Rick Mathieson's Blog, page 26
January 21, 2016
Marketing & The Internet of Things: Radio Q&A with Author Rick Mathieson
Is 2016 the year marketing and the Internet of Things finally enter a meaningful new phase?
Don't bet on it. But there are some promising signs.
In the days since CES, much has been made of the emergence of new ecosystems enabled by so-called "smart products"���connected devices that deliver information, or enable you to say, control or interact with them using your mobile phone.
Fitness apparel brand Under Armour was one entrant that generated a lot of attention during the show for its new Gemini 2 running shoes, which can track run duration, distance and more���without the need for syncing with a mobile device.
It's just the latest in innovative smart products UA has been rolling out, including a heart-rate monitor, new headphones and apps that, as Engadget reports today, the company hopes to use as the foundation for an interconnected ecosystem.
Indeed, while Engadget indicates these products have a ways to go, they may still point toward fitness apparel that doesn't just keep you comfortable, but provides useful services for you automatically and seamlessly, behind the scenes, to help you attain your goals.
From Data Collection to Data Utility
Last week, Social Times cited a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit that finds 51% of marketing executives expect the Internet of Things���or "IoT"���"to revolutionize marketing by 2020."
In the view of the Times at least, the first phase of marketing's embrace of the IoT will be what we experience today: Devices that collect data on usage patterns, facilitating new offers based on needs, or helping developers improve the products.
In Phase 2, says Social Times, brands will open up the their ecosystems to other advertisers. Think refrigerators that don't just send you alerts that you're almost out of milk, but also let Tropicana send you a coupon for Orange Juice.
It's hard to imagine the Times can possibly be wrong about that. Some brands will indeed attempt such things���it would be crazy to not at least try to monetize that ecosystem beyond the purchase of the device itself.
It remains to be seen, however, whether consumers will really cotton to a barrage of offers coming from their fridge, their toaster, their washing machine and so on. I'm personally skeptical many people want an ad supported home appliance���the equivalent of a promotional announcement that "this refrigeration is brought to you by Heinz Ketchup," for instance.
Product Plus
Instead, as I write in my book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, the ecosystems enabled by the IoT likely represent something far more compelling than applying ad models from one medium���essentially banner ads or mobile coupons���to a whole new one (in this case your home appliances) merely to eke out some additional revenue.
While ad models will no-doubt be explored, ultimately brands will keep these ecosystems to themselves, finding that advertising only cheapens what may be their only point of differentiation in a world where physical products themselves are increasingly commoditized.
"In the digital age, differentiation may come less from the quality with which your products are manufactured, and more from the on-demand digital services they deliver to your customers." I write.
And I'm not just talking about household appliances, by the way. I'm talking about everything from those Gemini 2 running shoes to your breakfast cereal, to your kids' toys, to your laundry detergent.
Smart brands will focus on delivering truly useful services via these connected ecosystems. Not the kind that throws coupons at you. Rather, the kind that adds immediate value���Lean Cuisine frozen dinners that tell the microwave how to cook them to perfection, for instance���or helps you accomplish new goals or provide new services, like say, real-time smoking cessation support from Chantix, triggered by sensors built into a wristband.
Perhaps some of these services will prove valuable enough to warrant both freemium and premium subscription models���turning products sold once into ongoing revenue streams.
In a recent radio segment with Forbes Radio's "Jim Blasingame Show," I talk about this emerging trend as one of three that will start to gain traction in 2016.
Do note that this particular program is aimed at SMBs, so I talk about the trend overall, and then address how smaller brands and local stores can leverage existing technologies to avoid being Amazoned by the likes of, well, Amazon and its Dash devices.
Which, like those Gemini 2 running shoes, are perfect early examples of products-as-services enabled by an IoT in which many of even the earliest offerings provide tremendous value without requiring a digital interface at all.
CLICK TO LISTEN���TREND WATCH: (PRODUCTS ARE THE NEW SERVICES"
Or follow this link: http://ow.ly/Xo7OP
(Approximately 4 minutes, 14 seconds)
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January 19, 2016
Coke Ditches 'Happiness,' Tells You to 'Taste the Feeling' (Video)
You can stop looking for "Happiness" now.
That's the word from Coca-Cola's new global CMO Marcos de Quinto, who says the decade-long "Open Happiness" campaign had become too preachy in promoting sharing and co-existence for his, er, tastes.
So now, Coca-Cola, Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero, will all share a common theme: "Taste the Feeling."
Having brand consistency across its cola portfolio is indeed a no-brainer.
And we're seriously digging the opening spot, "Anthem" (above). Be sure to catch "Under Pressure" and "Breakup," too.
In fact, there is a lot to like about each of 25 new spots released earlier today.
But here at Gen Wow, we can't help wondering if "Taste the Feeling" skates a little too close to Skittles territory.
And let's face it, there's a lot to miss about some classic "Happiness" initiatives over the last few years���especially the physical + digital variety.
Among our favorites:
Let's face it, Happiness shared is doubled. Or tripled. Or...
How Coke helps you brake for good times.
Call it the Happiness Traffic Jam
Open a bottle and light up the night sky.
A single serving���for two.
Bust a move for your favorite beverage.
Coke creates a city park and rolls out the happiness.
Happiness brings even the people of India and Pakistan together.
It takes two to use this 12-foot-tall vending machine.
Hug it, get an ice-cold Coke.
An on-campus ice breaker for the first day of school.
COKE FOR COUPLES: ROSES ARE RED
Cupid makes you prove you're a couple to get a Coke.
Reinventing that age-old Coca-Cola classic for the digital age.
Of course, change is the only constant���and perhaps the time is right for a Coke refresh.
But that doesn't mean we won't miss the happiness we've shared in times past.
January 8, 2016
Play 'Buzzword Bingo'���CES Edition
This is one game that's easier to play than avoid.
We're all guilty of overusing tech industry buzzwords. And why not? They play a useful role as common shorthand that (conveniently) confers an aura of "cool" to those fluent in the lingua franca of 21st century business.
But as CES 2016 reaches its climax, many of us are finding ourselves facing buzzword burnout over what feels like an egregious level of noise pollution emanating from Las Vegas over the last few days.
���Disruptive.��� ���Influencer.������(Anything)-Hacking.��� ���Unicorn.��� I'm sure we've heard them all this week, many times over.
Never mind that some of this lingo could be headed for limbo faster than Kim (or any other) Kardashian can ���Break the Internet.���
���Unicorn,��� for instance, is quickly morphing into ���unicorpse,��� as concerns grow that companies like Gilt, Tango and SFX Entertainment may prove emblematic of some of these hard-to-find beats with billion-dollar valuations may ultimately fare.
In the meantime, GEN WOW found some catharsis in a piece this week by Shawn Paul Wood in PR Newser, lamenting some of the most irksome buzzwords found in news stories and press releases.
When we mentioned the article in our GEN WOW LinkedIn Group, Seagate's Rick Wootten mused about having some fun with it all���in the form of a game of "Buzzword Bingo."
That sparked an in-group and subsequent email conversation about developing a mobile app for facilitating a decidedly tech industry-centric version of the game at events such as, well, CES.
"It's natural for industry buzzwords to come and go in cycles, but sometimes enough of them peak at the same time to create Lingo Overload," he says. "We're experiencing one of those times right now���and I think we should make the most of it!"
It's a great idea���and one that might prompt us all (myself included) to be a little more judicious about how often (and how accurately) we use these phrases.
Best of all, while it could take even the most agile development processes (another buzzword) weeks to produce a full-blown app, we figured we'd just mock up a bare bones Buzzword Bingo card so you can start playing today.
How to Play
Each time a news story or press release using one of these painfully overused words or phrases hits your inbox or browser window, mark off a square.
Capture the link to the story or release for validation on each square.
Mark off a solid horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of lingo���and BINGO!
If the mood strikes us, we'll try a formal round this coming Post-CES news week. Who knows, there might even be a prize involved.
That is, if the game doesn't go too fast. A three-minute audit of my inbox and news feeds this morning produced plentiful junk jargon, including:
���SHARING ECONOMY���
A particular pet peeve. Not merely because it���s so overused, but because there���s no such thing.
So far as I can tell, the total number of so-called ���sharing economy��� companies that are ���sharing��� anything comes to zero.
That Uber driver isn���t ���sharing��� her car. You have used an app to request a ride that you will pay a fee for using. The only thing that may get "shared" is polite conversation on the way to your destination. The far more accurate term is ���the on-demand economy,��� since that���s truly the distinction separating many of these new services from what has come before. Then again, I'm biased.
Perp: Business Insider (quoting a car company executive). Again, I am including links not to call out the pub or its sources���we're all guilty of geekspeak���but rather to document buzzword use so I can claim my square.
"IoT" & "IoE'
Ah, "The Internet of Things" or "The Internet of Everything." Whatever variant you want to use, it���s surely vying to be #1 biggest buzzword at CES this year. Perps just today include EE Times, ZDNet and EWeek.
"DISRUPTIVE"
Actually, I take back what I just said about "IoT;" this one could very well take the cake, with numerous entries this morning, ranging from Forbes��� look at ���The Five Most Disruptive Innovations at CES��� to WIRED's "Best of CES" and beyond.
And this is all in under three minutes.
What do you think your card might look like in the same amount of time?
Could games like this raise our awareness and encourage us to seek other terms and phrases?
Or are these words, flawed as some are, just too useful and compelling in (catchphrase alert:) the marketplace of ideas?
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December 30, 2015
15 MOST INNOVATIVE AD CAMPAIGNS OF 2015
Call them "The Fab 15"���fifteen of the most innovative advertising initiatives of 2015.
That is, fifteen that aren't otherwise captured in our "10 Best" lists in Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Brand Pranks and Brand Viral Videos.
Fifteen that, it's worth noting, feature mostly���though not exclusively���physical-world experiences that do not require consumers to interface with mobile devices.
And fifteen out of countless other notable efforts worth celebrating this year.
But hey, fifteen had a good ring to it.
Plus it's our list, so we're picking favorites���and we think you'll dig them, too.
15. LOWE'S: 'HOW-TO' WINDOW DISPLAYS
The home improvement retailer brings 3D, stop-motion style versions of its popular "Fix it in Six" series of "how-to" Vine videos to store window displays, complete with "Like" buttons. We do.
What do you want the world to be like when you retire? This Swedish pension firm created this interactive experience that enables you to toggle two versions of life 30 years from now to show how sustainability pays off���for the planet and your financial picture.
These intelligent digital billboards pull in data gathered from social media, traffic updates and weather information to provide tips on getting the best photos to New York City tourists and amateur photographers.
12. COCA-COLA: 'WISH IN A BOTTLE'
Next year we may have to dedicate a "Best of" list to drone-vertising. Until then, crack open a bottle of Coca-Cola, and share some happiness as these drones shoot fireworks to light up the night sky.
11. BURBERRY: CUSTOMIZABLE SCARVES
Digital signs developed with DreamWorks Animation enables shoppers at Piccadilly Circus to use their mobile phones to personalize and visualize custom scarves, and display them on a giant screen for all to see before placing a purchase.
10. MARKETING EVOLUTION: 'MONICA'
Online media planning and optimization solutions provider Marketing Evolution developed this robot that was able to identify attendees at this year���s Association of National Advertisers conference on sight ��� and engage in conversation about their media plans based on their past spend.
9. REACH FOR CHANGE: 'NEVER-ENDING STORY' DREAM-POWERED SITE
Cult '80s film 'Never-ending Story' inspires this site, which is ���powered' by dream data��� from five sleeping volunteers in a very abstract effort to highlight this non-profit organization���s efforts to improve the lives of children.
It���s 3D printed car. Made out of cardboard. That you can drive. Need we say more?
7. NETHERLANDS NUTRITION CENTRE: 'LIVING BILLBOARDS'
Five different living billboards featured encasements with live bacteria on affixed strips to keep them in place. Over time, the bacteria fed off the environment inside the encasements, and started go grow, forming one of five unique statements to educate consumers about how to avoid becoming ill due to household bacteria. So creepy, it���s (literally) infectious.
6. IF INSURANCE: 'SLOW DOWN GPS' APP
You either love the voice that comes out of your GPS navigation device, or hate it. Either way, this app automatically switches to a child���s voice when providing turn-by-turn instructions through areas where there are likely to be kids around, in an effort to cue drivers to drive more cautiously.
5. POST-IT: A BANNER AD YOU'LL ACTUALLY LOVE
It���s (almost) enough to make you love retargeting: This year, online display ads for 3M's Post-It brand sticky notes have proven just that���sticky���by enabling consumers to write themselves notes, reminders and to-do lists right inside the ad units. Through the magic of retargeting���technologies that deliver that same ad to you wherever you go around the Internets, usually to your chagrin���your virtual Post-Its re-appear everywhere you go.
4. NETFLIX: 'BRAINWAVE SYMPHONY'
This summer, Netflix came up with an innovative way to promote its 'Sense8' online series, which about eight random people who find themselves connected telepathically. It���s approach? Using brainwaves from eight viewers to create a musical symphony.
3. VERIZON: MINECRAFT IN-GAME MOBILE PHONE
What easier (or, at least cooler) way to take selfies and order real-world pizza while you���re playing Minecraft?
Out to demonstrate how quick and transparent its auto price evaluations are, Taiwan-based used car dealer Kagulu rolled out a truck outfitted with cameras and databases to scans cars on the streets and display its value instantly.
1. CLEANUP HONG KONG: 'THE FACE OF LITTER'
Call it "23AndThee": This past Earth Day, Hong Kong-based NGO Cleanup launched a billboard and bus signage campaign in an effort to get people to clean up after themselves in city known for more than its share of litter. DNA evidence on discarded chewing gum, cigarette butts and even a condom was used to by forensic scientists to predict the eye, hair and skin color, as well as the face shape, of litters ��� and a total of 27 different profiles were established, and then displayed for all to see. Nothing like shame���and the fear of it���to shape behavior!
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December 28, 2015
TOP 10 BEST MOBILE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS 2015 (VIDEO)
Mobile is where it���s at again this year, though we quibble with its definition these days.
For instance, Facebook says nearly 80% of its ad revenue come from mobile advertising. But in our humble opinion, just because an ad is experienced on a mobile device doesn���t mean it���s ���mobile.���
Small wonder then, that as in year���s past, most of our top pics for 2015 bring something more to ���mobile��� ��� by in fact, relating to place, or the specific capabilities or key functionality of the device in which they are consumed.
Here's 10 of our favorites from the year that was.
10. JOHN LEWIS: MAN ON THE MOON
This wildly popular (and widely spoofed) holiday campaign from UK retailer John Lewis includes a mobile app featuring augmented reality that lets you point your phone toward the moon to unlock daily facts about each phase of the moon. There���s also a game in which the player has to avoid obstacles and collect power boosts to get a specific item up to the man on the moon.
9. COKE ZERO: "DRINKABLE ADVERTISING"
Despite the fact that we're never ones to require any additional prompting to drink Coke Zero ��� we live on the stuff ��� this year���s ���drinkable advertising��� caught our notice. The campaign���s TV spots featured Coke Zero being poured from an onscreen bottle ��� before migrating to viewers��� mobile phone screens before transmogrifying into a coupon.
What���s not to love about the World Wild Life Fund���s ���Last Selfie��� promotion with Snapchat, which takes advantage of the fleeting, transient nature of Snapchat snaps with short ads that show just how quickly an endangered species can be wiped off the planet. Powerful, and perfect for the platform. In just its first week, consumers posted 40,000 tweets about the initiatives to 120 million timelines. And in just three days, WWF reached its fundraising target for the entire month.
This year, Guess's special mobile ad units enabled users to snap selfies and then ���try on��� sunglasses via augmented reality, complete with pointers on which styles work best for your face shape. The user takes or uploads a selfie, adjusts the placement, applies from a wide selection of sunglasses and can even share the image for feedback from far-flung friends via their social platforms. Add a "buy" button and this could be m-commerce magic instead of just promotion.
6. TOYS 'R US: IN-STORE MOBILE AR
How do you get shoppers into store locations during the Easter season? Launch an augmented reality Egg Hunt for the chance to win store gift cards. Here���s a brick & mortar retailer (in Australia) that refused to shy away from mobile and instead embraced it to enhance the retail experience.
This summer, the online music streaming service rolled out a "Found Them First" microsite that lets users see which musicians the system knows they heard before the artists became megawatt sensations. Users can then build and share a playlist built on those early discoveries. In exchange, Spotify will offer them a new playlist with other new acts they might help ���discover��� as well.
4. MINI USA: 'BACKWATER' & 'REAL MEMORIES'
MINI USA is big on short online films featuring its cars, so it made since that the brand would be among the first to take 360-degree video for a test drive. Two such films, ���Backwater��� and ���Real Memories��� are definitely worth a gander���and could mean big things for the road ahead.
Let���s face it: You���re not quite you when you���re hungry, are you? Which is why the latest installment of Snickers��� long-running "You're Not You" campaign includes a mobile app that enables consumers to create images related to their particular hunger symptoms and share them socially. The key isn���t to show off what kind of hungry you are, of course. It���s about calling out family and friends for acting ���snippy,��� ���loopy,��� ���cranky,��� ���confused,��� ���spacey," or ... insert your own adjective here.
2. QANTAS: ���VIRTUAL DESTINATIONS���
Yes, I���m still fixated on this VR initiative from Qantas, which enables you to go on a eight-minute, 360-degree virtual vacation to Hamilton Island. In fact, it was really hard to decide between this and our #1 pick this year. It is, after all, either instant justification for the VRevolution, or a sure sign of the Apocalypse. Once companies start producing VR content like this that lasts not minutes but for hours on end, the human race may just opt out of the ���reality��� part of the equation all together���at least when they aren���t physically going to these amazing locales.
1. PIZZA HUT: ���PIZZA BOX PROJECTOR���
Okay, there's rarely a moment when a large TV screen is much out of arms reach these days. So maybe this is the solution to a problem that few will ever face. But it's still hard not to dig the Pizza Hut Blockbuster Box - a pizza box that's also a movie projector. Throw in a cold one and this could be the best thing to happen to pizza since pepperoni.
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December 21, 2015
Top 10 Best Brand Viral Videos 2015 (Video)
As I put it in my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, viral isn���t a strategy���it���s an outcome.
While many people believe it���s a matter of simply posting a video and waiting for it to take off, success comes from share-worthy content backed by promotion���and plenty of it.
The problem with our 2015 list of favorites is that there was so much video that fit the description above that it���s hard to zero in on just 10 favorites. So out of easily two dozen brand videos that hit and stayed on our radar this year, here is an unusually imperfect breakdown of 10 that rose to the top.
(Though our annual list captures videos that generated massive numbers of online views, it reflects personal appeal, not literal rankings).
As in year���s past, a large number of our selections pull at the heartstrings. Others also made some of our other awards lists, most notably this year���s of Top 10 Prankvertisements. And a few won���t be appropriate for every person (or every setting).
But every one of them is worth at least one last look.
10. JEEP: ���BEAUTIFUL LANDS���
Yes, we���re suckers for patriotic branding. And yes, this Super Bowl spot from Jeep was not without some sniggering (Adweek was quick to point out similarities with the North Face spot that ran during the Super Bowl last year���right down to the soundtrack). It still works for us.
Athletes get to relive their childhoods with winter���s two most perfect words. A sure way to fire up your competitive spirit, even when it���s freaking freezing outside.
Always��� Effie-wining #LikeAGirl campaign���s summer 2015 entry. Not as good as the original ���Like A Girl,��� but still heroic.
7. HYUNDAI: ���A MESSAGE TO SPACE���
Maybe we should call the Nazca Lines the NASCAR Lines. No, Hyundai���s not exactly going for racing glory here. But in an effort to highlight and humanize its innovative thinking, the brand is using synchronized driving to create markings that can only make sense from space. Nearly 70 million earthlings got the message.
6. SQUATTY POTTY: ���THIS UNICORN CHANGED THE WAY I POOP���
It���s the ���stool for better stools��� ��� and it���s the latest potty humor-infused brand video from the team behind Poo Pourri���s mega hit ���Girls Don���t Poop.��� Over 50 million views later, this little brand that could has seen sales rise from $3 million last year to $15 million in 2015 (an appearance on NBC���s Shark Tank late last year didn't stink, either).
On the flipside of the ���Girl Power��� ethos of #LikeAGirl, this public service spot from Fan Page spot addresses male attitudes toward domestic violence in Italy on the heels of a UN report calling it ���the most pervasive form of violence��� in that country, and after Prime Minster Enrico Letta referred to the problem as ���femicide.��� Put on the spot, some young men school some other members of their gender on basic human decency.
4. BARBIE: ���IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES���
Is it ironic or fitting that Barbie���a dichotomous figure that has always aspired to empower even while being seen by many to objectify���also made our list? In a year when an artificial intelligence-enabled "Hello Barbie" creeped out some parents (and child psychiatrists), it���s hard not to love this prank video that gets to the brand���s ambitions perfectly.
3. AD COUNCIL: ���LOVE HAS NO LABELS���
Though it���s not exclusively about any one segment of the population, this video captures the spirit of summer 2015, when the US Supreme Court caught up with the rest of America in its collective declaration that love wins. It always does, even if it takes a very long time.
2. JOHN LEWIS: ���MAN ON THE MOON���
In the UK, it has become an annual tradition to keep an eye out for the new holiday spot from retailer John Lewis. Even here in the US, this one has touched millions. That is, when it���s not being spoofed (with a mashup with this December's other big pop culture property, Star Wars, natch).
1. EXTRA GUM: ���THE STORY OF SARAH & JUAN���
Who knew a gum commercial could pack as much narrative emotion as any of the year���s top movies into a two-minute video (at top)? Now that���s something to chew on. And in the spirit of giving a little extra, check out this BTS video of Haley Reinhart doing the Elvis cover. (You're welcome.)
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December 14, 2015
TOP 10 BEST PRANKVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 2015 (VIDEO)
I keep thinking Oxford Dictionaries was only pranking us by naming this emoji as its 2015 Word of the Year.
Not the word ���emoji,��� mind you. Literally this symbol ��� ���tears of joy.���
But for those who have been doing their best to resist letting lose with their emojis, myself included, the year���s prankvertising-slash-stuntvertising videos proved "mischievous" doesn���t always have to be "mean," at least not all the time
A look at some of our favorites from what seemed (mostly) like a kinder, gentler year in branded pranks:
10. CHEVY CRUZE: CELL PHONE FAKE OUT
From WTF to WiFi in 6-seconds flat: The 2016 Chevy Cruze comes with built-in 4G LTE connectivity. Which is fortunate for the guy at the center of this prank.
9. TERMINATOR GENISYS: WAX ATTACK
Arnold pranks fans as the Terminator���to promote his summer movie, and to benefit afterschool programs. Worth it for the wax museum segments.
8. MICROSOFT COLLECTIVE: BIONIC ARM
Iron Man meets Bionic Boy as Robert Downey Jr. surprises this child with a new 3D-printed bionic arm.
7 & 6: DOVE: CHOOSE BEAUTIFUL & ALWAYS: UNSTOPPABLE
Let���s not forget that Dove���s ���Campaign for Real Beauty��� and Always��� Effie-winning #LikeAGirl campaign are really prankvertising ��� putting young people on the spot to ask provocative questions in an effort to prove a point. Heck, I pull pranks on my daughter all the time, but rarely (okay, never) so successfully. This summer���s ���Unstoppable,��� timed perfectly around the hype around CBS���s girl power-themed ���Supergirl,��� may end up describing this campaign. And ���Choose Beautiful��� is just that: beautiful.
5. CARLSBERG: CARLSBERG DID CASES
Would it kill Samuel Adams or Sierra Nevada to pull this prank on one my outbound vacation or inbound business flights? Carlsbad did, in this prank pulled on some very happy Londoners on their way home from holiday, as the Brits say. A nice little souvenir that���s sure to put some fun on tap at home.
Sometimes pranks are well deserved. This noteworthy effort from Y&R Moscow used technology to scan cars to see if they had disabled stickers. If they didn���t, and the driver pulled into parking places designated for the disabled anyway, a holographic image of a wheelchair-bound man accosted them on the street. Surely a sign of signs to come.
3. AD COUNCIL: LOVE HAS NO LABELS
Even in a year with some pretty monumental Supreme Court decisions on personal liberty, this is pretty powerful stuff ��� a prank to make passersby come face to face with their own snap judgments about age, race, sexuality, gender, religion and love. Projects like this makes me proud to be in this business.
2. JAGUAR: ���ACTUAL REALITY��� PRANK
Longtime readers know I���m partial to horror movie promotional pranks like ���Devil���s Due��� and ���Telekinetic Coffee House��� but this one from Jaguar New Zealand may just take the cake. Not only does it play off all the hype around augmented reality, but it's spot on from a positioning standpoint ��� nothing can simulate what it���s like to drive a Jag, right? ��� and it drives it all home in unforgettable fashion. Hat tip to Rick Wootten for finding this one.
This video (at top) from Heineken takes our top this year���as a group of young contest winners get an amazing wake-up call.
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December 1, 2015
Top 10 Social Media Campaigns 2015 (Video)
Turns out all the crazy rumors were true: Social media marketing is more than just Facebook, YouTube & Twitter these days.
For all the buzz we���d hear over the years about how this or that social platform is sure to be a boon for marketers (���remember Google+?...) talk usually just circled back to Facebook, Twitter and maybe throw in a YouTube video and a vine and call it a day.
Not in 2015 ��� at least not all the time.
With certain audiences (read: millennials) Instagram, Periscope, Snapchat and others helped marketers seriously hit their marks.
A look at some of our favorite social media campaigns from the year that was, not necessarily in any order:
GoPro is obviously a brand built on content ��� it is, after all, its raison d'etre. Who doesn���t love those extreme sports shots of people doing acrobatics as they skydive or ski or jump trashcans in the driveway on their bikes? But even in 2015, we can���t escape online cat videos���and in the case of this Instagram (and YouTube) campaign, you wouldn���t want to. Meet Didga, an Australian cat that skateboards���incredibly well. That said, there's a family nearby that has a dog���a little bulldog named Henny���that skateboards all over the place, and even has her own YouTube channel. I'm not sure she's quite Didga's level yet. But who knows: Maybe she'll have her own GoPro video series one day.
My wife could seriously be a talent scout for any genre in the music industry���I can���t tell you how many times she has discovered bands and said ���these guys are going to be huge in a couple of years" and been spot on. Unlike my wife, many music aficionados like to claim bragging rights for being the first to find hot acts. Which makes Spotify���s #FoundThemFirst social campaign so compelling. Last summer, the online music streaming service rolled out a "Found Them First" microsite that lets users see which musicians the system knows they heard before they became megawatt sensations. They can then build and share a playlist built on their discoveries���and Spotify will offer them a new playlist with other new acts they might like as well.
I've never been that into Groupon, but I have to admit this campaign was, er, ballsy. In April, Groupon posted a Facebook photo of plastic banana containers, as if they were packaged goods, and responded to everybody who posted a suggestive joke. I have no idea if the bunkers sold well, but it���s still fun. And at over 45,000 shares, apparently others also saw the appeal. Pardon the pun.
7. TACO BELL: SNAPCHAT STORIES
Taco Bell and millennials are made for each other. So Snapchat must be the perfect platform for both, right? Well if this little initiative is any indication, the answer is an emphatic (thumb���s up). Taco Bell hired two twentysomethings to essentially set up a ���Stories��� studio/���news room��� where they could create and collaborate with super fans on fun real-time and more thought-out content (including a lot of UGC). And while we haven���t seen any sales figures for platform promotions, we still have to imagine this channel can���t hurt with this QSR���s most devote customers.
Let���s try to get a little control over our Emoji, folks. Yes, Oxford named this emoji as its 2015 Word of the Year. Not the word ���emoji,��� mind you. Literally this symbol������tears of joy��� is the Word of the year. And as if by magic, Durex has a new hashtag campaign that might just inspire you to use that emoji ��� or even better, one that helps young people talk about safe sex. As it happens, Durex research shows that 50% of 18-25 year-olds use emoji when discussing sex. So for World AIDS Day December 1, Durex is asking for help encouraging the Emoji masters who create the official icons to create a condom Emoji.
5. HEFTY ULTIMATE CUPS:#PARTYHARDMOMS
Worth it: This series of online videos for Hefty Easy Grip plastic cups turns conventions on head with stereotypical moms who speak fluent over-the-top teen that had had fans going cray. One installment, #Turnt (shown at top), has been viewed 2.6 million times on YouTube alone, #WorthIt, 2.1 million times. Who knew suburban moms could have so much street cred?
4. CO-OPERATIVE INSURANCE: NOSTALGIA FM
This UK-based consumer insurance cooperative was putting on the hits this year with NostalgiaFM, which allows users to enter the year they first past their driver���s test for a playlist of #1 songs from that month and year. Over 15,000 people used the app on its first day. And in its first five days, the effort generated 200,000 engagements on Twitter and Facebook, and a huge amount of traffic to the company���s website.
What���s not to love about the World Wild Life Fund���s ���Last Selfie��� promotion with Snapchat, which takes advantage of the fleeting, transient nature of Snapchat communications with short ads that show just how quickly an endangered species can be wiped off the planet. Powerful, and perfect for the platform. In just its first week, consumers posted 40,000 tweets about the initiatives to 120 million timelines. And in just three days, WWF reached its fundraising target for the entire month.
These shoes were made for helping: TOMS built its brand on donating a pair of shoes to needy children for every pair sold. This summer, whenever someone posted an Instagram photo of their bare feet using the hashtag, TOMS would give away a pair of shoes to someone in need���no purchase necessary���to the tune of 296,243 pairs.
1. ALWAYS 'LIKE A GIRL': #UNSTOPPABLE
Maybe it���s not as good as the original, GoodWorks Effie-winning #LikeAGirl (60 million views on YouTube, and millions more on other sites) but it���s still a powerful message, perfect timed around all the "Fight Song"-infused hype last summer for CBS���s new hit show "Supergirl.��� #Unstoppable has generated nearly 40 million views on its own. And best of all, Always is partnering with TED-Ed to launch programs to boost girls��� confidence. An heroic effort, for sure.
November 20, 2015
Top 10 Virtual Reality Campaigns 2015
Call it ���The Year of Living Virtually.���
In 2015, virtual reality slowly began its emergence from Gartner���s ���trough of disillusionment��� after early hype���embodied by names like Second Life, There and Vivacity���proved to be too much, too soon for many users and brand marketers alike.
Today, other names, like Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard, have driven a whole new wave of 360-degree experiences that do more justice to both ���virtual��� and ���reality������with immersive, photo-realistic or full-motion video environments that are famous for throwing off equilibrium. Indeed, so far tending to be less like a first-person videogame, and more like a wrap-around-movie, VR can be an out-of-body experience as users' brains try to make sense of the virtual verisimilitude.
But once they do: WOW���to the point that investment bank Piper Jaffray predicts the market for VR content could top $5.4 billion by 2025. And brands have taken notice of all the buzz in a very big way.
While VR���s cousin AR (augmented reality) has seemed to momentarily lose a little altitude in recent campaigns, virtual reality marketing is ascendant���and accelerating.
Not that it has all been pure magic. But it���s been ���magic enough��� to point to promising things in the year ahead.
For now, some outstanding initiatives from what has been a very big year for VR.
GEN WOW AWARDS: TOP 10 VIRTUAL REALITY CAMPAIGNS 2015
10. OCEAN SPRAY: 'THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HARVEST'
Ever wanted to experience a cranberry harvest up close? Me neither. But the bright red spectacle of flooded cranberry bogs is a breathtaking, if rarely seen, event. Enter: Ocean Spray���s ���Most Beautiful Harvest.��� It���s online for now, and apparently optimized for Oculus headsets. But still worth checking out.
9. DIOR: DIOR EYES
The House of Dior goes high tech with a virtual reality experience���provided through, one must note, a Dior-branded VR headset���that drops you into the backstage world of a runway show. Of course, the thought of fashionistas wearing geeky headsets is fun in and of itself.
8. MINI USA: 'BACKWATER' & 'REAL MEMORIES'
MINI USA is big on short online films featuring its cars, so it made since that the brand would be among the first to take 360-degree video for a test drive. Two such films, ���Backwater��� and ���Real Memories��� are definitely worth a gander. For whatever reason, I and a few other people I know found the video slightly out of focus, requiring that I pull the viewer away from my eyes. More importantly, while the 360-degree view was more immersive than standard video, IMHO it doesn't add much to the proceedings. On balance, however, this is a noteworthy effort that could mean great things ahead���as does a new 360-degree trailer (released today, but specifically made for the new Samsung Gear VR headset that launched today) for the upcoming VR companion to 20th Century Fox���s hit film, ���The Martian.���
7. NEW YORK TIMES: VR CAMPAIGN
MINI USA released ���Backwater��� as part of an ambitious VR promotion from the New York Times. The campaign was part of an effort to launch a new series of virtual reality news videos that have included an 11-minute documentary called ���The Displaced,��� about the global refugee crisis, and a VR film released earlier today on vigils in Paris in the wake of last week���s terrorist attacks. My favorite: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of a New York Times Magazine cover. In a way, this campaign has done more than any other to push VR into the mainstream. How? By sending more than 1 million Cardboard VR viewers to subscribers. Respect���and a heartfelt "thank you"���to The New York Times.
6. PATRON: 'ART OF PATRON'
Hell, Patron is more likely to have many of us seeing double, let alone bothering to futz around with VR goggles at the same time. Throw in a bee���s eye, 360-degree camera view, and this is an immersive experience that is perhaps better enjoyed before the imbibing begins. But worth it, all the same.
5. TARGET: 'THE HOUSE ON HALLOW HILL'
The idea behind this VR experience (along with Target���s ���Ghoulish Graveyard and ���Candy Carnival���) had me thinking a lot about ���Hotel 626,��� that super-creepy online game from Doritos' Snack Strong Productions several years back. In my second book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, I talk about how this photo-realistic haunted house came complete with hair-raising moments like finding your photo on a wall of victims (due to a photo slyly snapped at a surprising moment using your computer���s own camera) and mid-game calls to your mobile phone to truly freak you out. Target���s family-friendly, purely 360-degree video-based VR is nothing like that. But it still made me think about how gobsmackingly terrifying ���Hotel 626��� and its sequel ���Asylum 626��� could be in the VR age. Not that anyone���s hinting, Doritos.
4. MARRIOTT HOTELS: 'VIRTUAL POSTCARDS'
Marriott Hotels continued its "Traveling Teleporter��� initiative this year, with a VR booth that included "4D" elements���not just visuals, but heat, wind and mist. And it launched a new, cross-selling ���VR Postcards��� series that enables guest at the chain���s New York Times Square and London Park Lane locations to order up "VRoom Service" for a Marriott-branded headset that helps them ���visit��� Beijing, the Chilean Andes and more.
3. AT&T: 'IT CAN WAIT' DRIVING SIMULATION
AT&T has been getting a lot of buzz in recent weeks as one of the first advertisers to take advantage of Facebook���s new 360-degree advertising solution. Its entry put viewers behind the wheel of up-and-coming race car driver Ben Albano. But I liked this moderated, public service-oriented VR experience, which showcases the potentially deadly consequences of even glancing at your mobile phone while driving. A nice (or more accurately, chilling) complement to the campaigns��� immensely powerful ���Close to Home��� TV spot and its longer-form online video.
2. VOLVO: 'VOLVO HOLOLENS' & 'VOLVO REALITY'
Okay, I'm cheating a bit on this one. Volvo just released this video promoting a cool new AR/VR initiative with Microsoft HoloLens to help sell more cars. But the far simpler Google Cardboard ���Volvo Reality��� experience (above) works at a more emotional level. Technically this came out late last year, but I first tried it out in early 2015 and it has remained one of our favorites throughout the year). In talking to Framestore, the company behind this experience, I learned that developers have discovered having some kind of set track versus full autonomy, and anchoring the user with a ���vehicle��� of some kind, helps the brain orient to the environment far more easily. If this app is any indication, they couldn���t be more right. A virtual test drive that���s virtually amazing.
1. QANTAS: 'VIRTUAL DESTINATIONS'
This is either instant justification for the VRevolution, or a sure sign of the Apocalypse. Perhaps a bit more intuitively than Marriott���s cross-selling effort, Qantas whets your appetite for exotic locales by planting you there in 360-degree splendor. My simultaneous wish and fear: Once companies start producing VR content like this that lasts not minutes but for hours on end, the human race may just opt out of the ���reality��� part of the equation all together���at least when they aren���t physically going to these amazing locales.
Which VR campaigns made your list? Which should we add to ours? Please share!
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November 17, 2015
Top 10 Best Augmented Reality Campaigns 2015
Even Marty McFly knew augmented reality would be big this year.
As 1989���s "Back to the Future II" showed us, 2015 would find Live AR movie promotions for "Jaws 19" and teens and adults using AR-enabled goggles along the lines of Google Glass (if Google Glass looked like Google Cardboard).
Of course, with all the excitement around Oculus Rift and the aforementioned Cardboard, one could be forgiven for wondering if this is the year virtual reality (or VR, immersive experiences within virtual environments) overshadowed AR (which layers virtual elements over the physical world in front of you in what has been called "The Internet on Things).
It doesn���t help that there has indeed seemed to be a dearth of truly cool AR marketing initiatives this year, at least compared to 2014 and 2013.
But that doesn���t mean there weren���t some brands doing their best to capitalize on an emerging technology expected to eclipse VR with $120 million of the total $150 billion AR/VR market by 2020, according to a recent report from Manatt Digital Media.
Among the more positive trends this year: A move beyond (just) promotional eye candy to showroom and retail sales tools and apps, as well as AR-enhanced commerce.
As AR ramps up for what will hopefully be a more promising year ahead, let's take a look at some of our favorites in AR-enabled marketing and advertising from 2015���at least so far���below.
What made your list? And what AR campaigns would you add to ours? Do share!
2015 TOP 10 BEST: AUGMENTED REALITY
10. AZEK: AR HOME IMPROVEMENT IPAD APP
What Ikea long ago started doing for interiors, exterior building products maker AZEK is doing for dealers and contractors trying to help clients make decisions for their home improvement projects. The AR Home Improvement App offers the ability to show prospects and customers how new pavers, patio finishes, porches, railings, and light fixtures will look when in situ (albeit on a representative home, not their own), save the visual, and even share it via social media. Built by Marxent Labs, the app is in use by 75% of all AZEK resellers, with 1,000 new downloads per month. Now that���s something to write home about.
9. MANOR PLUS: AR CATALOG
Also making a nod to Ikea's catalog playbook: Zurich���s Manor Plus Summer 2015 catalog, which featured AR elements that helped its merchandising come to life.
8. TOYS 'R US: 'TRUE MAGIC IN-STORE AR
How do you get shoppers into store locations during the Easter season? Launch an AR Egg Hunt for the chance to win store gift cards. Here���s a brick & mortar retailer that refused to shy away from mobile and instead embraced it to enhance the retail experience.
7. MICROSOFT HALOLENS: 'TRANSFORM YOUR WORLD'
Okay, this is cheating, since HoloLens isn���t even out yet. But it perfectly captures the value proposition for augmented reality. And it happens to top ADWEEK���s branded video charts just now. When I wrote about the future of augmented reality in my second book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, this is definitely the kind of thing I envisioned. Be sure to check out this gaming demo as well.
6. MINI USA: 'AR VISION'
We���re cheating again here, too, as this is conceptual marketing from MINI. Called Augmented Vision, this wearable AR concept will hypothetically be tied to the MINI Connected Infotainment platform, to ���enhance the driving experience by seamlessly interconnecting applications inside and outside the vehicle while providing the driver with greater vision and increased safety.��� Unlike the HoloLens demo, which is for an actual product, this concept is, as far as we know, still very much in development at BMW���s lab in Mountain View, California.
5. LEXUS & FERRARI SHOWROOM AR
Lexus has done some very cool work with augmented reality in years past. And Ferrari is, well, Ferrari. But a trend to note here is that, like Azek in its own category, these celebrated upscale to uber-luxury brands are now moving beyond AR promotions to include useful support tools sales people can use to give clientele a closer look at upcoming cars and to showcase automobile innovation. On another end of the automobile spectrum, look also at Hyundai���s new Virtual Owner���s Guide, which is designed for customers as part of the actual brand experience.
4. JOHN LEWIS: 'MAN ON THE MOON' AR APP
This Christmas TV spot from UK retailer John Lewis is going to instantly get you in the spirit of the season. It���s already the early favorite of the Holiday ad season internationally, inspiring a perhaps inevitable ���Star Wars��� parody. And it also has its own mobile app, which includes, among other things, an AR feature that lets you hold your phone to the moon to view interesting factoids, or at John Lewis in-store posters and shopping bags to unlock free downloads at the retailer���s site.
3. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS: 'FURIOUS 7' LIVE AR DISPLAY
In the vein of great mobile AR apps like the special effects app from JJ Abrams��� production company Bad Robot, this live AR display enables you to watch yourself get killed by a falling car in front of friends and perfect strangers at the mall. Morbid as it may seem, it���d be hard for the target audience for the latest installment of the mega hit ���Fast & Furious��� franchise to ignore. Kind of makes you wonder what a similar AR promotion for ���San Andreas��� might have been like.
2. MICROSOFT: 'SUNSET OVERDRIVE' BUS SHELTERS
The whole AR-enabled bus shelter has been done before, but it still can���t help but draw you in���especially when it involves mutant monsters coming your way on the street in front of you. Still, as cool as this promo for the new Xbox game ���Sunset Overdrive��� looks, the Overcharge Delirium XT energy drink it features sounds like it may be even more tempting than the game itself.
1. SNICKERS: 'HUNGER BAR'
You���re not quite you when you���re hungry, are you? Which is why Snickers rolled out this new installment of its long-running "You're Not You" campaign, which includes a mobile app that enables consumers to create images related to their particular hunger symptoms and share them socially. The key isn���t to show off what kind of hungry you are, of course, but in calling out family and friends for acting ���snippy,��� ���loopy,��� ���cranky,��� ���confused,��� ���spacey," or ... insert your own adjective here.
BONUS CAMPAIGN: SEAGATE 'HOLIDAY SMOOCH BOOTH'
In the same vein as the Snickers ���Hunger Bar��� campaign, this Holiday 2015 promotion from storage solutions provider Seagate enables you to snap a selfie or upload an image from your photo library, and then proceed to augment your reality (or somebody else���s) with holiday visuals (Santa hat, reindeer antlers, etc.) and send personalized seasons greetings. I���m biased, since I had input on this web app from Havas SF. But having developed promotions like this for other brands, I know it's an approach that can make for powerful experiential marketing.
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