The Load&Go from Australia Post is the latest piece of NPD created by Naked Communications with management consultants Edgar Dunn & Co.

The card has been built from the insight that currently there isn’t a card on the market that allows for completely safe and (if you want them) anonymous purchases on the Internet. The Load&Go does both of these. Safe, as it’s a debit card preloaded with the amount you want, and anonymous as it’s not tied to any other account.

Go get one, and have fun making safe anonymous purchases on the Internet. Check it out and please let us know what you think.

By Luke Ryan, Communications Strategist

1. RSVP Nike product launches on Twitter
The line-up, camp-out and occasional riot for new Nike sneakers may be a thing of the past very soon. Nike is setting the stage for a new Twitter RSVP system for sneaker releases. To start, simply follow the Twitter handle of your closest Nike store. On the date of a major release, Nike will tweet the news. You will then be able to Tweet Nike a direct message within 60 minutes to reserve your pair of new Air Jordans.

2. Barclays NFC sticker turns your mobile phone into a credit card
Wireless smartphone payments needn’t be complicated. UK bank Barclays has integrated NFC with PayTag to create a contactless payments sticker. Intended to be slapped on the back of your phone, the PayTag is basically the same technology as already in some credit cards, turning any phone – no matter how aged – into a digital wallet.

3. Robot prostitutes to be commonplace by 2050
By 2050 brothels will introduce robot prostitutes that offer guilt-free, clean sex researchers say. A paper titled Robots, Men And Sex Tourism describes the brothel of the future as “modern and gleaming with about 100 scantily clad blondes and brunettes parading around in exotic G-strings and lingerie”. They also predict that robot prostitution would put a stop to the human trafficking associated with the sex industry.

4. Trackers embedded in athletes’ clothes provide real-time data for coaches
Adidas is trialling its miCoach system at the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game, with team coaches able to monitor athlete performance on tablet devices. The miCoach tracking system for professional soccer provides coaches with real-time performance metrics on the field of play including player position, power output, speed, distance covered, intensity of play, acceleration and GPS heat mapping.

5. Sensor-ed posters link to Spotify
Music service Spotify has embedded a poster with a vibration sensor that detects contact. The poster, which automatically skips to the next track when a vibration is felt was initially designed for the office, where employees could change the song playing by simply throwing a crumpled piece of paper at it. We can see this being used in a more public arena to allow people a more personalised experience.

Art Series Hotels, a luxury art-themed hotel chain located in Melbourne, Australia, needed to maximise occupancy rates over their quiet summer period to sell 1000 rooms. On a limited budget, we needed a hook to create its own momentum – generate awareness, website visits and ultimately room bookings.

Our idea had to create controversy AND motivate people to visit. All in a manner befitting this contemporary hotel chain.

We recognised that Melbourne has a history of art heists and that hotels themselves are rife with petty theft. Further inspiration came from the forensic psychology adage, ‘Bad men do what good men dream’.

Bringing together darker human motivation, art heists and hotel petty theft, we generated our idea: Stay the night. Steal the art.
But whose art? It had to be Banksy, the high-profile street artist whose work is frequently thieved.

Thus, ‘Steal Banksy’ was born. If guests could steal a signed Banksy (valued at $15,000) without being caught it was theirs to keep. If apprehended, back on the wall it went.

Launching with a media call and trickle advertising (search, press, Facebook), we also concentrated on driving social media conversations.
We released clues to the art’s whereabouts (#stealbanksy) and CCTV footage of failed heist attempts, and proffered insider tips to active social media commentators. Journalists documented their attempts via mainstream media. Celebrities got involved, tweeting to millions of followers.

As hoped, the art was cleverly stolen which we amplified to generate fresh PR before hanging another Banksy and starting again!

Don’t ask people to do something dangerous – they’ll probably do it!

In the 1960s, a notorious series of psychological experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram highlighted people’s willingness to be obedient to requests, even if those requests were harmful to themselves or others. The experiments demonstrated that most people (around 60% to 70%) were prepared to follow orders that involved harming others (via electrocution in this instance) if told to do so by an authority figure.

In 2012, WorkSafe, with Naked Melbourne, has adapted the Milgram experiments and put them into a simulated workplace setting to see if people are still willing to obey requests, even if it means others may be harmed. This time around 90% did what we asked!

The street experiment was supplemented by research that showed the willingness of supervisors to ask employees to do risky or dangerous acts. The most startling finding being ‘One in four supervisors would bypass safety for a $1,000 performance bonus.’

The PR and social media campaign was developed to draw attention to WorkSafe’s ATL message for supervisors, ‘Would you do what you ask your workers to do?’

• See the experiment and the results of the research
• See Channel 10’s coverage on ‘The Project’ (Sunday 15th April, Segment 2, 1’40”)
• The Age writes about it among many others

Naked Communications Sydney has been appointed as lead agency across several of Brown Forman’s alcohol brands.

Naked originally won a pitch to lead a campaign for el Jimador tequila last year, and since then have had their remit expanded to now become the lead agency ongoing across the Southern Comfort, el Jimador tequila and Chambord brands.

The lead agency role sees Naked manage the communications strategy and creative direction for the brands, driving their long-term development and working in partnership with Brown Forman’s other agency partners to execute campaigns.

Southern Comfort, el Jimador and Chambord represent a key growth opportunity for Brown Forman’s stable of brands and sit alongside its most established brand, Jack Daniels.

Sarah Nichols, Marketing Director for Brown Forman, commented: “We were attracted to Naked due to their strong strategic credentials, their emphasis on behaviour change, and their creative capabilities”.

Tim Kirby, Business Leadership Director at Naked, added: “We’re really excited about the opportunity to work with Brown Forman across this portfolio. Sarah’s team has got great ambitions for the brands and each one sits in a really exciting place within the category. We’re looking forward to seeing where we can take them”.

We have exciting news! The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign has been shortlisted as a finalist in three categories at the AME’s (Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival):

·         Most effective use of advertising

·         Best brand loyalty program

·         Most effective use of branded content

http://www.ame.asia/general/awards-shortlist

Well done Coca-Cola and Team Coke (Naked, Ogilvy, Ikon, Wunderman and Urban).

Winners announced on 27^th April, so fingers crossed!

Naked Communications Sydney has won the InMobi communications strategy, PR and experiential account in Australia after a three-way pitch.

Naked Communications will work with InMobi, starting this month, to build a platform that positions them as thought leaders in the mobile advertising and marketing industry.

InMobi is the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network and a global leader in the mobile technology space. With offices on five continents, InMobi provides advertisers, publishers and developers with a uniquely global solution for advertising.  It launched in the Asia-Pacific region in 2007 and after launching in the U.S and Europe in early 2010, its global network has grown considerably.

The InMobi network delivers the unprecedented ability to reach 485 million consumers in over 165 countries, through more than 93.4 billion mobile ad impressions monthly. The recent acquisition of Sprout, a leading HTML5 authoring platform for mobile rich media, has also expanded the InMobi offering to creative agencies and brands.

Francisco Cordero, General Manager and Regional Director of InMobi Australia and New Zealand said: “We have recently expanded our local office in Sydney and we were looking for an integrated agency to work with us to grow our local footprint and brand across Australia and New Zealand. Naked Communications is a dynamic agency that will be able to support and partner with us in this exciting period of growth for InMobi.”

Mike Wilson, Australian and New Zealand Chairman of Naked Communications said: “InMobi is clearly the leader in its field. We’re delighted to be partnering with them, and helping them to develop innovative plans for significant growth.”

By PR intern Lana Maiale

The PR team at Naked? They’re pretty amazing.

Interning at Naked? It’s pretty amazing!

I’m Lana, and for the past two weeks I have been completing the final element of my Public Relations degree; completing a two-week internship.

So how did I manage to get this fantastic opportunity? I am fortunate to work in a coffee shop back in Adelaide where I live and where everyone kind of knows everyone (not really but you always find yourself saying: ‘OMG I know them too’). So a friend of mine knew one of the PR managers at Naked and after a phone call, I was in!

So within a week, I had organised flights, accommodation and built up the courage to fly up to Sydney and stay alone for two weeks.

Exciting? YES!

My first day at Naked was scary. Not because the office has spiders dangling from the ceiling (in fact the office is DREAMY, original, beautiful and what I wish my house looked like with quirky wall paper and jaw dropping chandeliers). No, I was scared because I felt like I knew nothing about PR seeing as my last experience didn’t go so well, and seeing as it had been months since I had studied. I was hoping everything would just come back to me as soon as I sat down in front  of a computer.

Sure enough, everyone in the Sydney Naked office was MORE than lovely, ESPECIALLY the PR team, Lorraine, Larissa and Lou.

So what did I do? Well firstly I felt beyond special with my own desk, computer login and email. I was amazed that the team had sat down and actually organised projects for me to work on. I had never felt so included.

Some of the first projects I got to work on included the MeadowLea Plant Seed Promise Campaign, el Jimador Facebook management and the Real Breast Implant blog. I got to go to campaign launches, sit in on meetings, write blogs, write Facebook status updates, hold scripts for celebrities and be their teleprompter – just in the first week! My brain was overloaded, but I was loving it.

This is one of the first pictures I posted on Facebook about my time in Sydney. My friends and family went nuts over it and of course I was so proud shouting from the rooftops how lucky I was to be completing my internship at an company like Naked.

And it didn’t stop there. I got put in charge of SO many things and I was beginning to forget all my assignments. In the second week I was definitely more comfortable with the people, the place and walking to and from work. I was beginning to actually understand the lingo, for example WIP which means work in progress. Who would have thought.  I can now say I understand what seeding is too.

I was also put in charge of more tasks, including working on a Macleans event invitation, which I LOVED doing, and creating my first fully written, by Lana, media release for Club Kidpreneur (Yes Kidpreneur and entrepreneur and the most difficult words to say and write ). An experience that really stood out to me was sitting in on a pitch meeting. I got to learn how to breakdown a brief from a client and got to put some ideas forward as well! I then completed one hell of a research project and actually learnt a lot more then I thought I would about the brand.

Larissa also gave me SO many crash courses including: Radian6, Medianet and Factiva. Very insightful and very crash.

So what am I going to miss about working at Naked Communications?

THE PEOPLE! (They’re amazing!)

The work, which I actually enjoyed and hopefully I can get to do stuff like this once I actually get a job in PR (any takers!?).

The FOOD! On several occasions there was morning/afternoon tea on offer…and of course I had to tell my friends how lucky I was, being the food vacuum that I am.

The opportunities! I mean getting to go to a launch, getting to work on such amazing campaigns and getting invited to parties – Naked is what dreams are made of! I got to attend to the Gorillaz Converse launch party which was pretty cool. I loved the artwork on the walls and the el Jimador drinks publicity.

This may sound stupid, but I’m going to miss making spread sheets, creating research projects and writing emails to clients because it was different. When I go back home I’ll just be the coffee shop girl again, for a while anyway. I know I’m going to miss not being on the email loop. All the quirky, funny emails the Sydney Naked team send around were always a laugh!

Sydney…well it’s been crazy. There were nights where it was so windy I nearly got blown away on my way home from work and then there were the days were Sydney recorded the highest amount of rain fall in five years.

And then the next day the sun is shining so bright with a top of 27 degrees! So weird.

So what’s next? PR hopefully. I’ll be sure to let the Naked team know what I’m up too (if it’s good!).

I also wanted to say thank you to Naked for having me! Here is what I got the Sydney Naked team – a little taste of South Australia.

So once again, what an amazing experience!

Would I do it again? HELL YES!

Do I want to leave? HELL NO!

But I’ll be back. Just you wait… watch this space. One day I’ll be famous for being just as amazing as the Naked PR team. I can dream big!

Loving you and leaving you,

Lana Maiale x

My title? The best intern ever!

Millions of people tuned in to watch Super Bowl XLVI and millions more have ventured online to check out the Super Bowl ads.

Today our resident American and Communications Strategist, Maura Rosenblit, shared her love for the Super Bowl and ran us through her Super Bowl ad highlights.

Super Bowl fun facts:

• 2nd most watched sporting event in the world, more than 100 million people worldwide watch the Super Bowl every year
• Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 unseated M*A*S*H’s series finale as the most watched show in television history with over 106.5 million viewers
• Of the top 10 most watched American television programs of all time, nine of them are Super Bowls
• One 30-second commercial aired during the Super Bowl costs at least $2.8MM
• Over 700,000 footballs are produced annually for official NFL use and 72 of them are used for the Super Bowl
• 8 million pounds of guacamole is consumed on Super Bowl Sunday
• 14,500 tons of chips are eaten along with that guacamole
• A lot of Americans create Super Bowl inspired food like this stadium

Top ten Super Bowl ad highlights (according to Maura)

CAMRY – “CONNECTIONS”

BEST BUY – “PHONE INVENTORS”

AUDI – “VAMPIRE PARTY”

CHEVY SONIC – “STUNT ANTHEM”

CHRYSLER – “IT’S HALF TIME AMERICA”

NFL – “FANTASY MILLION DOLLAR FAN”

NFL – “TIME LINE”

HONDA CRV – “MATTHEW’S DAY OFF”

SAMSUNG NOTE – “THING CALLED LOVE”

KIA – “A DREAM CAR. FOR REAL LIFE”

Naked has been shortlisted in the AdNews Agency of the Year Awards, which attracted an all time record number of entries.

We’ve been shortlisted for best PR Agency and best Experiential Agency against some other great agencies so it will be close race to the finish.

Experiential Agency of the Year

Naked Communications
Urban Media
Mango Communications

PR Agency of the Year

Naked Communications
One Green Bean
Mango Communications
Access PR

It is very exciting and hopefully we can take home a baby similar to this one…

…or this one…