A few thoughts, musings, ramblings and other things from MediaCom people...

QR codes put to good use

Underrated and often misused, QR codes are always seen as a bit of a joke by both our and industry digital experts.

Therefore I love it when someone uses them right. Well almost.

On 13 April 2012, the spanish rail service teamed up with book publisher Random House to place posters on the exterior of the central carriages of ten services traveling between Vallès Oriental and Baix Llobregat. Each poster encourages commuters to join the ‘reading train’ and once inside, interior posters provide riders with a selection of 40 book titles from which the first chapter can be downloaded via their respective QR codes.

As well as seeking to improve the literacy of residents using the train service, the scheme also serves to publicize works of literature, while readers are also entertained during their commute.

A good idea. However, just imagine that they linked this to iBooks or Amazon to allow passengers to download or order, and it would have been truly brilliant.

Source: Springwise.com

Major advertisers realise the value of content

Over the last few years, media and digital agencies have attempted to move into the content arena, producing content at arguably lower prices than their traditional creative agency counterparts. This content has generally found its way online via social media seeding strategies hoping to pull in views, or landed on a clients web site never to be seen again.

An article posted on Advertising Age yesterday explained that  Sony US have recently done something that will have creative agencies shaking in their boots. They have aired a 30-second ad simply cut down from a long form web video created by Break Media for Sony in the series finale of "Jersey Shore"

Sony liked the original, long form web video, that portrays the hazards of running out of "skips" on your music subscription service and got Break Media to create a 30-second cut.

Critically, they  failed to inform their creative agency they were going to swap it in as a TV spot during the finale of "Jersey Shore," so 6.6 million viewers saw a shorter verison of this video a few weeks ago.

Proposal Fail - Watch MoreFunny Videos 

This is by no means the first time this has happened, but it's refreshing to see a global player like Sony look at the assets they have, and leverage the best of them to communicate a key consumer benefit.

 

Augmented Reality in the real world

Great example from Mindshare London for Lynx

NAB "Break Up" Campaign

 

 

Hopefully we've all read something about the new Nab 'Break Up' campaign which kicked off last Friday with a fake tweet about a relationship break-up. On Monday, Valentine's Day, actors staged fake break-ups at cafes and restaurants in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. On Tuesday in Melbourne, a helicopter flew around dragging a giant sign with the message: ''Dear CommBank, ANZ and Westpac, you're dumped - NAB.'' Tissue packs with NAB's logo were handed out outside branches of rivals. Outside ANZ's global headquarters in Melbourne, a pianist on a truck sang If You Don't Know Me by Now.

The campaign's message was that NAB had broken up with the other banks, largely over the way they were treating customers(and launching funnily enough around the same time as Virgin Mobile's Break Up Day campaign). Simply, it’s a fascinating and bold aggressive marketing campaign from a financial brand.

There are many interesting factors beneath this, namely that most online conversations were about the use of social media by NAB during the campaign and less so about the campaign's message of NAB doing more for customers. When the bank claims to be "doing something, not just saying something." (BBDO), what it is actually doing for consumers is a little questionable - it is running an interesting marketing campaign - what are the proof points? What does it mean to consumers? What IS different about its products and offerings? Furthermore is exactly how the brand is going to sustain such a campaign? Surely the novelty will wear off? Shock tactics wear thin arguably on multiple viewing. I personally don’t like the fact that the stunts are fake, it has an element of gotcha about it. What is also interesting is to see the banking competitor’s responses, Commbank have already reacted, we await to see what the others will do... and whether it manages to sign up more customers through the fuzz of stunt.

Emily

When I grow up, I wanna work in Advertising

 

Big Idea

Clients are always in search of the 'big idea' - here are a couple of examples of mixed-media advertisements campaigns which aimed at selling a wide variety of products through the use of radically different methods. Each of the campaign below showcases an atypical approach to targeting their audience.                                                                I've included the nude models showering in a city square in Moscow for Palmolive (thought you boys might like that one), Coke’s poster ad for the new grip bottle and Join the MOOvement. - Friends of the Earth in the UK. These are just a few examples of promotions which aim for more captivating campaigns. 

Jo Pacman

 

  

 

Support Your Marathoner!

 

First time Scribbler, long time reader....

Above is a video on the ASICS - 'Support Your Marathoner' Campaign. This was an experiential campaign that ran as part of the New York Marathon. The campaign centered around creating personalisedsupporter messages for loved ones in the race, which would be triggered with RFID tags, displaying the individual messages on massive LED screens as runners passed selected sensor checkpoints in the Marathon.

It's a lot like the Nike - Livestrong campaign which ran in conjunction with the Tour de France but shows the importance of establishing a personal connection between a brand and its audience through interactive media.

- Johanna Packham (J-Pack)

 

 

St John Ambulance: Popcorn Cinema Experiential

Slightly disturbing, but hugely effective guerrilla meets experiential campaign for the St John Ambulance in the UK.

 

Alex

T - Mobile! Welcome Back

Turns out Flashmobbing ain't dead after all!

T-Mobile nailing it again! Over half a million hits in 5 days

What do you think?

 

A QR code finally put to good use!

 
In July 2010, Calvin Klein posted a large QR code across two billboard locations in New York City to mark the launch of the Calvin Klein Jeans Fall 2010 collection. The billboards featured the QR code alongside the call to action: 'Get it Uncensored'. Passersby who used their mobile smart phones to capture the QR code were then shown a 40-second ad featuring model Lara Stone.

And for those of you who are now desperate to see the ad, click on the following link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvWaw3YFY70

Happy viewing

James