November 11, 2006
Dove Evolution
Dove’s “Dove Evolution” viral video has brought three times more traffic to their CampaignForRealBeauty.com site than their Super Bowl ad did last year.
Posted by richard ting at November 11, 2006, 04:12 AM
November 09, 2006
Coke, Pepsi, Nike, Adidas Top-In Game Advertisers
People recalling in-game ads... that can't be a good thing.
by Dan Dormer
Gamasutra is reporting that Phoenix Marketing International have released a study examining the effectiveness of in-game advertising. The report indicated that Coke, Pepsi, Nike and Adidas were the brands the most "active adult gamers" could recall. 54% of the gamers surveyed could recall at least some of the in-game advertising from sports games, such as Madden NFL 07. It also should be mentioned that the company asked gamers to recall not specific advertisements featured in-game, but products they remembered seeing. Along with the aforementioned brands, KFC, Burger King, McDonald's, Samsung, BMW, Ford, Gatorade and Mountain Dew (Extreme!!) were also some of the popular products gamers recalled seeing. And the majority of the games players could recall ads from were sports games -- four out of the top five being not only sports games, but EA titles.
Posted by richard ting at November 09, 2006, 05:51 AM
August 29, 2006
Coca-Cola GTA Commercial
Coca-cola did a commercial about their drink with their own style of grand theft auto.
Posted by richard ting at August 29, 2006, 02:52 AM
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 AM
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 AM
Coke + Mentos Viral Piece
Posted by richard ting at July 13, 2006, 08:19 AM
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.
GypsyCabProject.com
VWfeatures.com/rabbit
Posted by richard ting at July 05, 2006, 11:15 AM
June 28, 2006
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
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
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
May 11, 2006
Mazda CX-7 EarthSearch
Check out the MAZDA CX-7 EarthSearch Sweepstakes Game. The SUV You Never Saw Coming. First you have to search the earth and find where it's hiding. Do so and you could win other prizes as well, like an Apple Powerbook®, a Magellan® Roadmate 800 Navigation System or a 30 GB Video iPod®. Just download Google Earth below and start searching the most famous locales in the world to find the most exhilarating SUV on the planet.
Posted by richard ting at May 11, 2006, 03:00 AM
May 08, 2006
The Gamekillers for Axe.
Here's a really well-executed campaign for Axe called the Gamekillers. The concept and voice are very appropriate to the consumers that they are targeting. There's also a bunch of multi-channel ideas mixed in there. Overall, nice concept, nice execution.
Posted by richard ting at May 08, 2006, 10:20 AM
May 04, 2006
Truth In Advertising
A great story about how a marketing campaign is made. Speakers say what they think and not what they should say. Mad funny.
Posted by richard ting at May 04, 2006, 05:45 AM
April 25, 2006
Wes Anderson Amex Commercial
Here's a brilliant Wes Anderson My Life, My Card ad starring Jason Schwartzman.
Posted by richard ting at April 25, 2006, 07:22 AM
April 19, 2006
Honda Sponsors MTV and VH1 Pink 'Flashmob' Concert on Broadband and Mobile Platforms
[from theautochannel]
'Flashmob' Video Clips Available Through VH1 Mobile and MTV Mobile
MTV and VH1 will paint their respective broadband and mobile platforms "pink" with content from an exclusive flashmob concert in New York City with platinum-selling LaFace/Zomba artist Pink. The concert footage features music from Pink's latest album, "I'm Not Dead."
The "flashmob" concert was the result of a contest launched last fall in conjunction with Honda and its advertising agency RPA to promote the launch of the 2006 Honda Civic. MTV and VH1 worked with Honda to develop the extensive 12-week "Honda Civic Under The Hood" campaign featuring a unique series of music-based interstitials that drove viewers to various media platforms to enter their zip codes, giving the region with the most entries a "flashmob" concert by a national music artist. VH1 and MTV joined forces for the first time ever in creating a cross-channel multiplatform campaign that amplified the reach of the networks' live music franchises to support the launch of the 2006 Honda Civic.
On April 5, text messages and emails went out to contest entrants informing them of the Pink "flashmob" concert in New York that evening. The first 200 to respond to the message won access to the event at Crobar.
Posted by richard ting at April 19, 2006, 04:21 AM
April 05, 2006
Porn Star Jameson Whacks For Adidas In Podcast Campaign
[from mediapost]
PROVING THE RULES FOR ONLINE viral campaigns may in fact be different than for over-the-air and cable TV ads, adult film star Jenna Jameson stars in the first of a series of new advertising podcasts created for sneaker maker Adidas. The campaign, created by New York-based Tronic, utilizes a whack-the-mole theme in which Jameson attempts to "pound the living daylights out of six cute little gophers that keep popping out of a coin-fed machine." The podcast is part of the revival of adiColor, a 1983 Adidas campaign in which Adidas shoes could be personalized with colorful markers.
Posted by richard ting at April 05, 2006, 01:35 AM
Chevy Slammed By Consumer-Generated Ads
[from MediaPost]
Perhaps Chevy is getting what it deserves by asking consumers to create ads for them, writes Stuart Elliott of The New York Times. As a new means of "engaging" consumers with brands, some advertisers have asked consumers to make their marketing messages for them, offering some kind of incentive to the user who creates the best ad. Chevrolet, using video shot for a 30-second TV commercial for its 2007 Tahoe, in which the vehicle careens down a sunflower-lined country road, did just that, and some of the responses they've gotten haven't exactly been what a media agency would like to see consumers doing with their client’s brand. At the end of the video clip, one consumer posts, in white lettering: "$70 to fill up the tank, which will last less than 400 miles. Chevy Tahoe." Part of the idea here is that consumers will share their video creations with friends--but not these kinds of creations, which, the Times says became the most widely-circulated videos of the Chevy Tahoe on the Web. Says another, using an image of the Tahoe driving through the desert: "Our planet's oil is almost gone. You don't need G.P.S. to see where this road leads." Advertisers, who've become enamored of late with user-generated content, "buzz," and engagement, are learning the hard way that these opportunities can be a double-edged sword. The lesson here: there is a context for consumer engagement and viral marketing; just because consumers don't necessarily hate advertising doesn't mean they love plugging your brand for you, either.
Watch the Chevy Tahoe videos on YouTube.
Posted by richard ting at April 05, 2006, 01:02 AM
March 08, 2006
Saatchi and Saatchi Toilet Campaign
Excellent guerilla marketing campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi New York to highlight the public restroom shortage in New York. Cardboard people were placed around certain locations to get people's attention to the problem.
Posted by richard ting at March 08, 2006, 07:06 AM
Room 116 Blog
I snagged the above photo of a Sony Walkman print ad on the Room 116 blog site. It's an great blog site hosted by Bryan Chiao over at Anomaly in New York City. Excellent resource for those non-traditional advertising wonks out there.
Posted by richard ting at March 08, 2006, 06:58 AM
TBWA Blog -- Lisbon
Thanks to Harshal Sisodia for the link. Check out the TBWA\LISBOA blog, which is a part of the TBWA\ network which, in turn, is part of Omnicom Group Inc, one of the world’s largest communication groups. The TBWA\LISBOA office has a team of 50 people who work on a wide range of areas such as: brand management, creativity and ideas, design, research and strategic planning, traffic and TV/Radio/Photo production.
There's a ton of cool ideas posted on this blog. Give it a look.
Posted by richard ting at March 08, 2006, 06:51 AM
February 28, 2006
Run London + Google Maps
Nike has selected digital agency AKQA to develop a new online community and mapping tool to promote the sportswear brand’s Run London campaign. The RouteFinder tool lets runners create, measure, save and share their running routes with a community of runners all over the capital.
The tool has been integrated with Google Maps interfaces with Run London-branded graphical elements. Users can search the city by postcode, distance, or type of run such as hilly, flat or park, for routes other runners have created.
Alternatively, users can begin creating a run of their own by clicking points on the map. They can save a list of favourite routes, send them on to friends and browse the top-five routes of the season.
Posted by richard ting at February 28, 2006, 04:43 AM
February 25, 2006
NIKEiD Europe Banner
This link was sent over to me by my lovely wife, Chloe Gottlieb.
It's the European NIKEiD banner that lets the user play with the feeling of customization by banging away on their keyboards. It's a nice way of drawing users into the site experience.
Posted by richard ting at February 25, 2006, 06:37 AM
February 18, 2006
Onitsuka Tiger - Lovely Football Campaign
Check out the 'Spread the Lovely' campaign for Onitsuka Tiger. It's the world's first online karaoke competition. Thanks to Erik at strawberryfrog for the link.
Posted by richard ting at February 18, 2006, 02:59 AM
February 07, 2006
Super Bowl Ad Aftershocks Reverberate Across Web
[from nytimes.com]
It used to be that those super-expensive Super Bowl ads would disappear forever following the Big Game. Nowadays, Madison Avenue is trying to figure out what extended after-life these ads receive on the Web really means. This year's ads are now widely available on a multitude of formats—streaming Web pages, downloadable email files, video podcasts, etc.—prolonging the discourse that follows almost indefinitely. Super Bowl advertising is a media event in and of itself, making the estimated $2.5 million price tag for the 30 second spots seem like "something of a bargain," according to Stuart Elliott of The New York Times. Advertising executives who oversaw the purchase of these ads agree. "What's happening in the postgame more than made up for the cost," said one. Not only that, but the Internet media giants know these spots generate traffic, and advertisers. AOL, Google, MSN and Yahoo--the big four Web companies--as well as sports sites like ESPN and NFL.com, have all put up video clips of the Super Bowl commercials. In fact, yesterday, Time Warner's AOL said that a record 23 million Super Bowl commercials were streamed by yesterday afternoon--and the company even sells a video ad before showing each Super Bowl spot.
Posted by richard ting at February 07, 2006, 05:51 AM
Amazon Testing Contextual Ad Program with Affiliates
[from Clickz]
Leveraging its massive affiliate network, Amazon.com has launched a third party contextual network to rival the likes of Google and Yahoo. The Internet retailing giant is testing a program that distributes third-party contextual ad links to its affiliate network. Like Google's AdSense, Amazon and the affiliate each receive a cut (though the split is undisclosed) when users click on ads that are targeted based on the page's content. The text links appear alongside affiliates' links to Amazon product pages. Amazon said the move is intended to develop and maintain long-term relationships with its affiliates. Thus far, only those affiliates hand picked by Amazon are participating in the beta test, which started January 27.
Posted by richard ting at February 07, 2006, 05:46 AM
February 02, 2006
Ad Mob - The Mobile Advertising Marketplace
Pay Per Click Ads Go Mobile. AdMob, the world's first pay-per-click
mobile ad marketplace. Buyers can now reach consumers right on their phone and target by region, platform. Sellers can monetize your existing mobile products and services
Posted by richard ting at February 02, 2006, 12:18 PM
Bannerblog
Banner Blog started in June 2005 to showcase* online advertising, much of which goes unnoticed. BannerBlog was created by Ashley Ringrose who works at Soap Creative, a small & friendly independent agency and Ashadi Hopper who works at RMG Connect.
Posted by richard ting at February 02, 2006, 08:41 AM
January 16, 2006
Create a TV Ad Campaign For $500
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Spot Runner is the first Internet-based ad agency that makes it easy and affordable for local businesses to advertise on TV. With Spot Runner's revolutionary approach to commercial production, media planning and media buying services, local businesses now have access to a powerful marketing tool that was previously out of their reach. Advertisers can choose from a comprehensive library of professionally produced ads which can be viewed, purchased and personalized in a simple process online. With its proprietary media planning engine, Spot Runner also creates customized media plans by using some basic information entered by the advertiser, such as their industry, target demographics and budget. The entire process, which can traditionally take months and hundreds of thousands of dollars, now takes just days and at a fraction of the cost. Spot Runner manages each account by securing the ad buy, placing and tracking the ads, and analyzing viewership and demographic information.
Posted by richard ting at January 16, 2006, 07:52 AM
January 02, 2006
London Lee
This is an MP3 blog specializing mostly in classic soul, funk, and dance music.
Posted by richard ting at January 02, 2006, 12:51 PM
December 22, 2005
French Alternative Marketing Blog
Here's a great French Blog site that focuses on street, guerilla, and buzz marketing activities.
Posted by richard ting at December 22, 2005, 11:42 AM
I Have An Idea
The mission of the site is to serve the industry as a mechanism for communication, self-analysis and intellectual growth. They will document the world's creative community and disseminate this priceless knowledge to help it grow and flourish. The site promises to ask questions, challenge the establishment and the norms, and make every possible effort to add fuel to the industry they so passionately love.
This is not a website. It is an interactive project, an online and accessible pool of knowledge to which users can and should contribute.
Posted by richard ting at December 22, 2005, 11:29 AM
Agency of the Year
Winners in each of the following categories: Online Agency of the Year, Best Creative, Best Media Planning and Buying, Best Search, and Best Web Design and Site Development will be announced on January 12, 2006. The event is scheduled to take place from 6-8pm at the Yale Club of New York City, 50 Vanderbilt Avenue.
Posted by richard ting at December 22, 2005, 10:11 AM
December 10, 2005
Palladium Shoes
[from mediapost]
Talk about an innovative way to sell shoes. Palladium shoes is tapping in to the Geocaching phenomenon (a game where players use GPS receivers and Web clues to find hidden "caches" around the world) to hawk its men's and women's travel shoes. For starters, each page of the Palladium Web site refers to the Geocaching game. The pages display each of nine shoe styles in a "home city," and provide travel information and cache clues for that city. Even better, Palladium is placing clues on non-Palladium sites. Clues will be hidden in different retailer-determined locations and announced on public geocaching sites. Posters will go up in the cities where the hidden caches are placed.Targeting "Urban Nomads" ages 22 to 38, and launching this month, the campaign tag line fits like a glove: "The Destination is the Journey." The Republik created the campaign.
Posted by richard ting at December 10, 2005, 05:34 AM
HBO Good Gift Seeker
Check out the HBO Good Gift Seeker that was created by Atmosphere BBDO NY.
Posted by richard ting at December 10, 2005, 05:06 AM
Honda, The Impossible Dream
Honda, The Impossible Dream is a :30 second spot done by Wieden + Kennedy for Honda. The accompanying on-line experience is a great statement that brand advertising extends way past just a :30 second spot. Not sure which agency did the on-line work.
Check out the site.
Check out the TV spot.
Posted by richard ting at December 10, 2005, 04:47 AM
Entertainment Anytime
Here's the Sprint Entertainment Anytime viral campaign done by Organic. It's a nice simple idea that's well executed, although it smells like a subservient chicken rip-off. Seems like the Crispin Porter work is still inspiring many throughout the industry.
Posted by richard ting at December 10, 2005, 04:36 AM
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 AM
November 13, 2005
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 AM
October 26, 2005
iPod Nano QR Campaign on Tokyo Metro
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From the heart of Japan's youth culture -- Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district -- Flickr user Purpin describes how Apple is advertising the iPod nano:
"As part of their rather unique advertising campaign, huge iPod nano posters now adorn the platform walls of Toyoko Line Shibuya Station. As you depart the train you'll be faced with a stream after stream of 1:1 iPod nano cutouts, in which you can pull off and take home. Much to my suprise, I later realised that these cutouts weren't made of cardboard but of plastic, and are very rigidly built too. On the reverse side were the URL and QR Codes of a site where you can download iPod nano wallpapers for your mobile phone."
Posted by richard ting at October 26, 2005, 03:15 AM
October 24, 2005
In Japan, Billboards Take Code-Crazy Ads to New Heights
[from wsj.com]
Northwest Airlines is harnessing Japan's love of gadgets to open a new frontier in interactive advertising: tempting consumers to access prizes and games by scanning giant bar codes with their cellphone cameras. In its latest Tokyo outdoor campaign, Northwest Airlines, the fourth-largest U.S. airline by traffic, is covering the city's billboards and subway stations with ads containing the bar codes, which look like huge geometric Rorschach tests. The ads taunt passersby to unlock a message hidden inside the square of black and white pixels called a QR code, which requires a special reader to decode.
Sound complicated? Not in Japan where already some 30 million people carry the special readers around, tucked inside their cellphones. With a snapshot, the information is decoded, directing the phone's Web browser to coupons, games or further details on a product. QR codes have grown in popularity in Japan over the past year, showing up thumbnail size on magazine and newspaper ads as a quick automatic link between print and online media that doesn't require the customer to type in an Internet address or remember a special code. Similar attempts in the U.S. haven't caught on, probably because the scanners aren't built into an existing gadget.
Read more.
Posted by richard ting at October 24, 2005, 05:08 AM
October 22, 2005
Bluetooth Marketing for Nike
|
In Barcelona, in Plaza Cataluña, Nike has installed a huge outdoor ad featuring tennis player Rafael Nadal, and powered with Bluetooth technology. By turning their Bluetooth connection on, users can download the new Nike Pro Tv spot and an exclusive Nadal screensaver. The campaign was planned by Media Planning Barcelona. |
Posted by richard ting at October 22, 2005, 02:03 AM
October 14, 2005
Mercedes R-Class Site
Here's a cool site that shows motion by using lots of panning and rotating of still images.
Posted by richard ting at October 14, 2005, 07:24 AM
October 13, 2005
Perfect Dark Zero Campaign
Microsoft is hoping this game will be their next Halo-caliber success for Xbox 360.
“Visitors to this intriguing site are caught in a dark web of email, online and mobile phone experiences that come together to promote Perfect Dark Zero, the highly-anticipated video game exclusively for the Xbox 360 console. The multi-pronged viral campaign assembled by interactive marketing agency AKQA was launched on October 4, and kicks off with an email that directs you to a web video where you'll witness your own "death" at the hands of Joanna Dark. You then get a chance to send the sexy heroine to "take care" of a friend of your choice, who'll receive a similar email directing them to the web video—and once they get there, you'll receive a cell phone call from Joanna herself, informing you that the job is done.”
Posted by richard ting at October 13, 2005, 08:06 AM
Mini Roof Studio
Add a photo of your roof graphic to the Mini permanent collection.
Check it out.
Posted by richard ting at October 13, 2005, 07:54 AM
October 11, 2005
Wonderbra Site
Here's the latest Wonderbra site called 'Experience Wonder You'. Aside from the nice-looking ladies in the site, it's actually a really well designed site that simply tells the story of the four various effects of wearing a Wonderbra. Each effect aligns with the product benefit story of each story so the user walks away from the site better 'educated' about Wonderbras. The clean visual design, smooth animation, and simple storytelling make this a cool site.
Posted by richard ting at October 11, 2005, 04:51 AM
October 04, 2005
Absolut Metropolis
In its new campaign "Absolut Metropolis, the vodka brand Absolut picked up eleven "creative types" off the streets of Tokyo and asked them to put together an outfit/artwork inspired by the "Absolut" brand. I can't tell from the website whether these are "real" amateurs or recent Bunka graduates or what, but each individual conveniently has a different extreme-subcultural style. Put together, they are like a street-fashion Justice League Jr.
Posted by richard ting at October 04, 2005, 12:52 PM
September 26, 2005
Sony PlayStation bubble wrap exploitation
[via Joseph Cartman via Joystiq]
For those of you that can't get enough of that sweet sweet packaging crack called bubble wrap, then check out this addicting Playstation marketing campaign that was done in Malaysia.
Posted by richard ting at September 26, 2005, 09:34 AM
August 29, 2005
Nokia 20Lives, Advergame
[via adverblog]
Following the success of Nokia Game, on September 19th Nokia will introduce a new interactive adventure, Nokia 20Lives (the site doesn't work yet), combining the online and mobile experience in a unique challenge. Nokia 20Lives uses video and animated images on the Internet, as well as SMS, email and voice messages to share information with the players. During the game players have a chance to win a mobile phone or compete for the grand prizes, such as helicopter ride, spa weekend or trip to a Formula 1 weekend in Monaco, related to the lives of the 20 characters. To take part in Nokia 20Lives, participants need to have access to the Internet, an e-mail address, and a mobile phone with the capacity to receive short messages. Nokia 20Lives is open to all mobile phone users over the age of 16 in the 21 participating countries, and there is no participation fee.
Registration for Nokia 20Lives opens on August 29, 2005 at www.nokia.com/20Lives/, and players can register during the game until October 11. Nokia 20Lives will kick off on September 19 and it will be played until October 13, covering 21 European countries in 11 languages.
Posted by richard ting at August 29, 2005, 01:22 AM
August 11, 2005
3rd Annual MSN Creative Awards
MSN Creative Awards Celebrate Pioneers in Online Advertising.
Some of the U.S. advertising industry's most entertaining, effective and innovative online campaigns earned kudos last night at the third annual MSN Creative Awards, presented by MSN(R). Eight prominent agencies received a total of $50,000 to honor their groundbreaking work in four categories of online advertising for campaigns that appeared on MSN sites over the past year. The winners were chosen from more than 300 creative entries representing over 130 brands in a competition centered on the theme of Web pioneers.
Posted by richard ting at August 11, 2005, 01:26 AM
July 27, 2005
Burger King sexual captions an 'honest mistake'
[from Agenda Inc.]
Sexual double entendres were removed overnight from Burger King's new website, CoqRoq.com, but the company claims it has received no complaints from consumers or other outside groups, AdAge reports. The deleted content included captions, under photos of young girls, that read: "Groupies love the Coq" and "groupies love Coq."
The captions were there when the site went live yesterday, but according to Edna Johnson, SVP for global communications for Burger King, malfunctions in the Flash and XML programming were responsible for putting the captions up. A misspelling of "Burger King" had also been fixed, she said.
The site, created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky of Subservient Chicken fame, is designed to look like a rock band site. (The band is named CoqRoq, the lead singer Fowl Mouth.)
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at July 27, 2005, 06:41 AM
July 26, 2005
GAP Viral -- watchmechange.com
Here's a GAP viral piece by Crispin & Porter. WatchMeChange is similar to what other clothing retailers are doing with their Virtual Mannequins. However, this one is more for fun than finding clothes. You get to customize a person to look like you, choose some clothes, and then watch it dance and strip. Stupid shit, but it's from Crispin so it must be good.
Posted by richard ting at July 26, 2005, 06:18 AM
July 24, 2005
PSP Cutout Guitars
From today, if you happen to see a giant cardboard cut-out of a guitar, then you should know that it is your duty to interact with it.
In a bid to liven up the streets of London, PSP presents CutOut and will deposit 500 1.75m-tall electric guitar silhouettes around town, designed by Peter Saville and complete with frets and dials.
It is hoped that people will want to pick them up and play them, reinforcing PSP’s message of freedom and fun.
‘The guitar is the defining icon of electric pop culture,’ says Saville, who had an open brief as to what template he would design. ‘I wanted to design a super-sized cut-out for custom colouring and anarchic pantomime. I wanted to inspire people to feel like a child feeling grown-up.’
Fifty of the CutOuts will be signed by Peter Saville, but undoubtedly the real finds will be the 20 CutOuts that have been customised by 10 of the UK’s most hotly tipped newcomers from the fields of photography, art, graphic design, illustration, sculpture, textiles, product design, and silkscreen printing.
Posted by richard ting at July 24, 2005, 06:02 AM
July 18, 2005
Nestea Hopes Site Goes Viral
JUXT Interactive has created an absurdly interactive web environment for the new Nestea drink, Nestea Ice, geared to the 12- to 24-year-old male. The site incorporates original music videos, a design feature that allows visitors to create T-shirts, a short film, and other means of keeping visitors on the site as long as possible, writes MediaPost. Nestea is counting on the fact that the site will take advantage of the viral potential of the web. Since its launch in late June it has attracted about 2,200 unique visitors a day, but that is without the online ad campaign that will launch soon. The campaign will also include TV, point-of-purchase, radio, PR, and sampling.
Posted by richard ting at July 18, 2005, 03:52 AM
July 16, 2005
Everyone Runs. Eventually
Here's an addicting advergame from Saucony in support of it's new Saucony Propel shoe.
Posted by richard ting at July 16, 2005, 03:27 AM
July 13, 2005
PINK Asks Young Women to Show Cards, Thongs
Victoria's Secret PINK brand is challenging young women to take up cards and take off their jeans with the launch of a strip poker Web experience created by agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky.
The site, at PinkPantyPoker.com, targets women aged 18 to 24 with a first person gaming experience akin to several others the agency has created for clients such as Method and Burger King.
Site visitors go up against a group of five other characters, attractive men and women, in a game of five-card draw. Each round has a loser, and that character must remove an article of clothing. If the user on the end loses, his or her arm extends into the screen and drops a shirt, skirt or pair of pants, as the case may be.
"We're excited about this one because it brings together game-like qualities, but it's all about the product. Your goal is to see the product," said Jeff Benjamin, Crispin's interactive executive creative director. "It's a different way of showing a catalog."
The strip poker experience is intended to spread virally, so PINK hasn't deployed an ad buy to promote the site's launch. Benjamin said some banner ads have been created and may be placed around the Web if the client decides it wants to boost traffic. He claims early traffic reports are good, and he expects the site to be a hit with men as well as women.
At the end of the game, an e-mail forward feature sends a message reading, "Supermodel Alessandra is throwing a Panty Poker Party with her friends Chris, Bobby, Theresa and Tatiane. Check it out at [URL]. Hope you've got your lucky bikinis on."
PINK has been a CPB client since mid-2004. The agency has completed some banner advertising for it in the past, but this is the brand's first "major" online initiative.
Posted by richard ting at July 13, 2005, 07:16 AM
July 01, 2005
Nike Women: take sport, add music
[from adverblog]
Scholz & Friends Stockholm is behind the new Nike online marketing effort to support the Women Moves campaign. The agency has created a website to present the Nike Women Moves concept with a series of animated dancing silhouettes. Infotainment content explains visitors where to find the best dance courses and which trainer suits them best. A short film "The true tale" is also available. Don't expect too many special effects: the soundtrack is pretty good and so is the cartoon concept, but Nike used to do better.
Posted by richard ting at July 01, 2005, 02:20 AM
LEXUS TO LAUNCH PODCAST MARKETING CAMPAIGN
[from adage.com]
Signs 26-Week Deal With Calif. Radio Station KCRW
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Toyota Motor Sales USA's Lexus division has become the latest mainstream brand to seize on podcasting as a marketing tool. Lexus has bought into a podcasting campaign through public radio station KCRW in Southern California.
The luxury auto company has signed a 26-week deal to sponsor podcasts at Santa Monica, Calif., public radio station KCRW. The pact was signed on behalf of the Southern California Lexus Dealers and goes into effect tin October.
Lexus joins marketers such as General Motors Corp., Audi and Warner Bros. that are investigating this emerging technology that combines attributes of the Internet and radio to create a new sort of hybrid.
Podcasting is a method of distributing digital audio files across the Internet for users to download onto their iPods and MP3 players to listen to at their leisure. Some 22 million Americans now have a device that plays such files.
“Podcasting is a way to reach a fresh audience, a niche audience,” said Bill Flitter, chief marketing officer and founder of RSS ad network Pheedo. Audi, for example, is sponsoring a podcast for Autoblog. But Lexus also joins brands like condom maker Durex that want to appeal to younger, hipper consumers who are never far from their iPods and the desire to experience media of their choice when and how they want it.
Posted by richard ting at July 01, 2005, 02:13 AM
June 29, 2005
BringtheFast.com
Check out Verizon's branded entertainment campaign to build awareness of Verizon as a broadband company and its online DSL and FiOS products.
Posted by richard ting at June 29, 2005, 03:30 AM
June 10, 2005
Audi Touts Success of "Heist"
Audi of America is crowing over the results of its alternate reality gaming (ARG) "Art of the Heist" viral campaign. The company says the game has generated four times more online buzz for the A3 compact car, has engaged more than 200,000 people in a single day, and has attracted 79 percent more qualified visitors to the Audi Web site, as compared with previous efforts.
"'The Art of the Heist' represents a true innovation in the way Audi connects with its target consumer," said Stephen Berkov, Audi of America's director of marketing, in a statement. The effort, which began on April 1 in New York, revved up with the fictional theft of an Audi A3. Since then, game players have followed -- and participated in -- the adventures of Nisha Roberts and Ian Yarbrough, two specialists in recovering snatched art, as they track down digital clues hidden in Audis across the country. The tale of game designer Virgil Tatum, who is developing a game based on Roberts, also plays into the narrative.
The ARG was created by Audi's long-time ad agency, McKinney + Silver, in partnership with Campfire, which is an collaboration between Mike Monello and Gregg Hale of Haxan Films, GMD Studios and Chelsea Pictures.
Besides running online advertisements encouraging people to help find the stolen A3, the company has created a microsite at stolenA3.com where gamers can follow the action. Audi has also created a fictional site for Roberts and Yarbrough's company at lastresortretrieval.com, and a site for Tatum at virgilkingofcode.com.
The campaign also uses blogs and wild postings to keep the public updated about the alternate reality action. Additionally, game players have themselves created wikis (define) and fan sites, such as heist.smirkbox.com, to help others follow the narrative.
Posted by richard ting at June 10, 2005, 01:20 AM
May 31, 2005
The Clio Awards winners
[from adverblog]
The "Subservient Chicken" campaign created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky has been voted the "best of show" at the international Clio Awards. The campaign was awarded for the was for excellence in the brand building and its fresh approach. If you go on the Clio Awards site is not so easy to exactly understand who has won what. Anyway I tried to do my best to find out which were the best campaigns. Dentsu Tokio has won the bronze in the "self-promotion" category for its Interactive Salaryman. Crispin Porter + Bogusky Miami won the silver in the "Fresh Approach" category also for the MINI Robots campaign and the bronze for Virgin in the "Banner Ads" category. R/GA New York won the bronze in the "Fresh Approach" category for Nike Lab, the bronze in the "E-Commerce" category for Nike ID and again a bronze in the "Brand Building" category for Nike Lab.
Among the shortlisted entries for the Internet awards in the "banner ads category" we also find Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco with HP iPod Paterson Campaign, AgenciaClick, Sao Paulo for Instituto Nokia (Code-Blood - Tattoo campaign), Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand for the New Zealand Army campaign, OgilvyOne Worldwide, Singapore for the Levi's 501 Lived-In Banner.
AdWeek has an article which makes more clear who has won the awards and the categories in which no gold has been assigned.
Check out the Clios Awards Site.
Posted by richard ting at May 31, 2005, 11:06 AM
May 28, 2005
iCoke, Attempts of Interactive Youth Marketing
[from adverblog]
New Media Age reports this week Coca-Cola is getting ready for the global launch of iCoke, an highly interactive youth marketing program. The initiative has already debuted in China and Canada and should be supported by on-pack promotions to drive traffic online.
iCoke Canada is basically a loyalty marketing initiative which invites young users to collect points in order to gain prizes. The Canadian website features a competition which instantly gives away a Sony LCD Tv by inserting the PIN code found on the can. There is also a co-marketing section, the "Games Lounge" together with Sony Playstation. The "Download" area will offer mobile content such as wallpapers and ringtones but it's not active yet... It has a sad "coming soon" message which is one of the best move you can do to disappoint your audience.
I know naming a brand or a campaign is not simple, but "iCoke" isn't the most original name they could have come up with. Of course it's easy to remember, but it sounds so much like Apple. Furthermore I don't like the logo (look at the right side of this post) which doesn't say anything about Coca-Cola's personality and brand. All right, enough critics for me, let's wait for the iCoke launch in other countries.
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at May 28, 2005, 11:11 AM
May 26, 2005
The Spicy BBQ Burger - Paris Hilton
[from mediapost]
PARIS HILTON IS TOO HOT for TV (and the Internet, too). More ads taking advantage of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." Wendy's wants consumers to "do what tastes right." Let's launch! Paris Hilton's ad for Carl's Jr.'s Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger is so hot that not only have watchdog groups labeled it soft-core porn but the ad crashed SpicyParis.com, a site featuring a 60-second version of the ad. The 30-second spot launched May 19 on the West Coast and shows Hilton eating The Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger while washing a Bentley in what's been labeled a "bathing suit." Throw in some not-so subliminal images (hello gushing hose) and the final product will still leave viewers asking, "What burger company was that for?" Mendelsohn|Zien, Los Angeles created the ad.
Posted by richard ting at May 26, 2005, 01:50 AM
May 20, 2005
The Mazda "Car Wars"
[from adverblog]
DMC London is planning, seeding and tracking a new viral buzz for Mazda. The campaign, called "Car Wars" features a web-exclusive film created to raise brand awareness and boost demand for the Mazda B-Series pick-up.
The video shows three men trying to impress a sexy sophisticated woman by flashing their car keys (one driver owns an Aston Martin, one has a Porsche and a guy has a Mazda B-Series). Who will she pick and why? I know you can guess the answer, but watch the video anyway, it's funny!
Posted by richard ting at May 20, 2005, 06:34 AM
May 19, 2005
NYC2012 - City of Dreams
There's a new feature on NYC2012’s website—the City of Dreams. This application allows people to enter their names and their dreams for the 2012 Olympics in New York, and creates a graphical city skyline using those entries. Anyone can visit the City of Dreams and add their own contribution.
Posted by richard ting at May 19, 2005, 06:12 AM
May 16, 2005
Red Bull Creativity Contest
Submitted by blogger, Daniel Harvey. Red Bull introduces their Creativity Contest campaign which borrows upon various elements from previous campaigns and websites. Brands like Nike, Vans, and Fila have given up their products for artist re-interpretation for years. While, the full screen sliding action pioneered by Frost Design and the faux z-depth action done by Matthew Mahon are gaining steam in design circles. Overall, the site is well designed and well executed. Unfortunately, I can't read Dutch or French so I can't fully tell how compelling the artist renditions are.
Posted by richard ting at May 16, 2005, 10:39 AM
May 12, 2005
BUILD YOUR OWN NIKE SHOE -- ABOVE TIMES SQUARE
[from Adage.com]
New Billboard Promotion Is Activated by Mobile Phones
May 09, 2005
by Kris Oser
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In its customary way of going for ever bigger and more different promotions, Nike has purchased a build-your-own-shoe media placement on the 23-story-high Reuters sign on the Reuters Building in Times Square. The Nike build-a-shoe sign on the Reuters building in Times Square. Click to see larger photo.
Real-time designing
The promotion, which is part of the sports apparel giant's NikeID campaign, lets passersby with a cell phone to call a toll-free number to access the technology and use the dial pad to choose aspects of a sneaker they prefer and build it in real time on the sign. After first picking out the colors of the laces, swoosh, uppers and mid-sole of the sport shoe and then customizing it with initials or other personal tags, the consumer is sent an SMS message with a picture of the personalized shoe and the Web address (www.nyc.nikeid.com) where it can be purchased. The technology is available between noon and 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
"The more you allow people to stop what they are doing and interact with a brand, the better it's going to be," said John Mayo-Smith, vice president of technology at R/GA, the interactive agency that handled the campaign. "But just as important, the people who are watching the sign are getting a brand experience, too."
Nike would not comment for this story.
Posted by richard ting at May 12, 2005, 03:08 AM
May 09, 2005
Grocery Store Wars
[from mediapost]
Okay, it looks like just about everyone is attempting to capitalize on the upcoming release of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." The Organic Trade Association (OTA) and Free Range Studios have launched a five-minute movie online. "Store Wars: The Organic Rebellion" features Cuke Skywalker, Princess Lettuce, Chewbroccoli, and other organic rebels played by real vegetables (I hope none were injured through the making of this film). They are dressed as Star Wars characters and battle with Darth Tader, the evil lord of the Dark Side of the Farm. By spoofing a pop culture phenomenon like "Star Wars," OTA hopes to attract a new generation of organic consumers, especially those who grew up watching the movies.
Posted by richard ting at May 09, 2005, 10:20 AM
May 08, 2005
AMEX - My Life My Card
This is a cool campaign that AMEX runs. A different item every day. Limited Quantities. Special Cardmember-only prices. Users can only make purchases at given times. Last Christmas, the site was selling BMW Z3s for $4500 (not 45,000) and Treo 600s for $150.
Posted by richard ting at May 08, 2005, 12:59 PM
April 27, 2005
Nokia Concept Lounge
Here's a mediocre brand experience from Nokia Belgium. There's a sweepstakes component that enters you in for a chance to win the Nokia 7710 smartphone. You can also check out future Nokia concepts as well as learn about the Nokia Benelux Open Design Awards.
Posted by richard ting at April 27, 2005, 07:45 AM
Google Starts Pilot Program to Serve RSS Ads
GOOGLE THIS WEEK ROLLED OUT a test program to serve ads into RSS feeds, the search giant confirmed Tuesday. The program debuted on Longhornblogs.com, a blog devoted to information about an upcoming version of Microsoft Windows. Robert McLaws, one of the authors at Longhornblogs.com, posted on the blog early Tuesday morning that the sites' RSS feeds were now including ads served via AdSense. Although McLaws said on his blog that he couldn't release many details, he stated that if Google decides to launch this product, AdSense publishers could expect to see a wider-reaching public beta within the next few weeks. On the other hand, McLaws wrote, the ads in the test feeds could be temporarily removed, or may be discontinued altogether. He did not respond to requests for comment from OnlineMediaDaily.
In November, Yahoo! announced it was looking into serving RSS ads, and in February, the popular blog BoingBoing.net announced it was experimentally hosting ads in its RSS feeds through a partnership with Feedburner, an RSS and Atom syndication technology company, and Overture. Also in February, Kanoodle and Moreover announced a joint effort to create publisher tools for serving ads into RSS feeds.
Posted by richard ting at April 27, 2005, 07:38 AM
April 07, 2005
Audi - "The Art of the Heist" Becomes Reality
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[from ARGN]
The new ARG that we reported on just a few days ago, The Art of the Heist, shocked players yesterday when it became a real world example of just that: A major heist in the middle of New York City!
Players found clues yesterday that there was going to be a party at a car dealership on Park Ave. at 7:00 pm last night, and made plans to meet up at what they anticipated to be some sort of in-game event. Once they arrived, however, they discovered that instead of a party, someone had apparently stolen an Audi show car! There was plastic over one of the doors, an area inside that showroom that was cordoned off with police tape, and security guards outside.
A woman with a clipboard handed out flyers, and there was a sign asking for further information, along with a phone number to report to. Calls to the number reportedly connected with Audi of America.
Since its beginning just a few days ago, The Art of the Heist has unloaded a boatload of material for players to digest, including acess to dozens and dozens of emails, videos, photos, documents, voicemail messages, and now a missing car. We have to say that this is the most explosive beginning to any Alternate Reality Game we've seen so far. Players have been busy developing resources and getting organized, as the links below will attest. Stay tuned for much more on this one.
Posted by richard ting at April 07, 2005, 10:45 AM
April 06, 2005
touchingisgood.com - A Nintendo DS campaign
What a weird campaign. Nintendo DS is encouraging users to grab a camera (and a mannequin hand) and photograph something cool to enter into their contest. They'll pick a few of the best photos and send them a Nintendo DS or... some cold hard cash.
If you don't have a mannequin hand, don't fret, they'll even mail you a mannequin hand!
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at April 06, 2005, 02:43 AM
March 27, 2005
Nike Commercials on the PSP
Check out the PSP site.
Check out the Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2K5 commercial.
Check out the Nike Shox VCIV commercial.
Posted by richard ting at March 27, 2005, 03:40 AM
March 25, 2005
Volvo V50 site
This site's been up for a while and it won a Cannes Cyberlion during the 2004 season, but i'm still posting it because it's such a great experience. The main objective for this site is that the car is a great driver’s car and also the safest car in its size ever built by Volvo. The sign-off for the whole campaign is Have Fun. On the site you go on a nice trip to the beach, read all about the features and experience almost everything about the car, both inside and out.
It was designed by Forsman & Bodenfors in Sweden.
Posted by richard ting at March 25, 2005, 05:35 AM
March 22, 2005
The New Pitch - Do Ads Still Work
[from the New Yorker]
THE NEW PITCH
by KEN AULETTA
Do ads still work?
In the introduction to his 1963 best-seller, “Confessions of an Advertising Man,” David Ogilvy apologized for writing “in the old-fashioned first person singular.” In the intervening decades—the years of, among others, Madonna and Donald Trump—that modest impulse has faded. The inclination now is more toward emphatic self-promotion. Linda Kaplan Thaler, who today enjoys an Ogilvy-like reputation as one of advertising’s creative talents, co-wrote a book on marketing in 2003, and advised her peers, “Don’t worry about whether the news is good or bad. Just get covered. . . . PR breeds PR.”
I thought of Thaler when I began to look into whether advertising, which plays such a large role in the American economy, might be ailing, and how it was being affected by new media and by new technologies. (Last year, more than five hundred billion dollars was spent on advertising and marketing in the United States—half the worldwide total.) Thaler still believes that the old-fashioned advertising model works; and it seems to work for her. Although the industry’s growth has slowed in recent years and profit margins have shrivelled, the Kaplan Thaler Group, which she founded in 1997, has flourished.
Thaler, who is fifty-four, has been around long enough to have seen the business change. In Ogilvy’s day, within a single mile of Madison Avenue one could find America’s—and therefore the world’s—most celebrated ad agencies: Ogilvy Benson & Mather, Young & Rubicam, McCann-Erickson, Grey Advertising, Ted Bates & Company, J. Walter Thompson, Benton & Bowles. Agency people saw one another while dining or drinking at Pavillon, “21,” and other establishments. The business was romanticized and mocked in popular culture, sometimes as a trade where failed poets became embittered copywriters and had too many Martinis along the way. It was portrayed as manipulative, in books like “The Hidden Persuaders”; as ruthless, in movies like “The Hucksters”; and as innocent (or sinister) fun, in the memoirs of some of its practitioners.
The path to profits was once fairly straightforward: clients paid agencies fifteen per cent of each advertising dollar, and most of those dollars went to the three television networks. In 1965, advertisers could reach eighty per cent of their most coveted viewers—those between the ages of eighteen and forty-nine—just by buying time on CBS, NBC, or ABC. “You could put together a media plan in an hour,” Roy Bostock, the former chairman and C.E.O. of the MacManus Group, recalls. “When we introduced Scope, in the mid-sixties, we were able with television advertising in the first four weeks of the ad campaign to reach more than ninety per cent of U.S. television households ten times.”
By the late nineties, some clients began to rebel against paying a flat commission, preferring fees, usually billed by the hour. (Linda Kaplan Thaler says, “I sometimes worry that clients are paying us for the hours we spend working on projects rather than the worth of the ideas.”) And the agencies have long since left Madison Avenue—a street now frequented mostly for its luxury stores—for other parts of Manhattan and the rest of the world. But the name remains a synonym for an industry that bears little resemblance to what it once was.
Posted by richard ting at March 22, 2005, 12:19 PM
Old Spice - When She's Hot
The good 'ole video/audio mixer brought to you by Old Spice. Music by the X-Ecutioners.
Posted by richard ting at March 22, 2005, 06:43 AM
March 18, 2005
NBC Gives New Meaning To Buying 'Space,' Premieres Show On MySpace.com
[from Mediapost]
IN A FIRST OF ITS kind deal for NBC, the peacock network Wednesday night debuted new prime-time comedy "The Office" via a webcast on MySpace.com, a week ahead of its March 29 broadcast TV premiere. MySpace.com is the kind of "social networking" site that NBC's promo team hopes will generate water cooler talk in advance of the TV debut. Vivi Zigler, senior vice president of marketing and advertising services at the nework's in-house NBC Agency said it is the first time the network has webcast its content online. A nearly 13-minute clip of the premiere will be available at MySpace today through the end of the month.
As other cable and broadcast networks have relied on large Web portals like America Online and Yahoo! to Webcast their content for promotional purposes, Zigler admitted that MySpace was an unusual choice of venue for NBC. "We specifically wanted to avoid the big portals because that's been done," Zigler explained, adding that the network liked the younger composion of MySpace's audience.
In fact, MySpace has a sizable member base. The site, a subsidiary of Intermix Media, Inc., attracted 8.9 million unique visitors who generated 4.6 billion page views last month, and was the seventh most trafficked Web domain in February, according to comScore Media Metrix. "What was really controversial was previewing it so early before it hit TV," said Zigler, adding: "'The Office' is not your ordinary show, so it's extra important to let as many people as possible actually experience it, and understand it, and get it."
At MySpace, users can fashion profiles, blog, instant message, e-mail, download music, create photo galleries, and search classified listings, events, groups, chat rooms, and user forums. Registered MySpace users can join "The Office" group on MySpace to share their own office mishaps through personal profiles, blogs, and other MySpace features.
It's becoming more common today for cable and broadcast networks to partner with major Web portals to Webcast new shows as a promotional gimmick. A few examples include America Online teaming with Bravo, an NBC-Universal-owned entity, to Webcast "Queer Eye for the Straight Girl," and before that Warner Bros. previewing its teen drama "Jack & Bobby" on AOL. Showtime and Yahoo! getting together recently to Webcast "Fat Actress" is another example.
"The Office" will air regularly on Tuesdays at 9:30-10 p.m. EST on NBC.
Posted by richard ting at March 18, 2005, 06:03 AM
March 15, 2005
Subaru Leads with Interactive for Product Launch
[from clickz]
When Subaru was plotting how to build awareness for its upcoming B9 Tribeca luxury SUV -- a new model, in a new space -- the carmaker went online to build and maintain excitement for a 6-month pre-launch campaign. The campaign was developed by New York interactive agency R/GA, part of Interpublic Group. It aims to introduce prospective buyers to Subaru's first 7-passenger luxury vehicle. The online campaign includes a mini-site at b9tribeca.com, and an online sweepstakes. Site visitors are encouraged to opt-in to receive information by e-mail as it becomes available. An online B9 Tribeca giveaway incites users to sign up.
Offline efforts are comprised of traveling interactive kiosks that will provide information and capture customer opt-ins at major auto shows. Subaru will also organize events at the shows for existing owners that will encourage opt-in to the e-mail list. "Our goal is to harness the pent-up demand for the product, to build awareness, and to let people start engaging with the brand," said Jonathan Rivard, manager of Subaru's CRM group.
Read more.
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at March 15, 2005, 10:39 AM
Infiniti Sponsors Mobile-Enabled Site
MOBILE CONTENT PROVIDER AVANTGO ANNOUNCED Tuesday that it will offer a mobile-enabled Web site for college hoops fans, sponsored by Infiniti's newest luxury sedan, the Infiniti M. The mobile site will be able to deliver game day scores and statistics to users' mobile phones and devices, and will build brand recognition for the M sedan by presenting information about the car's features, with vehicle specs and high-resolution photos. In 2003, Infiniti sponsored a similar mobile site for March Madness to promote its FX45 SUV.
Posted by richard ting at March 15, 2005, 10:08 AM
March 13, 2005
New Balance Sneaker Ads Jab At Pro Athletes' Pretensions
By JOE PEREIRA
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 10, 2005; Page B1
Most sneaker makers, hoping to sell more shoes, seek allies in the world of professional sports. But New Balance Inc. is taking a different stance on athletes: disparage them. The company's latest television spots, due to start airing this weekend, feature a stern young basketball player who dispenses advice to "some of the pros out there." He says: "Just in case you forgot, this is what a pass looks like. This is what a floor burn looks like." The last dig occurs as a player in the background dives for a ball.
The none-too-subtle message of the campaign, "For Love or Money," is that that pros perform for the latter, not the former. The ads, created by Boston agency Boathouse Inc., continue more than a decade of iconoclastic marketing that has served New Balance well. Closely held and relatively unheralded, the Boston-based company has amassed a 13% market share of the U.S. athletic footwear market, and has moved into the No. 2 spot behind Nike Inc., according to retail sales tracked by researcher NPD Group Inc. All the while, it has gained traction without the aid of celebrity pitchmen.
New Balance's surge began in 1992, when, with only 3% of the market, it launched its "Endorsed by No One" campaign in an industry that even then was paying top stars millions to plug sneaker brands. New Balance ads give pro athletes jabs, not glory. But that effort didn't take on professional sports directly, the way "Love or Money" does. Suggesting that National Basketball Association stars are lazy is a risky strategy, as the professionals and their big-name friends in sneakerdom could wind up attacking New Balance in turn.
"The last time I checked New Balance was in business to make money and the ads are designed to make consumers spend money," says Mike Bass, an NBA spokesman. "Our players play for love but happen to make a lot of money." New Balance will spend $21 million on the campaign, just about its entire promotional budget for the year. That is a pittance compared to the $1.4 billion that Nike spent on marketing and ads last year. On its restricted budget, New Balance can't really compete in securing endorsers, so its downside in alienating stars is minimal.
Boathouse, a four-year-old agency, is known for, among other things, bringing the bull back into Merrill Lynch's ads. It began working on the New Balance campaign after the Olympics in Athens.
At the games, the U.S. fielded a second-string basketball team after stars like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Jason Kidd declined to play. Losses to Puerto Rico, Greece and Lithuania, embarrassed the Americans. Following the games, the agency surfed Internet boards to find what people were saying world-wide about sportsmanship. "It came back very clear to us that the behavior of certain athletes was a common focus of discussions," says James Overall, a partner and creative director at Boathouse. "What some of the athletes say and do are just unbelievable," says New Balance CEO and founder Jim Davis in an interview. "Whether they like it or not, they are the role models for our children."
Posted by richard ting at March 13, 2005, 02:29 AM
March 03, 2005
Frito-Lay Urges "Millennials" to Seize the Moment
In late January, billboards with the cryptic message "inNw?" began appearing across the country. Since then, the campaign expanded to TV, text messaging, and a Web site that reveals that solves the mystery. The campaign's message: "If not now when?" The mysterious effort is promoting a new Doritos flavor, Black Pepper Jack, to 16-24 year olds, a group PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division calls "Millennials."
"'If not now when?' is all about living life in the now and taking advantage of every single opportunity possible," said Lora DeVuono, advertising VP for Frito-Lay North America, in a statement. "This attitude is what is important to Millennials, and it's how they look at the Doritos brand."
The main agency behind the concept and the traditional advertising is BBDO New York. Tribal DDB Dallas created the Web site and online advertising. Hip Cricket, a Connecticut-based mobile marketing firm, designed the mobile marketing interaction. Spending on the effort wasn't disclosed.
Read more.
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at March 03, 2005, 12:18 PM
February 26, 2005
Pimp My Burger
[from adrant]
Apparently, Burger King is going viral again with PimpMyBurger, a site which contains a video featuring some dudes rapping about a chicken burger getting pimped. Some Whois research revealed the site is registered to Munchen, Germany-based Omnicom agency start-munich which list as one of its clients Burger King. At the end of the video, the date of March 1 is mentioned indicating, perhaps, the date all will be revealed.
Posted by richard ting at February 26, 2005, 11:36 AM
February 25, 2005
MSN Search Finds Viral Campaign
[from mediapost]
by Shankar Gupta
NOT CONTENT WITH its massive television, Internet, and radio advertising blitz to promote its newly released proprietary search engine MSN Search, MSN apparently has released a viral campaign, “MSN Found,” to promote the search site.
An MSN spokesperson declined to comment on the viral campaign, other than to say: “There is a lot of great content to be found out on the Web. ‘Found’ complements MSN Search by finding more of the unique content on the Web.”
When the MSN Search marketing blitz was being announced, an MSN executive told OnlineMediaDaily that an agency called 42 Entertainment would be creating virals to promote the search engine.
42 Entertainment declined to comment on the campaign, and referred any questions to MSN’s public relations firm. An MSN spokesperson confirmed that 42 Entertainment worked on the viral campaign, saying: “MSN works with a number of third-party companies, and 42 Entertainment has worked on this and a number of other Microsoft projects.”
Read more.
Check out the msnfound.com site.
Posted by richard ting at February 25, 2005, 10:52 AM
February 24, 2005
New Delivery Service for Lazy Videogame Nerds
Pizza is just a few key strokes away. While playing EverQuest II just type /pizza and a web browser will launch the online ordering section of pizzahut.com. Fill in your info and just kick back until fresh pizza is delivered straight to your door.
Posted by richard ting at February 24, 2005, 06:07 AM
February 23, 2005
3M Security Glass Ad
Posted by richard ting at February 23, 2005, 06:13 AM
counterfeitmini.org
Those Crispin & Porter guys are back with another faux-site for the Counter Counterfeit Commission. Here's the mission statement of the CCC taken directly from their website. "At the CCC, we're dedicated to putting an end to the victimization associated with purchasing a counterfeit MINI Cooper. We cooperate with MINI and international law enforcement to pursue criminals. But there's one other crucial partner we need to recruit: YOU. We can't do this without YOU. Educate yourself about the problem. Learn how to detect a fake. Know when you're being hoodwinked. Together, we can put an end to this appalling injustice. Together, we can make our streets genuine once again."
Posted by richard ting at February 23, 2005, 03:15 AM
February 18, 2005
Interactive Viral Campaigns Ask Consumers to Spread the Word
[from nytimes.com]
By NAT IVES
During the early days of Internet advertising, skeptics often argued that Web ads would never sell prosaic packaged goods effectively.
As more Americans become comfortable with the Web, though, major marketers are increasingly asking agencies to produce elaborate, interactive online campaigns - even for grocery store goods that hardly anyone researches or buys online.
One of the shiniest lures online is the developing field of viral advertising, in which companies try to create messages so compelling, funny or suggestive that consumers spontaneously share them with friends, often through e-mail or cellphone text messages. The goal is the exponential spread of ads that are endorsed by consumers' own friends.
The best-known viral success may be the offbeat "Subservient Chicken" site, created to promote a Burger King chicken sandwich. The site, which shows a person in a chicken suit who seems to follow typed commands from Web surfers, has drawn 13.9 million unique visitors since it went live in April 2004, according to the agency that created it, Crispin Porter & Bogusky in Miami.
Posted by richard ting at February 18, 2005, 04:28 AM
February 08, 2005
GoDaddy Turns to Web After Fox Pulls Ad
PROVING ONCE AGAIN THAT CONTROVERSY can be a boost to marketing, GoDaddy used the Internet to parlay an ad censored by the NFL into big post-game buzz. GoDaddy bought one spot in the first half and another in the second, but the NFL reportedly convinced Fox to withdraw the second ad mid-game, after the first one ran. The ad featured a buxom spokeswoman in a tank top, who nearly suffers a wardrobe malfunction while testifying before a Congressional panel about what she would be doing on her proposed ad.
After Fox refused to air a second ad, GoDaddy came up with a post-game strategy to write about Fox's decision in the blog of CEO Bob Parsons, which also contained links to the ad. The tactic worked, said Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer of Intelliseek. "They pursued an edgy strategy from the very beginning," Blackshaw said. "People related to that ad on a whole bunch of different levels. There was sexual titillation, and advertising industry insiders got into the whole mocking of the FCC censorship."
Other ads that were generating heat online, like Federal Express's ad--which featured Burt Reynolds getting kicked in the groin by a talking bear--had their buzz cut into by GoDaddy's controversy, Blackshaw said.
Posted by richard ting at February 08, 2005, 09:05 AM
February 05, 2005
Meet the Lucky Ones - Mercury Vehicles
The Lucky Ones is a series of character-based web-isodes created by Mercury Vehicles. Surprisingly, there's zero brand tie-in or product benefit story in any of the web-isodes. The web-isodes are well written, well produced, and remind me a lot of Wes Anderson's style in the Royal Tennembaums.
Posted by richard ting at February 05, 2005, 01:53 AM
February 04, 2005
McDonalds Wants You To F*ck Its Sandwiches
I'm not quite sure what McDonald's was thinking when they launched this Ad banner unit. It looks like the copywriter may be a bit out of touch with urban slang.
Posted by richard ting at February 04, 2005, 12:44 PM
January 26, 2005
Like Crispin Porter
So there seems to be another one of those viral faux sites floating around on the web. Now it's a site poking fun at all the agencies striving to replicate the amazing success of Crispin's Mini Cooper and Subservient Chicken campaigns from last year. I guess the "I want it to be Like Crispin Porter" mentality reached its crescendo with Advertising Age's recent crowning of Crispin Porter as the Agency of the Year. Given Crispin's recent history of viral faux sites, one would be stupid not to think that Crispin didn't actually seed this latest prank.
Here's a quote from the homepage, "At Like Crispin Porter we create work that is like Crispin Porter's work. Of course Like Crispin Porter is not exactly the same as Crispin Porter. We don't have clients. Or an office. Or a staff. In that sense I guess we could have called ourselves Like Grey Worldwide Canada. But we didn't. Because we're Like Crispin Porter."
Posted by richard ting at January 26, 2005, 10:33 AM
January 24, 2005
Web Surfers Crack G.M.'s Mystery Ad
[from nytimes.com]
Can an advertising campaign based on a teaser survive after its secret has been let out? The marketing team at General Motors hopes so, after some Web surfers spoiled a national promotion that was intended to gradually reveal a secret message. Under the campaign, which is about half completed, each day a billboard in a different part of the country divulges a word (or a punctuation mark) in a message. A billboard in Arlington, Tex., for example, says "you." One in New York City shows a period.
The billboards also promote the Web site www.findthemessage.com, on which G.M. explains that it created the campaign to spread "a message so important we need the whole country to tell it." But some Web visitors quickly found that most of the "secret" message is included in the site's source code. In a posting on the site's bulletin boards, a Web surfer using the name "J1mmy" wrote that the message was: "This is the last time you will ever have to feel alone on our nation's roadways."
Read more.
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at January 24, 2005, 01:18 AM
January 20, 2005
BMW To Launch Mobile Effort For 3 Series Models
[from MediaPost]
By Shankar Gupta
Boomerang Mobile Media, a cellular-based media company, has launch