Copenhagen Zoo bus wrap

I'm a huge believer in using what your have to the full extent of your creativity. Advertising in its digital form is often considered to offer almost limitless boundary for creativity given the technology at our disposal.

This can be said of large takeovers or widgets or apps. But what about the simple formats - the formats we see every day. When was the last time a banner COMMANDED your attention?

Just because its simple doesn't mean it cant be effective. Marrying creative concept with delivery vehicle (in this case - the literal sense of the word)is crucial to success.

So when was the last time you saw a simple Bus wrap which took your breath away..?


This is insane...in a good way... (Via bbcicecream)

(The wrap illusion is so convincing it looks like a huge prop is actually attached to the bus. Apologies to anyone who feels patronised but I genuinely wasnt sure if everyone stumbling on this would get it at first glance! -including me)

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Pharrell Williams (Is it the shoes???)

Say what you like about him but Pharrell Williams is one of the most creative, entrepreneurial people in the world...

Having a few entrepeneurial ventures myself, I find the interview below quite intriguing.

Not everyones cup of tea... "if you have a good idea, and the right team around you dont wait, go ahead and do it" his portfolio proves this works...

Guys with this creativity and drive inspire me so I had to blog...

Enjoy.. (or not)

John

SIDEBAR: Fwd to 34:15 for Pharells opinion on how digital is shaping the music industry now and in the future...

Pharrell Keynote at MIDEM 2010 from thecashmerethinker on Vimeo.

Pharells Murakami collaboration from the Pop Life exhibition at the Tate 2 weeks ago... (taken on my rubbish iPhone camera)

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Back with a bang... MySpace and Adidas Originals

OK so I havent blogged in a long time. Steak has been quite the hive of activity of late and whilst Twitter has been my main outlet my blog is looking lonely and bereft.

I thought I would come back with a bang citing two of my favourite campaigns of late from mySpace and Adidas. The common denominator here is that they both use Facebook Connect...I plan to post on this very soon.

MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/fanvideo

This is the most impressive custom video viral I have ever seen. Personalised videos always impress... remember this from glue? http://aveaword.glueserv.com/ But the problem is that they have always looked choppy and well...fake. This was never an issue with the concept (which like Mini was almost always well planned out) but moreover it was an issue with the technology at the time.

Well fret no longer... give it a go. Log in with Facebook connect to witness the power...

Adidas Originals: Star Wars edition
http://www.adidas.com/campaigns/deathstar/content/Default.aspx?cc=en&site=size

Dear Adidas... you can do no wrong in my eyes... I am consistently impressed by your product innovation, your campaign concepts, your digital/social/guerrilla marketing endeavours and your holistic approach to communications which ties it all together. As a fan, you give me what I want and I love you for it.

Also check out... Adidas Video Viral: (Love the soundtrack)

(PS. Thanks to Kamil Yadallee over at MEC Global for sharing the links)

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Excellent Volkswagen Viral

Can we make people choose the stairs by making it more fun to do?

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Excellent Axe Print to Mobile to Outdoor...Day and Night

I came across this campaign from Axe last night and being the Ad geek that I am I had to log it here.

The picture says a thousand words really but the idea is that when you see the print ad you are intrigued enough to want to complete the ad on the page.

The call to action is simple: "To complete this ad send AXE to 2345 after 9pm" upon which you are sent the remaining pieces of the puzzle...

There has been a bit of buzz around the fact that this Ad is not revealing enough and is almost an anticlimax of sorts possibly frustrating the audience?

To me, thats missing the point, here are a number of reasons I love this ad...(Im sure I am only scratching the surface here)

• The print ad has now become somewhat accountable via mobile
• The ad has opened the opportunity for data collection and re-targeting
• The engaged user has invited the brand into the most personal digital space they have in their posession (I give kudos to any brand who can do this successfully)
• The concept is 'on-brand' ie. the user can only engage at night (Day and Night campaign)
• The campaign has the 'cool factor' in that its innovative and clever enough to create a buzz - something that has clearly happened online

I also found this shot of AXE's outdoor endeavours for the Day and Night Campaign...


Again, great stuff.

To me this is an inspirational campaign and has already given me ideas for my clients which I would develop from this. Big kudos to Lowe Ginko the agency responsible.

Update: Lowe Ginko site seems to be down at the time of posting

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When advertising goes too far... DVLA, Castrol and Outdoor

When I initially heard about this I genuinely thought it was pretty genius.

Oil is pretty boring and lets face it anything innovative or clever usually gets my vote.

So I did have to catch myself on a little bit when I considered the full implications of this campaign and think about this more as a battle of Innovation vs Ethics. Just because you can do it doesnt mean you should.

Sometimes I feel the public can be a little over-sensitive about the data protection issue. For instance I never really understood the Fear Factor that Phorm raised within people. Maybe its because I'm pretty familiar with how behavioural targeting actually works but I just didnt get what the problem was. But thats for another day... In terms of this campaign however, its pretty obvious what the problem is here: its the sale of public data without their permission.

So unfortunately for me... Innovation 0 Ethics 1

Full Story here

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I like this...

(Via Coolhunting)

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Cool Digital Outdoor (Nikon)

Im a bit late... but had to blog it.

The red carpet is an amazing touch. We dont see enough of this in London for my liking. Could it be due to London Transport restrictions?

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Louis Vuitton campaigns hailed as 'Digital Genius'

Anyone who knows me will remember I am a huge Louis Vuitton fan. For me it is the height of luxury meeting design and I am fortunate enough to own a couple of pieces.

What I like about LV is that they are not afraid to try new things. For one of the oldest most established fashion houses in the world that has got to be respected. (See QR code above)

So I wasnt too suprised to hear that New York Universitys Stern School of business hailed the brand as Digital Genius...


Im not sure some of these other luxury brands will be use to being defined as 'average' and 'feeble' but in the Luxury Vertical it seems some brands dabble while others just 'GET' Digital.

Download the full report here

See some excellent Louis Vuitton Digital Strategy here

All comments welcome.

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Augmented Reality on Iphone... Bionic Eye

Whilst reading this article from Revolution I couldnt help but admire the business model of this iPhone App Bionic Eye.

The app is charged at £0.59p and will surely fly for the sake of the cool factor... but I imagine that the brands on this app will have to pay to be included (if they havent already).

Win win... I think I will download it later.

Also interesting to think... could we call this virtual out door?????? :)

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