The Blak Labs Grad Challenge continues in 2017. If you’re a recent NAFA Graduate, we’re throwing you a bone. The chance to win an 8 week internship in one of Singapore’s leading independent creative agencies. Fetch your 5 best pieces of work and submit them to: talktous@blaklabs.com before end of day June 1, 2017.
The web has empowered so many individuals in so many different ways. And now the social web has truly exploded that potential.
YouTubers, Instagrammers, Facebookers and all sorts of other-ers (including the Chinese We Chatters and Weibo-ers) have sprung up everywhere. They appear in your feed like uninvited guests occasionally. And while their posts are pretty inoffensive, here at Blak Labs, we think clients are wasting their money paying for their influence.
A few recent examples.
The first, a humorous take down by Aaron Wong, suggests better ways for influencers to earn airmiles – that’s his thing. You can read it here.
The second? We’ve observed that influencers who post about how much they love travelling with a particular credit card tend to drop followers per brand post.
Posts either side of these endorsements have at least 3K likes or more and numerous comments. The brand-related posts lose at least 2k followers.
Last but not least – the fashionable instagrammer. Again, a store signs on a bunch of influencers to lend some sparkle to their charity shopping event. Among them, one very fashionable instagrammer who shall remain nameless.
Thing is, beyond the two posts about said charity event and an appearance in one paid-for promo piece, there was no ‘real love’ for the client, nor evidence of actual brand loyalty. And again, the posts for this brand fared less well than others.
Followers see through these thinly veiled endorsements and IMHO, each goes against the grain of ‘authenticity’ that these influencers purport to offer. And while like celebrities, we have to marvel at their ability to be “famous for being famous”, we find ourselves wondering what credibility do they offer?
And when you know that certain influencers receive huge payouts for a single tweet or post (up to US$100k or more), then this form of endorsement just looks even more ridiculous.
Because in the blink of an eye, they’ll stick something else up to get more thumbs up. And your post will disappear down their feed into social oblivion. #justsayin
Blak Labs newest campaign for Hagar Singapore, part of the global humanitarian organisation Hagar International, highlights the plight of human trafficking victims. The aim is to encourage Singaporeans to help stop this crime, while commemorating International Women’s Day this month.
The campaign features a series of four print ads and a thought-provoking online video.
Running in media sponsored by SPH and Expat Living Magazine, the ads are based on true stories of human trafficking survivors who have recovered under Hagar’s care. Also part of the campaign, a gritty online video documents the shocking reality of a mother selling her daughter to the viewers, with an unexpected twist.
“Human trafficking has devastated millions of lives across the world, but there’s always hope for recovery, and that’s what we want to achieve with this campaign. In Singapore, we’re partnering the government’s Inter-Agency Taskforce on Trafficking in Persons on various initiatives to raise public awareness, and provide victim care and support for trafficked survivors to meet their recovery and reintegration needs,” said Lynette Lim, Director of Marketing and Communications at Hagar Singapore.
“What these survivors have been through is horrific, but what’s even more amazing is how they have recovered with Hagar’s support. We are glad to be able to lend Hagar our support in this important cause,” added Charlie Blower, Managing Partner at Blak Labs.
As promised, Blak Labs has just released another in the series of true love films for our clients at Degussa.
Here are Michael and Cindy sharing their story. Get your tissues ready.
Blak Labs’ latest work for Degussa appears just in time for Valentine’s Day. This year, we’re celebrating heartwarming true love stories. The first features Ash and Nora, a young couple who’ve stuck together through thick and thin. You can check the film out here: https://www.facebook.com/DegussaSG/
And then why not check out the Degussa site for your own Valentine’s gift? Celebrate your love with beautiful, high-grade gifts and jewellery, crafted only from the best materials and designed with lots of creativity and emotion. (FYI – the roses are real and dipped in gold and silver.)
https://shop.degussa-pm.sg/precious-gifts/gifts/roses
Watch this space for the next episode!
BTW, this is Blak Labs first new work for the year. So please do us a favour and give it some love!
Thoughts and thanks on Blak Labs reaching our 6th Anniversary.
Yesterday we celebrated Blak Labs’ 6th birthday with awfully chocolatey cakes, bowling and dinner.
Over 3,800 days ago when we first started, we had no idea how far we could go or how long we would last.
And when you consider the stats that say over 90% of start-ups fail, it feels good to be able to sit back, enjoy a slice of cake and a glass of good red for a minute.
We’d better make the most of those 60 seconds though. Because if we relax any longer, we run several risks.
In this economy, we have to work twice as hard to earn every penny. Clients nowadays are squeezing every drop of thinking and value out of every job to get the best result. That’s because their livelihoods, and jobs, depend on it. (As do ours.)
The second risk is this – relying on a single client, or a single market.
Fortunately, we have learned to think beyond businesses and borders; with nascent success in Myanmar.
Since we added new talent to our Yangon office and moved to a much improved home/office, business has improved significantly too.
As I write, we have one team missing our birthday celebrations to shoot a new campaign near Mandalay. Later this month, another team will be filming two success stories in Yangon.
The third risk? Believing you can do it all on your own.
We wouldn’t have made it this far without each other. A team of partners who support and challenge each other every day.
In turn, we are thankful that we have the support of several other important groups. First of all, our talented teams of creatives and project managers in Singapore and Yangon. Not to mention, the producers and photographers, retouchers and directors, printers, publications and couriers we work with.
Secondly, our clients. From those who took a chance on us all those years ago, to newer ones who choose us because of what we’ve achieved.
Finally, our families. We couldn’t do this stuff without the love and support that our loved ones provide.
So whether you’re a partner, a team member, a client or a loved one, THANK YOU for helping us reach the age of 6.
Cue the commercial message: If you’ve got a business problem or are looking to do extraordinary work (the two are closely linked), please give us a call or drop us a line at talktous@blaklabs.com
FYI, we’re not so good at bowling, better at creating new ideas.
Today is “Brexit” voting day in the UK. And after a week of jury deliberation, discussion and impassioned defences, we have just witnessed the effect our votes had on the winners of the 2016 Cannes Cyber Lions awards show. Before we get to the winners, let me take you back over the last couple days of being in the room.
Total number of entries reviewed. 2800. Total entries judged in Cannes: 1700. Final shortlist: originally 280. After a final prune: 230 if memory serves me correctly. http://www.canneslionsarchive.com/winners/entries/cannes-lions/cyber/
Of those that made it through, you have already achieved something truly significant. Your work beat some world class crud. Our final list of golds looks like this. Not nearly enough from Asia.
And after one round of voting for the Grand Prix, we have eliminated all but two pieces of VR. We pause and take a moment to discuss what that outcome would say about the category and our industry, not to mention our collective reputations. We vote again on just keeping these two exceptional pieces as golds. It is just too early for VR to lead the way. The craft has a long way to go. The experience needs to be more inclusive.
After the struggle, and the respectful discussion on our choices, we review, debate and vote on our final Grand Prix contenders. When we’re done, there is a huge cheer and lots of hugging followed by champagne to celebrate.
We realize what we have just achieved. And in record time apparently. So we head out to celebrate.
L-r: Megan from New York, Dirk from Germany, Ignacio from Argentina, Bjorn from Sweden.
A few hours later, we all attend the press conference for the announcement of the 2016 Cyber Lions and the Innovation Lions.
After the intro from Phil Thomas, the Cannes Lions CEO, Chloe Gottlieb, our jury President and a Grand Prix Winner herself, takes the mic along with the President of the Innovation Lions, apparently the ‘fun’ jury…
Chloe kicks off the press briefing with an update of the key trends.
With the new filters that the jury has defined over the past week, we think that the biggest ideas deliver on several levels.
They are seamless in how they travel between the cyber or digital world and the real world, i.e., no clunky tech getting in the way of the storytelling.
They’re beautifully crafted and above all, the thinking and approach deliver magic in how they touch people’s lives and move us towards ideas, brands and causes.
We decided to award gold to ideas that are game changers. To achieve a Grand Prix the thinking has to be iconic, enduring, universally appealing and live seamlessly in whichever part of our connected world you experience it in.
The two Grands Prix are quite ‘amaaaaazzzzing’ as Ignacio, everyone’s favourite Argentine from Google, occasionally says.
One of them showcases how tech and AI has helped create a new Rembrandt centuries after his death. It’s brave and beautifully crafted.
http://www.canneslionsarchive.com/winners/entry/754936/the-next-rembrandt
The other is the unbelievably charming story of Justino. He is the night security guard who engages the staff he never sees with simple beautiful stories and pranks told on Instagram and Facebook. The quality is Pixar-level, and the individual stories just make you laugh, cry and much more. (I am a huge fan, having followed Justino on his Instagram during the campaign.) ICYMI, it’s for El Gordo, the Spanish Lottery. Take a look http://www.canneslionsarchive.com/winners/entry/756159/justino
This is where ‘Cyber’ has its true strengths. As a means to connect and unite people behind a single possibility over a variety of digital and ‘real world’ channels. Which of course is the point. The category has evolved so much that the best work is alive wherever you experience it.
We hope you’re happy with our votes. It was exhausting, exciting and eventually extremely rewarding. Thank you to my wonderful fellow jurors, thank you creativity and thank you Cannes Lions and Mediacorp.
And congrats to Team Singapore for winning the Young Cyber Lions!
In the world of influencers, social media experts and of course, our own industry’s ‘creative experts’, there are few who actually know what they’re talking about and many more who just regurgitate other people’s hard work. @seanblanda has nailed it. Well written, well said and well worth your time.
We’re always on the lookout for fresh talent at Blak Labs. Which is why we’re issuing a challenge to all graduating NAFA Students (that’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts for those who don’t live in Singapore.) Take a look a look and see if you make the cut.
We reckon you should be able to spot at least 10 mistakes. And even if you don’t know what the mistake is called, you’ve still got the good taste to know that it’s wrong. And that’s the kind of eye for detail we’re looking for.
Designers, art directors, thinkers, dreamers. You don’t have to be the finished article – if you’ve spotted all the cock-ups we’ve included, send your answers on a postcard please to talktous@blaklabs.com
You could win a 12 week placement with Singapore’s fastest growing independent multi-national creative boutique (offices in 2 countries!) and the opportunity to work on the likes of Maybank, Gardens by the Bay, TANGS, SIT and others.
“With this challenge, we hope to cherry-pick top creative minds with an eye for detail, befitting Blak Labs’ philosophy of offering our clients the highest level of Creative Care,” adds Koh Hwee Peng, NAFA alumna and Blak Labs Co-Founder.
We also hope that we can find some talent capable of creating an original idea instead of dusting off an oldie but a goodie for the inter web age.
Blak Labs new campaign for National Museum of Singapore rewrites history for today’s social audiences
It gives me great pleasure to share Blak Labs’ most recent campaign for “Treasures of the World from the British Museum”. It’s the latest blockbuster exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore and if you’re in the city and you have some time, you really should go and see it.
It’s only taken a couple of million years to pull together. With an extensive collection of over 200 stunning artifacts from around the world, we thought we’d have some fun with it.
Thankfully, our client at the National Museum prides itself on keeping history relevant. They like to present things in a way that connects with audiences today.
Judging by the fact that the show has been extended by a couple of months, it’s good to see that the content is clearly connecting. The campaign runs across key outdoor sites in town, together with strategic social media initiatives. Blak Labs won the project via government tender last year.
So is the ancient art of copywriting alive and well at Blak Labs?
We like to think so. Because it sure as hell isn’t in our blog posts!
If you’d like to see other executions in the campaign, leave us a comment below. Hey, leave us a comment even if you don’t!
Always happy to get a response. Thanks for reading.
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