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Showing posts with label interactive marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interactive marketing. Show all posts

The World's First Interactive Print Ad (For The Moto X) Breaks In This Month's WIRED magazine.




To drive home the 'customization' concept behind Motorola's Moto X Mobile phone, Digitas, with some help from T+Ink Technology, has created the very first interactive print ad. Select copies (only 150,000 distributed in Chicago and New York) of the January edition of WIRED magazine will feature a print ad that allows you to begin designing your own Moto X phone by simply pressing on colored buttons to change the color of the back of the smartphone's case.




This animated gif (courtesy of FastCoCreate) gives you a peek at the technology:


Then the viewer is directed to a site where they can complete the customization process and order the smartphone, if they so desire.

See how it works in the video below:




Motorola


Another Engaging Marketing Tactic For UNIQLO. A Pinterest Takeover For Their Dry Mesh Project.





More opportunities for branding continue to spring up on the web as popular user-generated and social network-related websites grow.



Pinterest, one of the fastest growing sites out there, with over a reported 13 million registered users, was recently hijacked by UNIQLO to increase awareness of their Dry Mesh Tshirts. Part of the new UNIQLO Innovation Project (UIP), the idea was conceived of and executed for the Japanese brand by New York digital agency Firstborn.



Firstborn had to do something big for the Japanese brand to stand out from the chaos of online fashion and social media. To promote "the ultimate functional wear" that keeps you cool and dry while exercising, Firstborn created the first-ever branded mosaics on Pinterest.





As users scrolled through Pinterest public feeds, giant blocks of images appeared. Together, the image blocks worked to create an impossible to miss, branded mosaic. As users continued to scroll down, the branded images seemingly animated.









How did they do it?

To reach active consumers, the guerilla campaign targeted five categories: Men's Apparel, Women's Apparel, Geek, Fitness and Sports. Extensive R&D ensured the images would appear in one group. To evade Pinterest's detection algorithms, Firstborn set up over 100 shell accounts ahead of the launch. A group of Firstborn employees simultaneously pinned pre-selected images to successfully free users from the monotony of Pinterest scrolling. With a strong team effort, the UNIQLO Dry Mesh Project on Pinterest brought attention to the new product with an experience as unique as the actual shirts.



UNIQLO has been one of the most innovative brands in terms of their marketing and advertising on the web. This is merely the latest in their engaging tactics.

Intel's CHASE Web Video Is Kicking Ass On The Viral Charts




To build excitement around the 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 processor, Intel launched this action-adventure video titled "The Chase." The spot demonstrates the performance capabilities of the new processors by creating an action-movie style chase sequence that takes place through a wide variety of program windows on a computer desktop.



Ad Age reports that "With 1.8 million YouTube views and its first entry onto the chart, Intel's "Chase" mini-movie makes it to the straight to the top for a good reason -- it's a great action flick with a sexy heroine and two leather-jacket-and-gold-chains bad guys. The campaign won 1.1 million views in its first week alone."


Credits

Advertising Agency: Venables Bell & Partners, USA
Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will Mcginness
Creative Directors: Paul Foulkes, Tyler Hampton, David Kim
Copywriter: Josh Parschauer
Art Director: Beau Hanson, Dan Kenneally
Director Of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Agency Producer: Kacey Hart
Interactive Producer: John Eagan
Interactive Design Director: Ezra Paulekas
Production Company: Nexus Productions
Director: Smith & Foulkes
Director Of Photography: Oliver Wood
Executive Producer: Tracey Cooper
Production Manager: Alistair Pratten
Editing Company: Trim
Editor: Paul Hardcastle
Sound Design: Human
Music: Human
Composers: Edmond Dunne & Gareth Williams
Music Producer: Jonathan Sanford
Mix: Play, John Bolen
Color / Flame: Time Based Arts, James Allen & Sheldon Gardner
Aired: January 2011

A Look At, And Analysis Of, Some Serious Social Media Screw-ups.





Social media most undoubtedly has its benefits and its drawbacks. Especially since brands and marketers are still experimenting with the concept.

I've reprinted an article and analysis from Bernhard Warner with a slide share presentation from Social Media Influence's editorial and social media training partner, Custom Communication, who has gone back through six years of social media and compiled a visual narrative of company misadventures with bloggers, tweeters and other social media voices. [Still images added by me].

Since 2004 they’ve identified 37 notable instances where companies have been caught short by social media protests and complaints or where they’ve shot themselves in the foot with dumb marketing.

A snapshot of the history:
Given the explosion in social media participation it’s not surprising to see a steady year-on-year increase in social media screw ups but while 2006 saw 7 major incidents the 10 recorded so far this year suggests that corporate communicators and marketers are becoming more savvy in how they engage and look after their online reputation.

The numbers are trending nicely for social media. As the IAB UK points out this week, the surprising surge in online advertising through the first half of 2010 can be attributed in part to more money pouring into social media marketing. There’s another social media figure on the rise, and it’s not quite so inspiring.

According to the new piece of research by Custom Communication, “Social Media Screw Ups – A Short History,” along with the surge in social media investment comes a surge in social media screw-ups by major corporations using these channels to reach the public. 2010 is on pace to see more reputation-bruising social media gaffes than in any previous year. Haven’t they learned anything from the Kryptonite lock fiasco of 2004? Apparently not.


In reviewing the findings, it’s become clear: many of the mistakes are being repeated time and again. We list here the most oft-repeated missteps and misconceptions that lead to trouble.

 
above: kryptonite lock could be broken with a pen, image courtesy of wired.com

* Underestimating influence/impact of your social media critics.

Kryptonite is the business school case study here, but loads of brands since – from Target telling the blogosphere they don’t rate to Nestle telling off eco Facebook protesters – have failed to understand that bloggers/Tweeters and Facebook protesters may not be The Guardian or New York Times, but they do hold plenty of weight.


above: bloggers bitch-slapped L'oreal for using false eyelashes on Penelope Cruz to sell mascara, image from L'oreal

* Giving the online community flashy marketing message when they just want simple, straightforward detail.

These days, companies can get into big trouble for issuing fictitious glowing reviews or trotting out seemingly genuine testimonials by paid actors. Even before these consumer protections were put into place, L’Oreal paid a higher price – it got burned by vigilant bloggers.

 
above: Dell Hell, courtesy of blaugh.com

* Culture of unresponsive/uncaring customer service fuels recurring gripes, becomes PR headache.

Dell learned the hard way that Jeff Jarvis’ customer service gripes were not an isolated issue; a massive backlash was brewing. It just took one well-connected critic to put his finger on it and the avalanche ensued.

 
above: the Diet Coke and Mentos experiments could not be hushed, image from reputation online

 * Failing to understand the Coke credo: “our consumers control our brand.”

Coca-Cola tried to stifle conversation around the combustible combo of Diet Coke + Mentos. Later, it would acknowledge, you cannot hope to muzzle what everyone is talking about.

 
above: the Chevy Tahoe commercial competition, image from Chevy.com

 * Petition the public for crowdsourced ideas, only to be caught out when they have something nasty to say. 

Crowdsourcing is in vogue these days, giving loyal fans a chance to name a new product or devise a new softdrink formula. But as Chevrolet learned with its Tahoe SUV, be prepared to get from the public more than a clever new slogan.


 
above: the controversial Vodaphone tweet and reaction from Vodaphone

 * Asleep at the wheel: giving junior employees full reign of the channels and providing them with little direction.

What could go wrong? Where to start here? Last year, the epic #fail was engineered by Habitat which gave an “overenthusiastic intern” the keys to the Twitter feed. The result? Famously tweeting sale promotions by piggy-backing on the trending Iran election hashtags. More recently, the Vodafone UK Twitter feed was hijacked by a rogue employee who let fly with the odd homophobic Tweet.

 
above: Wal-Marting Across America, image from walmart.com

* Attempts at feel-good social media washing won’t come back to bite.

Wal-Mart took the most heat here when a folksy, it-will-be-blogged “Wal-Marting Across America” journey emerged just as it was getting pressured elsewhere for its checkered labor practices. All goodwill was lost when it was revealed Wal-Mart was funding the feel-good road trip.

   

above: negative comments on Nestle's Facebook Fan Page

* Facebook is a forum for fans and “Likes.”

Burger King, Nestle, and BP, to name just a few have seen their Facebook pages overwhelmed by critics who want to expose dodgy company practice. Greenpeace has had great success mobilising its followers in a series of corporate Facebook pressure campaigns. BK quickly caved to the demands to cheers. Nestle, on the other hand, shouted back, inviting more opposition. The biggest culprits – plain dumb marketing, officious customer service and asleep-at-the-wheel moments in monitoring online reputation – are alive and well and triggering protests from the general public. For all the fresh money pouring into social media, we would expect the number of screw-ups to rise before companies really get the message that social media investment means more than crafting a slick campaign. It means two-way dialogue, transparency and, yes, learning from your mistakes.

 sources: SMI, Reputation Online, Custom Communication

Stickers With A-Peel. Chiquita Banana Design Contest & A Little Brand History.



above: 6 of the 18 winning designs, all of which are shown later in this post

"I'm a Chiquita Banana and I've come to say...." Okay, most of my readers are probably too young to remember the legendary jingle, so I'll just get to the point.

The Chiquita brand just ran a design contest in an effort to both refresh the brand and elicit consumer engagement. They asked people to submit new designs for the stickers that are placed on their bananas, which they have been doing since 1963. Note that you can still use their sticker generator to create your own online sticker and then purchase that design from Zazzle.


above: the current Chiquita brand sticker was designed in 1986

Each entrant was limited to submitting no more than 25 designs. The designs had to be on a white background and in the classic Chiquita sticker shape and could not use "Miss Chiquita", the brand mascot, in any way, shape or form. Entries had to include the outer blue ring and the design had to be contained within what they term "the yellow racetrack."


above: the company mascot, Miss Chiquita, as the 1944 version by Dik Browne and the current version drawn in 1987 by Oscar Grillo, was not allowed in the new sticker designs

50 designs were selected as finalists based on the following criteria
* Creativity (30%)
* Visual impact (30%)
* The extent to which the sticker embodies the following five Chiquita brand attributes :Fun, Family-friendly, Youthful, energetic, Fresh (25%)
* The extent to which the sticker can be recognized as a Chiquita banana sticker (15%)

A person could have no more than one design in the 50 finalists which were then posted on the sticker-contest website. The public was then invited to vote for their favorite sticker design.


above: 8 worthy finalists designs that did not make it into the winning 18

Before I show you the 18 winning sticker designs, here's a little brand and sticker history:

Miss Chiquita was introduced in 1944 and Chiquita was the first company to brand a banana. The idea of the stickers came along in 1963 and believe it or not, they are still put on by hand so as not to bruise the fruit.


above: The brand used posters like this one from 1950 before putting stickers on the bananas.

The very first drawing of Miss Chiquita in 1944 and stickers from 1963 to the present:


Now, the 18 final winning designs which will be appearing on bananas in November.












Be sure to see all 50 finalists because there were some great designs that should have made it into the final 18. See all 50 finalists here

Go here to learn more about the winning designs.

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