Another of the things I picked up on while in New York was the amount of space the ‘Be Stupid’ campaign by Diesel is getting around the city. All the stores have their windows full of the posters:
And subway corridors were often solely occupied by varying ‘Be Stupid’ prints, you have to try very hard to miss it.
It also has the viral to support it:
I love it! It’s the essence of creativity. Every time you sit down in a room with the aim of being creative, you sure to have an idea that most would consider a ‘think before you speak’ moment. It’s these moments that evolve into the greatest campaigns, don’t over think these ideas, share them, speak up.
What do you think the guy who suggested the Cadbury’s Guerilla thought before speaking up about it to his colleagues? Yet it is seen as one of the most original pieces of advertising in the last decade. It reinvigorated the ’share how it feels, not what it does’ philosophy for advertising.
I for one, intend to be stupid*.
(* Many would say ‘more’ stupid, they are correct).
American brands seem obsessed with highlighting their competitors flaws in favour of promoting their own benefits. Following my trip to New York at the end of January, it was hard to escape the number of brands adopting this type of messaging.
The most obvious example was Verizon, who slate AT&T’s 3G coverage across the US, and many of my US friends refered to the rivalry using the term ‘there’s a map for that’. I’ve posted a link to one of the Verizon ads below, and you’ll soon realise how successful it seems to have been.
It will be interesting to see if any UK telco’s ever make this move towards highlighting other suppliers 3G availability, (or lack of) especially with the iPhone now driving smartphone sales (and so 3G usage) across Orange, Vodafone and O2 networks.
Name the big social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc; for which there are hundreds of blog posts written about these channels by marketers every day.
Consequently the desire to mine the opportunities present on these major social media platforms has led us to miss clear opportunities elsewhere. Namely, the development of social experiences in gaming, with Xbox Live and Playstation Network both offering services that allow social interaction in the same environment that also accommodates marketing messages.
When these game consoles are connected to the internet, they allow for voice, text and video communications to occur between users (note that users are not always friends, they may have just met for the first time in a game lobby. Also communication can occur between more than 2 users, sometimes up to 12 users can be connected in the same conversation at the same time). immediately you have a situation where discussion about your marketing can take place between these users as they are interacting with it.
Marketing messages can be placed in-game, such as those used by Barack Obama while he was campaigning for the US Presidency:
Or in the way of clothing or accessories for an avatar, a character used to represent users in-game personas. Both H&M and Adidas have created in-game versions of their clothing lines:
Or just within the options menus when the console boots up. Up to now this has most commonly been used for advertising films recently released at the cinema.
The opportunities to place marketing messages within these environments, as always, must be accompanied by consideration for the environment where they are being placed. As this has been an underused channel for marketing up until now, the user of that channel is likely to be hostile towards marketing that detracts from their experience or saturates what was before a fairly desolate marketing space. However, if we accomodate for our messages to add to these experiences, even adding a feel of reality to games that try to give an experience that replicates the real world, we are likely to find that the development of marketing via this channel is generally well received.
The main problem that many marketers will find if they do suggest using channels such as Xbox Live for their marketing is the believe by many that it is a channel only used by children, and so offers very little in terms of potential customers for the majority of brands who are trying to reach an adult audience. If this is the case, then I suggest you point them in the direction of this Nielsen report that analysed console use in June 2009. It includes the graph below indicating the different age groups using games consoles:
Almost half of users are above 18, and this older demographic are more likely to have a console online with the necessary subscription to access online content and games.
With the games console market growing, especially as many look to develop their interest in gaming having been introduced to the hobby by Nintendo’s Wii and DS consoles, we are likely to see the marketing efforts in this arena grow eventually and the most successful will accomodate for the social nature of modern gaming. As always though, it’s better to be the case study than follow the trend.
The case study video for the recent campaign by Fallon for SyFy’s Alice. Nice integrated campaign, but even nicer running rabbit projection. Very clever!
I came across this slide deck on Slideshare yesterday about Facebook Connect by Nerdy Interactive Labs. It has given me greater insight into the opportunities the Facebook API can offer brands, especially in terms of data capture:
With the level of growth Facebook experienced in 2009 (approximately doubling its user base in the last 12 months), the opportunities for brands have significantly increased. However, many are still struggling to make the most of these opportunities.
I predict we will see Facebook Connect implemented in many clever ways this year. We saw some ideas developing in 2009, a good example being the campaign for the game Prototype that received acclaim for the way it made use of Facebook Connect. I expect this to be a base upon which brands will build during 2010, offering far greater levels of personalisation and interaction than we have seen before.
I posted the top 10 of my Tweets for October, something that I intend to maintain on a regular monthly basis in 2010. So, as 2009 comes to an end, here are the 10 Tweets from my @m_eye account that received the most clicks over the course of the year.
Take something everyone does (yet hate when others do it to them) and give people free stuff for doing it. This got the Ikea store in Malmo plenty of publicity via peoples Facebook walls. It also allowed them to then make a case study video for YouTube so everyone who thought it was a great idea can share it and say how great they thought the idea was:
Augmented Reality Cereal Box by Nestle
Something a lot of marketers are interested in, but few have found a way to actually make much use of. This made the idea of augmented reality becoming something fun and entertaining.
Credit should also go to ‘Bright dancing’ by Talk Talk. A use of AR and light graffiti to make something that got the audience of X-Factor engaging with the brand.
Pepsi rebranded Pecsi in Argentina
After discovering that Argentinians pronounce Pepsi as ‘Pecsi’, the brand went about adjusting its name to fit with the culture in the country. Check out the case study in the link below:
This was another case of Pepsi demonstrating cultural awareness across different regions. At a recent talk by Raj Patel about his new book ‘the value of nothing’ he discussed the launch of Coke and Pepsi in India, where both brands entered the market at the same time. Coke used their worldwide ad of the polar bears enjoying a coke while on an iceberg. Pepsi on the other hand produced an ad featuring Bollywood stars, especially for the Indian audience. According to Raj, most Indians had no idea what a polar bear was and how it related to India in any way, while Pepsi apparently got everyone on board (though it helps when the other guy gets it so wrong!).
Dixons Underground Posters
Dixons British take on the ‘very popular in the US’ brand bashing approach. I liked these just because they demonstrate how effective good copy can be.
Whopper Sacrifice
I’ve found Facebook apps to be more of an annoyance than an inspiration this year, but there was one that really made me take notice. The Whopper Sacrifice. After downloading the app, the user selected 10 Facebook friends they were willing to lose in exchange for a free Whopper at Burger King. The people you sacrificed received a wall post informing them that the friendship had been sacrificed in preference of a free Whopper. People making something viral in exchange for food.
Unfortunately Facebook didn’t see it the same way as everyone else. So after just over a week, the app itself was sacrificed due to it breaking the Facebook privacy policy. It had sacrificed 233,906 friendships during the time it was live.
TED
An obvious one maybe, but it’s a constant source of inspiration. I’ve only come across TED this year, and consequently I’ve been catching up with some of the great ideas of the past. My favourite talks this year have been Sixth Sense, Rory Sutherland and the single use syringe. See the latest Sixth Sense presentation below:
John Lewis’ Christmas ad
Because it sells a feeling rather than specific products. It just feels right.
I enjoyed News from the Herd, and I enjoy Lies Damned Lies and Statistics, a great blog for keeping up with digital stats and culture. Credit to Dirk Singer for keeping up such a consistent standard!
An amazing character behind this blog. An alternate look at the world of advertising. Comical genius.
Film & TV
Where the Wild Things Are – I haven’t even seen the film yet, as it was only released in the UK in mid-December, so you may wonder why I mention it as one of the most inspiring things this year. Well, it’s because of the trailer.
It was enough to make me fall in love with the style of this film, especially as it featured an acoustic version of ‘Wake Up’ by Arcade Fire (I’m gutted to find out this track isn’t in the film itself…cruel!).
Writing this part has made me realise how few films I actually watch. I saw Cocktail for the first time and quite enjoyed it …is that alright?
Music
10 track that I may have over played during 2009:
1. Miike Snow – Animal
2. Phoenix – 1901
3. Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition
4. Matt & Kim – Daylight
5. Passion Pit – Moths Wings
6. Ladyhawk – S.T.H.D. (note, this is not Ladyhawke!)
7. Filthy Dukes – Nonsense in the Dark
8. Fight Like Apes – Jake Summers
9. Harlem Shakes – Strictly Game
10. Delphic – Counterpoint
As is often the case with these lists, I think I’ve only been able to really remember the last 6 months, so I may well have missed a lot of things from the first half of the year.
Anyway…that’s the last year of inspiration done, nearly time for some 2010 inspiration.
