A nice yet simple idea: at an all women race an Axe guy sprayed himself and then ran ahead of the crowd as if they were chasing him.
As with most guerrilla marketing campaigns, this one seems to have its main effect through the word of mouth it’s getting online, on sites like this one, but also here, here, and here, where i found out about it.
The Guardian has just announced the top 10 viral videos of this year, as picked by GoViral. I guess this is the first of many „best of 2008“ posts that I’ll find and link to in the next 3 weeks. Shortly followed by posts about „Trends for 2009″… Anyway, here it is:
1. Wassup anno 2008
Disclaimer: Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser Busch, which originally licensed the concept for five years from Stone, was not involved in the production of the ad2. SFW XXX Party Invitation
Diesel’s naughty montage of 1980s porn films using cartoon animation to cover up explicit scenes, just, for its 30th anniversary3. Kobe Bryant jumps over an Aston Martin
Nike’s clever „did he or didn’t he“ actually clear a car. Probably not, but it got people talking, and watching4. Extreme Street Football
Electronic Arts trickery masterpiece featuring kids with football skills – and parkour and capoeira – using a football like you ain’t never seen5. Take it to the next level
Guy Ritchie directs this shot-in-first-person tale of a teen footballer’s hardcore ups and downs from being discovered to losing teeth to playing for a national team6. Tiger Woods 09 – Walk on Water
When a fan of EA’s golf game pointed out a flaw that Tiger Woods could play a „Jesus Shot“ from on water, the game manufacturer’s response was this viral featuring the man himself7. Bean Counter
One of those Mac vs PC ads where Apple prods Microsoft over spending loads on advertising Vista when it should be fixing it8. Samsung Omnia i900 Unboxing
Samsung spoof of the tech-fan trend of filming opening the box of a new gadget for the first time9. Fate – Leave Nothing
Emotive Nike fare of lifelong rivalry of two NFL players featuring version of sound track from the Good the Bad and the Ugly10. Adam and Eve
Insurance company ad featuring a gay Adam and frustrated Eve that found life online after being banned from TV
Somehow Sony managed to get everyone excited even about the making of a new advertisement. There was a lot of discussion about the previous bravia ads during their production. Now Sony has started the production of a new ad, which is being shot in a square in italy, where they are intending to build something that looks like the following:
The idea is to build a camera setup, that makes speed of images visible. Hence they rebuild the zoetrope:
It’s 1834 and William Horner has just invented the zoetrope. Its rotating drum transforms still images into a single moving picture. As the Greek name suggests, it’s the ‘wheel of life’ (zoe ‘life’, trope ‘turn’).
Fast forward to today and Sony’s Motionflow technology, intelligently adding new frames to action scenes to make them appear smoother than ever. At 200 frames a second, Motionflow 200Hz is like a fast, fluid 21st-century zoetrope.
What better way to celebrate this technology than through the creation of BRAVIA-drome, the most technologically advanced zoetrope in the world. We’ll bring you breaking news of our Motionflow 200Hz event, as it happens. Stay tuned.
So they need something or someone really fast to demonstrate the uniqueness of this setup. The solution: the ad will feature brazilian football player Kaka:
Football’s speeding up: the players run faster, the ball travels further. It’s the ultimate test of Motionflow 200Hz, the world’s first technology which makes intense action scenes appear as clear and smooth as real life.
It’s certainly a challenge, keeping up with AC Milan player Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaká. He’s one of the fastest players on the pitch with a speed that’s rarely matched, making him the perfect embodiment of sharp and fast Motionflow 200Hz technology.
Currently, they are still building the whole construction. You can follow their progress on the blog specifically setup for this.
This weekend I will visit the barcamp Hamburg 2008 – my first visit to a barcamp ever. Looking very much forward to it, curious to see what kind of session we’ll have. Not sure yet if and what I will present…
The venue is at Otto Versand, a German mail order company that moved heavily into e-commerce (of course) and seems to sponsor much of the whole event.
Well, more about that I will most likely blog live at my german blog, and yes, I will most likely blog it in German, too.
This is a great list of the 10 Social Media Myths. Quite a few I have heard myself, too:
1. Great Content Always Goes Hot
2. There are No Rules
3. You Can’t Build Quality Relationships Online
4. The More Friends, the Better
5. Social Media Marketing is Easy
6. Social Media Won’t Last
7. Social Media will Replace Traditional Marketing
8. Social Media is a Cure-All
9. Social Media is for Kids
10. Digg is All that Matters
Go to the site and read it, it’s great stuff!
Advertisers don’t belong on Facebook, says Ted McConnell, Digital Guru at P&G.
Social networks may never find the ad dollars they’re hunting for because they don’t really have a right to them.
he continues. A provocative statement made to the Digital Non-Conference, a program by Cincinnati’s Digital Hub Initiative. His feeling is, that most social network activity is rather private in nature:
„I have a reaction to that as a consumer advocate and an advertiser,“ he said. „What in heaven’s name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?“
These private conversations are, well, private. But these ads are just as obtrusive as all the advertising in the pub your spending your time with your friends at. We’re used to having social interactions in surroundings covered with advertising. We just don’t want to be interrupted or bothered by it. Most facebook advertising isn’t interrupting. It’s small banner ads on the side of the screen, which I, quite frankly, rarely notice.
And while we talk about moving into places that are largely made up of consumer generated media, he states:
Consumers weren’t trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant. … We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try to monetize it.“
True, but I guess most marketers don’t want to buy regular adspace for the very reason that most people will not notice (nor click) it. So, if they could find more interesting, more effective ways to leverage these communities – e.g. by providing something of more added value, they would happily try it. Like the little ad supported postcards you get in most german pubs. They are widely accepted and people look forward to looking at them every time they pass by the little postcard rack on their way to the rest rooms.
These added value things could be, for example, small applications that enrich your social network profile:
He cited Facebook applications as a potentially valuable vehicle for advertisers, one in which they can create an environment that’s favorable for their brands and consumers alike.
Facebook Apps are just one things. Groups, product profiles, etc. are other possibilities. Imagination and social skills are key to finding these new value adders for social networks…
Wo ich sonst so bin...