July 18, 2006
Who is Benjamin Stove?
GM's Alternate Reality Game Yields Real-World Results
Carmaker's Offbeat Online Effort Hypes Ethanol Campaign, Logs 1.8 Million Page Views
[from AdAge.com]
For four months, Christopher Love was plagued by a nagging question: Who is Benjamin Stove? A painting of mysterious crop circles plays a major role in the online GM game designed to promote its ethanol campaign.
Mr. Love, a 26-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., was caught up in the mystery with thousands of others across the world, spending between 15 minutes and four hours every day trying to solve it. But what he and his fellow detectives didn't realize was they were really involved in an intricate commercial, part of General Motors Corp.'s "Live Green, Go Yellow" ethanol-ad blitz.
'Four-month commercial'
"Who knew a four-month commercial could be so fun?" Mr. Love told Advertising Age in an e-mail. For GM, the feeling is mutual. The automaker's first trip into the world of alternate-reality gaming nabbed the company a small but highly engaged audience for what ordinarily might have been a mundane message: the benefits of ethanol. More than 1,000 players came along for the four-month romp through "a modern-day mystery," said GM's Bob Kraut, director-brand marketing and advertising operations.
The mystery-solving gambit, dubbed "Who is Benjamin Stove?" kept the auto giant's role as backer concealed until late in the process. The goal: Create prelaunch buzz for the ethanol-ad blitz. Alternate-reality games, or ARGs, are catching on with marketers. ARGs ask players to solve mysteries by seeking out clues online and, increasingly, offline as well. Microsoft used an ARG in 2004 to market Halo 2, Audi launched its "Art of the Heist" game last year, and ABC is using an ARG to keep "Lost" viewers intrigued throughout the summer.
1.8 million page views
GM's effort attracted 1.8 million page views through mid-April, with 383,829 consumers spending an average of nearly 17 minutes per visit, according to Stefan Kogler, senior VP-creative director of new media at Campbell-Ewald, which designed the game. (To put that into perspective, a niche cable network such as the Travel Channel might snag about 400,000 prime-time viewers on an average night.) GMD Studios -- the Winter Park, Fla., outfit that created Audi's "Art of the Heist" game -- executed the GM game.
It launched in early January at whoisbenjaminstove.com. There, fictional 29-year-old Tampa, Fla., resident and Newton, Iowa, native Tucker Darby asked for help unraveling the mystery of an antique painting of crop circles he bought in the sale of the Stove family's farm estate in Newton. Benjamin Stove, the farm's last owner, had disappeared without a trace. (Tucker Darby's online picture is actually the ad agency's Brad Fairhurst; other Campbell-Ewald execs appear as well: Christine Wilson posed as Sarah Randall, cynical publisher of debunkette.com, a website on the paranormal and Chris Zientek was Benjamin Stove, who spent his life trying to solve the crop-circles mystery.
Check out the Benjamin Stove site.
Posted by richard ting at July 18, 2006, 12:20 PM
July 17, 2006
Pink Your MySpace -- Victoria's Secret
Check out the Victoria's Secret PINK MySpace resource for backgrounds, code and much, much more. The only way to get to the PINK page is to have a friend let you know the location.
Posted by richard ting at July 17, 2006, 04:27 PM
July 14, 2006
Million Dollar Homepage .... Building
The web imitates life imitates the web. The milliondollarhomepage.com concept has apparently been adopted and adapted by the Netherlands-based Sandberg Institute, which is selling space on its building facade, imitating the pixel-based ads of the Million Dollar Homepage.
Read more.
Posted by richard ting at July 14, 2006, 05:30 PM
July 13, 2006
The Coke Show
Visitors to Coke.com can take part in "The Coke Show," monthly "challenges" testing their creativity. In the first challenge, set to run through August, users are invited to submit short videos, but they're not limited to creating ads or odes to the brand. Instead, Coke is asking for 45-second video expressions of "the essence of you." Visitors will rate submissions, culling them down to 10, which will be judged by a group of professional filmmakers.
Posted by richard ting at July 13, 2006, 08:26 PM
Coke + Mentos Viral Piece
Posted by richard ting at July 13, 2006, 08:19 PM
American Apparel in Second Life
Virtual Worlds: The Latest Fashion
By Gavin O'Malley from AdAdge.com
Before American Apparel launches its first denim line this fall, the offerings are getting a virtual debut and being bought and worn by virtual people. Just as other marketers-from Coca-Cola Co. to Wells Fargo-are creating their own virtual niches, the hip clothing company is letting members of the online game Second Life try the line on for size.
"Since we opened in May, we've sold over 2,000 items to people outfitting their avatars," said Raz Schionning, director of web services for American Apparel, which opened an elaborate retail store last month in Second Life with the help of ad agency Ad Option and web developer Aimee Weber. Virtual shoppers who buy virtual clothes get 15% off the same items in real life.
'Massively multiplayer' games
Second Life, created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab, is one of several virtual online worlds where trendsetters are flocking to exchange ideas, egos and virtual property using IM-equipped "avatars," or highly-customized 3D representations of themselves. With nearly 200,000 "residents," and its open-ended structure, Second Life has become something of a testing ground for marketers to explore this new genre known as "massively multiplayer" games.
Second Life currency, known as Linden, can actually be exchanged for U.S. dollars, but American Apparel didn't set up virtual shop to turn a profit. And, of course, the company has to pay Second Life in real dollars. Linden Lab charges $1,250 for an island like the one on which American Apparel's virtual store is located, plus another $195 a month.
Posted by richard ting at July 13, 2006, 07:51 PM
The Consumer: Application Nation
by Paul Parton, July 2006 issue of MEDIA
Is there anyone in media, advertising, or marketing who hasn't heard of Burger King's Subservient Chicken? Is there anyone who hasn't marveled both at the cojones of the client who approved the idea and the genius of the team who had the idea in the first place? A simple but deliciously entertaining little software application, it demanded to be sampled at least once. I know we've thought about it a lot down here at The Brooklyn Brothers, and it led us to wonder, in classic Carrie Bradshaw fashion: Are applications the new advertising?
They're certainly popular among consumers. Anything that lets people take part in their own entertainment seems to be hot at the moment.
This season of "American Idol" was a classic illustration. That chipper rascal Ryan Seacrest proudly boasted that with more than 63 million votes cast through a simple SMS-based voting application, "Idol" performed better than any president in history. The ratings were impressive enough, but 63 million votes is a big number.
Posted by richard ting at July 13, 2006, 07:45 PM
July 05, 2006
Adidas on MySpace
Adidas just recently joined the bandwagon of brands launching profiles on MySpace. To coincide with the World Cup, adidas created a page on MySpace where visitors can sign up to win an XBox 360, view player bios and photos, upload a video to try out for the Impossible Goal Team and download wallpapers and exclusive videos. As of today, over 45K friends have linked to their profile. Not bad.
Posted by richard ting at July 05, 2006, 11:56 AM
The Office "Make Your Own Promo" Contest on YouTube
Create a 20 second promo for NBC’s “The Office”. Shoot your own original footage plus you may use the optional “The Office “ music and graphics provided in a download kit at http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/contest/. Winners’ promos will appear on NBC and “The Office” Web site on NBC.com. For complete video instructions and contest details go to http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/contest/.
Posted by richard ting at July 05, 2006, 11:49 AM
The Ultimate Clean-Up with Snoop Dogg
Orbit gum's latest ad launched last week and features the Orbit Girl coming to the rescue of a foul-mouthed Snoop Dogg. "The Ultimate Clean-Up" shows the rapper being sent to hell, thanks to his filthy mouth. The Orbit Girl comes to the rescue and the spot ends with a cleaner, kinder, Snoop Dogg dressed in white and kickin' it with the ladies up in heaven.
Posted by richard ting at July 05, 2006, 11:41 AM
Gypsy Cab Project
The VW Rabbit is back. It's the first part of a multimedia campaign created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky. In addition to the wild postings and billboards that are running nationally and in Canada there are two online components for you to check out as well.