Nov 27
I know this site’s been live for a few weeks now, but I figured that I still post it for those who may not know about it. The website was created by CODE AND THEORY.
Style Wars is the legendary hip-hop documentary and timeless film classic, the indispensable record of a golden age of youthful creativity and exploding hip hop subculture. Directed by Tony Silver.
Borders Books and Music has launched GIFTMIXER3000. The Borders Books and Music Giftmixer3000 is similar to an audio mixer but instead of bass and treble to come up with just the right sound, you mix the personality traits of the gift receiver to get just the right gift. There are five mixer controls from romantic to funny. As you make adjustments, Giftmixer3000 adds commentary. The Giftmixer was promoted via an e-mail that was sent out to millions of Borders e-mail subscribers. Created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the objective is to drive traffic to Borders online holiday catalog and the brick-and-mortar stores.
On the morning of 8 Nov, the phone at Clear Channel’s head office rang non stop. Concerned advertisers, agencies and business partners called to inform us of the messy pasting of A2 size posters on many ad panels all over the island. This massive vandalism of the bus shelter panels is believed to be the work of fanatic basketball fans.
Instead of causing distraught, these calls actually brought smiles to our faces. Clear Channel had actually “colluded†with these “vandals†over the weekend. 700 ad panels across the island were “hijacked†– instead of having a poster sit nicely inside the glass panel, film posters with LeBron James were slapped haphazardly onto the surface of the panels.
The LeBron James (who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers) film posters were “wild-posted†to make it appear as if some mad basketball fans have hijacked the frames overnight. The idea is to do something naughty like wild-postings to disrupt the neat environment of Singapore and to impress the kids.
This “vandalism†campaign is a collaboration between Clear Channel and Nike to dominate the island by wild-posting 700 bus shelter ads, the first time a campaign of such magnitude and nature was executed in Singapore. The attention and concern the campaign brought pointed to its success. A new wave of vandalism with new film posters will hit town on 13 Nov.
The LeBron James “Chamber of Fear†campaign was a recent launch by Nike which features LeBron as the Newest Action Hero. The strategy is to establish LeBron as the “King†of the game and get the kids in Singapore to know about him. The creative inspiration came from the 1970s Hong Kong kung-fu movies and Japanese Anime films and pays homage to Asian-style film posters. Nike had a challenging task of using traditional outdoor media to execute the highly stylized campaign with deep connections to Asian roots.
Clear Channel was thus selected to deliver a high-impact, massive reach to their target audience – Singapore basketballers aged 13 to 20 years old. “The idea is to do something naughty like wild-postings to disrupt the neat environment of Singapore and stay in line with the street-feel of this LeBron James basketball campaign. This wild-posting execution was possible through collaboration with Clear Channel, who was willing to ‘risk the status quo’ and try out this new domination tactic with Nike,†said Ann Kositchotitana, Marketing Communications Manager of Nike Singapore. The two weeks campaign on Clear Channel ad panels ran from 6 Nov to 19 Nov. The LeBron James Chamber of Fear film posters were created by Wienden + Kennedy. Mindshare Singapore handled the media buying & the wild-posting outdoor strategy originated from Ogilvy RedCard. Other mediums that the campaign went on include TV, print, online (nikebasketball.com.sg) as well as film posters that are distributed at Nike retail stores.
Nov 23
Fallon Worldwide, the Minneapolis agency that wowed the advertising world with its short Internet films for BMW a few years ago, is back in the movie-making business. The agency recently unveiled a similar series of films it created for Seattle-based Amazon.com to help promote a lesser-known aspect of its business — the sale of apparel and personal-care items. The films are accessible on the Amazon.com Web site. Using well-known Hollywood actors such as Minnie Driver, Chris Noth and Daryl Hannah and the production genius of Tony and Ridley Scott of RSA USA Inc., Fallon created five short films, ranging in length from four to seven minutes each, for the company.
“We used no paid media to drive customers there,” said Rob Buchner, chief marketing officer for Fallon. “Amazon is a network unto itself. … They have roughly 32 million registered customers. During the holiday season, many multiples of that will travel through their turnstiles.”
Credits at the end of the films include not only the names of actors, but names of products featured in the films. Shoppers can click on the product names and be transported to an Amazon page that provides details and the option to buy the products. In the second film, Agent Orange, which is now playing, customers can buy items such as a Fossil Philippe Starck Watch for $95 or orange Converse Chuck Taylor shoes for $37.99. Amazon did not return calls seeking comment in time for publication.
“What we want is to get millions of people in a busy frame of mind to stop, pause and be left with a good entertainment impression and be enlightened to everything available at Amazon,” Buchner said. “When people go the extra step to get involved with a piece of entertainment or communication and have a good experience, they will keep coming back for more.” Since the first film debuted on Nov. 10, Amazon.com reported a double-digit increase in traffic to its site, Buchner said. In addition, products featured in the films enjoyed banner sales days, he said. The films are so popular, in fact, that viewers are downloading them.
“I do think it instantly helps remind people that Amazon is not just a bookseller,” said Geoff Sass, director of interactive for Minneapolis-based Olson + Co. But Chris Cortilet, Interactive creative director for Periscope in Minneapolis, isn’t sure the connection is that obvious. Cortilet points to a new ad campaign for Burger King and Fallon’s BMW films project as the best of examples of how this medium can work.
CNN reports on a Human Pacman game, developed by Singapore based researchers, that can be played out in the streets or any real environment. The system was designed by the Mixed Reality Lab at the National University of Singapore. It includes Bluetooth, GPS, head-mounted displays and inertia sensors. Pacman can pic up power pills (in the form of Bluetooth enabled boxes in the environment used in the game) in his attempt to avoid pursuers.
[via Gizmodo]
Keitai Watch reports that as part of a renewal of their site, Amazon Japan has introduced a flattering new feature called “Amazon Scan Search.” After users download an application to their cell phone free of charge, they can scan barcodes of ordinary products, which in turn enables them to search the cell phone version of Amazon.co.jp for the respective product. Once they get a result on their search, they can then choose to purchase the item right from their phone. Obviously, there’s quite a bit of overhead associated with this — like needing a phone with a camera, needing to use i-Mode, and needing to, you know, be in Japan — but I’m willing to ignore that for now.
Amazon Japan of course intends the service be used for on-the-spot price comparisons, as well as “finding out what sort of products are sold should you want something that your friend has.” I’d say I await Amazon in America to introduce a similar service, but I will probably be waiting for all eternity.
[via Wireless Watch Japan]
From the Tokyo Game Show, in which long-time Tokyo mobile entrepreneur Neeraj Jhanji, builder of the first (and probably only) IM i-mode client for AOL, provides WWJ subscribers with an exclusisve look at his Until Now Very Quiet Plans (indeed, a working demo) to create a mobile version of the globally überpopular Habbo Hotel community service… er… site… or whatever it is. OK — it’s a networking community for digierati burnt out on traditional RPG shooters. In any event, Habbo’s mobile potential is huge…
Tronic was commissioned by curating agency Formavision to create a multimedia installation for Sharp Aquos. Opening Dec. 1st from 7-9pm at 137 Wooster Street.
Arcana Digital once again teamed up with Nike’s Creative Director Andy Walker in the US to put together another impressive fusion of slick 2d graphics, live action footage, CG character animation and dynamic particle effects to produce this three minute sequence.
“Some people see the world in black and white….And some people don’t!†was the ethos behind the video’s concept.
The purpose of the three minute sequence was to advertise Nikes personalised footwear and sports gear service which is currently available on line.
Nov 15
This is a pretty cool campaign on the Adidas site celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Superstar.
Nov 15
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The SMS Guerilla Projector is a home made, fully functioning device that enables the user to project text based SMS messages in public space, in streetss onto people, inside cinemas, shops, houses.
[from pukupi.com]
From December 1st, Vodafone Japan will offer the V801SA mobile from Sanyo with Global Standard support. The V801SA will operate on Vodafone’s W-CDMA (3G) network inside Japan and GSM (2G) networks nearly everywhere else. South Korea is one exception which, like Japan, is GSM-free but also rapidly developing 3G networks so hopefully it will not be too long before it works there too.
The V801SA features are pretty standard for 3G models including a QVGA 320 x 240 pixel screen with a still and video camera offering support for video calls and video mail. What is unique about this mobile is the sliding keypad which should give you the best of both clamshell (small) and candy bar (visible) designs but unlike Sony’s SO505i, shouldn’t require any wrist acrobatics to open.
Vodafone has a PDF with all the boring details while you can actually see the V801SA in action at Sanyo Telecommunications (Japanese).
The 2nd edition of the the Ice Creams are coming out this week.
Unfortunately, I can’t stand these shoes. What bothers me about the shoe is not only limited to the aesthetics of the shoe, but also the underlying marketing gimmick that these shoes represent. In my eyes, this is a sign that collecting sneakers is no longer about finding the rare old school joints or just finding a shoe that fits your flow. It’s about big business where savvy marketing creates such hype and demand around such a lame excuse for a shoe that everyone wants a pair. Sneakerheads need to open their eyes and get back to the basics because we shouldn’t be down with this ’shit for sale’.
Nov 13
[featured in YI]
JB Classics: Running his designer sneaker operation under the moniker “The Modern Day Cobblerâ€, JB’s independent sneaker line is wearable art. A division of The KDU global creative collective, JB Classics are stylish, unique, limited edition kicks you probably won’t see on many feet but your own.
Nov 13
[from earplug]
Rapper Black Alien fronts the baile funk hybrid whose “Quem te Caguetou?” (“follow me follow me”) was used in the Nissan spot that introduced Brazil’s mutant dance strain to Europe and the world. But Black Alien, aka Gustavo Ribeiro, has spent over 12 years working with major Brazilian names, giving his debut album maturity and confidence — it comes off like a brawl between Chico Science and Gang Starr in a Jamaican dancehall. Production credits go to Alexandre Basa, who has worked with avant-samba hip-hoppers Mamelo Sound System and Instituto. Basa veers away from the samba-rap and doomy string vibe that are currently in vogue with groups like Racionais, and creates something more inventive by layering and juxtaposing unexpected elements. Drowsy drugged horns permeate “From Hell do Céu,” while elsewhere you can hear Bollywood strings, daintily played piano, Diwali handclaps, and flamenco flourishes. A strong example of Brazilian hip-hop looking forward and outward. (AC)
Nov 12
[from earplug]
Label: 679 Recordings
Release: November 15
As the first major-label compilation to showcase the dark-core genre known as “grime,” Run the Road faces the arduous task of bringing the new sound of urban London to the general population. With 16 tracks laced together by the scene’s leading MCs and producers, Run the Road features the gritty gun talk of Terror Danjah’s “Cock Back V1.2,” lyrical bombs dropped on Jammer’s “Destruction VIP” riddim, and top-shelf material like Roll Deep’s “Let It Out.” The inclusion of recognizable names like Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, and the Streets will help the bid for worldwide takeover, but even the guest MCs on the Streets’ “Fit But You Know It” can’t save it from taking a back seat to raw, angry tunes like Kano’s “Mic Fight.” There are also a few “grime-lite” and mass-appeal tracks on the compilation (Ears’ “Happy Dayz” and Lady Sovereign’s “Cha Ching”), but don’t worry — this will give you time to collect your senses and prepare for the next assault. It’s pure murkage. (DeepSix)
Nov 5
Awesome US elections map created by the BBC that traces back the breakdown of electoral votes in Presidential elections dating back to 1948.
Nov 4
AKQA launched a teaser campaign aimed at the millions of gamers waiting for the debut of Halo 2 on Nov. 9. Pre-orders for Xbox-exclusive title have passed 1.5 million in the United States alone, guaranteeing first-day revenues higher than any movie in history. Online ads direct gamers to the Halo 2 Web site and are running on IGN, Gamespy, UGO, and Gamespot with the message “Earth will never be the same.” The Halo 2 site brings the user into the world of Halo from the perspective of the Covenant, the alien forces determined to wipeout humankind. Interestingly enough, the site is not in a language that any human would understand (and if they do, I’m frightened) and site navigation obeys “alien logic.” The campaign launched across 19 countries in 17 languages and targets males between 15 and 30.
Nov 4
[from slashphone]
New motorola phone in Korea. It has a 262,000 colour TFT LCD screen, and a 360 degree rotating keypad which hides behind the handset. There are dual cameras and 57MB of storage space. 57MB is definitely not enough but no expansion slot is available.
Motorola has no plan to release the phone out of Korea yet but I do see some of the US online store already start selling it.
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