Hasta La Creative!

Lisa Utzschneider, a former general manager of sales at Microsoft who joined Amazon in 2008 and subsequently became its VP-global advertising sales, continues to expand the online retail giant’s ad tech and video advertising. Ms. Utzschneider said during Advertising Week that Amazon is still in testing phases for short and long-form video, but that the results are promising.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

L’artiste espagnol Octavi Navarro réalise de très belles illustrations digitales qu’il appelle « Pixel Art ». Il met en scène de petits personnages dans des décors découpés qui font penser à certaines scènes de films comme ceux de Wes Anderson ou en reproduisant des moments de concert comme celui des Chvrches.

Vice News, the digital news operation from Vice Media, is entering into a strategic partnership with Skype.

Oh you’ve gotta love those online college degree schools for their content marketing savvy. They’ve mastered the art of creating compelling and informative infographics that double as a promotion for the school.

That’s not a slam. Just an acknowledgment. Anyway, here’s a well thought out inforgraphic from Best Marketing Degrees on viral marketing. It’s got examples of successful virals. It’s got examples of failed virals. It’s got tips on what you can do to increase the likelihood your content will go viral and its got tips to keep you out of hot water.

Check it out below.

Source: BestMarketingDegrees.org

The Martin Agency will be producing creative work for Ritz Crackers starting in 2015, a Mondelez spokeswoman confirmed to AdAge yesterday. Ritz spent an estimated $16.6 million on measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media.

The agency will take over for Havas Worldwide, which has handled creative duties on Ritz since 2007. Mondelez made the decision without any review, but The Martin Agency already handles creative duties on Mondelez brands Oreo and Chips Ahoy (and has since 2012).

“Havas Worldwide New York and Mondelez International are parting ways after a seven and a half year partnership,” said the Mondelez spokeswoman in a statement. “We experienced great success together, most evident in the Ritz ‘Open for Fun’ campaign, which earned multiple awards including a Bronze Effie and two One Show Design Silver Pencils. The campaign also contributed to Ritz being named ‘America’s favorite snack’ brand two years in a row and helped grow the business upward of 35%. We wish them continued success.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Volkswagen sold more than 3 million cars in China last year, beating out General Motors as the top foreign automaker. The German automaker has a long history in China, but it also offers a case study about what can happen when brands break free of Western conventions.

For example, virtually all new car buyers in the U.S. do research online but completing the purchase is still done in a dealership. Very few of us can imagine buying a $50,000 car on the internet. Yet Shanghai VW, a joint venture with SAIC Motor, a Chinese state-owned car company, now does just that. (To keep dealers happy, it made sure to seek full dealer support when implementing an online sales strategy.)

When VW first set up local operations in China in the 1980s, the puzzle was how to sell foreign cars in a culture where more than 80% of purchase decisions are made by word of mouth. If brand reputation was the engine, how did you step on the gas? The answer finally came with the digital era.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Na mesma época da polêmica das ciclofaixas em SP, me peguei pensando uma certa vez o quanto patinetes poderiam ser bastante úteis em trajetos nas cidades. Eles são fáceis de serem carregados dentro do transporte público tradicional, não exigem tanto equilíbrio e prática como skates, não são demorados de colocar quanto patins e poderiam agilizar bastante aquelas centenas de metros entre uma estação de metrô e o seu destino, ou o ponto de ônibus e o local onde você quer chegar.

No entanto, veio à minha memória esse patinete aqui, diretamente da minha infância:

Ele atende todos os critérios que eu imaginava, mas realmente, do que eu me recordo, exigia um tanto de esforço patinar com esse negócio, e o controle da direção não era exatamente confiável.

Mas é como dizem, enquanto você está aí tendo ideias, tem outras pessoas executando essas ideias. Foi exatamente trabalhando na criação de melhores patinetes urbanos que surgiram os Olaf scooters, criação de um grupo esloveno.

Os Olaf são oferecidos em dois modelos: um executivo, mais discreto e que acompanha uma mala, perfeito para aquela correria dentro de aeroportos; e outro mais urbano, que pode ou não ser anexado a uma mochila.

Com rodinhas maiores do que o meu patinete da infância, o Olaf oferece mais velocidade, melhor controle da direção e estabilidade, com direito a amortecedor de impacto para trajetos mais irregulares.

Com pouco mais de uma semana de Kickstarter, o Olaf já arrecadou mais de 50% do financiamento necessário para ser produzido. Confesso que achei os valores um pouco puxados – o Olaf Urban, sem a mochila, custa 270 dólares, bem mais do que os cerca de 100 reais que se gasta com um daqueles patinetes das antigas – mas pode ser uma interessante iniciativa para promover formas de transporte alternativo nas grandes cidades.

Além de adquirir o Olaf em primeira mão, no Kickstarter é possível gravar seu nome, o logo da sua empresa ou alguma marca na parte de baixo da prancha de madeira do patinete, transformando-o em um item exclusivo.

Não sei vocês, mas eu certamente toparia sair patinando pelas ruas no meu dia a dia. Bem mais fácil que estacionar carro ou achar um bicicletário para guardar a sua bike.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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U.K. retailer John Lewis, best known for its nostalgic Christmas commercials, is also investing in the future, by selecting micro-location specialist Localz as the winner of its first JLAB incubator contest.

Localz, founded nine months ago in Australia, will spend the $162,000 prize money on developing its European presence.

Working with John Lewis, Localz will use Apple’s iBeacons as well as more traditional location technologies like WiFi, GPS and Near Field Communication to pinpoint shoppers’ exact locations. The first application is set to be a technology that triggers a customer’s “click and collect” order to be brought to the collection point as soon as the shopper walks into a store.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

(TrendHunter.com) Nagi Sakai shot Hana Jiricjova and Dmitry Brylev for the ‘Fabulously Beautiful’ editorial, featured in Vogue Ukraine’s October issue.

The good-looking pair are languidly draped…