Right-Half Chow

Absolut Search

Copied from Stella (movies), then Virgin (bands), Absolut now has an interactive print ad as well: 'find the bottles' (what else). Stella still holds the crown for me, probably because the difficulty curve was just right (and because they were the first, but it remains a nice way to get people to spend some time with your brand.

Play it here on the Absolut site.

Marissa Mayer's 9 rules of innovation

Business Week has a great feature on Marissa Mayer, a talent scout and innovation manager for Google. There's a real rigid structure to the way she works, and it's a good example of a system that provides good ideas with a chance and an environment creativity is stimulated in. 

Be sure to check out her slideshow as well (don't know if the direct link will work), containing 9 rules for innovation:

1. Ideas come from everywhere (agencies take note)
2. Share everything you can (creatives, planners,... take note)
3. You're brilliant, we're hiring (favouring intelligence over experience)
4. A license to pursue dreams (giving people free-time to come up with ideas)
5. Innovation, not instant perfection (Don't wait till things are perfect, try them out)
6. Don't politic, use data (can be kind of hard in our line of work, but maximise it)
7. Creativity loves restraint (if you don't have a box, there's nothing to break out of)
8. Worry about usage and users, not money (the value of simplicity in design)
9. Don't kill projects, morph them (agencies take note, again...)

Street Art: Mark Jenkins

Interesting street art by Mark Jenkins, advertisers willing to indulge in guerilla take note... Check out the rest of the stuff on his site.

And it is a showstopper:

Via Advertising for Peanuts.

Vienna

I'm in Vienna for two days, at the end of my studies I spent a month here, together with a friend (and colleague student) of mine. It's great to come back in a city you spent some time in. And by some time I mean more than the average week or ten days, but enough time to get to the point where you don't really know what to do next, so you just start wondering around looking for potentially interesting sights, places, people,...

I felt at home immediately, recognising the little things you don't really notice when you just pass a city's attractions. The way people always stand orderly at the right on subway escalators, the way the city is always very clean, the way of walking and talking in the streets (still a lot of police on the streets), city parcs with enough benches in them to seat the whole country,...

And the fact that my hotel gives weather forecasts on their chocolate wrappers is something I find very amusing:

Washing, fishing, whatever

I really liked this film for Ariston, it's not a big idea and it's not the most original piece of advertising but it really hits some notes (especially the nice touch at the end). Dario Piana, the director, has a few other interesting projects on his reel, notably a spot (very american, I have to admit) for Arena, the swimming gear.

Viral marketing that works

After Time's feature, it's time for Jim Calhoun to share his wisdom on viral campaigns. Five lessons feature here. For me, the most irritating thing is the fact that a lot of clients, prospects and agency people still look upon viral marketing as something that shouldn't cost any time, money or effort, after which they' say 'I told you so' when everything goes pearshaped...

1. Use good karma - make it a pleasure to share
2. Make sure your message is clear
3. Enable viral marketing to happen - offer the tools
4. Test and listen - use your environment
5. Analyze the campaign to keep it alive - looking more and more like work, no?

Consistency is overrated

Most marketeers are convinced that brand equity, values or whatever name or concept is used should be almost exactly replicated by consumers. Consistency is supposed to be the way to reach this goal. I've long held the belief that the whole idea is grossly overrated, especially for what I'd call developed brands, but I've never put it as succinctly as John Grant in this post.

If you believe that most of the effectiveness of marketing today comes from contagion, then consistency - and the impulse behind it of wanting to rigidly control the expressions of the brand - is just a plain bad idea. Contagion is a process of chinese whispers and people adding their own creative ideas.

Citing ideas and examples from today's lovemarks such as Ikea, Red Bull, Nike and others, this article is an essential read for planners.

Found via Influx Insights.

Suckadelic Toys

Brilliant bootlegged toys, be sure to check out their SuperVillains movie as well, made to promote a CD which should sound familiar to a lot of people who watched cartoons in the eighties...

Time feature on viral videos

If you did not see at least one of these land in your inbox during the past few years it's time to work on you social life (or your company's spam filter, accordingly).

Time has a feature on viral movies, including the Star Wars kid and the one with the lights which I like just for the outrageous music that was used to orchestrate it (symphonic rock was rightfully buried, but it does work with the visuals...):

Via Marketingblog.eu

The Pepsi Sound

Since everyone and their dog are walking around with headphones on (be it for phones of mp3 players), why not make your ads 'jackable'?

BBDO placed around 100 posters in Canada, together playing about 12 different tracks (or samples out of the tracks, I'm not sure). Ties in nicely to their program which allows you to save for exclusive tracks, content,...

Brilliant idea!