Posted: October 4, 2011 | Author: downwith30kb | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: creativity, engagement, facebook, idea generation, ideas, social media, technology |
The campaign creation process seems to be getting forever tighter with less time available to produce distinctive ideas. At the same time the industry sees and is calling for technologically driven ideas that can overcome peoples basic indifference to normal advertising and not just engage but enchant as mega Tweeter Guy Kawasaki puts it. But there is a major disconnect here right? It’s a false economy to suggest we can create distinctive campaign executions with little time. The pre-thought that goes into distinctive executions like Virgin’s recent Echo Temple as well as its execution must be vast. Ok that may be a bad example, Mini’s iPhone [ARG] game that involved users holding or stealing a virtual Mini to get an actual one is also a bad example because they were obviously tied to campaigns and massively ticked the distinctive box. But how can the industry consistently come up with ideas that are this distinctive with reduced timeframes?
What process can we follow so that distinctive ideas are common place for brands in a country like Australia? Do we employ a parallel process that explores ideas against no tactical strategic objective but instead against the brand idea itself and the aim of creating enchantment with the brand via a highly distinctive idea. Of course this route will not always yield a positive outcome, but maybe it shouldn’t be pressured to. Maybe it should be a work in progress route that if it yields something great but if it doesn’t it doesn’t jeopardize a brands broader marketing plans because normal campaign idea generation is in progress as well.
This is probably what W+K are doing with the launch of Dam Armada blogged about today in Campaign brief see ref: http://bit.ly/pyvq2H
It is also interestingly a process we are seeing more of in regards to Facebook community engagement. Ideas that are campaign agnostic and are designed in line with the brand essence but are there to engage this one audience. Like this then we may be able to invent another channel, the uber engagement channel, a channel that is like Facebook independent of campaign executions but can only be populated by ideas that are uber engaging or as Guy Kawasaki puts it enchanting.
Original campaign refs: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/virgin-mobile-freefest-the-echo-temple-installation/
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/mini-getaway-arg-game-in-stockholm-2010/
Posted: September 28, 2011 | Author: downwith30kb | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: digital, Fastlife, hotel 626, Intel Museum of Me, Lynx, personalization, technology, video for the web |
There are a lot of people in the advertising industry post Cannes talking about the need to generate ideas out of new technologies and it kind of makes sense. New technologies are in essence new channels that people havent had time to get bored of yet so they have a high chance of creating engagement. The down side is that in the maniacal hunt for the latest and greatest ideas can be past by that still work, ones that have a great story behind them like most epic ideas but are potentially overlooked because that type of execution has been done before.
Lynx have just launched their new execution entitled Fast Life which is an interactive / personalised video that uses Facebook connect to create it’s personalisation. Personalised video has been done a hundred times, indeed one of the first posts I wrote for this blog referenced Dorritos Hotel 626 which also had a personalised component back before Connect was a twinkle in the Zuck Dawg’s eye. Thing is it works, really well. Apart from the handy addition of Connect there is nothing really that new about this technology but personalised videos deliver high on user involvement and don’t require much effort on the part of the user to enjoy. Fast Life works really well because it is dead easy to use and has a great story behind/in it.
I think there is probably an ounce of the self fascination insight that drove Intel’s Museum of Me in these executions that drives it’s longevity but the point is if something has been done a hundred times it could be for good reason. Maybe we are witnessing the rise of an execution variant that lays claim to a category like bus stop billboards do for example. Personalization of the message is a pretty powerful tool so I think we’ll continue to see many more of these types of executions in the future.
Ref: http://www.lynxfastlife.com/
