A Few Things From The Holidays Worth Noting - Mobile Orchestra, PNC Christmas, Starbucks Spread The Cheer

AKQA Mobile Orchestra
A lovely collaborative mobile experience from AKQA: 'to celebrate the holidays, AKQA teamed up with members of the Pacific Chamber Symphony and Mussic Director Lawrence Kohl to create a synchronized mobile orchestra.'  See the video below or experience it at mobileorchestra.com

PNC Twelve Days Of Christmas

For nearly 30 years US-based PNC bank has calculated a yearly Christmas Price Index.  The CPI (as they call it) shows the current cost for one set of each of the gifts given in the song 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas.'  For the past several years PNC has also create immersive digital experiences that bring the CPI to life.  This year's 12 Days Of Christmas Experience is particularly well done.  Check it out here.

Starbucks Spread The Cheer
When will brands learn that campaigns inviting user participation have the potential to backfire?  You'd think that moderation of these campaigns would be the default after mishaps like McDonalds #McDStories.  Starbucks is the in a growing list of participatory campaigns gone horribly wrong.  Before the holidays the coffee giant invited the twittersphere to send out some holiday cheer, using the hashtag '#SpreadTheCheer.'  Instead the company received a bombardment of tweets criticizing the company, particularly the low tax rates that the company pays in the UK (background: a couple weeks prior Starbucks was dragged in front of Parliament to address tax avoidance accusations).  If that's not painful enough, Starbucks had also setup #SpreadTheCheer screens showing live tweets at the ice skating rink in front of the London Natural History Museum.  #FAIL.  Huffington Post has some of the choice tweets here.

Google Zeitgeist 2012

Tis the season for annual wrap ups and best of lists.  In my (extremely biased) opinion nobody does it better than Google with their annual Zeitgeist video and dedicated site.

The website allows you explore what was popular in 2012 through various searches, images as well as providing breakouts by country and categories such as TV shows, films, athletes, etc.  It's amazing to me how quickly I forget what was big news during the year, so it was a revelation to spend some time playing around on the site and exploring the year that was 2012.  Head on over to Google Zeitgeist 2012 to explore.

As in past years there is also a moving video and emotionally evocative video that recaps the year as Google sees it.  Check it out below.

Ingress

William Gibson wrote in one of his books that 'cyberspace is everting.'  Simply put the digital world is spilling out into real-world experiences.  We've really just scratched the surface of the marriage/interplay of the digital and physical worlds that's enabled by ubiquitous connectivity and mobile devices.  The augmented reality and mobile location based technology that's cutting edge today will most certainly seem quaint in just a few years.  The recently launched global alternate reality game, Ingress, gives a sneak peek of what (I believe) will become more pervasive and incredibly common in the not too distant future.

So what is Ingress?  It is a new location-based augmented reality game from Google-owned Niantic Labs.  The premise is that the world around you is not what it seems.  The game puts you and your smartphone (Android only at the moment) in the middle of a global battle between two sides that plays out in real life all around you, regardless of where you live.

As AllThingsD explains: 'Users can generate virtual energy needed to play the game by picking up units of “XM,” which are collected by traveling walking paths, like a real-world version of Pac-Man. Then they spend the energy going on missions around the world to “portals,” which are virtually associated with public art, libraries and other widely accessible places.

“The concept is something like World of Warcraft, where everyone in the world is playing the same game,” Hanke said. Players are on one of two teams: “The Enlightened,” who embrace the power, or “The Resistance,” who fight the power. Anyone can play from anywhere in the world, though in more densely played areas there will be more local competition for resources.
Outdoor physical activity is a big component of this, though driving between locations isn’t banned. “You’re like a rat in a maze on the phone,” Hanke said. Then, back at your computer, you can review the larger area and gameplay.'

It's really a magical experience and even more so when you consider that there's no discreet start and stop to the game.  It could go on for several years as a sort of constant background activity that we engage with when out in the physical world or as part of our daily routine such as commuting.  If you look at the popularity of MMORPG and extrapolate that out into the real world, you can see the massive potential behind such games (and I wonder if there will be a the equivalent click-sweat shops and selling of characters for real-world MMORPGs like currently exists for games such as World Of Warcraft).  Anyhow, the video below gives you an additional sense of what it's all about.  If you're interested you can head over to the Ingress site to get an invite to join in the game


hat tip:  Matthieu De Fayet for reminding me to write this up

More Great Stuff From Google - Jam With Chrome & Google Search App

Besides the recent launch of Google Maps for iOS, there's been a ton of great stuff coming from Google lately so I thought I'd shout out a few things you may or may not have seen.

Jam With Chrome
If you haven't seen Jam with Chrome, you really must check it out.  The latest Chrome Experiment is absolutely mind blowing from a technical perspective as well as demonstrating what's possible these days with just a web browser.  Jam With Chrome allows you to invite friends into a live ‘Jam’ session to play any of 19 instruments to collaboratively create music from within the Chrome browser from anywhere in the world on pretty much any device, all in real-time.  It's hard to describe how cool this is without experiencing it yourself so head on over to Jam With Chrome and/or check out the video below.
Ads For The Google Search App
How promote the knowledge graph & voice search integration in the Google Search App in a way that communicates the power of those features without coming across as too techy?  Venables Bell & Partners nailed it in these spots.  Check them out below.

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

TomTom - (Almost) Makes A Viral

TomTom, the maker of various GPS navigation devices, positions itself as the navigation option that 'Gives You More.'  They're running a competition/game that gives you the chance at winning 'More' prizes during the holiday season.  Nothing particularly new there.  What is new is their approach to promoting the TomTom Gives You More game.

To promote our new competition at http://www.tomtom.com/more, we really, really tried to make a great video. But because we spent our entire advertising budget on thousands of great prizes and presents for you, this "viral" might not be as impressive as we would have liked. Sorry.

In short, TomTom has admitted that they're creatively bankrupt and instead made an (almost) viral based off previous viral hits.  This is not unlike the Jennifer Aniston Smart Water 'Viral' from a year or so back, but I love the tongue in cheek nature of this video.  For instance, the end of the video states 'We know this 'viral' video probably isn't as impressive as you are used to, but we spent the entire advertising budget on prizes.'

See if you can spot all the various viral video references below.


hat tip: Buzzilla

Diesel - Pre-Internet Campaign

Diesel is launching a 20th anniversary edition of their YUK shoe and supporting it with their 'Pre Internet Experience.'  Developed by SMFB, the relaunch of the 1993 shoe encourages users to go back to those pre-internet days by challenging you to go offline and not post on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for three days.  Those who can abstain from social networks for 72 hours have the chance to win a pair of the boots.  Ironically the campaign uses a dedicated website and Facebook to encourage participation in the contest, asking questions like 'When did sharing become annoying, and liking just a pointless online gesture?' and 'Why do you know what your friend's lunch looks like, and how is this making the world a better place?'

The campaign differentiates the YUK shoe by billing it as the pre-internet shoe, 'no tracking, no timing, no wall posting, no bullshit.'  Clearly a dig at sensor enabled shoes from Adidas & Nike while encouraging users to 'Take a little break from your life online.'

Diesel have also created a series of videos that make fun of the current state of footwear affairs by chronicling a fictional GPS artist and Parkour athletes.   See below.




I predict we'll see a lot more activity aimed (ironically) at encouraging users to disconnect.  I expect to see more and more brands looking to enable or co-opt the movement to disconnect for periods of time as a way of coping with information overload and constant connectivity.   Basically brands looking to enable a 'digital sabbath' once a week or the like.

Other Things I Like (But Don't Have The Time To Write Up): ESPN Born Into It & Slap Jamie Oliver

ESPN - Born Into It
In advance of last weekend's Manchester Derby, ESPN released 'Born Into It.'  The commercial, created by W+K, shows the passion and loyalty that two fans feel for their respective Manchester teams through a nice split screen video experience.  I particularly love the companion video which educates Yanks such as myself who may not be familiar with the Brit/Mancurian slang used through the spot.  So good.   Check it out below.

Slap Jamie Oliver
Christmas has come early (at least it has for me!  This interactive video promoting the upcoming launch of Jamie Oliver's new food channel allows you to slap him as well as interact with his kitchen by throwing food at him all via clever usage of YouTube annotations.  Have a play around below.

Two Nice Uses Of UGC From Brands - AT&T and EE

EE is the name the recently launched 4G brand from the owner of Orange and T-Mobile.  They & their agency, Poke, have leveraged the huge UK viral hit Fenton (JESUS CHRIST IN RICHMOND PARK) as part of their comms around the speed of their 4G network.  They've taken the original video and 'Remastered it' in epic form.  Users can switch between the original video and the “Fenton 4GEE Remaster” on the EE YouTube channel.  The premise is that everything on YouTube looks amazing on the EE 4G network.  The video will also be featured in the EE retail stores and feature heavily across all of the 4GEE digital activity.  Whether the remastered version actually demonstrates the speed of their network is up to you to decide, but it's a clever way to leverage the success of the UK phenomenon that was Fenton.


AT&T (another telecom company in the US) is also using UGC to promote their 4G network.  In this case, AT&T (and their agency, BBDO NY) took a piece of user generated content that had been making the rounds on YouTube called 'Hello' and used it as the premise for their latest TV commercial.    In the original video was from a high school football scrimmage and showed a player doing a flip over a defender.  As the video description says:

'Hello" demonstrates an amazing moment being shared across the country on the nation's largest 4G network, AT&T. It starts as an amazing football play seen by a few people. But once posted, it becomes a moment the entire country can enjoy, and something that builds to an introduction our hero will never forget.'
Personally I find this a much more believable use of UGC in a branded context as it naturally reflects the way that people view, share and discover new content while also positioning AT&T in the middle as the facilitator/service provider through their 4G network.

Sony - DSLR Clueless

'All the gear and no idea' is the rallying cry for this campaign from Sony for their NEX range of cameras.  Over the past couple years the sales of pocket cameras basically dropped off a cliff due to the rise of smartphones.  The corresponding decrease in price of DSLR cameras has meant all sort of people buying super high quality cameras, even if they have no need and no idea how to use it.  That's why I love this campaign, which was developed by Havas Sydney.  It's based off simple truth that most people with DSLR cameras have absolutely no idea what the hell they're doing.  They've produced eight different spots, each centered around a different type of DSLR idiot.  It's a great way to promote their range of NEX cameras that have the same sensor size and take the same quality pictures as the DSLR.  A nice touch at the end is the call to action for viewers: 'Remind you of someone? Share it with them.'

Check out the spots below or head over to the Sony DLSR - Gear, No Idea YouTube channel.
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