The best ads of the decade - did they make you purchase?

Best campaigns of the decade?

The Globe and Mail article has set out the 5 best campaigns this decade, with a few runners up. Most of h spots they've posted made me smile and agree with them. Some, like one the runner ups made me cringe at the thought of watching it again....

Take a look and let me know - did they miss something?

Potentially the Nike Freestyle ads?

Copen to Hopen - Climate Change and the digital world

I'm flummoxed.

I'm not against the idea of getting together to figure out how to stop the way we treat our planet, but I'm concerned at hope it is being done and the example that is being set.

In 2010 the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit is happening in December. The climate summit will bring together the leaders from around the world representing 192 countries.... wow that's a lot of flying and a lot SUVs and cars.....

At the summit they will discuss how to help solve the climate change problem happening right now and reduce greenhouse gases and emissions.... huh, i wonder how much will be added by the planes and cars their using?

A bunch of corporate giants including Coca-Cola and SAP and numerous agencies have united under Hopenhagen. A creative attempt to bring awareness to the summit. Their goal is to "To connect every person, every city, and every nation to Copenhagen. To give everyone hope, and a platform from which to act. To create a grassroots movement that’s powerful enough to influence change. " Hopenhagen.org

Here are some of the ads from hopenhagen:










There are rallies against the summit happening around the world and Greenpeace is also stepping in to make their demands heard. I doubt many are against WHY it is being held for BUT they are frustrated at HOW it is. With the wonders of technology, could a software giant not come up with the most advanced teleconferencing system to allow the summit to exist without the need to travel?

If you argue that most of the ideas, deals and agreements happen outside, during the networking sessions - then there MUST be a better system of sharing planes, cars and transportation. These are the leaders who are supposed to be setting up strategies and making promises - why don't they SET AN EXAMPLE instead?


From the Globe and Mail: the president of SAP, involved with Hopenhagen replied with this when asked if he would attend "““From a carbon perspective,” he said, flying from his base in Palo Alto, Calif., to bring attention to climate change might be a counterintuitive move."

Ummm, duh?

No money? No purchases!

Great skit by SNL.

Don't buy stuff you cannot afford.

Amazingly simple idea but incredibly hard to follow apparently (see: current economic conditions for more information)

Thanks to the Consumerist for posting.

Could someone please make this an actual ad. For real.

Advertising Dollars and there's a lot of them.

Interesting video about the cost to advertise in New York City, NY.

It's a little old but you get the idea, it costs MONEY. If you think about the companies that advertise in the city you'll start to recognize the cost of advertising and the strength of the industry.

Be aware though, advertising is more than just pumping out flashy ads, visuals and text. It's about creating ideas that capture imagination, attention and memory.

Heineken is keeping it real

Perhaps a little like Dave Chappell's sketch "When keeping it real goes wrong", this holiday season Heineken is taking a different approach to draw attention to it's brand.

Heineken is highlighting the social dangers of drinking too much; however instead of going for a tear inducing, heart-aching story/warning, Heineken is keeping it light and humourous and (in my opinion) doing a pretty good job.



They've created a TV ad that drives drinkers online to a micro-site knowthesigns.com where they can play a game of spotting the people who drank too much. The object of the game is to spot the typical characteristics that all of us have had to deal with when we've gone out with friends including: the crier, the flirt, the fighter and the groper. All the kinds of people that we really don't want to deal with and will/have ruined our nights.

Beyond the game Heineken is leveraging this other media as well. They have an iPhone breathalyzer app and a "tag of shame" app that users can download to their social media site and actually tag pictures of their friends being TG (That guy or That girl)

Launching during the prime holiday season, at a time when office parties, friends are celebrating and family is getting together Heineken is offering an interesting spin on marketing of one of the worlds favourite beers. They are keeping the fun, lighthearted and interest while maintaining a drink responsibly message.


Warning: No heartstrings were pull in this campaign.

Autoban for the better and having Fun

The fun and quirky car company that brought the world the Beetle and other fun zippy cars like the Rabbit is taking their marketing beyond cars but keeping the fun.

Volkswagen. The Theory of Fun.

Busting out some truly innovative ideas VW is getting people in Stockholm to have fun and do good. Check out these spots that have gone massively viral:

Staircase


Garbage Bin:




But here's the thing: Volkswagen is a car company, their main objective year over year is to sell cars, is it not? So how are they selling cars when their marketing campaign doesn't include any? Even their website thefuntheory.com offers more videos and a chance for people to submit their own ideas for awards.... and NO cars.

For a young urban professional, they are buying the brand. Yes, of course the typical factors play into their choice (price, features, safety, size) but they will look to and lean on the brands that speak to them.

What is interesting though is their dig for a deeper connection through the additional layer of "doing good". It's a fairly common belief that the younger generation is more deeply concerned about social issues (obesity, environment, helping others). Car companies are often vilified for being massive polluters and supplying the world with polluting machines. So it's interesting that VW is taking this perspective.

Are they smart? Risky?

Will we see these in Toronto, Vancouver or anywhere in North America?

Even the billionaires of the world are being hit by this global economic crisis, so it's a very good thing that there exists a website where they can auction off their one of a kind luxury items to raise some cash AND ensure their precious items are given a good home.

Welcome to Billionairexchange, the luxury online auction site. Here the billionaires of the world can bid on and sell items ranging from castles, to diamond encrusted iPhones, to armored luxury vehicles, even a mexican resort is up for sale.


All one has to do is sign up for a membership; however, the price isn't shown because (I assume) "if you have to ask, you can't afford it".



What is interesting about the site is ease and ability a user has to buy advertising space. The prices are all laid out and based on impressions. Users can purchase leaderboards, features or sponsored links. Pretty interesting way of selling the media space as it seems they are cutting out the media companies and have made it really simple for their users.

I currently have my eye on a sweet diamond iPhone 3G, so if you're looking for my xmas gift, that's a good place to start: check it

Imagine a world where the hot "spot" is the size of a city

Imagine the whole city as a hot spot. That would be pretty great right? Sitting on a park bench reading the paper online or stuck at Davisville station in the morning streaming online video.

Seems like a pretty good idea but will it happen?

Well, sitting at home watching TBS... I mean PeachTree... I caught one of the many Atlanta area ads but this time, instead of catching one of the irritating college ads to study at home and earn a degree - it's so easy!... this time i caught one for clear.com

Boasting super fast internet access in approximately 9 states, clear offers consumers internet everywhere based on data usage. Clear states "With CLEAR 4G WiMAX, you'll always get crisp, super fast mobile internet, regardless of where you are in the coverage area."

I have to admit, I am not an expert on this kind of technology, but it seems like it is similar to smart phones that access the internet... payment is based on a data plan/usage and the service (4G) is just a little jacked up.

How long until Canadian major markets get this and who is going to do it? Rogers with the largest, fastest network? It'll be interesting to see how this develops....

Here is the ad I saw:

Athletes as brands and selling them.....

Steve Nash the basketball star, Canadian and brand?

A great (but long) article posted on the Canadian marketing website, Marketing Mag.ca explains the evolution of athletes from brand promoters to brands themselves. Not very long ago Michael Jordan was just breaking through creating the Air Jordan brand with Nike.

Now athletes are brands themselves. Steve Nash is one of the most viral of these brands and is successfully leveraging his celebrity, awkward humour and viral videos to really make a breakthrough impact which is doing a great job at creating an image for himself and the products he promotes. Professional salaries are rising and so are the sponsorship stakes... not to mention the egos, yet somehow Mr. Nash is managing to keep it lighthearted.


Check out the full article here

Here are some of the Steve Nash videos. Two are for Vitamin Water and another is just fun:

"Web 2.0 way to get your vitamins" (Shamwow/SlapChop Parody with 50 Cent)


"I've been hired, naturally...." (Parody of the Office)


(Step Brothers Parody)


The Steve Nash brand is fun, entertaining and in good taste. It'll be interesting to see how athletes promote themselves after the success of Mr. Nash and his kinda awkward videos. Check out the article above for a deeper insight and other expamples of athletes promoting their brand.

This little piggie waited in a big long line!

Perhaps the scariest thing this Halloween won't be the darkened alley's, costumes, the amount of candy you'll end up eating or even well crafted Halloween Haunts but another H word..... H1N1. AKA swine flu.

I'm sure companies like Kleenex and especially Purell are going to do extremely well this fall and winter. Purell even has a "Swine Flu" button in it's home page:
http://www.purell.com/index.jhtml

The news is everywhere, panic is setting in and opinions are flying about what to do about the looming epidemic. Parents are refusing Halloween for their kids, business people won't shake hands and line-ups for the flu vaccine are literally around the block as people line up to get stabbed with the needle of "protection".


( The Globe and Mail, 2009)

Governments are also doing what they can to spread a more ubiquitous prevention tactic - proper cleanliness. Communication include techniques include coughing into something (tissue or sleeve) and wash your hands properly (I'm completely disgusted at the amount of people who think running their hands under water is cleaning... try some soap next time).

However, who is getting their message heard and who is being tuned out?

The British have done a much better job (in my opinion) at getting the attention of viewer. Their tactic BIN IT. KILL IT. Memorable and effective. Living in Canada I'm not even sure what their approach has been and had to research it.

The Globe and Mail summarized it the spot as: "featuring a racially diverse array of Canadians behaving cautiously and properly: a mother and daughter washing their hands together, an office worker squirting an alcohol-based sanitizer into his hand, a woman at lunch sneezing into her arm, a man spraying disinfectant on the door handle of his fridge, and a miserable-looking fellow laid out on the couch blowing his nose into a tissue." .... YAWN.

Check out these spots and let me know what you think:

BRITISH (April 2009)


BRITISH (October 2009)
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1847321790?bctid=46291688001

US (August 2009) - Center for Disease Control Contest Winner


CANADA (2008) - only one I could find to share

Halloween: Skin is in.

Halloween is just around the corner and as parties and plans are being made, do you know what you're wearing? Or how much you're not?

It seems as though Halloween has become an opportunity for the ladies to dress more like hoes. Is it because I've grown older and it's no longer a scary witch or pretty bride that is the best costume or is there really a shift in costumes?

I'm more of a witty kind of costume girl and it's the ones that make me laugh and say "oh i get it!" that makes the night for me. However, when faced with a costume idea block and quick search for ideas on google, I'm bombarded with some fairly racy suggestions.

The Globe and Mail today ran an article sharing my thoughts and apparently business is booming for tight fitting, sexy costumes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/celebratory-skin-why-sexy-costumes-are-hot-sellers/article1337884/

I also couldn't help but laugh at this video posted by College Humor (warning: foul language in the video)


This video definitely helps to understand the lengths some girls go to make any costume a sexy one that they think is hot.

Mean Girls the movie about high school social structure does a really great job of pointing out that "it's the one time of year a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it..." ]



So what are you going to be this year for Halloween? Sexy Sexy or Frog?

They'll give you the finger.....

Not having a USB key when you really need it can be really annoying. It's an easy way to transfer files or to take files with you. Now imagine having all that storage capability at your finger tips... or more correctly IN your finger tips.

Jerry Jalava is just the man with the technology. He lost the tip of his finger in a motorcycle accident and instead of rocking a stump or a normal prosthetic, he decided to upgrade to a finger 2.0. Now his finger tip is actually hiding a USB key and when he needs it, he can just pop off his finger, insert the finger into the USB drive and away he goes.

Some people might think that's just plain odd or gross, while others may agree that it's a pretty clever way of turning a negative into a relatively useful positive. Jerry is thinking it's time to upgrade again - this time to an mp3 player perhaps? Is Apple ready to launch the iFinger?

I just had one question for the guy: You've already lost a finger tip in a motorcycle accident, which too bad but relatively non-life threatening... so knowing that accidents can happen - why aren't you wearing a helmet?



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7949018.stm

Really got me with the Goats.....

The first time I saw the jumping goat ad from Telus, I wanted a baby goat of my own. Of course I'd only want it for about half an hour when I could kindly return it to the farmer from which is came.

Telus is about to offer something much more than goats, announced this week, Telus and Bell are FINALLY going to be offering the wildly popular Apple iPhone. http://www.telusmobility.com/en/ON/home/

So far in Canada, there has been a monopoly on the iPhone through Rogers, which might be the "most reliable network" but dodgiest customer service (through informal poll of users).




http://www.rogers.com/web/content/iphone3gs?cm_sp=Consumer-_-Wireless_iPhone3G_0809_Eng-_-iPhone3G_WIR_PRE_slot4

The world of wireless telephones is growing exponentially. "Smart" phones have erupted in the past couple of years - remember the original Blackberry that as floating around the office with only the very senior personnel? It seems ancient now. Even the non-smart phones offer increased access to the web, advances messaging systems and applications. So are computers becoming phones or phones becoming computers!?

Now consumers have to choose from phones offered by Blackberry, Apple, Palm, Google and Microsoft.




That's right! Microsoft has announced it's own smart phone called the Windows Phone (don't over stretch your marketing genius there guys....) it will be able to access the internet, email, an application store and it can open word and excel files.. So let's all give it up for Microsoft with a big warm welcome to last year!

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/meet/default.mspx

Harper Harmonizes..... who knew?

Released yesterday to the world of youtube viewers and Globe readers was the Canadian Prime Minister rocking out with Yo Yo Ma to a famous Beatles song. I couldn't make this up if I tried...

Prime Minister Harper took the stage at a gala at the National Arts Centre Saturday October 3, 2009. Although I'm no voice coach or a judge on American Idol, I think he did relatively well - minus hitting the high notes, though I might be concerned if he had a falsetto like Justin Timberlake, that would just be weird.

A few questions:
1) Was this a media stunt to show the more interesting and human side of Harper as talks of an election heat up again? He must be aware of the power of the internet, knowing it would be posted, shared and talked about... and posted, shared and talked about... etc.

2)Will Rick Mercer be having a field day with this one? I can only imagine the hilarity that man must be finding in this right now.

Please welcome the Canadian Prime Minister to the stage as he rocks the Beatles hit With A Little Help From My Friends

The 80's sure were funny...

We laugh now at the crazy 80's: the fitness craze (Let's get physical anyone?), teen wolf, side ponies that were crimped and in a hot pink, acid washed scrunchies... oh, the list goes on.

Have you stopped and asked yourself: what will we laugh at asking ourselves "seriously?" tomorrow? How about: Leggings and Ugg boots, or sunglasses worn by Kanye West... or the Snuggie!

The Snuggie is an incredibly unassuming successful product. It is essentially a housecoat/bathrobe on backwards. Yet, it's been wildly successful, check out the ad:



Do you want one? You probably laughed at the ridiculous situations. But is that why is was so successful - because it was so ridiculous? The internet and specifically things like youtube, have given consumers a forum to parody this product - which in turn has actually made it more successful. As the internet evolves and developes, the way products are made successful will also change, evolve and adapt. I can't wait to Snuggie 2.0.

So why didn't this gem from the 80's take off? Maybe all it needed was a good parody and social forum..... please, enjoy - I did.

Can touch this?

As an adaptation of MC Hammer's smash hit Can't touch this runs through my head... I'm still wowed by this incredible advancement of technology.... touch.

Since I am not very good at computers - in fact on any given day you may hear me mutter "computers hate me!" in utter frustration - I am easily impressed by new technology - and this one really had me going.

My first intro to touch programs was actually in high school. My calculus teacher had something called a SMART Board. It was basically a touch sensitive blackboard hooked up to his computer. He used it much like a blackboard to draw functions, derive equations and pull up last class's notes. It was incredibly useful for learning, we could easily get electronic copies of notes we did in class, pull up old problems and look things up on the web.

Here is a youtube video about how to use it (warning, it's a smidgen blah...)



So flash forward a couple of years and Apple introduces the iPod touch and iPhone. Again... I'm impressed and when given the chance to hold one, proceed to play with all the "buttons" - even to this day.

However, when I saw a video about a touch table, my mind exploded.

Check out this news clip:



The table is completely touch sensitive and that's just the start. You could order pizzas on it, take pictures and without cables download the pictures directly to the table! WHAT?! Just as I had collected myself (and my jaw from the floor) I looked at the date of posting.... 2007. Two years ago?! How is it that two years later I haven't seen any of these tables commercially? Technology is adapting and being refined so quickly and prices normally drop within the first couple of years, I would've have assumed that I would've seen this somewhere already.

Here's another clip of the table that explores more of the nuts and bolts:




Has anyone seen them? Does anyone have one?

Also if we have devises that we can hear, see and touch... what's next? An iPod we can taste? Maybe an online menu we can smell?

Your Facebook and your Mom....

If you're like me and you had a friend request from your mom to be your Facebook friend, you may have put it off for a little while as you debated the thought of letting your mother in on your "personal life". If you're still like me a "while" would be approximately 6 months until she asked you point blank why you won't be her friend and in a well played guilt trip you give in and accept.

Now your mom is on your Facebook. Shit.... I mean... shoot.

I've always thought of Facebook as a place for my friends, never a place for my parents to creep around and ask "what happened to you last night?".... eek. I had pictures, posts, interests and favourite quotes - some I'm sure wouldn't garner the highest favour from my mother. Then I thought "Great now I have to think about my status updates... did I swear?"

After some thought, I realized that my "personal life" was in reality a "public life" and if I don't want my mother to see it, chances are, I probably don't want the majority of the world seeing it either. Recently, I've had more and more conversations with people about the privacy of online social media networking sites and the general consensus is that there isn't any. Once something has been posted on the internet, it's there for good and anyone can see it. We're still relatively new at this interweb thing and there's so much more to learn and discover. (If you have the time, there is an awesome video on www.ted.com about the first and next 5000 days of the internet.)



So, anyway, in my brief moment of insight, I didn't put my mother on limited profile.

It's been about another 6 months of my mother being my friend and nothing has really changed. I may one of the few lucky ones though....

Check out this funny site for some of the not-so-lucky ones:
http://myparentsjoinedfacebook.com/

And just for good measure check out the top 4 awkward Facebook likes (including one from a mom) on College Humor:
http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1791517

Happy people when markets are down?

First there was the "Naked News", then there was the recession. Naturally everyone would think "why not put them together?"... duh.

Well, Puma had that thought and created an iPhone app that tracks the major markets around the world and assigns a female/male model to each. The application is easy - when the markets go down, so do the pants. When the markets go up, so do the pants.

Puma has taken a really interesting approach to the relatively gloomy stock market by creating its own silver lining but will people really be happy to see the indexes go down? Doubtful... but maybe with a little pg13 entertainment it won't hurt so much?

Some may argue that this new app is taking sex too far and to leave it out of the markets. Maybe sex shouldn't sell everything - but I'm sure others that would argue a little bit of sunshine is just what the broker ordered.

One thing is for sure, it's probably in your best interest to check these markets at home.

Video streaming goes online, then to print?!

So this is what was next? Wowzers.

TV ads are everywhere it seems: online video streaming, movie theaters, magazines, billboards.... hold on.... magazines? Yes. Currently, CBS and Pepsi are teaming up to bring the first ever video advertisement in a magazine.

The Sept 18th edition of Entertainment Weekly will have a super-thin video player embedded in its pages. When readers flip to the page they can choose (yes, CHOOSE) to watch a preview for How I Met Your Mother or Accidentally on Purpose and before each video an ad for Pepsi Max will run.

If you're like me you might still be thinking "... I'm sorry... what?!" but it's real alright!

Now we've seen print online and tv in print, heads up - here comes the future!

I can only imagine the cost to produce and insert that ad/technology in a magazine.

Check out the article in the globe and mail online:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/beats-a-perfume-strip/article1259523/

Bringing page to life

Nike Lunarglide+ "Actually, it is rocket science"

The plain (almost boring) Nike print ad I found on the back of my Women's Health mag instructed me head on over to nikirunning.com to experience it in 3D.... Naturally, I was curious as to how an ad in a magazine could be 3D. Once there I was told to hold the page to my webcam, hesitantly (and in the privacy of my home so as to not incite thoughts of insanity from my peers) I lifted the page to my screen. Instantly the image jumped to life in 3D and could be rotated, split apart and switched from men's to women's. Pretty neat for a plain ol' print ad!

Bringing this page to life meant I stayed on the Nike site for much longer than I intended and searched through other pages to see what other tricks they might have hiding under their laces!

Even though I didn't purchase anything from them that day they were still, in a way, successful. I, the consumer, saw their ad and was intrigued enough to followed it online. Once there I was happily entertained through clever online technology and decided to spend even more time with their brand! So, no I didn't buy anything, BUT yes, I did build a deeper connection with their brand and have passed what I saw on to you.

If you want to check it out online there is a how-to video on nikerunning.com that shows a demonstration: http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/products/lunarglide?blogSource=en_US#/experience

And from a consumer's perspective, here's what I found on youtube:


Pretty neat way of bringing print to life and driving online traffic ... so what's next?

Blondes have all the fun...

I am a firm believer that blondes do have the most fun. I'm also a big believer that blondes are some of the smartest people in the business.

Posting interesting, thought provoking, you-must-be-joking news from around the world.

Here's the eCommerce world topped off with a little sunshine.

Stay Tuned.