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The team here at Friday are delighted and excited to be shortlisted for Best Small Agency at the 2022 DMA Awards. We are up against entries from other agencies with teams of 15 or less.
<a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/friday-wins-gold-for-best-small-agency-at-the-2020-dma-awards/"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignright wp-image-10722 size-medium" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-250x188.jpeg" alt="" width="250" height="188" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-250x188.jpeg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-700x525.jpeg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-120x90.jpeg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-80x60.jpeg 80w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908.jpeg 900w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /></a>Friday won the <a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/friday-wins-gold-for-best-small-agency-at-the-2020-dma-awards/">same award in 2020</a> so we are hoping to reclaim the crown for 2022.
This is a great testament to the talent and hard work by our team well as our clients who collaborate closely and put their trust in our people and process.
The event takes place on Friday, 11th November, 2022 at the Convention Centre at The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Dublin. 
We’ll be dusting off the ball gowns and monkey suits for the night. Fingers crossed!
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Friday shortlisted for Best Agency at the 2022 DMA Awards

<h3>Help us to connect the Goodwill of the people of Ireland with those who need help and support!</h3>
We need your help to spread the word about a website that we&#8217;ve built to aid the COVID-19 response.
<a href="https://www.goodwill.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Goodwill.ie</a> is a website where people and businesses can list their offers of help for emergency workers, the elderly or vulnerable.
<h4>Lend a helping hand</h4>
Whether you&#8217;re someone willing to help a neighbour with their shopping, or a business looking to lend a helping hand to your community or front line workers &#8211; there&#8217;s a place for you here!
Now is your chance to help those in need or find someone to help you!
We&#8217;ve had quite a response from those who have become aware of the initiative and the site has gained a substantial number of offers of help &#8211; but we need more!
<h4>Promote or share</h4>
We&#8217;d appreciate if you could promote or share this so that you too could help get the aid to those that need it. Every little helps in these times.
We&#8217;re also looking for any media outlets who would be willing to give some free advertising space or sponsorship for this initiative &#8211; we&#8217;re sure you&#8217;ll agree it&#8217;s a good one!
Visit <a href="https://www.goodwill.ie/">Goodwill.ie</a>. Get help or give help today.

Help us to spread the Goodwill

We are delighted to announce that Friday has won gold for the Best Small Agency (15 or fewer employees) at the 2020 DMA Awards. This is a great testament to all the hard work from our marketing, design and development teams here at the agency as well as the close collaboration with our amazing clients who put their trust in us. We are truly proud of everyone involved.
The 2020 DMAs took place at Dublin’s Clarion Hotel on February 21st where the agency also won bronze in the best website category for their work on the <a href="https://www.urbana.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Urbana website</a>.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-10722 size-large" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-700x525.jpeg" alt="" width="700" height="525" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-700x525.jpeg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-250x188.jpeg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-120x90.jpeg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908-80x60.jpeg 80w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_7908.jpeg 900w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
2019 was a great year for the Friday Agency, winning awards for UX and e-commerce as well as the <a href="https://www.friday.ie/blog/friday-wins-the-much-coveted-best-website-award-at-the-spiders/">best website at the Spiders</a> for our work with <a href="https://www.friday.ie/work/rkd/">RKD Architects</a>. 
Well done to everyone involved, well deserved, we are looking forward to more gongs when awards season starts up again towards the end of the year.

Friday wins Gold for Best Agency at the 2020 DMA Awards

Have you ever longed to share a romantic cocktail with Leo Varadkar or Mary Lou? Let’s face it, we all have. Well now’s your chance to turn these fantasies into reality.
Re-introducing <a href="https://www.tder.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TDer</a> – the website that lets you get up close and personal with the gorgeous men and women of Dail Eireann. Created in 2016 and improved and updated for 2020. 
With all the serious talk about policies and coalition, we wanted to put out a piece on the election and have a bit of a laugh at the same time by marrying it with online dating. Jokes aside, please do exercise your vote on Saturday the 8th.<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-10680 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1443" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-250x176.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-700x493.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-768x541.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-1536x1082.jpg 1536w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-120x85.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/tder2-80x56.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" />

Introducing TDer for #GE2020

2019 was a great year for Friday on the awards front, we received multiple trophies for our UX and e-commerce projects as well as winning the much-coveted Best Website Award at the Spiders for the <a href="https://friday.ie/work/rkd-2/">RKD Architects website</a>. 
2020 has kicked off with a bang and <a href="https://digitalmedia.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">4 DMA Award nominations</a>.
<h3>Best Website</h3>
We have a total of 3 nominations in the best website category all competing against each other. This category recognises websites that enhance user experience and those that consumers think are the most useful. 
The first of our nominations is the new <a href="https://friday.ie/work/dublinzoo/">Dublin Zoo</a> website which we launched late last year and has already been a huge success in terms of performance, conversions and engagement. <a href="https://www.urbana.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Urbana</a> is the second in the category, this website won 2 awards last year at the UX and eCommerce awards. Finally, winner of the 2019 Best Website Spider Award &#8211; <a href="http://www.rkd.ie">RKD Architects</a> has been recognised again.
<h3>Best Small Agency</h3>
Friday Agency has also been nominated in the best small agency category. We are up against entries from other agencies that employ 15 or fewer employees.
This is a great testament to the talent and hard work by our team well as our clients who collaborate closely and put their trust in our people and process.
The event takes place on Friday, 21st February in the Clayton Hotel. We’ll be dusting off the ball gowns and monkey suits. Fingers crossed!

Friday with 4 nominations in this years DMA Awards, including Best Agency

Our award-winning team here at Friday are proud to announce that we have won the much-coveted ‘Best Website’ Award at the annual Spider Awards. The award went to our work for the <a href="https://friday.ie/work/rkd-2/">RKD Architects</a> website that launched earlier this year.
This year marks the 24th anniversary of the prestigious Spider Awards. As the longest-running digital awards programme in Ireland, dedicated to recognising companies and individuals driving digital excellence in every aspect of their ethos.
RKD is one of Ireland’s largest and leading architectural firms. They employ design as a strategic tool, creating impeccably versatile spaces that work hard to meet the needs of the people who use them.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-10344 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="522" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193.jpg 900w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-250x145.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-768x445.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-700x406.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-120x70.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/spidersFriday-e1574771593193-80x46.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" />
Our website brief was to represent the new RKD brand digitally by bringing the user into a new experience of simplicity through visual communication. Our aim was to tell RKD’s story by showing the incredible work that they do and the talented people who do it.
There is no need to choose between creating an informative or aesthetically pleasing design—both can be achieved simultaneously. Key to this is keeping rich content concise as well as visual. 
<blockquote>“Friday’s research-driven approach and their ability to creatively and constructively challenge helped us to identify assumptions early on and to maintain our focus on the user experience.”
Barra Heavey, Director of Marketing, RKD Architects.</blockquote>

Friday wins much coveted Best Website Award at the Spiders

In April this year Friday turned 5 and to celebrate, the whole team travelled out to Sandyford and had a blast shooting a couple of hundred zombies at <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://zerolatencyvr.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://zerolatencyvr.ie/">Zero Latency</a>.
Now the reality is of course that we didn’t shoot anything, but it certainly felt like we did. In reality, we were all running around a large empty room with headsets on looking fairly ridiculous, but in Virtual Reality we were all 100% engrossed in an abandoned factory, being attacked by zombies.
That got us all chatting about VR / AR in general and whether there was any practical application on the web or in advertising that we could apply it to right now.
With the recent release of the Aero App by Adobe, the AR banter intensified.
&#8220;What is it? Can we use it right now? Is there anything cool we can try it out with?&#8221;
A few of us in the studio got together and tried to figure out some of the most important questions in (AR) life.
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<h2 class="graf graf--h3">What is AR?</h2>
For those completely new to the term, AR stands for Augmented Reality. In simple terms, Augmented Reality is when a computer-generated image is super-imposed as a layer on a user’s real world view, in live 3D space, via the camera on a mobile device.
<div id="attachment_10327" style="width: 1030px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10327" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-10327 size-full" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pokemon-go-ar.png" alt="" width="1020" height="576" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pokemon-go-ar.png 1020w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pokemon-go-ar-250x141.png 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pokemon-go-ar-768x434.png 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pokemon-go-ar-700x395.png 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pokemon-go-ar-120x68.png 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pokemon-go-ar-80x45.png 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px" />Pokémon Go - arguably the most talked-about AR application in recent years.</div>
In comparison, Virtual Reality (VR) is where the user is completely immersed in a computer-simulated environment, and there is no link between what the user sees and the real world — usually through the use of a headset.
<div id="attachment_10330" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10330" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-10330 size-large" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/vr-example-700x394.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="394" srcset="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/vr-example-700x394.jpg 700w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/vr-example-250x141.jpg 250w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/vr-example-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/vr-example-120x68.jpg 120w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/vr-example-80x45.jpg 80w, https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/vr-example.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />The VR experience at Zero Latency, Dublin.</div>
So VR is feeling like you are immersed in a room full of zombies where you might actually be in an empty room. AR is Using your headset or mobile device to superimpose a zombie into your live environment — e.g. a zombie on your desk at work.
<div style="width: 986px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-10325-1" width="986" height="456" poster="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/desk-zombie-poster.png" loop="1" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/zombie-on-desk.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/zombie-on-desk.mp4">https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/zombie-on-desk.mp4</a></video></div>
Virtual Reality is a more intensive experience, requiring hardware (a headset) and depending on the experience, space and safety concerns come into play.
AR is physically much more accessible in that it doesn’t need a headset to work (although headsets can be used for a more immersive experience). Most modern mobile devices have some sort of AR support built-in, and it looks like it won’t be too far in the future before AR becomes mainstream and accessible to all.
It has huge potential in terms of informational/educational/directional information, and of course advertising. There’s been a big surge in investment and interest in AR technologies in recent years.
Google has completely abandoned it’s VR offering, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://arvr.google.com/daydream/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://arvr.google.com/daydream/">Daydream</a>, in favour of AR. With Daydream, they had hoped to bring VR to the mainstream via a smartphone-powered affordable headset. However, due to low consumer and developer interest, they have <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-discontinues-daydream-virtual-reality-view-headset-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-discontinues-daydream-virtual-reality-view-headset-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">abandoned the project</a> in favour of focusing on developing a Google powered AR platform.
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<h2 class="graf graf--h3">Can we use it right now?</h2>
It’s relatively easy to explain what AR is, but much more difficult to explain what we can do with current AR platforms in 2019. As it stands, the 3 main players in the ring (for developers) with regards to web AR right now are ARCore, ARKit, and AR.js.
Google’s ARCore
As noted already, Google is working on its own AR offering. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://lens.google.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://lens.google.com/">Google Lens</a> uses the principles of AR for translation and search features. Google Chrome now has the capacity to allow a user to place 3D objects from Chrome search results <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://arvr.google.com/ar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://arvr.google.com/ar/">directly into their environment using AR</a>. AR features are built directly into the Pixel camera and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/7/18535715/google-ar-maps-walking-directions-pixel-phones-augmented-reality-io-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/7/18535715/google-ar-maps-walking-directions-pixel-phones-augmented-reality-io-2019">Google Maps</a>. Google’s AR offering is called <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://developers.google.com/ar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://developers.google.com/ar">ARCore</a>, and availability for use on the web is currently limited to Android devices running ARCore 1.9 or later.
Apple’s ARKit
Apple has also been investing heavily in its equivalent offering <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/">ARKit</a>. While SR experience is easily embedded on the web using ARKit, it’s currently limited to iOS devices. Adobe has been developing apps with ARkit in mind, namely Dimension and Aero, and these are focused more on the creative applications of AR rather than the practical implementations that Google has already adopted.
Adobes Aero app is free to all and allows users to use a simple UI to place 3D assets, either from a predefined set of stock assets, or to upload custom ones via a Creative Cloud account — add simple interactivity and share with friends.
Ar.js
So ArCore is currently limited to Android. ARKit is currently limited to iOS. is there any way to use AR on the web across Android and iOS? Enter AR.js.
AR.js is an open-source javascript library that allows you to integrate AR into any web page and will be supported by Android and iOS. The downside? Yup, there is one. AR/js can only trigger an AR experience using a marker or a specific location. Whereas ARKit and ARCore can respond to any environment, AR.js needs a specific location or image to trigger the AR environment.
Depending on your needs, this may not be a drawback at all, however, and there are plenty of applications where you might need/want to trigger AR from a specific image or Location co-ordinates. Imagine someone scanning an ad with their phone for example via a dedicated webpage, triggering an AR experience that shows the product in question in 3D space.
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<h2 class="graf graf--h3">But I want AR and I want it now!</h2>
No worries! Companies like <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.8thwall.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://www.8thwall.com/">8th Wall</a> and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://seekxr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-href="https://seekxr.com/">Seek</a> are offering cross-platform AR integration for the web right now, but for a steep price tag. And that price tag just covers the ability to display AR on your site. The 3d assets you’ll require to make the experience worthwhile will likely cost a lot more.
Say you want all of the products in your shop to be viewable in AR, in the same way, that Ikea does for example — well you’re going to need good quality 3D renders of every product in your shop first — but hey, maybe cross-platform AR on the web will be much more easily achieved by the time you’re done with that.
Right now, AR is a nifty feature to play around with, but the resources and budget it would require to implement in a practical sense put it outside the reach of most SME’s.
However the potential with AR is limitless and we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on developments within the industry, ready to pounce once it becomes stable and viable for all.
Thanks for reading. Watch this space.
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The state of AR on the Web in 2019

It&#8217;s a Happy Thursday here at Friday Agency. We just got the news that we&#8217;ve been shortlisted for 3 awards at this year&#8217;s <a href="http://eirspiders.ie/">eir Spiders</a>.
We have work nominated for Best eRetail, the new category Best User Experience and we are also in the mix for Best Agency.
Running 21 years now, the Spiders are Ireland&#8217;s longest-standing and most prestigious internet awards, celebrating the very best in creativity and innovation. There is some top work from some of the best creative teams in Ireland.
This year&#8217;s awards will be MC&#8217;d by Panti Bliss and are held again at The Doubletree Hilton on Wednesday, November 30th.
<h3>Awards:</h3>
Best User Experience &#8211; <a href="http://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie">St Patrick&#8217;s Cathedral</a>
St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a place of huge historical significance and worship and one of Ireland&#8217;s most popular tourist attractions. Friday worked closely with the cathedral team to research, plan, design and deliver a truly special website for this iconic Irish building.
Launched in early 2016, the new website has been a huge success and won Best Website <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/friday-score-hat-trick-2016-iia-net-visionary-awards/">last month</a> at the IIA New Visionary Awards in Dublin.
Best eRetail &#8211; <a href="http://iclothing.com">iClothing.com</a>
Friday delivered a fresh and modern new user experience for Ireland&#8217;s largest online fashion retailer, iClothing.com.
Having first created a sharp new brand identity for iClothing.com, the Friday UX team worked through detailed planning, wireframes and bespoke UX design for the website.
The core goals were to showcase their products and redesign the user experience to grow engagement, conversion and online sales.
The website was also recently a winner of the 2016 IIA Net Visionary Award for Best Ecommerce Execution.
<h4>Best Agency</h4>
We are thrilled to be announced for Best Agency (10 people) at this year&#8217;s awards. There is some stiff competition in the shortlist and again we feel proud to be in the mix.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-2402 aligncenter" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/eir-spider-awards.jpg" alt="eir spider awards" width="321" height="291" />

Friday shortlisted for 3 Awards at eir Spiders

As they say in Hollywood “its awards season” and we are delighted to announce what we hope are the first of many nominations for our work in the best Irish and International award shows.
<h3>IIA Dot IE Net Visionary Awards</h3>
3 of our projects have been shortlisted in this year’s IIA Dot IE Net Visionary Awards and we need your help as 2 out of the 3 categories partly take into account the public vote on top of the judging panel.
<h4>Best Website – Most joyous to look at and splendid to use</h4>
<a href="http://stpatrickscathedral.ie">stpatrickscathedral.ie</a>
This visually stunning website was designed for St.Patricks Cathedral in Dublin with careful, thorough planning and UX design along with great content and photography. The multilingual website features event calendars, rich content and online ticketing.
<h4>Best Social Media Campaign</h4>
<a href="http://tder.ie">TDer.ie</a>
We are very proud of everyone here at Friday for coming up with the concept and developing this campaign of Tinder for TD’s within a week around election time earlier this year. It was all a bit of fun and shameless self promotion, a win win for everyone.
<h4>Best eCommerce Execution by a Retailer</h4>
<a href="http://iclothing.com">iClothing.com</a>
We worked closely with Abbas in <a href="http://iclothing.com">iClothing.com</a> to create a new interface and UX where users could really get immersed in the products.
<h3>Awwwards.com</h3>
Our own web site <a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a> has been shortlisted for the high profile Site of the Day on <a href="http://www.awwwards.com/">awwwards.com</a>. Our site is currently being voted on by the judges. Awwwards aims to recognise and promote the best of innovative web design and showcases some of the best web and UX design in the world and is a place of inspiration for designers across the world.
Fingers, arms and toes crossed, getting a Site of the Day nod would be huge for us on a international level. Here is our public score so far, the public only counts for 12% of the overall vote with the judges: <a href="http://www.awwwards.com/sites/the-friday-agency">http://www.awwwards.com/sites/the-friday-agency</a>
<h3>The Irish Web Awards</h3>
We have 4 projects shortlisted in this years Irish Web Awards. Our own web site friday.ie is in the Most Beautiful Site category and is up against <a href="https://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie">St.Patricks Cathedral</a>, pity both can&#8217;t win! Our 3D Halloween promotional website <a href="https://friday.ie/3d/">The 7 Deadly sins of Digital Marketing</a> is up for Best Microsite and <a href="https://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie">St.Patricks Cathedral</a> is also up for Best Arts &amp; Culture.

Friday shortlisted for Awards

Friday Agency are proud to announce that we&#8217;re now a certified <a href="https://www.google.com/partners/?hl=en-US#a_profile;idtf=8905841539;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Partner.</a>
What does this mean and why should I care? A Certified Partner is an agency that has met Google&#8217;s requirements to be considered “trusted online experts”.
We went through Google&#8217;s rigorous qualifying process, involving employee exams and best practice quality measures. The idea behind the Google Partnership program is to build a network of trusted companies that possess exceptional expertise with Google products and services.
Friday is certified in a number of areas: Google AdWords, Google Analytics and Video Advertising which represent the core of Google&#8217;s offering.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1746 size-full aligncenter" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GoogleCertification.gif" alt="GoogleCertification" width="528" height="107" />
<pre class="graf--p"></pre>
We are also certified in a range of rich media display and digital advertising disciplines that include features like video, animation, audio, and technology that encourages content interaction, data capture and engagement.
Specifically we have certifications in DoubleClick Studio, HTML5, QA, Dynamic Creative, YouTube Masthead and Google Web Design.
The benefit of the QA certification means that we are trusted to carry out our own QA within DoubleClick thus speeding up the publishing process.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-1700 aligncenter" style="clear: both; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Screen-Shot-2016-01-25-at-12.18.59.png" alt="DoubleClick certified agency in Dublin" width="507" height="90" />
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<h3 class="graf--h3">Why be a Google Partner?</h3>
So we have all these badges, how does this affect our clients? Well it demonstrates our expertise in using Google&#8217;s products such as AdWords, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and DoubleClick.
These products are essential tools for successful digital marketing campaigns and having this expertise provides peace of mind to clients. Specifically you know that the agency is:
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<li class="graf--li">Book Smart — Passing the exams requires in depth knowledge of the latest industry best practices as well as keeping on top of the latest technology and services available. You can trust that the agency knows exactly what tools and strategies are right for each project.</li>
<li class="graf--li">Street Smart — Google examines the past performance of an agencies account before granting partner status. This means that a partner has a proven track record of running successful campaigns for their clients.</li>
<li class="graf--li">Google Access — Agency’s maintain a direct relationship with Google and have access to the latest training and product update info. This means that the agency can provide clients with industry specific data that is ahead of the curve.</li>
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If you would like to discuss how an AdWords or Rich Media campaign (or anything else!) could help your business please <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://friday.ie/contact/" data-href="https://www.api.friday.ie/contact/">get in touch.</a>

Friday is a Certified Google Partner

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<h4 class="graf--h3">Black Friday 2015 is upon us and the annual post Thanksgiving retail charge is set to stay across the water.</h4>
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So what does Black Friday look like this year and how are retailers reacting to consumer trends?
<h3 class="graf--p">Trends</h3>
Traditionally a one day in-store event, Black Friday has quickly evolved into an online festival. Irish consumers are set to drop up to €100 million today and Irish retailers are expecting a big Christmas this year in terms of sales.
Interestingly 1 in 3 of us plans to buy online on Cyber Monday. This shift to online activity is also reflected in advertising spend. Earlier this year <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://iabireland.ie/digital-adspend-grows-by-34-in-2014/" data-href="http://iabireland.ie/digital-adspend-grows-by-34-in-2014/">IAB</a> released some figures showing that digital ad spending had increased by 34% over last year and that mobile had jumped 134%.
This is only set to increase and you may have noticed some Black Friday display ads following you around the internet.
Our neighbours in the UK are seeing even more startling numbers. Experian are predicting that the UK will see their first ever £1 billion shopping day. Amazingly E-commerce spend could double over last year with mobile transactions increasing by 12% (which now amounts to 1 in 3 transactions).
RetailMeNot conducted some research into online retailers tactics for this year. More than half of retailers are scrapping time-bound deals this year to discourage the “lurkers” who are refreshing pages to anticipate certain deals.
84% of retailers have dedicated Black Friday pages and 9 out of 10 are promoting click and collect services as well extending delivery day ranges to ease pressure on delivery companies (you can imagine a busy week ahead for them).
<h3 class="graf--p">Taking Part</h3>
So who is taking part this year? Many of the big retailers such as Argos, Arnotts, Debenhams, DID and Harvey Norman are heavily promoting their Black Friday deals many having discounts of over 30%.
Big brands are also recognising the fact that we like to buy online and are running simultaneous promotions on their online stores.
SME’s, however, are slightly behind the curve on this, only 35% of Irish SME’s can process payments online and only 1 in 6 use digital advertising (nearly half don’t advertise at all).
<h3 class="graf--p">Our Clients</h3>
Our clients are certainly getting into the spirit of Black Friday. Here’s a quick look at what some of them are up to.
<a href="http://www.dublintown.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dublin Town</a>: the guys over in Dublin Town have got you sorted if you happen to go a bit mad with the credit card today. They are running a “Shop &amp; Drop” service on Grafton Street and Henry Street where <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.dublinatchristmas.ie/whats-on-events/shop-drop-grafon-street" data-href="http://www.dublinatchristmas.ie/whats-on-events/shop-drop-grafon-street">Dublin city centre shoppers</a> can avail of free bag minding. This is running through the weekend in case you&#8217;re not in town today.
They have also put together this handy infographic to help you plan your attack:
<a href="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/black-friday.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-1521 aligncenter" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/black-friday.png" alt="black-friday" width="340" height="1199" /></a>
<a href="http://www.carlscarpa.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Carl Scarpa</a>: Clients like Carl Scarpa are taking a slightly different approach by merging Black Friday and Cyber Monday into a weekend long promotion as opposed to the smash and grab affair of many traditional retailers, particularly electronic goods. They are offering 20% off all their <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.carlscarpa.com/" data-href="http://www.carlscarpa.com/">women’s shoe lines</a> on their online store.
<a href="http://www.marathonsportstravel.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marathon Travel</a>: Travel is not one you would usually associate with Black Friday but the sports travel specialists have a range of sporting trips on offer for the weekend at <a href="http://www.marathonsportstravel.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.marathonsportstravel.ie</a>.
<h3 class="graf--p">Black Friday Tips</h3>
It’s easy to get carried away on Black Friday (and Cyber Monday). Everyone loves a bargain &#8211; a steam pressure cooker at half-price looks a great deal even though you will only actually use it once. So here are a couple of tips and questions to ask yourself to avoid the traps:
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<li class="graf--li">Is it really half price? — don’t be fooled by these amazing half price (or more) offers, check out the original price and compare it. Is it realistic? Some retailers buy in “expensive’ stock and slash the price just for Black Friday.</li>
<li class="graf--li">Do I need it? Be honest, you don’t need a second tablet.</li>
<li class="graf--li">Let the internet do the work — don’t spend hours searching for deals when you have the internet to do it for you. Sites like <a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" href="http://www.techradar.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Techradar</a> are very good for snooping out the best deals from the depths of the internet and Boards.ie&#8217;s <a href="http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=346" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bargain Alerts</a> forum is good for Irish deals.</li>
<li class="graf--li">Use Google alerts — if you have something very specific you are looking for you can set up a Google alert which will notify you of any new web page related to the keywords you specify.</li>
<li class="graf--li">Email — set up an account and subscribe to your favourite brands or retailers mailing lists. Email is a preferred channel for companies to share their discount codes and offers, plus you’ll be the first to know.</li>
<li class="graf--li">Social: Twitter trends and hashtags can give you info on what is happening right now (good and bad).</li>
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Finally, check out this video for some Black Friday chaos.
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I hope you found this post interesting. For more digital marketing insights sign up to our Newsletter in the footer.
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Black Friday Tips & Trends

A year has already passed since our <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/friday-agency-wins-2014-web-award-best-sme/">big win</a> at the 2014 Web Awards. This year we are up for a record 12 nominations in the final round of the <a href="http://webawards.ie/2015-finalists/">2015 Web Design Awards</a>.
The awards ceremony will take place on October 15th in Dublin&#8217;s RDS. Check out the Web Awards nominations below and see who we are up against <a href="http://webawards.ie/2015-finalists/">here.</a>
Best Web Only Publication 
<a href="http://dublintown.ie/">dublintown.ie</a>
Best Website of a Startup 
<a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a>
Best Microsite 
<a href="http://dff.ie/">dff.ie</a>
Best eCommerce Medium 
<a href="http://irishlandmark.com/">irishlandmark.com 
</a><a href="http://javarepublic.com/">javarepublic.com</a>
Best SME (Medium) 
<a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie 
</a><a href="http://marathonsportstravel.ie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marathonsportstravel.ie</a>
Best SME (Large) 
<a style="line-height: 1.5;" href="http://nesta.ie/">nesta.ie 
</a><a href="http://pallasfoods.com/">pallasfoods.com</a>
Most Beautiful Website in Ireland 
<a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a>
Most Innovative Website 
<a href="http://dublintown.ie/">dublintown.ie</a>
Agency of the year 
<a href="https://friday.ie/">friday.ie</a>

Friday Agency Bags 12 Web Award Nominations

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<div class="video-container">Merry Christmas from all of us at <a href="http://vimeo.com/fridayagency">The Friday Agency</a>. And best wishes for 2015.</div>
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<div class="video-container">We&#8217;ve put together a little video with some of the highlights of our first year at the agency. We hope you like it.</div>
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<div class="video-container">You can also check out our festive greeting and other videos on our page at <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</div>

Merry Christmas from the Friday Agency!

Welcome to our round-up of top digital marketing trends for 2015. As ever there are many digital channels to consider but we&#8217;re going to take a quick look at the top trends we think will matter most over the next 12 months.
We’re not just looking at trends, we look at things marketers are doing more of and that you can take advantage of and use right now. Let’s start with Mobile.
<h3>Mobile </h3>
Looking at this year’s growth in smartphone penetration and mobile traffic, having a Mobile Marketing strategy is in fact now compulsory. If your digital marketing is not optimised for mobile you are losing. In the Republic of Ireland, Comreg reports that for the 2nd quarter of 2014 smartphone use rose to 59%, a 14.7% increase in the previous period. Source: <a title="ComReg Market Report" href="http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComRegPR11092014.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ComReg Market Report September 2014 (PDF)</a>.
Google has put a new focus on website mobile-friendly functionality. Mobile usability is now “relevant for optimal search results.” This emphasis is underpinned by the release of a new tool in Google Webmaster Tools called &#8216;Mobile Usability’.
Mobile Payments 
 
Global Mobile payments will rise to $142bn by 2019, but which provider will be the dominant force in payment services?
Retale&#8217;s new mobile report offers some insight:
<ul>
<li>36% have used mobile payments before, over double the 2012 figure.</li>
<li>Almost 3 out of 5 (56%) are interested in using mobile payments when shopping for holidays.</li>
<li>24% say mobile payments are inconvenient relative to cash, credit and debit cards.</li>
<li>Nearly 30% cited privacy concerns as a potential obstacle to them using mobile payments.</li>
<li>53% of ‘young people born between 1980 and 2000’ (there was another term here but I redacted it) have used mobile pay in-store (17% higher than average)</li>
<li>When asked to choose a mobile payment solution they would prefer to use in-store, 51% said PayPal with Apple Pay in third place with 10%.</li>
</ul>
Despite the surge in traffic, mobile website transactions account for single-digit percentages. So while customers do research goods and services with their smartphones they are less likely to use their device to pay for them.
<h3>Content</h3>
Good, relevant content is still a must-have for any <a title="The Digital Strategy Battlefield" href="https://friday.ie/blog/the-digital-strategy-battlefield/">digital marketing strategy</a>. For content to work online, it typically needs to be one or more of 3 things for users to engage and share it: interesting, informative or funny.
As smartphone use continues to grow customers are consuming much more content and at a faster speed.
<h4>What does this mean for marketers?</h4>
The way that users engage content on smaller screens has shifted to a more visual, graphics led way. The rise in popularity of social apps such as Instagram, Pinterest and Flipboard and the ubiquity of YouTube.
For businesses and brands, this means a shift in focus for using photography and in particular video. With the availability of 4G services on smartphones, users are consuming video content while on the go.
In 2015, we will see more marketers planning and releasing highly visual content for mobile. More than this, because of the sheer pace of news these days, it&#8217;s important that marketers own not just the management and release of their content but also as much of the production process as possible. For example, that means taking simple photographs, making video tutorials or filming workshops.
Most people can absorb information faster and easier through video as opposed to by reading. A well-executed video of 60 &#8211; 90 seconds can do a lot more to communicate the value of a product or service than just words on a page. The technology is here now in terms of devices and mobile broadband, the opportunity is to bring that content in that can get to work quickly.
<h3>Customer Experience</h3>
Customer experience has never been more critical to online success. With the marketing shift from the old customer ‘awareness’ to awareness and also ‘advocacy&#8217;, customer experience is key to building loyalty, retention and sales.
It is hugely important to have great content and technology of course, but how we develop, measure and optimise the customer journey on top of this is key to success.
eConsultancy have recently published a new report on the <a title="Voice of the Customer" href="https://econsultancy.com/three-takeaways-from-the-voice-of-the-customer-roundtable/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Voice of the Customer</a>. There are 3 key main steps the report talks about as best practice approach to customer experience.
Listen 
Online surveys are helpful to get honest ratings and feedback on your products or services.
Measure 
Use tools to help track and record information about your customers. Google Analytics, Mouseflow, Trends. Data that you get on bounce rates, devices and drop-offs can help you to optimise the CX on your website.
Act 
Data and feedback are of little use if they are not used and acted on. It is important to plan and review and assess customer experience on an ongoing basis and take action to both address issues and enhance and improve.
Key reference points for understanding customer experience include:
<ul>
<li>Understanding how mobile users research / buy products</li>
<li>Understanding when and where customers use different devices</li>
<li>Using offline data to optimise the online experience</li>
<li>Using online data to optimise the offline experience</li>
<li>Ensuring consistency of message across channels</li>
<li>Having a clear understanding of customer journeys across channels</li>
<li>Training teams in new techniques, channels and disciplines</li>
</ul>
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<h3>Wearables</h3>
Wearables have been a hot topic this year and 2015 will see some big new technology launches. Opportunities are still just available to those at the software/application development stage but it is important to be aware of changes. The big players are in the mix with Google Glass, Apple Watch and Oculus Rift which Facebook recently acquired.
<h4>Oculus Rift.</h4>
In good shape after Facebook’s take over, <a title="Oculus Rift" href="http://www.oculus.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oculus Rift</a> hopes to launch “in months” according to CEO Brendan Iribe. Hardware is currently available for developers and there is big potential here for virtual meetings and healthcare as well as video gaming.
Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe talks with Peter Rubin at the Web Summit, November 2014.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Web Summit Day One - Brendan Iribe in conversation with Peter Rubin" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9tz6gai51Mo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h4> 
Apple Watch</h4>
The jury is out on whether Apple’s <a title="Apple Watch" href="https://www.apple.com/watch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new device</a> will fly. Its release date is set for early 2015 and prices are from around €300 and there is <a title="Forbes iPhone speculation" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/12/03/apple-iphone-6s-release-date-speculation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some uncertainty</a> of the benefits of owning the watch and iPhone being big enough to justify having one. The potential with fitness apps is interesting and car location devices and electric power level readers such as BMW’s planned car app. Watch this space.
<h4>Google Glass</h4>
Google Glass is a piece of augmented reality technical genius right out of Minority Report. The possibilities are endless. Its biggest challenge is how to get it to work well for people who wear normal glasses. The device essentially works by projecting a semi-transparent prism directly on to the wearer&#8217;s retina.
Check out this brilliant how it works infographic from <a title="Martin Missfeldt" href="http://www.brillen-sehhilfen.de/en/googleglass/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Martin Missfeldt</a>.
Update 15/01/2015: Google is discontinuing the first version of Google Glass with a new version due later in 2015. <a title="Google Glass discontinued" href="http://mashable.com/2015/01/15/google-ends-tony-faldell-nest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More at Mashable</a>.
<h4>In Summary</h4>
The big trend for us in 2015 is mobile content. The evidence is there:
<ul>
<li>Double-digit increases in device usage and specifically website traffic.</li>
<li>Content should be optimised for mobile first, and have a steady balance between visuals (photography, video, graphics) and copy.</li>
<li>Marketers should have as much control as possible of content strategy, management and release and engage experienced creative partners where needed.</li>
</ul>
For more facts and figures on Mobile Trends specifically, check out this interesting post on <a title="the Future of Mobile" href="https://mobile1st.com/ready-for-mobile-cro-marketings-new-optimization-science/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Future of Mobile CRO</a> by Dan Engel.

Digital Marketing Trends in 2015

Well, it&#8217;s the morning after the night before and we are all feeling a little fragile in The Friday Agency but still very excited after winning an Irish web award for the best SME. For an agency that&#8217;s just 5 months old, it feels pretty good to get this sort of recognition. We&#8217;ll be patting ourselves on the back for a while yet.
Hosted by Rick O&#8217;Shea in Dublin&#8217;s <a href="http://www.ballsbridgehotel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ballsbridge hotel</a>, in Dublin 4, the event was really fun and casual. A highlight was seeing one of our clients dressed in a bubble suit pushing a tiny trolley around the ballroom in a bid to win a disco ball. You don&#8217;t see that at many awards ceremonies!
We had a total of <a href="https://friday.ie/blog/7-final-nominations-fridays-work-years-web-awards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7 nominations</a> for client work, our own website and Best Agency. The standard was very high, and we&#8217;d like to congratulate all of last nights nominees and winners on a job well done.
Once we&#8217;ve agreed on a suitable spot for our lovely hand crafted award (the bathroom was one suggestion), it&#8217;s back to reality, and back to creating more award worthy work (fingers crossed!). There&#8217;s only a year to go until the next Web Awards, we&#8217;d better get cracking!
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Friday bags Web Award for best SME

The Friday Agency has had a whirlwind start to our new adventure and after our first 5 months in business we’re thrilled to announce 7 finalist nominations in this year’s Web Awards.
We’re particularly proud of the nod for Best Agency and to be considered in the mix of some of Ireland’s brightest digital agency talents.
There have also been some interesting new client projects wins recently &#8211; watch this space for more details.
We would like to wish all Web Awards nominees the very best of luck and we look forward to having a lot of fun on the awards night.
<a href="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/irish-web-awards-logo-750x375.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-907 size-full" title="Web Awards Best Agency" src="https://www.api.friday.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/irish-web-awards-logo-750x375.png" alt="Web Awards Best Agency" width="750" height="375" /></a>
The Web Awards takes place on Wednesday 23rd October at the Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin. For more details, head to <a title="Web Awards" href="http://www.webawards.ie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.webawards.ie</a>.