I remember, way back in the days of 1999(ish), when I could jump online, and customize my own shoes. I could choose colors, graphics, and make them exactly the way I wanted to. This trend in online customization was picked up by all sorts of companies, including Nike, and has now been adopted by Heineken Beer.
Have an event coming up? Wanna just say thank you? Check out this site created by AKQA London, to create your own, customized six pack (warning: it ain’t cheap).
The folks behind this European Fiat ad offer a literal and figurative “mindfuck” as brains bang like rabbits while an old Bollywood song plays in the background, all culminating into a scene that looks like it was left on Peter Jackson’s cutting-room floor in 90s. Thoughts?
JWT managed to combine two of my least favorite ad “vehicles”, and make the Goldfoot ad of the day–animated animals, and cars.
Well done, kids. Well done.
So if you’ve been visiting this blog at all, you’ll know that we often highlight what inspired us out in the design and advertising world. And while many Blog “experts” would give us the wag of the finger for not always tooting our own horn, we just simply must share what others have done that made us smile.
This is no exception.
From Alberta’s Big Rock Brewery:
By now, you should have received your 2010 census in the mail. Did you know it was coming? Are you feeling compelled to fill it out and send it back in? Did you watch all of the ads, witness the media blitz, and post the “you are going to get your census soon” mailer on your refrigerator with cute little magnets in anticipation? Or did the massive campaign not work, and you feel like the census is an invasion of your privacy? That the information will be used against you? That you’d rather the Government not know you exist.
The effort behind the 2010 census was the most expensive ever. How expensive? Roughly $14.5 Billion…That’s $46.93 per person…and still counting. The 2010 census will cost more than the last 200 years of census efforts combined.
Now, before a rant begins, understand that a marketing campaign from the Federal Government with a target audience of “everyone in the United States” would be a daunting assignment for any creative firm. It would take some money, and just a little creative thinking. When you consider the cynicism towards our government at the moment, the language barriers, the cultural pockets scattered around our great country…it’s…well…impossible to get 100% response rate from a direct mailer. Now, a $5000 fine for a failure to reply helps a lot (wish I could do that for my clients), but it still isn’t enough.
The first hint of a massive campaign hit millions of American’s radars during the Superbowl. A $2.5 Million media buy, for what was a lack-luster ad. And as it turns out, the money spent on the Superbowl spot, was just the tip of the money about to be spent:
Between bad ideas for media buys, longs spots that you probably never saw, and millions spent on a mailer that was a massive waste of dollars and trees, this particular firm frowns on this campaign.
So you might be asking, “Sure you do. But could you do better?”
Half that budget with a third up-front, and my fellow citizen, I’ll promise you…you’ll be checking your mailbox like a kid waiting for a check from Grandma.
Here’s the premise of a new PSA campaign (below) that’s targeted at the Latino market called “Be Counted, Represent”: Wilmer Valderrama, Rosario Dawson, veteran character actor Luis Guzman, Jorge Garcia from Lost and many others star as house party-goers who wind up getting in a heated debate about whether or not to take part in the Census.
Compelling? Hmmm…
Turkish Airlines, give me a call. I’d love to steer you in the right direction.
The Super Bowl is now over, and so are the rather underwhelming ads. The only real point of interest this year was the “banned” strategy. Now, keep in mind, a media buy for a Super Bowl ad is roughly $2.7 Million (this of course, does not include the cost of the agency creative or production). The buzz this year on ads that had been “banned” was unprecidented. GoDaddy, ManCrunch and Dorritos all made a huge deal online–weeks before the Superbowl–that their ads had been banned. They also posted all of the “banned” ads on YouTube…immediately.
At the time of this post, from a quick assessment of YouTube hits alone, the “banned” GoDaddy ad (actually, there are several) has had well over 3 million views. While this pales in comparison to the estimate 93.2 million people watching the Super Bowl, it cost them $0 for a media buy.
Just to rub in the strategy of this “banned” tactic, GoDaddy had an ad in the 4th quarter asking “did GoDaddy go too far?”
Smart, clever, but obvious.
Is America and the NFL really so afraid of men kissing or flaming football players that ads are banned? Or is this just a tactic to get millions of views online for free, and generating more buzz that animated, fuzzy gophers?
A spot for GoDaddy.com that was banned from the 2010 Superbowl. I have no idea why.
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