-L.A./SF/NY-based visual studio Ntropic has tapped former twofifteenmccann director of integrated production, Tom Wright, to serve as its managing director, North America.

-San Francisco-born/now New York-based Shmaltz Brewing Company, which produces craft beers including Coney Island Craft Lagers and He’Brew, has formed its first formal agency relationship–minus a review–with fellow Big Apple operation, Launchpad. Among other things, the latter will handle package design, a new site and other online initiatives for the brand.

-MEC has appointed Jude Ryan as senior partner, lead statistical methods in its North American Analytics & Insights practice.

-CannesAlso, which explores what creatives do outside of their day jobs (and has been a fave topic on this here site) returns for its third year. link

-According to Wired, Apple is now getting “spanked” by Samsung. link

-Vogue goes behind the scenes of Beyonce‘s new H&M commercial, which as stated by others, is essentially just one long music video. link

-Online discount luxury fashion retailer The Outnet has appointed We Are Social as its global social media AOR.

Tapping into kids’ insight is no new tactic, but who can fault an agency for once again asking wide-eyed young “visionaries” to inspire the future? Kids are so charmingly stuttering, so clearly genuine, that they bring a persuasive power to any cause. San Francisco’s twofifteenmccann’s latest work for Microsoft Advertising is no exception.

The agency debuted this film at Cannes last week. Backed by uplifting piano notes, a handful of children talk about their visions for technological innovation, including smart refrigerators (“…Pizza! It’d be like, ‘whooosh!’”) and virtual dressing rooms (for ninja outfits in particular). As each child recounts their vision, an animated prototype of the technology floats next to them.

As hopeful as this ad is, there inevitably comes a point when kids stop thinking quite so big, and instead adopt trademark adult cynicism. Let’s hope Microsoft Advertising really can activate child-like wonder and imagination as they do their work. Many of these kids’ ideas are already on their way—what will they (adults and children) think of next?

Credits after the jump.

Read more

Will 2011 be remembered as the “Year of the Great Video Game Spot?” When it debuted last month, it really didn’t look like Deutsch LA’s “Michael” ad for PlayStation 3 would have any challengers for the most memorable spot of the year. That is, of course, until XBOX and agency twofifteenmccann released the above jaw-dropping commercial, “The Kinect Effect.”

As the VO says, XBOX thought turning voice and movement into “magic” via Kinect technology “would be fun. And it was.” Hey, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to play one of XBOX’s sports titles for Kinect, there’s little argument you can make against this statement. But, then we see the same technology used for spiking a virtual volleyball in your opponents’ face used for education, surgery, and disposing of hazardous waste. Add to that a great orchestral cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” (probably best known to many as the song that plays during the end of Fight Club), and at the end of the spots’ 77-second run time, all a viewer can muster in response is an awestruck is, to quote lauded thespian Joey Lawrence, “Whoa.”

XBOX portrays Kinect as an idea that can affect a target demo who isn’t clamoring for the next Halo installment. It’s quite a bold statement, and one that we don’t see competitors Sony and Nintendo making with their own gaming platforms. Calling it “visionary” is an understatement, as in “The Kinect Effect,” we see video games change the world. Credits after the jump.

Read more

Fable III is officially here for Xbox 360 (like you haven’t been waiting) and here’s agencytwofifteen’s new campaign for the brand, dubbed “It’s a Revolution”, which is sure to get players highly enticed to go out and purchase the third edition in the franchise.

This spot, created by the aforementioned San Fran-based shop along with VFX gurus Psyop, is set in the fictional Albion, uses real game assets and is depicted through a series of richly detailed, cinematic, slo-mo moments, telling the story of the fall of a tyrant and the rise of a new leader.

The visuals are stunning and are sure to entrance and entertain the target audience for 60 seconds of their lives. For others, not so much. If you’re within the TA, then you’re goods-if not you’ll probably shrug with indifference. Sometimes your just stuck with a double edged sword. View credits after the jump.

More: “Halo: Reach vs. Halo 3: Does It Measure Up?”

Read more