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Blog Bars

As a way to create a more engaging, interactive and creative way for consumers to experience brands, stores and events, expect to see more “blog bars” (computer terminals which give the public the ability to post in real time and on location) to pop up in such settings. Consumers will have the opportunity to post fresh thoughts and reactions, pose questions, and receive immediate response.  Source: Trendcentral

Gift Idea for the Egotistical

The Contura Ring is made from the profile of the carrier or the presenter. Anyone (willing to pay $625 for it) can submit a profile picture to the company Fitszu, who in turn, hands the ring over to Germany to be custom-made.

Stepping into the Story

Every child would love to see themselves in the pages of the picture books that they read--and now they can. Flattenme has developed a line of storybooks that can be personalized with a child's photo, in addition to the child's name also being incorporated into the story.

Take a Phone for a Spin

Tryphone allows visitors to virtually test out various phones in which they might be interested. The new site takes screenshots of just about every possible screen and ties it to button presses on the virtual keyboard so the user can see exactly how the phone functions.

URLs: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Check out this blog that gives the lowdown on why some URLs are great and why others are...not so hot.

Not Your Typical Cracker Jack Prize

Brazilian ice-cream company Kibon will manufacture 10,000 specially made propsicles, identical in size and color to the actual thing, frozen with iPod shuffles inside. Bullet Brazil, the company who created the idea, worked with Apple to make this special promotion possible.

An MTV for Commercials?

Firebrand is a site that is dedicated to playing what they consider to be the BEST commercials in the world. Visitors can peruse a host of ads from big-brand names like Nike, Apple and Volkswagen, or they can watch Firebrand Live, which is a lot like MTV circa 1983. A window pops up to give you the commercial credits, and “commercial jockeys” or “CJs” walk you through the programming.

Avatar Adoration

If you're a gamer that likes the intricate customization capabilities of modern video games, you'll appreciate FigurePrints. The site can make a scale model of your World of Warcraft character for the relatively low price of $115 (including shipping). Although the site is specific to WoW avatars, there is a great opportunity for other businesses to capitalize off character customization, especially since players take so much time and pride in his / her development.

Make an App, Sell an App

Don't wait for a brand to create a Facebook app--make it first, get the following and then sell it to the brand. That's what a couple of Wisconsin University graduate students (who are in no way affiliated with Starbucks, other than being loyal customers) decided to do when they created a Starbucks branded application. So far, approximately 50,000 people have added this application to be able to send drinks to their friends, and it's growing rapidly.

Fast Food

Check out this cool print campaign for Dills Digestive mints by the ad agency MortierBrigade in Brussels.
Tagline: "Dills for a Fast Digestion"

Brand Integration

More brands are using branded entertainment and product placement to become part of the content in order not to be TIVOed out.  The definition of branded entertainment is elastic, but the focus of this article is on brand integration, which integrates the brand message within an existing entertainment platform to take advantage of a built-in audience. 

By blurring the line between content and commerce, brands can become a part of what people are already interested in, not interrupt it.  While there’s a case for keeping church and state separate, consumers accept brand integration as long as it adds to their entertainment experience without commercializing or compromising the integrity of the content. 

True brand integration goes beyond exposure, affinity and awareness; early creative collaboration can allow for brands to become an essential character and play a role within the narrative by seamlessly integrating into organic and brand relevant situations.  The featured examples illustrate how brands have successfully found a symbiotic relationship between content and product.

TV: To promote The Simpsons Movie, Homer Simpson gave the opening monologue on an episode of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”  His cameo as guest host brought the movie character to life and infiltrated pop culture by building upon the popularity of the TV show.  The opening scene was completely “Simpsonized,” turning the Tonight Show into a cartoon.  Homer’s monologue portrayed his lovably dim-witted personality as he
delivered decidedly unfunny jokes to a stoic audience. This creative collaboration between the two entertainment icons allowed for both parties to stay true to their identities while being relevant to each other's respective audiences and adding to the
entertainment experience.

Print: Ball Park’s “Hunger” campaign uses a belly-protruding man-arm as a
representation of the teenage boy’s voracious appetite.  To infiltrate youth culture and create a brand association with “man hunger,” Ball Park partnered with MAD Magazine artists to create an 8-page mini-MAD Magazine insert for the magazine and a variety of DC Comic Books. The insert depicted scenes, one of which included MAD’s iconic Alfred E. Newman, that kept in line with MAD’s ironic humor and recognizable cartoon art direction while integrating Ballpark’s iconic imagery of the “man-arm.” The collaboration offered comic book readers substantial and supplementary entertainment content that authentically integrated Ball Park’s campaign message.

Video Game: Electronic Arts integrated energy giant BP as a provider of eco-friendly energy in the latest version of its SimCity Societies game. The game enables players to create their own metropolis and select their new city’s energy supplier, and rewards users for developments that don’t pollute the environment.  By simply choosing a BP- branded solar or wind energy power source, the gamer can ensure a cleaner environment and sustain their city. Through its brand integration, BP educates audiences about the climate changing affects of power generation by acting as a game advancing utility, while successfully promoting its support of responsible electricity sources.

Novel: Cover Girl seamlessly blended its product line into the young adult novel
“Cathy’s Book: If Found, Call (650) 266-8233”, which engages readers in a quest to find a missing character through in-text and online clues. The story highlights Lipslicks, a line of lip gloss made by Cover Girl, as the lip gloss of choice for the spunky lovable heroine.  Cover Girl made a natural connection with the teen-lit readers’ demographic and interests by organically integrating the product within the books illustrations, which show Cathy giving her readers make-up tips. In an unusual partnership between the publishers and Procter & Gamble, Cover Girl didn’t pay for having their makeup showcased in the novel but promoted the book on Beinggirl.com, a Web site directed at adolescent girls that features games, advice on handling puberty and how to apply make-up for the very first time.

Source: Mal/Media/Monday Frank Striefler TBWA

A Blind Call

Belgian ad agency Duval Guillaume devised a clever campaign that turns accidental calls into donations to the Belgian League for the Blind. People are being asked to add 'A Blind Call' to their list of contacts, so when their unlocked keypad accidentally dials, A Blind Call (whose name is usually at the top of the contact list) is given a cut of the call's proceeds.

Facebook's Ebay + Commission

For the millions of Facebook members, Radical Buy takes the concept of Ebay and adds a bit of a twist: commission. After a member lists an item for sale, others can post that listing on their Facebook page to earn a percentage of the selling price, if through their page, the item is sold. The amount of commission is entirely up to the seller, and the concept is turning out to be very successful.

A Reminder...

that advertising can be FUN, courtesy of TM Advertising for Nationwide Insurance.

View From Above

America From the Air is a new air travel guide that explains the unidentifiable land that an airline passenger sees 30,000 feet below while in flight. The book reveals the name, history and purpose (if applicable) of dozens of geological, agricultural and man-made sights that flyers never before knew to look for. Also available on CD-ROM, the guide is indexed by flight (SLC-BOS, SEA-PHL, and so on) and divided into chapters based on the 14 major US air corridors so people will know when they're flying over Arizona's Barringer Meteor Crater and even the San Andreas Fault.

And the Concensus Is...

"Is America ready for a female president?" "Does honey help to heal a wound?" These were recent questions asked on Ask500People, an online polling site that gauges popular opinion on almost any topic within hours. Votes are gathered and displayed in real time on the site through widgets located on thousands of other sites. Registered users suggest new questions and those that receive the most votes from other members are moved to the homepage. It's a great survey tool that can have powerful applications especially when implemented at local levels.

Investment Gaming

Realius creates online games that emulate real world cycles, namely in the realm of investment. They've recently launched a new real estate game called Price Me Now which allows users to take the best guess at a property's value after viewing photos and details of the property. The company plans to release more games in the near future that allow users to virtually make over their homes and solicit opinions on the potential investment increase, as well as a game that pits players against one another as they build fantasy property portfolios. As far as revenue is concerned, Realius' charges for licensing fees, in-game sponsorship, referrals and market analytics.

A Loo Near You

Based in San Francisco, MizPee is a location-based service that allows people to find the nearest toilet using their mobile phones. Users can add and review toilets, and even refine their search to find the cleanest toilets in the vicinity.
A similar service, SatLav was also recently launched in London. After texting 'toilet' to 80097, users receive a text message with the details of the nearest facilities and their opening times.