% in 2008.

McDonald’s, which has got away with peddling the same breakfast products everywhere with a few minor tweaks (an Egg McMuffin with chicken is an option in China), may have to think harder. Though breakfast accounts for around a quarter of the firm’s American sales, in China this number is less than 10%. McDonald’s says it is playing the long game. “We know breakfast isn’t going to be an overnight sensation,” says Jessica Lee, a senior director in McDonald’s Asia, “it wasn’t in the US either”.

McDonald’s are making inroads into the breakfast market with new combinations, “the egg McMuffin with chicken is selling well” says Miss Lee. But the company’s commitment to their current model of minor tweaking rather than truly new products may hold them back. They should heed the Chinese proverb, “do not fear going forward slowly, fear standing still.”

- Original article from The Economist.

Back to the Future - Luxury embracing the Digital Age | ogilvydo.com

How do you keep producing “classics” year after year? How do you remain authentic yet contemporary? How can you create an exclusive boutique where millions can shop? The relationship between past and future has never been easy for luxury brands, but for some, digital has made it seemingly impossible. Attitudes to online vary from revulsion to trepidation and a sense these channels are contrary to the spirit of the industry; luxury is exclusive and scarce whereas digital media is inclusive and shareable.

Using these new platforms can dilute brands quicker than you can say “add to cart”. But these technologies are shaping customers’ behavior rather than responding to it, bringing continuous and exponential change.

The successful luxury brands of the future are those which can embrace digital without undermining what defines them. The debate on how to do this has been over simplified. Prevailing logic holds that time spent shopping and browsing online is rising and so are luxury sales, ergo luxury brands should do more on digital. But this fails to address the legitimate concerns of the industry, unhelpfully painting it as led by dinosaurs who fail to keep up with their connected audiences.

Working with many leading luxury brands across Asia Pacific, we see the challenge is no longer whether they do digital, but how they do digital. As the first few luxury brands have begun some truly innovative work online, we can see there is in fact no inherent conflict between luxury and digital – it turns out “.com” is not short for “.common”, download is not a synonym for low brow and cookies are not childish. The problem lies in the way luxury has been defined in the debate.

Luxury brands constantly communicate they are about excellence and experience, yet their arguments against digital have taken a different form. Suddenly luxury becomes a numbers game, one where greater participation alone undermines the brand. However, scarcity is only one feature of what it means to be luxury – and one that applies more to the product than to the whole brand. Luxury communications and experiences, although tightly controlled, must never be as rare as the products or they could not foster aspiration among potential customers.

To define luxury purely quantitatively is reductionist and limiting. Luxury is more about creating a superior brand experience based on excellence and authenticity. By retaining this imperative, online brands have created premium digital touch-points and a unique experience that adds real value. Once upon a time this was far harder, but we have come a long way from the early world of anarchic social media and deceitful internet traders (remember how much anyone trusted early versions of Myspace or eBay?) and luxury brands can benefit from this as much as their consumers.

Some of the usual rules of engagement, especially in the social space, do not apply to luxury brands in the same way. The focus is more on exceptional content than constant conversation. Personalised correspondence is favoured over public responses and quality content over constant updates. In the best examples, every blog post, e-newsletter and tweet should embody the brand’s values, elevating it above online voices clamouring for “likes” and page views. This fierce competition on new platforms has left brands in a different position today; simultaneously more and less famous than they have ever been. More consumers listen to them, but they listen less intently.

The brand has changed from a rock star to a party host. Previously everyone arrived to hear the same show from them, but online things are more like a party with lots of difficult friends and family members. On some tables they are speaking Facebook, others Sina Weibo. The host must circulate and be witty and charming, but also relevant in a different way to each of them. With digital there is an opportunity, some might say an obligation, to tailor the conversations across different platforms without diluting the brand’s singular essence. Fortunately for brands taking the leap, there is no need to be everywhere with digital. Each platform can be carefully assessed on its audience and merits, as there are diminishing returns for each additional social presence. Content and goals start to be duplicated and ROI suffers when platforms are used for the sake of it.

Those who set their KPIs first can avoid this and be more selective. If their goal is reach, then video content may travel further than Twitter conversations that create deeper but less widespread engagement – it’s all about objectives. In 2012 the luxury category laid to rest the question of whether or not to go digital. As 2013 arrives, we’re excited to see how luxury brands will benefit and improve. It truly is a turning point, as luxury embraces the challenge of defining itself in the digital age and beyond.