November 23, 2005
Nordstrom Silverscreen
The Nordstrom Silverscreen(tm) is about combining music and fashion in a fresh, entertaining way. Unfortunately, the campaign feels stale and boring. The quality of music videos is so choppy that it really detracts from the experience. There are supposedly other pieces of cool interactive content that users can directly download to their desktops. However, I never got that far because I couldn't get past the crap videos.
Anyway, the site has a video remix of the Go-Go's classic "Our Lips Are Sealed." It's the original video (complete with pre-Ross and Rachel fountain dancing) with a modern twist and a new remix by Fatboy Slim.
Check it out.
Posted by richard ting at November 23, 2005, 11:43 AM
November 18, 2005
The New Next: Viral Comes Into Its Own
[from mediapost]
In place of crass, one-off Internet stunts that have given viral techniques a bad name, marketers and agencies have begun to realize that many eager consumers truly want to get involved and participate in this narrative-based entertainment, and to place themselves in a position to interact with the story and the brands.
The granddaddy of viral campaigns is, of course, the work done for the 1999 film "The Blair Witch Project." The trend is full-blown by now. For a wake-up call, check out any of these campaigns I've tracked, all of which have broken some new ground in this emerging genre.
They include Sega Games' "Beta-7"; Audi Auto's "Art of the Heist"; Halo's "I Love Bees"; Lincoln Mercury's "Meet the Lucky Ones"; Mini's "Men of Metal"; Honda U.K.'s "Change Something" (about which I intend to write in more detail in a future New Next); Stella Artois' "Sable & Shuck"; Rainier Beer's "Tim and Chuck" show (which I talked about last month); and Virgin Mobile's www.billythefinger.com.
Posted by richard ting at November 18, 2005, 05:32 PM
November 13, 2005
Beastie Boys A Cappellas
[via josephcartman.com]
The Beastie Boys promote their upcoming “Solid Gold Teeth” release by releasing A Cappella versions of previous tracks on their website. A new track is released every Friday for users to download and remix for personal use.
It's a very cool marketing technique that taps into the emotive target audience. This site release is coming off the heels of the most recent Pew/Internet report that showed that more than half of online teens are creating content for the internet. The report states that, "American teenagers today are utilizing the interactive capabilities of the internet as they create and share their own media creations. 57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations. "
Posted by richard ting at November 13, 2005, 02:19 AM
Bacardi Live Llymit Site
The Bacardi Live site just recently launched and it feels really well designed and programmed. I like the animation effects, page transistions, supremely easy navigation, and rock solid usability. The site feels industrial strength with zero bugs or site defects. Reminds me of the NIKEiD.com site. For all the lads out there, you'll love the videos and pictures of the Bacardi Girls. Simply lovely.
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at November 13, 2005, 01:31 AM
November 08, 2005
Honda Branded Entertainment Site
[from mediapost]
What does a burro have to do with a Honda Element? That's just one of the questions being answered in a campaign that likens the traits of unusual animals with the Honda Element. (The Element and the burro both carry a lot of stuff; feel free to tuck this away with your other useless trivia). The campaign was created by RPA and was designed to showcase the features of the Element in an offbeat and humorous way. In one of the six TV spots, the Element is referred to as a "hodgepodge." The Element's response? "Where does a platypus learn a word like 'hodgepodge?'" The TV, Web, print and outdoor, ads drive consumers to the Element and Friends Web site, where visitors are given their own virtual Honda Element to maneuver around an island in an online game. Along the way, they encounter the animals from the TV commercials.
Posted by richard ting at November 08, 2005, 11:29 PM
November 01, 2005
Million Dollar Homepage
This site has been up for a few weeks now, but the last time I checked there were only about 200,000 pixels sold. It's now up to 534,900 pixels sold! It's such an impressive idea based on the level of
ingenuity and the sheer simplicity of it.