As its legacy continues to grow, last year will forever be the year of London 2012, one of the greatest events ever to grace the sporting world. It also happened to fall within what the industry is calling ‘The Social Era’ of sponsorship.
So what have brands learnt from it? And what does that mean for sponsorship and the rest of 2013 – already dubbed ‘The Empty Year’? Read More
Facebook has named Oreo number one in its list of 20 brands being celebrated for their creative work. Oreo won for its Daily Twist campaign, which produced 100 pieces of work in 100 days to celebrate the brand’s centenary.
Oreo had a stellar year in terms of digital marketing in 2012 and scored a string of notable hits. Those included its hotly debated gay pride post, which formed part of its Daily Twist campaign.
Other winners of the Facebook Studio awards included Graubunden Tourism, TNT, Allstate, Heineken, Nike UK, AT&T, Ford and Universal Studios. Read More
Hold on to your seats. Bond is back following a starring role in the Olympic opening ceremony and promises to be better than ever. Expect the clichés: girls, guns, gadgets, glamour. But the question on many lips (have I spent too much time in marketing environments?) is “what about the product placement?”
007 has enjoyed his brands since way back when. We all know about the Aston Martins and the Bollinger. In recent years, however, the product placement has been significantly ramped up (who can forget his clunky line when asked about his watch in Casino Royale: “Rolex?” “Omega.”) and there is significant revenue for the production company which, of course, leads to bigger and better stunts. I took a quick look to see if there was much social media buzz surrounding any brands linked with Skyfall (my thanks to Brandwatch for providing the data).
While alcohol brands have been busy on Facebook, with Diageo among others last year striking a multi million dollar deal for its brands including Smirnoff and Guinness, they have been slower to get to grips to Twitter.
In part this has been down to how they tackle the age requirement that followers should be over 18 in the UK or 21 in the US. But a new age checking tool is currently being tested in the US that could change all of that.
The Twitter age-checking tool is currently being tested by several big brands including Coors Light. With a single click confirming their age Twitter users will be able to follow any alcohol brand they so choose. Read More
From worrying over divided attention to leveraging the potential of the portable screen, marketers have started linking the ‘second screen’ (tablets and mobile phones) with the ‘first screen’ (TV) to raise levels of engagement.
“The second screen can turn TV viewing into a shared experience, enable fans to go deeper into the story world, allow instant follow-up on a call to action, extend a message beyond the limits of 30 seconds—and the list goes on,” says Ann Mack, director of trendspotting for JWT.
1. TAC Campaign – 20 year Anniversary retrospective montage “Everybody Hurts” music by REM TV ad
This is powerful stuff. A retrospective of the road safety campaigns produced by the Australian Transport Accident Commission over the last 20 years. The montage features iconic scenes and images from commercials that have helped change they way people drive, all edited to REM’s Everybody Hurts by REM.
Heineken is fortifying its ‘responsible drinking’ image with a new viral campaign, which helps us benevolant-boozers spot those problem-boozers, plus a chance to potentially humiliate our friends and tickle our voyeuristic funny-bones, all in one dapper package.
The campaign, developed by UK-based agency Red Brick Road, extends Heineken well-established ‘enjoy Heineken responsibly’ programme and is rather tongue-in-cheek, if nothing else, a solid five-minute attention grabber.
Called ‘Know The Signs’ the website puts the user at the helm of security centre in an unnamed bar, with a soft-spoken bar-owner as the omnipotent guide.
Users can control the security cameras aimed at a buzzing dancefloor, and pan in-and-out to spot the problem drinkers, or more pointedly the ‘signs’ that put these boozers one toe over the line, or a hand on the fanny of an unsuspecting blonde (see The Groper), with short films dedicated to the dark-spirals of the five types of bad drunks.
Spoiler alert, but the five classified are as follows: The Crier, The Sleeper, The Groper, The Fighter and everyone’s pants-dropping favourite, The Exhibitionist.
(Presumably The Puker was busy hugging the bog)
Once you’ve watched the offenders short film, it quickly rewinds to the point it all went wrong, and instead of taking one more delicious sip of Heineken, the boozer has their drink ripped out of their hand and replaced with a bottle of water, which they happy oblige. Uh, right, try that next time your out with your mates.
Best of all however, is the humiliating your friends bit, when the short film is finished, a title screen asks “Remind you of anyone?” complete with an “Embarrass Your Friend” button, to send via email.
Get a little trigger-happy with this however, and I’m afraid all your drinking buddies might begin mysteriously screening your Friday night calls.
All in all, it’s a good effort on the part of Red Brick Road, who were even kind enough to include a ‘cheat’ button, because the security camera controls can be a little tricky.
It is tough to actually spot the signs in a busy bar, leading me to reflect on my previous notion that bouncers are the IQ-equivalent a potted plant (like the one The Fighter manhandles during his trek to the dark side).
It’s a nice thought but likely a lost cause, the only solution Heineken really offers is to replace the unsuspecting drunk’s beer with some bottled water, which is pretty naïve. Or is it Evian? Can never remember.
Latest news from Campaign magazine More from The Wall
Most commented