Every week Mel Exon (@melex) & I pull together 10 stories or links that we think are in some way inspiring, relevant, challenging, or just plain interesting, & we send them to BBH-ers in our six offices around the world.

It’s of course heavily based on the BBH Labs (@BBHLabs) Twitter feed & blog, but recognizes the reality that not everyone is hooked up to Twitter 23.5 hours per day.

Anyway, we thought we’d share it. So here it is. Feel free to pass on. As usual, ideas on making it more useful always welcome.

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Summary of the how agencies are pushing to evolve & become more digitally literate, & how ‘digital shops’ are losing lead – ‘Closing the Tech Divide’ (AdWeek) – http://bit.ly/9dI94r

‘Google is not making us stupid, & the Internet is not really changing our brains’ (a riposte to Clay Shirky, in the LA Times) – http://j.mp/c1RBYU (via @chrisgrayson)

Will Zynga Become the Google of Games? On the rise & rise of Zynga (of Farmville fame), in the NYT – http://nyti.ms/dzJhFQ

‘Digital agencies are the new dinosaurs. If they don’t evolve quickly they will lose their 10yr headstart’ (written by Daniele Fiandaca, chair of Creative Social) – http://j.mp/9L2ICM

‘Digital Tools for Making Brilliant Mistakes’ – on Hipstamatic, Vintage Video Maker & why they appeal (explain to your kids why all your photos of them look crap) – http://j.mp/b5T2pg

‘Facebook is beginning to look & act like a sovereign state’ – from The Economist – http://j.mp/dggyN2

Refreshing to see augmented reality work where there’s genuine reason for the AR; new work for Olympus, by Mullen – http://j.mp/deytQl

‘What Makes A Good Creative Director?’ – a fairly solid list of attributes here + a good discussion – http://j.mp/cN46me (via @ckburgess)

‘We Need To Rethink How We View Creativity’ – great post by @neilperkin – http://j.mp/bRPoyX

Thought-provoking stuff from @brucenussbaum – Is Humanitarian Design the new Imperialism? – http://j.mp/dkq6H8

plus a bonus 11th . . .

New @BBHLabs post by BBH New York’s Seth Weisfeld – ‘The Best Camera is the One You Have With You’ . . . introducing the iOScars’ – http://j.mp/iOScars

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What a year. Here within the BBH Labs team we’ve had our ups and our downs. But we’ve been facing only forwards. We thought today might be the one day of the year we allow ourselves a sneaky peek backwards. In particular in regard to our little blog.

This blog’s grown from nothing, through embryonic to, well, at least something approaching pre-pubescence. Whilst we’ve not shared as much as we had hoped in these pages, since launching on April Fool’s Day 2009 we’ve managed around 70 posts.

Looking back through the content it’s reassuring (at least to us) that we’ve managed a fair degree of consistency in terms of the topics we’ve  posted on, with some key themes emerging as core areas of Labs’ interest. We didn’t plan this when we started, it just happened. (We outline these themes – with links to example posts – underneath this list of our Favourite 10 from 2009.)

What made most of the posts even remotely interesting to start with was the commenting and opinion shared on the blog in response to them. We’d like to thank all those who took time not just to read but to improve our thoughts. We massively value your contribution, and we always look forward to reading your input, however challenging or provocative.

More than anything, even more than the 900+ comments on these posts, what we’ve taken out of this first eight months of Labs blogging are some great new friends, partners & teachers. Long after the frothy excitement around this app or that platform recedes, and even after the buzz around great work might fade into Awards annuals, it’s this side of the blog that we will value most highly.

Happy New Year. See you in 2010. Mel, Pats, Ben

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So, we thought we’d fish out ten posts that we either particularly enjoyed putting together, or that triggered a debate from which we learned a lot (often, it was both). Here they are, with links (via titles) to the originals & original comments.

1. The Battle Between Art & The Algorithm

The onset of increasingly ‘perfect’ information would suggest that the content we are served is ever more relevant, the choices we make are ever easier, and our levels of satisfaction should never have been higher (think the ultra relevance of Netflix, Fresh Direct, SatNav, Amazon recommends, Facebook suggests, Google search). We argue here, however, that this rise in relevance amounts to nothing less than the ‘end of surprise’, and that comes with a cost (think The Truman Show meets Minority Report). We focus on the opportunity: a role for genuinely inventive, interactive and surprising content and experiences in an era where the rough edges are too often being smoothed away.

2. The Big Idea: Chronicle of a Death Foretold

We presented what amounted to a deliberately provocative defense of big ideas, at a time when many commentators (all much more esteemed than us) were suggesting they were dead, that we needed to break free from their ‘tyranny’ and that the future lay in many small ideas instead. We concluded with five reasons we’d be wise to re-consider the power and potential of big ideas in serving the needs of brands. The quality of the debate and commentary around the post was fantastic; we’re clearly only scratching the surface here.

3. Marketing Mashup

A rallying cry to break down the walls, take a step outside and embrace the new forms of creativity that lie waiting for us at the intersections with fields, disciplines & cultures different to our own. We suggest three ways this might be achieved: Cross-pollination, Mutation and Divergence. As Darwin noted: ‘In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.’

4. Why isn’t there more great work in the interactive space?

A quickfire, exploratory tour of debate around why we’re not all bowled over with the quality of work we’re seeing in interactive. We argue for bringing geeky technical know-how closer to what we currently call creativity. In fact, much of the argument, and particularly the ace commentary that followed in the comments section, dealt with an emerging discussion around what creativity is today. This has obvious implications for businesses have have as their output ‘creativity’ and that are structured to produce specific variants of this with relatively fixed approaches.

5. 10 Reasons Why There’s Not More Great Work in the Interactive Space

The follow-up to Number 4 that distills the debate and comment provoked by the first. Covering everything from speed, endurance, pride, passion, & risk. We identified factors that seemed to be within our control (attitude, collaboration, generosity) and those that seemed less easily fixed (especially skills gaps in key emerging areas). This was one of our most commented-upon posts of 2009.

6. The Storyteller’s Story

At a time when many had been suggesting the end of the road for storytelling, a strident defense of the relevance and power of storytelling. We argue that there is a real and significant opportunity for brands to excite and inspire again through storytelling. That it is possible to reinvent a lost art, rather than dismiss it. That storytelling can be a powerful tool to drive new creativity in the interactive space. That the storyteller’s story does not, after all, end here . . .

7. Twitter – the Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning?

Back in April, as the cacophony of noise around Twitter grew to deafening proportions, early adopters such as Steve Rubel (& many others – @malbonster for example) were starting to predict a downward spiral for the company as geeks sought shiny new toys elsewhere. In this post we argue – or guessed, I suppose is more accurate – that this wouldn’t be the case, and that this was just the beginning. Time will tell, but right now Twitter seems to be morphing into something more significant than any of us might have imagined this time last year.

8. If you want a conversation, say something interesting

There have been plenty of conversations this year about conversations. Here, we made the argument that conversations require nurturing if they are to be sustained, and we suggest a driving role for campaigns in helping to achieve this. Campaigns start conversations. They can refresh and sustain them. And they can amplify them. If we think of conversations as the fire and campaigns as the fuel for those conversations, it’s pretty clear we need both. There’s no fire without a spark. There’s not much heat without fuel.

9. Less, But Better – an interview with design legend Dieter Rams

Long-term admirers of Rams’ philosophy on design and his general radical outlook on life, we interviewed him to see how we might make our own innovation efforts more radical (& successful). As the key influence on head designer Jonathan Ive, at Apple, and without question a linking thread to the Bauhausian minimalism and functionalism of the 1920s and 1930s, we were honored to be allowed to ask Dieter a few questions. He gave splendidly ‘in character’ answers, particularly on the theme of crowdsourcing. There is much we value in this post, but the primary finding for us – question everything, *especially* the most obvious – remains with us and in fact seems ever more relevant.

10. The Coming Age of Augmentation

A particular favourite of mine, this post is one I’ve returned to more than any other. We touch upon the concept of the ‘Technological Singularity’, the idea that once we create an an artificial intelligence greater than our own, it follows that any resulting ‘Superbrain’ will be capable of augmenting itself extremely quickly to become even more intelligent and so on, leading to an explosive growth in intelligence that is (literally) beyond our imagination. And we begin (and really only begin) to explore a broader point around the pace of technological change, and what we – and the brands with whom we work – can do to embrace it. This was another of those posts that received some phenomenally insightful and inspiring comments. (Note: this piece also came with a bonus post that contained all the background reading we’d found most useful in putting this together.)

Hmmm. We kind of cheated as two of the posts around the theme of ‘better interactive work’ were essentially two halves of a single post, so here’s a bonus fave. A recent one.

11. Google Chrome – Behind The Scenes

BBH’s recent work for the launch of the Chrome browser in Europe was the focus for this piece. We shared the full-length films (now on YouTube) but also shared the short film we produced around how we made them. It’s work of which everyone at BBH is proud, and that BBH Labs played a leading role in producing. Take a look if you haven’t seen it.

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KEY EMERGING THEMES ON THE LABS BLOG . . . SO FAR . . .

- The development of interactive as it collided with the emerging social web (for example: 10 Reasons Why There’s Not More Great Work in the Interactive Space)

- The increasing attention given to new models of creative collaboration (& crowdsourcing)

- The proliferation of data visualization and new ways of using it (Art & The Algorithm, From Art to Apps)

- Emerging agency models (Agency Nil, Agency Nil #2, R/GA, Boulder Digital Works)

- The celebration of awesome creativity (esp where it innovates or hacks channels or platforms – LEGO, Sour, Concave Scream, Mary Poppins, Nike, Google)

- Interviews with people we respect (Dieter Rams, Aaron Koblin, Manual Lima, Jeremy Ettinghausen)

- Musings on the shape of the future (The Coming Age of Augmentation, Will the Web Make Us More Honest?, Adaptive Brand Marketing)

- New apps, software, APIs, cool stuff (Goggles, Foursquare, The Phonebook, QR codes)

- Sustainability & community (iSaw, Blog Action Day, Glove Love)

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In eager anticipation of the new Terminator film, I’ve done a little poking around into what’s happening in the world of robots.

The main action in this area is clearly in Asia. And while Korea pushes ahead with plans to build robot parks, even going so far as to introduce legislation for a robot code of ethics to “Prevent Android Abuse and Protect Humans,” it’s the Japanese who appear to be in the quickest sprint to building a creepy robo-future.

Due to strict immigration laws and a quickly aging population (its expected that 1/3 of its citizenry will be over 60 by 2050) the country is racing to realize a day when robots can provide care for their elderly, clean homes and provide administrative office tasks. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is actively involved in supporting the development of intelligent robots and hopes to introduce many of the models in development into the marketplace by 2015.

Here’s a cross-sample of what’s in store…

PARO
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Paro is the “World’s most therapeutic robot.” It uses an array of sensors to respond to audible, visual, and tactile stimulation. Each Paro attains a unique personality of sorts due to its ability to be trained to execute (or refrain from) specific actions. Pet Paro and he knows he is being rewarded for good behaviour, smack him and he will do his best not to repeat that behaviour. (For full post click below)

Click here to view the embedded video.

RI-MAN
Ri-Man is designed to care for the elderly. He is capable of lifting and carrying humans and can also see, hear and smell.

HRP-4C
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology recently unveiled a 95 pound robotic fashion model designed for the catwalk. The not-so-stylishly named HRP-4C, with a initial $200,000 price tag and a “ordinary” figure that isnt “tall enough” according to fashion insiders, appears not quite ready for prime-time.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So whats the problem?

Its true, they do seem cute. That said, below is my list of “Top 10 Technology Goes Awry, Worst Case Scenario Ensues” films.

Maximum Overdrive (Emilio Estevez! Stephen King! Killer appliances!)
I, Robot
Wargames
Metropolis
The Stepford Wives
Alien
The Matrix
The Terminator
2001 Space Oddysey
Blade Runner

A free LEGO Bobba Fett keychain to anyone that can help me add the next name to the list.

Though we were discussing Mid-East policy, my mind went immediately to brand marketers who essentially faces the same issues: how easily a single crafty teenager can ju-jitsu multi-million dollar budgets and turn big business assets into liabilities.

So I took a stroll through the darker alleys of the internet to peek at marketing and outreach techniques by some of society’s better-known ideological enemies. I collected a few links below (before stopping in fear of having an FBI file opened on me).

To be honest, gang members, terrorists and racial hate groups don’t seem to as technology and media-savvy as I expected. All the sites I found could have been created by the same web designer (in 1998): free hosting, terrible anthem-like music files, and lots of broken links. I get the sense many of these sites are constantly on the move, remaining one step ahead of hosting companies and law enforcement agencies whose job it is to stomp them out in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.

Please proceed through the links below with caution… (MORE BELOW)

Barrio Avenues Gang Los Angeles myspace page

Hells Angel’s Las Vegas Chapter

Georgia Crips

The dangers of remedial banner buys: Crips brand sponsors include Sprint, T-Mobile and Kaplan University.

National Front

While the minimum age requirement to roll for the Crips is 11, it is 14 to stomp for the National Front. The outreach program seems to be effective with voting age members as the site is celebratory over their big 2008 election gains.

Jihad for kids

Translated as “The Conqueror,” this Hamas website offers children first-hand tales of proud mothers of martyrs celebrating their son’s journey to paradise by buying all the neighborhood children figs and dates. I also found an interesting Space Invader-like game and would love to know what the text underneath says if anyone reading this post speaks Arabic.

Have any more?

We’re posting a brief on Crowdspring well aware of the heated discussions taking place within the design community regarding sites that promote spec work. Though the crowdsourcing business model is still clearly in its infancy, BBH Labs reasoning for giving Crowdspring a try, simply put, is because the model seems to be working (albeit, better for smaller companies).

We’ve heard the arguments against Crowdspring. We’ve heard it said that it lowers the standard of what is considered “good” design. But for the purposes of this conversation, isn’t a “good” design one that pleases the person paying for it? I think Marley and Me is a “bad” film. My niece disagrees. So be it.

Another argument is that the Crowdspring model is akin to outsourcing, putting professional design work in the hands of untrained amateurs, and in the process, driving down the price real designers are able to charge for their services. If you’re a great designer, these sites shouldn’t be a threat since aspiring designers willing to work on spec is nothing new. If you’re a mediocre designer on the other hand, then consider that new technologies will only continue to make you better: just as the mouse made you better and Adobe Illustrator made you better, competing on a larger playing field should also make you better (and add to your bottom line).

I don’t want to sound overly insensitive, but evolution isn’t always orderly: we are living in a transformational period and in order to not be put out to pasture prematurely, entire industries are having to retrain themselves and rethink how business is going to be conducted going forward. From young designers to established agency networks, change is coming.

I’ll stop rambling now and come back to why we like Crowdspring. We see these sites as giving much more than they take. By matchmaking small businesses that wouldn’t have been able to otherwise afford a custom logo with a pool of designers that wouldn’t have otherwise been able to offer their services, they are helping to grow an overall appreciation for design as well as build an entirely new market that didn’t previously exist.

Will Crowdspring deliver Labs a great logo that meets our demanding and sophisticated needs? Not sure, but we’re looking forward to fishing these new waters nonetheless.

But I’ve become addicted to the data which bit.ly provides on every link you shorten. Because with bit.ly the shortening is just the beginning of it’s magic. If you register on the site you have a record of all the links you’ve shortened. And if you hit the ‘Info’ function underneath a link you are presented with a treasure trove of metrics & insight. Traffic (clicks) with time & date information, geographical location, platform used to access the link, conversations the link featured within, RTs, and so on.

So one learns that a link posted on Twitter that touches on industrial design is 50% more likely to be clicked on in Brazil than in the UK. Or a link that relates to LEGO is three times as likely to be clicked on in Denmark than in Canada. Or that the optimum time to post is 10pm ET, or that actually one needs to re-post because the two peaks are 10pm ET and 10pm GMT, or that if you want to provoke an Australian audience one should post after 11pm ET. Much of this might seem intuitive, but accessing the data that proves (or refutes) some of the assumptions we work with when we share links is a revealing exercise. Above all, it provides much greater depth of feedback on what’s popular (or not) than simply the crude measure of how often your message is RT on Twitter. And it’s not just Twitter – you can add a bit.ly add-on to your Gmail (http://bit.ly/Xd1yM).

Bit.ly allows you to do a whole lot more than fire-and-forget; it promotes smart linking, and that makes it cool in my (Excel work) book.

We’ll be sharing here anything that’s grabbed our attention of late, particularly anything that has implications for how brands and marketing will evolve in future. For now, have a look at the About Labs page or contact us if you’d like to know more. Alternatively check out bbhlabs on Twitter.

Finally, a heartfelt hat tip to our friends @ Made by Many, who designed and built this thing of beauty for us. We thank you.