If you visit MSN Germany today, you find an ad by Volkswagen to promote its new Golf model (if you don't see it, look at the screenshot here). The ad format it's called SuperFX and it "should" feature a 30 seconds spot plus further information on the right side of the page. I say it "should" because this is what I read on New Business (in German), but the ad doesn't play the video in Safari, while with Firefox (for Mac) it doesn't show the picture in the right side of the page...

As some of you might already know, I'm currently writing my thesis on the sociology of the mobile phone, investigating in particular its marketing implications.
If you live in Italy, the UK or the US, and you're aged 20-40, I need your help.
I've created a 30 questions survey to learn more about mobile users as mobile consumers.
It takes less than 10 minutes to complete it.

To take the survey, just follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=62340936843

I will then share the results on my blogs.
Thank you!

Martina

Axefeather is a website created to promote Axe (Lynx in the UK) among young people. Feather is part of a series of brand building executions aimed at a male target audience of 16- to 20-year-olds. Rather than promoting a specific scent of Axe (Lynx in the UK) deodorants it invites the user to tickle a rather attractive girl lying on a bed with a feather. Depending on where she's being tickled the girl responds with a variety of wriggly reactions. The site recorded over 2 million visitors in two weeks and has just won The Guardian monthly interactive showcase. The video has been directed by Olivier Rabenschlag who also art directed the design and developped the functionality of the piece. The agency is Dare Digital.

"Create your passion ad" is a funny idea by the belgian agency L G & F to promote the new site of SN Brussels Airlines. The site allows you to create your own personalized ad. Since its launch the site has delivered about 3000 daily "passion ads".
[News via Digimedia (in Dutch), link via Live From Brussels].

Microsoft is expected to unveil tomorrow its latest challenge to Google and Yahoo. Bill Gates will in fact announce its own advertising network around its search engine which will compete against AdWords and Overture.
Read more on MSNBC...
If you're interested in search engine advertising, you might also enjoy this news: Yahoo! is getting ready to challenge Google AdSense (Mediapost reports).

Reuters (via Yahoo!) quotes Ted Leonis, an AOL executive, saying that the company expects online ad revenue growth to exceed the projected 20 to 25 percent average growth for the US online industry.
AOL last year generated about $1 billion in online advertising revenue and it plans to boost ad sales with the relaunch of its AOL.com web site expected later this year.

You could fool a lot of work from advertising and marketing firms...
A new study by Jupiter Research found out that nearly 40 percent of Internet users delete cookies from their computers at least once a month. If this is true, it might be a big problem for marketers relying on cookies to track visitors and visitors behaviors'.
Quoted on ClickZ, Eric Petersen the analyst who wrote the report said: "Advertisers using lifetime value metrics need to reexamine how accurate that data is. The further away you get from the date the cookie was set, the less likely that the information is completely accurate."

Discovery Channel has launched an interactive campaign to promote the two-hours special "Dragon" which will air on March 20. The campaign, created by Agency.com, will last three weeks, targeting science fiction, dragon and fantasy fans aged 25-44. Read more on DMNews.

- Automotive, health, travel and household goods will lead the online advertising market (according to Jupiter Research)

- Broadband boosts advertising surge, the Financial Times reports

- Beauty brands get the best results online (a new research by Dynamic Logic claims)

- iPod aids Irish pub crawl [from MacWorld]

- Beechwood creates a St. Patrick's Day integrated campaign for Jameson Irish Whiskey.

- The new viral idea by Asa Bailey...

- Viral marketing helps Mastercard and Shell [press release]

- A new video to promote Trojan Condoms... for the lucky guy who needs them...

Yahoo! turned ten years old last week. The portal has dominated the Internet scene for the last decade, will it be able to replicate its success in the future? An article on BBC News tries to answer the question.

Eyeblaster has introduced the VideoStrip ad format, a teaser video within a banner unit that quietly grabs users' attention and enticing them to interact. Upon rollover or click, the video expands to its full size, remaining perfectly in sync as it fills a full-sized expanded panel. User interaction with the VideoStrip also triggers the audio within the ad.

PointRoll instead has announced the launch of FoldOver a new ad format positioned in the upper corner of a publisher's page. When a user initiates a mouse-over, the ad visually folds over the page, exposing close to a full-page ad. According to Pointroll's press release, the FoldOver has been already used with satisfaction by Audi in support of the A6 campaign.

Rich media ads are becoming more and more important in the marketing mix, as the new 44 customers acquired by Doubleclick's DART Motif confirms.

According to Nielsen//Netratings Google is the leader among search engines, but users have started using other major engines also. A new research (opens .pdf) only a small number of users use only one search engines. Nielsen//Netrating explains that 58 percent of Google searchers also visited at least one of the other top two search engines, MSN Search and Yahoo! Search, showing that even though Google’s market share is dominant today, there is significant opportunity for its competitors to grow.

Zugura has developed a website for the new Sony Playstation game Gran Turismo 4.
The site features a lot of information, giving a comprehensive picture of the game's characteristics and potentials. The content is divided into four sections: the car element, the human element, the environment element and last but not least the "new" element. Over 700 car models are presented with a lot of videos showing how the game looks like. There is also an interactive quiz where users are tested on real life photos versus in-game footage.
For what concerns Gran Turismo as a game, its realism is just fantastic. It also shows the in-game product placement of the Mitsubishi brand.

Sony Ericsson has presented WorldQuest.05, a global online reality game where players will compete to become the "Master of Mobility" using the latest Sony Ericsson devices. The challenge will last twelve weeks, to win players must be the first to respond to the judges' questions texting the answers with their mobile. A part from the mobile challenge there is also an online competition in which entrants can win a journey around the world and hotel stays around the world.
Read more on Digital Media Europe.

Are looking for more cool interactive ideas? Check the archives