So, handy? Or creepy?

But wait, it gets creepier… ifidie used Facebook and Twitter check-ins to track where people were at certain points in time, and called them with the ominous message that DEATH CAN COME AT ANY TIME. The creepy all-knowing voice knew where they were and told them they must go to ifidie.com. They called thousands of people and not only did this attract media attention, it actually did increase the traffic to their website.

Yours in taking things too far,

Anya

So in my researching I came across this great campaign for the Motor Accident Commission (MAC) in South Australia. The campaign is aimed at young drivers and just how ‘screwed’ they’d be, if they lost their licence.

I am inspired by the quirky humour in this advert. After all as a teenager I couldn’t think of anything worse then being embarrassed by your mum or any of the other situations the adverts play on (eg. trying to pick up girls on bikes, or making out in an expensive taxi). I for one had to laugh at the situations. Even the website is well executed in it’s humour, informing young drivers of the many other ways they’d be ‘screwed’, as well as what actions may cause them to get ‘screwed’. I also like the fact that this isn’t a shock tactics campaign and shows a new approach to target a particular audience. You can check out more about this campaign at www.mac.sa.gov.au/young_drivers/home.

What do you think of this campaign? If you were a young driver do you think you’d stop and take notice?

Yours in inspiring advertising
Dawn

The success I believe is the quirkiness that engages the viewer, that works. Come on, you know you smile at the ‘six geese a laying’ reworked to highlight six pregnant woman in comfy bonds wear and another favourite for me is the ‘eleven pipers piping’, but I’ll let you checkout the video below to see the idea behind that one.

On mention of the video, this showcases all 12 days in one advert. However a fresh concept that I love and think works really well, is that in one advert break, three days are shown in separate mini 10 second ads, with longer ads in between. The unique version of the song grabs your attention every time and I know as soon as I hear it I stop whatever I’m doing to see which day is going to be highlighted and the mini repetition ensures you walk away knowing the brand name behind it.

Also for your information the unique Australian voice you hear singing is Jack Ladder, it’s a little rough but it suits the theme and you’ve never heard, or seen, Christmas carols like this before!

So what do you think of this campaign from Bonds? Do you think it’s successful and what’s your favourite day of Bonds Christmas?

Yours in Advertising
Dawn

I recently visited Japan and came across these striking posters in a subway station. I believe the posters were part of a campaign promoting the Tōhoku region as a place to visit. This is the region including Sendai, that has recently been effected by natural disasters and in typical Japan style, they are getting straight back to business!

The campaign caught my eye because it incorporates some timeless graphic design principles, taking inspiration from Bauhaus designers like Wassily Kandinsky. It focusses on simplicity, limiting the amount of text and the number of colours for maximum impact. The posters use striking angles, directing the eye and creating a dramatic effect.

The campaign was applied to various posters, ads and flags in transport stations throughout Japan.

設計のあなた

Anya

The question I pose to you, is would you take a seat if you were faced with this situation?

Your’s in awesome advertising,
Dawn

The Gruen Transfer is my favourite show. Hands down. It’s required reading (or watching) for those in our industry and gives the rest of the world an insight into what we advertisers do each day.

So naturally I’m busting with excitement for Gruen Planet which airs tonight on ABC1 at 9pm.

Over an eight-week season Gruen Planet will delve into the world of public relations – the world of ‘spin’ with Gruen Transfer host Wil Anderson and panelists Russel Howcroft and Todd Sampson.

“Persuasion is persuasion,” says Sampson, pointing out that the techniques used in PR and damage control are not dissimilar to those used to persuade consumers to buy a product.

Topics will include a proposal to run an ad during grand final week asserting that footballers should not be role models, the rebranding of Rupert Murdoch and a pitch to persuade Australians they hate the Melbourne Cup.

Tonight’s episode will focus on the political survival of prime minister Julie Gillard, described as ‘The only leader on Earth more besieged than Gaddafi’. The show will look at how she should be repositioned as a political brand but will also cover SABMiller’s acquisition of Fosters to tackle the question: How do you sell Aussie beers that are no longer Aussie? And do brands really need to worry about patriotism?

The last part of the show will ask contestants to come up with a campaign to convince Australians that they should stop expecting our footballers to be role models in the run up to grand final week for the NRL and AFL.

And for those of you miss tonight’s episode: a repeat of the show will air on Thursday at 9.30pm on ABC2 or you can catch-up with iView.

Will you be watching?

Yours in spin,
Janet

Sources: mumbrella.com.au, smh.com.au

I’m not a beer drinker, but after seeing this new commercial for Hahn Super Dry Beer, I might even be a little tempted to try it. Yes, Hahn has finally revealed its secret brewing process.

Forget the hops, barley, pure water and other ingredients that would normally go into the regular brews, this beer is allegedly made with no other than: kung-fu movies, professional wrestlers, a tower of trophies, a drum set made out of kegs, beer-filled fiberglass pumas and jacked-up DeLoreans which are apparently used to infuse the beer with an essence of “badassitude” that no other beer can match. The Knight Rider theme song is playing in the background. I was immediately very impressed and even curious about what it tastes like.

This is the power of advertising and anyone who can get me even curious enough to want to try a beer is a pure genius!

All jokes aside, I really loved this commercial and found it very entertaining and cleverly produced, but best of all, it’s Australian.

Yours in advertising,

Angie

Yes, I am one of those people who still like to read the newspaper. And it was through reading the newspaper that I learnt about this new website called We Like This.

We Like This is a website that allows you to review products and services and write your opinions about them. Through writing your review, you are given the opportunity to tell lots of people about your favourite products, good experiences, and not so good experiences.

Also, you will be reading the opinion of others so that you too can make informed choices about the products you are considering buying.

The products and services are listed by categories e.g Automotive, Clothing and Apparel, Computing, Food and Drink, etc. If the product or service you wish to review is not listed, you’re given the opportunity to suggest the new product and write a review for it. A new product page is then created by the We Like This team.

Your reviews may also be used across press, online and TV. This way, reviews influence even more people. A positive review of a product is very powerful in influencing others and customers’ review can make or break a brand.

When an advertiser’s products or services have been reviewed positively, they are offered the opportunity to licence these reviews into a We Like This formatted advertising campaign which might run across press, magazines, TV and the internet.

A certain criteria must be met before an advertiser is permitted to use the We Like This brand or any reviews in an advertising campaign. The product must have a total rating above 3.5 hearts to be deemed positive and must have received a minimum of 15 reviews.

Consumer opinions about products and services are more powerful than advertising in helping other people make decisions. I may even get to read all the good reviews by real people in the newspaper!

I like this. Do you?

Yours in advertising,
Angie

It’s no surprise then, that effective cut-through communication relies on the mutual understanding of those words and their intended meaning by both sides in the communication equation – sender and receiver. We often forgot that with the rise of social media it’s not enough to simply send your message out into the world; it needs to be understood quickly so it can be processed and acted upon even quicker.

I saw a video recently of a homeless man on the street, his sign saying “PLEASE HELP, I’M BLIND”. He had a few people stopping by and giving money, but nothing that would greatly ease his suffering. He had the right message, but the wrong words to create action in his audience.  His message wasn’t cutting through all the other market place noise.

The clip continues as a professional woman comes into shot. She pauses, picks up his sign. You see her hastily writing something, but you’re unsure what. The homeless man touches her shoes as she puts the sign back into position beside him. The scene changes and more donations are being given to help, the homeless man scrambling to capture all coins in his tin. The professional woman returns after some time and the homeless man recognises her by her shoes, which he’s felt again. He asks with genuine sincerity and appreciation, what did she do to his sign and her reply? “I wrote the same, with different words”.

She used the right words, in the right context to create cut-through communication and connection between sender and receiver, and the effect in this demonstration was profound. Imagine if all your communication was received this way.

Brio Group can help you find the right words to achieve cut-through communication in the busiest of marketplaces. We also offer helpful hints on writing better Press Releases, creating copy for your ads and understanding the rapidly growing business benefits of social media.

Yours in 355 specifically chosen words,

Sheri