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