Not-so-well-known online book retailer wants to become more-known. Brazilian ad agency comes up with an extensive campaign that includes technology, some guerrilla stuff, social media, viral marketing and a cool product too.
This is ‘The Living Book’, a book that’s written by people and that changes on a weekly basis. 

The book consists solely of QR codes (those weird matrix-type square things that are being used for mobile tagging). And when you take a picture of these codes with your mobile phone, each one will translate into a new bit of content every 7 days. 

So far so cool, but it doesn’t stop there. The bits of ‘content’ are actually Twitter messages that include the words ‘love’ or ‘hate’. Great gimmick, nice campaign, lovely way to integrate UGC, interesting technology. And apparently, the book sold out in no time.

Creative Review has a nice write-up about the whole thing.

Does anyone have any other good examples of QR technology being used creatively?

The other day I was thinking about a campaign-type-of-idea to use snow or ice as a canvas for messages or advertising. Just, you know, storming the brain. 
Yesterday London experienced quite a snow extravaganza and sure thing. The guys from Curb agency swiftly ploughed their way through the white stuff to plant a bunch of Extreme sports channel logos around the city. Nice write-up in Creative Review.
A clever bit of green guerilla marketing.
Then again, my idea was better. Only because it had a digital aspect to it.
Bit less green, but quite a bit more now.
Missed opportunity?

Too many friends on Facebook?
But don’t have the guts to ‘un-friend’ the ones you don’t actually know? The ones that keep annoying you with uploading ‘funny’ pictures of their pet crocodile? 
If you were living in the States, Burger King would have given you a really good incentive to ditch them all. They promised a to give a free Whopper to anyone who got rid of 10 friends. The campaign ended 234,000 ‘friendships’ before they pulled the plug. After all, as some kind of proof, it needed to send a message to the ‘un-be-friended’, saying they were dropped. Which is not how Facebook likes to play the game. 
Read more about it here.
A little cyber-cruel, but I wouldn’t have minded coming up with the idea.
Campaign by Crispin Porter & Bogusky.

The power of a good, creative music video remains. Here’s another commercial that’s inspired by a pop promo.

I guess that’s what those poor, struggling, starving, but highly creative music video directors are left with these days. Get the chance to develop a strong conceptual, visual idea, hoping that it will be picked up by an agency creative.
Still, they have to be kind enough to ask you to direct it. That’s the case here though: both films were done by the same director, Tom Kuntz, who recently also directed that rather fun Cadbury’s ad. Busy chap. 

But I always found it strange that production companies (who ‘rep’ their directors) don’t find ways to make more use of their roster’s creativity. In times of convergence, cross-platform and transmedia, should a production company not (partly) act as a creative agency as well?

Big billboard ads are an obvious source of inspiration for any street artist. Simply because they’re an intrinsic part of any big city street. There’s even a Poster Alteration Art group on Flickr. 
London has its Decapitator but I do like Poster Boy, a New York street artist that spices up the subway stations over there with his radical mash-ups of posters. Armed with a razor blade as his weapon of choice, he cuts up ads and re-arranges them on the spot into something funnier, more political, more thought-provoking. 

Check his Flickr stream here, films from Wooster Collective, Animal Magazine and his own YouTube channel and articles in NY Mag and the Guardian. 

Lots of attention, so answers on a Tweet: will he show up in an ad soon, sell out to galleries or is he using the media to start his own little revolution. From his interview with the Guardian:

“That’s what I want Poster Boy to be about,” he enthuses. “The idea of taking your environment into your own hands and making it what you want. As long as you’re not hurting other people, it can’t be bad.”

We’ve been working with some fashion designers recently and, doing all kinds of research, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the creativity applied in fashion communication recently (see previous posts here and here). 
The social media expert we work with on this fashion project pointed me in the direction of Chictopia, a community platform for people who are passionate about fashion. People show what they’re wearing, rate each other’s outfits and review products. Obviously, it’s a fantastic way for brands to do some research, talk to their clients and even (subtly) push some of their products (although Polyvore seems to do that better).
And now American Apparel (the 3rd most popular brand on the network) has gone one step further created an ad campaign with the highest rated ‘models’ from Chictopia.
Genius move, yet so simple and obvious. So double genius.

2008 was the year when I started thinking that my background in television/video/moving image was a bit of a burden. By nature, I’ve always been interested in change and the not-so-traditional side of things, so I couldn’t help thinking that people with an education and/or experience in digital media started to get a big advantage in the communications industry. Everyone started a digital agency and told clients they needed Facebook apps and a blog or two.  

Obviously, that’s all very true and useful and what not, but 2009 is set to be the year of video. On the digital platforms of course.
‘Groundswell‘ already mentioned video as an integral of any good communications strategy, and more and more industry people and blogs are talking about it. What got me thinking was this article on Video Insider, bigging up the importance of video. I particularly agreed with the bit where it mentions that it’s time to be creative with online video. [Read more]

This time of the year is mainly good for receiving some nice Christmas cards sent around by the creative industries. Keen to impress their clients, potential clients and anyone who’s interested in watching/reading, companies are spending some quality time and money on these ‘cards’.

A friend sent me this cool one, from agency AKQA, but Creative Review have collated the nicest ones from their mailbox here and here. 

So have a great break and here’s to an inspiring 2009. 

I never mentioned it here and I didn’t manage to vote, but Volvo, Vice Magazine, The Independent and Yahoo ran this competition called Creative 30, to find the leading creative think-ers and do-ers in the UK. The winners have just been announced and the jury chose artist Katie Paterson, while the public vote went to milliner (isn’t that a beautiful word for hat-maker) Will Chambers. Paterson’s pieces are particularly intriguing. She makes various sound sculptures, influenced by science and nature and general cookie-ness. Charming stuff. 

But have a look at the other 28 nominated creative talents and check out their profile films. I particularly liked the work of photographer Jonnie Craig (see picture above), illustrator Mimi Leung, the beach chairs from furniture designer Max Lamb and ‘possible sculptor’ Daniel Mort.  
Nice initiative and interesting to see that a brand like Volvo wants to spend some money on this (Paterson wins £10,000 – Chambers a Volvo).

While the advertising world is still wondering just how cynical, colonial and faux-real that new Whopper ad/documentary is, I prefer my campaigns to be a little more subtle.
Have a look at how agency BBH is trying to revive interest in Tango with a campaign called Do the Can Fist. The full-length ad is here or on production company’s Knucklehead’s website, but also check out the Save Tango website, which seems to complement the whole vibe pretty well.  
I’m sure Tango wasn’t even doing that badly, but that underdog role suits it just fine. Made me smile.