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Kangaroo on a Unicycle

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 21:04:11 -0400

I saw this a couple weeks ago and got too carried away and forgot to post.

This is simply one of the greatest customer relationship management stories I’ve witnessed to date.

Shane, a multiple user of Samsung products one day decided to send this note to Samsung Canada on their Facebook page in hopes to score a free Galaxy S3. Much to his surprise, they actually responded:

Now what Samsung Canada did was very risky as it may not have portrayed their brand image but you have to admit, it was very witty considering Shane’s original message to them and as I’ve mentioned before, humour tends to always win.

So Shane took the a screenshot of their reply and posted it on the famous “Reddit”. If you’re not familiar with Reddit, it is a social news website where registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text “self” post. Other users then vote the submission “up” or “down”, which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site’s pages and front page (thanks Wikipedia).

Shane’s screenshot hit top spot on Reddit and 600,000 views. A remarkable statistic for user generated content for Samsung Canada.

The greatest part of this story comes next.

As a gratitude for creating so much positive PR for Samsung Canada by posting the screenshot of their humour on Reddit, Samsung Canada sent Shane a customized Galaxy S3 with Shane’s dragon drawing on it with the enclosed letter with it:

So what did Shane do? He naturally put it up on Reddit again and it hit top spot again with another 400,000 views. It currently sits with over 5.5 million views 3 weeks later.

Simply amazing marketing. Companies strive for user generated content as it brings far more value than any media spend.

Kudos Samsung Canada, you are a pure example of what CRM is meant to be.

For more pictures of Shane’s phone visit: http://imgur.com/a/VZDti

Let your customers do the talking, but be prepared to reply wisely as well.

Advertising does not have to be hard. Dig deep into your company...

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:44:00 -0400

Advertising does not have to be hard.

Dig deep into your company or brand’s most valued objective and express it through a story people want to hear.

The combination of his sister’s narration and melodic piano tune while watching Stephen draw the NYC skyline was truly beautiful.

No one saw this being an ad for an investment bank and for that reason alone I loved it.

With summer around the corner, bright coloured clothing is a...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:35:13 -0400

With summer around the corner, bright coloured clothing is a huge hit already. Pimkie, a European version of the popular Japanese retail clothing company Uniqlo is helping Europeans pick what colour they should wear.

Happiness Brussels (Pimkie’s agency) has installed high-speed digital cameras in key locations throughout Europe’s three most fashionable cities. The footage is collected and filtered in real-time through a color tracking software that generates infographics detailing which colors are trending where.

Wake up, check the website, and know what colour to wear…or not to wear…your choice but you’ll know what the majority are wearing!

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:31:48 -0400

This video is simply amazing! Dollar Shave Club is a start-up...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:57:00 -0500

This video is simply amazing!

Dollar Shave Club is a start-up company that offers shaving blades sent right to your home for only $1 a month.

They made this video to support their launch and I absolutley love it. It delivers all the necessary information in a very funny way and states the point loud and clear: stop spending tons of money on brand name blades when you don’t need to.

This video has been up for less than a day and is already going viral, which is great for their business! I also love their tagline: “Shave time, Shave Money”. Simple and clever.

But they managed to make a huge mistake… they cheaped out on the hosting of their website, and in fact, their website has been down for several hours already, not allowing people to visit it and purchase their product!

Plan in advance, even for the unthinkable.

While SuperBowl ads are still the topic of discussion in the ad...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:33:12 -0500

While SuperBowl ads are still the topic of discussion in the ad industry, I thought I’d share another one of my favourite that didn’t actually make it to the SuperBowl.

Doritos runs a yearly competition for their fans called “Crash the SuperBowl” that has fans themselves creating ads for the Doritos brand, and then the top two ads voted on by fans actually get to air during the SuperBowl. The contest voting took place from USA Today and on Facebook. Winner of each got a 1 million dollar prize, and a chance to work with the Lonely Island, while second place took home $600 000 and third place took $400 000.

The ad above was not one of the top two that won, but I believe it deserved to be. The theme “Bird of Prey” had me rolling in laughter and the production quality is amazing. Doritos commercials are known to be out of ordinary and extreme and this fit that picture perfectly. What I loved most is how Doritos put the work in their consumer’s hands. As mentioned in previous posts, the consumer knows your product and brand best. This also saves the brand tons of money hiring an agency to do all the work which sadly at times is more painful then it sounds.

WIthout a game, men prey on each other, so it was nice that no agencies were involved in this one.

My SuperBowl 2012 Report Card

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:54:00 -0500

So the big day was yesterday and although here in Canada we don’t get to see the ads that everyone speaks of LIVE, they’re thankfully very easily accessible the next day.

For those who still haven’t seen any (or like me all), I’ve created my first annual “SuperBowl Report Card” with some categories I think are important, with some brief comments on why I think they were successful. Feedback and discussion are always appreciated :)

1. Best AD selling the product

The tagline says it all; “Daylight, now in a headlight”. Selling a single feature of a car is way harder then selling the whole car itself, but Audi and their agency Venables, Bell & Partner really nailed this ad by incorporating the “Vampire Craze” and adding humour to sell this feature. No matter if you like vampires or not, you walked away from watching that ad knowing that the new Audi has bright headlights.

2. Best music collaboration in an AD

I really liked this ad because the music was very perfect for it. The collaboration done with the band OK GO is a very neat choice, but I believe the agency Goodby , Silverstein and Partners chose it because it relates to a younger audience. It takes you through several “firsts” for the new Chevy Sonic that are quite unusual for a car such as; first skydive, first kick flip, first music video and first bungee jump. The ad’s target is very clear, its for those consumers who are ready for their first car, or their first brand new car. The main point is that we are young, there are plenty of “firsts” left in our life, and like the tagline describes “from the first time, to the time of your life” Chevy will be there with you.

3. Best use of humour in an AD

This ad was simply hilarious. The agency (Consumer-Generated) almost made it uncomfortable to watch as you quickly realize things are only getting worst for this young grad as he doesn’t realize the car is not his. I think the ad did well because the actor did his part perfectly; he acted like a clueless young male who had no idea what was going on and took the situation the complete wrong way, adding in typical lines like “status update!”. The ending is priceless and you realize his concern and disappointment all through his voice.

4. Best use of a Celebrity in an AD

To match last year’s ad with Eminem, Chrysler and Wieden & Kennedy come back with another emotional and inspirational ad for Detroit, this time using Clint Eastwood. I really like the big idea behind this ad and the message of “Its Halftime America”. With all the recent recessions and Occupy movements, I can only imagine the average American’s scare of the economic status of the United States. Chrysler tries once again to motivate Americans and show them that the future is bright. That the city of Detroit, the motor city is once again rising… and what better way to say it than from Clint Eastwood’s raspy, old, badass voice. He gives Morgan Freeman a run for his money.

5. Best emotional AD

Finally something other than a car brand! Budweiser Canada and Anomaly re-invent the popular flash mob for a pair of men’s league hockey teams. They show how a simple act and gesture can create a memorable experience for a lifetime. Whether you like hockey or not, you walk away from this ad imagining yourself in their position and what it must of felt like.

Honourable mention: Coca Cola’s Interactive Campaign “Polar Bowl”

Coca-Cola and Wieden & Kennedy ran a “Polar Bowl” during the game which saw two polar bears, one cheering for the Patriots and one for the Giants while they watched the game, the commercials and the half-time show all in real time over the internet. The bears walked away during a Pepsi ad, danced along with Madonna, and celebrated when their teams scored. This campaign was an obvious success, but with an interactive campaign, the results speak for themselves: 32,000 people RSVP’d which was 15x the goal, 300,000 users logged on to see the bears already by the pre-game show which forced Coca-Cola to add 9 more servers to support the demand, the @CocaCola Twitter handle which the bears used to tweet with fans during the game saw a 12.5% increase of followers in the US before the game even started, and by the end of the game more than 600,000 people had logged on to check the Polar Bowl out. What an easy way to use the iconic polar bears of Coca Cola and engage their fans and consumers!

That’s it for this SuperBowl! There are other ads which were featured in the Super Bowl that I will individually evaluate this week and perhaps even a short “Worst Ads” list.

And here it is! To follow up on my last post on the use of Star...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:18:00 -0500

And here it is!

To follow up on my last post on the use of Star Wars, here is the leak of VW’s sequel to last year’s Darth Vader kid that will be appearing during Super Bowl!

I personally love it! The dog is great in it and I believe the ad sells the new Beatle very well. Its tagline “Back and better than ever” is a play on the Star Wars “The Empire Strikes Back” making this commercial “The Dog Strikes Back”.

The added Star Wars humour at the end is a nice touch as well.

What do you think?

Superbowl Sunday is the Oscars for TV Advertising. Although...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:01:00 -0500

Superbowl Sunday is the Oscars for TV Advertising.

Although subjective since no awards are handed out, and the requirement of making air time on Superbowl is paying a lot of money, I still believe that this is where brands shine to consumers since they have a reputation of remembering them.

This week was exciting as Advertising Week was held in Toronto where plenty of discussion, workshops and awards were given involving Canada’s best. Tuesday night I helped organize a speaker night at the University of Guelph involving Ryan Timms, VP Group Account Director at MacLaren McCann. A question was raised regarding what he believes are current trends in the industry.

He provided great answers with several key examples, but his last thought stuck the most. He said “Star Wars will always be the shit”.

This made everyone laugh but oddly enough its very true. Last year’s Super Bowl hit was Volkswagen’s “The Force” showing a kid dressed as Darth Vader (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0) who struggles to use his force until his dad helps him out by turning his car on with a auto-starter. The ad won several awards and was recognized as one of the best ads of 2011 in numerous ceremonies.

This year, VW and their agency Lowe try to do it again by bringing “The Bark Side”, a teaser to next weekend’s Super Bowl. I think this ad is great for several reasons but I’ll narrow it down to why I did like it and why I didn’t.

1. Successful in grabbing your attention

Right from the start I was a bit confused as to why there was a bunch of dogs barking, but soon enough they started to sound in sync and in a matter of seconds I recognized it was the famous Star Wars theme song. I soon realized that the dogs actually resembled the characters from the movie, and from there on I could only laugh and enjoy it.

2. Not successful in selling the product

This ad does not sell me a VW, in fact, until the end of the spot, I had no idea it was for VW. But before I’m too quick to judge, it does tell us that something is coming back on Feb 5th, the date of Super Bowl, so I’m looking forward to seeing what this is. Will they use another Star Wars reference? Will they bring back little Darth from last year? One thing is for sure, I’ll be watching to find out.

Its amazing how a single movie after all these years still creates so much buzz. Its great because it can be manipulated and used in several different situations, and people still understand its a Star Wars reference. Brisk for example is also trying the Star Wars trick (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwabxgoSGZY), but quite frankly, I think they failed, so can’t say it always works. Another one is XBOX Kinect (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb8-520zEhc) in this Darth vs Obi (Chris Pratt from Parks and Rec) and they in my opinion succeded as well. Take precaution when deciding Star Wars, but clearly its proven it works.

For those who aren’t sure:

Left to right, top row: C3P0, Obi-Wan, Jabba

Middle row: R2D2, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Vader.

Bottom row: Leia, Luke, Yoda, Ewok.

“The fear of loss, is a path to the Dark Side”- Yoda

One of the easiest ways to stand out to someone you’re...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:40:56 -0500

One of the easiest ways to stand out to someone you’re looking to impress is with a unique business card.

I may be bias because I am in the marketing and advertising industry, and its worked for me, but regardless I stand by my point.

A plain card with your name and information will give you plain results. Upon giving it to somebody, it will either be lost in their pockets and turn up when they’re doing laundry, thrown out in the garbage, or if you’re lucky end up in the rolodex with all the other cards.

As an experience hungry student I wanted to find a way to make a huge impression, even if I completely blew my meeting with them. I created a simple idea and printed my own business cards that to this day employers love when they see ( found here: http://www.behance.net/gallery/My-Personally-Designed-Business-Card/1240739). I was quickly remembered just because I chose to be different.

This week’s review comes from November of 2011 that agency Art&C did from Brazil for the company Ginga Films.

They created a traditional flipbook that showed a hand writing down the personal information and used the last card of the book as the physical business card if the person receiving it wanted just the card.

I think this idea was great because of one thing.

A business card should reflect both your personality as well as what your work entails and this example proved to do both. Is there any other better way to show someone that you work for a film company than to give them a little animated flipbook as a business card? I personally don’t think so.

It’s not hard being the patch of yellow in the field of black… you just have to show you are.

Men love Sports. Actually, men more than love sports, they crave...

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:31:53 -0500

Men love Sports.

Actually, men more than love sports, they crave it.

It is in our blood to compete and sports is possibly the best outlet for us to do so. I enjoyed this ad Wieden+Kennedy from New York did for two main reasons.

1.Timing:

Releasing this ad now is perfect. NBA, NHL, and College Sports are all almost halfway into the season with NFL already in the playoffs. Sports fanatics are getting real into their preferred teams and keeping track of how many games, wins, points etc… are needed for their team to make the playoffs and win. With big events like all star games, and March Madness coming up, this ad does a great job at pumping sports fans up.

2. Tagline

“It’s not crazy, it’s sports.” The ad shows several wagers between fans of rival sports teams and what happens to the loser of the bet. The wagers are bizzare, but portray the great lenghts fans are willing to go to. The tagline is right, it’s not crazy, it’s sports. The rise of sports “hooligans” has been evident over the last 20-30 years and its inspired great things such as fantasy sports and TV shows such as “The League”. Fans want more ways to be involved in the teams they love, and bets with close friends, family, co-workers, or even strangers are not uncommon. It gives them the thrill and causes anticipation while following their teams.

This ad shows a safe, yet ironically costly gamble.

The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.

I haven’t done an evaluation of an Interactive campaign in...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:49:00 -0500

I haven’t done an evaluation of an Interactive campaign in awhile so I thought I’d do one today. Ad agency Rodolfo from Sweden executed this campaign for Air China with the idea to raise awareness that Air China flies not only to China but also throughout Asia, while also making the brand a winner in the Swedish market.

The results of their digital campaign:

Reach: 1,200,767
Likes: +3,114
Engaged users: 15,347
Happy winners: 24

I believe this campaign was successful because of one key line in the video; “Focusing close to home” (at 17 seconds). They researched what Swedes already visited and were familiar with the Asian areas they were targeting, and pin pointed them to be the ones to create media for them and spread their word socially through Facebook. Their contesting idea is great too, because you could literally see who was checking in the most through Facebook, and displaying a leader board created a means for competition. 24 free trips (one a week) is also a great enough number for a user to be interested enough to actually participate.

Their reach and results are great and prove how a little incentive can go a long way to raising and strengthening a brand.

Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress.

Do what you do. A pretty powerful four-word tagline that gives...

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:48:00 -0500

Do what you do.

A pretty powerful four-word tagline that gives you sudden encouragement and empowerment.

Advertising agency Being from New York used two familiar TV characters, Stewie and Bryan and re-enacted their famous “Cool Whip” debate but this time fighting over the pronunciation of “wheat” and the emphasis on the letter “h” in Wheat Thins.

Although some may argue that this was an un-original idea, the ad works because you don’t have to be a fan to understand what’s going on.

Its short, blunt, and catchy.

I challenge you NOT to say Wheat Thins with an emphasis on the “h” next time you see someone eating them…but I’ll go ahead and assume you’ll try and be funny and do it anyway.

Living in Canada, Consumer Product Goods are required to be bi-lingual, and have both English and French labels. 3 years ago my roommate called Wheat Thins by the French name “FinsAuBle”. I found this so funny and to this date call them Finaubles.

This ad has that same affect. A slight humorous alteration to the already well established name that sticks.

Most jokes state the bitter truth.

In this case, our choice of spelling in words doesn’t make sense.

The Power of an Idea.

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:01:13 -0500

I haven’t really seen any new campaigns or ads that stand out to me this week so I decided to dedicate this blog to one of my fav print ads of all time.

This BIC ad done by TBWA Hunt Lascaris from South Africa (circa 2000) reminds me of the power of an idea, when no copy is required. Now, one might argue that the copy is the moebius loop and surprisingly this is true, but I still believe that the idea is what powered this ad.

Those of you who frown at this ad and think “that’s an overpromise, there’s no way that BIC pen will last an infinity” should take a BIC pen and stab yourself with it, because you are being WAY to literal for advertising.

This ad is a benchmark to advertising showing how simplicity can scream a louder message than a :30 second TV spot.

Another one of my favourites that mirror this ad is the “Safety Pin” from Y&R Dentsu in Japan, done for Volvo.

I love ads that literally make you stop and think, damn… why didn’t I think of that.

No matter how brilliantly an idea is stated, we will not really be moved unless we have already half thought of it ourselves.

Two posts in one day? Must be a good week in advertising! This...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:41:00 -0500

Two posts in one day? Must be a good week in advertising!

This crystal light commercial mcgarrybowen (can’t find if its New York or Chicago office) did gives the feeling of a great Superbowl ad.

Just in time for New Year’s resolutions, Crystal Light sells to a desire of being a healthy, sexually-viable female, without neglecting a modern women’s professional and intellectual independence.

Humour is obviously the selling point in this advertisement, and its double meaning ending is both provocative and michievous. Humour in advertising is a tough one at times. Advertisers must communicate a message in a short time frame, and use humour as a way to break through the clutter and noise in attempt to grab the viewer’s attention.

Measuring the effectiveness of humour ad campaigns are very tough as well since humour can both enhance a positive attitude towards the product being promoted or do the polar opposite and be regarded as unsuitable.

Do you feel this ad portrayed a positive or negative feel towards the actual product?

The tagline of “Stay Light” and “Crystal Light. 5 calories. 0 guilt. Because you never know” is used to bring you back to the whole desire of being healthy, and raise your personal awareness of it being that time to be ”trimmer” for bikini season.

Humour is the weapon of unarmed people; it helps people who are oppressed to smile at the situation that pains them.

Kudos to this ad for making my jaw drop upon first...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:06:00 -0500

Kudos to this ad for making my jaw drop upon first glance.

Herezie from France created this ad for themselves after being named “Best Young Agency”.

The message is pretty loud and clear when you examine the ad;

They are a young agency with big balls.

As funny as this ad is I found two faults that bothered me:

1. The photoshop is very poorly done so they definitely have some “growing up” to do in that department (no pun intended).

2. Secondly the copy is too vauge. “Herezie: Voted Best Young Agency of the Year”. First thing that came to mind to me was “By who?”.

If you want credit, where credit is deserved, be clear and state the facts.

A quote that fits well with this ad, that Mark Twain once said:

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”

First post of 2012! I came across this Google advertisement the...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:38:06 -0500

First post of 2012!

I came across this Google advertisement the agency Mullen from Boston did for the new Galaxy Nexus phone and enjoyed it solely because I could see myself doing exactly what the kid in it did.

The ultimate search engine, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Earth, a Google phone that’s also a credit card, talks of a self-driving Google car… Google is really going nuts on the technology front.

This face unlock feature is extremely cool and a great security feature but I feel it would get pretty annoying always having to smile to unlock your phone. Call me old fashioned but an unlock button or password was fine for me.

Regardless, the advertisement captures the frustration one would have unlocking a strangers phone and emphasizes the security it holds.

Only the insecure strive for security so its nice to see Google making life even easier.

Here is a very cost effective way of buying advertising space!...

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:01:51 -0500

Here is a very cost effective way of buying advertising space! N=5 from Amsterdam created this print ad for Heinz in the Netherlands. My first job in advertising was spending a summer finding local businesses in my city and selling them ad space for a University newspaper’s FROSH Week edition. The cheapest ad space would always be the Personal/Classified ads so this Heinz ad really made me laugh when I saw it.

Buying the surrounding personal/classified ad space around the actual ad and keeping it blank to emphasize that this garlic sauce is so strong that its scent even keeps the surrounding ads away from it is very witty.

Bit of concern as to the reach/target of the ad, but afterall it is a condiment that anyone would use.

Extraordinary how potent cheap advertising is.

We’re all guilty of ignoring a homeless person at least...

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:33:57 -0500

We’re all guilty of ignoring a homeless person at least once in our life. The constant fear that the dollar or two that we might give them will only feed their drug or alcohol hunger, rather than their self, prevents us from considering to help them out, and makes it easier for us to lie that we don’t have any change and just walk away. The agency Propaganda from Leeds UK designed this outdoor campaign to eliminate those thoughts and feelings from your head, and to instead make you feel comfortable about donating to someone in need of a home, food, and shelter.

QR codes were printed on cardboard and placed around typical settings of homeless people. The QR codes led to a page where you could donate to the “Simon on the Streets” charity that supports homeless men and women who are sleeping on the streets.

Do you believe you’re more inclined to donate now?

I think I would of just based on the creativity of the execution, and because it screams the message of “I have no excuse now”.

Everyone dislikes street canvassers or door to door representatives asking to donate for charity, so I think Propaganda did an excellent execution of approaching potential donators in a new and innovative way.

Charity should begin at home but not stay there, so anticipate charity by preventing poverty.

I’ve tried to tell myself to not be surprised by...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:07:23 -0500

I’ve tried to tell myself to not be surprised by technology anymore but sometimes its just too hard. Tribal DDB Toronto really out did themselves with this execution and part of my (sorry once again) “Best Outdoor”.

The video explains it better than I would but I’d like to highlight one thing I like most about it.

There’s huge Christmas trees all around Toronto, but it isn’t “bigger is better” this year. You have to engage people and get them talking about it. I walked by this tree in Union Station last week to check it out, because I heard of the buzz, not because I heard they had the best or most lit up tree. Christmas trees are really pretty boring. This tree was different, something I wasn’t used to because it did more than just sit there and look pretty.

Merry Christmas.