TRACTA :: 4eyes

Welcome to Four Eyes for Art Deco weekend.  I would include some relevant news and comments from the Art Deco period, but the internet wasn’t actually around then.  Who knew?!?

Instead you get the usual wrap up of what’s going on in the Social Media space and my picks of the best ads I’ve seen lately.  Enjoy!

The Internet

It really has come a long way.  It is now recognised as a powerful entity – powerful enough to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  For the way it has revolutionised communication and allowed powerful stories to be told, I presume.  Then again, it also allows totally unpeaceful people to communicate and share their stories too.  Does freedom of speech = peace?

Much of the information sharing that gives the internet its power now happens through Social Networks.  Last week I mentioned Google’s BUZZ – their foray into social media through G-Mail.  This week it’s Microsoft getting in on the game, now integrating Facebook and MySpace feeds into its email client Outlook.  The new Outlook Social Connector is also likely to feature LinkedIn feeds, and probably Twitter in the future.  Note both Microsoft has opted to use existing social networks for its platform, while Google are trying to create their own.  Meanwhile, Facebook is set to launch a minimal-bandwith, text-only version of its platform to make it easier to use on mobile devices.

What’s Happening in Adland?

HOLDEN NZ have launched a new campaign led by Nathan Rarere and Greg Murphy.  Another example of conversing with customers rather than shouting at them – sharing information rather than driving emotion – creating multiple media touch-points rather than relying on a single medium to carry the message.  The first TV spot is 2 minutes long, and the ratecard value of the first two spots aired was $88,000!

In the US, an OTC heartburn treatment has also gone down a more social route.  Rather than investing $1,000,000 in a single sponsorship, they are aiming to sponsor 1,000 community organisations (recommended by their customers) $1,000 each.  The brand is creating emotional and loyal connections with their customers, where previously there was little or none. It seems heartburn is a major industry in the US.  Maybe because of the size of their meals?

And I like these ads:

Puma Valentine’s Day effort (internet TV/viral ads)

Drink water is the message from Drug Aware Australia

A funny ad for Jockeys – this version on YouTube has a different soundtrack to the version on the Director’s page (scroll down to the 8th movie).  Amazing how a different tune can give an ad quite a different attitude.  Which do you prefer?

Finally, you may have seen this ad for Dodge brmm brmm cars amongst the Superbowl selection… now watch the female response.  The original ad is being socialised, perhaps not in the way anticipated buy its creators, but its gaining word of mouth for the brand.  And let’s face it – the men who want to buy those Dodge gas-guzzlers are probably proud they’re pissing women off.

Is this an advertising win, or a fail?  I think a win!

Hope you enjoyed this.  And I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Cheers

Welcome to another Four Eyes Friday!  Today I’m attempting to show what might happen to media consumption in NZ in the near future, following trends in the US and taking into account the plethora of developments happening at Google.  It might look like I’m a Google-freak, but Google are at the forefront of a lot of technology and if they’re not, well they’ll just but the company that is!

First up though, internet on the TV.  It’s been talked about for a long time, and the new TiVO offering in NZ allows subscribers some online access, but nothing like what HDTV can now do in well-connected countries like the USA – as evidenced by this ad for a Vizio TV (screened during the Superbowl).  And from this news of Tetris being available through satellite TV, it may not be long until you’ll be able to do on your TV, everything you now do on your PC (or Mac!).

So, what’s Google up to? First up, this week they launched BUZZ - a social networking application attached to G-Mail.  In essence it looks very similar to Facebook, as it allows users to share status updates, photos, videos, etc.  The main difference from Facebook is that it integrates directly with G-Mail (setting up friends lists from a G-Mail contacts list) and draws in content from other (Google-owned or affiliated) social sites – Flickr, Picasa, Twitter and more.  And of course, there’s a mobile app too!

Official Google introduction video (scroll down).  Detailed rundown on the launch.

So what’s coming next?  Google’s recent patent filings indicate that software to improve ad targeting (geographic, content-based and behavioural) and delivery across multiple media will be a big part of Google’s plans.  It sounds like Street View could be used as a virtual mall, with retailers paying for ads on their own buildings.  Google loves patents.  Last year they even managed to patent their (admittedly iconic) homepage design!

Google are also talking about technology that automatically translates phone calls between two people speaking different languages.  Sounds great, but translation can be a tricky business, as Google themselves have found in the past.

And to finish, if you’d like to picture yourself skidding down an Olympic ski-run Google has even made that easier, with StreetView imaging of the Winter Olympics venues. Quite cool!

Googled out?  I think I am.  I’ll catch you next week!

Google = New World Order?

This year’s Superbowl Sunday, when the New Orleans Saints won their first ever NFL title, garnered the highest average audience for any television programme ever in America.  Within about 3.5 hours of game time, there were nearly 48 minutes of ads, which went for around $3million per 30-second spot.

You can see all of the ads here, thanks to YouTube aggregating them all together (superbowl ads are potentially talked about more than the game itself). This may even have been a deal with the broadcast network CBS, as you’ll see their programme promos also feature within YouTube’s selection. Direct links to the most popular ads:

Snickers Doritos Bud Light Budweiser And my favourite   Google

But it’s not all about TV ads this week, and it’s not all about America either.  Here are three examples of taking a campaign idea and extending it, to take advantage of the media environment and generate true consumer interaction.

We start with a simple, but striking, billboard execution from Kenya.  We have seen this before, carrying a billboard execution outside the boundaries of the 6×3 to make it fit with its environment/placement.  High concept but not high cost!

This (high concept, high cost) tactical project for Nokia in the UK takes billboard advertising to the next level.  I’ll let the video tell the story!

Another video, this time explaining how DDB put together an interactive (TV, radio, web) campaign for NZ Coastguard.  I’m not entirely sure if it reached the core target audience of irresponsible boaties, but hopefully the coverage will have resulted in a bit of financial support for the Coastguard.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this (and not wasted too much time or bandwith!!).  Would you like to see more creative ad executions from Four Eyes?  Do you have any favourite ads you’d like to share? Let me know with a comment below.

Welcome back!  After last week’s post, talk about invasion of privacy being big this week!

Surely most of you have by now seen the footage of the poor Australian banker whose email use flashed up in the background of a live finance report?  If not, see it here.  In 4 days it’s been seen by over 2 million people!  No word yet on whether the banker will keep his job.

But as promised, this week will be iPad week on Four Eyes.  Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will have heard that Apple have released their latest innovation.  The iPad.  Few, however, are singing its praises.  Most of the coverage lately seems to be what it’s missing – no camera and no widescreen – or calling it “a big iPhone without the phone“.

And while it’s not necessarily representative of the product’s quality, there has also been plenty of comment about the name (which was incidentally first coined by Mad TV <<warning: adult themes and ribald humour>>).  In the interests of good taste I won’t share any more with you… suffice to say that the “sanitary” nature of the word “pad” has been exploited to the full.

Will the iPad revolutionise communication, publishing or advertising?  Probably not.  But it probably is a sign of things to come: a fully integrated, portable system as capable as a desktop machine but including a phone, full internet capability, GPS, personalised settings and applications – all working together.  And Apple may be leading the way with its user interface – a touch screen and motion-sensitivity.  But I still think a hologram-projecting watch is the holy grail of communications (sorry, couldn’t find a picture – I guess they haven’t been invented yet).

Something for the creatives amongst us now.  And to inspire creativity in all of us…

I liked this ad for a design school – appreciate the craft and the content!

There’s something about a pukeko – see how the latest Genesis ad was made (no mention of budgets…).

There’s a new image subscription product that claims to provide one of the most complete offerings in the marketplace, with monthly/annual subscription costs covering all images used, rather than a per-image billing system.

And to round things off, a bit of nostalgia for you all.  This is what NZ Reality TV used to look like in the 80s.  Classic!

Have a uniting and controversy-free Waitangi Day and I’ll catch you next week!

OK this might be a bit late, but better late than never, eh?!  To those of you that have been hanging out since Friday, eagerly awaiting your weekly fix of Internet Information, I sincerely apologise.  Apologies, though, are a little harder to come by in the world of advertising and social media.  Over the last couple of weeks I’ve heard about a few instances where an apology could be in order…

Not content with just posting a comment on Twitter, a “jilted mistress” paid what must have been tens of thousands of dollars to place huge billboards across the US telling everyone about their affair.  Probably not the sort of publicity the guy is after, since he’s co-president of Oracle and is on Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board!

And in “watch what you say online – you never know who is watching” news:

A comment on a Yahoo community message board was picked up by mainstream media, and turned into a scandal! The community had a bit to say about it too…

And see how this social media fail got picked up by Stoppress marketing website, generating a whole new lot of comments for Waiwera Water.  Not many of them positive!  Learning: honesty in social media is fine, arrogance is not. Nice to see that Waiwera did say sorry in the end though!

It all goes to show that there is no such thing as privacy on the mighty interweb.  The amount of information being shared, often without users’ explicit consent, is causing governments to look at whether privacy laws are being violated, potentially opening up a whole new can of worms for social media operators.  However in Australia, the reverse is happening.  The government is preparing to control what their population can access online.  How will this impact on user privacy?  And freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of belief?

According to a SMH Online Poll, Australian internet users aren’t keen:

Internet censorship : What do you think of Senator Conroy’s plan to filter the internet?

Yes, I think it’s a good idea – 2%
No, it impinges on my freedom – 96%
Not sure, it sounds good in theory – 2%
I don’ t understand it – 1%

So that was a pretty serious Four Eyes!  Tune in later this week (should be back on track for Friday!) for more of your favourite news, gossip and speculation.  Coming up in the next issue… the iPad.  Hot or not?  And what about the name?!?

Catch ya then!