For years now, Red Bull has been famous for the tag line ‘gives you wings’. They’ve utilized top extreme sports athletes and supported them in their quest to experience the ‘bigger and better’ by giving them the metaphorical wings to do it. Whether it be building half-pipes in the wilderness of Colorado for Snowboarding legend Shaun White, dropping the worlds greatest base jumper from a hot air balloon at 120,000 feet, or putting a surfer on a board lit with flares. Now, for the first time ever, Red Bull are offering that same opportunity to a member of the public with ‘Launch Pad’. Simply submit your crazy idea, people can vote on their favourite and then Red Bull will make it happen.
Facebooks Movie App aims to demystify Timeline
Facebook is being nearly as secretive about the release date of its Timeline format as it is about its IPO. But prepare for the day when it flips the switch and turns Timeline on for all users -- not just the early adopters -- it has commissioned an app that creates a customized movie for every Facebook user in an effort to warm them up to Timeline.
Timeline Movie Maker requires users to opt in to share personal data including their photos and videos. The app then generates a movie based on a user's greatest hits, attempting to capture the highlights of a user's Facebook experience through the years by surfacing pieces of content with high levels of engagement. The app looks like an earnest attempt by Facebook to make Timeline into a less fearsome, or even an enticing, prospect for users who have been hesitant to opt into it. And while every product update Facebook rolls out seems to result in some backlash, the company has a lot riding on this one, with its IPO and potential $100 billion valuation hanging in the balance.
New app gives you feedback from bad dates that went wrong
Web app WotWentWrong is a “dating advice portal” that offers people the opportunity to find out why a date didn’t go so well, or provide feedback to someone else explaining what turned them off. The service aims to provide productive social networking that helps people break bad relationship patterns. The person who got dumped sends a request for feedback, the person they went on a date with can respond with the criticisms. The answers are then sent back along with some tips to deal with issues. Sound weird? The demo video is weirder…
Are Smart Tags the new (much better) QR Code?
While NFC Tags have been around for a while, they haven't captured the attention of mainstream consumers thanks to the fact that the majority of phones released haven't supported NFC technology and the tags themselves haven't been widely available. This is set to change with 2012 being heralded as the year of the NFC-enabled smart phone and Sony are jumping on the bandwagon early releasing their ‘Xperia Smart Tags’. The colourful little discs are priced at approximately $12-20 and could prove to open up huge new opportunities for marketers. Check out the demo video.
With packages including 30-second spots in the Super Bowl XLVI going for as much as $3.5 million and the marketer-approved match-upbetween the New York Giants and the New England Patriots set, all eyes are focused on NBC's coming broadcast of the event, scheduled to take place in Indianapolis on Feb. 5. The brands involved are going all-out to ensure that their spots stand out, especially the automotives who are all trying to out-do each other. Volkswagen have deployed a choir of dogs barking the Darth Vadar theme, Honda have signed up Ferris Bueller and Jerry Seinfeld, Kia have a fake dream sequence featuring Victoria’s Angel Adriana Lima and Motley Crue and Audi are banking on the current craze for Vampires. You can see the ads by clicking on the link.
Jerry is my favourite so far.
…although this comes a close second from First Bank who have created an intentionally boring ad which offers new twist to the norm of over-the-top-entertainment.
…but I’m most looking forward to seeing how Chevy’s collaboration with OK GO pans out.
Meet Evi, Androids answer to Siri
Getting Siri’s voice-recognition capabilities on your phone just became a possibility for Android users and a bit less expensive for iPhone users. Meet Evi — a $.99 app for iPhones and free for Android. For such a nominal price, don’t expect Evi to be on par with Siri. There are some major differences with Evi as opposed to the quick and integrated Siri. Evi will not schedule meetings on your calendar or let you dictate text messages. But for functions like finding local shops, restaurants and general information, it’s pretty helpful
Reebok Crossfit: The Empire State Building
Early in the morning on 26th January, Reebok took fitness to new heights as 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games Champions Rich Froning Jr. and Annie Thorisdottir, the Fittest Man and Woman on Earth™, led two teams of CrossFit athletes through a Workout of the Day (WOD) at the top of the Empire State Building. The WOD, held at 4 a.m. on the 1,050ft high outdoor observation deck, was a real-life demonstration of CrossFit®, the revolutionary strength and conditioning program created by Greg and Lauren Glassman, which is at the center of Reebok’s new advertising campaign, 'The Sport of Fitness Has Arrived'
Fever Dream of a Guilt-Ridden Gadget Reporter
A beautifully written, thought-provoking rant from one of the editors at Gizmodo on his experience at the recent CES event in Vegas:
There is a hole in my heart dug deep by advertising and envy and a desire to see a thing that is new and different and beautiful. A place within me that is empty, and that I want to fill up. The hole makes me think electronics can help. And of course, they can. They make the world easier and more enjoyable. They boost productivity and provide entertainment and information and sometimes even status. At least for a while. At least until they are obsolete. At least until they are garbage.Electronics are our talismans that ward off the spiritual vacuum of modernity; gilt in Gorilla Glass and cadmium. And in them we find entertainment in lieu of happiness, and exchanges in lieu of actual connections.
Well worth reading.
Schweppes app scans Facebook to reveal your future
Beverage company Schweppes has launched the Unexpected Future app that predicts how the year would pan out for the user through snippets of posts in the Facebook Timeline format. By analysing your Facebook data, the app reveals your potential larger-than-life achievements with grand predictions in categories such as wealth, career, adventure, romance and fame. It takes you through Facebook posts that have comments left by friends in your social network.
Looking through the digital hype
This post originally appeared as an article in Viewpoint at the end of 2011. Briefed to BBH London strategist, Ed Booty, as a deliberate polemic, it’s a provocative argument designed to question our assumptions about the constant pace of change and the ‘digital evolution’. Brilliantly written.
Four inspiring examples of digital storytelling
In 2011, Sundance Film Festival created The New Frontier Story Lab, an initiative created to foster the development of a new style of media production. As media began to depart from traditional, linear films intended for a passive audience, the launch represented an innovative new era in entertainment.Now, a few months on we are firmly situated at an intersection of films, games and the Internet, today’s creators are using multiple platforms, where the audience can actively reshape the stories themselves. Check the link for four great examples.
Southwest Airlines rapping flight attendant
Finally, just a little clip to prove that everything communicates when it comes to your brand, including your staff, as verified by this very enthusiastic flight attendant who decided to rap the in-flight information rather than just announce it normally. You can bet that these passengers will be flying with South West Airlines again! AMAZING!