It’s been two weeks of slogging through roughly 220 entries, but first round (shortlisting) and second round (scoring) judging is complete. The ballots are in, and we wait patiently to see who will scoop the birds (not to mention the Grand Prix).

I have some mixed feelings about this years entries. By far the coolest entries were in the Digital Campaign category. It’s fantastic to see agencies putting in so much effort to close the loop and develop really solid, cross-channel communication (and by that I mean campaigns involving microsites, email, mobile, blogs, social media, FaceBook, YouTube, even installations). REALLY awesome. I know the harsh reality of client budgets in South Africa, which means that agencies must have poured their blood, sweat and tears into the work… and to them I take my hat off.

In terms of the other categories, even though the year marked the biggest overall digital increase, as well as in niche categories like mobile, viral and online advertising, I’m left with a feeling of frustration. As much as creative concept and execution is important, it means nothing if not in the best interest of the client. I found a fair amount of creative “fluff”. Oh, and how useful is a HUGE preload on a Flash website in a South African market anyway, even if it is insanely awesome?

Lets not forget the plagiarism. I’m not saying we shouldn’t take inspiration from the rest of the world, but if you’re going to use someone else’s idea, at least put a new and original spin on it … or better it.

Enough about that. Besides the minor frustrations, it was by far the best digital year to date, both in terms of number of entries and in terms of quality. Onwards and upwards!

Andy Ellis and Piers Buckle, the award-winning editors of Men’s Health and Men’s Health Living magazines have joined to form an independent creative agency called TypeFace Media. Andy & Piers approached Stonewall with the brief to create a completely unconventional website reflective of their approach to business.

Working in close collaboration with them, our approach was to develop a Flash-based website that incorporates a Typeface character created from the typeface lettering, as well as a navigational mechanic designed to illustrate the fact that Typeface Media provides you with “any type of face you need”.

The finished product features wild, quirky animation and hilarious sound effects designed to entice the user to explore and discover some of the sites hidden gems. I like it. I like it a lot.

• Check out the website
• Check out their blog

I’ve just received the login details to the Loerie Awards entry system in order to start remote judging of the 2008 digital entries, and I can’t wait to dig in. Each year gets better and better: in terms of the number of entries, the standard of work, and in general the overall exposure and weighting the digital category receives within the awards.

Even though people complain in SA that growth and uptake of the medium as a marketing tool is slow, it’s awesome to see how agencies are making the most of limited budgets and low bandwidth and really pushing the creative within fairly hectic boundaries (and prove the naysayers wrong).

I’ll be sure to update the blog a few times during the course of the judging process - watch this space!

I’m flabbergasted. The Eco Zoo (by McCann Erickson) is quite possibly the most amazing Papervision 3D website I’ve seen to date. Roxik (aka Masayuki Kido) is a Papervision 3D guru and he’s really broken the mold with this site.

To be honest, I’m not really sure what the site’s objective is. From what I can gather, the characters that live in the websites’ virtual zoo are meant to give you tips on living in a more eco-friendly way. Even though the website doesn’t seem to feature a strong call-to-action or a clear message, it’s just incredibly beautiful and engaging and entices you to explore.

There are so many intricate little details that one barely notices that all add up to form this amazing experience. The environment’s physics is insane - the falling leaves, the trees blowing in the wind, and not to mention the flag that you can actually pull and stretch and manipulate.

And please, oh please don’t forget to check out the Pop-Up Book… INSANE!

Ladies and gentlemen - the digital landscape is changing rapidly. The sky is really the limit … isn’t it exciting!?!

I’ve just started reading Seth Godin’s new book titled “Meatball Sundae“. His analogy is pretty simple (and brilliant). To sum it up, New Marketing - blogs, social media, word of mouth, viral, etc. are like toppings on a Sundae. Add these to a “sweet” organization and you have a winning recipe. Sadly, many brands want to embrace New Marketing without evolving and changing who they are and how they operate.

They are meatballs.

Here’s a short extract from Amazon’s editorial review:

Meatball Sundae is the definitive guide to the fourteen trends no marketer can afford to ignore. It explains what to do about the increasing power of stories, not facts; about shorter and shorter attention spans; and about the new math that says five thousand people who want to hear your message are more valuable than five million who don’t.

The winners aren’t just annoying start-ups run by three teenagers who never had a real job. You’ll also meet older companies that have adapted brilliantly, such as Blendtec, a thirty-year-old blender maker. It now produces “Will it blend?” videos that demolish golf balls, Coke cans, iPhones, and much more. For a few hundred dollars, Blendtec reached more than ten million eager viewers on YouTube.

Godin doesn’t pretend that it’s easy to get your products, marketing messages, and internal systems in sync. But he’ll convince you that it’s worth the effort.

This is really phenomenal stuff… HIGHLY recommended reading! Check it out!

And if you’re not familiar with Seth Godin’s work, be sure to check out his blog - he is a marketing genius.