It's time to discover the Spring/Summer collections, so let's start a journey through fashion brands websites. The first stop is in Germany, to have a look at the "tailor" approach to online communication by Windsor.
I like the visual choice in designing the interface and I also appreciate the mix of photos and video to present the collections.
From Japan, a very good project that mixes branding and e-commerce in a smart and creative way. The PlayMuji calendar displays everyday a different product, with a video that either shows its characteristics, how to use it or simply provides you with a closer look into its shapes.
You can only discover a product per day, but of course the archive is always available to browse. A nice goodie is also offered: you can download the screensavers that replicates the website.
In The Netherlands, Skoda is running a fun and very interactive campaign to promote their renewed Octavia models. Through a campaign website they made it possible to control a real car. On several locations throughout Holland, the car is parked, and then controlled and viewed by the internet audience. If you have a spare moment between 09.30 and 18.30 (CET), you should definitely give it a try or at least watch the live stream. (To play along, use the green horn button on the opening page)
Cadburry is getting famous for its weird but striking commercials. I'm sure y'all remember the Gorilla ad, and maybe even the trucks commercial. All on courtesy of A Glass And A Half Full productions. Just released is the follow up called Eyebrow Dance - which is pretty much what is is. But it's good!
Three Drunk Monkeys in Sydney have changed the way banks speak to customers via webisodes based on the current financial climate. They are produced in a 'tongue in cheek' way but also contain essential finance information in simple everyday speak. The first one is up now.
You have something to say to the President of the United States? Then you can upload your video to Dear Mr. President, a nice action coming from Pepsi and R/GA.
This is an advergame for the boys out there who always dreamt of driving a truck (at least for a day). The Swedish developers at Muskedunder Interactive have created a game for Volvo Trucks to experience the challenges of driving a truck.
The game is very nicely developed (although the game screen is way to small) and has a good mix of realism and playability, which explains why it has been played over 40000 times in less than 4 days.
After the successful "I need to go" online campaign launched by ING Direct about one year ago, the bank is back with a new project characterized by sense of humour and a smart use of the digital media..
The amusing idea Emakina came up with consists of a website that becomes "alive" thanks to the performance of a bunch of actors. I doesn't make much sense for me to explain it, you should just have a look and see yourself :-)
I first reached iPro last December but i hadn't visited it since then, so i got really surprised this morning when i found out how much content is containing right now. In a few words, iPro is, above all, a series of interviews with interactive producers working in many different interactive agencies telling what they do, how they became producers or their backgrounds and inspirations.
An interesting approach that demonstrates that the most important thing to work in the interactive field is not where you're from but being able to learn something new everyday and a lot passion for your work.
By: daniel // Permalink // Comment(s): Category(s):Agencies & people
I'm following Obama's inauguration using this app done by CNN, kind of cool that you can feed your Facebook newsfeed and see others' so there's a logged conversation about the whole event.
Update: There's also a new (and functional and beautiful) White House site.
ps: i was wondering about the clickthrough for that Vestas banner in the right corner of the page, ha!
I love tactical marketing actions as they are so much able to reinforce the coolness of a brand. Ikea latest action is a great example of smart tactical marketing. In the US they launched a guerrilla action and a website riding the way of Obama's arrival at the White House.
The idea is simple: when you move into a new home, you'd like to furnish it according to your style and personal living needs. Well, if you go on EmbraceChange09, you can pretend to be Obama for a few moments, and organize the Oval Office the way you want.
In Japan Sony has launched a new, beautiful website to promote its Cam recorder. It's a virtual experience of a child's growth documented with a Handycam.
The video experience is somehow poetic and sligthly interactive. While you watch the video, you can select your favorite moments and record them. The ending of the movie will be different depending on the scenes you've selected.
Sorry for the self-promotion post but this is a project that we were eager to talk about since October, when we started to work on it here at Grupo W. "Detective Stripes" is the main website in our new global campaign for the Rexona brand of Unilever, telling a day in the life of Stripes, a detective who could be the coolest of his neighborhood but he isn't because of a really particular problem that makes him living in frustration.
Hope you like it, we also posted a little further information about the making-of :)
The Epica Awards have been assigned recently. Among the others, you should have a look at the winner for the best mobile marketing campaign. The agency is one of my favourites, Forsman & Bodenfors very well know for a lot of cool things done on the Web for Ikea. This time they worked for AMF Pension with the aim to encourage people to start thinking about their pension while they were still relatively young.
Outdoor advertising invited passers-by to take a picture of themselves with their mobile phones and to MMS it to the pension-provider. A few minutes later AMF sent back a picture showing how the person might look when they are 70 years old.
Taylor Momsen (from Gossip Girl TV series) escaping from paparazzi... in this viral intended video made by Nike (some comments for the video are hilarious and worth reading as people discuss whether it's advertising for Nike or for a movie-videogame)
Although the "upload-your-photo" thing is everywhere these days i found really funny this site called "I am 60" that Puma has just released to celebrate their 60th anniversary. So upload your photo once again and then you'll be able to play with 60 years of hairstyles, tops and accessories; i decided to go kind of grunge today, ha!
In the UK the COI and Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) have just launched a mobile drama series to teach teenagers the importance of using condoms. After signing up on Thmbnls' website users will start following the 22 weeks long series. Every Friday they will receive an sms to download and watch the latest 60" episode.
Thmbnls talks about the lives of 6 teenagers touching issues such as sex, unwanted pregnancy and sexually and transmitted infections.
After stunning cases such as "Big shadow" or "Rec You", japanese agency GT Tokyo can be considered as having one of the most original approaches on digital ways of communication.
I think this campaign called Love Distance that they created last November for Sagami Original is fantastic too. Sagami produces the thinnest condom in the world (0.02mm thin) and to promote this they created a story about two lovers living in Fukuoka and Tokyo respectively, separated 1000 kilometers from each other. To prove their love, they run to meet on Christmas Eve.
Toyota Europe has recently launched a virtual test drive for its IQ model.
The website, created by the flash gurus at North Kingdom and Illianced allows users to drive the car through a futuristic landscape while discovering the main car features.
The website is very nicely developed with a clean and simple design however, in my opinion, the experience results a bit too cold and "anesthetized". Especially when you try to sell a city car, I think you should play a bit more with positive/amused feelings.
In the UK Lynx has launched an amusing online campaign to promote its fragrances. The concepts features sexyness back in the prehistoric era and is also brought to life through a Tv campaign.
In the UK Nokia is online with a new website to present its E71 model. Wieden + Kennedy and Hi-res! are the agencies which commissioned four films to bring to life the concept of "Beautiful Connections" that characterizes the phone.
The result is a website made of four very beautiful videos and not much else. What I mean by this is that weirdly enough, the information about the mobile phone is almost non existent on the site. You get only two images of its design and that's it.
I have contrasting feelings about marketing initiatives that mix art and advertising. As usual I have a very pragmatic approach, and I appreciate and understand them only when the brand and the product fit the artwork. In Nokia's case the video do a nice job in visualizing the idea of beautiful connections, but the website lacks the step further not connecting the phone with the same idea. What do you think? Am I too radical in my opinion? Or am I too conservative thinking that adding technical information about the phone will banalize the experience?
Lactacyd makes products for intimate care and I don't know for sure but I think that this video should be going viral in the next few days:
The final copy reads: "Your vagina is vulnerable, Lactacyd helps protect" (as i translated from Google Translate, but if you speak Dutch and it doesn't say that please let me know to update!)
Is a free Whopper worth as to remove ten of your friends from Facebook? That is the new dilemma raised by Burger King called Whopper Sacrifice (thanks Ne and sorry Pit, i needed somebody just to test :P)
The Never Hide campaign for Ray-Ban has been very successful so far with several very viral video's. You'll probably remember the guy that catches glasses with his face and the same guy that is bobbing for glasses. This time the video goes one step weirder. See for yourself!
Done by Unit9 and Ruby and based on the fact that some people turn into embarrassing characters when they drink too much, Heineken launched this experience site called "Know the signs" last December to recommend a moderate use of alcohol during Christmas.
Hey! happy new year everybody! Not about interactive itself but i found this interesting: Do you think that there should be a category awarding the best practices to make this world a better place? Then maybe you're interested in supporting this initiative called Humanitarian.
