Jun

8

Cool uses of tech in recent advertising

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media, Technology | Comments

I wanted to highlight some of the advertising efforts that have gotten attention recently because of their creative use of technology. Video games, bands, major brands, and ad agencies themselves are all coming up with new ways to get attention online while typically leveraging the most popular social networks.

I placed the following examples into 4 categories: Social Media, Mobile, Interactive, and one honorable mention under Augmented Reality. Click on each example to check it out.

Social Media

The Protoype Experience

Prototype is a new game coming out (from Activision) on XBOX 360, PS3, and Windows. Sign in using your Facebook account, wait for it to load, and sit back and enjoy the game preview that’s customized with some of your Facebook data. It’s being described as the coolest use of Facebook Connect so far.

TRVSDJAM Mixtape

Simply connect using your Twitter account, post the auto-generated message with the #trvsdjam hashtag, and you get to download the new mixtape free of charge. Coldplay also recently released a free live album, but instead of a tweet, they just wanted your email address. What’s important to notice is how quickly good deals (especially free) have begun to spread now. Before it was mainly through forums, email, and instant messages, but now social networks are increasingly becoming the way most people share deals online.

It shouldn’t surprise you that this resulted in tons of links on Twitter and the hashtag #trvsdjam showing up in the trending topics for several hours. This also reminded me of another recent effort when Crank tried to take over your Facebook status. Advertisers have to be careful with this approach. Unless there is enough value in it for the consumer, the backlash against a campaign being considered spam can be brutal with the online crowd.

BooneOakley YouTube Home Page

Although this example is not advertising a product or service, it’s a genius way of an agency being creative with their own online home. Plenty has been said about this already but it’s a must see if you have not come across it yet. This is my new favorite agency website at the moment with a close second being Wexley School for Girls.

Quicksilver’s The Spot

I think they got this idea from the Honda Insight Let It Shine video on Vimeo, but that’s not important. This Quicksilver video got my attention (for long enough) to see that it ends with a skateboard being thrown at the screen. The shattering glass effect then shakes the browser window a few times which I had never seen before. I’ll take a shaking browser window over an auto-maximizing one any day.

Old Navy Supermodelquins

These Old Navy Twitter accounts might have been setup a while ago but I found out about them only after recently attending the Crispin Porter + Bogusky Digital Peepshow here in NY. Instead of just creating a general Old Navy Twitter account to push out deals and news, CP+B decided to take a different approach and created several accounts for the fictional store mannequins that are also featured in the latest TV ads. During the presentation, they mentioned Alex Bogusky does most of the tweeting for these accounts himself which I thought was very interesting :) I’m now following all of them, it’s like a comedic drama that takes place in my Twitter stream.

So lots of creative stuff being done with Twitter and Facebook. I don’t think that will slow down anytime soon since these are the two social networks where people spend the most amount of time right now. The introduction of Facebook Connect and Twitter OAuth has made it possible for digital agencies and brand marketers to create experiences like these instead of just the usual fan page or brand account.

Mobile

Digital iPhone controlled Ads

Although this idea is not something completely new, it’s the first I’ve seen with the iPhone. I don’t think many people will take the time to engage with these ads unless there is something in it for them (coupon, exclusive preview of product, etc). The linked article mentions “digital outdoor” but the ideal location for these types of ads will be indoor shopping malls. CBS has partnered with Westfield Shopping Centers so you should start to see these pop up soon at your local shopping mall.

One example of something similar to this was done as part of a campaign for NikeID in Times Square as Richard Ting, Executive Creative Director at R/GA pointed out to me. It also shouldn’t be long before more events and conferences create these types of setups allow people to play games or interact with live product demos.

Nissan Cube Accessorizer

Nissan created this iPhone app which lets you customize and build your own Nissan Cube. Essentially the same thing you could do online but now on your iPhone. What the app is missing is a way to share your customized Cube with friends or through Facebook once it’s customized. There isn’t even a way to save your car to bring in to a local dealer and order the exact configuration. Unfortunately, no matter how I customized it, I still couldn’t get it to even look somewhat decent. iTunes direct link is here.

Gillette uArt

I wouldn’t consider this a cool app but I wanted to mention it anyway. I downloaded the new Gillette iPhone app uArt because I thought it would be fun to see what I’d look like with different beards. I tried it out and within seconds found the app was a huge disappointment. A decent idea but the execution is terrible.

But I give Gillette credit for the recent How to Shave Your Groin video they put on YouTube that is already approaching close to a million views. Gillette is clearly putting some money toward unconventional marketing methods online and in mobile, but they need to work on the mobile part.

Overall, I had a lot of trouble finding good examples of branded iPhone apps, even with 50,000 in the store now. I do like the fact that more apps are starting to include Facebook/Twitter sharing options. The AP Mobile News app recently added this to their latest release so I can now use Facebook Connect and my Twitter account to share articles in less than 3 seconds.

Interactive

GTI Project

Although this VW site isn’t targeted toward the U.S. market, I still enjoyed this simple game because I am a car enthusiast and I’m always interested in anything VW/Audi related (I currently drive a Honda but have owned a VW & Audi). There is a leaderboard so if you’re competitive, it could suck you in until your time gets better and better.

There are probably a ton of other cool interactive sites that were just released, but this is just one that I recently came across after seeing a link to it on Twitter.

Augmented Reality

USPS Virtual Box Simulator

This was created by AKQA for their client, the United States Postal Service. It’s being described as one of the first practical uses of this technology. The first example using this technology that I came across was GE’s SmartGrid not too long ago which I thought was pretty amazing. I’m looking forward to seeing what else this can be used for like this video I found on YouTube.

Update: I came across a great blog post with 10 more great examples of augmented reality being used in recent campaigns.

Coming Soon

At the Digital Peepshow, Crispin Porter + Bogusky gave attendees a preview of a Facebook app they have been developing for their client Coke Zero. They partnered with the University of Illinois to license face recognition technology to create an app called the Facebook Profiler. The Facebook Profiler will analyze your photos and then find your look-alikes on Facebook (to promote Coke Zero tasting just like regular Coke). Keep an eye out for the app over the next couple of months and expect it to get as much attention as the Whopper Sacrifice app they released not too long ago.

Any other creative campaigns that I missed? Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr or comment below.

Related Posts

Oct

20

Apple instructional videos continue

Filed Under Apple, Technology | Comments

It looks like Apple will continue to make instructional videos whenever a new product is introduced to the market. The latest is a guided tour of Leopard given by John, an Apple Store employee. These videos not only draw more interest to Apple’s products, but also act as a great alternative to traditional printed material. They really just make sense, especially with the rapid growth of online video tutorials in general.

Leopard Guided Tour

Here are a few trends that are noticeable with these videos so far:

1. Demonstrator has clean cut, professional appearance

The dark, non-distracting clothing usually worn in these videos really keeps you focused on the product. I also think the dark clothing is chosen to show the attention to detail given to the design of Apple products and software. You are not distracted by what the person is wearing, just focusing on what he is saying and demonstrating. Both demonstrators so far have also been middle aged men (my guess) with eyeglasses. We will see if this continues.

2. Environment has similar feel to Apple stores

In the new Leopard video, you may have noticed that similar tables to the ones used in Apple stores are used in the video. Apple is strictly sticking to the same theme and environment that everyone is familiar with if they have ever visited a store in the past. You should find the same setup in any store once Leopard is out. Again, white or black backdrops relates to the same purpose behind the dark clothing, non-distracting.

3. Well organized with smooth transitions between breaks

The Leopard video is broken into segment’s focusing on the key new features of Leopard. Each segment is introduced with a title and a smooth transition leading into the demonstrator’s segment of the feature and how it’s used. I can see this becoming the norm for all these videos unless separate segments are not necessary at all.

4. Speaking tone, vocab, and hand gestures

The demonstrator speaks very gently in a slow, but consistent pace making him easy to understand (maybe a little too slow). The words chosen are simple, and never too complicated. Although some might disagree with me on this, I think the demonstrator also does a good job at speaking in a very inviting and friendly manner. The hand gestures are subtle but add to the inviting tone of the speaker. People have to realize these videos are made to target a large audience therefore most of the technical and geeky lingo is left out not to alienate potential users who have never used a Mac before. Sure, advanced users might find it a little condescending, but just take it for what it is, a general tour of the basic new features that will appeal to anyone using or interested in Apple computers.

In Conclusion…

Who knows if this will be adopted by other companies but it can certainly work for any product or service if done right. Apple is very good at teaching people how to use their products and software. I can go into this in more detail another time since I am a former Apple Store employee myself and witnessed how a store is run first hand. They have been incorporating tutorials and beginner videos into training for their products for a long time, but this is a new trend of releasing these videos exclusively online in line with major product and software releases. Let me know if there is anything I missed which stood out to you.

Related Posts

Oct

4

Latest TEDTalks worth checking out

Filed Under Technology, Videos, Web | Comments

If you haven’t heard of TEDTalks yet, you should check it out. These are some of the latest presentations added and I think they are a great combination of pure genius, inspiration, and even comedy. TED conference speakers cover many topics including business, technology, design, arts, culture, and global issues. I try to make sure I watch all the business and technology related presentations. These are not very short but it will be time well spent. All these videos could also be downloaded on the TED website.









I hope you enjoyed the videos. Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment.

Related Posts