Or more specifically, how a viral effect takes place. All this is shown in an under 3 minute video below.
“Leadership is over-gloried… Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire… There’s no movement without a first follower ”
I’ve always been a fan of Universal Everything since introduced by my then art director Nic. Inspirational. From small sized videos to large scale installations. Mind you, some of the works are interactive animations too.
Here it is some really cool works in their 2010 showreel.
… In the guise of Silas’s Medical Marijuana Shop. (Heck, with a name like that, who wouldn’t click on it).
Go on visit. You’d be pleasantly surprised by it’s get-to-the-message-quick simplicity.
Note to James Mok. If you’re still there, good work dude. If it’s someone else, good work still.
As part of the project, Radio 1 launched the Meet The Listeners campaign, negotiating with all the mobile operators to drop charges for picture messages to Radio 1 and asking listeners to send in pictures of themselves in order to put put a face to the loyal audience that defines Radio 1.
In a single day, they received 42,000 photos, then used them to stitch together this lovely stop-motion film:
As we move forward into 2010, we should nonetheless look back into 2009 and ponder on the things we’ve done and how to make that better this year.
No doubt we been busy. And since returning back into Draftfcb KL, I’ve asked a lot if some of the processes we undertook was done well enough and if not, how to make them better.
What struck hard was how some things worked well on it’s own, but not with others. And even more, that some items were very much done the way traditional advertising agencies do. In a traditional world. With traditional tools. Like any traditional agency would.
But ‘traditional’ we’re not. We are in a state where most our campaigns will be centered around Digital. Or at least, have a digital component to it. So let’s move forward. Let’s take a step up. Because as much as we would like our clients to have the brevity to jump into digital, we as an agency should play the vanguard and be trailblazers in this world. Especially in the areas of ideas, tools and services.
Let’s face it. If we are to conceptualise digital solutions for clients, we should first be proponents of them. Why preach the merits of social media and power of the hive if we ourselves have not gotten wet with online collaboration tools and how these trigger user behaviours? I’ve faith some of you are using them already. But some is not enough. I’d like all of you to use it.
So in 2010, we will change how we do things. We will now be the hive. And leverage off the power of the others to create, conceptualise, ideate, design, produce, track, manage and deliver projects better.
Here are the online collaboration tools that I recommend you to use now on.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Retailers are embracing social media like never before this holiday season. More than half are including it in their marketing strategies, up drastically from only 4% in 2007, according to a new survey out from BDO Seidman. Of those who reported plans to use social media, 76% are focusing on Facebook, 50% on Twitter, 14% on MySpace and 14% on YouTube. Ten percent said they expected to utilize each of those outlets…
We look at five social-media strategies that are getting it right and five that could use a little — or a lot — of improvement.
Social-media strategies we love …
–> BEST BUY
Even its commercials have a social-media tie-in, featuring its Twelpforce Carolers offering gift advice. (Its YouTube channel offers behind-the-scenes footage of actual employees trying out for the Twelpforce Carolers.) The retailer also has a robust Facebook presence, featuring several exclusive applications such as Hint Helper, Secret Santa, Idea Giftr and, coming soon, Christmas Morning Simulator. The Hint Helper will drop personalized hints to friends and family via a cookie placed on their computers. While Best Buy’s application section is robust, it could do a better job of leading the conversation on Facebook, as opposed to simply responding to customer complaints. Still, when it comes to customer interaction, Best Buy has it down on Twitter. Its handles @bestbuy and @twelpforce, not to mention CMO Barry Judge’s own handle, @bestbuycmo, all do a stellar job.–> EBAY
The online retailer kicked off the holidays with a free WiFi offering on Delta flights over Thanksgiving, which earned plenty of mid-air tweets of appreciation. Those following eBay on Facebook or Twitter have also been rewarded with up-to-date sales and promotions data (for example, a Zhu Zhu pet giveaway to the first 100 visitors at the eBay pop-up store). On Facebook, eBay leads the conversation with sales news or by posting content from popular sites such as Chow. And its Twitter handles @ebay and @ebaydailydeal are completely holiday themed. The former supports the retailer’s mobile boutique, which is popping up in 12 cities this holiday, and the latter gives out hints about its “12 Days of Deals” program, which features a new item with limited availability at a deep discount each day. Both Twitter feeds are streamed onto ebayholiday.com. Also, there are streams of texts and tweets featuring holiday gift wishes.–> JCPENNEY
JCPenney uses its Facebook page as much for customer service as for marketing. When customers post complaints or praise to Penney’s wall, the retailer jumps in to address them , offering personal assistance and thanking customers for posting their love for the brand. It occasionally posts video content and links to buyer guide CheapToday.com. Another tab on its Facebook page links to a follow-up to “Beware of the Doghouse,” the 2008 video from Saatchi & Saatchi that drew millions of views, as well as a new website from North Kingdom. (The new “Doghouse” site is in itself a user-generated fest and users can post that content back on Facebook.) Fans can also participate in an online giving tree, and view designer collections and sale items. On Twitter, the brand tapped blogger and tweeter @SavvyAuntie to disseminate sweepstakes and sale items on Cyber Monday to her nearly 12,000 followers.–> TOYS ‘R’ US
With Shaquille O’Neal, Toys ‘R’ Us will donate $1 to a charity for every new Facebook fan. Shaq even tweeted about the promotion — what he called the “Shaq-a-Claus” challenge — to his more than 2.6 million followers. The brand also appeals to parental nostalgia on Facebook, providing audio and surveys on the old-school jingle “I don’t want to grow up.” Mixed in with callouts of discount products, polls have a substantial presence on the brand’s wall, with queries on favorite board games or Disney characters. The page also contains coupons to use in the brick-and-mortar stores. On the customer-service front, Toys ‘R’ Us is an exemplar brand for responding to fans and managing customer reaction. On Twitter, the brand used tweets to drive traffic to Facebook with offers of online discounts for new fans. While the brand responded to a few customer tweets, next year they should Twitter more in this way.–> WALMART
Since the last holidays, Walmart has gone from no holiday traffic from Twitter to being the most-visited retail site during Black Friday and Cyber Monday after Amazon. With nearly a dozen Twitter handles, the brand addresses topics from music to customer service and calls out deals online. The biggest retailer in the world dubbed the week following Thanksgiving “Cyber Week” and used social-media channels to drive traffic to its online specials. On Facebook, the brand features apps to support U.S. troops and generate wish lists, as well as sections that aggregate commercials and photos. While we can offer Walmart lots of advice for its social holiday next year — get into the conversation on the comments wall; Facebook isn’t a broadcast channel, it’s a chance to foster conversation with customers. The brand does a good job with holiday-themed articles, such as “Using Leftovers,” that offer advice and don’t just shill.
Josh Warner is president and founder of Feed Company, which promotes and distributes brand videos, including campaigns such as Levi’s “Backflip,” Ray-Ban’s “Catch” and Activision’s “Bike Hero.” In three years, Feed has seeded more than 100 videos across the social web.2009’s crop of top viral video advertisements show us that people are willing to embrace a host of creative approaches on the social video Web, from beguiling mini-films, to user-generated advocacy, to YouTube celebrity endorsers, to elaborate commercial-grade productions. That’s good news for creators.
Regardless of the approach, the key for marketers is a solid understanding of what a brand is, who is the brand’s audience, and what moves them. Strangely enough, this formula sounds like traditional advertising. This year’s Top 10 is certainly a glimpse of how the viral video ad business is evolving, and as marketers, what we can learn from that evolution.
1. Inspired Bicycles
Advertiser: Inspired Bicycles
Ad Agency: N/AWhy it works: Inspired Bicycles’ team rider Danny MacAskill scales fences in and around Edinburgh, Scotland. The video is as mesmerizing as its hypnotic soundtrack from music group Band of Horses. It’s a solid example of how a brand pursuing a niche market – mountain bike trailblazers – can reach the masses with a brilliant viral video execution.
2. SIGNS
Advertiser: Schweppes
Ad Agency: Publicis Mojo and @RadicalMediaWhy it works: A love story with few words, Signs compels you to watch until its poignant end. It conclusively dispels the myth that viral video executions must be short and gimmicky to grab your attention.
3. Piano Stairs
Advertiser: Volkswagen
Ad Agency: DDB StockholmWhy it works: “Take the stairs instead of the escalator and feel better” is something we hear but didn’t often see until this sly video from Volkswagen appeared on the Web. It’s part of an inspiring campaign, The Fun Theory, that encourages people to come up with fun ways to “do good.” The video itself did well indeed, imbuing Volkswagen with a fun new ethos and racking up millions of views in the process.
Ikea released a catalog in its U.K. iPhone app today withless-than-wowing content, a call for feedback and a curious threat to only hand down updates to users who download version 1.0.
While the app is little more than a portable, digital version of a paper catalog — users can only flick through pages of the 2010 catalog and pinch to zoom — the retailer and its “brand entertainment” agency, Cake, are asking for update suggestions via voicemail, Twitter and e-mail. But it looks like only people who download the app now will get to see new capabilities when they come through.
“There are plans to quickly improve and develop the app but only in conjunction with customers who choose to download it,” says a note on Cake’s YouTube channel, where the above demo video for the app is posted.
So far, tweeters appending the hashtag #ikeaappideas have suggested GPS navigation store maps, in-app commerce, info on new food menus at stores and augmented reality to put furniture in users’ homes.
