June 28, 2006
Psycho Crusher, FTW!
NES Super Mario Bros. - Using M.Bison's ultimate Psycho Crusher, for the ultimate win!
Posted by richard ting at June 28, 2006, 12:32 PM
Marktd
Marktd is to marketing as Digg is to technology. Registered users submit marketing articles to the virtual library, and other users “mark” the ones they like to provide a scale of importance. It’s a really easy way to keep up with industry news without having to wade through all the trade publications.
Posted by richard ting at June 28, 2006, 03:03 AM
June 22, 2006
Vodafone Journey
[via adcritic]
Who says corporate websites have to be mind-numbingly dull? Certainly not Vodafone Group, the global mobile communications giant that just unveiled an immersive online experience to introduce the company to consumers on a personal level. Following up on its award-winning "Future Vision" campaign for Vodafone in 2004, Swedish interactive agency North Kingdom designed the new experience, dubbed "The Vodafone Journey," as a video-heavy "guided tour" of the company. "We knew we wanted personal and direct storytelling to show the inner soul and heart of the huge company that Vodafone is," says creative director David Eriksson. "The ambition was to take the users by the hand and show them fragments from the world of Vodafone. We then made it possible to explore all these details and go deeper by themselves."
Led by the friendly spokeswoman Lucy, the tour runs about five minutes and spans a multitude of settings, including an airport, a snowy ski slope, a tropical beach and a hi-tech office building. As Lucy journeys from location to location, she interacts with various "characters" that represent real stories from within the Vodafone community. "We worked to find real people and real stories that we thought could represent the different parts of the company," says Eriksson. "It was very important that it feel authentic and genuine, and therefore we didn't use any actors, and we used local languages to tell the stories." In addition to Lucy's informative monologue, users can click on a handy "tell me more" symbol at any point to pause the tour and learn more about a particular topic.
The biggest technical challenge for North Kingdom? "Integrating the video that was shot in real HD and making it work without demanding too much performance of the users' computers," says Eriksson. "Another big challenge was the complex structure of the storytelling, and implementing seamless navigation within and between the different movie clips, since there is so much to experience and see. We employed focus groups to make sure we created something that the users could understand and navigate."
Posted by richard ting at June 22, 2006, 12:13 PM
Droga5 Nabs Top Cyber Honors
Newcomer Droga5 took home the top Cyber Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Droga5, the Publicis-backed creative boutique led by creative chairman David Droga, who is also chair of this year's film and press juries, was honored for Marc Ecko's "Still Free" viral film.
The short promotes the hip-hop clothier's graffiti-based video game, which features a mysterious tagger who spray paints Air Force One. The game triggered a wave of media coverage, causing the Pentagon to deny that any such defacing actually occurred.
Posted by richard ting at June 22, 2006, 11:47 AM
June 20, 2006
Audi -- Art of the Heist
This campaign has been around for a while. It's already accumulated a ton of awards and really broke the door open around alternate reality advertising campaigns. Here's a link that was sent over by Steve Wax over at Campfire Media. It's a terrfic presentation that McKinney did to highlight the narrative progression of the campaign.
Posted by richard ting at June 20, 2006, 11:49 AM
Volvo Cars -- The Hunt
Volvo buried a Volvo XC90 inspired by Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. You have the opportunity to find it. And if you find it first, you can keep it. Simple as that. On the website, you'll see a treasure map. This map will help you to find the Volvo XC90, all you need to do is learn how to read the map.
Posted by richard ting at June 20, 2006, 11:33 AM
June 14, 2006
Organic Starts Emerging Platforms Practice
NEW YORK Organic said it would start an emerging platforms practice to help clients determine the opportunities in social networks, video games, video on demand and other new digital channels.
The new group will bring together practice leaders Organic has developed in these areas, combined with its "persona room" to form the Organic Experience Lab, the agency said. Organic has developed persona rooms for clients like DaimlerChrysler that replicate the living and working areas of target audiences.
To lead the unit, the San Francisco-based Omnicom Group shop hired Chad Stoller, who served 13 years at The Arnell Group, most recently as director of communications solutions. At Organic, he will be executive director of emerging platforms, reporting to CEO Mark Kingdon.
"Clients really want to understand how they become integrated in the digital lifestyle," said Stoller.
With the explosion of digital media, several agencies have begun emerging platforms practice areas. Interpublic Group, for instance, has set up an emerging media lab in Los Angeles to introduce clients to new platforms.
Posted by richard ting at June 14, 2006, 03:28 AM
June 13, 2006
MTV To Start Up New Research Group
[from mediapost]
LOOKING FOR THE NEXT WAVE in advertising opportunities for the digital age, MTV Networks will start a consumer-research group called Viewser Labs. MTV says Viewser Labs will "examine and re-think every minute of viewers' and users' experiences across MTV's multiple screens, from pods to programming to promo spots to product integration to commercial time and more." The ultimate goal of Viewser Labs is to find new advertising opportunities, says MTV, beyond the 30-second spot and the banner ad. Viewser Labs will be a collaboration, says the company--between clients, advertising agencies, and numerous internal MTV departments including ad sales, integrated marketing, on-air promos, programming, consumer marketing, and research.
Posted by richard ting at June 13, 2006, 10:57 AM
Motorola Mobilizes MySpace
Here's another instance of a brand infiltrating the popular social network, MySpace. Not sure how impactful these branded profiles are anymore. Especially since this one particular profile for the motoQ is really just a glorified product feature that would typically be found on a branded website. In my opinion, I still think the Nikesoccer MySpace profile is the one to beat. Not only does it not shove product down the consumer's throat, it also fosters dialogue about the members of the community. The other content giveaways on the Nikesoccer profile are fresh as well.
Posted by richard ting at June 13, 2006, 10:11 AM
Fader Mag To Distribute Issues On iTunes
[from mediapost]
Fader magazine announced Wednesday that it is partnering with Apple iTunes to distribute its "Summer Music Issue" as a free download--marking the first time that a magazine has been made available in its entirety on iTunes. As part of the promotion, iTunes will feature the Fader issue in its "New and Notable" podcast section.
The free Fader iTunes download will be sponsored exclusively by liquor brand Southern Comfort. This is the first exclusive sponsorship deal to distribute a magazine on iTunes, although it follows a previous print deal by Philips Electronics with Time Inc. publications Business 2.0, Fortune, People, and Time to move those magazines' tables of contents to the first page--a marketing stunt to illustrate Philips' theme "simplicity."
Posted by richard ting at June 13, 2006, 02:56 AM
June 04, 2006
Substance Abuse feat. Kool Keith -- A Night on the Town
"Night on the Town" from indie hip-hop group Substance Abuse featuring Kool Keith. The song is taken from the forthcoming album "Over Proof".
