We are thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted for a string of awards this month.

Our ‘Mystery reveal’ campaign for Mentos was nominated for 2 categories in this year’s APMA awards – Best Use of Social (media) Marketing and Best Small Budget Campaign.

As well as this, we received exciting news today that we are finalists in the 2013 mUmBRELLA Awards in the Specialist Agency of the Year category, alongside other fantastic agencies. Congratulations to all the nominees, including the MediaCom team, who are also part of the GroupM family!

Click here for a full list of finalists.

A new book by Mason Curry has given us a sneak-peak into the world’s most creative people, and how they kept inspired.
‘Daily Rituals: How Artists Work’ reveals some of the cool, quirky, wonderfully weird, and in some cases, downright strange habits of renown novelists, composers, writers and screenwriters.

As a company that likes to nurture our creative talent, this was particularly of interest to us, and highlighted some important points;

Firstly, this really proves that there is really no ‘black or white’ answer in producing great creative work. Every person had their own unique way, and each way worked for them, which highlights the importance of having your own, unique, creative process. For example, Gertrude Stein would only work for 30 minutes each day, at the exact same time.

It also demonstrates the importance of taking breaks and rejuvenating, a particularly important side note for the crazy, deadline-driven marketing industry! It could be anything from a simple coffee break, to making like Igor Stravinsky and doing handstands!

Some people needed to do something before work to get themselves in the mindset. This was a popular theme, with activities ranging from bathing to having breakfast at sunrise. Choreographer Twyla Tharp would literally ‘warm up’ for the day ahead by starting her day with two hours at the gym – funnily enough, part of her routine was getting a cab there and back each morning.

One of our favourite (and most common) elements were place and surroundings; and ensuring that the person was comfortable and in the right environment and mindset. Novelist Patricia Highmith could only work in her bed. We’ve always been advocates for this – for one, our office is a creative sanctuary in Surry Hills, a warehouse space with battered-timber floors and exposed ceiling beams, natural lighting, hand made furnishings and plant life and giant, 12 foot windows that give us fresh air, rather than artificial cooling or heating.

To see how we compare, we asked some of the creative PLAYmates to share their cool habits or rituals, below. Enjoy!

“If I’m stuck, I invest time to learn something completely random and off topic e.g. finding out how a helicopter gets its lift. Random, but it’s crazy how your mind works afterwards” – Jarryd, Art Director

“I have most clarity after yoga” – Johannes, Founder & Strategy Director

“I have a playlist in Spotify titled ‘Concentration’. Every day, I pick just one song from it and play it on repeat. Today, it’s Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major” – Cindy, Designer

“I cannot write an idea down in pen. I don’t know why, but it has to be in pencil or marker or I struggle to believe it” – Jarryd, Art Director

“I get most inspiration when I’m walking home from work” – Carlen, Senior Designer.

“Most of my best ideas come in the shower. I literally draw on the screen as if it’s the canvas” – Jarryd, Art Director.

“I like to do things completely unrelated like check the news in South Africa, or go for a walk. Even if it’s just a bathroom break” – Carlen, Senior Designer.

We have just come across this pretty cool initiative from Domino’s in Salt Lake City, who are offering a pizza tracking device.
Five webcams have been installed in the store’s kitchen. When customers order online, they can watch their pizza being made through a real-time live stream, from kneading the dough and adding the toppings to placing it in the hotbox!
Seems simple, but it works so well. This is a great value-add for something as simple as pizza, especially considering the lack of street cred that fast food chains have these days. We’ve all had instances where we question what goes on behind the scenes at fast-food outlets! Well PLAYed.

A recent article we saw on Sponsorship News has revealed something very exciting, and something we’ve been anticipating. The music festival market in Australia is growing rapidly – in fact, so rapidly that in some cases, it is now rivaling sports budgets!

Sponsors are now tapping into the very targeted communications efforts that can take place at festivals, and are spending much more money on tier one partnerships.

Obviously, alcohol and beverage companies were pioneers of this trend, however there is an increasing trend for online music streaming services and financial services, who are all wanting to engage the youth market.

A great example of this was Barclay’s sponsorship of the London Wireless Festival last year, the first UK music event that enabled fully contactless payment through NFC technology. Barclay Paybands (a branded wristband) were given to festivalgoers, enabling them to pay for goods on the day using only contactless technology. To pay, users simply had to tap their band on the payment terminal and wait for confirmation of approval. As well as this, the Payband offered event tips, site maps and even a PayBand activated photo booth! A perfect fit between a financial brand and a music festival, and more importantly, a great example of a brand adding REAL value to the experience.

On the online music streaming front, last year one of our favourite brands Spotify, partnered with a number of music festival sponsors, including Heineken, to help amplify their music sponsorships. In Finland, the beer brand built a tool on their Facebook page enabling users to create Spotify playlists for three Finnish music festivals. The idea was quite simple – users would select a festival, create their own playlist and then encourage consumers to vote for their playlist to be in the draw to win tickets. In addition, their playlists were then played on a popular Finnish radio station! Such a simple idea, yet such an effective means of amplifying the sponsorship and maximising reach!

We all love the smell of freshly ground coffee beans – that’s no secret. But apparently, we also love the sounds associated with a coffee shop – to the point where studies show that the ambient noise in your average coffee shop actually boosts your productivity.
Based on this, an app, called Coffitivity, has been created that replicates the soothing sound of a coffee shop that you can play in your work space!

This Friday, PLAY, along with the rest of our new GroupM family, will be participating in the Power of One Day.
The walk-a-thon will total 8km, and will start at GroupM’s Head Office in North Sydney (yes, over the bridge), as we trek to the Opera House and back.
It will be hard to miss us, as we’ll be rocking fluoro!
This year, the Power of One Day will raise money for a great cause – the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
Donate to individual PLAYmates here, because, lets face it, who doesn’t like seeing a bunch of grown adults running walking through the streets of Sydney in fluoro? Not that we’ve ever needed an excuse… Wish us luck!