Our pick of 2011
22 December 2011 at 9:57 am | posted by Matt in 2011 Round Up
Its that time of year when Twitter is flooded with the top 10 of just about everything from the previous 12 months, here at Public we’ve had a whip round for our top moments in 2011.
Top ads we liked
The heart warming Christmas John Lewis ad which had one of our MD’s in tears.
The Force – Volkswagen Commercial. The pick of the bunch from the Superbowl.
Unhate campaign (supported by United Colours of Benetton).
Controversial but strikingly brilliant. “Unhate is a message that invites us to consider that hate and love are not as far away from each other as we think. Actually, the two opposing sentiments are often in a delicate and unstable balance. Our campaign promotes a shift in the balance: don’t hate, Unhate.”
Top virals
Homeless man with the golden voice. Ted Williams, a homeless US man with a deep, refined voice became an overnight online sensation after being “discovered” by a local reporter on a street corner in Columbus, Ohio. The 53 year-old was subsequently offered a job by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and was being pursued by NFL Films for possible work.
The Royal Wedding
Wedding of the year, Disney viral picture of the year.
Benton (formerly Fenton)
Benton the Labrador let loose in Richmond Park. Poor old Benton, the disobedient labrador who sacrificed his right to be let off the lead in pursuit of a fresh bit of venison.
Top Apps
Most useful – Hailo – iPhone – reviewed by MD Rhydian
“I love the integration of location into mobile. Hailo is an app that genuinely helps me and genuinely helps the cab driver and has a workable revenue model already up and running. It also uses wider social for added value. Cab drivers can share traffic black spot info using the app and also tell eachother where gluts of passengers are (theatres kicking out etc…)
It solves several problems that genuinely existed before the app was made. Not many tech advances can claim that.”
Most fun – Innocent Drinks – Banana Plane App – iPad/iPhone
Ok so we may have made this, but it makes the list regardless as its a whole load of colour and fun. See for yourself by downloading it here
Most cool – The Fancy – iPad/iPhone
A popular choice from the Public Social team. The Fancy is a collection of beautiful ‘things’ people have tagged across the web. A great source of inspiration if nothing else. Download here or sign up online .
Top Facebook campaign
Lynx Facebook App. Not a popular choice for the ladies in the office, but a good example of a big hitting Facebook campaign, even if it was aimed at spotty teenage men.
Nice bit of experiential to tie up any loose ends too :
Egypt and the Arab Spring
Wael Ghonim, a prominent online activist for democracy in Egypt wrote on the 26 Jan (doesn’t that feel like forever ago!) “I said one year ago that the internet will change the political scene in Egypt and some friends made fun of me”. The following day he was arrested and blindfolded for 12 days signalling a rallying cry for protestors and became a catalyst for change. Upon his release, Ghonim became a hero as he declared “If you want to liberate a government, give them the internet”.
Bin Laden live tweet
The 33-year- old Shohaib Athar was awakened in the middle of the night as he heard the sound of a helicopter hovering overhead. Naturally the first thing he did was tweet. Little did he know the significance of what he was tweeting.
“Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event),” Athar tweeted.
The London Riots
Without focussing on the negative, the power of social media came good with the #RiotCleanup initiative. Londoners coming together to help clean up the almighty mess the rioting left behind,all facilitated by Twitter and Facebook.
Steve Jobs – End of an era for Apple
A sad ending to the year with the passing of Steve Jobs, a truely inspiring visionary.
