Mediapost reports Adobe has launched an infomercials to be watched on the new iPod Video. It's an half-hour guided tour of Adobe's Photoshop dubbed "Photoshop TV".

Since the first episode is in mp4, I think you can also watch it on your PSP.

Get ready for another device for viral marketing... the iPod.

Polartec has launched a viral marketing effort to promote its performance fabrics.

Shave your Yeti online and then make him happy with a Polartec shirt. Before clicking, be aware that the Yeti is really ugly...

On Blogspotting Heather Green questions whether podcasting is just a bubble or it really has business potentials.

Recently Yahoo! released a report (RSS—Crossing into the Mainstream) in which 28% of the people surveyed said they were aware of podcasting, but only 2% actually listened to podcasts.

So back to the main question... Is podcasting just a bubble? Well, podcasting has been probably a little bit overhyped until now, but don't worry, it is here to stay (and to grow).

In the UK, the BBC has just launched "Your shout" a trial service which allows football fans to send in 3G video messages with their opinions on football. The best video comments will be shown on Saturday's Football Focus and on the Football Focus website.

The technology for this service has been developed by VoxSurf. Andy Munarriz, co-founder of VoxSurf explains:

Contrapunto Madrid for Canal Plus (Spain). Gold Lion winner at the Cannes Advertising Festival 2000.
Now films won't have to wait years to get on your Tv.

Thanks to Cleo I've found out about the The (Honda) Element and Friends Web Site. It's a nice videogame-style interactive experience where you drive around your Honda to meet strange but cute animals like the platypus and the opossum.

I think it has been created to target kids. Today I already posted about BMW targeting drivers' children with downloadable paper cars... Are kids the new influentials in buying a car?

New Media Age reports Universal has partnered with BoreMe Mobile to launch a series of mobile viral videos. Kontraband and mobile carrier 3 already moved the first steps in this direction a few months ago.
Funny mobile videos are available for download for £1, but users are encouraged to share the content with friends using Bluetooth technology.

The cost of mobile video is in fact one of the main points of discussion when it comes to moving viral ideas to mobile phones. It's good to see that brands don't focus their approach on making money out of it but rather on having users exchanging their branded content. With the growth of 3G more and more users have Bluetooth enabled phone, and I believe this is the key technology to push peer-to-peer interactions. Unfortunately at the moment (I think) it isn't possible to track the number of times a file passes from one user to the other, but I'm sure that with the diffusion of the mobile Internet new tracking technologies will become available. Furthermore there are other "traditional" ways to monitor the buzz.

In France, Nestlé has recently launched a website for its Chocapic brand to engage kids and build a relationship with them online. It's an heavy Flash website created by Touche Etoile, full of goodies to entertain young consumers and introduce "Pico" the brand mascotte.

In Thailand, BMW allows visitors to its website to download, cut & paste their dream car. A nice idea to let kids know about the BMW brand.
Here for example it's the popular BMW Isetta.

16 BMW models are available for download.

In Germany Mentos is online with a funny advergame: the Sheep Volley!
You can play & train or play to win, and in this case you need to register. You can also choose to challenge a friend, sharing the same keyboard.

Lowe Roche for Mercedes (Canada).

The movie King Kong is currently being promoted throughout Europe with an co-marketing campaign together with Pringles. A mini-site (by Grey Interactive) is online featuring the trailer, some downloadable goodies and a few e-cards which aren't really worth sending. Try leaving the site in the background... sometimes you hear King Kong's steps and the screen starts shaking.

Two advergames are also part of the online effort. Kong Jump (by Inbox Digital) will take a lucky winner to New Zealand.
The other one, Find Kong, reproduces the popular three-cards game... you bet your bananas to win :-)

A new study by Advertising.com found that behavioral targeted ads produce lower response rates than run-of-network placements, but deliver higher conversion rates.

The study examined three advertiser campaigns targeted to Advertising.com's personal finance, automotive and education behavioral populations. For each advertiser, identical creative messages were sent to both a run-of-network audience and the behaviorally segmented audience. In each study, conversion rates increased markedly for targeted impressions vs. run-of-network impressions. However, click-through rates experienced the opposite effect -- with the number of clicks decreasing for targeted impressions. These findings suggest that behavioral targeting actually increases the value of each click, as consumers who click on a targeted ad are more motivated to convert.

Coca-Cola has hired AKQA as its global digital agency. The business should be worth about £3m.

Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam has been appointed by UPC Broadband (owned by Liberty Media) to reposition its brand throughout Europe.

Leo Burnett has won the international Samsung account.

Ketchum will manage Starbucks' PR account in Germany.

After winnin NTL and Sony Ericsson's digital accounts Soup will open a new office in London

Pepsi is working on a branded content campaign that will involve 12 countries on the way to the World Football Cup in Germany next year. They are planning a football reality Tv-show called the "Pepsi Max World Challenge" which will count on a 4 million pounds budget, and will debut in April.

Twenty-four teenagers (two each from 12 countries) will take on a series of football challenges at grounds around the world, including Manchester United and AC Milan, with soccer stars such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho.

I really like these LG ads I've found on Adverbox. I don't know how effective they are but I find them extremely stylish (excellent art direction).

Publicis France has created a campaign for Kangoo taking advantage of Wallace & Gromit characters. They produced a funny Tv-spot and put online a nice website. Check it out, I think the interface (althought not very usable) is really cool.

Small and medium size companies using mobile marketing are reporting good results. Brandrepublic quotes a new research by Textalert saying that 72% of SMEs using text messaging reported a rise in turnover of over 10%. The article also reports the main problem SME are facing when using mobile marketing is recipients' fear of being spammed.

Electronic Arts has launched a viral campaign to promote its Fifa 2006 videogame. Users have the chance to personalize a 45-seconds film becoming a football striker in their favourite team. As Bloc Media explains on its site the personalised Flash interactive utilises a comprehensive database containing every team from every country and league in FIFA.

This is my performance has striker for my hometown team Triestina. Of course at the end of the path you have a tell-a-friend call to action.

AOL has launched a campaign to promote its Instant Messanger system to college students. According to Mediapost (reg. req.) online ads will also be supported by outdoor ads at 40 college campuses.

This is basically a branding campaign to depict AIM as a multiple-media communications platform, encompassing VoIP, e-mail, and SMS in addition to instant messaging.

Slashphone (via Textually) reports Viacom Outdoor will be the first major U.S. vendor to offer outdoor ads enabled with Bluetooth technology. A series of trial projects is scheduled to begin in November. "MobiPoints" will be placed in a variety of out of home media points including bus shelters, street furniture, kiosks, commuter rail cars and platforms and other special locations in various U.S. cities.

Mobipoints is a technology produced by French company Kamaleon.

Lost and Desperate Housewives are just the beginning. Disney ABC Television is working to deliver more video content to iPods. Information Week reports Disney expects its mobile video subscriber business to reach 14 million in 2009, up from about 200,000 today.

But important issues remain to be solved to allow iPod video content taking off. The first regards intellectual property rights. Disney owns Lost and Desperate Housewives from from beginning to end of production so they have no problem negotiating with distributors. But what happens when the content is sold outside the US where Disney sells licences to air such tv-series?

7NK Murder Mystery Game (by Littleloud) is a gothic horror story inspired to Shakespeare's plays. The BBC has just launched it to support its Shakespeare drama season this autumn. At the moment only a preview is available, but the game full game will be online from next week. As explained on New Media Age (reg. req.) players will be asked to solve and prevent crimes based on Shakespeare's plots.

A comprehensive mini-site is online to support the BBC "Shakespeare - Re-Told' series of TV and radio programs". Of course there is also space for some user generated content: a competition invites schoolchildren to write their own 60 second interpretation of a Shakespeare story to appear on the site.

Outdoor advertising enters a new dimension... holograms... Check out this video featuring a Lexus campaign in the United States. They used holograms (created by Vizoo, Denmark)to grab people's attention in Times Square and other top locations.

Launchfire Interactive has developed a series of ten advergames for the for MBNA U.S.A. 2005-06 NFL sponsorship. Each game functions the same but is uniquely branded to the participating NFL team. In addition each game broadcasts short rich media ads between quarters to promote the credit card companies (Visa and Mastercard) and their respective 2005-06 NFL promotions. For example, you can check out the New England Patriots or the Denver Broncos game.

In Italy Blaupunkt is running an online campaign through MTV's Internet and mobile sites. The campaign takes advantage of the popular Bunny&Benny; characters, who proved incredibly successful in the viral video released early this year. Users can download the video directly from MTV (it also available through the Wap site) and gather information on Blaupunkt's products.

On MTV.it Blaupunkt is online also with an advergame that allows people to win a car audio system per week. Unfortunately they didn't put much effort in creating a nice concept for this game. It's just a racing game with no connection to Bunny&Benny.; With a few more creative thinking (and probably with more budget) they could have "exploited" the viral characters also in the game generating more buzz around this campaign.

In the UK insurance company Norwich Union has just launched Memory Meltdown, a nicely cheesy advergame to engage users and drive policies' sales online. The game is promoted through email marketing and tries to take advantage of the viral effect also. The final prize is an holiday worth 3000 pounds plus a bonus of money to be spent during the vacation. The more friends you invite to Memory Meltdown the more money you can get for your vacation.

Holmes & Lee, Toronto for The Weather Network (Canada). Clio Award winner in 2000.

The Sunday Herald asks the question, providing the answer in two articles supporting the opposite answers YES/NO. Tina Korup (managing director of edoMidas Leadership Development) supports the NO party, saying CEO should not link their personality to a product. First of all, says Korup, CEO come and go, furthermore a CEO in ad could impact staff morale ("No CEO should be bigger than the company. As soon as a CEO puts themself in a television advertisement, they’re taking the credit and the glory for the achievements of the business’s hardworking employees. That’s very demotivating for the staff.").

On the other side, Campbell Laird (founder of brand consultancy Three Brand Design) says CEO in advertising can prove very effective for building the brand of a business since today's chief executives have the skills and personality to carry off starring in the company advertising.

In the UK Heineken has decided to shift its £6.5m advertising budget away from TV and rather invest in sports sponsorships and point-of-sale promotions. Rob Marijnen, managing director of Heineken UK explains on Times Online:

In the first nine months of 2005 online advertising has reached a 279 million value in Germany. According to the numbers released last week by Nielsen Media Research, there has been a 36,3% increase since September 2004, with online and financial services as well as the automotive industry leading the expenditures. Despite the growth, Internet advertising is still very small if compared to traditional media. Since the beginning of the year, the investments in print, TV, radio and outdoor advertising have been worth over 13.3 billion euro.

In the United Kingdom Internet advertising expenditure for the first half of 2005 reached £490.8 million, with a 5.8% market share which actually surpasses the outdoor's (5.1%). According to a study by IAB/PwC online revenues increased by 62.3% on a like-for-like basis when compared to the same period in 2004.

Here you find three ads created by McCann Erickson Communication House for Durex condoms.

The first is brilliant and, as it's easy to understand, it was created for a campaign running in December.

A great outdoor/guerrilla campaign created in Spain by JWT Barcelona for La Librería Negra y Criminal (Noir & Crime bookstore).

BBDO Mexico for Espn.

A new golf advergame from the UK targeting 25-60 years old (affluent) golf fans. Panlogic created a Golf Global Challenge to support HSBC sponsorship to the world golf championship.

The game, as it should be, is not very easy to play, it features a fine design and the possibility to personalize your player changing his/her trousers, shirt and hat. At first you can practice in the arcade game, and when you see your performance is improving you can actually go Pro and challenge a friend to become eligible for the final prize. The winner will go to the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, China from 10-13th November.

A good article on Business Week investigating the micromedia model introduced by blogs. It explains why blogs produce value to advertisers, in two words: they serve niche audiences and they boost word-of-mouth.

But if you're a blogger, don't automatically make the assumption this means you can make easy money.

Through Randomculture I've found this interesting article on Business 2.0. It's a month old, but it's still worth reading since it lists nine fads marketers/business people should ignore.

One of the overestimated buzz at the moment is about podcasting. According to Business 2.0 there are no revenues and therefore there is no business future for it.
To tell the truth I regard the article more as a provocation than as a serious analysis. For example, it says China will not rule (economically) the world...

In Barcelona, in Plaza Cataluña, Nike has installed a huge outdoor ad featuring tennis player Rafael Nadal, and powered with Bluetooth technology. By turning their Bluetooth connection on, users can download the new Nike Pro Tv spot and an exclusive Nadal screensaver. The campaign was planned by Media Planning Barcelona.

A Clerasil ad using the Hermann grid illusion.
Copy says: As soon as a black spot appears, use Clearasil.

[via Marketing Alternatif/The Spunker]

Escucha la llamada. An interactive, immersive experience. A black & white cartoon with an excellent sound design and powerful animations. Mysterious (the brand name is seldom mentioned) but fascinating.
You'll enjoy it at full only if you can understand Spanish, but even if you don't I'm sure you'll appreciate it. It's a branded entertainment website created for Diageo Espana to promote its Ron Cacique. I've found the link through Criterion but unfortunately I cannot tell you what's the agency which did it.

The only negative thing is that a brand like Ron Cacique creates such an amazing website but it doesn't own its domain name...

Here in The Netherlands, the Irish Tourism Board is running an online game that allows players to win flight tickets to Dublin, Cork or Belfast. It features a series of lovely cartoon characters dancing the typical Irish dance. Your goal is to dance with them without stepping into their feet. A funny idea, but the playability isn't very good. Furthermore there is a bug that doesn't allow you to play twice with the same email address.

In the Netherlands we (LaComunidad) have just launched an online game for Marktplaats/eBay.

Since I worked on the project, I simply give you one good reason to go and play the game: you can win a stay with 5 friends in a fantastic castle in Normandy. So if you're Dutch, just click and play Chateau Frank!

A nice outdoor ad by Frederik Samuel.

DM9 DDB, Sao Paulo for Antarctica Beer (Brazil).

[via MokaBreak]

In the UK, 3G operator 3, owned by Hutchison, is about to become the world's first operator to sell airtime on its own network to advertisers. Unfortunately the article on Media Guardian (free reg.) doesn't clearly say what exactly 3 is going to do. One possibility is that they will offer free downloadable ads to their clients This idea has already been successfully tested with Apple iPod ads, which generated 160.000 downloads in a week.

Mobile video advertising clearly opens interesting opportunities for viral videos delivered mobile phones, althought pricing and/or the business model still remain a big question to be answered. Who should pay for downloadable mobile ads? Branded content, should be free, but when it comes to mobile phones, free is a word that almost doesn't exist, especially with carriers always wanting to share revenues.

An original ambient marketing idea from an hotel in New Zealand. The 5 stars Sofitel in Queenstown is getting a lot of attention for its new boys room, where models look at guys while they do their stuffs. Some people have complained, but the positive buzz is actually bigger than the negative comments. If you click here, there is a video, that gives you a better idea of what is going on.

[via NinjaMarketing]

Which are the characteristics of a successful viral idea? Make it sexy and your chances of driving traffic will definitely increase. This is surely what Ebola Industries had in mind when it started working on a new campaign for Matura.it an Italian website targeting students. You can visit Sadomasoprof.com (also in English) to find out what they have created... Don't worry there is no porn, just a few "innocent" jokes

There are a video and a test-game which are nice to see for students. Then you also have forums, ringtones and a lot of other stuffs to click that take you to the Matura.it website actually lowering the overall user experience. Anyway, I'm glad to find a viral idea coming from Italy!

This Air Sickness Bag has been created by Scholz & Friends Berlin to promote low cost flight operator Hapag-Lloyd Express. It is part of an award winning campaign (Effie Award 2005) that run last year in Italy and Germany.

With a minimum budget compared to its competitors HLX had to achieve maximum effectiveness by implementing a cross-media campaign using attention-grabbing ideas.

In the age of consumer generated media, corporations can no longer hope to control 100% their brand message. Rather, they need to learn to listen. >Mediapost reports on the BlogOn conference quoting experts like Jeff Jarvis who said:

I used to think the power of blogs was slightly overestimated, but I'm not sure the situation is still like this. I agree with Jarvis, when it comes to blogging, listening is priority number one. Of course brands can also start their own blog but it's not easy to stay simple, direct and sincere when you run a corporate blog.

A guerrilla marketing idea has been used in Rome to Gargoyle's horror books. Four "vampires" have walked around the city holding a coffin full of Robert McCammon's books. A lot of people liked the idea but some, as it's common in my country, rather reacted with scaramantic gestures :-)

[via Guerrigliamarketing.it]

In the UK Barclays is about to launch a campaign to position itself as a customer-friendly bank (via Brandrepublic). It is going to be the biggest advertising campaign in four years and it will basically focus on making the bank look "human". The ads, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty will portrait Barclays' staff as inventive and friendly.

Recently in Italy San Paolo Group did the same thing. It launched a campaign with a touch of irony starring its employees describing in an interview their role in the bank. The pay-off they used is "San Paolo, less bank more Mario" (or whatever was the employee name).

I think it is interesting to note the similar approach. Is it because their image has deteriorated or because the new consumer requires a brand to talk his same language?

Another brilliant gadget from Apple, the iPod video. And another brilliant marketing idea: Desperate Housewives and Lost episodes to be downloaded for just $1.99. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the next BIG thing. Shall we also tag it as "mobile marketing"?

[via Adrants]

We recently talked about bluetooth marketing, and now it's time to make another step ahead (or behind?) and say something of mobile marketing via infra-red. New Media Age (reg. req.) reports that currently in the UK the movie Goal! is being promoted with interactive bus shelters people can connect to via infra-red. By pointing the mobile phone to the interactive poster user can download the trailer, discover the plot and enter a competition to win a walk-on part in the sequel. The campaign was created by Feref Digital and planned by Carat.

No doubt that with the rise of portable multimedia devices, the digital outdoor media business is going to grow rather fast. I believe establishing a connection with a prospect at a bus shelter is a smart idea. The wait often increases our need for distraction, so we might be more receptive to branded entertainment.
However we should also keep in mind that not a lot of people are aware of their mobile phone functionalities, especially when it comes to bluetooth and infra-red so.

In the UK, Wonderbra has launched Experiencewonderyou, a classy, sexy and sophisticated website to showcase its latest collection. Probably men will enjoy it more than women but it's really worth checking out (also) for its incredible design and the immersive brand experience.

Unfortunately I'm not sure which is the agency that did it, probably it's Publicis.

Unfortunately child abuse is a huge problem. The other day I posted a series of ads from Chile, today I point you to an online initiative to help fighting this plague. In the UK, children's charity NSPCC has launched an interactive website called TalkTown which uses artificial intelligence to help people worried that a child is being abused. The idea is not only to offer direct help, but also to encourage people to talk about the problem.

The site has been created by DNA, while the technology is provided by Creative Visual.

[news via Netimperative]

A lot of readers complained for three ads recently appeared in several UK newspapers to promote Andrex's Moistened toilet paper. One of the creative showed a woman wearing yellow knickers with a cartoon monkey printed on the fabric holding its nose on them and a text asking people: Could you be cleaner?

Brand Republic (reg. req.) explains the ads raised several critical comments but the Advertising Standards Authority decided that they were not in breach of the taste and decency code.

Personally I just find it amusing. Maybe people are becoming too sensitive.

Ogilvy & Mather, Santiago for National Corporation Against Child Abuse (Chile)

[ad via Adverbox]

Kaspen Prague for Budweiser Budvar (Czech Republic). Golden Drum winner 2005. It's a nice funny ad at first sight, but I'm not sure it really communicates the right message.

Emily from Textually pointed me to this curious news coming from the United Arab Emirates: in Dubai, speed cameras on highway are sponsored. The BBC reports Hewlett Packard is the first brand associating itself to the device. Analyst doubt this is a smart choice, since it only brings a negative image to people's mind. HP, on the other side, says this is just being a good corporate citizen by trying to persuade people to drive more carefully.

Anyway, given the driving speed on Dubai's highways (it has one of the highest accident rates per capita in the world) I doubt people will even notice the ads...

Angela Merkel is the new Bundeskanzler... A revised soft drink ad shows her celebrating the victory with a passionate kiss to Mr Schroeder... (thanks Ralph!)

Do you know the Hard Rock Café motto "Love all, serve all"? I think any interactive agency should always keep it in mind. Even if we (Mac users) represent just a tiny 4-5 percent of the online population, you need to keep in mind we are very likely to be influentials and early adopters. This said, here comes my question: why did Wild Tangent develop an advergame for Visa which only works with Internet Explorer and kicks out Safari and/or Firefox (Mac) users?

It's the Torino 2006 Olympics advergame, and in the Olympic spirit it should allow everybody in! ;-)

If you're a curious PC user, here's the link to the game. If you're a Mac user, just look at the screenshots.

It took six months to develop it, but it's really worth playing. The water drop advergame has been created by Polish agency Max Weber for Sanitec Kolo, to promote a special sanitary surface called Reflex. The core idea was to build an interactive droplet acting and looking like a real one in real Reflex Kolo environment.

The game is also in English, but at the moment you need a password to enter (you can get it online). I'm not sure I can give you mine, I don't want to spoil the viral campaign ;-)

This advergame recently won the Silver Drum at the Golden Drum 2005 Festival ("Beyond the banner advertising").

Bus shelters are receiving a lot of attention lately. Today Brian pointed me to an interesting campaign his agency (Meridian Outdoor) did for the UK mobile carrier O2. Bus shelters around the country have been transformed in candies distributors branded O2.

There is a touch sensitive button inviting people to press here to receive a free O2 treat. When the button is pressed a capsule is dispensed from the 6 sheet which contains a free O2 sweet. A sonic message plays telling people to enjoy their free O2 treat.

Audi is supporting the upcoming movie Transporter 2 with an interactive film trailer created by Elephant Seven. The main idea, of course, is to showcase the new Audi A8 which "stars" in the movie (see picture below). The site should be nice to see, but I gave up because with my Mac I experienced quite a few problems with the loading. Anyway Frau B says it's worth a visit...

A few days ago I posted about a disappoiting web site created by Adidas to promote a shoe. Now I'm glad to write a good online campaign the German brand is running on the way to the World Cup 2006. If you're a football fan you will surely enjoy this highly interactive website where David Beckham, Raul, Kakà and other top players welcome you with video interviews.

I didn't register, but it looks like there are several goodies to enjoy (games, downloads etc...). The only negative aspect is that the site is pretty heavy to load.
Sorry but I don't know which agency did the job.

Fashion brand New Look has launched an interactive outdoor campaign in the UK which allows users to get mobile vouchers through "hypertagged" billboards. 96 bus shelters nationwide are powered with bluetooth technology provided by Hypertag.

Revolution Magazine reports customers were also invited to become part of the New Look window display by having their photo taken through the store window, and pressing a button to display their face on the mannequin for 15 seconds.

Not a Tv spot, but a lovely animated cartoon to start in the right way the week and inspire your creativity. A quoi sa sert l'amour?

The music is an Edith Piaf and Theo Sarapo duet.

They named the site "Home Improvisation", and at the very first sight it might seem it's an home-made web page. But after 10 seconds browsing you realize it's a brilliant online marketing concept, surprising, entertaining and yes, with an healthy touch of viral potential.

Upmystreet.com launched Home Improvisation to spoof popular Tv shows which promise you to renew your home/your garden/your life. The viral video is definitely funny, and the interactive video game offers you a good opportunity to test your ability at renovating. One more thing I like about this website is the attention to details: look for example at the animations used in the loading.

Congrats to Glue London for the great job.

The Peace Campaign is a public service campaign created by a group of Israeli and Palestinian advertising professionals to promote mutual understanding and peace between their two peoples. As Ian explained me, in the winter of 2003, The Peres Center for Peace and the Palestinian Economic Forum, together with Maurice Lévy of Publicis Groupe, gathered more than 80 media, communications and advertising professionals from both sides to create a campaign to help end the Middle East conflict. The public service advertising campaign will be produced and broadcast to Israeli, Palestinian and neighboring Arab populations in the beginning of 2006. If you want to learn more about The Peace Campaign, just the visit the website supporting the initiative.

How do you get the best out of garlic? Just grate it with a credit card... or buy a Garlic Card... Usually strange gadgets come from Japan/Asia, but this time I'm proud (?) to say this is European! It has been invented in Sweden, by Herman Rasmuson...

Actually the best thing about this gadget is the smart website: nicely designed and with an amusing video to explain how the garlic card works.

Even a silly product like this, if promoted in the right way, can become successful through the Internet. I won't buy one, but I'm talking about it and you know how word of mouth can prove effective...

BBDO Austria for Bayer Levitra.
Brings back fire and flames.

A series ads created by Zoom! Riga (Latvia) in support of disabled people's parking spaces. Epica Award winner 2004. As you can see the copy is rather strong. Hopefully it was also effective.

TBWA Spain for Sony Playstation (Spain).

[via Adsoftheworld]

This is nice, an Absolut ad celebrating probably the most popular beer festival in the world: the Oktoberfest in Munich (Germany). The agency is TBWA/Berlin.

It's crazy, a vodka brand promoting beer! I love the idea of doing something unexpected!

.start for Muenchener AIDS-Hilfe (Germany).
And you, what do you bring to your partner?

McDonald's is online with a street dance challenge. The BBoyBattle is an entertaining interactive experience you can really enjoy only if you're on a fast connection. Pick a character and make him/her dance with your keyboard. The Arnold Worldwide/Boston did the job.

It is rather sticky, but unfortunately you can't change the soundtrack so after a couple of minutes you can really sick of the music.

To generate buzz around "Explode" new magazine for men coming out in Australia on Oct 12, Soap Creative has created "Bling my bomb". Visitors are invited to create their own customized "bom", adding details, engines and even "the babe who'll occupy the passenger seat". Players submitting their artwork will enter a competition to win mini iPod's and Ea Sport "Need 4 Speed" videogames.
It's a nice idea, but I think the choice of using Flash 8 might cause quite a few problems among unexperienced visitors.

Motorola is about to launch on the US market a new dynamic idle-screen technology dubbed "Screen 3". It's a technology that pushes Internet information to the mobile phone's screen. With Screen 3 users can get news updates or any other information with just a glance at their phones, without having to open WAP browsers or other applications. RCR News reports carriers can use it to promote new services and features without bombarding user with text or multimedia messages. Motorola is already looking for advertisers interested in sponsoring the content provided through Screen 3.

The Jupiter Drawing Room for Smart (South Africa).
I guess many of us would like to break that glass in this period...

If you want to experience something different, visit the Absolut Metropolis project. Absolut photographer Nadav Kandar takes your around the streets of Tokio in an interactive journey. Again an innovative idea from Absolut, very much in line with the brand. Strange, stylish and fascinating.

In France, Fnac is online with a buzz marketing campaign to sign up new clients for its Carte Fnac. At www.bonnesexcuses.com visitors are invited to submit their good excuse to buy technology at Fnac. The best excuses will win mobile phones, laptops and PSP. The site also features a French comedian, Julien Courbey, playing the "excuse expert" (or something like that :-) giving away good advices to take advantage of Fnac's offer.

The campaign has been created by Tequila France and Les Chinois, it is mainly target at a 18 to 25 years old audience and aims at driving traffic to the page where the Carte Fnac can be obtained.

AlmapBBDO for Audi Quattro (Brazil).

[via Adme.ru]

TBWA Istanbul for YKM Sport activewear (Turkey). Bronze Drum winner 2005.

Leo Burnett China for Y+ Yoga Center. This campaign just won the Silver Drum at the Golden Drum advertising festival in Slovenia. It is really interactive! :-)

Ogilvy & Mather Taiwan for Nike Zoom. Clio Award winner (bronze) this year.

Take a look at this nice campaign by Ikea launched to promote their kitchen range in the UK. The website idea is that the cheaper the kitchen, the less you have to work to pay for it. So, basically, the message is "buy at Ikea, work less, and enjoy your life"!

This is definitively a very good example of how online marketing should (try to) be.The concept is brilliant also the advertainment stuffs on the site are engaging and entertaining. You can take a test and check if you're working too much, you can calculate the hours of work you save by buying at Ikea and you can even get an update on what has happened in the world while you were too busy working.

[via Adrants]

My title is bizarre but the news is true: BMW has donate Pope Benedict XVI a brand new SUV. Last April a German magazine questioned who was going to build the new Popemobile, and it presented a sketch based on the BMW X5 model, but I cannot tell you whether this is really the model the gave him. Pope John Paul II used to go around in a Mercedes-Benz ML 430 series Popemobile.

Hollywood and Madison Avenue call it "brand integration", but it’s just an euphemism used to hide product placement. The upcoming Tv season will be full of ads outside the traditional 30-seconds spots. The New York Times explores the characteristics of "product placement 2.0" where "advertisers and their representatives are increasingly working with a show's writers and producers and the network's ad sales staff to incorporate products into the story lines of scripted shows as part of more elaborate marketing deals."

From "Happy Days" to a Citroen Tv ad, The Fonz is back in a £1m TV ad campaign, created by Euro RSCG London. Brand Republic reports the spot will debut next week also starring other characters from "Happy Days" (but not Ron Howard, aka Richie Cunningham). Of course of the characters are digitally manipulated, as it happend for the Volkswagen Gene Kelly spot.

Adidas is online with a pan-European campaign to promote its new shoe Megaride. Carat Interactive planned and created the ads currently appearing on the main European websites with young audiences. Daily Media reports the Megaride campaign is part of an online marketing effort Adidas has just started to prepare for the Germany 2006. In a couple of days it will debut with an online teaser focused on the strong relationship between football and the brand.

The Megaride minisite is currently online in 6 different languages but, to tell the truth it’s a rather disappointing experience. The interface is very crowded but eventually the only content available connected to the new shoe is a store locator and a 3-d presentation. Apparently the Megaride is a very innovative shoe but, to me, the website fails to communicate this basic message...

Is buzz marketing illegal? The answer on AdAge (maybe).

This post is about usability, and yes, the (arrogant) usability guru Jakob Nielsen is the guy who listed the Top 10 web design mistakes of 2005.

No matter what's your role in the agency, remember usability does affect online marketing. A great concept can fail if the text is too small, the website takes a life time to load or only Explorer users can experience it. So read this article carefully and make sure to avoid doing the same mistakes.

Publicis for TCS/APG (Switzerland).
Speeders get faster to their final destination.

KNSK for Campina Optimel (Germany).

This is one of those news that can really change the life of an agency: BMW has decided to end its branded entertainment strategy. They have been the pioneers in the sector, with the online short-film The Hire, starting a new era for online marketing. Now AdAge reports BMW decided branded entertainment was getting too expensive, but their shift can’t only be blamed on money. They declined to comment, but probably the change is also due to the fact they are still looking for a new advertising agency to handle its US account.

What will happen now? Will other brands follow their move? How many agencies will have to change their business approach?

A joint study by Nielsen Interactive Services and Israeli-based in-game advertising firm Double Fusion found that an in-game ad campaign inserted into the downloadable game "London Taxi" increased awareness of some featured products by as much as 60 percent. Read more on Mediapost.

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