Merry Blooming Christmas

Last Christmas I gave you my heart..... but THIS Christmas we launched the microsite Naughty or Nice with the good people in Bloom Advertising and the Courtyard Studio's. It was a great project to work on, and we got a huge response. So much so that we had to change servers after the first day just to handle the traffic!

Bloom approached us with the idea of doing the site together, and we liked it. It was a good way to reach all the lovely people in Ireland's Adland and let them know what were doing. Bloom provided access to a network of over 1000 brand managers, advertising execs and ad agency run


Studio Rua came up with the concept, designed the site and took care of all back end programming and motion design. The guys in Courtyard Studio shot and keyed out all the footage, and Bloom provided the copy. Oh yeah, and Dee from bloom also got into a gimp suit, which was very nice of him.


David from Bloom also did an amazing job of playing our rather naughty Santa, for which I'm sure he will be rewarded handsomely. If not by us then at least by the Hollywood producers that are sure to be kicking his door down with offers of leading roles. Good for you Dave.








The site is still live so you can go on and have a gander at our handy work at
naughty-or-nice-list.com


Here is the snap that we sent out to all of the people on the mailing list, sure aren't they looking only lovely!

(And for those of you who have often wondered what a "group of people learning about the important role of eyes in communication by example of a gimp mask" might look like, this snap is for you)

Too hot to trot!

We delivered the most recent round of digital marketing for Lynx, as part of their Sharp Focus campaign. The main feature was a fun micro site that combines the use of live action video and casual gaming to drive home the message of the campaign "when your with the ladies, don't loose your cool!"
This was then promoted with banners and take over ads that were run through videoegg.
(VideoEgg are the guys that run most of the video content for online communities such as Bebo, facebook, jibjab, metacafe and imeem.)
I felt this was a smart move by the media buyers, and a great way for someone like Bebo to monetise their content. Its also a great way for brands to access the illusive social network market. The advert actually appeared at the end of a video I was sent by a friend through bebo. I didn't find it intrusive, which is hugely important when working on social networking sites, and it offered a fun experience. What more can you ask for?
The page takeover add, also run through the guys in videoegg, allowed the user to play the first level of the game without needing to go to the microsite. This was a cool way of engaging with people as it allowed them to have a full experience of the game without them leaving the page they were on, but it also gave sparked interest and curiosity to visit the microsite.
The campaign got loads of great exposure, and was doing very well. However a certain Joe Duffy was a little unsure about the angle and tone of this "for the lads" campaign. Was it too hot for Joe Duffy? Evidently yes, as he did a feature on the campaign on his radio show and the site has since then been put on the back burner. You can see a lovely place holder page at FocusOnHer.ie, but unfortunately no game. If you really want to see the amazing and fantastic experience that was FocusOnHer.ie, then I urge you to bombard Joe Duffy with your complaints. Surely if we get enough support there will be no way of denying us! (And I'm sure Lynx will be delighted to get the extra exposure)

Cool as icecream! Best Pratice for Magnum in Europe

We recently did a suite of expandable banner ads for the guys in Magnum, which we think turned out pretty nice. You can see the leaderboard version here.
The banner ads functioned as a full microsite within the expanded banner to promote their current campaign with Eva Longoria. It allowed users to watch a selection of videos, download wallpapers and look at exclusive photos of Eva.

To sweeten the whole experience, they were voted Best Practice for Magnum in Europe! It's always nice to know when your doing something right.

Here are a few of the screen shots from the other formats

Talking heads

I was asked to talk at the launch of the Irish Enterprise Survey last week at the Digital Depot. There was a large turn out from the companies in the Depot, some people from Enterprise Ireland and special guest appearance by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan TD.

Two days previuosly I had the bad fortune of having a bit of a tumble on my mountain so I was looking slightly less dashing than usual. A quick remark about how I looked ridiculous seemed to break the ice though, and the rest of the talk went down brilliantly.

See the press release here: http://www.thedigitalhub.ie/article.php?id=184





The Den have also asked me to come in and talk and their show "The Buzz" next week. It'll be a run down of how I got into animation and set up my own company for kids who lack direction in life. Perhaps in the two minute slot the I've been given I'll drop some gems of wisdom and herald a new era of digital media in Ireland, perhaps not. Needless to say I'll have gotten some free(if not useless) PR, and have had my ego caressed by daytime television. Watch this space!


or this space:http://www.rte.ie/tv/theden/thebuzzontheden/index.html

Make Contact!

We did the back end flash and PHP work for the new Lynx contact online campaign, go check it out and have a wrestle with a model!

www.lynxcontactzone.ie

After you enter your name and upload a photo the website generates a personalised video with your name and image in it. Its really fun and works great with their television campaign.

Intro Graphics

Here's a piece of work that we produced for the guys in Ballywire Media. Its a short intro to their new show Game Ball. They wanted the intro to give the show an edgy "street" feel, while also highlighting the main elements; hurling, GAA and the presenter Aoifa Sheehan. I think this does a great job of that and the guys were delighted with it!

Studio Rua was responsible for the Brand Design, Art Direction, Production, and all motion graphics.


To keep a sense of continuity to the look and feel of the show we produced a short transition they can use to layer over their edits.




We also developed a template for them to use still images and audio to produce some nicely branded video. We dont have any available to show but we will as soon as they're being used:)

Where were at!

Welcome to our first blog

we will be using this blog to document the growth of studio rua, keep track of the different work that were doing, and perhaps doing some rambling here and there.

To see our work you can visit www.studiorua.ie.

If your want to discuss future projects or even just bounce some ideas off us you can contact us at info(at)studiorua(dot)ie