Yeah, the whole ‘vampire’ thing is tired but ads like this keep HBO’s best fresh.
Archive for the 'advertising' Category
I totally forgot about this but my favorite ad from last weekend was from a company selling a product I would never buy: Kia. Way to take childrens toys and mash them up with a bit of ‘Entourage‘ flavor and use it as an excuse to use amusing slow motion pans. It should be noted that this concept is completely unoriginal since they are more or less biting from the Daft Punk Interstella 5555 movie theme. Still entertaining, but I won’t post the entire vid here since I don’t want to support Biters or Kia via their lame brand channel.
http://www.vimeo.com/8259713
I saw this on Gizmodo late last year and didn’t repost it until now but it’s impression stuck with me through the holidays. Nokia selected a small number of people to send a very unique promotion in hopes that videos like the one above would be placed online. Not sure how truly effective something like this is (difficult to quantify) compared to the build cost for each box created but it’s a welcome push in a different direction to increase exposure.
For a moment think about how many online ads we see daily, some more subtle than others with (left/right) Margin placement as opposed to being In-Line with content. Don’t get me started with Actionscript enabled interactive Mastheads that end up being custom microsites. That being said I really like the latest generation that use Javascript to take advantage of alpha transparencies. Anyways, to me this can all be placed into the bucket of ‘E-Mass Marketing’ because it is far from being personalized or physical in nature.
*Lets keep VR enabled webcam print ads and magazine cover animations out of the discussion because they are still somewhat buggy and at least six months to a year away from mass market ubiquity….but soon will be for sure.
So–one day in December a Product Manager at web design agency Mint Digital got a box in the mail. He plugged it into a Windows machine (oops,promotion was not Mac compatible), followed the commands printed on a card that came with the box, typed the sentence “connecting people” and the box opened with a cloud of smoke. Inside was a veritable nerdvana; a Nokia N900, copy of Modern Warfare 2 on the PS3, and a few other tech presents just in time for the holiday. A slick promotion for the n900 meant to go viral for sure.
In my opinion this was money well spent compared to doing other forms of advertising for a few reasons:
- You simply couldn’t create something this visceral in a purely digital format–the box releases smoke, c’mon!
- Combining the digital (plug into computer, hack to ‘unlock’) and physical (box has locking mechanism, smoke) creates something stronger with the two working in tandem than one means alone.
- This creates buzz for the early adopter audience that would be most likely to purchase the device as opposed to a mixed media blitz.
- If this cascades as intended via word of mouth it’s more effective in generating interest/awareness than spending a boatload of E-cash.
- If it doesn’t work the early adopter audience is still more interested in future Nokia launches than they would have been otherwise.
To wrap things up a bit, based on the Nokia-generated demo above the n900 looks rock solid. Too bad the font legibility is negligible since sub 9 pt onscreen doesn’t work that well without a ‘pinch and zoom’ function. Oh, and if it runs Symbian all bets are off in terms of usability–that OS is wack!
Nothing like some vintage ‘tongue and cheek’ commercials to start your day.
Talk about a case of going viral in the worst way possible. When Fox News attacks your marketing things have really gone bad…but in a classic misrepresentation of the facts they get it completely wrong. This is something that car manufacturers often do at Auto Shows around the country to raise awareness, albeit some do so in a more restrained manner. Live dancers aren’t uncommon at these events, but admittedly this level of cheeziness is rare. Issue at hand is that any news isn’t always good news since the public might see this as an example of government money gone to waste but I’m going to applaud Chevy for doing more with less budget than their competitors. I am also going to damn them for being responsible for one of the worst songs in the history of advertising.
Graffiti taken to a new level and I love it, although this time it manifests in a gaming inspired format as opposed to corporate marketing and messaging. It definitely reminds me of on-site advertising that takes advantage of existing physical structures in playful manners seen here. That being said I can appreciate anything that makes the walk to work a more light and pleasurable experience. Image via Pasta&Vinegar.
Loads of hope is a program I was exposed to via Hulu ads and I think it’s genius in several ways. First it funds a program that provides laundry services to victims of natural disasters, which is pretty awesome in and of itself. Second, it’s a cheap, easy, guilt-free philanthropy. Third is that it sends a message to potential purchasers that there is something behind this brand name other than the profit margins made by conglomerate Proctor and Gamble–a program that acts to aid those in need. Added bonus to the manufacturer is the halo effect achieved by those wearing the shirt (who get to explain it in their words) and the subsequent exposure to the program. Oh, and it’s a nicely cut t-shirt with a classic logo. That helps too.
These have been up on billboards everywhere I look for the last 18 months and I wanted to take the time to mention that they confuse me and don’t make me want to drink their brand of vodka. Which is fine since I really don’t drink much vodka to begin with, but if I did it wouldn’t be Svedka, in part because it sounds like Russian for ‘cold sweat.’ I’m still having trouble believing that Stan Winston Studios had anything to do with this over-photoshopped and under-developed robot thing gone wrong.
Then again that company did work on the Star Wars Christmas Special which is definitely something that George Lucas will spend the rest of his career trying to forget, not similar to Jar Jar Binks. Here is my primary complaint: I don’t see how this will encourage me to try their brand of vodka. Is the recipe from the future? Will I attract bizarre future robot women? Will those that have similar robot-women/android things from the future interests and I bond together over just how progressive this campaign is? How could hotshot NYC ad house Amalgamated steer a client so wrong–could they have been overserved the night before the pitch and been out of original ideas? The only thing worse than being creatively uninspired is the annoying result seen across multiple media, as is the case today.
This was a very real Japanese co-branded promotion to build awareness for Windows 7 and to make everyone who lost a bet last week in Tokyo appreciate their local hospital that much more over the weekend. The digestively evil 5.1 inch tall sandwich was priced at $8.25 and most likely succeeded in making everyone sick of both Microsoft and Burger King at the same time. To me this still beats hosting a Windows 7 Launch Party so within context it’s Genius! Via Elecronista.
Ever wondered who was behind Enzyte or why you may have heard that he is behind bars for 20 years? It’s actually a genius approach to inventing a product while simultaneously creating the need for it. Let’s also admit that ‘Smilin Bob’ is the best silent spokesman to date not appearing in animated cartoon form. Its the story of greed and corruption that led to the method by which they automatically charged people for shipments that they never ordered that prompted both Federal and State governments to take the company down. Read the article, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Cincinnati Boner King’ in last month’s GQ or online here.