Burberry’s #Thanks A Million GIF

To celebrate the accumulation of more than 1 million Twitter followers, British fashion house Burberry sent out animated thank-you cards, personalized with followers’ names.

Up to 3,000 followers received a virtual note card, emblazoned with their Twitter handles, in return for sending a tweet of congratulations or a tweet with the hashtag #thanksamillion, which the company paid Twitter to promote for the day. The notecards are written in the style of Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey’s hand, and rest against a windowpane covered in slowly cascading raindrops – which are never-ending, thanks to being skillfully “looped” in an animated GIF.

The cards may be a relatively small thing, but Burberry followers seem to be enjoying them, if the initial response count is anything to go by. The cards also amplify two aesthetic themes: one, the handwritten note from Bailey, which the company frequently distributes in the form of invitations and thank yous across its social profiles; and, two, the animated GIF, which Burberry employed during its February catwalk show to showcase its Autumn/Winter 2012 collection.

We love the Burberry brand, and their willingness to embrace GIF marketing! Clearly, their vision is set on the myriad of ways in which this dynamic new short form of communication can be used to enhance marketing and communications.

Drop us a line and tell us how you plan to use a Cinegif in your next marketing campaign – we’re sure it’s just as “noteworthy”!

Hot Fun in the Summertime….

Well, it happened again – we lurched from that indeterminate few weeks that pass for Spring in this part of the world right into full-blown, Ohmigod-it’s-HOT-turn-down-the-thermostat Summertime temperatures. As often happens here, the transition was achieved with all the subtlety and finesse of someone throwing a brick through a plate glass window. Yep, this week we managed to set an all-time “highest temperature ever recorded in June” mark with a dainty little reading of 109 degrees Farenheit. That’s actual ambient temperature, folks, NOT heat index.

This is NOT the type of liquid escape we’re discussing…at least not yet!

Luckily for us, Austin abounds with venues which allow the sweltering citizenry to escape into one form of water or another (and no, I’m not counting branch water, seltzer, or any other version of H2O applied orally in combination with ethanol by-products as an escape venue – at least not for the purposes of this particular blog. We can discuss internally applied liquid escapism in much greater detail at a later date…).

Paddling in the reflections of downtown Austin

Contrary to some widely held misconceptions about Texas, this place is literally crawling with rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and pools.  We even have a few captive waterfalls, which can be found spilling dramatically off high points in the surrounding Hill Country, to splatter noisily and festively into waiting pools of varying degrees of accessibility (and therefore popularity!) Why, right here in the middle of Austin we have Lady Bird Lake and Barton Springs – both of which offer significant reduction in body temperatures to those who swim, paddle, float or dive. It’s all about making the most of your environment – and I’ve got the feeling that this Summer, we’re going to spend a lot of time in the water.

The Cinegifs I’ve used to illustrate this blog are both 600 pixels wide, but their file sizes are small enough to make them very portable – perfect to use in email, on websites, in newsletters – you could even get really crazy and put them in a blog!  Find out more about using the new generation of animated GIFs to add impact to your marketing and communications efforts – go to cinegif.com and discover the power of Quality Video Anywhere.