From the UK, an unusual viral marketing idea. The British singer-songwriter Tallulah Rendall has decided to surprise and please her fans with a little gift. As explained on Cool Hunting the idea of the viral vinyl is that each person who walks through the door of Bush Hall in London on 6 August 2008 will receive a vinyl single wrapped in beautiful artwork with a little story attached. Each record comes with a unique download number that the recipient can then pass onto friends.

Surely an interesting idea that mixes the digital and the material word and definitely makes us remember that "viral marketing" or, better, "word of mouth" is actually older than the Web itself.

I realize that looking at a beer website in a hot summer night with cannot produce an objective review... but I'll give a try anyway ;-) and if you read this post until the end you'll see... The destination is the Corona Beach, (not so) recently launched by Big Spaceship.

The site is beautifully designed. And this is it. There are a few very good TV spots to watch, wallpapers to download and a gallery of print ads, nothing more than this. However everything is beautiful, sunny and saturated enough to make you wish for a beer.

Samsung just launched an online campaign to promote the supposed iPhone killer, the Samsung Instinct. First there is a campaign website including a fun product placement programm. But more innovative is the interactive short movie 'Follow Your INSTINCT', which can be watched on YouTube only. The movies are connected through YouTube annotations, which makes it the first commercial use of annotations I've seen so far. Pretty cool, simple and interactive.

As part of its Olympics campaign Coca-Cola has launched We8 a collaborative project that brought together eight artists from the East and eight musicians from the West side of the world. The idea is a collaboration to create a bottle and a track inspired to values Coke believes in.

In the UK Topshop has recently given customers the opportunity to star in their own iconic fashion shoots. Topshop created a series of temporary photo studios in three stores, using a set-up that fashion photographer Helmut Newton created thirty years ago. Customers received a print of their fashion shoot, and the images were also posted online.

If you think about it, the idea of having consumers photographed in a retail environment isn't new, but TopShop managed to it differently, adding a strong fashionable and PR angle to the idea. Helmut Newton is an icon of fashion photography and the use of The Newton Machine, is an appealing opportunity young consumers looking for "gravanity" just can't afford missing.

via Springwise.

From the UK, an curious case study about a Terminator campaign created by the guys at London 20:20. The action is a few months old now, but I'm sure you'll find it interesting anyway. Mobile played a key role in the project with an innovative GPS based mechanism that allowed users to precisely locate their friends around town.

A video explaines in details the campaign that also took advantage of a nice online media execution.

User generated content meets nanotechnology in the "This is not a jersey" project launched in New Zealand by Adidas. The concept is based and inspired around the legendary All Blacks team, tapping into the love, the passion and the loyalty to the team all Kiwis have.

The All Blacks jersey is the link between the fans and the team but it’s not only a jersey, it's also a birthright. For example, if your baby was born on the day of the All Blacks 2008 test match, then a team black jersey belongs to your baby by default or, better, by birthright.

Nokia has recently launched an interesting project that mixes charity and exclusivity. "Face the task" allows consumers to put their hands on an exclusive limited edition version of the Nokia N96 one month before the phone hits the market. There are two ways to get it: either by taking part to a quiz and then entering a draw, or directly paying an amount of 759 Euros that will directly go into the dedicated WWF account for the Red Panda conservation.

The site in itself is simple, nice and strongly video based (the agency should be Farfar). Each of the phone characteristic is told by the actions of a ninja woman in a series of videos that very much reminds of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. When you go full screen the experience gets really immersive, even if the mix of ninjas and technology may result a bit weird.

The Brazilian volley team will be surely playing for the gold at the Olympics in China and Olympikus, on of the team's sponsors, is cashing on their popularity with the launch of an impressive 3D advergame.

Visitors are invited to create their team picking from a selection of the top Brazilian players, "cartoonized" as super athlets. Before starting the game it is also possible to decide the game uniforms and the color of the ball.

My previous post about TV marketing on the Web is just 2 days old, and the BBC is here again to surprise us with another impressive spot created to promote its coverage of the Olympic Games.

As explained on the BBC website, the animated sequence, based on the classical Chinese novel, "Journey to the West", has been produced by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the men behind virtual band Gorillaz. It will feature on TV, radio, web and mobile, introducing coverage of the Games on BBC Sport - the Olympic broadcaster in the UK.

When I first read about this advergame on Creativity I thought it was a silly idea. But then I gave it a try, and I changed my mind. The Coke Zero Rooftop Racer is a simple, very well designed and developed game, that clearly demonstrates that the advergames era isn't over yet.

The game is all about keeping a Coke Zero bottle "alive" and standing on top of a car in a NASCAR race. Balance the bottle and keeping the car powered at the same time to win the challenge. If you think about it, there isn't anything cutting edge in the concept, but the game play is addictive or at least sticky, and this is enough to make it successful.

Simple (but smart) ideas always win. Kudos once again to Crispin Porter + Bogusky for the excellent work.

I am impressed by the quality of the promo the BBC has created to present its upcoming TV production dedicated to the story of Saddam Hussein and his family. The agency is Red Bee Media (+ Post), the production is by Finish.

The video has been released only a few days ago, but already some of the most popular blogs and creative websites are talking about it, and more and more people is watching it. And this makes me think of the power the Web can have in supporting TV consuption. Once again I think we can look at the Internet not as a threat but rather as TV's best friend. Not only a TV spot can send traffic to a website, the relationship can also work the other way around: an online content can push consumers to watch more TV. And the BBC piece clearly goes in this direction.

Chanel is a terribly fascinating fashion brand, and even I cannot call myself a fashion victim, I look at it with admiration and enormous respect.

Their digital presence and ideas is exactly what you expect from them: a simple yet classy presence with a touch of innovation. This is what you perceive by visiting Chanel.com, now featuring a full page video with an amazing fashion show.

From Germany, a very nice work by Syzygy to promote Mercedes' partnership with the new episode of the Chronicles of Narnia.

The design reminds me a bit too much of Get the Glass, however I still believe this is a very good website, considering that it's Flash and multi-language and, most of all, that very often brands sites associated with movies are flat and kind of insipid. Here, on the contrary, the experience is simple yet nice, and even the "usual" competition attached is presented in an interesting way.

Have you got what it takes to be a Formula 1 driver? In case you're asking yourself this question, Intel has recently launched a website that helps you finding the answer.

Developed by Hello Design the site offers a bunch of ability challenges to test your reactivity.

It's a nice branding exercise for Intel that reinforces its association with the Formula 1 world. What I like in particular is the fact that it isn't only a driving game, meaning that they put a bit of an effort in creating something different.

In 2008 the most famous lollipop brand in the world gets 50. Chupa Chups has decided to celebrate its important anniversary by launching a rich and colorful website.

A very nice animation welcomes the users on the site, taking him through the fifty years of the brand with visual political and cultural references. From the "Lolling Stones" to Bill Clinton and Pacman, from the Berlin Wall to Forrest Gump and Harry Potter, the history of world is displayed through the playful and imaginative eyes of Chupa Chups.

Developed by Nurun and launched at the end of May, the site appeals to the adult public, reminding of the moments in history they lived with a Chupa Chups. But it's also an interesting experience for the younger audience, offering a kind of light and colorful history lesson.

After the Absolut Colors campaign I posted about a few weeks ago, now it's time for a gloomy yet psychedelic yet cool Absolut 100 video recently launched in Germany.

NoMoreSleep and Timo Boese from Lowerground are behind it.

via

In Sweden Ikea and Forsman & Bodenfors are back with a crazy "in the wardrobe" experience. A great branding campaign where music plays a key role to entertain and drive further exploration of the site.

The characters in each room are weird enough to get your attention and make you wonder "what the hell is going on here?". From the superheroes to the mustached twins, Ikea seems to be able to content (and contain) everybody.

Last month Cartier celebrated the day of love (on June 19th), launching a bracelet, a charity project and a website. Several artists who have been asked "How far would you go for love?" came back with music tracks and short movies that answer the question.

Altought the contents seem to be quite cool, the site looks pretty flat, and not emotional at all. The interface and the animations aren't able to create an atmosphere, they're just boxes filled with contents, but they aren't able to make you feel the love around. Love is a great subject to create a digital project around, but here Cartier definitely missed an opportunity :-(

Wall-E will debut at the end of the month in The Netherlands, and to promote it Disney & Pixar have launched a local version of the movie website working together with Jongenlui.

The site isn't particularly cool as it looks like an old good and flat JPG, however the advergames section makes the difference with four very nicely developed games. In particular, have a look at the addictive "pop-up game".

via.

If you enjoy bubbles and screensavers, make sure to check out this website launched by Honda in Japan. I don't understand what's its final purposeis (promoting a car? just branding for consumers with kids?), but the "build your screensaver" functionality looks nice.

And a free screensaver to customize and download is definitely a very good reason to visit a site.

PS: do I really have to specify that I'm kidding? ;-)

In Japan, Sony Ericsson has launched a new phone with changeable colored covers and of course there is a website to support it. Have a look because the anmations on the homepage are very beautiful and inspiring (for designers).

Armies around the world are taking online recruitment very seriously, even more than brands I would say. The latest example I'd like to share with you comes from The Netherlands, where the Luchtmacht has recently launched an online experience to unveil its world to the young Dutch.

The website is absolutely amazing. I can't say whether it really depicts the reality of the Dutch Airforce, but I know that if their goal was to impress young users, the results is surely impressive, at least from a Flash/design point of view.

Converse has a new site or, better, has a series of new mini-sites on air since a couple of days as part of its "Connectivity" campaign. Everything starts at Thisistheindexpage.com where users are presented with a long lists of links to short stories and small interactive pieces (check out for example ConverseSpellingBee.com for a Google related action). After each story visitors are taken to the official Converse site where a new, music inspired experience begins, featuring Julian Casablancas, Pharrell and Santogold.

DDB New Zealand has created a witty Tv campaign to promote Cadbury muesli bars and, at the same time, respect for nature. I like the old style animations that remember me of Disney movies such as Cinderella and Whitesnow.

However I especially appreciate the educational approach of the campaign that results spontaneous and amusing enough to deliver the message even to small kids. A good series of ads to promote the product and most of all position the brand in the "green light".

YouTube partner Corry Williams (SMP Films) just released 'Choose Your Path': a homemade interactive hunt for his cat Sparta. Using the YouTube platform and it's tools like annotations you'll have to find the shortest way to Sparta. Williams uploaded 64 films, covering different routes within his own house, so it might take a while before you'll get there. But that can't spoil the fun of this innovative and very low budget way of using YouTube's video tools. I guess it's only a matter of time before we will see some branded versions come by.

Annotations is not working yet in embedded video's, so you have to visit the one on YouTube itself.

In Germany Volkswagen has launched a futuristic website to explain its eco-friendly approach to car-engineering. Everything is in German, but the site is visual enough to allow you having a good overview of the project even if you don't speak the language.

At first sight everything looks very nice and well designed. However if you spend one more minute on the site you realize there is no interactivity (if it's there I wasn't able to find it), it's just storytelling or, better, brand preaching about what they do or will do to produce eco-friendly cars. In my opinion it's a lost occasion, their online project is a good idea, but it's a pity they missed the chance to build a minimum connection with the public. What do you think?

The agency is ArgonautenG2.

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