A Source Of Inspiration

What a bummer. I realized that i just missed the shooting of the latest work by FarFar and HobbyFilm here in Portugal, downtown Lisbon.


URL: http://www.get-out-and-play.com/

The first time i saw the video at Adverblog it felt somehow familiar, and as i browsed the website it became clear that the real-life snake game was indeed shot in the always beautiful and sunny Lisbon.

The Get Out and Play website features the full HD frame-by-frame video and a impressive behind the scenes involving 1000 people playing life-size Snake at a popular Lisbon square, Martim Moniz.
The mobile gaming concept is further brought to life with a chance to also play Blocks with real people and highlighting the Nokia N-Gage game service for models N81, N82 and N95.

Now i have no excuse to miss Improv Everywhere’s Portuguese mission, even it isn’t done by some wacky Swedish folks (*).

(*) I wonder if any of them is coming to OFFF ?

Interactive Advertising Bureau released the whitepaper “User-Generated Content and Social Media Advertising Overview” (PDF, 3.4 MB), a hands-on guide to social media, focusing on terminology, practices and standarts.

Interesting Snippet by lynetter

The document intends to clear some of the fears that brands and agencies might have on using this dynamic medium, framing the whole UGC movement and reminding brands that user reviews are just like personal recommendation, one of the most effective forms of advertising.

Source: eMarketeer

Blogs, wikis, UGC and Ad Networks are described, with several examples how to integrate advertising with social media. The myth that Social Networks is kids stuff was also debunked, by showing that “more than half of MySpace users were over 35 years old” and “LinkedIn, reports that its average user is 39 years-old and has an annual income of $139,000″.

With all the buzz surrounding social media, it’s easy for brands to jump into the bandwagon, and try to push their messages instead of engaging into conversations with their audience. Marketing author and blogger Seth Godin brilliantly states it on his latest book “Meatball Sundae”, reminding companies that just because they put money into new media that doesn’t necessarily translate into effective customers. Be ready to fail, experiment, optimize and most important, be ready to listen.

The document is a valuable first time reading for professionals that want to get acquainted with social media. For a 17 page paper, it manages to get a good overview that you can enrich with several web resources , such as Paul Isackson’s recent presentation, or from Fallon planer Aki Spicer:

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This entry was crossposted at Interact Congress Blog.

Great news: finally Interactive Advertising Bureau Portugal kicks off, with an ambitious installing committee .

Ricardo from Elemento Digital did most of the hard work (along with Alain Heureux, from IAB Europe) and got great feedback from the major Portuguese online media players, that are finally agreeing on the urgent need of a reliable institution heading the interactive marketing industry.

In the next few months, IAB Portugal intends to discuss the main goals and business plan, inviting all the players to the table (remember my comment?).
So, if you’re in Portugal and concerned about the future of advertising, have your say at IABPortugal.com.

Michael Lebowitz is back to microblogging, sharing BigSpaceship’s latest work with ad agency Cramer-Kasselt: The Corona Beach.

If you’re having one of those awful Mondays (aren’t they all?), then a quick stroll on the Corona Beach might turn your day a bit more pleasant. Head to Corona beach and feel the breeze while listening to waves breaking on the sea shore or get a glimpse right here by watching one of the campaign’s commercials:

You get to explore the landscape or blow on the beer bottles, but what really impressed me was when I got to draw in the sand, that felt almost like the real thing.

Once you check the website, you might start dreaming with paradisaical islands and buckets of iced Coronas.
Or you’ll realize that you’ve got already 10 more emails to answer and your phone keeps ringing.
Have a nice work week.

Update (06/03/08) : The international version is now live at http://www.cokezerogame.com/

North Kingdom is getting ready for more awards (after FWA Site Of The Year with Get The Glass). Robert Lindström unveiled the work they’re doing for Coke Germany a few days ago, and we now have access to another making-of, this time for Coke Zero Game.

In 2 big posts, Robert gives us a sneak peek at the whole creative process, from storyboards to the latest draft, with a special demo site documenting the advergame concept and execution.

I greatly admire those ⁽¹⁾ who share their creative process in similar ways North Kingdom is doing, as it inspires young creatives to improve their skills and practices, learning from the masters. This kind of attitude is another great difference between traditional agencies and digital agencies. Kudos to Robert and crew.

(1) Fantasy Interactive has also a nice video about the creative process on the Porsche Cayenne site.

Enjoying a deserved break in Madrid, it came to my attention on a newspaper a political marketing effort by candidate Mariano Rajoy.

The online marketing campaign is a mix by the one from Moveon.org and Bushin30seconds with the one from Sporting. The twist here is a mobile invitation made to voters, so they take a seat on a PP (Partido Popular) meeting and do a bit of crowdsourcing, at tupropuestaen30segundos.com.

After their previous efforts on Facebook, the PP is generating enough tech buzz, promising wi-fi in every city.

Political online marketing had a promising year start, with personal favorite Barack Obama getting all attention with UGC hits like Obama Girl and YouBama. With young voters loosing their interest in politics, it all comes down to: If you can’t fool them, you’ll better join them.

It’s not always about the visuals. Once in a while there comes a campaign that reminds us that we have more senses to be delighted. While audio advertising had his glory days with radio, it now is starting to fade, increasingly becoming an underrated medium.

The Internet is now offering a new stage for audio experiences, and following the previous post on Arcade Fire’s music video, we now have the latest work from Fantasy Interactive: Porsche Bloodlines, a countdown site for the new Cayenne GTS.

The site is largely based on the concept of the commercial (click video above to play), highlighting the remarkable sounds produced by the historic Porsche models. The 3 week project developed in Flash, has also inner sections including downloads, wallpapers an a audio challenge.

Enjoy the site. With headphones, please.

From the folks who did Wilkinson’s Fight For Kisses - JWT, Wanda and grouek - there’s a new site for Nestle: Kit Kat, Ultimate Break (”Break Ultime”, en français).

The integrated campaign picks the best of the viral from Wilkinson (i guess the previous success is paying off), and adds outdoor and more great awards. Even a space voyage if you register at the game site and find the promo codes.

Nestle is also asking consumers to share a video of their ultimate break. It seems though that they’re not having any luck, since there’s only the campaign commercial in the gallery.

Click to Play

If i had the time (which reminds me of my need for a true break) or the interest, i could dream of my teleportation to Namtso, the holy lake in Tibet. Oh, i wish it was that simple as eating a candy …