Monty's Collective Blog

The Buggle

This week has been an exciting one for Collective – we unveiled the result of our first Upstarts project ‘The Buggle’.

Upstarts is a yearly Collective initiative. Graduates pitch their ‘best idea since Supernoodles’ to a panel of Collective judges. The winning candidate gets to work with the Collective to make their idea a reality. The next Upstarts will be this summer, if you fancy taking part visit the Upstarts website here.

Sarah Buggle won Upstarts last year with an idea that sounded way better than Supernoodles – The Buggle App. It’s based on an insight we’ve all experienced. It’s 9.30pm and the ‘quiet night’ has turned into a ‘night out’. All you want to do go somewhere with great music and maybe have a bit of a dance. That’s where The Buggle comes in. It lets you listen live to bars in your area, sampling what is playing then and there, and letting your ears decide where to go.

A year of designing, coding and 3D printing later and The Buggle was ready to make its debut at Digital Shoreditch. Now there are Buggle boxes in various bars across Shoreditch – ready for the weekend.

If you would like to know more about The Buggle or Upstarts, come down to the Shoreditch Station (opposite the Town Hall and Digital Shoreditch). Sarah will be showcasing her idea from 6.00pm tonight. She and the Collective team will be there all evening, so if you fancy a chat, have a question or an idea or just want to try The Buggle for yourself, we’d love to see you.

We will be at Shoreditch Station from 6pm, with a short presentation by Sarah at 7pm.

See you there

@thebuggle

www.thebuggle.com

@collectiveldn

http://www.collectivelondon.com/upstarts/

Marketing’s Industry View: Will Xbox One revolutionise home entertainment?

Touted as the “ultimate all in one home entertainment system”, the initial reveal of the new Xbox One has already divided critics as to whether it will prove quite as revolutionary as Microsoft hopes. Marketing turns to three industry experts, including Collective’s Head of Strategic Services, Aaron Martin to ask what impact the new console will have on both the gaming sector and the wider marketing industry. Check out his thoughts in the full article.

Introducing Talent Manager Antonia

Unless you’ve been living under an internet-free rock for the last few months, you’ll have noticed that alongside the usual flurry of client wins, award nominations and an upcoming 10 year anniversary (no biggie), Collective have been recruiting, recruiting, and er, recruiting some more.

So we’ve decided to give you a brief but invaluable insight into the mind of the woman behind the recruitment process, our wonderful and (relatively) new Talent Manger, Antonia Katsambis.

Three things you’ve learned in your first three months at Collective?

1. Having previously worked in media buying and PR agencies, I’m a digital agency newbie. The first few months have been getting used to an awful lot of acronyms, developing a better understanding of the industry and the fab work we produce here at Collective.

2. Never admit to not having watched Die Hard. I’m looking forward to the first Collective film night so the guys can educate me on the ways of action movies.

3. Milk and marmite on toast are a fantastic combination – thanks Tom!

Wanted: Financial Controller

What’s the role?

Due to the continued growth of our agency, we now have the need for a full time Financial Controller. Managing a full time Accounts Assistant and working alongside a part time Financial Manager, you will report into the CEO and will have responsibilities for a wide range of accounts and finance tasks. The ideal candidate will be qualified or part-qualified (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) and hungry to develop their professional knowledge alongside our business.
Read more…

Wanted: Senior Account Manager

What’s the role?

We are looking for a smart, ambitious and experienced Senior Account Manager to drive the day-to-day business of a portfolio of exciting clients.

Reporting into the Head of Client Service, this is a fantastic opportunity for an energetic, driven digital specialist to demonstrate that they can deliver against the key attributes that we look for – that is, to delight our clients at every touch, and ensure that our client portfolio continues to strengthen and grow.

Could Leap Motion put humanity back at the heart of marketing campaigns?

After a long run of technology failing to understand or accommodate natural human behaviours, and ultimately failing to gain traction – QR Codes anyone – our very own Head of Strategy, Aaron Martin, considers how new technology like Leap Motion has the potential to once again start putting people at the heart of marketing campaigns. Read the full article featured in the Guardian here.

Wanted: Digital Designer

What’s the role?

We are looking for an exceptional digital designer who is looking to grow and develop their skills at a creative, digital agency where great ideas and peerless execution are the order of the day.

The successful candidate will be bright, ambitious, and hungry to learn. You will have a genuine passion for your craft and the energy and desire required to deliver at the highest possible level. From the smallest button to a global portal, no matter what the size of the project the quality of the end product must be consistently exceptional.

Experience and a passion for interface design are essential and you will be able deploy class leading solutions across multiple devices and channels for all of our clients.

Wanted: UX Lead

What’s my role?

Here at Collective, we are absolutely passionate about producing work that’s consumer-centric and as such, we consider the craft of User Experience to be one of the agency’s core pillars. We believe that, in an era when software is the expression of a brand, how people interact with new digital technologies is now a point of market differentiation.

User Experience has never been more important to us and our output, making sure that anything we produce – from web interfaces to mobile apps to campaign activity – engages consumers in the most effective way possible. We believe a great user experience can contribute significantly to the success of an online service, new device or technology. So we need someone to champion this discipline within our organisation.

Russian Standard Vodka appoints Collective London

Some more great news from all of us here at Collective towers, as Russian Standard Vodka appoints the agency to handle its global digital account.

Rebecca Heathcote, head of digital and PR at Russian Standard Vodka, said: “We selected Collective as our partner because they demonstrated a strong combination of digital strategic thinking, creativity and execution.”

You can read the first bits of coverage on the news over at both Campaign and The Drum.

Moments shorlisted for MW Engage Award

Yes sir, awards season is officially here and we’re raking them in.

‘Moments’, our viral video for EA’s Battlefield 3, has been shortlisted in the Gaming and Entertainment category by the wonderful people over at Marketing Week Engage. You can check out who we’re up against here.

And, if you haven’t already, watch Collective and Machinima legend Robert Stoneman break a whole load of cinematic boundaries right here.