Volkswagen Beetle. Juiced Up.

Volkswagen is launching a number of campaigns around the world to introduce the new Beetle. To support the Canadian launch of the new, more aggressive Beetle, the guys at Red Urban created a series of billboard and bus shelter ads.  Fairly typical right?  Well they've also created an augmented reality app that shows off 'Juiced Up' nature of the new Beetle.  Users who download the app (the posters themselves have QR codes and URLs at the bottom) are treated to a separate experience for each poster/billboard.  It's a nice way to tie together the offline and the digital, turning a flat, static print ad into a miniature immersive experience for the user.

Not content to limit the augmented reality fun to the good folks in Canada, they've also uploaded Youtube videos containing the appropriate imagery to activate the app.  That allows users from anywhere (provided they've downloaded the app) to experience what our Canadian cousins are seeing on the street.  Clicking on the annotations at the end of the above video will bring you to additional videos allowing you to hold up your VW AR app and get the experience on your phone or tablet.

Supporting Articles: Adverblog | AgencySpy

Nokia - Turn Up Your Experience

I love this clever use of technology for Nokia Argentina to promote the N8 and Nokia Ovi Store.  This interactive campaign (developed by Wunderman Buenos Aires) aims to showcase the apps that are available in the Nokia Ovi Store by inviting users to 'Turn up their campaign.'  Users can experience Angry Birds & Fruit Ninja in their browser, but in an innovative manner.  Simply install a bookmarklet whatever site you're on becomes the game, allowing you to destroy any site like you would in Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja.  See the video above of Angry Birds being played on the Youtube homepage!

Check it out for yourself at the Nokia Argentina site.

Supporting Articles: Inspiration Room | Digital Buzz Blog

Jordan Melo M8 Sneaker Launch/Projection Mapping

We've all seen a TON of projection mapping events over the past year or so, and in my opinion it's gotten so good that it's almost tiring now.  That said, I was blown away by the projection mapping for the launch of the new Jordan Melo M8 sneaker.  The whole projecting on water idea is really visually stunning and amazingly impressive.  This was all part of a much larger campaign for the new shoe, check out the article at Brand Channel for the full rundown.

BONUS: Word As Image

Former Google Creative Labs CD, Ji Lee, has a new book Word As Image.  He's created this amazing video that shows off what the book is all about, or see below:

'Challenge: Create an image out of a word, using only the letters in the word itself. 
Rule: Use only the graphic elements of the letters without adding outside elements.


Word as Image invites you to see letters beyond their utilitarian dullness. It's about discovering the magic behind the unique shapes and infinite possibilities of letters and words. This book showcases nearly 100 of Ji Lee's head-scratching word images, along with tips to help you create your own and share them at www.wordasimage.com.'


If you like that, it's also worth checking out the Words Radiolab/NPR video short from last year.

BONUS: Take This Lollipop

You may have already seen this, but it's still worth sharing.  Remember the Intel Museum Of Me?  That beautiful site that used Facebook connect to create a bespoke museum of Youtube from your Facebook activity.  Well here's the counterbalance to that idea...what are the risks with sharing so much of your data online?  Take This Lollipop (created by Jason Zada) serves as a warning to all of us who blindly click 'accept' or 'allow' when sharing our Facebook data and allowing apps to connect to it.  Take This Lollipop trolls through your photos, friend lists, newsfeed and other personal information and creates a chillingly dark experience.

Check it out and experience it for yourself: Take This Lollipop

(via Bozena Rezabova)

Supporting Articles: Contagious | The Creators Project | The FWA

BONUS: Life In A Day (full version now up on Youtube)

In addition to winning a Gold Lion at Cannes, Youtube Life In a Day recently picked up a UK Mediaweek award for Media Idea of the Year.  Just as importantly, for those of you who haven't seen the full film, it's available to watch on Youtube in it's entirety:

On July 24th, 2010, thousands of people around the world uploaded videos of their day to Youtube to take part in Life In A Day, a historic cinematic experiment to create a documentary film about a single day on earth.


Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald whittled down over 4500 hours of footage into a 90-minute film that wowed audiences at the Sundance Berlin and SXSW Film Festivals earlier this year.  


Now, after releasing in theaters across the globe, the film has returned to where it all began.  Watch it for free, and be sure to explore the channel to learn more about this amazing piece of cinema history.


It's an incredible 90 minutes, so if you haven't already seen it, go watch it: Youtube Life In a Day

Beck's Green Box Vimeo Mimicry

If Youtube is for the masses, then Vimeo is for the art school crowd.  With that in mind, it makes sense that Beck's turned to Vimeo as the platform for their mimicry/takeover showcasing the experience the Beck's Key app offers as the gateway to their Green Box Project.

A bit of background...the Green Box Project is a global art fund established by Beck's to inspire, celebrate & financially support independent talent in art, design, music and fashion.  Over the course of three years Beck's will find and showcase over 1,000 individual projects.  So what's the twist?  The resulting commissions will be experienced via the augmented-reality app in Green Boxes located around the world, as well as being permanently on display in a virtual gallery online.

To kick off the project Beck's has released 30 green boxes with various virtual art pieces by renowned artists around the UK, US & Italy.  The public can download the Beck's Key app which uses GPS & augmented reality markers to enable the artistic content of the boxes to be viewed, as well as allowing users to find other Green Boxes, receive updates, etc.  It's what Beck's is calling 'the world's first global networked augmented reality gallery.'

Beck's has been engaged in various activity to raise awareness of this project, but you can imagine the challenge to convey the overall experience without downloading the actual Beck's Key app.  Enter the Vimeo takeover/mimicry.  While mimicry is common on Youtube, it's not seen as often on Vimeo.  This execution by Outside Line is a really natural and delightful way to showcase the features and experience of the Beck's Key app.

Supporting Articles: Inspiration Room | NMA | Creative Review

Great Volkswagen Art Heist

Volkswagen's new campaign for the Jetta GLI focuses around the messaging that 'Driving Can Be Beautiful.'  The 'Great Volkswagen Art Heist,' developed by Red Urban Canada, is a great way to extend that message in a genius out of home/social campaign.  So what's it all about?  Pop-up galleries featuring hand numbered, framed VW GLI light paintings (long exposure photos created by the lights/movements of the GLI and seen in their TV spot) were installed in unexpected places across various cities in Canada.  The photos were entirely up for grabs by members of the public that discovered (or 'heisted' them), the only ask was that the heisters share their steals online via the VW Canada Facebook or Twitter page/hashtag.  While the photos are replenished, they've been going fast, so users who lost out are encouraged follow VW Canada on Facebook or Twitter to get clues about where the next pop-up installation will appear.

I'm a big fan of experiments/undertakings that tie together offline and online activity and this campaign really fits the bill.  It ties in nicely with their TV spots & provides a great mechanism to get people both following and talking about the brand across various social media outlets.  Apparently VW plans on rolling out the second phase of the campaign in the next few weeks that will bring the heist into the digital space.

Supporting Articles: PSFK | AgencySpy 

Youtube Space Lab

I can't help but do a little bit of logrolling here by featuring the launch of Youtube Space Lab.  YouTube Space Lab is a new global Youtube program challenging 14-18 year old students around the world to submit a video describing an experiment that can be carried out in space. The winning experiment will be live streamed on YouTube - from the International Space Station.  The winning students will get to pick between one of two grand prizes: a trip to Japan in summer 2012 to see their experiment take off, or, when they turn 18, a chance to participate in the astronaut training program at Russia’s Star City. The four other regional finalists will be given a Zero-G ride, courtesy of Space Adventures, and laptops from Lenovo.


Fast Company ran a great article about the initiative and how it ties back to the Google company DNA:

This contest is the latest Google-supported venture to push science education into the spotlight. Earlier this year, the company ran an open worldwide science fair all by themselves, where kids posted videos explaining their science projects. The finalists in the three age categories were invited to the Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA. After presenting for the judging panel, which included Dean Kamen, Peter Norvig, and other well-decorated scientists and science communicators, winners were picked at a live-streamed event. 


It seems Google is serious about making sure there's enough Google-worthy talent to go around in the future. "Inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers is something very close to our hearts," Zahan Bharmal, the Google/YouTube project lead and unabashed space geek said at a press conference. “We believe that video can help people learn.”

See the full article here.
Check out the Youtube Space Lab channel here.


Supporting Articles:  Creativity Online | Google Blog

State Farm - Chaos In Your Town

Man...State Farm has been busy on a bunch of different fronts lately.  The past month has seen them air the evocative 9/11 - Empire State of Mind spot directed by Spike Lee, as well as enlisting Superbowl MVP Aaron Rodgers in their latest TV spot.  However, my personal favorite is the State Farm: Chaos In Your Town campaign.  Developed by DDB Chicago, B-Reel & The Mill, the site is an extension of the TV spot which features alien robots destroying a neighborhood.  Using Google Maps & Street View (a la Arcade Fire's The Wilderness Downtown) users enter their address to see the robots wreak destruction and havoc on their own homes.  Have a look at the video above to see Google's new offices getting the robot treatment or blow up your office/home at chaosinyourtown.com

Supporting Articles: Creativity Online | AdFreak