Don’t panic: even though Windows 7 free support ends today, we’ve still got five years ahead…

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Stefano

windows 7 support

Today is the last day of what Microsoft calls “mainstream support” and this has been planned since a long time.
Windows 7 users don’t panic: Windows 7 will get security updates and patches for the next five years, the real deadline is Jan 14, 2020.

In the meantime, Microsoft won’t be issuing no further development of NEW features for W7.
Besides a well-known life-cycle deadline roadmap, this move tries to move users towards Windows 8 (quite unlikely) or to prepare them for the upcoming Windows 10.

Right now, Windows 7 is reportedly running almost half of the world’s PCs while a huge amount of Windows XP computers are still out there.
Yes, Windows XP! The never-dying OS that Microsoft declared for dead last year in April, shocking the world…
Again, don’t panic: Windows 7 will be mainstream, usable and supported for some time in the future…

[Sources: Microsoft, ArsTechnica, Tweaktown]

Posted in Microsoft, Operating system, Software, Windows | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SNCF (French railways) marketing: Europe? It’s just next door

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Stefano

A brilliant campaign to promote SNCF, French railways, throughout Europe.

sncf next door

TBWA/Paris installed coloured doors (with high-tech connected monitors) in several european cities’ public squares (Milan, Brussels, Barcelona, Geneva or Stuttgart…).

Opening the door provided users a great experience of being… somewhere else, namely in another city in Europe.

Great user experience and engagement, lots of fun!

Posted in Advertising, Business, Europe, Guerrilla Marketing, Marketing, Online advertisement, Social marketing, Social Media, User Engagement, User experience, Viral marketing, Viral video, Youtube | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Disney’s “Inside Out” trailer (in theaters July ’15): what’s inside our head?

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Stefano

inside out disney pixarA new amazing movie is upcoming from Disney/Pixar and it’s about emotions: Inside Out.

The first available trailer is a masterpiece of “what’s behind” (well, inside our brain).
When and where emotions take place – and control…

Enjoy!

Posted in Advertising, Animation, Disney, Movies, Video | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Atari: ‘Game Over’ documentary due for November release about the mass burial of videogames

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Stefano

This promises to be really awesome!

You may recall about the Atari videogame burial site affair…

Atari E.T. Dig- Alamogordo, New Mexico (14036097792).jpg
“Atari E.T. Dig- Alamogordo, New Mexico (14036097792)” by taylorhatmaker – Atari E.T. Dig: Alamogordo, New Mexico. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

After teasing retro gamers with a trailer of Atari: Game Over, the film’s director has stated that the documentary looking into the gaming giant’s collapse and their infamous landfill site is due to hit Xbox Video later this month.

Through various interviews, inside stories and of course a full feature on the digging that took place earlier this year, Atari: Game Over looks set to finally debunk the many mysteries and rumours surrounding E.T. and Atari’s inevitable demise.

Posted in Atari, Media, Movie, Movies, Retrocomputer, Retrogaming, Video, Videogames, Youtube | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Halloween? Creepy backup software ads from the past!

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Stefano

Data back-up as a nightmare?
Ok, just for Halloween let’s take a look at these creepy magazine ads for a couple of (ancient) backup software back from the very early 80s: Ecosoft’s Archivist for CP/M-based computers and Locksmith 5.0 for Apple II systems.
Provided that, back then, you had to back up floppies on… floppies… (hard disk were an expensive options, if available, for most systems) so it was a painful process anyway!

ecosoft backup-nightmares  locksmith backup software
Posted in Advertising, Apple, Retrocomputer, Software, Tech industry, Vintage computer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

#Drones in the future (according to New York Magazine)

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Stefano

drones around the worldAptly titled “Drones and everything after”, this long article by Benjamin Wallace-Wells featured in the latest issue of NYMag is an excellent compendium of ‘drone experiences‘ around the US and the world alike.

Several real-world examples are given about how much and to what extent are drones entering our lives and giving support, relief, bringing war, information and fun – altogether.
Be it just to shoot amazing videos from unseen point-of-views, or to monitor crop growing and plant seeding, be it as a weapon or as just a toy – getting less expensive every day, drones are getting the spot of media and are becoming common presence around us.

Recommended, original NYMag article can be found here.

Posted in Digital life, Drone, Media, Movie, News, Photography, Research, Science, Scientific Video, Security, USA | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple’s #BendGate has sparkled several bright marketing and fun ideas!

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Stefano

Ok, there’s too much hype about the recent iPhone 6+ #BendGate: supposedly, some iPhone 6+ early users reported bending and/or cracking of the brand new giant iPhone.

Be it true or not (too much speculations and little investigation), the #BendGate, as it has been aptly dubbed, has gained top positions in social billboards.

Lots of fun and puns too have sparkled, applying the bending theme to several topics and products too.

Here’s a personal selection of some of the best!

iPhone BendGate Fun

Variable thickness…

iPhone BendGate Fun

Pringles rule!

iPhone BendGate Fun

Movies and soccer fans will agree…

iPhone BendGate Fun

A good cause, at last…

iPhone BendGate Fun

Bend it like workout…

iPhone BendGate Fun

Kit Kat, the right bending!

iPhone BendGate Fun

Heineken, another right bending!

iPhone BendGate Fun

LG: when curved is a feature!

Posted in Advertising, Fun, Gadget, iOS, iPhone, Marketing, Media, Mobile phone, Social Life, Social marketing, Social Media, Social news, Social value, Tech industry, Technology, Twitter, Twitter hashtag, Web Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

KLM High Five: street guerrilla marketing joining NewYorkers and Amsterdammers

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Stefano

KLM high five marketing

It’s that simple:
KLM encouraged people in Amsterdam to high five strangers in New York for a chance to win flights.
Nice use of technology for marketing.

Touch-(or slap-)screens in Amsterdam and New York allowed perfect strangers – 3,600 miles apart – to challenge KLM game and win (both) an economy-class ticket towards the opposite city.
Dutch-based advertising agency Eigen Fabrikaat (DDB Group) used this seemingly easy gesture to send people around the world.

KLM high five marketing

Note: no touch-screens were hurt during this campaign!

Posted in Advertising, Guerrilla Marketing, Marketing, Mobile advertisement, Mobile gaming, Mobile marketing, Online advertisement, Social initiatives, Social Life, Social marketing, Web Marketing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

5th dimension: a Kickstarter project and a visual book about a “50s Sci-Fi alien” plot

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Stefano

I found this amazing (already funded) project on Kickstarter: 5th dimension.

A retro-futuristic art narrative centered around a 1950′s Chicago and the arrival of space aliens.

5th dimension

Author Justin Benzel has been working hard on building this around some 1950′s alternate past/future.

5th dimension

I love this kind of stuff: a mashup of several elements from 50s B-Movies, Sci-Fi, B/W photos, hi/low tech and a lot of creativity.

Images are amazing, check out for yourself on both his website and his 5th dimension Flickr page.

5th dimension

5th dimension

5th dimension

More info at: Kickstarter page, Justin Benzel web site, 5th dimension Flickr page.

Posted in Book, Kickstarter, Sci-Fi | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ikea Catalogue becomes bookbook: a great Apple-spoofing video (and a great marketing tool too!)

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Stefano

Once again we’re getting the 2015 Ikea Catalogue filled with (nice) pictures, products and suggestions.

Ikea Catalogue is not just the Ikea’s best selling item (even though it’s free) beyond meatballs and Billys shelves, it’s a dramatically powerful marketing tool.
According to Ikea:

Last year 198 million copies of the catalogue were printed in 56 editions and 27 languages.

Ikea has just released a video that’s going to be a smash hit: the introduction to the bookbook in an obvious Apple-spoofing style.

Still waiting for the next iPad? ;)

Posted in Case Study, Digital media, Ikea, Marketing, Mobile advertisement, Mobile marketing, Video, Web Marketing, Youtube | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment