McCannSpiration

Welcome to McCannSpiration - a series of case studies we love, must-watch videos, new technologies and other stuff you really should know. Hand curated by your strategy team partners. Enjoy.

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Michael K. Williams asks himself if he's being typecast

Michael K. Williams Debates Himself in This Riveting, Theatrical Short Film for The Atlantic

The actor wonders if he’s been typecast, but that’s only part of the story.

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Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art

“Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016” explores the multidimensional possibilities of film, historically and today.

The “Dreamlands” exhibit at the Whitney changed my life.

 It shows how artists have captured dreamlike states on film since the early 1900s. From 1920s German cinema to futuristic stuff from Japan. It’s not about showing specific dreams. Instead, about artists dismantling cinematic conventions for the sake of experimentation and pushing the medium as far as possible.

Because where, if not in dreams, can one truly escape the realities of today’s world? 

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Exchange Blood Donation for Adventure

Leo Burnett, Costa Rica has created this "Blood Adventures" campaign targeting tourist who were rewarded with free adventure activity packages after they donated blood.

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Hacked Dash Button Donates to ACLU

The concept product would make an an instant contribution each time it is pressed.

The concept product would make an instant contribution each time it is pressed

Inspired by Amazon Dash, programmer Nathan Pryor has designed a concept button that makes a donation to the ACLU every time it is pushed. Frustrated by the current U.S. administration’s actions, Pryor wanted to create something that felt meaningful and provided an immediate way of literally pushing back. Pryor’s ACLU button provides the same “one-push” optimization with a result in activism rather than shopping.

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Johnnie Walker Reimagines "This Land" from Immigrant Perspective

Cheers to the road ahead. To those who with every step take America further. The optimists, the hard working, the ones who believe that progress comes from d...

This portrays the spirit of immigrants in a way that’s empowering rather than demoralizing

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Customized Artwork Based on Travel Data

It's a way to make data more personal, not to mention attractive.

Cathay Pacific rewards loyalty with a bespoke piece of art for each member of their Marco Polo Club on their birthday.

On their birthdays, 1 million members of the Marco Polo Club, Cathay’s loyalty program, will receive a bespoke piece of digital artwork based on an algorithm depicting their travels with the airline. The art, which appears both as a video on a minisite and can be printed in high resolution, transforms travel itineraries into Chinese brushwork “artmaps.”

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How Art Invents New Ways of Seeing

New York art critic Jerry Saltz hosts episode one of a new film series.

Tiffany is suffering from a “basic,” suburban mom perception. They’re clearly going for a younger, edgier, more sophisticated audience

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Here's a pretty amazing ad from BBDO New York, with a mystery at its core.

A powerful piece of work with a hidden message that really hits home.

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Ooho! the edible water bottle

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Heineken Reinvents the Job Interview

Welcome to what we like to call The Interview. Learn about the HEINEKEN Company and about yourself. Do you have what it takes? Learn a craft, learn a trade. There’s a journey to be made!

Heineken invites talent to respond to 12 questions, which must be answered in three to five seconds. The results give you a personal profile, which must be sent along with your résumé when applying for your Heineken dream gig on LinkedIn. One of the first 'cool’ HR campaigns, reflecting the brand’s values through and through.

[creativity-online]

Delta and Coke Turn Airline Tray Tables Into an Art Gallery

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An idea can live anywhere if it is focused and effective. Great use of an otherwise dead space and in front of a captive audience.

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Dyson Creates Pop-Up Challenge on Twitch to Recruit Engineers

Do you have what it takes? Enter The Smart Rooms, exclusively built by Dyson. Taking place in London, 4-5 February. It's the ultimate test of your problem-so...

Gaming community Twitch is a relatively untapped audience. It has over two million creators on the network and 100 million monthly views – those viewers spend more than 1.5 hours per on it and that looks set to rise as the platform chases audiences beyond just gamers.

Dyson created Smart Rooms, a pop up challenge aimed at Twitch gamers to help the company recruit the smartest minds of the future. All this via a pop-up challenge only the sharpest minds can solve.

Each challenge is projected onto a wall, meaning players progress virtually rather than physically moving locations once they solve a puzzle. Given the difficulty of the challenges, those inside the room can ask the Twitch audience for help by placing objects or words under four spot lights. Those viewers watching the Twitch stream can vote on which light is the correct answer, which will be hashtagged #SmartRooms in order to collate the information.

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Mon Purse has perfected the art of mass customization. The brand invites customers to design every part of a handbag from scratch using a 3D bag maker on the brand's website or on a screen in a department store. The final product then gets delivered to the customer within a month, and without the hefty designer pricetag. Genius. Simple. Effective. 

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Pinterest's "Lens" is your Visual Shazam

The company also debuted two other products on Wednesday with brands like Neiman Marcus and Macy's already on board.

Pinterest has a lens that will show you pins for similar products of a picture you took. Think of it like the Shazam for product discovery on the platform.

The visual search tool, dubbed Lens, allows users to search by using the phone's camera. Take a picture of a clock, for example, and Pinterest will show various clocks to decorate a home.

Think about the potential to tie commerce to real world user habits - taking photos.

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Body paint artist turns humans into frogs, chameleons

Artist Johannes Stoetter has gained worldwide attention for using body paint to create stunning animal creations. In this video created by Stoetter, you may ...

I like to look to the art and design world for cool inspiration…And this is just flat-out fucking awesome. I think I watched it three times in a row before sharing on Facebook (which I never really do).

[postitforward]

Happy Valentine’s Day, Tumblr. 💖

Today we’re working with the Ad Council (@lovehasnolabels) to spread the message that love has no labels, and to encourage everyone to treat each other equally—no matter their race, disability, sexuality, gender, or religion. If you have a story, photo, or any other kind of art that describes what “love has no labels” means to you, we want to see it. Post it with the tags #lovehasnolabels and #postitforward so everyone on Tumblr can find it.

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This is a gorgeous piece of work from Tumblr and the Ad Council for Valentine’s Day. Simple, effective and on point for our times.

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Spotify Thanks 2016.

Why? This OOH campaign was a very simple and impactful way to connect with everyone, regardless of their use of Spotify. Spotify sits on a mound of user data and put the insights generated from that data at the heart of its work. This is a piece of work that feels “embedded in our lives to the point in which it doesn't feel a campaign”