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December 11, 2009

2009 Agency & Client Xmas Cards

Last Updated: Jan 4, 2010: Now with 130+ Advertising Agency Christmas Ecards. Newest submissions on top

It's that time again, yes Christmas time and instead of doing the xmas ecard round up at the end we're going to be regularly updating this post as we go.

Last year we collected over 170 Christmas ecards and the page was a huge success (well 56 comments and 20,000+ views isn't bad) so get in early and submit your agency or client xmas cards.

How to submit? email us at submit @ bannerblog .com.au after you have checked your card is not already in the list.

Note: Some links borrowed/stolen from a variety of places like theFWA.com, CR Blog & Ad Rants.

Ad Freak has also done it's Best & Worst list. We don't want to be as bold as to call some bad, so we'll let you decide the good from the bad.

So much for the GFC with agencies and clients spending big on holiday ecards.

Michelle Runowski: Holiday Papercrafts
Illustrator Michelle Runowski & David Fasullo have put together some cute Papercraft Reindeer.
VB&P: Emote-A-Matic 2600pro
Points taken off for not providing a video demo of the experience. Glad to see Venebles Bell & Partners also incuding Scientology in the holiday mix :)
TBWA Toronto: Sounds of an agency
I'm sure most clients miss the money-grabbing, whining ineptitude of their creative agency over the holidays. With this soundboard, it's like they never left. Thanks guys. From TBWA Toronto.
Lean Mean Fighting Machine: The iFinger
Now you can use your iPhone as a paperweight too. Is there nothing they can't do?
I can't help thinking there should be some kind of middle finger easter egg hidden in this app somewhere (probably wouldn't pass muster at Apple). From Lean Mean Fighting Machine. Click on the image to link directly to the Appstore.
Small Army: The agency Christmas card
A video featuring all of the pain involved in creating an agency Christmas card with a subtle Spinal tap reference. From Small Army.
LBi: Mobile Mobile - A Christmas Collaboration
A very sweet little rendition of a popular Christmas tune (I remember hearing it first in Home Alone). Mobiles put to good use by LBi.
There's also an interactive version of the mobile tree available to play with here
Start: Drag the hat
Win a bottle of Champagne by correctly guessing which of their staff is hanging around in the backstreets of Soho dressed as Father Christmas. From Start Creative.
Katapult: Story
A bit of Christmas storytelling from Katapult in Derby, UK.
Weapon7: Rehab Reindeer
Call him - and save him from a nervous breakdown by telling him the great things about Christmas. From Weapon7.
24: North Pole
Front runner for my fav this year from Rebel Virals.
Mother London's $10,000 Spam Charity
Because 6,260GBP doesn't sound as sexy as $10,000 USD!But it's hard to be cynical when the money goes to a good cause. Nice one Mother.

Mental note: Never donate via credit card or regular donations. You get much better milage from a briefcase filled with small notes and a video camera.
Wave Goodbye to 2009 with Google Wave
Whirled have put together quite a solid video here.

Old School New School Rap
This was a receipe for disaster but Goodby pulled it off.
Mini Tell-It-Like-It-Is Mini Christmas Paper Maker
Make your own honest wrapping paper this year
Stache the Halls
All you need is a webcam and a face to make this work from Berstein-Rein.
Maytag Holidays
Tough brief for a Washing Machine. Similar to the RRG Group's vehicle music mixer but this is produced better.
Happy Kissmas
Get kissed by Volume.

I was waiting for a H1N1 punchline that never came.
Paper Tree
Reactive get all Oragami on our asses.
Bud Light Xmas Clothes
Get your Bud Light into the holiday spirit from Tribal DDB Dallas.
Xmas Ecards Througout the Years
Uranium Interactive take a look back at previous Xmas Ecards. No dancing baby in a santa hat for 1997 though so marks deducated.
Have a low-fi, upbeat xmas from Raw Nerve
Raw Nerve have a deal that can never sing in the same room as each other.
A Holiday Story
Congruent Media give the gift of reading this xmas.

Note: Legally no CEO/GM/ECD can appear in an Xmas message to staff without a santa hat. This is in complete vialoation.
Junkers Hot and Cold
Leo Burnett Lisboa help spruik hot water systems this Christmas for Junkers.
Echtzeit Xmas Message
Overheard in the meeting "and it must be in a popup window for maximum effect"
Augmented Xmas
I couldn't get this to work but they had this video version which I guess is similar to the Augmented Reality Ecard. Sorry Item49.
Send 2009 Out With A Bang
Finally someone else who hates penguins! Kindred spirits with Circul8.
Holidize Me
Add some holiday cheer to any site (not flash) thanks to Pop Art.
Interactive Staff Drunkard
It is true that Asians can't hold their liqur that well but seems a bit mean of The Furnace to singling the poor guy out :)
Spoon In With Santa
Oh it's a game. I thought I was going to snuggle up next to Santa. Maybe next year Element?
Al Fresco Xmas Greeting
A+B new open space office is nice.
Google Street View Carolers
Only seems to accept US address. 14|Four probably can't afford the flights to Australia.
A Real Nutcracker
Snapshot keep it very simple this year.
The Holiday Music Inpiration Tree
Level Studios support the VH1 Save The Music Foundation and show how powerful music is.
Naughty or Nice
Nurun let you discover which staff have been naughty or nice.
Milking 2009
JWT laugh in the face of the GFC by spending a bucket on their animated holiday ecard.
Pee Card
Extreme Group make sure the yellow snow % of this year's ecards is even with 2008.
Holiday Cheer Old Town Style
I drank a 40 of Holiday Cheer condures up a totally different image than what I see here. Thanks EROI for leaving a bad taste in my mouth :)
Saucer Sled Champion
Tiger Woods makes another cameo. taking him to the celebrity of the Xmas Ecard year. Fathom have put their own top ecard list together here.
Xmas Illusions
Perception show some optical illusions in the hope you won't notice their crappy xmas card.
Experience The Holiday
Behold as we talk down to our stupid clients about the wonders of Augmented Reality. Pay attention you simple minded fools it's RAD!

That snarky comment aside this is one of the more elaborate Augmented Reality examples this year.
Mastercard Pricess Gift Finder
Surprizingly this is the only gift finder featured (so far).

TV spots below explaining the reason for the celebrities on the homepage.

Insert Topical Joke Here > Not getting Tiger Woods to support your Holiday promotion. Priceless

Guest Chefs
Custom Media Labs donated their time as a Guest Chef for the Ronald McDonald House but then also spent a shit load of time making a site to celebrate the fact?
DJ Antler & Lil' Hoof
I was loosing interest until the Santa Babes entered the picture. This one was by too many people to mention so check the footer on the link.
Christmas Room
It's a room filled with stuff from Masterminds!
The Charity Tree
A tree with balls from MRM.
Winter Wunderland
Daddy!!! that snowman is scary....

Personal Xmas Music Generator
The title is the only think I understand. Can anyone from DM9 or Portuguese speakers explain what he is singing?
The Story of the Christmas Krampus
A cautionary tale for naughty girls and boys based on an old Austrian legend via the medium of puppets brought to you by Firehouse.
Santa's New Sleigh from GE
The Barbarian Group rework Santa's Sleigh for 2010 and beyond for GE with OLED lights, sodium batteries and other energy saving innovations.
Courier Pigeon Message
This&That get their craft on for this christmas ecard.
Client Service Announcement
Iris move fast by taking a stab at the Publicis, Russo Group and LMFM ecards
Anyone else know the other agency in this video?

RATM for Christmas No.1
I love these "grass roots" campaigns. This one lets you "stick it to the man" and also help charity.

Not only is Shelter supporting it but RATM have announced if they go #1 they will play a free concert in London. THANKS FOR YELLING IT TOM!!!

From Shelter
"A grassroots campaign to get Rage Against the Machine’s track ‘Killing in the Name Of’ to number one is raising tens of thousands of pounds for Shelter this Christmas.

A Facebook group was started by Tracy and Jon Morter to encourage people to buy the track and avoid the X Factor monopoly of the number 1 spot. Within days, the group had over half a million members.

Tracy and Jon are asking members to make a Christmas donation to Shelter when they buy the track. To date, they’ve raised a grand total of £52,000 through their Justgiving page, and the figure is rising all the time."

Karren Im Dreck by Scholz & Volkmer
I'm guessing it translates to Santa in Peril or Stuck in Mud both. The production on this is fantastic.

And the winner of best lead role in a Santa suit or Elf Costume goes too....

Secret Invention
Damashek Consulting are back this year with a new puzzle game and augmented reality toy. I was able to solve the game but for those that can't it leads you to this URL where you can preview the augmented reality toy.

I preferred the game.

Coca-Cola Xmas Europe
Also from S&V this site has 3 main sections. Decorate your area with Google Maps, wallpaper maker with upload photo and an iPhone app with the same functionality. I was surprised there was so much activity in Sydney also. Here is the Soap office decorated.
Santa's Problem from Winiary
No idea what's going on here (any Polish speakers?) I guess Santa needs some seasoning for an xmas feast?

If I could wish anything this xmas it would be for this Santa to take acting lessons.
Studio Output's Xmas Screensaver
Counting down to Xmas
TAC Christmas Montage
On December 10th 1989 the first TAC commercial went to air. In that year the road toll was 776; by last year it had fallen to 303.

A five minute retrospective of the campaigns produced by the TAC over the last 20 years has been compiled. The montage features iconic scenes and images from commercials that have helped change they way we drive, all edited to the moving song Everybody Hurts by REM.

Everyone loves a montage. Add a laugh track to this and you have Australia's Sickest Home Videos.

Fallon Gift Wrapped
Festive fun at the Fallon UK office
Wish-O-Matic from BUT
I wished for a sound off button but didn't get it :)
#NewYearsResolution from AKQA
Resotweetion is a registered trademark of AKQA
Bling A King from Lowe London
My only question is why did each king need it's own Twitter account?
Why, why, why?
Taxi's Thoughts on 2010
Taxi talk about what they think 2010 will be about
Monzie & Grimes for Th1ng's Xmas
I have a soft spot for softies. These two must be Th1ng's own characters as they have also done a series of these animations on their Youtube channel.
Postit Tree
The Hallway boast one of the tallest cameramen in the industry as seen here.
The Big Xmas Idea
The other Engine Digital guys weren't even writing down all the gold spilling out of this guys mouth!

3 words:
New
Career
Comedy
A Way to A Manger
Agency Republic release an iPhone app to help you locate your Manger after a usual English pub session. Download the app here.

The video on their agency site also have the lyrics here.

Note to agencies: Don't set up your Agency site as the Xmas page as come January all the links will break. Oh I see you want people to click to your agency site. Sneaky bastards!

Update: Cancel the angry mob! I have the video!
Fairy Lights Electric Chair
Strategem will donate money to charity for every person shocked this xmas.
Nissan UK Jingle Beep
Sorry TMW I gave the game my best shot but I'm so used to Guitar Hero coming at me from top down I could hardly play this side on version.
Infiniti's Smooth Jazz Season's Greetings
TMW also did this quick little card for Infiniti the luxury version of Nissan.
CC's Winter Wonderland
The Russo Group put this together for CC's. They also have their radio ads for CC's on the official Youtube page.

It reminds me of their Christmas video from 2008 (which we discovered thanks to the Iris video)

Naughty or Nice Analysis
Frontline says I have been nice this year. Too bad I can't say the same thing about their ecard.
Merry Christmas from Fluidix
Cute little characters from Fluidix.
Pimp our Project for WSP Lincolne Scott Australia
Decorate the projects with a limited number of carbon credits by Bienalto

I also found this video from the Melbourne office while looking up WSP.


glue_xmas.jpg Glue London's Tweet a Wish this Christmas
Glue used Twitter to visualize Christmas with a beautifully illustrated festive landscape entitled, "Tweet A Wish with glue this Christmas", which invites users to fill the sky with Christmas wishes in the form of twinkling stars.
a+e_xmas.jpg adam&eve's Countdown
I hope something nice* happens when it turns to xmas.
Season's Speakings
My character has an unfortunate "zoner" Maybe that's what the people at Cocmino wanted me to think?
Wax Merry Christmas
Wax say pffft to Youtube and Vimeo?
12 Days of Squatchmas or Merry Squatch-mas
Another ecard mentioning yellow snow. Phew I thought we'd have just one. Thanks Xylem.
Christmas World
True Digital do the Augmented reality thing.

Note: that's not me
Xmas Show
MercerBell get down and boogie for you.


The Tweetings Twankey
1 phone, 1 Pantomime Dame, 1 hr to find her. Mentions of @TweetingTwankey result in a $1 donation to Shelter Christmas appeal from Skive.

Below we see the Tweeting Twankey meet her sole male.



For a minute there I thought it was I Spy Levis mardi Gras Special and not an agency Xmas ecard.


Cool Bananas Christmas
A spoof of the recent Westpac "Banana" video from FNUKY


For complete coverage on Westpac's Banana video check out Mumbrella.
Lenovo presents Canine Carolers with the World's Ugliest Dog
Somewhere deep in the accounts department at Lenovo, someone is looking at a line item "www.singinguglydog.com" and wondering WTF! they spent all that money on. I expect the Woo Agency to explain.
Langland Christmas Music Maker
Langland get into the grid of staff making music spirit.
Christmas Farm Turkey Off
Albion can't decide which turkey needs to die this Christmas so you can help them make the decision easier by becoming friends with one online


Holiday Card Discussions with laugh track
Duffy & Shanley use the machinima animated story board maker.
Xmas Card User Manual
Turn the McCann xmas card into a variety of different things.
Bottle Opener is quite handy
   
xmas09_ikea_choir.jpg Ikea's Furry Live Aid by Forsman & Bodenfors & B-Reel
Lovely cute site for Ikea.
xmas09_digital_fruitcake.jpg Digital Fruicake by The Martin Agency
This is a lot of fun. That samurai sword was sharp!
xmas09_lg_hero.jpg LG's Dear Hero by Socialmedia8


The campaign video feels like a different mood to the site though.



They missed a perfectly good excuse to do a parody of Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero". How awesome is this song!

xmas09_datavis.jpg Gelia's Holidays By The Numbers
Gelia get all data viz on Xmas. Nice subtle customization too.
xmas09_soup.jpg Soup's Ring My Bell
Mmmm talking about Tip122 transistors make me want to run down to Dick Smith and make my own. While testing now it was playing "My Vagina" and before that "Kill Obama". Nice to see it made it's way onto 4chan & B3ta :)
xmas09_santas_ipod.jpg Santa's Lost iPhone by Modea
Some fun Easter eggs in this one.
xmas09_shelter_bling.jpg Shelter Housebling
Here's the Soap office blinged up. Ignore the giant squiggle I messed up and there is no undo!
xmas09_whitespace.jpg Whitespace: Snowflake Comp
Pretty poor effort for this snowflake.
xmas09_plan9_santas_tweets.jpg Plan-9 Amsterdam & Santa's Twitter
This helped me steal a few links for this feature.
Atomic Antelope's Bauble iPhone app
Bauble is a word that even when you type it correctly it looks wrong
xmas_09_rrg.jpg RRG Group's Christmas Jingle Mixer by Flame Digital Mix your own Jingle (easier said than done) by adding SFX from cars. Keyboard entry of the notes would have been much easier for me.

Here's a mix they prepared earlier .

xmas09_cru.jpg Cru Digital Christmas Bunch
This is what the Brady Bunch Gen Y would look like.
xmas_09_ais_choir.jpg Staff Keyboard Choir by AIS London
Perfect for cranking up as loud as you can and annoying the people next to you
xmas09_vaisala.jpg Vaisala's Measuring the Season
A weather observation systems company is tracking the holiday season on Twitter.
xmas_09_wasserman.jpg Wasserman & Partners Holiday Shopping Channel
It's the postage where they kill you on price!
xmas_09_woolies_karaoke.jpg Mark Sydney & Woolworths Christmas Karaoke
What's with the alien in an Elf suit?
Lean Mean Fighting Machine's Do they know it's web 2.0 (Tweet the world)
This is why Lean Mean are an ad agency and not pop stars :)
Publicis London "I've Got a Feeling"
I've got a feeling that I shouldn't comment on this one because it's Christmas and we should be nice :)

Also Fuck You! Publicis for getting this song stuck in my head :)
xmas09_shoestring_civik.jpg #shoestringxmas from CivicUK
There hasn't been as many GFC inspired cards this year. Grabbing onto a hashtag (that I can see people using) is a nice idea.

They even put a video together showing how they recycled old xmas cards for clients this year.


ShoestringXmas: Making Our Cards from CIVICUK on Vimeo.
xmas09_switch_giveaway.jpg
The Switch Office Giftaway
They are giving everything in the Boss' office away and all proceeds go to charity. (i'm guessing an auction for the items) What is in the mystery drawers 73 & 74?
xmas09_collective_non.jpg Naughty or Nice Tweets by Collective London.
It seems my Tweets this year make me Naughty! Auto Tweets the results here. Damn all these sneaky agencies changing their homepage to Xmas cards that will change over in January.
Ferrero's Festival of Light from One Green Bean
I caught the show on Friday but missed the fireworks and music version. I saw just the running loop. It's also on Facebook. Lindt were advertising outdoor all around this in the city, which is smart media buying.

Not be be confused with the town of Lyon on their annual Festival of Light.

xmas09_news_xmas.jpg News Digital Media's Merry Maker
Create a custom set of banners to appear live on any of the News Digital Media web sites.

{Disclaimer: Soap Creative worked on this one}
London Heathrow Airport's World Biggest Mistletoe
Reminds me of the opening for Love Actually.
xmas09_sprouts_fuse8.jpg

Fuse8's Powered By Sprouts
Features a game with a farting Santa and a downloadable template for "Parp!" sound FX for you to then upload photos to a Flickr account (no group!?) like the one below.

xmas09_dell_hunt.jpg Dell Canada's Holiday Gift Hunt by Launchfire
Dell Get into the spirit by letting people solve daily clues to win prizes. Providing they jump the hoops to get past the registration process. It's also on Facebook and Twitter.
Poke London's: Naughty or Nice Chair
The chair has spoken. It's Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi in one.
There's even a Tumblr set up to capture the results.
xmas09_ihave.jpg Story UK: I Have
What an interesting spin on fund raising. You just donate shit you already have to a variety of charities.
xmas_tweets.jpg TwentySix: Christmas Tweets
Good to see the Christmas spirit is winning the race. Check them out on Twitter and Facebook.
xmas09_munkyourself.jpg 20th Century Fox & Soap: Get Munked
The movie and the Munk Yourself promo are both back for a Squeaquel.
{Disclaimer: Soap Creative worked on this one}
xmas09_armani.jpg Armani Christmas by Saatchi & Saatchi Rome
I knew I should have waited until the Holiday season to buy my Armani gifts this year. Oh well.
xmas09_mini_taxi.jpg Taxi Canada & Mini put together Ugly Christmas Sweaters
Like all the Mini work from taxi the copy is great. But I wanted to make a sweater not upload my face :(
xmas09_stlukes.jpg St Luke: Jingle Bells
It's Jingle Bells with fashion styling from The Wiggles.
xmas09_wk.jpg

We missed their one from last year so I've posted it below.


W+K: Street Advent Calendar
Every day W+K will decorate the area surrounding their office with something festive. The site then doubles as a list for the local council to tally up the littering and graffiti bill.


xmas09_jetblue.jpg Jet Blue by JWT: The Flyer's Collection
We didn't get sent a glossy booklet like AdFreak so luckily the Facebook version is free for everyone to read.
xmas09_digitsal_foilk.jpg Digital Folk: Xmas Tree
It's a digital Xmas tree, you got a problem with that?
xmas09_care4less.jpg Writer Team: with Care 4 Less
Support a worthy charity this season :)
xmas09_droga5_sydney.png Droga5 Sydney: Baldrick Saves Xmas
A advent calendar of ecard ideas from the new junior at the agency
xmas09_clems.png Clemenger Sydney: Hand Made Jam
The agency make jam. Featuring Bob Marley
xmas09_odopod_paypal_fruitcake.png EVB: for Pay Pal: Regift The Fruitcake
Make a fruitcake and then get people to give money to charity for the fruitcake. It's explained much better on the intro video.
xmas09_samsung.png 21TORR: for Samsung Shake Your Xmas
Fill a snow globe and then shake it. Send the photos to your friends on Facebook
xmas09_intel.png Organic: for Intel's Make Your Holiday Sing Add your face to a variety of dancing videos singing Jingle Bells. Also featured Youtube upload feature. See below.

xmas09_gap_xmas.png CP+B: for Gaps Cheer Factory
Choose a cheer, type in a friend's name and then send it on. Featuring a very PC (politically correct no the whole Mac vs PC thing but that makes sense as CP+B work on Microsoft too) bunch of people, who I bet have great teeth.
Office Max for Elf Yourself Flash Mob
I think we're all waiting until a flash mob ends in tragedy, which will scare off most brand legal teams from ever approving them again.
xmas09_gloves_addicts.png 180s with Gloves for Addicts
It's cold out (well for the northern Hemisphere dwellers) so get Gloves for Tech Addicts to help you keep using your tech toys this winter.
Coca-Cola's New Global Christmas Campaign
Wow retro feel :)
Still want more? Here's a few extra random Christmas related goodies  

407833079054d887a3efcopy.jpg
Try B3ta's Christmas Truth Cards.
Always funny with the occasional NSFW images to keep you on your toes at work
socklight01_crweb_0.jpeg Check out Creative Review blog's Printed Card Roundup CR Blog has a good list of printed/crafty cards here. We'll keep stealing the digital links though :)
Getting Old "Fast Talking Fred"
And I'll leave you with Fred. With his "Cashing In Before I Get to Old" Promotion.
He-Man Christmas Special
Merry Christmas from Joe Cartoon


November 19, 2009

Don Q's Lady Data

ladydata_home.jpg

Don Q, a rum brand, has surveyed a variety of women (or massive team of lady insiders as they say) on topics relating to the mating game. Want to know what women think about your comic book collection, you impulse to pop the collars on two polo shirts at once? Then check the Lady Data.

I really like this, it feels like something Lynx (Axe) should have done. The design is tight, if a little clinical and the Don Q product is subtly mentioned in a question and on the profiles with no hard sell. The products are behind an age gate click. Which is weird as I can view the data and see the brand before I'm asked for my age?

ladydata_profile.jpg

You can drill down to view individual profiles of the ladies and also filter the results for each answer based on criteria such as shoe preference (Chucks are an option but you limit yourself to just 4), single status, age, location. The different ways to filter the data is impressive and fun. Good to see each question & even filtering option has a deep link making it easy to send around.

If only every woman was required to answer these questions. It would save a lot of time and heartache.

I found most of the questions interesting and useful. Most were things I would want to know if playing the field.

ladydata_lookatpron.jpg

ladydata_farts.jpg

ladydata_dates.jpg

The only small problem being you can't filter by multiple questions. So if I wanted to see how many ladies who will shag on the first date, is cool with me farting in public and doesn't care that I wear the same underwear for a week then I'm out of luck. I'll have to keep my own list and cross reference myself. Maybe I'm expecting too much for what is just a nice simple piece of marketing?

There's a Don Q Facebook fan page and a Twitter account for both Lady Data and Don Q. Interesting they split the Twitter accounts up, which seems like a short term idea and splits the audience.

I do like how they are pushing a few findings from the Twitter feed such as "The most popular profile on the site is","the most popular question is about porn" in addition to aggregating other interesting articles on the web related to the mating game.

Lady Data also screams for an iPhone app but I think the cost vs gain on this right now would not be there.

I'd also wanted to see all the data at once in poster form or a zeitgeist round up of the top 10 things I need to know as a guy looking to pick up.

And while I'm just adding random things with no regard to budget, I feel that a Twitter feed is great but why not pull the feed into the site as a news section? For those not on Twitter (the majority now) it becomes a news feed to keep the site fresh.

Lady Data is by Undercurrent (Josh Spears' gig) and Odopod (who always do good work)

Note to guys: Call her back in 1 day.

What do you think about this direction for Don Q and the site itself? Positioning itself with the mating game sets it apart from other rum brands on the market and with dataviz being such a hot topic right now I think it'll hit the mark well.



September 30, 2009

Telstra's DigitalMum | Mum 2.0

Do dads use the internet? By looking at Telstra's new DigitalMum or Mum 2.0 campaign you'd think not. That's not to say it's a bad thing but it seems like Digital Dads are getting the rough end of the stick on the web from brands.

Sony with their digiDads community seems to be the only one acknowledging their existence. Although that's been going for a month already and managed just 3 posts. Seeing as the "The project is being spearheaded by uber dad blogger and social networking guru Chris Brogan of New Marketing Labs, Dad-O-Matic.com and Chrisbrogan.com."

I'd expect more. I also didn't expect Chris to buy a Panasonic Camera when really he should be right in the middle of testing Sony products.

But back to Telstra's DigitalMum campaign. This seems to be the follow up to their Call Mum campaign from earlier. It launched yesterday so is still in that fetal stage. I find this new Facebook centric approach much stronger than their previous efforts. Where as the previous campaign all felt like a dead end this has some long term thinking involved.

Also the strategy of targetting mums who are new to online is much better than guilting kids to call their mum.



Nice to see a brand make use of the new Facebook Fan Box on their homepage. One click access to become a fan.

I was also impressed with the Digital makeover videos. They were better than I expected and this one made me laugh. One interesting thing is the swapping between Youtube videos and Facebook videos. I guess it's the little quirks of Facebook.


Rosso going solo on this one. I love this expression on his face. I imagine this is what he looked like when someone explained the idea to him.



And it changed to this when they said how much they would pay him.



The videos felt very top level however but they follow this up with a PDF booklet. I'd actually send this to my mum but then she might get the idea to join Facebook so I'll wait until she does.



The videos and guide must tread a thin line to not sound condescending but I think they do already. Although I'm not a mother.

There is also prizes on offer (a variety of mobile phones) for contributing to the profile/community.

It will be interesting to see how Telstra continue with the Digitalmum profile. They will need to keep the content fresh and I hope they haven't blown their load already with the 6 videos and a PDF booklet.

if I could offer any advice I think Telstra may have made a mistake by not connecting with already established mum bloggers. They also could have at least provided a list of online resources for mums. They shouldn't be afraid to share the link love.

What do you think about a telco targeting new to online mums?

On another mum centric facebook page I saw today was The Skinny Cow profile.


While Streets Magnum have been doing the ice cream and movie thing for three years now (Note: I work on Streets Magnum for Unilever at Soap so I have a vested interest in saying this), Skinny Cow have gone in with the Chick Flick Fan Club. They also partnered with Quickflix to offer free DVD rentals. Great incentive.

My only complaint with this are the videos (see below) seem too labored. Maybe women like being spoken to like this but to me it feels fake. Or maybe feels like a guy wrote it?
Also I'm still their only Youtube subscriber too which is a little sad.



That said the profile is getting some nice interactions and the posts are regular and centered around the topic well. This is another profile I'm watching to see how it evolves.



August 6, 2009

Build Your Own 2010 Mustang

2010_mustang_green.jpg

There is no greater feeling that seeing your work embraced by the audience. That's what Firstborn are seeing with the release of their "Community Customizer" for the new 2010 Ford Mustang.

It's only been a couple of days and the forums are already posting up their images. While it is much easier when working on an established brand with these forums and fan bases in place you have the added pressure of them being obsessed and ready to complain if it doesn't live up to their standards. Check out the conversation on these forums and fans sites here, here and here. This is only after 2 days. Much more conversation about this than the "branded content" videos featured on the homepage.

The site features a gallery in which you can rate and also get details on each car. I like the fact you can get details on each accessory even if not Ford owned.

2010_mustang_gallery.jpg

The "community mode" of the site is interesting. I like the idea of multiple users deciding on a car but for me I like to wade through the options and pick slowly. I don't actually like the idea of someone changing my choice. If I want a British Racing green car then that's what I want. I don't car everyone else wants red. The way it's handled here is quite clever. Each selection is locked out for 30 seconds.

Another "build a product" site recently launched was this one by Big Spaceship for Lands' End called Packland. A much simpler interface but aimed at kids and with a level of polish that makes you want to cry. Check the activity on their Facebook page after this tool launched.

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These types of tools or games are very popular. I know first hand as the Create Your Own Toy tool I worked on a couple of years ago saw over 1,000,000 toys get created in less than 6 months. We also made a design your own car tool back in 2005 and it still receives over 30,000 uniques a month over 4 years later. Sadly we didn't make our car tool as easily shareable back then.

These are even separate to the recent uptake in "avatar" creation tools which I'll do a round up of next week.

The community activity around these projects reminded me that you need to make the creations shareable. The image export is a huge must as it allows people to put it anywhere. Flickr, Facebook, forums or just keep and print. I've seen many of these "build your creations" that have only given a unique URL to share. Even worse is when it doesn't even have that.

You don't need to over engineer the sharing side of things. A simple image export in a variety of sizes is all most people need. Don't worry about send to friend forms as people don't use them. They already have their IM and email programs open or they are logged onto a variety of sites that your send to friend form wont send to. Just give them their creation and let them spread the word on their own.

Also don't feel you have to bribe people with the offer of prizes to use your tool. If you make something useful and fun they will use it. The toy creator we made had no offer to win or reason to play. It was just a tool to let people be creative. I think offering a prize would have just attracted the wrong type of people and the results were good enough already.

It's user generated content but a much lower barrier for entry. You can also build the tool to remove the need for moderation and you can use the content generated to create more content with "editors picks" and other initiatives.

If you have seen any other examples of "build my ?" tools please comment below.



July 23, 2009

4320LA from V Australia. Half way there



The premise is simple: Run a comp to find 3 people willing to fly to LA and tweet every minute for 3 days. 4320 tweets in total. If they do they win a huge prize. There was mention of a world record too but I can't find that anywhere on the site now it's live.

The official line is;

"From 22-24 July, V Australia will fly three people to Los Angeles to Twitter non-stop about their experiences & promote L.A as Australia's newest short-break destination.

There'll be a film crew following the 3 Twitterers, and their Twitter feeds, photos and video footage can be viewed at www.4320LA.com or at twitter.com/4320LA, so there's a lot more content to come.

It's the first time an Australian airline has tried to position L.A. as a short-break destination, & it's a clever way of utilising a much-hyped technology trend while avoiding price war advertising. "

The site showcases a "tweet wall" which links and image with each tweet. It also has info on the 3 winners and flight details to LA.

4320la_site.jpg

One thing I noticed is they didn't link to the guy's twitter accounts. I had to search Twitter to find Matt, Kevin & Nathan. Viewing the tweets purely through the flash interface felt weird although for non twitter users this will be fine. I also wanted to ask the guys a question or reply to their tweets but couldn't do that. Only once I found their accounts could I attempt this. But no reply yet :(

Even with the accounts being hidden they have managed to garner a few followers. Although the numbers are less from impressive. Even the main 4320la account has only managed 557 followers at this half way junction through the promo.

I'm surprised, as I expected that this would generate much more twitter buzz than it has. Although they did tweet that the site got so much traffic it went down due to the stress. So traffic was going to the site but that was the end of the experience for people.

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I did a search on Tiwtter for 4320LA and found 3 other people who have used that term. Its then I could see that the guys half way through and at around 3am in LA missed their tweet every minute deadline. A big 7 minute gap! Doh! looks like the guys didn't noticed and have continued on.

I hope they still get the prize even though not meeting the tough criteria to win. You'd hate to battle through only to say 24hrs later it was all for nothing.

4320la_search.jpg

Another thing I noticed is every tweet goes via the API. Not from mobile? Maybe that's my conspiracy mind working overtime :)

So it's half way through and you can follow the adventures of the guys for another day and a half. They look to be filming this as well so expect to see a video on the site soon. Or that may just be the award entry being filmed :)
I've also heard there will be a 2nd part to the promo in August.

As an innovative idea, I like this, it's an interesting take on Twitter. However I can't help but feel the whole stunt has fallen flat. For anyone outside the ad industry or not a Twitter user it must seem very confusing.

I think the initial call to entry did most of the work while the actual event itself wasn't needed. The same seems to go for Best Job in the World. Interest has dropped off now that the guy has started blogging.

Between this and Ispy Levis (see below) Australia seems to be doing some interesting Twitter campaigns.

In marketing there is a lot of currency in being "the first" and that currency is running out. I do find Twitter campaigns work best when they are simple like "How Hereto are You" and the more layers you add to it the less effective it is.

There are a many blog posts on the campaign which seem to be PR announcements but I did find this one here which takes a positive view.

The campaign is by Droga5 Sydney and site by Future Buro.



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