Advertising creatives looking for a new opportunity in virtual world can now apply for a position at Leo Burnett's online agency in Second Life. Brandrepublic reports Leo Ideas Hub is a new "virtual" department which will connect over 1.600 creatives worldwide who will be able to interact and showcase their work within Second Life.

Update: if you're interested in Second Life, I also reccomend you this article published this week on The Economist.

Update n. 2: Bartle Bogle Hegarty has the same plan has Leo Burnett, read more on The Guardian.

On Textually, Emily has an interesting post on "missed call marketing", presumably a new form of mobile marketing spam.

"Missed call' marketing is the term that has been given to the practice of calling a mobile telephone for such a short period of time that the owner cannot answer the call. When the marketer disconnects the call, most mobile phones present a 'missed call' notification with the marketer's number. The marketer intends that the owner of the phone will think that they have missed a legitimate call and ring the number back, in which case they hear a recorded promotional message".

Spam is always very annoying especially if now it expands from your mailbox to your mobile phone. However, looking at the "Missed call marketing" practice, I'm impressed by the spammers' creativity in coming up with such a great idea which taps into the strongly emotional relationship people have with their mobile phone. How many people get excited/worried/surprised/curious by a missed call from an unknown number? I love these new spammers who studied the sociology of the mobile phone :-)

I agree that very often classic (video)games are always the most fun to play. But why should someone try to reinvent Tetris replacing bricks with chairs? Unfortunately this is the case in a new advergame launched by Beck's beer.

Definitely not a good example to follow, also because the game doesn't tell anything about the product they are promoting (Beck's Vier).

In Australia, Rexona has just launched an incredibly content rich advertainment website. Riskville "prepares men to take risks", testing and challenging them with weird questions and impossible tasks.

Take a look around and have fun, there is a lot to discover! (the agency behind it is Lowe Hunt).

I'm quite sure this is not brand new, but I'd like to post about it anyway... Did you see the Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ? Inspired by the Mongolian BBQ cooking tradition, the site allows users to create (and buy) their own, personalized shoes, as Nike is already doing since a couple of years.

At first sight I said "wow, great concept!" as I liked the idea of building a story around the personalization of a shoe. But then, after I realized I have to go through a long path (you have to select 20 components before being able to proceeed to the next step and buy the shoe) I changed my opinion on the site.

BrandRepublic presents the results of the 13th NetObserver Europe report which found out French internet users are the most susceptible to online advertising and marketing.

For example, in the last 6 months, over 50 percent of French Internet users had taken part in an online competition organised by a brand or an e-commerce site. In the UK the number goes down to 35 percent. Less mature markets such as Spain and Italy (sigh!) have, on the contrary a better perception of online advertising. Germans are the most difficult to please with online marketing, but when it comes to e-commerce or buying online services, they appear to be the most active.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the full report, so if anyone has a copy (which I believe is free), I will be eager to see it. Thanks!

... Angels, archangels and a guardian angels. Too many angels have fallen from Heaven following our recent advertising campaign. We need new people to fill several open positions. If you feel you are "good" enough, click here to take the test and apply.

In The Netherlands, Asian food brand "Go-Tan" is running an interesting experiment of Bluetooth marketing in an Albert Heijn supermarket located in Den Bosch.

As explained on Emerce (in Dutch) custumers shopping in the supermarket (and anyone walking within a 100m distance) who has an open Bluetooth connection, are reached by a contact request from the Go-Tan device. The messages delivered through Bluetooth aim at making people aware of the discounted Go-Tan products available in the stores.

Can you write some inspirational lines about KLM? Do you fancy a trip to California? Do you live in Scandinavia? If you answered Yes to all these questions, than visit Flying Words, a new microsite launched by KLM to promote its destinations in the US.

The site in itself isn't very exciting nor interactive (the interface is quite scary, with a finger moving around the screen to drag & drop the words and compose the poem) but I believe the concept behind the contest is quite catchy for the target audience KLM is trying to reach. A simple game to appeal users who are not too confident with online games and interactions (of course mine is only a guess).

Microsoft has recently launched a promotional website for its new Windows Live Messenger application. "Communication evolved" features three funny videos, created by Maverick, which show how difficult life is (or would be) without the new platform. A part from the videos (which everybody call "virals") the site offers the possibility to download the new software for free (redirecting to Microsoft's website).

As said, I don't feel such videos are really viral, they are nice and entertaining, and work pretty well to promote the product, but just because they are amusing it doens't mean they are able to generate word-of-mouth. Sorry for the nasty judgment, but I'm now very picky when it comes to labeling a video as "viral".

I'm back from the holidays... (sigh!) and Lynx has become the first UK advertiser to launch a 'branded community' on MySpace (there is no connection between the two things, I just needed an incipit after 2 weeks off :-)

As reported on New Media Age (reg. req), Towelboy is a semi-naked superstar who stars in the latest Lynx' tv spot. Towelboys' homepage on Myspace works as a gateway to Lynxboost.com, and therefore looks pretty basic a part from a very simple advergame integrated in the page. On the other side, Lynxboost is actually much more interesting and entertaining.

We were just part of something refreshingly new. Heineken Netherlands hosted a live concert through Skype, using the new feature Skypecast. This feature makes it possible to talk online with 100 people at the same time. Dutch band Johan played some songs of their new album and listeners were able to ask questions and applaud from behind their own computer. And so did we! Even though the quality was not that great, the first concert through Skype idea made up for that.

Listen to the Heineken Skypecast. A video is about to follow.

Even if summer is almost over, it's time for me to take a break from work and for Adverblog. I will not update the blog for the next to weeks, but don't worry, on Friday 22nd I'll be back.

Ciao!

Martina

From Singapore another brand which looks for alternatives to full Flash websites: it's Tiger Beer, which also decided to opt for Ajax scripting.

As Valerie explained me, ARC Singapore has recently developed a new website whose structure is based on Ajax, and allows content to be more easily visualized in the countries where Tiger is concentrating its efforts (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore). Flash hasn't disappeared, but it's no longer the main technology used, and the result is still appealing, even if the graphic style is not one of my favourites.

Kudos to TriBeCa for the nice guerrilla campaign they carried out for Lee Jeans in Paris. Last week-end, to promote the opening of a new store in rue des Rosiers, the French agency has disseminated denims (and denim accessories) all around the neighbourhood.

From Scandinavia, a nice advertainment website for kids. Learn everuthing you need to know on the Hubba Bubba Big Bubbles (if you speak Norwegian or Swedish). I especially liked the "school" section, where they actually teach you how to make a bubble with a chewing gum (see screenshot below).

The agency behind it is B-Reel which, btw has a quite interesting portfolio.

Wow, my first entry about something happening in Lithuania! Check out this advergame Lowe Age and Pet Punk have created for Sprite, for the recent FIBA World Basketball Championship. As Justas explained me, you have to click "Spausk" to play, then the aim of the game is to score as many points as possible.

The game concept maybe is not particularly original, but it's nicely developed, with some funny scenes to experience.

If I tell you that a very traditional, stylish and high fashion brand like Gucci has decided to build its new website without using Flash, the first thing you might think is: "my God, how conservative, old stylish (and boring) they are!". Well, I'm sorry but this is the wrong exclamation, what I expect you to say is simply "wow!!!". Yes, "wow", because Gucci has decided to drop Flash and opt for a much more innovative (and brave, I would say) solution: Web 2.0 technologies - Javascript and Ajax (no, not the football team! :-), just to name a few.

The genious behind the new gucci.com is Wollzelle, a small Austrian agency which created a unique, innovative yet very luxury online experience.

In France, Publicis Net has recently launched a promotional website (C koi ce hold Up ?) for the mobile phone carrier SFR. Heavy use of Flash for a colorful and pleasant experience, especially designed to appeal the youngest consumers.

I loved the sound design and in particular the integration of loading effects and music. Click for example "Boulafa Safe" or "Le son SFR music" and enjoy!

From Venezuela, a nice seduction advergame for Axe. Watch the video with great attention and spot the girl when she's winking at you.

The concept of this game is nice, I just had a few remarks on the size of the video, but the guys from Lowe-Concept Interactivo actually explained me that it's a bandwidth issue. Given the standard quality of connections in Venezuela, this video dimension was the best compromise among balance size, quality of the video and user-side download speed.

What I also like about the game, is that it's just one click away... eventually an advergame which doesn't require a registration nor long instructions to read!

In business, "invisibility” is a fate worse than failure says Keith Ferrazzi, the author of "Never Eat Alone" a must read for guide to successful networking.

I read it over the week-end and I was impressed by the quality of the book, which represents an excellent reference for anyone who's looking to boost his/her career. "I learned that real networking was about finding ways to make other people more successful. It was about working hard to give more than you get. And I came to believe that there were a litany of tough-minded principles that made this soft-hearted philosophy possible." I do spend much time "giving" at work, after reading this book, I (hope) know who are those I should concentrate my efforts on... :-)

BTW this is my profile on LinkedIn...

It's online since a couple of weeks this funny viral commercial for Birra Moretti.

Women, let's pay attention! :-)

British Airways is using Google Earth to promote its discounted rates to over 100 destinations worldwide. NMA reports the airline has created a "layer" to Google Earth which allows users to research holiday or business trips with high-resolution satellite images. By browsing the world with Google Earth, travellers wannabe can learn the most relevant information about the chosen destination as well as the most updated British Airways fares to get there.

A very original idea that once again confirms how powerful Google's tools are when it comes to online marketing. It's just a question of using a little bit of creativity and imagination, then the sky is the limit, and British Airways (together with Agency.com, I believe) has clearly shown how far and cleverly you can go.

Are looking for more cool interactive ideas? Check the archives