So how do you demonstrate a relatively dry product feature (collision avoidance system) of the new Subaru? That was the challenge addressed in this delightful video. Subaru decided to use mini electric cars to demonstrate the power of their new Eyesight collision avoidance system. They outfitted hundreds of these mini cars with stereoscopic cameras and miniature speakers that emitted different sounds when the system was engaged. The resulting video is a delight both visually and aurally. Check it out below.
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.
Here's a nice piece of student work. As Design Taxi writes:
To reward Twitter users, Sweden-based Daniel Jansson, Alexis Morin and Sharon Williams of Umeå Institute of Design have created a cookie box that gives out the sweet treat when users post a tweet with a certain hashtag on Twitter.
Called the ‘UID Cookie Box’, it reacts to tweets through lighting, and even refuses to give you another cookie if you had just gotten one—to help you watch your weight, maybe. You could easily imagine this extending out to brand usages where a tweet (or any social action) acts as the currency to power a vending machines. Basically the next (automated) evolution to things like the Twitter powered Special K pop-up shop in London from a few months back. via Design Taxi
I love this idea from Australian charity Ladder and agency GPY&R Melbourne. Homepage For The Homeless is basically a twist on affiliate marketing. Based on the simple fact that a tremendous amount of holiday shopping is done online, they asked users to change their homepage to the 'Homepage For The Homeless.' The homepage is just a portal page featuring major retailers such as Amazon, iTunes, Deals Direct, etc. Users who started their journey on the Homepage For The Homeless and then went on to purchase on a participating site had 15% of their purchase value donated to the homeless.
It's an incredibly simple way for internet shoppers to do a little bit of good during the holidays. The ask on the part of the user is incredibly small and yet the (altruistic) reward is potentially huge.
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.
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.
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
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.
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).
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.
