Recently, W Hotels launched an iPhone app to bring signature sounds and insider access to guests at their properties around the world. The W Scottsdale, a swanky property nestled in the heart of old town, came to us to help create a few pieces to help them market the app to visitors.

Splinter designed and produced collateral to announce the app, as well as strategically placed QR promotional decals that scan to “Get the App!” We were also commissioned to create iPhone replicas, which were used to train their staff on how the app works. After some creative brainstorming, we came up with a solution that resembled the actual size, shape and look of an iPhone. They were a hit! Another W property saw images of the replicas and actually thought the W Scottsdale had used real phones for training. Needless to say, the replicas were pretty spot on.

The new app is way rad, allowing guests to book their stay, order in-room service, or even request fresh towels. My personal favorite feature of the app streams music curated by Michaelangelo L’Acqua, the W’s global music director. The app gives you an option to listen to it at that moment or to purchase it on iTunes. It also detects your location to display any hotels near you and offers the ability to post on Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.

This effort by W Hotels will surely add value to your stay and provides the progressive type of service their brand has come to be known for. Now, if I could just replicate their poolside experience, sitting at my desk today might not be so bad.

“I said it. FlipOff!”

As of late, there has been quite a bit of chatter about the expected demise of The Flip Camera.  On April 12th, the New York Times ran an article about the short lived and widely successful life of the Flip camcorder. In 2009 Cisco became the proud parent of a half a billion dollar product that may have already seen its 15 minutes of fame. Actually it was about 3 solid years of dominance, which is still a blink in time even for gadgets. A mere two years ago at the time of acquisition it was one of the hottest products, flying off shelves and gobbling up market share. Cisco has now realized The Flip has started to fall from the spotlight and is aware of the Flip’s almost certain demise.

In the last few years as smartphones increased their capabilities, they have bullied many products out of the realm of necessity. From Portable GPS units to iPods, the smartphones are smothering other gadgets’ success. Let’s look The Flip’s nemesis, the highly demanded smartphone and why it appears to be stepping on the neck of our favorite little camcorder.

A few reasons why I bought a Flip Camera and why they rule(d).

1. The Flip had unmatched innovation and simplicity in the beginning. It is very easy to operate and tends to be a helpful and portable companion.

2. A price point much less than the sticker price for a smartphone and amazingly cheap compared to the rest of the HD camcorder market.

3. Unlike smartphones, the Flip has a tripod mount which is extremely beneficial, especially for more professional shoots requiring stability.  Even without a tripod, the Flip is smoother filming than any phone I’ve seen. We’ve all watched videos recorded on a phone with a ton of movement and it’s pretty hard to handle.

4. The audio from the Flip is very impressive for the unit’s simplicity, especially when compared to even the best smart phones. This is an extremely valuable when seeking a more professional video: instructional and how-to videos, interviews, video blog posts, etc.

5. Flip Cameras are very durable. Both of mine have taken a licking and keep on ticking. The Flip doesn’t handicap me personally if something happens to it: stolen, got wet, scratched display, etc. I would much rather that happen to my Flip than my smartphone. My smartphone is a vital lifeline to my business and personal life, thus making the Flip more expendable. This eases the fear of taking my Flip to the most extreme environments to get the money shots, for example: skydiving, pool parties, mosh pits, or dirt biking to name a few.

Maybe that is why the Flip still remains the top-selling camcorder on Amazon today.  So how could Cisco already plan to scale back on the fun product that provides such fun and simple usability?

Here are some reasons why my Flip Camera spends more time in a drawer than in my hand:

1. The ability to share directly from the device. This is the #1 reason I leave the Flip behind when I’m on the run. Seriously? I have to wait to find a computer to download before I can share. This poses a problem for us given our appetite for real time information. The Age of Instant Gratification only seems to be gaining steam. This is a massive benefit for smartphones given the way we interact with social networks and sharing of media. If I’m at the World Series, I want to share that content now, whether I email my buddy or upload to Twitter or FB. The content looses influence and the coolness factor if it’s sent or posted at a later time.

2. The Flip takes very grainy videos without sufficient lighting. Video lighting features on phones are becoming very common. I have yet to see a Flip with a built in lighting option. There are accessories you can purchase, but they are not very convenient. See one example here – http://goo.gl/FZ8ES. Good luck with that in your purse or pocket.

3. Speaking of my pockets. There is a finite amount of space in my pockets and it’s extremely valuable to me. I already have my smartphone, keys, wallet, change, and possibly some chap stick or a lighter. I have a hard time justifying squeezing a Flip in my pockets right next to a new Droid that takes HD 1080 video.

4. The screen on my smartphone is almost 4x times the size of the Flip screen, which makes videos in playback worth watching.

5. Smartphones are littered with hundreds of photography and video apps that are fancy and very easy to use. They are not only fun to play with, but actually offer some rad filters and treatments. Most also offer basic editing, which is really sweet for those who care about the quality of their media. Its surprising how easy it is to take a photo or video, enhance with an app, and fire it off via email or posted to a social network within seconds.

I’ve got a method now that tells me when to use of my Flip or phone.

If it’s something that is impromptu or candid, my phone is always within reach and is the best candidate. For the events that are planned and/or need a better quality sound and/or stable footage, I’ll use the Flip.

I’d love to hear from any of you that use both smartphone and Flip to record video. Is the Flip still useful or should it #FlipOff?

As a thank you for being an Adwords customer, Google just sent out an awesome thank you video using technologies beyond the normal comprehension of most humans. I mean, we’ve heard of variable printing on direct mail and such, but variable video? Well done, Google… Well done indeed. To see why we’re so amazed with this, be sure to check out the video.

We really can’t wait to see what they come up with next. Here’s to many more years of using Google products to make life, and work, better.

How it works:

Once your digital billboard space has been purchased, you’ll need some eye-catching creative to ensure your message gets out to the target audience. On the Phoenix outdoor network, each billboard has eight rotating advertisements at eight seconds each. As with printed billboards, you’ll want to keep your message short and sweet as viewing time is at a premium. After getting the design aspect squared away, your outdoor ad can be up and running in as little as 24 hours. So not only are printing costs wiped away, but the ability to get your ad displayed is no longer restricted to a monthly basis. Want your ad displayed one day per week? One week per month? Wednesdays at 5pm? A great example is the way various television stations use the medium from around the valley. Got a hot news segment showing on the nightly news, or does Oprah have a special guest on today? As the advertiser, this is about as flexible as it gets, and you can even switch out an ad during the course of the campaign should you feel the results are below targeted expectations.

While some may argue that digital billboards aren’t all I’m cracking them up to be due to exclusivity issues, it all depends on how you approach the situation. Who ever said the advertiser could only buy one eight second spot? With eight spots, each running eight second ads, couldn’t one purchase all eight spots on a billboard? I think so, and with those eight spots, you could display eight different messages that are not only branding your company, but highlighting several important factors of your campaign… And for all my stats people out there, even with 1 spot every 64 seconds, at 17 hours of up time per day, that’s 187,376 spots over the course of a 4 week period. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Digital Billboards in Phoenix, Arizona

All this being said, we recently finished an outdoor digital billboard campaign for London Gold. Being that this is still a somewhat new technology, we were excited to experiment with different color contrasts, and make those diamonds “pop” off the screen as so many clients request. We worked with London Gold to create a variation of ads in order to keep the consumer engaged. Just think, you can hit drivers with variations of the message all while strengthening your brand and gaining exposure. It truly is the new era of outdoor advertising.

I’m just waiting to see when animation will come into play on digital billboards in Phoenix. Is animation something digital billboards can support? If so, are there state and federal laws against motion graphics due to motorist distractions? When I spoke with a rep at Clear Channel, I didn’t really get a definitive answer, and when conducting a search on Google, I came up empty. If you’ve got an answer for me on this one, I’d love to hear it.