Because we all got into marketing to have a little fun mixed in with our business (come on admit it, you did too), we will highlight marketing fun on our blog every Monday. Follow and contribute and you will become an inspired marketer plus the most interesting conversationalist at your next cocktail party, all courtesy Something Massive – #MonFun.
Monday Funday returns this week highlighting the work of the smart folks over at Method who are good at finding lots of fun and effective ways of hocking their soap. Sometimes controversial, always buzz-worthy, Method makes a big splash with a relatively small budget over and over again.
Take this spot, Shiny Suds, that Method aired in October. The point of the video is that you don’t really know what’s in your cleaner and that congress should mandate full disclosure of all of the chemicals that a typically marketed cleaner contains. The ad closes by touting peopleagainstdirty.com, a microsite that details the initiatives currently in the House and Senate addressing the need for greater transparency on home cleaners. AdAge reported that crowd at the Association for National Advertisers, where the ad was debuted, seemed to love the ad. A group of feminists was less impressed. Method pulled the ad but of course in our virally-charged marketplace, the creative piece lives on. I for one am not offended and I think the point is most excellently delivered. Buckets of fun right here:
Next the Method folks decided to have a little fun with their big-budget competition in Clorox. Recently, Clorox filed a cease and desist letter with Method over use of the yellow daisy image which Method has incorporated into its packaging and advertising for the last 6 years, long before the Clorox GreenWorks line was introduced. In response to the letter, Method has launched a microsite votedaisy.com where visitors are encouraged to decide who should own the daisy, Method, Clorox or Mother Nature.
Both of these initiatives drive to peopleagainstdirty.com where visitors are encouraged to contact their local representatives and urge the bills to pass. Method also touts their “cleaner clean” positioning and talks about the need for transparency. Method qualifies for Monday Funday status because they so skillfully use levity to call attention to serious matters and of course sell their soap. Method has just introduced their Laundry line and we can’t wait to see what viral initiative gets launched next.
Method, if you are listening, Something Massive is picking up what you are putting down. Way to get your point across and make us chuckle a little bit too. We salute you!
Because we all got into marketing to have a little fun mixed in with our business (come on admit it, you did too), we will highlight marketing fun on our blog every Monday. Follow and contribute and you will become an inspired marketer plus the most interesting conversationalist at your next cocktail party, all courtesy Something Massive – #MonFun.
One of our very favorite marketers, Scion, announced their latest marketing innovation this morning. “Reinvent the Wheels” is a 6-part web-only reality series that chronicles the journeys of 6 creatives as they build a car that will further their creative craft and push the boundaries of self-expression. Scion has lined up tattoo artist ZULU to serve as a mentor and three tuners from famed garages to help bring the vehicles to life. True to the reality format, surprise challenges will give the contestants the opportunity to win additional time to put toward customizing their car.
You can watch the trailer here. For Scion, this is a perfect expression of their brand which has always sought to highlight and support indie creative, and of course to underscore the ultra-customization that Scion enables and encourages. And watching the series won’t feel at all like watching an ad. That’s fun.
Of course, content like this that is produced by brands is not entirely new. Although some brands adopted the format several years ago, we believe that only now are the stars aligning to make these kinds of initiatives a viable and effective means of marketing. The web has become a destination for entertainment – even beyond the 30 second funny video on YouTube – with the popularity of sites like Hulu. Plus, even despite the crazy proliferation of cable channels, the web remains the very best place to find niche content opportunities that speak directly to an individual’s taste and interests. Now brands can bring the kind of niche content that a movie studio or television network wouldn’t take a chance on to an audience perfect for their product or service. And if it’s popular enough, who know what format that content might take next – book, television, or big screen. It has been our experience that these kinds of opportunities are ripe for the taking, IF a marketer has a team on their side who understands the intricacies of creating compelling programming and distributing it via the web. We’ve got that know-how so reach out if you’d like to talk some more.
Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai’s heads must be spinning. These dudes are the founders of Foursquare (a site that has just hit it’s 1-year anniversary) and the news those two and their nifty company has generated since the beginning of the year is astonishing. From releases for new devices, to deals with major media and entertainment brands like Bravo!, Zagat, Warner Bros, HBO, History Channel, Canada’s Metro, and The New York Times , to copy-cat style strikes from more established services like Yelp, to the launch of a new dashboard to better serve business customers, to an integration with Bing maps; I can imagine that there’s never a dull moment at the Foursquare offices in New York.
Not to mention that in just one year, they have amassed half a million users, awarded 1,000,000 badges, located 1.4 million venues with 1,200 offering specials to Mayors, and clocked 15.5 million check ins.
Have your ears perked up yet? Although it’s hard to jump on the bandwagon of every single new technology launch out there, this one looks to have some staying power. Location-based marketing is a big trend for 2010 thanks to Foursquare, with the potential to revolutionize the way we calculate ROI on social media initiatives.
The best example so far comes from Tasti-D-Lite which offers the option to link their loyalty program to FourSquare and Twitter. Users who make the connection (and therefore have their visits to Tasti-D-Lite automatically broadcast to their networks) will receive additional loyalty points above and beyond the typical award with purchase.
Just last week, Starbucks jumped on board with an experimental new rewards program. Their barista badge is available for 5 Starbucks checkins and further, more targeted, rewards are in the works to keep the checking in rolling.
These are interesting developments that are good for marketers large and small … and good for Foursquare. I love that with this platform, the local coffee shop has just has much of an opportunity to reward their customers as does Starbucks, even if it may require a little extra ingenuity in the part of the local guys. And I know I’ll be even more apt to broadcast my whereabouts if marketers will reward me.
We’ve got our sights set on some big-name retailers and sponsors of large-scale events to test location-based strategies. Imagine the opportunities for feedback on in-store experiences, referrals to new locations or experiences, and rewards for loyalty. Real-time notification that your best customers are in the proximity of your brand brings all kinds of interesting opportunities to bear. I guess Dennis and Naveen aren’t the only ones with their heads spinning!
Because we all got into marketing to have a little fun mixed in with our business (come on admit it, you did too), we will highlight marketing fun on our blog every Monday. Follow and contribute and you will become an inspired marketer plus the most interesting conversationalist at your next cocktail party, all courtesy Something Massive – #MonFun.
Mad Men has been a huge success with AMC, no doubt. Based on purely anecdotal evidence, I would venture that the advertising industry is leading the way. I know few advertising pros who don’t obsess over each episode of the highly-acclaimed drama. Now, AMC in a very fun move is extending the Mad Men mania with a line of Barbies from Mattel. Don, Betty, Roger and Joan will be fantastic in plastic when the dolls become available in June.
I’ve got to imagine that this is more of a PR move than an income generator. There’s a great article from the New York Times that goes into some detail about how Barbie and Man Men make great partners (not the least of which is the fact that Barbie’s debut was during the Mad Men era). The article does mention that fans of Mad Men will appreciate Mattel’s attention to detail. Which only leaves me wondering where Joan’s curves are and why I don’t see any cigarettes or cocktail glasses as accessories. I’ll give Mattel the benefit of the doubt on leaving out Mad Man’s most famous vices (sex enters the equation with the inclusion of Roger and Joan). But the curves, for the sake of all women and girls, really ought to be there.
Regardless, kudos to AMC and Lionsgate for a fun angle on promoting their Mad Men. Nice way to think outside of the box! Time will tell if it will draw additional audiences for the fourth season. I know I’ll be tuning in!
I swear we are not iPad obsessed. But we do think the tablet computer is about to be here in a big way and that it will again shape the way people consume media. The magazine industry is one area in particular where we think the iPad and future generations of the Kindle will really shine. Remember a few years ago when everyone said that magazines were here to stay because people liked the portability and the tactile experience of flipping through them? Insert the tablet computer into this equation and portability and tactile experience take on a whole new meaning.
VIVmag is an online luxury magazine targeted at professional women, 35+ with substantial HHI. Check out this amazing motion magazine cover and feature spread demo that photographer Alexx Henry and Co-Directors Cory Stassburger and Ming Hsuing produced to showcase how magazine content gets a whole new lease on life when it’s considered in the context of something like an iPad. Very fabulous indeed.
You can read more and get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the spread on Alexx Henry’s blog right here.
As an advertiser, I can just imagine the advertorial experiences that we could create to put a brand in the palm of user’s hand and make interactions truly enjoyable and integrated. Awesome.
