Hasta La Creative!

Bookmarkable advertising is a pet topic of mine and I’m glad to point to the most recent of the very few examples of banners ads whose shelf life is extended beyond a single impression.

Spongecell, a company that makes online calendars with social features, is launching Spongecell Ads. These are online display ads with widget-like functionality that allow users to share the contents of the ad with their friends and also, importantly, set a reminder for yourself.

The example above is an ad for what looks like a music event, but you can see how this format can work with any date-based information: promotions, coupons with expiration date, sales and so on. To quote from an email from Spongecell, “We’re adding our Add to Life technology to a standard IAB advertisement to make it easy for a consumer to easily move relevant content from an advertisement into the tools they use every day – Calendar, Social Network, Mobile device or home page – think of it as a bookmark for an online campaign.”

The new hands-free laws in California and Washington has been a hot topic for a while, but now that it’s official drivers can’t use their cell phones, there is even more related innovations, including…

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, New Delhi, India
Creative Director: Sainath Saraban
Art Directors: Nitesh Sah, Shweta Jain
Copywriter: Pranjal Bordoloi
Photographer: Ronjoy Gogoi

Brief:
The ‘Welcome Snoop’ campaign started with a brief to give MTV Networks Australia a local tone of voice. MTV is known for producing American TV shows; but MTV also produce a large percentage of Australian content. The challenge was to give MTV Networks Australia a personality relevant to its local audience and to create a campaign that would make the Australian audience active participants in the channel. The challenge was to do this in a way that was not traditional advertising. This was important given their young audience is largely cynical when it comes to brands ‘understanding’ them.

Solution:
In answer to the brief, the strategy was developed to put a controversial MTV icon into the Australian culture, and stir the pot. The icon was rapper, Snoop Dogg, and the creative vehicle would be his fight for Australian citizenship. This idea created a storm of controversy and PR for MTV Networks Australia. It also actively involved the audience in the MTV Australia brand and allowed them to have a voice in the fight for Snoop to gain Australian citizenship. The idea brought to life the prospect of Snoop moving to Australia and motivated the audience to fight his cause.

Results:
The Welcome Snoop campaign proved incredibly successful. Over 410,593 viewers were driven to the dedicated site at www.mtv.com.au/snoop alone – equating to 16.9% of the target market in Australia. It generated a total of 5,500,000 campaign interactions and created a hive of media attention around MTV Australia, activating a movement among the target audience to help MTV fight Snoop’s cause. The campaign elevated MTV brand awareness to its highest point in history. The free PR generated alone was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and the idea attracted over 3X more MTV channel subscribers than the previous year.

Advertising Agency: LOWE SYDNEY, Australia
Creative Director: Dejan Rasic
Creatives: Dejan Rasic, Rebecca Carrasco, Howard Collinge
Director, Creative: Vanessa Zuppicich, MTV Networks Australia
Director, Marketing And Talent Relations: Colin Blake, MTV Networks Australia
Marketing Manager: Sam Coombes, MTV Networks Australia
Managing Director: Dave Sibley, MTV Networks Australia
Designer & Animator: Hillary Bunt, MTV Networks Australia
Director: Paul Middleditch, Plaza Film
Head Of Production: Darren Bailey
Producers: Lisa Cordukes, Charna Henry
Editor: Peter Whitmore, The Editors
Lowe & Rivet Editor: Kris Rees
Colourist: Ben Eagleton, Bean Colour
Website Production: Liquid Protocol
Talent Liason: India Bent, Happy Bash Communication
Photographer: Andreas Smetana, Andreas Smetana Photography
Producers: Rachael Henderson, Kristen Castree, Andreas Smetana Photography
Stylist: Suzanne King, Suzanna King
Retouching: Electric Art
Sound Design: Sound Reservoir
Producer: Peter Masterston, Plaza Films

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Rapper Nas has announced a one-year partnership with Fila whereby the apparel company will offer financial support for his upcoming tour as well as the print and TV campaign for his new album out July 15. In return, he will wear Fila products and co-create an apparel line that draws from fashions of the late '80s.

If you can’t fix what’s broken, turn it into a golden calf.

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