Chromaroma - turning mundane journeys into a game

Chromaroma is a new immersive game that aims to make your real-life journeys around London more fun by using travel details logged by your Oyster card. It maps visualisations of your journeys around the city online in your account and encouraging competitive gameplay with others.

Brought to our attention by Lounge Trend Hunter Rachel, 23, the real fun lies in joining one of four online teams and accepting missions to earn points, such as visiting a new station. It's similar to becoming mayor of a venue on Foursquare, as when you check in a location enough times your team 'owns' it. Other teams can usurp your ownership by checking in more often.

Chromaroma feeds into the emerging digital trend of turning mundane aspects of daily life (in this case, the commute to work) into a game with digital platforms and 'real life' become increasingly blurred. Another example of this trend is the smart phone application Epic Win that turns your to-do list into a game - you reach new levels as you complete your real-life chores.

Timberland and the gift that keeps on giving

As Jack Frost was just about to start doing his rounds, The Lounge hit the streets to raise awareness of Timberland’s range of Earthkeepers footwear.

Our trusty Brand Ambassadors were deployed onto Oxford Street and Regent Street armed with Timberland jackets and shoes (which helped to avoid the bitter elements!) and were tasked to hand out Timberland's specially made ‘bags for life’. In line with the range of footwear, the bags were made from recycled products and were a gift from Timberland to the lucky Christmas shoppers.

After an amusing start to the day where the general public thought we were handing out free Timberland clothing whilst we were getting the staff their uniforms (“You can’t blame me for asking!” said one person), the bags literally flew out of our hands and by the end of Sunday we had made 64,000 people a little happier and a little greener.

- Anthony, Operations Manager

Nokia's ice touchscreen

Martin Homent, The Lounge Group's Creative Director comments:

Six years ago at a D&AD lecture, I was told that my entire world would fit in my pocket. My photos, videos, friends, diary, entertainment, music and games. And not just that. It would all be
on one device.

Six years on it seems to be something we take for granted. But at the time, this was the vision of Frank Nuovo, the Chief Designer at Nokia. He referred to it as the 'digital pocket'.

It's easy to forget just how pioneering Nokia are when the handheld market today is seemingly dominated by Apple and Blackberry. But it's this kind of thinking that has set Nokia apart from the competition and given them numerous 'firsts' in the world of technology. (I was lucky enough to see a museum full of them at their headquarters in Finland - a gadget geek's dream).

Can you handle 33 HOT girls?

Take a look at this fab Lynx Top Trumps game which launches on Facebook today.

The stunning Alex is but one of a selection of 33 hot Lynx Mynx’s who make up Lynx Top Trumps. Each girl is rated on a set of key pulling criteria – curves, kissability, brainpower, naughtiness, stamina and Lynx Factor.

The first 1,000 guys to prove they can handle a bevvy of Lynx Mynx's by ending up with all the cards in the palm of their hand, win a pack of Lynx Top Trumps so hurry up and play for your best chance to win!

Lynx Top Trumps enables guys to test the power of the new Lynx Eau De Toilette range, which gives a concentrated Lynx Effect, meaning guys might just get more girls than they can handle.

Visit the Lynx Facebook page . 'Happy Playing!'

Imagine... a boat like this as part of your campaign

This is fantastic - a 'capsized' yet fully functional half-boat, made to look like it's full-sized and sinking. Imaginative and playful, it certainly makes you look twice and could generate great publicity for a campaign.

Created by the French artist Julien Berthier.


Submitted by Lounge Trend Hunter Lily, 20, Venice.

Europe loves cycling, but what does this mean for brands?

Cycling may be particularly trendy at the moment but it's more than just a fashion. It's an integral part of many people's lives - an alternative to the gym or the train; a 'green' statement and a hobby. There are opportunities for brands to build loyalty by becoming the facilitator or innovator of this lifestyle passion.

Naturally Barclays cycle hire scheme is one obvious - and high budget - example. It demonstrates the bank's generosity and adds value to the activity itself: it frees cyclists from the worry of theft or the hassle of where to leave their bike.

Another concern for cyclists is arriving at work sweaty and bedraggled. Brands could encourage consumer love by taking inspiration from the Adidas Runbase in Tokyo. The 'Runbase' is a concept store where runners can shower for free, rent lockers and borrow Adidas running gear.

It's not difficult to imagine a branded 'Cycle base' in Britain. Not all offices have showers so this could be a generous way of a brand enabling more people to cycle to work.

BE A LEGEND ON CAMPUS WITH RED BULL

Do you go to every social event or do you make an appearance? Are you kitted out in style or do you set the trend? Are you always up for a good night out or do you make the party?

Have you got what it takes to be a part of the Red Bull Student Team?

We hope so because we have heard on the grapevine that our good friends at Red Bull are looking for the nation’s finest students to represent them and we reckon you might be able to help.

You’ll be the envy of all your mates and a legend on campus as you represent Red Bull at uni and become an integral part of their student activites.

The Lounge Group is recruiting 12 determined young live wires to work for Red Bull and represent them on campus as well as being part of the bigger picture, so if this sounds like you drop us an email at chooseme@theloungegroup.com to apply.

Be quick though as this as the deadline for applications is this Monday morning (29.11.10) at 9am.

This post is not related to the previous post 'We're recruiting'!

We're recruiting!

The Lounge are looking for people between the ages of 18-35 to be part of a European community for a famous global brand.


Do you have a passionate interest/or work in any of the following areas; music, photography, action sports and urban art?


We are looking to recruit fluent English speakers living in/originally from Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Norway and Sweden to be part of this project.

Brylcreem Boy Kevin Pietersen in blindfold cricket

A video of our favourite Brylcreem boy, Kevin Pietersen, went viral today. Basically it shows him batting blindfolded and he's still awesome!

At the end Kevin bats Brylcreem Paste. Easy to confuse the two though without being blindfolded - it comes in cricket ball-shaped packaging.

It was covered by The Metro too (23rd Nov 2010), Kevin Pietersen plays blindfold cricket in YouTube clip - and still hits sixes

We're currently working on the launch campaign of the new Brylcreem product, partnering with Bench stores. At participating Bench stores you receive a scratch card with purchase which gives you the chance to win one of the brand new Brylcreem Paste balls (as did Liam from One Direction last week!) or a money off voucher.

Squishies and Silly Bandz: tween playground crazes

Tweens from our Network have been telling us about Silly Bandz, a massive craze doing the rounds at schools. Apparently though, the next big thing in the UK is set to be Squishies.

First with Silly Bandz. They are brightly-coloured elastic bands that come in loads of different shapes, from hearts to dollar signs. You wear them around your wrist where they look like wiggly bands.