No longer will buying new wheels consist of a test drive around a concrete lot.
Our newest baby, the Chevrolet Cobalt site we developed for our friends at MacLaren MRM, lets you choose the Cobalt model that best fits your lifestyle. You can pick the car of your choice, design it to your liking, then test it out on a variety of daily activities. There is something for everyone: Yuppies can go to for a scenic drive through the park or a trip to the local market, City-lovers can try it out at the Club (sober obviously), the Introvert can hit up the gym, and the Social Butterfly can go to an amusement park with friends.
We are very proud of the subtle Flash animations that went into the site. Each of the activities is depicted with a colourful and well designed image. The sky changes according to the time of day while unique sounds accompany each location. My personal favourite feature is the tiny people who scurry in and out of the establishments with realistic purpose. Thanks to the design and leadership supplied by Craig and Jeremy of MacLaren MRM, this is an extremely visually appealing site. Additionally, we were able to pull off this technical accomplishment thanks to our talented programmer, Nicholas HIller.
Making the site user-friendly and realistic was our priority. One of the ways we accomplished this was by having smooth driving sequences between each frame. Figuring out the most effective techinal approach to do so cost us a few forehead wrinkles but was well worth it. Another temporary road block we came across (get it? heh.) was a way to create a colour swatch that would allow users to drive their car of preference through the activities. After all, when you arrive at the Club the colour of your Cobalt SS says a lot about you.
It is worth noting the strategy behind this site. Instead of targeting the stereotypical car consumer found in advertising, we leaned towards the consumer of ’09: one who is young in spirit, trend savvy and socially responsible. The personalization features allow for a unique user identity; one who might enjoy an exciting night on the town as much as a quiet walk in the park.
“Connection” is the latest buzzword being thrown around these days. Depending on what type of “expert” you’re listening to, this simply means some form of social media, pay-per-click, search, syndicated content and video.
People don’t go online looking for a brand’s message. They’re usually there to find a solution to a problem, be entertained or just hang out with their friends. People online care less about an ad and more about what their friends think!
Hallelujah! Brands are finally waking up to the realization that relevant, authentic content is something worth investing in. We’ve been talking to ourselves about this for years and I’m happy to report that we’re now getting traction with a lot of brands around this idea.
Don’t take my word for it! Check out P&G’s Ted McConnell’s comments on adage.
And if you really want to see the power of social media conquering brand messages that don’t resonate well, read this article about how an LA blogger and Twittering mom took down a Motrin ad in 48 hrs.
Look out for tons of new things from Indusblue in this last quarter of ‘08 and throughout ‘09. I won’t give away too many secrets, but let’s just say we’re working on something big!
My name is Ella (yes, like the Rihanna song) and I am the newest addition to the Indusblue team. I will be coordinating projects here by day and overtaking the reigning office foozeball champs by night.
I have a background in traditional Advertising, English literature and Business. I am interested in reading, writing, discussing politics, finding cool things online and inventing animals. Judging by the references to Robert Goulet and Flight of the Conchords echoing the office, I think I will fit in here just fine :)
We’re looking for a web application developer who will program mostly in PHP. If you want to be a part of a energetic, fun, busy team who is doing some interesting application development then we’d love to talk to you.
Technical skills:
• 3+ years experience
• primarily PHP and MySQL development
• Test Driven Development practices/Unit Testing would be a big plus
• Experience with MVC frameworks like CodeIgniter, Zend Library, Symfony/Cake
• good data modeling skills, and information architecture experience (particularly wireframe development)
• Subversion experience
• Good JavaScript knowledge, particularly using jQuery and YUI
• Experience with CMS technologies like MODx or ExpressionEngine would be very beneficial
Soft Skills
• Must have excellent problem solving skills and enjoy technical challenges
• Must be self-motivated, and able to multi-task.
• Must be able to take initiative to be productive and efficient.
• Must be able to function independently and still work well in a “team oriented” environment.
• Must be able to delegate work to a junior programmer and promote programming best-practices
Here is Indusblue’s reel of some banner advertisements we’ve done for various clients including Smirnoff, Mini, Toyota, Applebee’s, Canadian Tire, Cashmere, and the CFL. Enjoy!
