Tag archives: online marketing

She has your eyes…

If you have a friend who’s a kind of gigolo, and you feel like playing a nasty trick on him, visit www.shehasyoureyes.com, and take advantage of the service the site offers. Created by Happiness-Brussels for Condooms.com, the site wants to promote the use (and consequently the purchase) of condoms using a provocative approach. Through the site you can send your friend a video message featuring a young lady claiming she had a daughter from you…

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The interrogation of Leo and Lisa

If tomorrow you feel like doing something unusual and kind of stylish online, go to leoandlisa.iwc.com, and watch Kevin Spacey playing in “The Interrogation of Leo and Lisa” for your eyes only (or something like that…). At about 4 pm CET, the site will broadcast an exclusive short play written by Spacey himself to celebrate the launch of the new IWC Da Vinci watch collection. The idea is very original, especially if we consider there’s a luxury brand behind it (the agency btw is Futurcom), which usually tend to be rather traditional in their approach to communication. In this case, they’ve managed to match a touch of tradition (theatre) with the use of online media to reach a wider/global audience. I’m sure they will definitely generate some buzz around the initiative even among those who still don’t know much about IWC (and I belong to this group…).

Durex does it again

Durex is online with a new advertainment website called “The Pants Whisperer“. If you’re behind a proxy you might not be able to see it (as in my case from work). I must say I did not find it particularly entertaining and, in some cases it’s quite rude, like in the user generated video section (is it all fake or people really submitted those videos?). The Dickorations was a much better concept.

The Penguin Gallery: get real

Personalize your cover no longer applies only to mobile phones. Publishing company Penguin is currently running an online initiative which allows readers to design the cover of six masterpieces (The Picture of Dorian Gray and Crime and Punishment among the others). The best designs will be put into production, and will become real book covers. As I already said in the past, I love this kind of marketing ideas to stimulate user generated content, as they offer people a real added value. Reward consumers with something they cannot get themselves (and always exceed expectations!). On the website they also say that, according to consumer research, when we decide whether or not to buy a book, cover design is always the most important thing. Unfortunately, I have to agree. If I don’t already know the author, and I buy a book based on the “inspiration” of the moment, the cover does play a role in affecting my choice.

Benetton talks blogs

Benetton wakes up from its online marketing limbo and comes up with an interesting blog project: Benetton Talk. It’s “a place to ponder global themes and stuff we think we all should care about. Environment, rights, diversity, local communities, development… The goal is to highlight what is too often silenced by the media noise“. Behind it, there’s of course Fabrica. I like the idea, let’s hope they keep it alive and provocative as it should be. Thanks Guillermo for the hint.

Nike, hybrid but lovely (and smart)

Nike has recently put online The Rise of the Hybrids, a series of three lovely animated webfilms to promote its Air Max 360 shoes “One Time Only”. Created by HunterGatherer, the videos are, as I said, lovely. They combine different art styles such as cubism and children book illustrations to create an animated path through evolution. I’m not sure the added value they provide to the shoes promotion, but I like them as an expression of art, and therefore as they support Nike as a brand.

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Trains & online marketing

I know it might sound like a naive comment, but it’s so nice to see more and more extremely traditional businesses, such as postal and train services embracing online marketing. Yesterday I talked about The Royal Mail in the UK and TPG Post in The Netherlands, today I will point you to what Eurostar is doing in UK and SNFC is doing in France. Eurostar has just launched blog, “Voice of a city” in which it provides insider’s views of Paris, sharing tips on how to get the most out of La Villa Lumière. Actually the blog, created by Proximity London, has been online since September last year, but I only found it out today reading NMA. Anyway, it’s good to see that after six? seven? month, they still keep it very much updated- In a way this initiative reminds me of Virgin Atlantic’s travel guides delivered as podcasts.

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New media marketing for postal services

In the UK the Royal Mail is giving customers the opportunity to personalise stamps with their own pictures. For about fifteen pounds you get 20 stamps with your own design to celebrate for any special occasion, marriage, birth or birthday. The service is call “Smilers” and of course is available online, thanks to a technology developed by Proximity London (news via Brand Republic). Also in The Netherlands the local postal service (TPG Post) has recently launched a weblog dedicated to stamps collectors. On Postzegelblog.nl (in Dutch) users can find news and information on the new stamps on the market. The weblog has no clear business plan at the moment, the idea is just to appeal potential stamps collectors and evolve accordingly.

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Nike: Join Bode

Ryan passed me the link to Nike’s Join Bode site, developed by Opus Creative together with Wieden + Kennedy Portland. Maybe it’s already a little bit late to post about it, since the Olympics are almost over, but I believe it’s still very interesting from a marketing perspective. Join Bode presents several elements which show how smart Nike is when it comes to online marketing. Just browse through the site and discover elements like: community integration with MySpace.com; video content; silly advergame but perfectly in line with the “Bode brand”; Niketown store just one click away; the tree (and Nike ID).

The Lemmings are back

How many hours did I spend as a kid playing the Lemmings videogame? I can’t tell or, better I should not tell… anyway, for anyone with a PSP, Sony has just (re)lauched the game for such platform. A mini-site (full of goodies) created by Greenroom Digital and an online campaign are supporting the launch. A viral is also part of the effort, with a video-clip featuring Lenny the Lemming.