The Volkswagen Art Heist

In June 2011, Volkswagen used the VW GLI´s turning and momentum to design the VW logo with light painting. The video, which has more than 100,000 views, is a very inovative way of presenting the car. Pictures highlighting the effect created  were published on Flickr and on VW´s Facebook page receiving great feedback from fans.
To expand the reach of the campaign, pop-up galleries with hand numbered limited edition printed versions of the images began to appear in unexpected places around Canada. People were able to take them as a souvenir. Followers of VW´s different social media platforms were given a chance to be the first ones to find the art thanks to different clues revealed using Instagram and Twitter.
This is a very different way of presenting the car which allows a closer interaction between Volkswagen and its community. The campaign has been a success creating lots of buzz around the VW GLI and how driving can be beautiful.

As disclosure I have to say I had the honour of working with Volkswagen and Red Urban Canada team cultivating VW´s social media platforms until September 2011.
 

Managing your brand's social media presence online

Most marketers agree that social media is important for their business, yet for your particular product is it best to do it in-house, or should you outsource it?

Home Depot considers its associates to be one of its best resources. A select group of store associates work three days a week on the stores, and dedicate the remaining two days of their work-week to create content that can be shared online. The corporate team reviews their posts and content and manage their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube presences with the store associates input. With 48,249 Twitter followers, 50,000 facebook fans and almost 10,000,000 views on their YouTube channel, their strategy seems to be creating a lot of visibility for the brand. Their community considers its social media networks to be reliable channels to engage with the brand online and get quick answers. Social-media agencies have been brought in on occasion to help with specific events or launches.

On the other hand, Edelman manages both Volkswagen's PR and social media presence in the United States. The agency provides media engagement, strategy, community management and digital content development across platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and VW’s network of blogs. The agency works closely with Volkswagen's marketing department to integrate efforts.

With 38,726 twitter followers, 846,488 facebook fans and more than 60,000,000 views on their YouTube channel they've proven to be spreading the word quite well about the brand. 

According to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Report from Social Media Examiner, 7 in 10 marketers who engage in Social Media efforts do it in-house. 

Creating a good social media strategy is not an easy task that can be simply added to the list of responsibilities of a brand manager. It is a full commitment. In the following presentation created by Rodrigo Cauduro, you will be able to examine some of the pros and cons of outsourcing social media efforts and of keeping them in-house.

Who should manage a brands Social media presence

View more presentations from Rodrigo Cauduro

Building a great community requires many different areas of expertise, tons of communication among brand departments and time. If you are planning on getting your brand started on social media, make sure you and your company are ready for the challenge.

Xbox Kinect as an advertising platform

During the 2011 Cannes International Advertising Festival, Mark Kroese from Microsoft's Advertising and Entertainment division unveiled NUads, a Kinetic powered interactive advertising platform.

His presentation consisted on five suggestions for how advertisers can make use of the technology: social advocacy, in which an advert can be shared by the user simply saying "Xbox tweet"; request for information, where saying "Xbox more" will result in further details or discount codes being emailed to the user; near me, which will send a text message with directions to a nearest retailer when prompted with "Xbox near"; calendar reminders in response to "Xbox schedule"; and gesture-controlled voting. In this video you can see Enrique De La Garza presenting all these concepts:

I can't help but being frustrated by these suggestions. The Xbox Kinect is one of the most amazing products available today. Numerous developers have been inspired by the possibilities that it offers and have hacked it to get the best out of it. There is even a KinectHacks channel on YouTube demonstrating the potential of the platform, yet Microsoft decides to use a traditional out of place advertising model with very basic shareability opportunities.

In his blogpost, Mark Kroese dares to say:

"Simply put, NUads break down the barriers between consumers and content on the TV screen. NUads make traditional linear content—like a 30 second TV spot—irresistibly interactive. For years, the industry as gone to great lengths trying to figure out how to deliver interactive TV. Until the advent of Kinect, no one really understood that the key to making TV interactive was right in front of us all along: the audience. People are inherently interactive all on their own. We just needed the technology to get out of their way."

As I can read by the comments in the blogpost, I am not the only person that feels this way. It seems that the Marketing department needs to have a discussion with the Creative, and Product design departments to find a way to actually 'break down the barriers between consumers and content.' 

As a gamer, why would I decide to click on the 'Ads' section of the platform? There is nothing there for me. I want to play. I want real experiences, not an adaptation of a TV ad that gives me the opportunity to tweet, or even better, ask to be spammed by some advertisers newsletter.

For starters, what about me preparing a pizza at a digital version of Domino's Pizza kitchen and ordering it through my Kinect with a  special discount? Or a Volkswagen competition where the highest score in the country wins a car?

I believe there are some great advertising opportunities using Kinect. Next year will be key to understanding how the platform will evolve and integrate with brands.

Gamification | Fun is the future

The decade we just left behind us was centered on building on the social layer. Communities such as Facebook and Twitter emerged as a way to help us connect in unimaginable ways. The decade ahead of us is all about using those networks to have fun. 

Initially brands tried to engage their consumers and drive loyalty through reward programs. In reality those are proto-games. They play on the same basics yet lack the fun element.

Today, gamification has matured as a key instrument. As brands and individuals look for ways to increase their influence, gaming as a social connector is becoming central.  But reversely games need to be sharable to be relevant. We move from hard currency to an experience currency 

For gamification to work, brands need to be able to differentiate when is it relevant, and when is it is simply a tactic that doesn't make a difference for the brand. In the following video,  Gabe Zichermann explains in more detail how a well built gamification brand strategy can make a difference for your brand.

Inspiration from: Mesh conference 2011

Lego | I am George

Who is George? George is a very mysterious and handsome Lego character that has been appearing on the Lego facebook page constantly since September 7th. It all began with a facebook a note with the following ask:

1. Build George with your own bricks
2. Place him in an awesome spot and take a picture.
3. Upload your pictures to the http://www.facebook.com/legogroup and show them to all the other amazing LEGO fans.
4. Win! George decides who wins based on the amount of awesomeness.

The prizes are:
1st Prize- LEGO Super Star Destroyer and George’s awesome gift
2nd Prize- Another awesome gift from George
3rd Prize- And yet another awesome gift from George


The pictures that have been uploaded so far are both funny and adorable. The best part is that George has his own Facebook business person profile since the beginning of August, and every time a picture is posted on the Lego page, he comments on it in a very playful and sweet way.

He even has a pregnant ex-girlfriend called Georgina Brickson who has commented in some of his pictures.

It's interesting that the contest doesn't even have a tab with an explanation of the contest. There have not been online press releases or articles written about this strategy. It only lives as a small facebook note that was picked up by some fans who are now posting the pictures and creating a very fun experience through the page. We will see how much it will evolve in the next following days. I believe it's brilliant because it presents Lego in a very approachable and friendly manner, with a unique voice. Everyone can participate and make George part of his/her family.

Why are some brands more successful than others?

When it comes to transforming a brand into an icon, passion is the secret ingredient. As much as a well thought trough strategy and a good product are also a must, only passion will make the transition possible.  The tricky thing about passion is that it can't be bought. It can only be innately felt, or transmitted by true leaders who have a gift to make people believe what they believe.

It's hard to find leaders within organizations, because they are an endangered species. When one of those strange characters touches a brand, their legacy can be felt for generations and generations even after they are gone.

Some of them are silent legends, while others have names that forever stick to the brand they represent.

Think of Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Oprah, J.K Rowling or Richard Branson.Their names are icons by themselves. Each and every one of them understands the core brand they've built or represent.

Even if you consider you are are not in a key position of power within your organization, try to find what Simon Sinek calls the 'Why' behind what you are doing (see video below) and most importantly transmit it to your peers. You might be surprised of what you can achieve. If you are not able to find out why you are doing what you are doing, it's never to late to move on.

"There are leaders, and those who lead. Those who lead inspire us. We follow those who lead not for them, but for ourselves"-Simon Sinek

The World's most typical person

In a World that will soon reach a 7 billion population, are you typical?

This video was created by National Geographic to create awareness of its yearlong series examining the specific challenges and solutions we face as the worldwide population reaches 7 billion people in 2011.

The video was uploaded on March 2, and it has 1,580,000 views. Comments are very positive and it has been shared through facebook, twitter and blogs. It's a relatively inexpensive strategy that is attracting new readers and fans to National Geographic.

Mark Zuckerberg's Beast: 75% fluff, 25% dog

Mark Zucherberg recently adopted a puppy. His name is Beast, and he is already the most popular dog in Facebook. For normal people, getting a dog simply means getting a dog, but for Facebook's CEO it's more of a PR move. The blogosphere went crazy for the news. Most journalists, despite their expensive journalism degrees found themselves covering up this 'important' news. Even animal groups such as Animal Rescue Corps (ARC) congratulated Mark and Priscilla - his longtime girlfriend-  on the new addition to their family.

Beast frequently posts Facebook updates about his new life in Palo Alto. Many of his pictures include Mark and Priscilla at their sweetest.

After all the bad reputation that Mark Zuckerberg got after The Facebook movie, which made him look cold, ambitious and heartless this move is a breath of fresh air.

Facebook's CEO doesn't like to be the focus of attention. He has proven not to be a great public speaker. That is what makes the 'new dog gone public' move genius. The attention is set on the cute dog while his personal brand goes through an unconscious makeover in the mind of the 46,000 people that follow Beast's life and those who read about it on the news.

This is a genius example of propaganda that is already influencing the audience in a very emotional level. Mark Zuckerberg is human!

Ken and Barbie are back together

In 2004, after 43 years of a heated romance, Barbie and Ken felt it was time to spend some quality time apart. But don't worry, the story is not over. On the 14th of February after a very romantic encounter that took place at Union Station in Toronto they realized they were meant for each other.
The efforts to win Barbie's heart back began when Ken stumbled on Barbie's Match.com profile:

The campaign centered around barbieandken.com, where users could vote on whether Barbie should “take Ken back” or not. The message was quickly spread through Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter.

There was a great integration with brands that have been part of Barbie's marketing strategy before. Apart from talking about Ken's romantic efforts, some of his tweets reference his recent reads in Men's Health and Esquire.  Across both social media profiles, the story line stayed cohesive throughout all the campaign. It all comes just in time for the introduction to the market of the "Sweet Talkin' Ken doll" that is said to be "the ultimate boyfriend for every occasion"

Image from Mashable.com

The campaign also took place offline stunts. Ken was spotted at Magnolia’s Bakery designing a special treat just for Barbie. The special cupcake was available for purchase throughout Valentine’s Day.

Ken not only bought billboards in New York and Los Angeles. He was also interviewed on ETalk Canada. There was even a web series called Genuine Ken, where eight “Ken-testants” competed for the title of “The Great American Boyfriend.”

Anyway, I believe the decision of getting back together could be related to Ken's 50 year crisis. We all know how men go a bit crazy at that age, and want to feel like they have control over their lives.

Inspiration by Mashable.com

The Silent Indian National Anthem | DDB Mumbai

At the beginning of times the world had one language - one common speech for all people. The people of the earth became skilled in construction and decided to build a city with a tower that would reach to heaven. By building the tower they wanted to make a name for themselves and also prevent their city from being scattered.

God came to see their city and the tower they were building. He perceived their intentions, and in His infinite wisdom, He knew this "stairway to heaven" would only lead the people away from God. He noted the powerful force within their unity of purpose. As a result, God confused their language, causing them to speak different languages so they would not understand each other. By doing this, God thwarted their plans. He also scattered the people of the city all over the face of the earth.

India is home to many different cultures, 22 languages and more than 1000 dialects. As a result, people are not united. They do not understand each other, or even recognize themselves as members of the same country. DDB Mumbai was challenged to create a campaign that would promote union between all the Indian community. They came up with a brilliant idea:

Movie theaters in India always play the national anthem before every film screening. This year, DDB Mumbai substituted the expected video with one featuring speech and hearing impaired children singing the national anthem in sign language. It demonstrates, as Bobby Pawar CCO of DDB Mumbai stated, "that patriotism speaks one language, that of the heart."

This particular ad has a very important message for every nation in the world. We need to unite against all the prejudices and stereotypes that are destructing us. Lets come together to free our World from the prejudices that divide us...The prejudices of language, region and religion.

Disclosure: I work for DDB Canada since September 2010.. and I couldn't be prouder.

BMW | Wherever you want to go

The first working steam-powered vehicle was designed by Ferdinand Verbiest in China around 1672. Ford's model T set 1908 as the historic year when the automobile became popular. Ever since, cars have changed a lot. Additions such as air conditioning, air bags, luxury items, more resistant materials and new combustion options have been in constant reinvention.What is next in the future of mobility?

BMW Documentaries has released the first part of its new series “Wherever You Want To Go”. The film's objective is to take their audiences to the future.

By interviewing some of the most influential scientists, academics, pioneers, and entrepreneurs of our time, this four-part documentary paints a unique picture of technology, culture, cities, our past, present and how it all relates to the future of mobility. The video player allows viewers to access additional content around a theme, quote, or speaker in real time, while giving them the option to pause the main viewer. They can also post their own thoughts or comments directly to specific moments of the film for others to see and react to.

It is a great initiative from KBS+P New York that makes its audience wonder what's next, while learning more about BMW.

Inspiration from Autopias

The most interactive night in history

Who hasn't fantasized about being invited to the Oscars? The red carpet, the glamour, the stars and the excitement. Well, this year you are e-nvited. 

The 2011 Oscar coverage by ABC will have more cameras on-site than ever before, providing a personalized experience to each viewer. The audience will be part of even the most private moments of the ceremony by going to the Oscar.com website during the event.  

The website is divided into 3 basic tabs. The first one is the 'nominations' tab where the Nomination Ceremony was streamed live today. The second tab is the 'red carpet' tab where the viewers will be able to chose between the different camera perspectives in order to see everything that's happening on the red carpet.  The third tab is the 'awards show' tab where viewers will see the Oscar winners right after they receive their awards. A live tweet feed will be always present throughout the different tabs.

It is a great strategy that will create a lot of buzz before and after the big day. Finally the transmission of massive events like these are becoming more and more social. Brands and communication companies are becoming aware of the importance of new media for keeping the audience engaged.

To get invited to this great event, click here.

Inspired by FastCompany.com

John St Agency | Pink Pony

Case Study 2010 from John St. on Vimeo.

Have you heard about John St agency? Not many people had, until some weeks ago a video they created as mockery of the advertising industry went viral.  The video is called 'Pink Pony'. It was created for the Canadian Strategy Magazine 2010 gala event as 'internal' entertainment. It was posted on the web, and it didn't take long for people to start spreading it.

All it is is a typical  birthday party with a pink pony as seen through the eyes of a marketer. By using statistics, over-used phrases ("we created a birthday movement") and the right edition, they created a case study that shows how marketers tend to mold information to show their grandeur. 

Ideas are everywhere, all that marketers and advertisers do is join the dots. There is less magic and more logic in the idea creation than what we sometimes believe there is. Humility is a great virtue.

Volkswagen | 24h Tremblant

The 24h of Tremblant is a charity event that takes place in Canada the first week of December. Participants are asked to create a team and ski for 24 hours straight. Through text messages people at the event and from all over Canada can donate money to benefit the lives of sick children. The event is full of music and events, but when the night comes, everyone goes to their warm beds and leave the skiers finish their 24h skiing task on their own. To encourage them in those long hours, Volkswagen created a recording with the encouraging voices of the children who are benefiting from the money raised.

Huge amounts of money are spent in building marketing campaigns every day.  In an ideal world, more money would be used to support causes like this one.

Spainair: La de todos

The holiday season tends to be a nightmare for many travellers. Snow storms and oversold flights are the norm. But worst of all are those flights that take place on the most important day: the 24th of December.

Spanair understands that. This year,  travellers to Las Palmas, Spain received an amazing surprise. While they were  waiting for their bags at the luggage belt,  they saw various wrapped gifts appear with each of their names on them.

At first they didn't really understand what was going on. But curiosity soon took over and they opened the gifts excitedly. For the kids, there were teddy bears, candy bars and toys. For the adults there were hats, creams and perfumes. Each of the personalized gifts was a an unexpected surprise that reminded them that Spainair is "La de todos" which means, "Everyone's airline". 

The strategy was carefully planned by Spanair's agency Shackleton. It is an inexpensive way of advertising the brand, creating good will and generating an unforgettable moment for those who where there. 

Inspiration from Advertising Age

Top 20 trends in 2011

Happy New Year!

Last year was full of creative initiatives that planted the seeds for what is yet to come in 2011. As you have probably noticed, more and more brands are starting to consider Social Media a necessary component of their branding initiatives. Projected Publicity promises to become a great platform for brand activations. Interactive retail initiatives are becoming a must. 

Trend Hunter has published a video compillation of the trends that will probably generate the most engagement through this year. To learn more about some of the expected branding platforms, take a minute to watch the following video.

Solve Media: Prove you are human through branding

How many times have you found yourself frustrated by an impossible to understand CAPTCHA?

These funny codes whose name means Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, tend to be painful.

Solve media found a brilliant way to turn the bad experience into a perfect space for branding. By asking people to write well known taglines instead of words that make no sense at all, they are able to focus the audiences attention at the same time they advertise the brand.

Do you think this will become the new cool place to advertise your brand online? I do believe there is a lot of place for cool things to be done by advertisers by playing with the ¨prove you are human¨ concept.



Solve Media from Solve Media on Vimeo.

Digital Life Sacrifice | Keep a Child Alive

Starting Wednesday, there will be no more little monsters on facebook or twitter. Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and Usher are among stars signing off social media including in aid of singer Alicia Keys' charity.

The campaign Digital Life Sacrifice, which supports families affected by HIV/Aids in Africa and India, has asked them to kill their avatars until the charity raises $1 million dollars. 

The commercials that will support the campaign will consist on images of the artists lying in coffins to represent their dead avatars. Everyone is invited to join the strategy

The idea is brilliant. Having such big names supporting the campaign will lead to a massive amount of donations. I believe thousands of people influenced by the artists will join. It will be interesting to see how much time it takes for them to raise the money. I predict it won't be more than 5 days.

Will you sacrifice your digital self in the name of Aids?

Inspiration from BBC

Kahlúa | Delicioso

Advertising hispanic products in North America is not an easy task. Selling the attributes of Mexico after all the awful branding that the country has received lately, is even harder. Today I found this amazing campaign for Kahlua, a Mexican liquor made out of coffee, which makes a great job in portraying Mexican culture at its best.

Created by TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York and directed by Frederick Bond, the campaign features three 30-second television spots, shot in Veracruz, Mexico. It also features Ana de la Reguera, a prominent Mexican actress.

To read more about Mexican culture, watch the following video:


Kahlua 'Contemporary Mexican Culture' Research Film from Tubby Brother on Vimeo.

Inspiration from JeDblogk, Pfsk

Think Family | Yasmin Ahmad

Many brands are afraid of mentioning death in their commercials. They prefer to talk about life. Those brands don't understand that what makes life amazing is knowing death exists.

The three-minute film, was commissioned by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Singapore (MCYS) to promote marriage.

It was directed by Yasmin Ahmad who was a very well known film maker from Malaysia. All his campaigns are based on very touching story telling.

Nike Grid: Street Running

Nike Grid from Fraser Davidson on Vimeo

Nike Grid is an experiential campaign created by AKQA taking place in London that is all about running. Street running actually.

The idea is to run from phone box to phone box, street by street across London to claim the most streets in just 24 hours. For each phone box “check in” you get points, and the more you run the more you get. Nike has also issued “badges” for speed, endurance and stamina over the event. Everything you do throughout the campaign is broadcasted on facebook, so your friends are able to post motivational comments while you are on it.

In my opinion it is a great initiative that makes running fun. The fact that there are points associated with the challenges makes it even more interesting. The fun theory seems to be the right answer for many brands these days!

Ralph Lauren: Digital Innovation

On November 10th Ralph Lauren inaugurated two new stores. One in New York's Madison Avenue and another one in London's Bond street. To commemorate such events it created an impressive digital 4 dimension installation on the facades of both buildings on the opening night.

The brand prides itself to be a digital innovator. They created the first shoppable window which allows people to walk up to the store, touch the glass and use your credit card to shop and explore the collection any time of day. They also created the first ever shoppable fashion show.

Ralph Lauren is always looking for new ways to create a better shopping experience for its customers. It is also a brand with a great marketing team that has paved the way for such great ideas to flourish. This digital project has created great buzz online, and it is awe inspiring to the point of attracting new consumers to the brand which has positioned itself as the luxury american brand.

Inspiration from Vogue.com

Stella Artois: The night chauffeur

To celebrate the launch of their new premium lager in the UK, Stella Artois Black is hosting a series of interactive theater events. For two weeks 10 bars in London will be transformed to a stylish and sophisticated nouvelle vague film setting. 

Customers who purchase Stella Artois Black at the selected bars will be given an invitation card which needs to be filled and returned to the bar in order to receive an invitation.  An email will be sent to the prospects asking them to confirm the venue and book the tickets.

At the event they will discover the story behind The Night Chauffeur – filled with femme fatales, secret exchanges and unanswered questions.

Each customer will receive two tickets to The Night Chauffeur, but only a limited number of tickets will be issued on the different venues.

The mystery surrounding the events makes this concept very exciting. By offering an experience in exchange of paid 'sampling' of the product works great in the effort to positioning the new brand.

Influencers | Who influences you?

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

Red Balloon: Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

When you start working at a new agency you need to prove your worth more to yourself than to anybody else. You are hungry for opportunities and your brain is racing at unprecedented speed.

My first work experience in Canada was at MacLaren Momentum. One of the projects I had the opportunity to work at was a media event for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption Canada. The final result of months of work was the "Red Balloon" project. It was called Red Balloon as a metaphor to the innocence of childhood. It finally came to life today.

There are currently more than 22,000 children available for adoption in Canada. Statistics show that last year Canadians have adopted 2,000 children internationally compared to fewer than 1,700 children from Canada. ¾ of Canadians approve of adoption as a family form, however adoption seems to take a backseat to other issues.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption was created with the vision that every child deserves a permanent home and a loving family.  Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s restaurants, was adopted when he was a child and decided to help children in North America find a family.

Adoption events usually center on the sadness of children that are alone in the World. This event focused on the happiness of bringing families together.

The event consisted on pictures of families with adopted children taken by professional photographers. Each picture highlighted the beauty of every child. In the center of the venue there was an empty frame that symbolized the children that are waiting to find a family.

The families that were photographed were present at the event. The children kept playing with the balloons filling the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse with joy.

The venue was very well chosen considering that it is one of the first schools of the former City of York.

The event was very touching. Mini square meat hamburgers were a nice complement for the event.

I am not working at MacLaren Momentum anymore, but I consider the experience worth sharing.