Samantha Wiley must have been inspired by the 1920s when she designed the ultra-stylish ‘Mockingbird’ beer bottles. The collection of four bottles are the most elegant and, dare I say, fashionable lager…
Here’s a follow-up to that poster with the puking gorilla which nods to the serial award winning Cadbury Gorilla – except this one is created by DDB Stockholm for the ad awards Roygalan.
Hat tip to Swedish ad-digg site Researcher
The Evening Line is the result of a three year collaboration between artist Matthew Ritchie, architects Benjamin Aranda et Chris Lasch and engineers at Arup AGU.
The Evening Line is both an autonomous and site-specific structure conceived for the Biennial and a fragment of a much larger structure – potentially the size of the universe, through the application of fractal geometry: The Morning Line currently on view at the Contemporary Art Biennial of Seville. Both constructions are infinitely modular, they are built from a single shape called “the bit” that derives from a truncated tetrahedron.
Made of laser-cut aluminum modules, the architectural structure reflects Ritchie’s attempts to reflect the vastness of the universe. The Evening Line has no single way in or out, no beginning or end, no single narrative, only movements around multiple centers. Its modular units can increase or decrease around a fixed ratio, they can also expand or contract in any size or direction.
Slideshow:
I could either embark in a long and complex blurb about hte purpose and function of The Evening Line or point you in the direction of this video in which Matthew Ritchie makes it almost crystal-clear.
The Evening Line is on view at the Arsenale, Venice until November 23rd, 2008.
Tequila Sydney obviously need more work as they have had time to put together a Political Hot Air Balloon race 🙂 Good to see agencies being proactive and having some fun on their own backs and not waiting for clients.
Here’s Tequila’s words on the project;
“Taking live feeds from Google news quotes service, the balloons rise and fall graphically showing who’s generating the most virtual column inches each day. You also get the chance to stick a pin in the balloon of a candidate acting as a sort of opinion poll.”
I would have liked to have seen it an actual race over the days. Not just rise and fall based on the most recent mentions in the news. They missed a big opportunity with some sexy data visualisation but they definitely got in at the right time for a “presidential viral” piece. I like the Google News mentions metric but it’s hard to know if the news is positive or negative (which would be impossible to tell).
They were also responsible for the Slap the Candidate viral a few years back.
Another take on this is Avenue Fighter which takes Twitter mentions of either candidate checks whether they are positive or negative and then uses that to form an attack to either fighter.
Which viral will reign supreme? Both subscribe the to the “viral = ugly” doctrine of design but they are funny enough not to need much polish.
Jamaican based Wisynco Group has co-branded and added a new line of flavoured water to its mix, the Ocean Spray WATA. Wisynco has been aggressively marketing and distributing its products in the Carribean and from the looks of it, expect the Ocean Spray WATA to hit the shelves by early 2009.
Bottled water is one thing but cranberry flavored water is something new in the market. We have seen a lot of flavored water sold by many companies but regardless of how good your product may be, unless you are aggressive and employ a good marketing strategy to back it up, chances are you may not even appreciate the launch of your product to its capabilities and potential.
Brian Yalung is an Editor at Talent Zoo mainly contributing to latest news and issues on advertising and marketing. He is the editor for Beyond Madison Avenue and Beneath the Brand Blogs of Talent Zoo.
When making commercials, don’t be surprised if you see some old faces suddenly springing back to life. Deceased stars such as Bruce Lee can be brought back to life thanks to digital imagery and of course some impersonations. A matter of paying some royalties are in order of course, something we all know if we cannot think of something original.
One thing that they carry is attention drawers. They may no longer be around but their followers from the early years are still around. That is the starting point of showing your ad; get their attention and see what the ad is all about.
Hungkuk Ssangyong Fire and Marine Insurance tried to spice up its insurance ads—not an easy thing to do. The company used late comedian Lee Joo-il in commercials for its ‘Eyou Direct’ car insurance policy.
For maximum effect, Hungkuk dubbed in dialogue from one of Lee’s films to make it sound as if the comedian was talking about the product. Lee, a comedy sensation while alive, passed away in 2002 of lung cancer.
Brian Yalung is an Editor at Talent Zoo mainly contributing to latest news and issues on advertising and marketing. He is the editor for Beyond Madison Avenue and Beneath the Brand Blogs of Talent Zoo.
For someone who rose to fame with her hit single in the late 80’s, “Material Girl”, you would be surprised at how something can be carried on and be used to brand other people. In this case, Guy Ritchie has been branded by Madonna as a “gold-digger” and one of the reasons why she divorced him.
Between the two, Madonna earns a whole lot than Ritchie. From a stand, you would think that Madonna was carrying a burden with Ritchie around. Ritchie has his own means of income and why Madonna is pushing that Ritchie is just a freeloader, their divorce proceedings today was said to be focused on this.
As it stands, Ritchie has declared he did not want anything to do with Madonna’s millions. That was after learning the true reason for the divorce.
Ritchie “hit the roof” after discovering Madonna’s reasons for divorce, with the source adding: “He thinks she’s trying to make him out to be the villain of the piece. He’s incandescent with rage.”
Brian Yalung is an Editor at Talent Zoo mainly contributing to latest news and issues on advertising and marketing. He is the editor for Beyond Madison Avenue and Beneath the Brand Blogs of Talent Zoo.
If you were among the distributors in the Philippines, you would heave a sigh of relief after your product has been cleared of the much criticized melamine scare that was initially found in baby milk products. Since then, it has escalated and covered other areas like chocolate bars and canned mean, specifically originating from China.
Here are the items declared free from melamine contamination:
The items which were declared to be free from melamine and safe for human consumption include Argentina Corned Beef Chunky, 190 grams; Chang Long Pork Luncheon Meat, 170 grams; Greatwall Brand Premium Ham Luncheon Meat, 340 grams; Gulong (China Well-Known Mark) Pork Luncheon Meat; Liberty Pork Luncheon Meat, 375 grams; Maling Canned Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams; Maling Chunky Corned Beef; Maling Pork Luncheon Meat, 170 grams; Maling Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams; Maling Premium Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams; Maling Vienna Sausage, 140 grams;
Narcissus Brand Pork Mince with Bean Paste, 185 grams; Narcissus Brand Premium Luncheon Meat, 397 grams; Narcissus Brand Spiced Pork Cubes, 142 grams; Narcissus Brand Stewed Pork, 397 grams; Purefoods Chinese Style Luncheon Meat, 165 grams; Purefoods Corned Beef, 210 grams; and Shanghai brand Chinese Luncheon Meat (new budget size), 165 grams.
Brian Yalung is an Editor at Talent Zoo mainly contributing to latest news and issues on advertising and marketing. He is the editor for Beyond Madison Avenue and Beneath the Brand Blogs of Talent Zoo.
Universal Studios is in advanced talks to sell one of its two specialty film labels to Relativity Media, a private production and financing company.
This is the final part of an abstract from a new book Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business by David Edery and Ethan Mollick (here are part 1 and part 2).
Finally, the Burger King games could not have come about without an experienced and reliable game developer. Blitz Games had a long history of delivering projects on time, and had also worked on several projects involving outside stakeholders and IP holders. As such, they were well suited for the Burger King project. Despite this, Blitz still encountered several serious stumbling blocks during the course of the games’ development, learning hard-won lessons as a result:
Multiplatform development
To maximize their potential audience, Burger King wanted games that were compatible with both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. However, they also wanted the 360 version to be more impressive than the original
Xbox version; after all, the 360 had just been released and was being marketed as a high-performance, “next generation” console.
Given the tight development time frame for the games, this took time and attention away from work that could have been put into additional game features and polish. Marketers should be aware that making a game compatible with multiple platforms—even platforms in the same line—can require significant effort, and should therefore budget and schedule accordingly.
Multiplayer challenges
Big Bumpin’ and Pocketbike Racer both include online multiplayer action—an important feature of
these games. Although online multiplayer modes can make a game much more compelling to consumers, such modes also make a game much more difficult and expensive to develop. Many developers consistently underestimate the difficulty of multiplayer development, especially on console platforms, and Blitz was no exception, though they ultimately managed to execute beautifully on Burger King’s vision. The lesson here: If you want a multiplayer game, make sure you reserve substantial time for the development and testing of that multiplayer functionality.
Different games, different assets
The benefit of creating three very different games was, as mentioned earlier, the fact that it enabled Burger King to appeal to different kinds of gamers and encourage multiple trips to Burger King restaurants. However, it also forced Blitz to develop very different assets (such as art and computer code) for the three games—time and effort that could have gone into raising the overall quality of a smaller number of games, or an equal number of more similar games. While developing three very different games ultimately proved to be a great strategy for Burger King, marketers who are seeking to raise the bar and stand out from competitors in the future may want to focus their budget on projects that are more ambitious in scale, but less ambitious in scope. As always, it depends on the situation.
Brand rules and restrictions
One of the biggest potential stumbling blocks for any game developer is something that marketers have total control over: the restrictions on how a company’s brands can be used in a game. Failure to carefully explain and explore these restrictions at the start of a game development project can wreak havoc later on.
Take the case of Sneak King. Blitz initially intended the game to be a Spy-versus-Spy-type game, with multiple Kings trying to out-deliver one another while laying traps for their opponents. After much design work, Blitz was informed that “there can be only one King.” So Blitz substantially revised the design, choosing to focus on “king of the hill”–style gameplay; whoever captures the crown gets to be King. They were then informed that “you cannot ‘become’ the King.” So Blitz adjusted yet again: One person plays the King, while the others play the remaining BK personalities, laying traps to prevent him from making deliveries. They then heard, “The King is too savvy to find himself in danger of any kind.” And so on and so forth.
Some of the trouble with Sneak King was inevitable; it is impossible for marketers to predict every possible brand usage that a developer might propose. However, some of these brand-related missteps could have been avoided with clearer upfront communication. In particular, given the action-oriented nature of many video games, it was probably not hard to guess that “the King might find himself in danger.” Marketers would do well to put time, upfront, into deciding and communicating what basic attributes of their brands are truly inviolable.
The Burger King promotion was expensive. In addition to the cost of developing the games themselves, Burger King had to pay distribution fees, promotional fees, and other nondevelopment expenses. In fact, the total cost of the promotion was ultimately many times the cost of game development itself, though it’s worth noting that Burger King recouped a significant percentage of its costs by selling the games for $3.99. Given the effort and financial resources necessary to support an initiative of this scope, marketers wanting to emulate Burger King’s success must be prepared to treat their initiative as a key one for their company. Otherwise, the risks of an expensive failure prove too great. Fortunately, as demonstrated by Burger King, the benefits of a well-managed advergame initiative are even greater.
Advertising Lab is pleased to offer highlights from a book that just came out, Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business, co-authored (together with Ethan Mollick) by an old friend and former MIT colleague David Edery, who now works as Worldwide Games Portfolio Planner for Xbox Live Arcade.
You will find a review in Economist, and Cliff Notes in Inc. Here, with authors’ permission, I’m publishing their findings and insights about Burger King’s set of blockbuster advergames that are at least in part credited for the 41% jump in company’s quarterly profits.
Some of the highlights, lowlights and sidelights at the 98th annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers.
Beyond the fact that they believe in the :60 second spot. Beyond the fact that they know the importance of music in painting the cinematic picture, Nike still understands that they are not just selling products. They’re selling dreams. Giving both kids and armchair Quarter Backs a glimpse at what could be or what once was. That moment, to some, is priceless.
The fact that the brand takes the time to show L.T. and Troy Polamalu as kids developing their skills matriculating thru school and then finally meeting on the field. Set against “L’Estasi Dell’Oro” or “The Blueprint 2″ (depending on your frame of reference) is huge. Both the young and the old can relate, revel, and simple smile at the idea. Good work guys.
Scott Cook, founder-chairman of Intuit, just published a very important cover article in the October issue of the Harvard Business Review. It's worth reading — maybe a couple of times, says Pete Blackshaw.
It remains to be seen whether the recent defections become a major problem for the world’s largest news-gathering organization.
Attendees of a recent marketing conference could have been forgiven for believing they had stumbled into a symposium for scholars of the Great Depression.
The cellphone has become the latest medium to feed the appetite for up-to-the-second celebrity gossip.
After years of selling the stock market as a reliable path to riches, CNBC’s star stock-picker has received brutal criticism recently from viewers and competitors.
Not only is there a desire from individuals within large corporations, brands and businesses to leverage social media in some capacity, but increasingly there's an interest in going beyond "viral."
In “Breakfast at Sally’s: One Homeless Man’s Inspirational Story,” Richard LeMieux recounts his descent into homelessness.
This idea probably formed faster than anyone can say “Vista”, this comeback was practically handed to Apple on a silver platter – summation: Microsoft spends more money on advertising Vista than fixing it. Ha ha ha….
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
