Best of Linkspotting

Linkspotting is comprised of the most talked about and interesting stories on the Web picked by members of Ketchum’s Social Media and Digital Teams around the world. Twice a month, we sort through all of the links we’ve shared internally and then share the top links with you in this post. Enjoy!

The Dreaded Slide Show, Reinvented

Selected by Jason Bellinger

Few article styles drive readers away faster than slide shows – Web users don’t like to sit around and click through a mediocre list. That being said, the idea of the slide show isn’t inherently flawed but so many are presented in an unwieldy format. The New York Times turned heads recently by revitalizing the tired genre with a look at 50 historical artifacts that tell the story of New York. Instead of forcing readers to advance slowly through the 50 items, the NYT gave its audience the agency to click around on the items that interest them. What can your brand learn from this? Slide shows can be an even better way to tell a story when presented in a more user-friendly format.

Andy Warhol Lives on in the 21st Century

Selected by Brian Keenan

For the 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol’s iconic “32 Campbell Soup Cans,” Campbell’s recently released limited edition colored cans. Although not everyone has the legacy of a Warhol painting to leverage, the fact remains: Campbell’s took the leap to bring the colored cans to life. This is a perfect demonstration of a proactively creative idea that will generate media, conversation and collectable purchases. What pop culture crossroads can your client leverage?

When the Browser Is the Canvas

Selected by Jeff Lewonczyk

We’re all familiar with the Web as a medium for information – but what about as an artistic medium? This article on Flavorwire presents 11 different artists who eschew paint in order to use the Internet itself as their raw material. From animated GIFs to pixel manipulation, the works featured here find fascinating and surprising ways to make us look differently at the online world.

It’s crucial to keep track of artists like this, because they expand the boundaries of what’s possible online. Throughout history, artists have served as a vanguard – creating new concepts and ideas that marketers can bring to the masses. Today’s art project carries the seeds of tomorrow’s eye-opening, award-winning campaign.