Look at all this Loot!

We want to thank everyone who donated to the clothing drive for Jeunesse au Soleil, as you can see, the turn out was impressive. We got everything from snow suits and warm boots to sweaters and scarves- each and every item is appreciated. Have a great week everyone!

Post by Aleksandra Wnuk, Feb 8th

Meet Max

Meet Max! from CloudRaker on Vimeo.

Anyone who’s come to visit us at our office knows that we love our pets. There’s always a dog or two running around the office, and we happen to think it brightens up the place. Last week we had one of our CloudCamps which we like to do to finish up each month –  there’s pizza, and two or three mini presentations by our very own Rakers talking about anything and everything that inspires them. Friday proved to be particularly special- Robert brought in his darling adopted Greyhound, Max, and gave a presentation leaving everyone ready to call their local SPCA. Max was rescued thanks to Robert and the kind people at Greyhound Rescue Quebec and has proven to be a great companion, but there are thousands of other retired race dogs just like him who haven’t been as lucky.

Robert compiled his slideshow into a short video capturing the life of a race dog and some other tidbits of information. Take a look.

Post by Aleksandra Wnuk, Feb 5th

Warm clothes for our Haitian friends.

Sun Youth has asked Montrealers to look through their closets for warm clothes they no longer need for those arriving from Haiti to our chilly city.  If it is too far or out of the way for anyone to get to Sun Youth, CloudRaker will be doing a drop off!  We welcome you to bring your warm clothes here if it is more convenient for you.  So friends and family, ad folks, production folks, folks who read our blog, do stop in, drop off some warm garments and grab a cup of coffee and poke around our office if you’d like.  We will be doing the drop off early next week!

We are located at 1435 Saint Alexandre (suite 700)

Post by Christina Brown, Jan 25th

Barber Shops vs Hairdressers

Here at the CloudRaker office, there’s been much talk about haircuts among the men. Our technical director Fred had let his grow particularly wild at one point and just recently had it trimmed down. He and several of our male compadres go to the little barber shop around our corner. A few years ago, my finicky self would’ve thought they were crazy, but paying $10-15 at a barber shop versus $60-80 at the hairdresser is starting to make a lot more sense.

It’s important to note that many guys have never had trouble with the no-frills treatment at barber shops, but many like me, have been more comfortable with hairdressers. It’s not necessarily from a desire to be fashionable, but from a general fear of barber shops. My fear started at 14 years old. It was the mid 90’s and I was trying to grow my hair like Kurt Cobain. Because it was getting a little mulletesque in the back, I asked my mom to take me to that $5 place my family goes to in Chinatown for a trim. I left with one of those early 90’s skater cuts with it long and even on top and totally shaved underneath..

In the last year or so, I’ve noticed a gradual change of heart among men, partially fueled by trendsetters like the Sartorialist. Maybe it’s the economic crisis forcing us to question frivolities like $60 haircuts, or just a general back-to-basics attitude but many have gone back to the way of barber shops. During the Christmas holidays, I went to Salon Caldense on Duluth, paid $15 and got a pretty decent haircut!

photo from Flick creative commons.

Post by Edmund Lam, Jan 19th

EdmundRaker

When we hire at Cloud, one of our criteria is that folks bring with them interests, passions and talents that go beyond fulfilling a given role at the agency.   We think that those qualities enrich each and everyone of us and the product we put out.  Edmund is a great example of that.  As we’ve mentioned before he is one half of the electric pop duo Hexes and Ohs, he creates wonderful illustrations and is an art director here (not to mention an all round great guy). We thought it would be fun to chat with him about a campaign he created this fall as an excuse for you to get to know him better.

We’ll be introducing you to team members in this fashion every month or so because, we think each and every person here is a rock star in their own way.  Edmund just happens to be one for real.

(PS: Thanks for fancy camera work Joe and for coordinating all this Aleks!)

Post by Christina Brown, Jan 8th

Que nous réserve 2010 ?

Les bulles de champagne à peine évaporées que l’on se demande déjà de quoi sera fait 2010. Les prévisions fusionnent:

  • Where Digital Marketing Is Heading in 2010 by Ad Age
  • Top Digital Trends For 2010 by digitalBuzz
  • Top Digital Trends for 2010 by Ad Week
  • Looking ahead to 2010 with Shiv Singh
  • Les points de vue divergent, personne n’aura raison car comme chaque année ce sont les usagers qui vont nous surprendre et faire naître de nouveaux usages, de nouvelles tendances. Tendances et usages qu’il sera de notre devoir de comprendre, écouter, analyser et intégrer à nos tactiques de marketing interactif afin d’être toujours le plus pertinent et efficace possible.

    Je me lance pour un aperçu des tendances auxquelles je crois pour 2010.

    Fonctionnalités et usages du web ?

  • Le déclin des engins de recherche (dont Google) : c’est un fait, Google prend du recul et est de moins en moins la porte d’entrée sur le web. Surtout pour les plus jeunes qui accèdent Internet via leurs réseaux sociaux. Google reste certainement incontournable pour des recherches précises mais Youtube est de plus en plus utilisé pour des recherches liées au divertissement par exemple (playlist pour les soirées, sorties de films etc…). Ainsi selon son état d’esprit et ses besoins l’usager entrera sur Internet par la porte la plus pertinente: Google pour le pratico-pratique, Youtube pour le divertissement, Facebook pour se connecter avec ses amis, Wikipedia pour valider une information etc. etc.
  • La fin du courriel ? Pas encore, mais certainement un usage de moins en moins important lorsque l’on voit des outils comme Facebook qui permettent d’éviter les contraintes de carnet d’adresses et de spam. De plus avec l’arrivée de Google Wave cette année on voit que le courriel évolue vers une forme de communication contextuelle qui permet une interaction en temps réel beaucoup plus grande.
  • Localisation et temps réel : deux notions que nous ne pourrons contourner pour l’année à venir, la pertinence des messages proposés devra être de plus en plus grande afin de respecter des budgets limités et axés sur le ROI. HappnIn, Crowdeye , Collecta. Les informations de localisation seront de plus en plus intégrées aux médias traditionnels (via le QR code par exemple). Les mashs-up seront en ce sens de plus en plus nombreux car ils permettent de combiner les informations produits/marque au lieu et à une communauté très facilement.
  • Alertes (mobiles de préférence !): les usagers ne veulent plus chercher ils veulent se simplifier la vie en se sortant de ces millions d’informations disponibles. Ils veulent pouvoir décider de ce qu’ils veulent recevoir ou non. Les alertes qui offrent pertinence, temps réel et sur mesure seront de plus en plus inévitables, elles permettent également une mesure rapide et précise de l’efficacité.
  • Stratégies de marque ?

  • On continue de se démarquer du média et on se recentre sur le message de marque, la connexion établie entre les consommateurs et l’expérience du produit. Les marques offriront des expériences intégrées en ligne / hors ligne. “Quit counting fans, followers and blog subscribers like bottle caps. Think, instead, about what you’re hoping to achieve with and through the community that actually cares about what you’re doing.” Amber Naslund, Social Media Today
  • L’écoute et la transparence continuent de progresser, notamment via l’internet. Des informations et une connaissance qui vont se répercuter de plus en plus dans les pratiques corporatives et notamment dans le produit lui-même (Baked In, CP&B).
  • On se recentre sur le consommateur et ses actions réelles, notamment avec une plus grande présence des placements médias comportementaux. L’analyse des données d’interaction entre le consommateur et les marques seront de plus en plus intégrées au processus de conception des campagnes. Nous verrons peut-être également des marques qui récompenseront les usagers en fonction des actions prises par ce dernier et qui démontreront son engagement par rapport à la marque. L’index de recommandation sera certainement de plus en plus pris en compte dans les tactiques.
    Les marques vont certainement continuer à se construire leurs propres médias, en devenant des “currators” plutôt que de passer par des médias externes, notamment par la création de contenus.
  • Comme nous l’ espérons tous, se sera enfin la fin des flashs mob et lip dubs commerciaux !
  • L’esprit, l’humeur des consommateurs ?

  • Une année définitivement orientée vers la joie, l’épicurisme, le jeu ( http://www.playfoursquare.com/). De la positivité et moins de préoccupations sur le long terme, au sortir de la crise financière la simplicité revient au premier plan avec des choix de consommation raisonnables et moins superficiels. Ce que cela signifie pour les marques ? Des concepts accès sur le divertissement, l’amusement, la détente.
  • Nous allons également voir grandir les notions de prendre son temps, de ralentir, de faire moins de choses mais en se concentrant sur la qualité, et c’est tant mieux ! Et dans ce sens, la tendance à se départir des dépendances aux réseaux sociaux pour se recréer du temps pour soi et les siens: suicidemachine.org, www.seppukoo.com.
  • Dans un monde idéal, je rêve d’un web dans lequel les barrières de langues seraient supprimées, pour 2015 peut-être ? Imaginez, l’ensemble du web serait navigable dans la langue de son choix peu importe la langue de création du contenu original.

    Le rêve, non ?

    Post by Isabelle Quevilly, Jan 7th

    It’s the future.

     

    2010 is upon us and we thought we’d help ring in the new year by looking at what lays ahead for the year in trends, technology and goodies and gadgets that we at Cloud are crushing on (read: want for our birthdays). Our top ten:

    10. Livescribe. While this computer in an ink pen has been on the market for a while now, we thing it’s glory days lie ahead. This pen can actually create interactivity using ink and a sheet of paper. Here’s the demo.

    9. QR Code: To say this code which can be read by mobile devices and contain any content you chose is a game-changer for retailers, advertisers, transit systems and beyond, is grossly understating things.

    8. La-di-da

    Last year Apple bought lala.com and we think that in 2010 we’ll see the-ahem-fruits of the purchase.  Streaming through iTunes.? We likie. 

    7. Square Space

    Somewhere between a custom built CMS and Wordpress lies Square Space a  website building tool for those without any website building know-how.  It’s the CMS equivalent of modular pre-fab homes.  Now we can all unleash our inner architect.

    6. OLED TV

    These TVs do not use a backlight, instead each pixel is lit.  ‘So what?’ you say…  Well, that means that when the data on the screen is dark so is the space around it.  Now imagine you are watching Evil Dead when that dude is being chased through the woods by the spirit (I actually have no idea what happened in the movie, my eyes were shut the whole time) and your den is as dark as night….

    5. 3D TV

    ‘member what I was saying about being chased in the forest by the mean spirit?

    4. Vroom, vroom.

    Electric cars are cool.  Really, really cool.

    3.  The pocket projector.

    Is that a projector in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?  Heh heh.

    2. Warm white LEDs

    Have you ever mistakenly referred to your living room as ‘aisle 9’?  Do you sit in your dining room and have flashbacks of your root canal?  Or do you live in not-so-secret shame and use the baddie bulbs in your home?  (I do.)  Well, for the de-saturated and delinquents among us, a proper warm white LED light bulb is finally here!  

    1. iTablet

    We, like the rest of world, are spazing out about the iTablet, even though nary a one of us can articulate what about makes it so special…is it a small computer sans-server or is it a giant iPhone?  We dunno, but we want it anyway.

    While we are thrilled with the way things are advancing around us, we do have a few gripes.  

    Below, the things that we think should totally exist by now, but don’t.

    1. The Jet Pack

    2. The Orgasmatron

    3. The Lightsaber

    4. Exoskeletons

    5. Hoverboards

    6. Conveyor belt alarm clock/showerer/dresser/breakfast maker.

    Post by Christina Brown, Jan 5th

    Happy New Year from all the Rakers

    Today marks our first day back at the office- and though some of us may be a bit sleepy, or still full from the copious amounts of holiday baked goods, we’re ready to get a jump start 2010. And not just by sticking to our New Years resolutions, but by promising everyone a fantastic year filled with a whole lot of, what we like to call, ‘a metric assload of awesome’.

    And the first delivery on that promise: the CloudKitchen online book. You’ve seen the timelapse video of the entire evening, we’ve posted the pictures on facebook along with the entire iTunes playlist, now it’s time to witness the results.

    Happy New Year and Rake On!

    Post by Aleksandra Wnuk, Jan 4th

    Aleks is so good with us.

    Our very kind office coordinator brought us some nice coffee and cookies, we didn’t even need to ask.

    And as I’m looking for excuses to use our camera, here’s a picture of it!

    IMG_0212

    Post by Stéphane Caron, Dec 18th

    Parteh

    This cloudkitchen event/talent show/cookbook/holiday card/fun fest/thing that we are all constantly talking about  (okay, I am constantly talking about) is the gift that just keeps on giving.  During the party, crafty Miss Davina our photographer/eater/karaoke-er/buddy for the evening placed a camera beneath the projection screen that took pictures every minute, all night long.  Most didn’t know it was there, but those who did, kind of forgot it was (apparently that happens to reality TV contestants too).  Here we all, in all our glory, rockin’ out.

    Post by Christina Brown, Dec 17th
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    About CloudRaker

    CloudRaker is a digital branding agency based in the creative wilds of Montreal. We believe that ideas are more powerful than noise.  But not just any old idea, ones that are unique and useful. Ideas grounded sky high.

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    • We love Joe! CloudRaker has been chosen to be the Social Media Agency for Joe Fresh Québec. The Rakers = very happy people. Feb 3rd

    • Lancôme's Gold Fascination page now live on Facebook! Click here to check it out. Feb 1st

    • CloudRaker also won bronze for enRoute at the DMA's! Nov 19th

    • CloudRaker won Gold at last night's Digital Marketing Awards! Nov 12th

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