Coca-Cola - 2nd Lives

Sustainability is a hot topic these days.  More and more companies are realizing that they can play an active role in alleviating some of the big problems that face the world while also using sustainability initiatives to contribute to the growth of their business.  Unilever is the most prominent in this space as they recently committed to halving their environmental footprint while doubling the size of their business by 2020.  One of the issues with sustainability initiatives is that they can often come across as either greenwashing or too worthy/preachy.  It's a classic case of 'show me, don't tell me,' while the 'show' part is often difficult to pull off.

Coca-Cola, who have also been active in the sustainability arena have cracked the 'show me, don't tell me' problem in their latest campaign.  Coca-Cola - 2nd Lives encourages the reuse of Coca Cola bottles by introducing a range of 'innovative caps intend to transform used bottles into fun and useful objects and encourage consumers to reuse and re-purpose plastic.'  The program recently launched in Vietnam and will be rolling out across other Asian markets (and hopefully beyond).  The idea is quite simple, the bottle caps can be fitted onto empty Coke bottles thereby giving them new life as either toys (think water gun) or useful objects (think hot sauce or shampoo dispenser).

It's a wonderful idea that I would love to see other brands embrace (not to mention Coke rolling it out across more markets).  It also plays perfectly into the trend around Lifehacks.  Just scrolling through this Tumblr of 99 Lifehacks inspires dozens of ways that other brands could encourage consumers to reduce and reuse their products after they've been consumed.

Coca-Cola - Personal Road

Back in 2011 Coca-Cola launched the incredible 'Share A Coke' campaign in Australia.  The campaign saw Coca-Cola print 150 of the country’s most popular names on labels of Coke bottles for the first time in the brand’s history.  The idea was to give people a reason to connect with friends through a Coke and by every measure was a huge success.  Since then Coca-Cola has been rolling out the campaign across the world, recently launching Israel where Coke & Gefen Team took the idea of personalization a step further.  They transformed the a series of prominent billboards into interactive displays.  Consumers were asked to download the Coca-Cola smartphone app and enter their name.  The app would then transmit and display their name on the billboard whenever they were in range (using geo-fence technology).  The app would then notify the user when their name was being displayed.

I would normally write this off as a gimmick with too many barriers to entry to get traction amongst users, but one shouldn't underestimate the narcissistic nature of today's smartphone user and their desire to see their name up in lights.  The app ranked #1 in Israel's app store and was downloaded over 100k times.  It's a cool idea and a wonderful execution, but also somewhat creepy.  Is this the first step on the road to the dystopian personalized advertising as imagined in Minority Report?  Check out the case study video below.



Posted by: Reuben Halper

A Few Things I Like But Don't Have The Time To Write Up - NBC, San Pellegrino, & Oakley

Premier League On NBC
American TV network NBC recently acquired the rights to broadcast the English Premier League games in the States.  In advance of this past weekend's season opener they released this hilarious video.  So, so good.



San Pellegrino
I love this little experiment by San Pellegrino that gives their audience the chance to experience a little bit Italy by allowing them to control a robot in a small town in Sicily.

Oakley Dreamland - A Backyard Progression
Red Bull has forced other brands associated with action sports to step up their game.  Oakley has answered the call with what's one of the most epic skate videos you've ever seen.  If nothing else, fast forward to 7:30 to see amazing Helicopter shenanigans.  Interesting that the brand didn't split this into multiple episodes as there's just such a wealth of great stuff in the 8-minute long video.




Posted by: Reuben Halper

Baba Beptanol Baby

As a new parent, it's been fascinating to see/experience just how much myself and my wife use the Internet for all things baby.  Recent research also shows that new and expectant Moms spend 35% more time online than the general population.  Obviously this represents a real opportunity for brands to insert themselves into the Moments That Matter for new parents.  As a result, I've been looking at ways, (both good and bad) that brands are providing utility to an inherently time poor audience of new parents.  One of my favorite examples comes from JWT Brazil for the brand Bepantol.  They created the Babá Bepantol Baby app which turns two iOS devices into a baby monitor.  From a utility perspective it can potentially eliminate the need to buy a baby monitor, or provide an ad-hoc baby monitor for situations where the family is away from home.  The app allows parents to talk to their children, provide ambient light around the baby, play lullabies, etc.  It's a great idea and particularly relevant when you look at the same research around smartphone usages for new Moms: 'The smartphone quickly becomes the mother's significant other: 36% of women purchase a smartphone as a result of becoming a mum, while 59% of mothers called it their do-everything device.' 

Check out the case study video below.



Posted by: Reuben Halper

Dove - Camera Shy

Off the back of the tremendous success of the Real Beauty Sketches, Dove has released the latest ad in their quest to reduce the self-esteem issues that women face.  The latest film, Camera Shy, was created by Ogilvy & Mather London asks the question; When did you stop thinking you were beautiful?  The film, which won Gold at Cannes, shows shows footage of  women of all ages desperately trying to hide from the camera, before ending with shots of pre-schoolers confidently parading and performing for the camera.  It ends with the line 'Be Your Beautiful Self.'
The film is growing in popularity, with nearly 17 million views to date, though that is a far cry from the nearly 150 million views that the Real Beauty Sketches video racked up.  I find the insight behind this video more compelling than Dove Real Beauty Sketches insight 'You are more beautiful than you think.'  Scientifically speaking that statement may actually be false.  This article from Scientific American sums it up quite nicely 'The evidence from psychological research suggests instead that we tend to think of our appearance in ways that are more flattering than are warranted. This seems to be part of a broader human tendency to see ourselves through rose colored glasses. Most of us think that we are better than we actually are — not just physically, but in every way.'

The article goes on to describe a series of studies in which 'researchers took pictures of study participants and, using a computerized procedure, produced more attractive and less attractive versions of those pictures. Participants were told that they would be presented with a series of images including their original picture and images modified from that picture. They were then asked to identify the unmodified picture. They tended to select an attractively enhanced one.'

Regardless they're both wonderful pieces of work that hopefully serve to help women to feel better about their self-image.




Posted by: Reuben Halper

Other Things I Like But Don't Have Time To Write Up - Old Spice, Tap King, Samsung & Heineken

Old Spice - Architect
I love the recent work for Old Spice from W+K that brings back 80s type jingles.  Check out the latest video, 'Architect.'


Tap King - Lionel Richie Beer Fridge
Lionel Richie + Beer makes for a winning ad.


Samsung - All Eyes On The S4
A great stunt to demonstrate a killer feature of the Samsung S4, namely that it knows when you're looking at the screen.


Heineken - Departure Roulette
In order to promote the new Heineken 'Dropped' episodic adventure series on YouTube, Heineken challenged travelers in JFK to drop their travel plans and play departure roulette where Heineken would send them to a random destination.



Posted by: Reuben Halper

Coca-Cola - The Ahhh Effect

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A Few Other Things I Like But Don't Have Time To Write Up

Coca-Cola Small World Machines
Another wonderful execution under the Coca-Cola 'Open Happiness' umbrella, this time bringing together people in Pakistan & India.  The number of activations around Coca-Cola vending machines around 'Open Happiness' is seemingly endless.


A Boy & His Atom - The World's Smallest Movie
This is incredible. IBM created the world's smallest stop motion film.  As they describe 'The ability to move single atoms — the smallest particles of any element in the universe — is crucial to IBM's research in the field of atomic memory. But even nanophysicists need to have a little fun. In that spirit, IBM researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope to move thousands of carbon monoxide molecules (two atoms stacked on top of each other), all in pursuit of making a movie so small it can be seen only when you magnify it 100 million times. A movie made with atoms.'


Getty Images - 85 Seconds
Last year, AlmapBBDO created a beautiful film from various stock photography to demonstrate the depth and breadth of the Getty Images library.  Now, AlmapBBDO has done the same thing to show off the depth of their video archive.  85 seconds tells the love story of a couple who meet as children, separate after college and reunite later in life.

Holland - The Original Cool
This amazing video was developed by the Mustache Agency for The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Amsterdam Marketing and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.  The Original Cool is part of a larger advertising campaign aimed at the North American travel market.



Posted by: Reuben Halper

Coca-Cola - Small World Machines

I recently came across this teaser video for the latest in Coca-Cola's ongoing 'Open Happiness' initiative (via Jonathan Mildenhall, VP of Creative @ Coca Cola).  Open Happiness has been running since 2009 and is a great example of how many different executions can be developed from one truly fertile big idea.  I'm also amazed at how many different ways Coke and their respective agencies have been able to bring the 'Open Happiness' idea to life through various owned assets such as Coca-Cola trucks, vending machines, etc.

The latest execution seems to be a natural extension of last year's Coca-Cola Re:Brief project which delivered on the brand promise from the classic 'Hilltop' TV ad of forty years ago, allowing people around the world to buy a stranger a Coke from the web.

The 'Small World machines' video shows vending machines using streaming video to allow customers at one vending machine to see and interact with a person in front of a Coke machine in another part of the world.  The two geographically separated people must then virtually join hands to draw a heart and earn a Coke.  It's a nice way to deliver on the idea that Coke is something that connects people in spite of their differences.  I'm looking forward to see how this worlds in the real-world.  In the meantime, check out the video below:



Posted by: Reuben Halper

Le Trefle - Emma

This is just a lovely piece of work from Leo Burnett France for French paper company, Le Trefle, reminding us that we'll always need paper, at least in some aspects of our lives.


Posted by: Reuben Halper

Nivea - Stress Test

I love this fantastically executed stunt from Nivea in Germany to promote their Stress Protect line.  Nivea's agency, Felix & Lamberti, setup an elaborate ambush in an airport waiting lounge, making it seem that the targeted person was wanted by the police.  I don't want to spoil the video, so I'd just suggest you watch below.

Valentine's Day - Nivea, Sky, & Ikea

In honor of the most Hallmark of holidays, I thought it'd be nice to show few examples of Valentine's Day executions that stood out in my mind.

Nivea - A Date To Remember
Nivea is promoting their new Stress Protect deodorant range which 'provides proven protection under stress, so whatever happens, you can stay cool and confident.'  Developed by Agency Republic, A Date To Remember is billed as the first date that the user controls.  The interactive YouTube experience allows the user to choose how the date (awkwardly) unfolds while showing the stress level that the 'ordinary' girl is experiencing.  Check out the trailer below and have a play around with the experience on the Nivea UK YouTube channel.



Sky Germany
This ad from Sky in Germany reminds football fanatics the potential risks of forgetting Valentine's day, More importantly, it just goes to show that everything is better in slo-mo.


IKEA - Australia
A love this Valentine's day print ad from IKEA in Australia.  See below.  No further explanation needed.

amusing Valentine's Day offer—a free crib for babies born nine months from today.

Sodastream Ad Banned From Superbowl

A few weeks back I featured a Sodastream ad that was banned in the UK because 'denigrated the bottled drinks market.'  Ridiculous, but to be fair the advertising standards in the UK are far different than the US.  Essentially, denigrating or drawing unfavorable comparisons to your direct competitors is not allowed.  I noted that Sodastream would be running a similar spot during the upcoming Superbowl.   The Superbowl spot was created by former CP+B principal, Alex Bogusky and ridicules both Coke & Pepsi for their harmful effects on the environment.  Now word has come down that Superbowl broadcaster CBS, having screened the Sodastream Superbowl ad, have decided to ban it.  According to Forbes 'CBS banned SodaStream’s Super Bowl spot because, apparently, it was too much of a direct hit to two of its biggest sponsors, Coke and Pepsi.'

You can see the banned spot below.  Please watch it and share it.  Seriously.  I usually refrain from expressing too many of my personal opinions, but I find the ban absolutely outrageous.  Past Superbowl spots could have been deemed offensive to any number of people (GoDaddy anyone?).  Now that a spot offends two of the biggest advertisers in CBS's stable, the advertising standards people step in.  Effective creative communication is one of the great equalizers in marketing.  Coca-Cola & Pepsi are big boys, with big budgets and access some of the best agencies/creative talent in the world.  Sodastream should be allowed to compete freely with Coke and Pepsi in the marketplace of ideas in order to persuade customers to choose their products.  It's just that simple.

On the plus side, Sodastream just saved itself a significant percentage of their overall marketing spend (the going rate for a Superbowl spot this year is nearly $4 million for 30 seconds).  I expect they'll garner a huge amount of PR/buzz due to the ban, as was the case when the UK commercial was banned.

Durex - SOS Condoms

Some of you may remember the Cannes winning VIP Fridge Magnet service for Red Tomato Pizza in Dubai from last spring (see case study here).  Now Durex, along with their agency, Buzzman, have launched an interesting branded service in Dubai.  Based off the insight that you never have a condom when you need one, Durex has launched a delivery service that will bring you a condom, wherever you may be, within an hour.  It's a nice take on branded utility for a mobile app and is definitely a new twist on location based technology.  Again, good to see mobile apps that actually give something back to the user (and in this case also promotes safe sex)   Check out the overview video below.


The campaign/app has been successful enough in Dubai that Buzzman and Durex are running a competition to decide the next city that will get the SOS service, so feel free to head over to SOS Condoms to vote for your city.

hat tip: Adverblog

Lynx Space Academy

Space is all the rage these days and Lynx (Axe in the US) is getting into the act by sending people into space.  As part of the massive multi-agency campaign Lynx is recruiting males from across the world to take part in the contest.  There will be 22 winners, with the campaign running in 77 countries around the world.  The semi-finalists will head off to Space Camp and the lucky winners fly up to 103km with the space tourism company, Space XC.  They also enlisted legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin for the initial promo video (see below.)


The campaign lives on YouTube, Facebook and a separate Lynx Apollo campaign site.  Lynx has also created a series of videos to promote the campaign.  The general insight seems to be that nothing beats an astronaut.  The videos show astronauts effortlessly pulling ladies left, right and center (see below).  It'll be interesting to see how much of a boost/halo effect this campaign gets from the success of the Red Bull Stratos project.  To be fair this campaign was in development long before the Felix Baumgartner jump, but the buzz generated by Red Bull can only help to amplify the Lynx effort.

SodaStream Responds To Their Ad Being Banned In The UK

This ad from Sodastream, home carbonation system that lets you make your own soda, was banned in the UK because it 'denigrated the bottled drinks market.'  Ridiculous.  In response, SodaStream launched a protest TV ad showing a black screen and inviting the users to watch the original/banned ad on YouTube.  The banned 'Sodastream Effect' ad has gone on to garner a ton of views and attention in the press.

Sodastream have also decided to run the 'Set The Bubbles free' ad during the Superbowl.  This just shows that YouTube can give a voice to the disenfranchised, whether they be brands or individuals.  Another interesting tidbit is that the agency responsible for the ad is Common, which is headed by Alex Bogusky who left cp+b two years ago to become a consumer advocate and has previously gone after the soda manufacturers through campaigns such as the real bears.

See below for the censored version of the ad that Sodastream ran on TV as well as the banned ad that lives on YouTube.  It's a great piece of creative and generally just a great way to turn lemons into lemonade (to use a tired ass cliche).

The replacement spot that ran on TV



The Banned Ad

Two Nice Stunt Videos - Sony Xperia & Red Stripe

I keep thinking that stunt campaigns are somehow going to die off, but the public appetite for them shows no sign of slowing down.  What's more impressive is that agencies keep coming up with new and innovative ways to communicate a clear product message through stunt videos.  The latest hot stunt was developed by CP+B Stockholm to promote the new waterproof Sony Xperia phone.  During screenings of the new James Bond film, Skyfall, several  of the waterproof phones were hidden inside free soda cups given to random viewers.  It's a nice way to demonstrate the main USP of the phone in a way that fits nicely into the overall theme and feel of the Bond film.  Check it out below...I do question how the hell the people managed to get a drink without noticing that there was a phone embedded in their massive Coke.


Another delightful stunt comes from Kessels Kramer for beer brand, Red Stripe.  For one day only, a corner store became a giant musical instrument, playing 'A Message To You, Rudy.'  Products on the shelves and items left scattered around the store part of an ad-hoc orchestra, triggered when a customer chose a Red Stripe from the shelves.  Just a really nice way to reward customers who choose your product with a delightful and unexpected experience.  Check out the video below and it's also worth checking out the behind the scenes video as the 'making of...' is fascinating.

Old Spice - Dikembe Mutombo's 4 1/2 Weeks To Save The World

It's the latest campaign from Old Spice.  Why even bother explaining it when we both know that you're going to watch it and play around with it regardless of what I say.

Seriously though, it's amazing what successful advertising can do and the halo effect it can for future campaigns.  The folks at W+K continue to do great work for Old Spice, but they could literally do anything at this point and the Internets would be abuzz about it.  So head over to Old Spice Saves The World (shame it's not happening on YouTube this year).

Quick overview:  Former NBA Great Dikembe Mutumbo has 4 1/2 Weeks To Save The World.  Each week will feature a different game or challenge for Old Spice fans to help Mutumbo keep the Mayan prophecy of the world ending on December 21, 2012.  The entire event is also showing a livestream with a countdown of a machine carving a Mayan gliff.

Let the randomness and hilarity begin!

Dolce & Gabana - Video Comes To Print

Several thousand copies of the October issue of the UK Marie Claire includes a video ad in print.  The double page spread for Dolce & Gabana fragrances feature a 45-second video ad (including sound) which plays when the reader opens the page.  The technology was developed by Americhip and gives advertisers the opportunity to bring their print ads to life.  It's previously been used in Russian Vogue, but this is a UK first.  So is this the start of a wider trend or just a gimmick?  I haven't experienced it for myself, so I haven't a clue, but I'm intrigued by the idea.  See the video capture below that someone else was kind enough to upload to YouTube


On a more low-fi note, I just came across this Cannes winner from Brazil.  Developed by JWT for Coca-Cola FM, it turns a magazine into an iPhone speaker.  At first read I thought it must be similar tech to above, but in fact it was a genius low-fi execution.  A few strategic cuts in the ad and instructions on how to roll up the magazine turned it into an amplified.  Check it out below.


via PSFK

Other Things I Like (But Don't Have Time To Write Up)

Budweiser - Bud Clock
Great use of QR codes to turn Happy Hour into an interactive drinking game and extend Happy Hour through buying more Bud.

via: Banner Blog

Kit Kat - We Will Find You
Kit Kat has created a modern day version of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket with a dash of dystopian Phillip K. Dick novel.  They've hidden GPS transmitters in four packs of Kit Kats on sale in the UK.  Opening the pack activates the GPS and Kit-Kat promises 'We Will Find You' within 24 hours and give the lucky recipient £10,000.  Very cool from a tech perspective, but the messaging is kind of creepy.


Gatwick Express - Tracks
To elevate the experience of the 30-minute train journey from Victoria to Gatwick airport (and of course boost online sales), VCCP has commissioned various artists to create a custom half-hour soundtrack that's synced to what riders see on the journey.  Customers who buy their Gatwick Express tickets online can download the tracks directly from the Gatwick Express website.