FACEBOOK KNOWS YOUR FAVOURITE LOVE SONGS AND BREAK-UP TUNES
As a Valentine’s Day experiment, Facebook looked at the top 10 songs users are listening to as they make new relationships “Facebook official” or announce recent breakups. The Data Team looked at songs U.S. users played on Spotify after changing their relationship statuses. The team had lots of data to work from since the music platform gained about 2 million plus users since the Facebook Integration at the end of 2011. Check out the results.
NBC TAPS GOOGLE TO CREATE CROSS-PLATFORM AUDIENCE METRIC FOR 2012 OLYMPICS
NBC Universal will once again use its Olympics coverage to search for what it calls the “holy grail” of audience measurement. The media conglomerate has commissioned Google and research company comScore develop new ways to measure viewership across broadcast, cable, Internet and mobile platforms. Google plans to create a panel of about 3,000 consumers, using a meter-based system to track viewership across platforms. Google will also create algorithms specifically designed to measure this usage. NBCU will not aim to create a true national sample with this research, but rather a proof of concept that shows the broadcast and advertising industries that such single-source metrics can indeed be created.
SONY PLAYSTATION: SHOOT MY TRUCK
To celebrate the re-launch of the Twisted Metal gaming franchise, Sony Playstation have created a unique real-world-digital game which focuses on a real M249-SAW machine gun mounted on a control desk in the middle of the Nevada desert. The gun is aimed at a perfect replica of the hot-rodded ice cream van belonging to game character and talisman, Sweet Tooth (whose head also happens to be a flaming skull). However, the weapon is hooked up to a remote, online interface which means that anyone around the world with an internet connection is capable of taking control and letting rip into the van or a selection of other unlikely targets. Gamers were able to register - either via Facebook or Twitter - for the chance to fire the gun for 30 seconds each over the course of two days. For a grand finale, three lucky, trigger-happy participants will be given an extended 90 seconds to finish off Sweet Tooth's ride, eventually blowing it to smithereens in front of a global audience tuning in via a live video feed.
OPEN A VIRTUAL MERCEDES WITH YOUR OWN CAR KEYS
This is awesome! Passengers in Berlin's Friedrichstrasse underground station were recently treated to a clever use of augmented reality. In order to demonstrate the capacity of its new car, Mercedes-Benz set up a radio receiver that recognized wireless signals from car keys, letting passerby "unlock" pictures of the car on digital displays by pressing their own car's unlock button. Once they did, the screen would play a clip of the door opening and something — robots, bodybuilders, or troupes of dancers — emerging from the car. The lucky ones who opened the car door to find it empty were then invited to go on a exclusive VIP trip in the car. Check out the ad, along with a quick explanation of how the underlying tech was set up.
GUERILLA STREET ARTISTS REPLACES ADS WITH POETRY
The Scottish artist, Robert Montgomery, like countless street artists who came before him, hijacks billboards and bus stops to display his melancholic verse. For ten years, he’s been replacing ad pitches with poetry and presenting commentary on culture, ranging from consumerism to beauty in bold white type set against a black background.
MOBILE SCAVENGER HUNTS: 10 BEST IN CLASS EXAMPLES
Marketers are
combining location-based data with augmented
reality to create scavenger hunts that take place
over distances. When looking
at displays on phones, aspects of the game are
augmented on the screen to add
to the play. If you’re considering using the same
mechanic in your marketing,
here are ten examples to take inspiration from.
GIFF GAFF: UNLOCK A
CHICKEN
Giffgaff, a mobile telephone company in the UK, has launched “Unlock a Chicken”, an advertising campaign starring Keith Harris and Orville the Duck (the pair are a bit of a British institution). Keith and Orville the Duck sing together as K-Orville in “The Contract”, a mobile tribute to the mobile network with the tagline “Unlock your phone and unlock a chicken”. The rap contrasts giffgaff with other networks that lock users into contracts like battery chickens. Giffgaff are working in partnership with the Wood Green Animal Shelter to re-home battery hen chickens when new giffgaff SIM cards are activated.
MATTEL PLANS TO MAKE ‘BACK TO THE FUTURE’ HOVERBOARDS
Likely hoping to capture the same frenzied, nostalgic excitement that was created by the release of the Nike Mags, Mattel has just announced that the company will be creating a 1:1 replica of the hover board used by Michael J. Fox’s character in both Back to the Future II and Back to the Future III. As mentioned on the Matty Collector blog, Mattel will be taking preorders for the hover board betweenMarch 1 to March 20, 2012. The board will make “whooshing” sounds similar to the films and Mattel mentioned that the board will “glide over most surfaces,” but not actually hover. Mattel is targeting a November or December 2012 release window; somewhat late for anyone that was planning an amazing Marty McFly Halloween costume this year.
COW COLLAR TEXTS RANCHERS WHEN COWS ARE SICK OR IN HEAT
Even cows can benefit from having a mobile device. A new collar being developed for cattle ranchers could send cow health updates to farmers’ cellphones. The device could help ranchers save money in the long run, monitoring the health of their animals and prevent accidental deaths. The Silent Herdsman collar will track the movements of the cow using the same type of sensors found in Wii devices. That data is relayed to the rancher via a cellphone using a variety of technologies including 3G. This technology could also send farmers instant notification if their animals are in heat, going into labor or in distress.
THE LESS MONEY YOU HAVE, THE MORE CREATIVE YOU CAN BE
Daniel
Stein, CEO of EVB
recently shared his thoughts with
an Advertising Strategy class at Boston University.
His view was that if you
“Give an agency $200,000 they will come up with
endless creative ideas. Give
them $20 million and you get a TV campaign. Give
them $200 million and you get
really big TV campaign with celebrities and
Superbowl spots.” His lesson, of
course, was that creative teams should welcome
smaller budgets. The tighterfinancial reins won’t
restrict your creativity. On the contrary, they’ll
liberate it. Take away that extra zero and you won’t
have to satisfy expected
solutions and media buys.
EVERYTHING YOU NEEDED TO
KNOW ABOUT PINTEREST (INFOGRAPHIC)
Pinterest has emerged as the runaway social media hit of early 2012. You probably knew that already. But did you know the company just has 12 people? Or that 97% of Pinterest’s Facebook fans are women? Lemon.ly, a visual marketing firm, took a deep dive into the data to catalog Pinterest’s stunning rise and produced the infographic below. What’s clear is that with 10 million users, Pinterest has already made its mark in terms of web design influence if nothing else.
AUGMENTED REALITY PRODUCT PACKAGING: 5 BEST IN CLASS EXAMPLES
Brand marketers are bringing a spin to their packaging with a hidden level of graphics that can only be viewed through a phone’s camera. Sometimes this can be at a personal level — where someone has left a message for another person to see through an app. If you’re considering using the same mechanic, here are five examples to take inspiration from…
PREPARING FOR A MOBILE-FIRST WORLD: THE CMOO?
When smartphones are in the hands of a billion customers, that’s not just a trend. That’s a moment that requires a huge rethink in how companies do business and build products. That’s the upshot of a new study by Forrester Research which looks at the trends in mobile and their implications as CIOs and businesses adapt to this new form of personal engagement with users via mobile devices. Forrester forecast that one out of every three dollars spent in the tech economy will be mobile by 2016. They even go as far as to suggest that in order to stay ahead of these challenges, companies should install a chief mobility officer (CMOO) to help corral, plan and manage all the different mobile apps and initiatives undertaken by a business.
SHOP FOR BEAUTY PRODUCTS FROM THE BACKSEAT OF A CAB
L’Oréal partnered with Glamour magazine to kick off a unique campaign during NYC Fashion Week. 50 Manhattan cabs showed a special video on the in-taxi screen where passengers could watch Glamour fashion development director, Susan Cernek, introduce Lancome and Yves Saint Laurent beauty products. If the viewer was interested in purchasing a product, he or she simply had to swipe a smartphone over the ‘Shop The Look’ icon.
Domino’s is asking the world for their best Domino’s ideas. Think Oven has two parts: Projects and Idea Box. Projects is where Domino’s ask for help on something specific, while Idea Box allows people to submit any idea they might have for Domino’s. Similar to Dell ‘Ideastorm’ and ‘My Starbucks Idea’ but for Pizza!
(Courtesy of James.F)
ROGERS ONE NUMBER: THE
FUTURE OF TELCO?
Rogers Communications in Canada is severing the seemingly unbreakable bond between the mobile phone number and the mobile phone, making it an outlier in an industry that has always jealously guarded its voice revenues. Using something called ‘Bria technology’ they are powering a web-based portal that can make and receive phone calls and send text messages to any Canadian number as well as video chat with other Rogers One Number users – all at no charge and with no penalty to a customer’s voice minute or SMS caps. This could have major implications for the communications industry as it takes the number ownership away from the likes of Telstra or Skype.