For those who did not hear about Joost yet (where have you been!), here's a new commercial that explains it all.

The new KitKat spot in The Netherlands, created by UbachsWisbrun/JWT. Amusing!

... Check your cholesterol. Two brillant ads by McCann Portugal to support the Campaign Against the Cholesterol.

Thanks Fabio for the submission and congrats for the great work.

Marketing Alternatif points at in interesting scrolling ad display. The Wonderbra ad seems to be stuck. Brilliant idea or a broken display? I say brilliant idea.. :)

Look at this campaign created by AdmCom within the Venice Airport for the Venice Casino. Great use of an alternative media space, however since they use a concept based on luck and fortuity, I wonder what's the real means: come and play at the Venice Casino or rather "Will I get my luggage"? Given a recent experience VCE airport, I'm kind of biased...

Spotted on Communiquer autrement.

How do you launch a new fragrance in the youth market if not using new media tools and spaces? ck IN2U is a new parfume by Calvin Klein especially conceived for the technosexuals, a somehow scary word used to define young people aged 18-25 who communicate among each other using sms and emoticons, blogs and Myspace tools but also have a strong sense of aesthetics. CK even trademarked the term in anticipation of its launch of CK in2u.

The brand is using mobile marketing in Toronto with a series of digital billboards that invite consumers to interact and read their messages displayed on the big screens.

The online effort also includes the first ever (wow!???!) launch of a fragrance into Second Life. Situated on Avalon, the first island in Second Life to command a real-world land value, ck is also launching the 'what are you in 2?' photography competition and gallery, offering Avatars, the inhabitants of Second Life, the chance to post a 'snapshot' of any image that inspires them in the virtual world. Entries can be uploaded daily in the ck IN2U gallery and the winner will become a millionaire ( in Second Life only!).

Great print ad for Viagra (Pfizer) in Mexico. Responsible agency is Ogilvy & Mather.

Via

In France, ING Direct has launched a new online campaign called "Futurize You". The concept is not particularly original (do you remember the recent Age-O-Matic?) and also hasn't been developed with the same irony.

I understand the goal of the campaign is to make you seriously consider how to invest your money in order to retire relaxed, but (especially as a woman) I will never ever upload my photo to see myself "futurized" in such a sad way. Look at the screenshot I've grabbed from the homepage, doesn't it look scary and depressing?

Link found on Sendtofriend.

Thanks to an article on Imediaconnection I've discovered the world of Michelin. Definitely not a topic I'm interested into, but surely a website worth a visit from an interactive marketing and design perspective. First of all it's a rich experience: there's a lot of content to discover, and the layout encourages in-depth exploration.

It's a great exercise of branding online without forgetting the importance of showing the product also. Of course, they did not forget to put the cherry on the cake, by adding some environmentally friendly content as well, dedicating an area to the "Greaner World".

Onitsuka Tiger has recently launched a weird site, which displays a mosaic shoe made of tiny images and image links to something Japanese on the web today. By clicking on tiles, visitors are then taken to one of the 150 Japan related websites crawled by the site spider. The links are updated every hour, and compose everytime a different shoe model which changes in the color palette according to the content linked.

It's not Made in Japan, but it's Made "of" Japan. Good concept (by StrawberryFrog), extremely simple and nicely developed by the Dutch agency Woodend. I like the site because it's somehow useful, and allows visitors to discover new, hidden, websites Japanese related. Of course, it's also a smart way for Onitsuka Tiger to "cash" on user-generated content without much of an effort...

As you might/should have noticed, Adverblog today has a new look. Once per year I feel I need some freshness, and I start designing a new version. Now that this blog is about to get four years old, I thought it was time to give it a more mature layout, even if the tone of voice and the content will always remain the same.

On the right side of the page you'll see a job posting space. I've started it because it's trendy (I'm kidding!)... Well, I've started because lately I have been receiving a lot of requests of posting on Adverblog about open positions in agencies and brands. Now this kind of requests will find the right spot to be placed. However, i will advertise only positions in Europe, as I feel I have to stay loyal to the dna of this blog. There are a lot of other places where you can find job offers in the US, here you can make sure the space is EU-centric.

Last but not least, I've decided to change my approach to ads I display. I will only feature stuffs which are very relevant to you, the readers. This is why as from today you see banners about marketing & creative magazines and about marketing training programs.

In the next few days I will fine-tune and optmize the layout. If you experience any bug or problem, please let me know and excuse the inconvenience.

MINI is a cool brand, which invests a lot in presenting itself associated to lifestyle, art, innovation and music. I admire the way they communicate and the moderate bravery of their web efforts. A few weeks we saw the Hammer & Coop idea (a sort of parody on Knight Rider meeting Starsky & Hutch), now from Germany, Markus tells me about Def Mini Records, a virtual (fake) record label launched by the agencies Interone Worldwide and .start.

The site hasn't got any reference to MINI (just the name of the label) but features a series of emerging (?!) bands who don't sing about peace, love or life, but simply sing to celebrate the new MINI: it's reliable, it's safe, it's fun to drive. Discover the new stars Runflat and The Disc Brakes, and meet the Terence Trust.

The winners of the first Dubai Lynx Awards, the new leading creative advertising competition for the Middle East and North Africa, were revealed yesterday. After selecting a shortlist of 388 ads from the 1679 entries submitted, the jury awarded a total of 111 Dubai Lynx trophies. The Interactive Grand Prix was won by Lowe Mena Dubai for the Axe Deodorant commercial ‘Females’. View all the winning work.

Two years ago I wrote on this blog "Air Action Vigorsol needs viral marketing lessons". Today I'm glad to see they learnt what a viral video really is. The farting squirrel might not be elegant, but it surely works for word of mouth.

Being directly involved into some Food Bank initiatives I'm happy to share this campaign by FCB Lisbon. It's from last year, but I don't think that it really matters. It's a very good charity campaign which shows how it's important to think out of the box and find the right place to deliver the message.

Millions of people repeat this gesture everyday.

Renault has just launched a mini-site to support its Clio by Rip Curl limited edition. Considering the fact that it's "just" a product site, I believe they've done quite a good job, with nice illustrations, smooth navigation and enough attention to the car's details.

Since Rip Curl defines itself "the ultimate surfing company" I believe the site manages pretty well to deliver properly the mood that characterizes the car's edition. Nothing really fancy, but sometimes the simpler is the better.

Whiskas for growing kittens... simple, funny and quite effective in delivering the message. Too bad the agency was not mentioned.

If you have a couple of years to wait until the site loads, check out Get The Glass, the latest Got Milk? online campaign. The site is a Flash 3D advergame, an entertaining experience based on one of the most classic board games, starring the Adachi family. After a few seconds on the site, you understand the campaign claim "Get the Glass" which should actually continue with "Chill out, relax, enjoy your glass of Milk and wait for the site to load".

Due to the long loading time the navigation results quite painful, I must say, but the animations are just brilliant and, in the end, you realize that it's worth waiting. If you care more about aesthetics than on the marketing effectiveness of the site, you will surely like it.

Kudos for now, and awards to follow to North Kingdom (a Swedish agency) for the amazing job.

via Laurent's blog.

20th Century Fox has just launched a mini-site to promote the release on DVD of the movie Eragon. As in the Nokia example a few days ago, they've decided to take a surreal & ironic communication approach. The site is called Volksdragon, and has the apparent goal of marketing and presenting a new and unusual transportation mean: a dragon. Even if the shapes reminds that of the New Beetle, the dragon is the real (!!) product advertised on the site: it can be customized in colors and also offers a wide selection of optional gadgets.

Before making your purchase you can customize the dragon, and select the paint scheme you prefer, the stereo system you want on board etc... Below you see how my model looks like... Red, with a very comfortable seat and a huge sound system...

A brilliant idea for 20th Century Fox, an amusing experience for the visitors and a great product placement for Volkswagen. Looks like everybody will be happy :-)

The agency behind Volksdragon is Fuel Industries.

Ray-Ban, the brand producing the coolest shades in the world (I'm talking about the Aviator model, of course), has just launched a massive global marketing effort (20 countries are involved) to target the young, brave and nonconformist consumer.

Never Hide is the claim of a campaign that will (of course) include a touch of consumer generated content. Never Hide in front of 100 million people, submit your photo on the Ray-Ban and get your 15 seconds of fame with your photo shown on a huge billboard in Times Square.

The idea of showing a consumer's photo in Times Square isn't new (GE Healthcare, for example, already did it last year), but in this case the campaign what impressive if the magnitude of the effort: in Times Square there are now 12 screens ready to display your face to the world. Of course, they will do it only if you're wearing Ray-Ban shades!

The Wall Street Journal is online with a very nice campaign to drive subscriptions. They play with the concept "Life is a journey", picturing the life of nice celebrities, and at the end of the path they add the tagline "Every journey needs a Journal".

The site is simple and clean as you expect a WSJ campaign to be, but it's also very powerful and meaningful in presenting the concept. Photography, illustration and typefaces are perfectly combined to support the storytelling.

The call to action maybe it's a bit hidden, but probably this is a choice to be in line with the newspaper communication approach. In the end, even if selling is selling, this is the WSJ, not a supermarket :-)

Congrats to T3 for the great work.

It's always interesting to see how global concepts/guidelines set by brands' headquarters are then developed on a local level. The example I bring you today is the one from Nokia and its L'Amour collection, see through the eyes of its Polish subsidiary. A touch of luxury and art meet technology and get a twist of user generated content, of course without forgetting to add a contest. Browse emotions, submit emotions and share emotions in a dark and stylish online environment.

The site is also in English, so don't be scared to click and visit it... And if this can make you feel any better, Nokia fans see a world full of love, as this is the most submitted emotion...

The agency behind it is K2.

A beautiful Tv spot by BBH for Levi's.

I know, maybe beautiful could sound like a banal definition, but it's really what I think, it's nice to watch, it shows Levi's history in '90 seconds and, on top of this, it has also a great soundtrack.

Xerox and Kodak, two companies that focus their business around technology are both online with campaigns which they claim to be viral. Kodak has launched a blog with a sit-com (or it's a sit-com with a blog???) called Ink is it. Xerox is instead promoting Extreme Offices, a place where productivity efforts have gone out of control.

I don't know what to say about these campaigns. Either my sense of humor has died during the week-end, or the two brands have an issue understanding what viral means... Please, please, please, if you cannot make it really funny or innovative, at least try not to be this fake.

If you have the time (and the will) to go through an absurd online video experience, have a look a Great Pockets, the latest effort made in Sweden to promote the Nokia N95 phone.

Created by my friends @ Farfar, the site takes an ironic angle to present a phone with dozens of functionalities. A nice concept that I believe turned out in a site which is somehow too slow and manieristic and, in the end, boring.

In Europe, Logitech is online with Jelly Jumper, a 50 levels advergames which challenges players to do their best with the keyboard. The game is quite sticky, and give the users one more reason to play: if the pass the 10th level, they get a 20 percent discount on Logitech products.

Long time I don't see a nice advergame which focus so much on hard selling/discounts. Good to see advergames aren't just a branding tool :-)

From Sweden, a new TV spot for Innocent Smoothie by Peacock.

In the UK, the Royal Navy has included digital promotion in its Life Without Limits recruitment campaign. The effort, developed by WWAV Rapp Collins London, has started with an emailing to over 13,000 recipients.

Teasing days for Adidas, that is about to launch "Your world" campaign.

Epson is online with a rich Flash mini-site to promote its new Stylus Pro 3800 printer.

From Italy, another clear example of urban spam... there's a car parked out of the Erotika sex shop, with all the windows covered by stickers representing hard scenes, looking carefully inside the car it seems there are 6 guys, 3 boys and 3 girls, having sex. On the car's doors there are stickers saying "Toys you can't wait to use". The agency is Leagas Delaney Italia.

Boh... what shall I say? The concept reminds me too much of Candid Camera... You know, sex sells, sex grab's people attention (yes, I'm also writing about this campaign), but I find the whole thing quite weak and not very original. Would be more interesting to look at the results. How many people saw the car and then walked into the sex shop in front of it? The answer to this question would be the best evaluation of the campaign.

After a quiet and mysterious start last monday, more information gets available on the campaign around the European release of PlayStation 3. Shots.net has some interesting insights from responsible agency TBWA\London, including campaign strategies. Besides that we just have the thisisliving.tv website and a promising video. To be continued.

update: Only for PS3 players, Sony will launch a virtual Second Life kinda world called Home. Have a first look..

Tamba has recently launched an advergame to support charity organization Comic Relief. The game which is part of the "“Spread the Red" campaing so far has achieved over 130,000 plays and Comic Relief report over 28,000 clickthroughs to their donations page.

Project Nerd Buddy is the name of the online campaign Dell just launched to help promote its new remote access computer support service called DellConnect.

Jingles for Pringles isn't just a tongue twister expression, it's actually a user generated / social networking site, launched in the US and trying to cash on the popularity of American Idol.

My friends at Wysiwyg have just launched in Spain a mini-site for Mercedes C Class. They give the user one minute to discover the features of the car by clicking on a series of photographs which all together build a countdown clock. After the minute is over, you can no longer browse the site, you can decide to go through the site again (always in 1 minute) or, if you want to enjoy the car for a longer period, you can click and book a test drive.

Usability purists won't probably like the restriction which force the surfer, to navigate in one minute, but I personally appreciate the (unusual) irreverent approach for a Mercedes site.

Who said Html can no longer play great design tricks? Look at the interface OgilvyOne has just developed for the new Levi's Copper Jeans mini-site. As the copy on the homepage says, it's a site which takes you back to the basics, with an extremely simple interface: just scroll down & right to explore the page and discover an underground world.

Yes, even if I work for a Levi's director competitor, I can just kudos for the great idea which, by the way, has also the capability to present the denim in a very detailed way.

NZ Lotteries new microsite for Instant Kiwi brand scratch cards has been launched on the back of great TV spot.

The Little Thriller lets visitors create their own little thriller movie using slick animated cartoon samples and music. They are then in to win prizes and can view their work and vote on others (or their own) in the gallery.

Credits go to Lowe NZ, not bad timing as the account is currently out for pitch.

Post by: David Rhoades

Nothing to do with interactive advertising, but I thought the girls in their thirties (like me) reading Adverblog would enjoy a break with this video... I saw Music & Lyrics a few days ago, and I can't stop watching this brilliant Wham! parody :-)

And the CD is already in my shopping basket...

Are looking for more cool interactive ideas? Check the archives