Really clever use of Youtube advertising formats in this campaign for official Volkswagen auto parts (developed by AlmapBBDO). The idea is simple, people shouldn't accept imitations auto parts. Similarly, they discovered that on Youtube many of the most-popular videos have poor quality knock offs/imitation videos, some of which have millions of views. So VW bought in-stream ads against these imitation videos with the message 'Don’t accept Imitations. Prefer Original Parts.' Clicking on the ads redirected users from the imitation video to the original version. Check out the brief case study/explanation video below. According to this AdFreak article the campaign generated '125,000 views and 500 clicks for every $100 spent.'
via Sibylle Tretera
Additional Articles: Adverblog | Digital Buzz Blog
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Paper Crows - Build
Here's another clever use of Youtube videos from the musicians, Paper Crows for their new album 'build.' The site shows four separate YouTube videos which are then synchronized into one coherent visual track using the Youtube API. Each of the videos is actually a different music track, so users can change the audio track by rolling over one of the videos. Simple, but very clever. Check it out here, or see the screen capture below.
via Bobby Nolla
via Bobby Nolla
Getty Images - From Love To Bingo
Another great piece of work from AlmapBBDO for Getty Images. The challenge was to show that Getty Images has such an extensive archive that any story can be told through their photo collection. The creative team spent more than 6 months culling through 5000 photographs to create this minute long film which contains 873 photos from the Getty Images archive and tells a wonderful story throughout. Just beautiful.
Doubleclick Rich Media - Media Bridging Desktop & Mobile
As you may have noticed from previous posts, I'm a bit obsessed with the media bridging opportunities where mobile is the glue that connects all other forms of media. There's still a long way to go until it's seamless and elegant, but there's been some really nice progress, especially over the past six months.
One of my favorite examples (logrolling alert) was developed by my talented colleagues at Doubleclick (Scott Harmes - creative, Roberto Stocco - dev) in conjunction with Toaster Ltd. The tech is called 'Channel Connect' and basically creates a communications channel between a desktop advertisement (such as a Youtube masthead) and an HTML5 mobile site. It's not just limited to one user, so you can actually create an ad experience with multiple users competing/collaborating on the experience at the same time. I think it has a ton of potential and look forward to seeing how agencies push these executions going forward.
Have a play with the demo here or for more details read below (full post on Doubleclick Rich Media Gallery blog):
On a separate note you'll notice that it uses a QR code to initiate the mobile part of the experience. That's definitely where most of the media bridging stuff falls down, so it's interesting to see Layar's announcement a few days ago that they're creating an easy way for publishers to turn standard print content into a simple augmented reality experience. Really interesting stuff...
One of my favorite examples (logrolling alert) was developed by my talented colleagues at Doubleclick (Scott Harmes - creative, Roberto Stocco - dev) in conjunction with Toaster Ltd. The tech is called 'Channel Connect' and basically creates a communications channel between a desktop advertisement (such as a Youtube masthead) and an HTML5 mobile site. It's not just limited to one user, so you can actually create an ad experience with multiple users competing/collaborating on the experience at the same time. I think it has a ton of potential and look forward to seeing how agencies push these executions going forward.
Have a play with the demo here or for more details read below (full post on Doubleclick Rich Media Gallery blog):
Dubbed ‘Channel Connect’, this new Rich Media feature enables you to create more ways for users to connect with your brand.
What is it?
Channel Connect is a new DoubleClick package of Flash components and JavaScript libraries used to establish a communication channel between a desktop advertisement and an HTML5 mobile site. The opened channel can be used to send any kind of information in either direction between a user’s mobile device and their desktop.
How can I use it?
Channel Connect turns a smartphone or tablet into a new input device, allowing users to interact with brand content more tactilely than a simple mouse. Any Rich Media ad can be enhanced by switching mouse-interactions to gestures: turn a user’s mobile into a game controller or graphics tablet for maximum active engagement.
On a separate note you'll notice that it uses a QR code to initiate the mobile part of the experience. That's definitely where most of the media bridging stuff falls down, so it's interesting to see Layar's announcement a few days ago that they're creating an easy way for publishers to turn standard print content into a simple augmented reality experience. Really interesting stuff...
Tide Responds To Fake Onion Article
This is great. The satirical newspaper The Onion (which everyone should read religiously if you don't already) recently ran a spoof column from a fictional Tide digital director entitled 'Hey, Everybody! This Cool New Tide Detergent Video Is Blowing Up All Over The Internet!' In the column, the fictional Tide guy writes:
Hey, everybody, have you seen this awesome new web video from Tide detergent?
...it's got these cute, funny talking animals, a cool indie-rock song, and it's just so hilariously random. And it's got this amazing cameo by Bret Michaels, which is so funny because Bret Michaels is hilarious and from the '80s.
But hey, I don't want to ruin it for you. Just take a minute to check it out for yourself at the Tide website or Facebook.com/Tide, or check out Tide's totally awesome YouTube channel, which is like a treasure trove of cool, popular videos that everyone loves. And honestly, do yourself a favor and just go to Tide's website and hang there for a while. It's a totally awesome place to go and play online games and meet other cool fans of Tide products.
...The other cool thing is, after watching this awesome vid, I honestly just want to go out and buy a lot of Tide. Obviously, I've always bought Tide anyway because it's the best detergent around, but this awesome new clip just makes me want to buy it more. But hey, I guess it should come as no surprise that a brand that makes such a quality detergent would also make a quality video. I mean, it's Tide. They're the best. They always come up with great stuff like this. It's a hip, modern company that is totally in tune with today's Internet culture, so it makes sense they'd have such a cool online presence.
Read the whole fictional column here. As always the Onion is spot on, but the best part is that Tide has responded to the fake column by creating a real video that mirrors all of the elements described in the column. Very meta.
We constantly hear about brands being responsive and listening to their audience (or the Internets in general in this case). It's great to see a brand doing more than just paying lip service to the idea. Check out the response video from Tide below. My favorite line is 'making viral videos with reputable brand partners...':
Additional Articles: Brand Channel
Hey, everybody, have you seen this awesome new web video from Tide detergent?
...it's got these cute, funny talking animals, a cool indie-rock song, and it's just so hilariously random. And it's got this amazing cameo by Bret Michaels, which is so funny because Bret Michaels is hilarious and from the '80s.
But hey, I don't want to ruin it for you. Just take a minute to check it out for yourself at the Tide website or Facebook.com/Tide, or check out Tide's totally awesome YouTube channel, which is like a treasure trove of cool, popular videos that everyone loves. And honestly, do yourself a favor and just go to Tide's website and hang there for a while. It's a totally awesome place to go and play online games and meet other cool fans of Tide products.
...The other cool thing is, after watching this awesome vid, I honestly just want to go out and buy a lot of Tide. Obviously, I've always bought Tide anyway because it's the best detergent around, but this awesome new clip just makes me want to buy it more. But hey, I guess it should come as no surprise that a brand that makes such a quality detergent would also make a quality video. I mean, it's Tide. They're the best. They always come up with great stuff like this. It's a hip, modern company that is totally in tune with today's Internet culture, so it makes sense they'd have such a cool online presence.
Read the whole fictional column here. As always the Onion is spot on, but the best part is that Tide has responded to the fake column by creating a real video that mirrors all of the elements described in the column. Very meta.
We constantly hear about brands being responsive and listening to their audience (or the Internets in general in this case). It's great to see a brand doing more than just paying lip service to the idea. Check out the response video from Tide below. My favorite line is 'making viral videos with reputable brand partners...':
Additional Articles: Brand Channel
[GALAXY Note] Beckham plays Beethoven's Ode To Joy
OK, so it doesn't have much to do with the product, but I still felt compelled to share this version of Beethoven's Ode To Joy as played by David Beckham to promote the Samsung Galaxy Note.
Granted it's not as spontaneously delightful as the Elephant playing the Galaxy Note, but much better than the over the top fake of the previous Beckham Pepsi viral. See below for some pure 'viral' enjoyment.
Granted it's not as spontaneously delightful as the Elephant playing the Galaxy Note, but much better than the over the top fake of the previous Beckham Pepsi viral. See below for some pure 'viral' enjoyment.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
EasyWay Language Center
Here's a nice use of the speech recognition technology that's built into Chrome. EasyWay Language Language center (and their Brazilian agency Loducca) created a simple browser based game/tool for students to practice their English pronunciation using Google's speech recognition technology.
Visitors to the site are presented with silly cartoons that ask the user to repeat a word. If Google recognizes the word when you speak it, you move onto the next level. If not, try again. As it says on the site 'If Google can understand you, anyone can.'
Just a fantastic idea. Check out the video below or experience it yourself here.
Additional Articles: Adverblog | Fast Co. Create
Visitors to the site are presented with silly cartoons that ask the user to repeat a word. If Google recognizes the word when you speak it, you move onto the next level. If not, try again. As it says on the site 'If Google can understand you, anyone can.'
Just a fantastic idea. Check out the video below or experience it yourself here.
Additional Articles: Adverblog | Fast Co. Create
Media Bridging Examples: Red Bull, ING, & NCDV
Lately it seems like there have been an increasing number campaigns bridging different forms of media, particularly in terms of connecting smartphones with out of home digital signage (remember this McDonald's example from Sweden). Additionally we've been seeing increasing amount of executions that use audio (particularly Shazam) to bridge between TV and a smartphone experiences. One of the nicest executions I've seen comes from Red Bull & NBC. Fans watching NBC's snowboarding competition - Red Bull Supernational had the opportunity to use Shazam to get video from the snowboarders POV, thus creating a nice two screen experience during the broadcast. Check it out below:
via Digital Examples
The second example comes from Germany agency Agenta as part of their activation as sponsors of the German Basketball Federation. Using their smartphones, people could connect to the billboard and use their phone as a virtual basketball to play a free throw challenge. At the same time a camera snapped pictures of them competing and uploaded/shared it amongst their Facebook friends.
Really nicely done, especially in terms of linking participation offline with a sharing mechanism online. Check out the video below for more:
The third example was created by JWT London for the National Centre For Domestic Violence. They installed a series of interactive billboards in London's Euston station. The first billboard shows a man shouting at a woman with a call to action encouraging users to use their phone to 'Stop This Now and Drag Him Away.' Users could scan a QR code or go to the website to drag him away via their phone which pulled the man further and further away from the woman and across the other connected billboards while displaying anti-violence messages.
It's a laudable effort, but I'd be curious to understand how well it actually worked it and how many people took the time to participate. Was it clear what was happening on all the connected billboards or was interaction just limited to the one and then continued across after a user began taking part? Anyhow, check it out below:
Additional Articles: PSFK | Creativity | Digital Buzz Blog | AdFreak | Mashable
via Digital Examples
The second example comes from Germany agency Agenta as part of their activation as sponsors of the German Basketball Federation. Using their smartphones, people could connect to the billboard and use their phone as a virtual basketball to play a free throw challenge. At the same time a camera snapped pictures of them competing and uploaded/shared it amongst their Facebook friends.
Really nicely done, especially in terms of linking participation offline with a sharing mechanism online. Check out the video below for more:
The third example was created by JWT London for the National Centre For Domestic Violence. They installed a series of interactive billboards in London's Euston station. The first billboard shows a man shouting at a woman with a call to action encouraging users to use their phone to 'Stop This Now and Drag Him Away.' Users could scan a QR code or go to the website to drag him away via their phone which pulled the man further and further away from the woman and across the other connected billboards while displaying anti-violence messages.
It's a laudable effort, but I'd be curious to understand how well it actually worked it and how many people took the time to participate. Was it clear what was happening on all the connected billboards or was interaction just limited to the one and then continued across after a user began taking part? Anyhow, check it out below:
Additional Articles: PSFK | Creativity | Digital Buzz Blog | AdFreak | Mashable
Canadian Paralympic Committee - Running (Unstoppable)
Here's your inspirational ad/PSA of the week from BBDO Toronto for the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Beautifully done, emotionally evocative and done in one continuos shot with no CGI or other trickery.
Watch it below and check out the making of video here.
Watch it below and check out the making of video here.
Additional Articles: Laughing Squid
Three Nice Uses Of QR Codes - Emart, Guinness & Mercedes-Benz
QR codes have gotten a pretty bad rap and are generally shit on by the creative community (case in point, this genius Tumblr). Until certain smartphone technologies mature, the fact of that matter is that it remains one of the best ways to quickly and (relatively) easily get mobile users to a site/app. While there are definitely some absolutely abysmal executions out there, here are a couple of recent ones that work extremely well.
EMART - SUNNY SALE
The first example comes Emart, the Walmart of Korea. The Sunny Sale (created by Cheil Worldwide) aimed to drive sales during lunch, which is a typically slow time for the retailer. They created clever shadow QR codes which are only be readable/active in certain light, ie. between the hours of 12-1PM. Users who scanned the sunny sale QR codes received special offers, coupons, etc. It proved so popular they expanded it from 13 to 36 locations in Seoul. Over the course of a month they sold over 12,000 coupons and increased store membership 58% month or month, but perhaps most impressive they increased sales by 25% during lunch hours. Who says QR codes can't be effective!?
Additional Articles: Adverblog | AdFreak
GUINNESS - QR CUP
The second example comes from BBDO New York for Guinness. The QR code is printed on the glass and only works when Guinness (or another black/dark liquid) fills the glass, so don't try filling these glasses with lager, etc. Once full scanning the QR code launches a site that easily/automatically tweets, checks in, posts a status update or sends an Instagram photo about where you are and the fact that you're enjoying a pint of guinness. Very clever.
via Digital Examples
MERCEDES-BENZ - QR TROPHY
Prior to the official car launch, you'll often see speculation about the new model based off photos of the car 'spotted in the wild' on various aficionado sites. Manufacturers combat this by wrapping the cars in plastic and generally camouflaging them so the new body/shape can't be deciphered before launch. Jung Von Matt/Alster has cleverly tapped into this behavior by turning the camouflage of the prototypes into a form of media. They've wrapped the new Mercedes Benz A-Class prototypes in QR codes. The QR codes contain links to an app in which users hunt for trophies based off spotting the new A-class and give them a chance to win a trip to launch event. Nice expansion of the idea of owned media and tapping into the existing behaviors of passionate car fans and paparazzi.
Additional Articles: Digital Buzz Blog
EMART - SUNNY SALE
The first example comes Emart, the Walmart of Korea. The Sunny Sale (created by Cheil Worldwide) aimed to drive sales during lunch, which is a typically slow time for the retailer. They created clever shadow QR codes which are only be readable/active in certain light, ie. between the hours of 12-1PM. Users who scanned the sunny sale QR codes received special offers, coupons, etc. It proved so popular they expanded it from 13 to 36 locations in Seoul. Over the course of a month they sold over 12,000 coupons and increased store membership 58% month or month, but perhaps most impressive they increased sales by 25% during lunch hours. Who says QR codes can't be effective!?
Additional Articles: Adverblog | AdFreak
GUINNESS - QR CUP
The second example comes from BBDO New York for Guinness. The QR code is printed on the glass and only works when Guinness (or another black/dark liquid) fills the glass, so don't try filling these glasses with lager, etc. Once full scanning the QR code launches a site that easily/automatically tweets, checks in, posts a status update or sends an Instagram photo about where you are and the fact that you're enjoying a pint of guinness. Very clever.
MERCEDES-BENZ - QR TROPHY
Prior to the official car launch, you'll often see speculation about the new model based off photos of the car 'spotted in the wild' on various aficionado sites. Manufacturers combat this by wrapping the cars in plastic and generally camouflaging them so the new body/shape can't be deciphered before launch. Jung Von Matt/Alster has cleverly tapped into this behavior by turning the camouflage of the prototypes into a form of media. They've wrapped the new Mercedes Benz A-Class prototypes in QR codes. The QR codes contain links to an app in which users hunt for trophies based off spotting the new A-class and give them a chance to win a trip to launch event. Nice expansion of the idea of owned media and tapping into the existing behaviors of passionate car fans and paparazzi.
Additional Articles: Digital Buzz Blog
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