...but I think this foreign spot is pretty hilarious. Especially the reaction of the kid at the end. Random but quality.
Monday
Honda Makes Music, but the drops the ball
The road is grooved so that the tires running on it create notes when you drive over it. The URL in the ad drives you to The Civic Project at civic.honda.com. What do you get when you visit? Just their line of cars. No explanation of what you saw. Even if you do a search on their site, no mention made. The description on the YouTube clip said more and at least gave a quick overview of the purpose:
The Civic has always been about connecting drivers to the road. That got us thinking. Could we build a road that enhanced that connection?
Like many car owners, the Honda crowd is loyal and it feels like they totally missed an opportunity to explain this idea of connection better, let alone have people do stuff with the concept on their own, especially a younger Civic crowd who appreciate this.
Gents - you are welcome.
But seriously can anyone enlighten me. What is the point of these ads? Are they saying that they are so packed full of vitamins that they can make everything bigger, even the volume of your hair?
Help me.
Found on adofdamonth.
Mobile re-designed. Mobile Phones that make music.
The au Design Project x Yamaha has released a series of phones that double as musical instruments (or instruments that double as phones?). Designed by a foreign and Japanese team of young innovators , these handsets are original, creative, and (the best part) actually able to make music!
From CScout Japan.
The pieces below are called Box to Play and Key to Touch. While the latter may be self explanatory, Box to Play integrates a synthesizer, scratch pad, and other fun musical toys, and folds up quite nicely.
Sticks in the Air are just what you’d think…drumsticks with sensors for the beat, but they also snap together when you want to have a proper phone. Trio in Your Hand, however, flips open to create a scratch pad and sampler for mobile DJs.
For those who like something a little more tactile, Strings for Fingers and Band in My Pocket bring the orchestra into the mix.
Band in My Pocket is unique in that it comes with multiple accessories to create different instruments from the harmonica to the trumpet. Sounds are “hummed” into the handset (much like with Yamaha’s EZ TP Trumpet) with the rest controlled by the fingers.
See the phones in action below or visit PingMag’s YouTube channel .
From CScout Japan.
Leave Nothing Part 2 "Fate"
Another fantastic spot from Nike for their "Leave Nothing" football campaign. I love the track, the way this spot is shot and the consistency between this spot and the previous one.
A number of brands have access to huge sports celebrities but few use them well. It's nice to have stars like LaDainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu but if you don't create something great with them, what's the point?
Excited to see this next Sunday on TV.
A number of brands have access to huge sports celebrities but few use them well. It's nice to have stars like LaDainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu but if you don't create something great with them, what's the point?
Excited to see this next Sunday on TV.
Leading Hotels Fiasco
"In a case study of how technology can sometimes fail a brand, Leading Hotels of the World -- with 450 luxury hotels in North, South and Central America; Asia; Europe; and Africa -- advertised a promotion last month to celebrate its 80th anniversary. It offered consumers a chance to win two nights at any of its properties between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15 for $19.28 each night.
The company made 3,000 rooms, or 6,000 hotel nights, available for the promotion.
Too popular
"Much of it was handled in-house, with a lot of it online, a lot of one-to-one marketing," Mr. Calder said. "We contacted many of the customers in our database, it got some press pickup, and it got a lot of mention on blogs and travel sites. It really took off."
Maybe too much. Some 150,000 people registered for the promo and were directed to a dedicated site Oct. 1 to attempt to book the $19.28 rooms.
The site crashed almost immediately. Most people were shut out; those who did get into the site were not able to book any rooms. "
As mentioned in the article the promotion was handled internally. One would hope that if they had engaged any decent agency that they could have identified the potential technology issues as well as been able to properly manage any unforeseen complications. What I actually see as the bigger story here is that the power of the internet was once again proven.
I am sure senior people at Leading Hotels were thinking ... well, its just a small online promo, we expect to receive a response but since our only communications are one-to-one with current customers it should be fairly small. Right? We'll be fine managing it internally.
Wrong. Word travels fast on the internet and bad blood travels even faster.
Read the full article on Advertising Age.
The company made 3,000 rooms, or 6,000 hotel nights, available for the promotion.
Too popular
"Much of it was handled in-house, with a lot of it online, a lot of one-to-one marketing," Mr. Calder said. "We contacted many of the customers in our database, it got some press pickup, and it got a lot of mention on blogs and travel sites. It really took off."
Maybe too much. Some 150,000 people registered for the promo and were directed to a dedicated site Oct. 1 to attempt to book the $19.28 rooms.
The site crashed almost immediately. Most people were shut out; those who did get into the site were not able to book any rooms. "
As mentioned in the article the promotion was handled internally. One would hope that if they had engaged any decent agency that they could have identified the potential technology issues as well as been able to properly manage any unforeseen complications. What I actually see as the bigger story here is that the power of the internet was once again proven.
I am sure senior people at Leading Hotels were thinking ... well, its just a small online promo, we expect to receive a response but since our only communications are one-to-one with current customers it should be fairly small. Right? We'll be fine managing it internally.
Wrong. Word travels fast on the internet and bad blood travels even faster.
Read the full article on Advertising Age.
Some shots from NYC
Puff Daddy satisfies his giant ego with a giant billboard. From the street it actually looked like he was checking out the naked Eva Mendes.
MySpace.com has a campaign where they have featured different artists and pulled music related details from their profiles on myspace. Here little Wayne share a list of "Beats that stick with me", the Jonas Brothers shared a list of songs they could agree on, etc.
This Dexter campaign was everywhere in New York. The "New Dexter" cover is my favourite.
Seriously? Have we become this lazy that it is required for us to play on the fears of environment and electricity costs to convince us to be active?
21 brands can be found in this picture.
Thursday
Please Stop
I'm beggin you, Paris Hilton, stop trying to make "funny" videos. They are awful. You are not an actress, you're just rich. Please stop.
If I want to hear a political opinion from someone who knows zero about foreign policy, the struggling economy, social issues and goverment policy, I'll write Sarah Palin an email.
I posted the new "video" but I'd recommend not wasting 2:30 of your life. Play at own risk.
If I want to hear a political opinion from someone who knows zero about foreign policy, the struggling economy, social issues and goverment policy, I'll write Sarah Palin an email.
I posted the new "video" but I'd recommend not wasting 2:30 of your life. Play at own risk.
See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die
From Seth Godin:
"1. Delete 120 minutes a day of 'spare time' from your life. This can include TV, reading the newspaper, commuting, wasting time in social networks and meetings. Up to you.
2. Spend the 120 minutes doing this instead:
- Exercise for thirty minutes.
- Read relevant non-fiction (trade magazines, journals, business books, blogs, etc.)
- Send three thank you notes.
- Learn new digital techniques (spreadsheet macros, Firefox shortcuts, productivity tools, graphic design, html coding)
- Volunteer.
- Blog for five minutes about something you learned.
- Give a speech once a month about something you don't currently know a lot about.
3. Spend at least one weekend day doing absolutely nothing but being with people you love.
4. Only spend money, for one year, on things you absolutely need to get by. Save the rest, relentlessly.
If you somehow pulled this off, then six months from now, you would be the fittest, best rested, most intelligent, best funded and motivated person in your office or your field. You would know how to do things other people don't, you'd have a wider network and you'd be more focused."
Godin is certainly idealistic, but his ideas are always solid and intriguing. Love this post and think that if you tried to apply this to your life for even a week it would make a huge difference.
Tuesday
Does this fit the brand?
Removed the video becuase it automatically played but you can view it here.
I think it's a nice idea...but I don't know if it fits with Doritos...thoughts?
I think it's a nice idea...but I don't know if it fits with Doritos...thoughts?
Sunday
The Man behind the brand
I'm not going to write about the upcoming US election, the debates, Sarah Palin (although I think I could start a blog on that one alone) but I do want to talk about two pieces of Obama content that have come out in the last week.The first is the picture above. It was taken by Obama's campaign photographer David Katz minutes before Obama entered the first US Presidential debate.
There have been thousands of pictures of Obama over the last few years - making speeches, on the campaign trail, kissing babies - standard political reporting. The Obama brand is extremly strong right now as well - it means change, youth and hope all at the same time. When you see him speak in front of 85,000 people, you can only be amazed and impressed.
The campaign has made him a symbol - he's not a normal guy. Not someone with a family, worries and fears. He's one of two men who could be the next President of the United states and he isn't like us. He's different.
Except photos like the one above make him appear normal. They make him seem like us - and that's why this could, possibly, become one of the most iconic images of the campaign. Because it shows him with the mask off.
No handlers, no media scrum. Just him and his thoughts - preparing for one of the most important moments of his life.
After seeing this image, I quickly read the popular Digg story about a warm gesture that Obama made to a complete stranger in the late 80's. If you've got two minutes and want to read a great post about his generosity, check this out.
Combine these two pieces and a new image of Obama is formed. A new brand.
He's an amazing speaker, academic, politician and father. But he's also just a guy who like to help people. And at his core, that's what his brand is all about.
Learning this story makes his brand stronger. Just liking knowing where Apple computers started makes the Apple brand stronger. How knowing that Bill Gates dropped out of college to start Microsoft makes that brand stronger and how knowing that Mark Zukerberg is just a college kid who knows how to code makes Facebook stronger.
The best brands focus on the core details that make them different. They weave a story that only they could tell.
And it's pictures like this that help show Obama might be an amazing, out of this world guy, but in the end, he's just like us.
Sort of.
The Links
- A great article about the $700 bailout and what the media is missing in the explanation
- Fallon planning explains the importance of brands that give rather than take (and shout)
- CNN is the latest victim of horrible online ad placements
- The price of a 30 second TV spot in the US has gone down by 4.1% - it's a only a cheap $130K now. Online growth has been cut in half too
- Think that the iPhone is unstoppable? Check out the huge rise in Google Phone searches since it's launch a few weeks ago
- Is Canadian creative going down the drain? Capital C chairman thinks so and is spreading the word about it
- Is Google buying TV spots?
- Obama is so cool he has a sweet iPhone app
- Think that your clients brand is important? What about yours?
- Before you start talking about how much you know about social media, check out this presentation (thanks to Katie B for the link)
- Fallon planning explains the importance of brands that give rather than take (and shout)
- CNN is the latest victim of horrible online ad placements
- The price of a 30 second TV spot in the US has gone down by 4.1% - it's a only a cheap $130K now. Online growth has been cut in half too
- Think that the iPhone is unstoppable? Check out the huge rise in Google Phone searches since it's launch a few weeks ago
- Is Canadian creative going down the drain? Capital C chairman thinks so and is spreading the word about it
- Is Google buying TV spots?
- Obama is so cool he has a sweet iPhone app
- Think that your clients brand is important? What about yours?
- Before you start talking about how much you know about social media, check out this presentation (thanks to Katie B for the link)
The 4th Screen
Although Nokia's global market share is falling, their advertising is getting better and better. I love this brand spot for their N-Series line and hope it helps the brand.
Quite unreal to not show your product until the 1:31 mark of a two minute spot, but it works.
Quite unreal to not show your product until the 1:31 mark of a two minute spot, but it works.
Thank You
We've been blogging for over a year now and just wanted to say thanks again to all of our readers. It's always nice to complete a post, it's even better when someone sends you a note or comments on it so please let us know what you think.
Thanks again.
Why are we so thankful? This TED video on the importance of praise:
Thanks again.
Why are we so thankful? This TED video on the importance of praise:
Click
A few weeks ago, I finished reading “Click” by Bill Tancer. Tancer is one of the head researchers at a company called Hitwise. Hitwise is a company that uses search data from the major engines (Google, Yahoo, etc) to understand how the web works (and help companies make decisions in the process).
What drew me to Click initially was the endorsement from Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner:
“Bill Tancer is the king of measuring online research. And online research is the main street of the new world. Which makes Bill Tancer king of the world, or something like that”
Quite the quote.
What Click teaches the reader, though, is how important search data is. The book begins with a good overview of some of the most popular searches in the US – what was the most-searched term in 2004? Paris Hilton.
Tancer then goes into a number of different examples of how to use search data – from optimizing a marketing campaign against the time when people are most interested in your product to analyzing how a new idea spreads across the web.
It’s a quick read but one full of case studies and interesting facts (such as the most frequent “How To” search or “Fear of” searches). The data is telling and an analysis like this is only the tip of the iceberg.
If Google is truly the “database of intentions” than “Click” is the beginner’s interpretation manual.
Friday
Diesel is SFW (Sort Of)
I've got to say that when I read the Contagious article about the new Diesel campaign, I was skeptical. Until I watched the video (posted below).
Diesel SFW XXX - Watch more free videos
The Viral Factory, an agency in the UK and US responsible for other viral campaigns for Axe and other large brands, is responsible for this Diesel work. I think the quote from the creative director sums up what this video is all about (other than raising awareness for a series of Diesel parties):
‘When Diesel asked us to make a viral invitation to a global event they were calling Dirty Thirty XXX we were forced to abandon our normally high-brow approach to the medium and explore unaccustomed areas of infantile sordidness. Three weeks later we emerged from under an enormous pile of 80’s porn with a film we will never be able to show our mothers but which suggests a party which everyone will want to go to.’
What we got was a hilarious, 2 minute video that is certainly worthy of the "pass onto a friend" pillar of viral video. I don't know how many people are actually going to go to the party, but the objective of raising awareness and having people talk about your brand has certainly been met.
Even though the brand seems a bit - well - scummy.
Diesel SFW XXX - Watch more free videos
The Viral Factory, an agency in the UK and US responsible for other viral campaigns for Axe and other large brands, is responsible for this Diesel work. I think the quote from the creative director sums up what this video is all about (other than raising awareness for a series of Diesel parties):
‘When Diesel asked us to make a viral invitation to a global event they were calling Dirty Thirty XXX we were forced to abandon our normally high-brow approach to the medium and explore unaccustomed areas of infantile sordidness. Three weeks later we emerged from under an enormous pile of 80’s porn with a film we will never be able to show our mothers but which suggests a party which everyone will want to go to.’
What we got was a hilarious, 2 minute video that is certainly worthy of the "pass onto a friend" pillar of viral video. I don't know how many people are actually going to go to the party, but the objective of raising awareness and having people talk about your brand has certainly been met.
Even though the brand seems a bit - well - scummy.
Thursday
LG and You "Tell the World"
LG Canada, one of the top partners of Toronto's Fashion Week, has just launched a pretty cool promotion on YouTube. As the lead sponsor, they are hosting a large party (featuring industry icons, a performance by Maroon 5, etc) near the end of the week and have a number of passes to give away to the event.
Rather than run a typical run-in-the mill promo, LG did something pretty cool. They held an open casting call for models around Toronto to come in and walk the runway. Every person who attended the casting session had a 30 second clip of their walk uploaded and posted on YouTube.
On October 17th, the most viewed people will win exclusive passes to LG's party and get to attend Fashion week - a dream for many aspiring models. The collection of videos has just been posted to the LG YouTube page and some of them are friggin hilarious. I love how the event got a mix of amature models as well as just random people.
The promotion plays of a powerful insight - that people can amplify their desires, interests and feelings through the web (and that models are desperate enough to do anything - especially spam their friends with emails telling them to watch their walk...everyday)
My vote for the overall winner is - by far - this guy:
I'm pumped for the mashup version of this walk (coming soon..I hope) and think that this promo is worthy of some press. With just under 100 videos, it will be interesting to see the number of views that this promo drives.
UPDATE:
The mashup..
Rather than run a typical run-in-the mill promo, LG did something pretty cool. They held an open casting call for models around Toronto to come in and walk the runway. Every person who attended the casting session had a 30 second clip of their walk uploaded and posted on YouTube.
On October 17th, the most viewed people will win exclusive passes to LG's party and get to attend Fashion week - a dream for many aspiring models. The collection of videos has just been posted to the LG YouTube page and some of them are friggin hilarious. I love how the event got a mix of amature models as well as just random people.
The promotion plays of a powerful insight - that people can amplify their desires, interests and feelings through the web (and that models are desperate enough to do anything - especially spam their friends with emails telling them to watch their walk...everyday)
My vote for the overall winner is - by far - this guy:
I'm pumped for the mashup version of this walk (coming soon..I hope) and think that this promo is worthy of some press. With just under 100 videos, it will be interesting to see the number of views that this promo drives.
UPDATE:
The mashup..
Wednesday
Don't Vote
Check out this new PSA from a bunch of famous, American celebs. It's quite the assortment of people (including the not-very-funny Sarah Silverman) and I was surprised at how long it actually is (over 4 minutes).
Worth watching though. Considering that more American's vote for American Idol than the President, I hope that this campaign dramatically raises votes in the Country this November.
Worth watching though. Considering that more American's vote for American Idol than the President, I hope that this campaign dramatically raises votes in the Country this November.
Tuesday
off to NYC i go
So I am extremely excited about leaving to New York tomorrow. I am driving to Buffalo and taking a $50 train. I will let you know how it goes but at this point I honestly can't imagine a better way to travel... a return trip to NY for less than $120.Regardless, lets get to the point. It is my first trip to New York and my list of things to do has run to about 35 days over my trips length so I will have to compromise. BUT one thing that will be a huge goal of mine will be to absorb the advertising culture, grab every flyer, take pictures of every 10 story billboard and visit the meccas of retail. Times Square Apple store, FOA Schwartz, Tiffany & Co ( yes I am going with my girlfriend), Niketown NYC and any of your suggestions.
I am staying at 8th & 42nd (basically at times square) so I am in prime location for satisfying my ad-fetish. Look for many advertising ego satisfying pictures like these next week.
Monday
Project 10 to the 100 - Google
Do you have an idea that will help the world? If you do Google wants to hear about it.
From the site:
The question is: What would help? And help most?
"At Google, we don't believe we have the answers, but we do believe the answers are out there. Maybe in a lab, or a company, or a university -- but maybe not.
Maybe the answer that helps somebody is in your head, in something you've observed, some notion that you've been fiddling with, some small connection you've noticed, some old thing you have seen with new eyes.
If you have an idea that you believe would help somebody, we want to hear about it. We're looking for ideas that help as many people as possible, in any way, and we're committing the funding to launch them. You can submit your ideas and help vote on ideas from others. Final idea selections will be made by an advisory board."
This is type of projects that corporations should be getting involved in.
From the site:
The question is: What would help? And help most?
"At Google, we don't believe we have the answers, but we do believe the answers are out there. Maybe in a lab, or a company, or a university -- but maybe not.
Maybe the answer that helps somebody is in your head, in something you've observed, some notion that you've been fiddling with, some small connection you've noticed, some old thing you have seen with new eyes.
If you have an idea that you believe would help somebody, we want to hear about it. We're looking for ideas that help as many people as possible, in any way, and we're committing the funding to launch them. You can submit your ideas and help vote on ideas from others. Final idea selections will be made by an advisory board."
This is type of projects that corporations should be getting involved in.
A couple facts....
In 1984 3 channels reached 80% of the population. Today, 150 channels are required.
- Chicago Tribune, 22 August 2004.
Commercial radio debuts 88 years ago today (Sept. 29, 1920).
- Wired.
- Chicago Tribune, 22 August 2004.
Commercial radio debuts 88 years ago today (Sept. 29, 1920).
- Wired.
Sunday
Whoops!
From copyranter.Wonder how long after the magazine went to press that the editor figured out this little layout mistake. Ouch.
Bold Act
Whether you think this is simply a PR spin or a way for an agency to regain confidence after losing a major client, I think that the act of resigning a client is something that shows the backbone of what an agency stands for.
Starbucks and W+K have been together for a long time. They've been through the good times (the launch of the brand, the rise in sales and store openings) and now the bad (the decline in the American economy resulting in hundreds of store closures, the lack of client focus - have you seen all the new CD releases at the counter? - and the general panic that comes to marketers when their brand is losing strength).
Although the full details will never be released, my guess is that things weren't just getting tough, they were getting downright awful. Agency people left for better things, the marketers might have considered briefing multiple groups on the same project, executions were getting criticized because they weren't driving short-term objectives...who knows.
But the decision for W+K to leave them is a bold one. It says that the culture of an agency is more important than a client. That the quality of the work is more vital than hitting the revenue number of the month.
It takes guts to do that - to have the confidence that your shop will continue to thrive, that it will find new business and that it will make up for the lost revenue over the last year.
It would have been easy for W+K to pander to their client. To spend "a bit more time" hoping that things got better. But sometimes you know the decision that has to be made. And usually, it's only the client who has the guts to pull the trigger.
Starbucks and W+K have been together for a long time. They've been through the good times (the launch of the brand, the rise in sales and store openings) and now the bad (the decline in the American economy resulting in hundreds of store closures, the lack of client focus - have you seen all the new CD releases at the counter? - and the general panic that comes to marketers when their brand is losing strength).
Although the full details will never be released, my guess is that things weren't just getting tough, they were getting downright awful. Agency people left for better things, the marketers might have considered briefing multiple groups on the same project, executions were getting criticized because they weren't driving short-term objectives...who knows.
But the decision for W+K to leave them is a bold one. It says that the culture of an agency is more important than a client. That the quality of the work is more vital than hitting the revenue number of the month.
It takes guts to do that - to have the confidence that your shop will continue to thrive, that it will find new business and that it will make up for the lost revenue over the last year.
It would have been easy for W+K to pander to their client. To spend "a bit more time" hoping that things got better. But sometimes you know the decision that has to be made. And usually, it's only the client who has the guts to pull the trigger.
Friday
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