curing ‘viral’

This ‘viral’ parody from Mini effectively demonstrates the brand’s irreverent personality.

However, its mockery of ‘viral’ pleases me even more.

Because ‘viral’ and ‘word-of-mouth’ are not channels; they’re results.

Unless we do something subversive, we can’t force people to behave as we want.

We can’t force people to buy the products we advertise (unless we use hypnosis); we can only hope to persuade them.

Similarly, we can’t force people to share our communications (unless we harness computer viruses).

Instead, we need to focus on creating communications that are so relevant to our audiences (by being interesting or entertaining) that they will choose to share them.

So, don’t tell me we’re going to “do a viral”.

Rather, explain to me how we’re going to inspire people to share our communications.

Seen at adverblog

killer app

Skype is coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Are the days of the network service providers numbered?

More here and here | Image from WSJ

mixed messages

KFC are proposing a deal where they fill in some of the US’s millions of road potholes, in return for the right to paint “re-freshed by KFC” over the top.

A simple way to ‘get the brand out there’, but I wonder what benefit that will deliver to KFC.

If they’d been promoting a new line of snacks that ‘filled a gap’ though… Now, that would have made sense.

Another case of the right answer to the wrong question: just because it’s a good idea, it doesn’t mean it’s the right idea.

Seen at psfk | image from Chicago Tribune

virtual control

Here’s some more controller craziness to add to the stuff from a couple of weeks back:

I haven’t quite worked out how (yet), but I know we’ll be using these in a campaign sometime soon: the opportunity to engage people and allow them to interact is too good to miss.

Seen at culturalfuel.

keeping secrets

funpresident is a collection of odd pictures that brightened my day.

But I can’t really explain what makes them so appealing.

In fact, there’s very little consistency to the ones I like.

Except, perhaps, that they all deliver something unexpected.

This gives a new perspective to a discussion I was having recently with Phil.

Maybe we’re better off not understanding how or why the irrational bit of advertising works.

Because if we knew the secret, we’d probably use and abuse it.

The results would become predictable.

Expected.

Maybe it’s better if the magic stays a mystery.

Seen at ffffound | ’secret of happiness’ image from funpresident

the invincible…

This game is one of the most addictive I’ve seen in a long time.

Best of all, the craziness of it all builds a highly distinctive brand personality, and that’s probably enough to sway me when it comes to chewing gum.

The instructions are in Spanish and French, but you’ll work them out even if you don’t speak those languages.

Note that the first screen is not the actual game – you’ll need to wait (quite a while) until it offers you the choice between Story Mode and Arcade Mode in the bottom right-hand corner.

Chloro-power!

Seen at adverblog

the bigger picture

Apart from those who work in advertising, very few people actually seek out adverts.

When people choose to interact with a piece of branded content, it’s because they’re looking for something else, such as entertainment or information.

There’s a reason millions of people have actively chosen to watch this clip:

But adverts are rarely the only source of the content that people are looking for.

So we need to see what we do in the appropriate context.

Analysing share of advertising spend is flawed, because people don’t have a separate pool of attention just for adverts.

Branded content has to compete with everything else that can deliver the same benefit.

As Ted Royer from droga5 points out, we’re up against cute animals and the weirdly compelling video of the skateboarder getting it all wrong.

We need to reward people for their attention, otherwise they won’t even notice us.

need for speed

Apparently, this is a promo for clothing designer Adam Kimmel.

I’d never heard of him before, but with this one clip, he’s got my attention, and I have a pretty good idea of the brand’s personality.

Simple.

Seen at THESCRAPBOOK

fast forward

Whether or not this recession has officially become a depression, it’s depressing.

And boring.

But apparently, we can make a difference by cheering up.

So let’s fast-forward to the good bit again.

Here’s another one of those feel-good moments to cheer you up and get you on your way:

And like Howies say,

Hope you have a good week!

Video seen at ibelieveinadv | Howies T seen at notcot

socially creative

Zooppa may just change the way the advertising creative process works.

Suddenly, everyone is free to contribute – even people who don’t work in advertising.

And the winning ideas are chosen by democracy.

In Zooppa’s own words:

“Zooppa is a space where creative minds and leading brands come together to generate innovative advertising. It’s all about expressing your ideas in your favorite medium – video, print, and web – working from guidelines provided by the brands.

Along the way you will be able to meet and connect with other creative talents, receive feedback and get noticed. And don’t forget: you are competing for some great awards!

Each competition grants awards to the community’s favorite submissions. Our members have won more than $300,000 to date!“

The site has delivered work for some top brands (e.g. Kit Kat, Mini), and some of the contributions are pretty inspiring.

Most of the contributors seem to be Italian at this stage (Zooppa is an Italian company, based near Venice), but I imagine that won’t last for long!

Find out more about the company here and here.

Seen at Ruby Pseudo