At blur Group, we’ve seen the waves of Crowdsourcing adoption, reaction and probably overreaction since Jeff Howe first coined the term back in that 2007 Wired article. We’ve witnessed the positive idea of the wisdom of crowds, and some of the negativity that there must be something flawed in a model where many can compete for [...]

Key performance indicators (KPIs) help you to determine whether or not you are on the right track toward reaching your marketing goals. If you haven’t already, develop your SMART goals today. You must define success in order to attain it. Depending on your goals, there are a number of ways to monitor and track your [...]

Twitter announced in December of last year their intention to introduce pages for brands on their social networking platform. Founders Jack Dorsey and Dick Costolo announced during their “Come See What We’re Building” press conference some key changes to the platform, including Company Profile pages, of which the first are now rolling out in the [...]

Twitter announced this week amid a media storm that it has given itself the right to censor and withhold tweets and content in certain countries, in a blog post on Thursday 26th January.   The post, entitled “Tweets must still flow” harks back to a post a year ago, “Tweets must Flow”, in which the [...]

Maybe you have Facebook fatigue. Maybe the constant updates from Twitter and Foursqure make you feel swamped by ‘lifecasting’.  Perhaps Instagr.am is a bit too lomo for your tastes. Enter Path, the social network that has been described as “anti-social”.   Path launched in 2010, the brainchild of ex-Facebook excutive Dave Morin, who saw a gap in [...]

For some time the technorati and blogosphere have been wildly speculating on where Google + would go next.  Since launching last year it is the fastest growing social media site, beating Twitter, Linked In and Facebook for user growth over time. However, it is still mainly the realm for the early adopters, and a hub [...]

Like Marmite, Pinterest fans will either love or hate this week’s news; Facebook announced on Wednesday evening the addition of 60 new apps to combine functionality  with Facebook, including the pinboard social site Pinterest.    Launched in March 2010, Pinterest is a user generated site allowing members to create theme-based image boards. Users populate their boards with online media and [...]

Today is a terrifying day for the World Wide Web. The unchartered cyberspace realm of free speech, knowledge sharing and exchange is under fire from what could be a potentially make or break bill. SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA, Protect IP Act, are being debated and to be decided next week by [...]

Instagram was massive in 2011. In its first year of launching, the mobile app had 10 million users, all addicted to documenting life in retro and lomo inspired snapshots.   2012 is set to see the trend for aesthetic social sharing gaining momentum even further; The Trend think tank Trendwatching predicts that “In 2012, ‘life’ will take place [...]

The Huffington post finds itself once again at the heart of a Twitter storm of writers and bloggers. The aggregated content website launched in 2005 by Arianna Huffington and sold last year to AOL for a whopping $315 million US dollars is under attack from writing professionals about the way their content is generated and [...]

It’s the holy grail of digital, the aim of everyone from global brands to the slapstick You Tube amateur. From sneezing pandas to giant soft drink corporations, going viral is a marketer’s dream, the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end.   Myriad “how to’s” exist online to offer expert hints and tips to create [...]

During 2011 blog page views across blur Group’s network more than doubled. We know that they’re a sought-out information source for those working in the creative industries, those using them and people looking for that different perspective on new startups, the latest art, marketing must-haves, design desires and a view on the latest trends. At the [...]

  We’ve already shared with you blur Group’s review of 2011 and our vision for creative services in 2012. But as it’s that time of year when we dust off the crystal balls, run riot with our runes, draw lines between planets, here’s our thoughts on what different areas of the business might see in [...]

In the immortal words of our founder and CEO Philip Letts, “We launched the Creative Services Exchange intending to stop the debate about the future of advertising and start delivering that future.” And this year we’ve done just that. Here’s what you need to know about blur in 2011. News in Briefs Our global reach [...]

In the five blogs of blur Group we write about what excites, dismays and interests us. As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look back at the most-read blog posts of 2011 – what do they say about you, dear reader? In the blur Group blog, you looked to us for amusement [...]

We hope you enjoyed our quiz! The suspense is over, here are the 15 questions with answers – and a bonus! 1)   You might not be as obsessed with Twitter as we are. But do you know which superstar has the most followers? Lady Gaga, with close to 17 million. 2)   Which bank won the [...]

You must be busy. The financial year is drawing to a close, your marketing budget’s been cut and you’ve got to find something for Auntie Hilda. It’s a shame you didn’t brief the Exchange this year. You’d have saved time and money – leaving you with enough of the former to take the Blur quiz. [...]

Today, #blur is trending on Twitter. The 90’s band will receive the 2012 BRIT award for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the Twitter congratulations are pouring in. That means that our Tweets, which contain #blur as a matter of course, are read by more people than usual today. The hashtag overlap was a coincidence, but [...]

Today, we’re taking a look at the organizations using crowdsourcing to solve really knotty problems. Crowdsourcing has been disappointing when used for projects like My Starbucks Idea and Dell IdeaStorm. Customers were invited to submit their solutions to product problems, and vote for the best ideas. The companies implement the best ideas, hopefully saving time [...]

Nokia dazzled London and myself with a spectacular light show and cracking music, all to promote the Lumia 800 smartphone. The Millbank Tower, which sits on the Thames near the Houses of Parliament, became a giant projection screen with all 800 windows blacked out by vinyl. House musician Deadmau5 (pronounced deadmouse) played a short set [...]

Human Media Fundamentals, the concepts which define the way to a new form of communication, one that represents the end of the Social era in its pure state of art. It’s time for everything to be placed on a map and coherently drawn – thank you Luis Calabuig. Human Media makes it possible for a company to offer [...]

This is the first Friday for some time that there’s no new video ad from blur Group. Last  week  ‘oneupmanship’ marked the end of our no alternative campaign. Once a week, we’ve explored the marketing crises that plague CMOs and why you have no alternative but to brief the Exchange. It’s been interesting to see [...]

This week the number of creatives on blur Group’s Creative Services Exchange will pass the 13,000 mark. These 13,000 are a mix of creative independents, many of them who’ve worked for the ‘big boys’, and those small to mid-sized agencies who recognize that there’s value in being part of a creative crowd. Yes, there is [...]

At blur Group, social media is the sea in which we swim. We recruit creatives, engage with potential customers, promote our blogs, share interesting content and we’ve found that Twitter is the most effective platform to do all that, and more. Here’re the tools, initiatives and people impacting Twitter today. Users were outraged by the introduction [...]

At blur, we’re obsessed with the nature of creativity. Recently we’ve been asking ourselves: Can you teach it? We’re talking about creative problem solving here, rather than uncontrollable artistic urges. Too many people think creativity is a kind of magic that you’re blessed with from birth. Actually, it’s not the whisper of a muse (see [...]