UnderCurrent had a stellar year shining a mocking light on the lighter side of industry – or so it claims. UnderCurrent is dedicated to showcasing the best and worst of the industry, from fantastic viral videos to appalling marketingspeak. Here are its greatest hits of 2012…
Top 10 Biggest UnderCurrent 'Stories' of 2012:
1. OFFICIAL ONE DIRECTION HEADPHONES!! FINALLY!!!!
"Lady Gaga, Dr Dre and AC/DC might be popular in the traditional sense (ie selling albums) but nothing comes close to the popularity of One Direction (based mostly on physical appearance – their sales aren't that special)."
2. I Am Tropfest: Nikon rewards filmmaker talent
"The annual Tropfest film festival celebrated its 20th birthday on Sunday night, with a series of stellar short films on show, only outshone by the epic thunderstorms that ended the night."
3. 5 per cent off Apple? UnderCurrent prefers a lump of coal this Christmas
"Long known for being the Chanel of the consumer electronics world (read: you get the same product for virtually the same price, no matter where you buy in Australia) Apple is a stickler for standardising its prices across the board."
4. Sony confuses and delights with new Xperia S smartphone
"UnderCurrent was confused and delighted this morning when Sony announced the launch of the new Xperia S mobile handset."
5. Leaked TV sales figures reveal interesting results for brands big and small
"UnderCurrent loves charts, so it was best pleased when it came across the TV sales figures by brand for May 2012. Normally a closely guarded secret, these figures offer a rare insight into the flat panel TV market, which is regularly described as being both fiercely competitive and largely unprofitable."
6. At Harvey Norman, the customer is always in the middle
"Amongst the pages and pages of information submitted by Harvey Norman to the Australian Securities Exchange this week was an interesting graphic. Although Harvey Norman has been a bit late to online sales, its "Omni Channel Strategy" is now in full swing."
7. 25 Best Headphone Brands Of 2012
"2012 was undoubedly the Year of the High Concept Headphones. To celebrate the incredible surfeit of styles, endorsements and colours available to audiophiles, fashionophiles and wellheeledophiles, UnderCurrent today presents a special look at its 25 favourite headphone brands."
8. Influencers, not users, are the key to Windows Phone 8 global domination
"Windows Phone 8 will soon be the most popular mobile operating system in the world. The conversion will start gradually but grow exponentially through one-to-one peer conversions, like a confluence of door-to-door religious proselytising and a zombie apocalypse. And it will all start here in Australia — North Ryde, in Sydney, to be exact."
9. It's the same price as an iPhone 5, but much more mobile!
"Many technophiles will be lining up to buy the heavily anticipated iPhone 5 when it hits Apple stores and retail outlets today, but there are just as many people who won’t be buying the device."
10. Gold, Silver and Bronze in Olympic branding race revealed
"Just as the 2012 London Olympics is a global gathering to celebrate corporate branding elite sportspeople, so too is UnderCurrent a worldly being."