Everyone knows cat videos are huge. Hell, there are even agencies dedicated purely to catvertising ;-) So it's not surprise that Friskies has tapped into this infinite well of content and appetite for cat videos by creating...The Friskies! Billed as the Oscars for Cat Videos, the Friskies is offering a $15,000 Grand Prize for the best new cat video of 2012. Here's the teaser video:
The only question is why it's taken this long for a brand to do this. It's extremely fertile ground and a natural fit for Petcare brands. Actually, I'm also confused as to why the contest isn't being run on YouTube, which again would seem like the natural home for this contest rather than a microsite.
Additional Articles: Fast Company
Friday, October 5, 2012
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
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
This Is Now
This has nothing to do with advertising, but I thoroughly enjoy it. This is now is 'a highly addictive real-time visualization tool displaying all the photos as they happen within a city on Instagram.'
This Is Now scrapes images from Instagram with the hastag #thisisnow and shows you a lovely representation of what’s going on right now in various cities around the world. Play with it yourself at http://now.jit.su/ or check out the video capture below.
via: Urgent Genius & developed by @marciopuga, @mauriciomassaia and @PerThoresson
This Is Now scrapes images from Instagram with the hastag #thisisnow and shows you a lovely representation of what’s going on right now in various cities around the world. Play with it yourself at http://now.jit.su/ or check out the video capture below.
via: Urgent Genius & developed by @marciopuga, @mauriciomassaia and @PerThoresson
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.
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.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Norton - Top Result
Norton, the provider of internet security tools has launched a great new initiative, Top Result. Developed by Naked Communications in Stockholm the campaign allows users control the first impression they make when people search for them online. The idea builds off the insight that first impressions no longer happen in person and that often people do some digital sleuthing before meeting someone in person. Top Result allows people to protect their reputation by securing their own search results and hopefully ensure that their result shows up first when a search is done for their name. Unlike reputation management sites which attempt to influence the actual organic search results when searching for your name, Norton results simply buys AdWords for each user & foots the bill for those paid search ads. You simply go to the Norton Top Search website and enter their name and then basically create a standard Google AdWords Ad. You can then choose a link such as your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn page and then see a preview of how the search result will appear. In order to make sure that nobody is hijacking another person's identity, you're required to verify your identity via Facebook.
It really is a brilliant idea and one that solves a legitimate concern from users about the lack of control of their online identity. As Contagious points out: 'Norton's Top Results campaign is a perfect example of a trend Contagious coined - Marketing as Service Design - with the brand aligning its core values of security, trust and protection with a simple but effective digital tool. The brand has matched an unmet need with its core brand values, and is executing that in a way that uses the existing technology in a smart way. Using Google's ad spaces is a cheap, elegant solution that taps existing media and infrastructure and puts them to great use rather than trying to build its own website.'
Additional Articles: Contagious | Mashable
It really is a brilliant idea and one that solves a legitimate concern from users about the lack of control of their online identity. As Contagious points out: 'Norton's Top Results campaign is a perfect example of a trend Contagious coined - Marketing as Service Design - with the brand aligning its core values of security, trust and protection with a simple but effective digital tool. The brand has matched an unmet need with its core brand values, and is executing that in a way that uses the existing technology in a smart way. Using Google's ad spaces is a cheap, elegant solution that taps existing media and infrastructure and puts them to great use rather than trying to build its own website.'
Additional Articles: Contagious | Mashable
La Casa Eco & Sodimac - Skip This Behavior
As skippable pre-roll advertising becomes more and more prevalent, it's fascinating to see the emergence of clever ways to leverage the format. In particular I've seen more and more advertisers creating skippable pre-roll advertising that somehow incorporates the 'Skip This Ad' button that appears on YouTube TrueView ads. The latest and perhaps most clever execution comes from La Casa Eco & Sodimac in Chile. Developed by Mayo Digital, the pre-roll aims to raise awareness about bad ecological habits and do it in just a few seconds. For example, as the pre-roll starts an infographic type image is shown with the message:
'With that lightbulb that stayed on all day, you could've washed three full loads of laundry.
If you want to change this habit, the first change begins at home.'
A visual call out in the form of a pointer encourages users to click the 'Skip This Behavior' button. Once a viewer clicked on the button they were redirected to a site packed with various ecological tips. The result was that over 80,000 Chileans chose to 'skip a behavior' over the course of one week. Very nicely done. Check out the case study below.
'With that lightbulb that stayed on all day, you could've washed three full loads of laundry.
If you want to change this habit, the first change begins at home.'
A visual call out in the form of a pointer encourages users to click the 'Skip This Behavior' button. Once a viewer clicked on the button they were redirected to a site packed with various ecological tips. The result was that over 80,000 Chileans chose to 'skip a behavior' over the course of one week. Very nicely done. Check out the case study below.
via Adi Ziv-AV
Intel & Toshiba - The Beauty Inside
Last year Intel & Toshiba brought us 'The Inside Experience,' a social film project that was billed as the first of it's kind. While I wasn't personally a huge fan of The Inside Experience as it played out, respect to all involved for pushing the boundaries and blurring the lines between web series, short film and social media campaign. It's an interesting and rapidly developing area, so I'm glad to see that Intel & Toshiba are back to present 'The Beauty Inside.' Created and developed by Pereira & O’Dell, B-Reel and director Drake Doremus, 'The Beauty Inside' is a film about Alex (Topher Grace), a guy who wakes up looking like a different person each day. Interesting storyline, but what's innovative is how the film uses that premise as a way to include and facilitate audience participation. As the folks over at B-Reel describe 'it is Hollywood’s first film that gives the audience a chance to play the lead role. Alex can be a young, beautiful redheaded women one day while an overweight man late into his 40s tomorrow. He chronicles his ever-changing appearance as webcam diaries on his Toshiba Ultrabook. While fun and intriguing at first, Alex quickly realizes his limitations as he falls for Leah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).'
Split into six episodes, 'The Beauty Inside' is a 30-minute social film that allows users to audition to play the role of Alex. Users can choose from a list of script outlines that are based on the upcoming episodes and audition throughout the campaign by uploading a webcam video or photo of themselves. It's a nice way to foster audience participation in a way that fits seamlessly into the story rather than a clunky social media bolt on. Of course there is a social mechanic as getting friends to view, like and share your audition film increases your chances of being included in the film. Check out the trailer below as well as the first episode. The film (as much has been posted so far) can be seen at The Beauty Inside YouTube channel.
Split into six episodes, 'The Beauty Inside' is a 30-minute social film that allows users to audition to play the role of Alex. Users can choose from a list of script outlines that are based on the upcoming episodes and audition throughout the campaign by uploading a webcam video or photo of themselves. It's a nice way to foster audience participation in a way that fits seamlessly into the story rather than a clunky social media bolt on. Of course there is a social mechanic as getting friends to view, like and share your audition film increases your chances of being included in the film. Check out the trailer below as well as the first episode. The film (as much has been posted so far) can be seen at The Beauty Inside YouTube channel.
Grolsch - Big, Bold Journt
I recently came across this campaign on the fantastic Digital Buzz Blog. It's a campaign by Grolsch (developed by BMB agency) that promised to be a true multi-screen experience. There seem to be more and more campaigns that are truly multi-screen experiences where the TV spot just becomes the teaser for the rest of the campaign. The real substance and essence of the experience lies in digital. This campaign promises just that, viewers of the TV commercial are introduced to the character Journt, a policeman that demonstrates that character speaks louder than words. Users who go to the Grolsch UK site are invited to share a beer with Journt. Text him your name and if Journt recognizes the name he'll reward you by buying you a beer. Literally you'll get a text back with a a coupon for a 4-pack of Grolsch and a store finder that shows the nearest shop to claim your Grolsch. It's a great idea and great way to tie together the awareness from TV with SMS, online video and mobile activity to ultimately drive foot fall in store.
Unfortunately the TV commercial doesn't include an obvious call to action or information about what viewers can expect (eg. free beer!) at the Grolsch UK website. Unless you're one of those people who go to the URL at the end of every commercial, it's unlikely that a great number of people were pushed to spend further time with the brand by viewing the TV commercial. Too bad really as it's a very nice idea. Check out the case study below.
Unfortunately the TV commercial doesn't include an obvious call to action or information about what viewers can expect (eg. free beer!) at the Grolsch UK website. Unless you're one of those people who go to the URL at the end of every commercial, it's unlikely that a great number of people were pushed to spend further time with the brand by viewing the TV commercial. Too bad really as it's a very nice idea. Check out the case study below.
Gotye - Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra
Gotye's song 'Somebody That I Used To Know' seemingly took over the world and the Internet awhile back. Besides being played everywhere that had a set of speakers, it also resulted in an innumerable amount of interpretations and cover videos (just search on YouTube for 'Somebody that I used to know.'). In a very meta moment, Gotye has created their own mashup of all the fan-made cover versions to produce 'Sombodies: A YouTube Orchestra.' As Gotye says: 'Reluctant as I am to add to the mountain of interpretations of Somebody That I Used To Know seemingly taking over their own area of the internet, I couldn't resist the massive remixability that such a large, varied yet connected bundle of source material offered.
'
It's almost like a snake eating it's own tail...an internet meme that's turned inward to devour itself. Bizarre. This was directly inspired by the one of the founding fathers of the video mashup, Kutiman and his iconic 'Thru-You' project. Somebodies is a beautifully done piece of video and a nice way to highlights the breadth of creativity from both Gotye and the various fans who took the time to create their own versions of the song. Check it out below (and apologies for resurfacing a song that's likely been stuck in your head and heard thousands of times already in the past year).
It's almost like a snake eating it's own tail...an internet meme that's turned inward to devour itself. Bizarre. This was directly inspired by the one of the founding fathers of the video mashup, Kutiman and his iconic 'Thru-You' project. Somebodies is a beautifully done piece of video and a nice way to highlights the breadth of creativity from both Gotye and the various fans who took the time to create their own versions of the song. Check it out below (and apologies for resurfacing a song that's likely been stuck in your head and heard thousands of times already in the past year).
Public Enemy - Paralympics Harder Than You Think
Right, I swear this will be the last Olympic post. You may remember a few weeks back I posted an amazing (as in one of the best commercials I've ever seen) Paralympic commercial fromn UK broadcaster, Channel 4. You can see that post here. The spot, Meet The Superhumans, used Public Enemy's 'Harder Than You Think' as the musical backdrop to the rousing and emotional spot. The song has also been used as the theme throughout Channel 4's coverage of the games. The commercial has received amazing press and has launched the Public Enemy song onto the UK charts despite being released five years ago. Impressed by the games and the coverage, Public Enemy decided to cut a Paralympic version of the video and full song. As Chuck D said 'These athletes are about self-empowerment and determination. Doing what they do is harder than you think.' Check it out below.
via David Anderson
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