Rainbow Guy Used by Vodafone NZ
Adding to the brands tapping into recently popular stories or virals (top of mind would be the Kraft hiring golden-voiced homeless Ted Williams), Vodafone hires ‘rainbow guy’ (number one in a top of 2010 viral videos by Mashable):
Guess we’ll see more of this in the coming years.
Via Campaign Brief.
Epson Projector Race – Hidden Benefit?
The brief is clear – “super lightweight and super easy to set up” – according to a Contagious interview.
In the end however, the hero is making a presentation in bright daylight, on a rooftop. My guess: this was not a random location. My questions: is the benefit real? If so, was it just a trick or was it a real intention communicate this? Is it effective as such? Is it a competitive advantage? etc. Of course, all these questions are meaningless if the benefit is not real.
Burger King Positioning as an Adult Brand
Filed under: Campaigns, Strategy | Tags: Burger King, positioning, strategy, target
Leave a Comment Seen this in Miami Beach this summer:
Reminded me of Al Ries’ 22 “Immuable Marketing Laws”. Went back to the book, where they describe how Burger King chose to target adults (vs. McDonald’s kids) – which basically includes kids who want to grow up. This ad would be spot on to sustain this argument. But then again… is Burger King’s strategy really clear these days?
As a reminder (notice the final line – “Eat like a man, man”):
To be fair to BK, their advertising has an edge that targets it rather to adults, besides being simply entertaining (latest breakfast spot makes the point), but it does seem that entertainment (and tone of voice) is more of a strategy than the articulation Ries&Trout identified…
Briefly Noticed – Religious Services in Toronto
Filed under: Just fun, Strategy, World | Tags: advertising 1, fun, marketing, religion
Leave a Comment I made up the category in the title. Just to put the below two in the same post:
Definitely based on an insight, since I did ask myself whether they bury the bodies in an upright position in certain areas of the cemetery.
Crisp and clear. Which one is the main benefit though?
Reads – Best of Viral Ads; Dating+Gaming
Advertising Age published the 10 most succesful viral ads of all times. Worth a look in case there’s one that you might have missed.
Mashable announces a new service out there that links dating (more video chat than dating actually) with gaming. Geek gamers can pay to play with girls, maybe using the gaming as a pretext to get into the “red light” zone, as the article puts it. What I find interesting is that the current social standards are still not well defined online, leaving place for innovative services like this one or Chat Roulette. There are still a lot of untapped insights. We might see more odd models scoring big successes in the future (and of course, expect lots of failures).
The Quality of Spoofs – Sony vs. Tango vs. Nissan
Filed under: Viral | Tags: ad, commercial, Nissan, sony, spoof, Tango
Comments (1) Tell me how good (expensive) the spoofs are and I’ll tell you how good your ad is…
In what I believe to be the right order:
- the original:
- Tango:
Take a moment to read a couple of comments, they’re the cherry on the cake…
- Nissan:
… seems to be inspired by both Sony and Tango.
I personally prefer this couple:
- the spoof:
Reasons to Believe – Being German
Filed under: Campaigns, Strategy | Tags: Buick, german, GM, Nissan, reason to believe, strategy
Comments (1) Everybody wants to be a cat in Aristocats and a German in the car world:
Both wishes perfectly reasonable.
This draw my attention because at first I didn’t detect any “German accent”. A reason to believe must make the benefit more believable (in this case - being German as a reason to believe that the car is very good) . So what do you do if the reason to believe is not believable?
Oddly enough, I did some research and after checking the website (which at that moment had no mention of any Germanity) I did see the car from a different angle and I realised it’s the Opel Insignia, launched 2 years ago in Europe. So it is actually German.
But this wouldn’t matter if the consumer wouldn’t believe it is German.
All my confusion collapsed (that means I’m confused at a slightly different level) when I saw two commercials – one for Nissan Qashqai and one for Suzuki claiming “European tuned” in the copy. Tried to find them, but guess they’re too average for somebody to upload them on youtube.
The conclusion? Since a couple of American marketers are going overboard to claim European (or German where possible) roots, it probably means consumers are really thrilled about European cars. Maybe this is happening because the European cars are regarded as more sensible. And there are a couple of brands that show character & sportivity. A “halo” effect. And maybe the claim is not acting as a reason to believe, but as a trigger of interest, getting attention for further reading or helping shortlist that car.
Update: since drafting this post, Buick launched a series of TV commercials that drive more and more the German attribute:
And it helps getting more specific – like in the below “Autobahn” ad:
Sponsorship at It’s Best – DG Shoes by Ken Block
Filed under: Digital, Product placement, Strategy, Viral | Tags: DG Shoes, Ken Block, planning, Sponsorship, strategy, target
Leave a Comment At first look you’d say it’s just another (very succesful) viral. But DG actually sponsors Ken Block’s rally team. And if you think about it – what is sponsorship about? Isn’t it borrowing the sponsored’ equity for your brand’s good? Of course, in manuals it’s considered mainly an awareness tool and best in class examples would probably include companies that took the sponsorship and built some initiatives on it (very good example would be P&G’s Thank You Mom from the Vancouver Olympics).
But the event or team you’re sponsoring has a base of dedicated fans. Our examples shows exactly how to tackle this. The thinking is reversed from the above. Instead of trying to do something for your brand and tune it up with the sponsored theme, you do something based on the sponsored theme/subject and integrate the brand. The main advantage is that you cater to the hardcore fans. And they’ll love it.
Am I too abstract? Contagious was spot on in pointing out that the following music video got only 500,000 hits (1 mil so far), while the 3x longer, almost-pure driving films got over 10 millions each:
The above is the classical way to do it. Who’s my consumer? – The typical hip-hop-er (might be narrower, but I really don’t know the target). What do I do? Well, he loves hip-hop, so why don’t I do a music video and infuse it with a bit of Ken Block? After all, I get my awareness from the DGs on the car – this is a brilliant bonus.
Results prove it’s not so brilliant after all. Launched after the music video, the driving video below overtook it within hours (according to the same article):
There are a couple of disclaimers:
- the driving videos would definitely have an audience that is not limited to the DG Shoes; this being said, things are not so bad, as the whole setup (with the over-the-top car, music, stunts, etc.) are quite DG – so even if you’re not a hardcore fan of DG Shoes, you’d get influenced. And this is what branding is about
- the initiative of doing this might be Ken Block’s (vs. the client’s or the agency’s); there is no rule that this should happen – on the contrary. That’s actually the point of this post!
Let the Battle Begin
Sony just launched the video. Via Contagious (here for more details about the actual campaign).
The gaming playground gets a bit more interesting. XBox is also expected to bring in some more inovation (full body movement recognition – or the way they call it – free hands gaming - here) Which I won’t believe till I see it in stores…
Noi e-readere: Sony vs. Kindle
Am asteptat sa apara si Sony inainte sa scriu ceva. Noutati foarte mari nu sunt – tot alb negru, tot greu se misca (desi cu 20% mai repede). Dar:
- sunt mai ieftine
- sunt mai usoare (in jur de 250gr toate – mai putin Kindle DX) si mai subtiri
- apar in mai multe culori (putem chiar spune ca Kindle a dublat numarul de culori – la doua)
- va avea si Sony in sfarsit Wifi (si browser) – dar doar pentru Daily Edition, versiunea cea mai mare, care costa 299$ in SUA
Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-650:
Kindle WiFi (ecran 6″):
N-am atins nici unul din ele, dar din ce am mai vazut pe piata sunt in continuare singurii doi concurenti seriosi (parerea mea). Nook nu ma convinge ca viitor pentru ca Barnes&Nobles (reteaua de librarii care l-a lansat) se cam duce de rapa (compania tocmai s-a declarat ca fiind de vanzare si se afla in mijlocul unui razboi intre actionari). M-am jucat un pic cu un Kobo (e-reader lansat de Borders, alta mare retea de librarii) si sunt extrem de dezamagit ca nu are dictionar integrat. In rest e pe undeva pe la pretul lui Kindle si nu are nici pe departe vanzarile lui Amazon.
Revenind la Sony si Kindle, cred ca Kindle va domina piata, avand uriasul avantaj al asocierii (si integrarii) cu Amazon. De asemenea, cred ca Sony nu intelege inca importanta conectivitatii, nici unul din modele neavand 3G si doar unul WiFi. Si Sony e mult mai scump (180-300$), dupa ce Amazon a redus preturile (140 -190$).
Pe de alta parte Sony citeste ePub (Kindle nu!!) – asta inseamna ca Kindle te cam blocheaza in carti din Amazon. Se dau mari si ei cu ceva clasici gratuiti, dar mi se pare ca ePub e ceva mai raspandit pentru carti gratuite. Asta fara sa luam in calcul pe cei care nu vor sa plateasca 
. Ambele citesc pdf. Sony mai are si touchscreen, care pentru mine inseamna in primul rand utilizare mai eficienta a spatiului – adica ecran mai mare la aceeasi dimensiune si greutate.
Ambele vor fi disponibile in Romania.
Asteptam in continuare o varianta color cu rata de refresh mai mare. Exista inca loc liber pe piata pentru un astfel de device – usor, subtire, versatil, marime intre iPad si iPhone (iPad-ul prea greu, iPhone-ul prea mic, ambele problematice pentru citit).
Pentru detalii tehnice – Sony – vedeti post pe cnet, iar pentru Kindle pe amazon.com.
Extra poze:
Sony PRS 350 (ecran 5″):
Sony Daily Edition PRS 950 (ecran 7″ si wifi):
Kindle DX (ecran 9.7″, 535gr - practic in alta categorie):
