So, Orange Ballonacy is back – and this time it’s bigger, better and a whole load more social. Check it out at http://playballoonacy.com
The race starts on 8th November so if you want to add your website to the course or grab yourself a balloon before the race starts, you better do it now!
If you’ve never heard about Balloonacy before, it is a great internet balloon race where thousands of balloonists fly across a course made out of bits of the internet to win heaps of kudos and prizes. Here’s a quick peek of what happened two years ago
Up for it? Head on over to http://playballoonacy.com where you can add your website, grab a balloon and help make Balloonacy an awesome one this year as well!
This one provides you with a quick look into the Fortune 100 Companies and their social media usage.
I’m still very surprised to see that not many have understood the importance of owning a corporate blog, but still – the remaining stats make me feel a little bit more positive about the future . What’s your view on it?
Digital Noise is back and I’ve got a lot of great content to share with you all. Please do not forget to drop me an email if you think your stuff could be featured in the next issue.
Don’t tell Ashton
Probably a lot of you know this project by now, but a bunch of Interactive Comms students at the Berghs School of Communication have launched this sweet viral activity focusing on the most followed user on Twitter, Mr Ashton Kutcher.
The idea reminds me of the Million Dollar Webpage. The way it works is very simple, just tweet @donttellashton and your avatar is automatically part of this huge canvas which apparently will be turned into a physical piece by Swedish artist Jon Holm.
The more followers you have, the bigger your avatar on the canvas will be. There’s only one trick – if Mr. Kutcher decides to tweet and be part of the project, his avatar is the only one that will take the entire space of the canvas. What do you reckon? Will he or will he not? Clever idea…
Walk on Water Viral
This must be one of the best virals ever made.
The guys at Hi-Tecproduced what’s meant to be a short documentary about new trainers which allow you to walk on water once you’ve learnt some basic skills. The guys in the video are just brilliant that a friend of mine actually believed it was a real stunt!
The worst job in the world
This is a cool video produced by the guys at Numero 10 - an ad agency based in Bern (Switzerland) – to drive recruitment of few available roles within the business, but mostly to increase awareness around the agency network (I believe).
Taking advantage of the buzz around last year’s award winning campaign ‘The Best Job in the World‘ by the Queensland Tourism Board, Numero 10 has launched the video below, take a look:
‘One person can save trees, together we can save forests’ by Starbuck’s
Quite surprised I didn’t see anything on this campaign when it was launched last month. It is the brilliant activity by Starbucks to increase awareness around cup recycling and the environmental issues we are all facing. Check the video below, this is the experiential idea they had to support the campaign:
Avatar Installation in LA
For the very expensive promotion of the Avatar DVD in Blue Ray, they’ve decided to create this pretty cool installation at what I think it’s The Grove Shopping Mall in Los Angeles. The video itself doesn’t show much of the actual technology, but it’s very briefly mentioned that ‘a face recognition facility allows users to be photographed and being morphed into an Avatar right away’.
Pretty sweet. I’m sure it’d have worked pretty nicely within online banners or on Facebook too – does anyone know if they used the same technology to do such things? Comments on a postcard…
Diesel Facebook Cam
This is something I’ve been proposing to a lot of my retail clients in the past year but never got round to it. I believe this is taking the ‘social shopping’ experience to a nice new level – I just wish it could be way smoother then coming out of the changing room, sign-in onto Facebook, take a photo, share it on your wall and wait for your friends to get back to you with their opinions – It takes a bit of time doesn’t it?
While I believe there’s more to come on this idea, thumbs up to Diesel who made the first steps…
Animated Albums
This is neither a campaign nor a new technology, it’s simply an awesome Tumblr feed of a chap converting CD Covers into an Animated version of the albums. It’s a simple idea but frigging GENIUS. The blog is called Animated Albums and can be found here
Facebook Magazine Subscriptions
Whether you believe in this or not, Facebook seems to be turning into the ‘default online website’ for decades to come. The most recent news in the publishing word might not be a total surprise.
Synapse, a subscription marketing agency that works with major magazine publishers like Condé Nast, Hachette Filipacchi and Hearst, is working with with Alvenda, a company that specializes in Facebook shopping applications, to enable publishers to sell subscriptions directly on Facebook Pages and even in users’ newsfeeds beginning in July or August. (From Mashable)
Question Time! – Are we taking it too far or is this the best way to provide the audience with the best targeted content from the publishing industry and bring it into their world?
Condomerie.com and Chatroulette
As I’m sure you know by now, I’m not the biggest fan of Chatroulette – however I’m starting to see some brands using the media quite cleverly. This week the brand on the spotlight is Condomerie.com who is using the website to increase awareness of HIV (automatically asking people to buy and use condoms). Watch the video to see the execution – and I’m sorry for the strong images!
Alec Brownstein is the Man!
Hats off to Mr.Brownstein who scooped a job at Y&R New York after using a very clever way to grab the ‘big boyz’ attention using Google Ads. Check the video – Genius Idea:
JIllz loves Football
Last but not least for this week it’s the brilliant campaign by Jillz. Not sure if many of you remember last year funny and slightly controversial ad Fresh Men which generated an incredible amount of spoofs by the average online joes – This year, Jillz is coming back with a very strong campaign against this new football regulation:
‘Footballers are not allowed to take their shirts off anymore’
Brilliantly done, the campaign is asking women to sign a petition to abolish such new rule. I’m pretty sure they won’t have any shortage in signatures after having watched the video. Can I say? Great way to bring women closer to Football !?!
‘Digital Noise’ is finally here and I’m taking the opportunity to write it entirely with my new BAMBOO pen tablet! YAY
The list of content is endless, so bear with me; there’s been a lot going on in the past couple of weeks so I want to make sure that the best of the best get shared before it’s a bit too late.
Let’s give it a start by saying that all the content on Digital Noise is chosen by me with no fees being paid by the respective advertisers. lt’s just a collection of news worth sharing – will these be about digital campaigns, emerging technologies or new gadgets, you’ll find them all here!
If you do want your campaign to be featured within Digital Noise, you know what to do – just drop me an email and I’ll be happy to consider it.
Men Got Talent
Let’s give it a start with a campaign that Rumoruhas.it has followed from the start. I’m pretty sure you all remember the awesome ‘Walk In Fridge‘ campaign by Heineken – if you don’t, I hope to be writing a case study ASAP as it’d be worthy. The ‘genius brains’ behind the campaign have come up with a follow up commercial tapping into a current worldwide craze : Talent TV Shows. Take a look at the video below, it’s simply spot-on…
DoYouChat.com
On a more serious note, I absolutely love what this French organization against Domestic Violence,Ni Putes Ni Soumises, has launched to increase awareness on the issue. Tapping into another craze (in my opinion still a fad) Chat Roulette, the company has launched a very similar website called DoYouChat.com.
As you log onto the site, you’ll get to talk to different users until being restricted to ‘next’ a young girl. Here’s where the strong message about domestic violence comes to life… give it a go and you’ll see what I mean. It’s a very strong piece of marketing and I believe very effective; I’d love to know stats on the site so if anyone is listening out there, do drop me an email.
Tyrannybook
A really interesting project has been launched by Amnesty International this week called the Tyrannybook. The correlation to Facebook is quite obvious, however the main objective of the new social network is not to make friends, instead you’ll be making ‘allies’. I believe the purpose of the website is to create a space where users can discuss important worldwide issues with the people from Amnesty and increase awareness on what the ‘bad guys who don’t have respect for human rights’ are up to! Explanatory video below:
OVI Maps
Using an installation featuring custom optical flow, face tracking and some crazy complex arrow chess, Nokia created this awesome interactive projection in Covent Garden – together with W+K and tech specialists Seeper - to increase WOM around the new OVI Maps now available to all Nokia handsets.
Inspired by you. Worn by Wayne
Another awesome idea by W+K London and Nike’s first campaign for the ‘WRITE THE FUTURE’ World Cup activity was launched earlier this week.
It’s a simple and exciting digital experience with a massive incentive. Users are asked to submit a 12 characters message which would inspire the players with Nike stitching the winning line onto every pair of boots they wear in South Africa. SIMPLES.
The digital activity sits as an application on Facebook; it lets you see how your line will appear on the boot and then publishes it to your wall to encourage your friends to get involved. The activity is also hosted on SkySports and other media channels like The Sun.
The app has received already over 2,500 entries in the past few days. On May 18, when the competition ends, Wayne and Ashley will decide the message they want to wear on their boots so their bespoke ‘Elite Series’ footwear can be custom stitched. And before the players pick up their boots to head off to SA, the winners will see their creations on display in NikeTown London.
Musik Pitch
Music Pitch is a brilliant, functional website and no one other than the Mashable chaps explain it better:
This website allows businesses and even average folk to seek out musical talent in the form of a contest — the prize of which is payment and exposure (for example: the site suggests a range of $20,000 to $100,000 be rewarded for a song to be used in a feature film). Anyone can visit the site and launch a contest (for a small fee), which can be used to find music to score/furnish: feature films, video games, indie films, theater, movie trailers, underscores, web/blog/podcasts, TV shows, personal projects, commercials and the somewhat nebulous choice of “other.”
The Next Generation of Spotify
Talking about Music, how could I forget about the new Spotify. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you download the latest update to the application to see how the new platform has become more social. Connect with Facebook, share playlists with friends, send tracks to your mates’ inbox and much much more… Spotify has gone social and we like it!
Tom Tom and Star Wars
Something I’d have never expected to see from a brand like Tom Tom but they’ve decided to be a bit more creative and launch a new update to their products : Darth Vader voice to their GPS devices! A brilliant idea with a great viral video to promote it…Check the content below, well funny!
Catch a Choo
An interesting project from a brand I don’t tend to mention too often on here. Shoe brand Jimmy Choo has launched a London treasure hunt using different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and – surprise surprise – Foursquare. The brand is giving away a pair of special edition trainers worth around £350 I believe. The shoes will randomly ‘check in’ throughout the day at some key trendy locations around the city of London. If you are lucky and quick enough to reach the location and find the Jimmy Choo bag, the trainers are all yours! So far no one has been quick enough to grab the prize… the competition will go on until someone scoops the goodies.
iPad
Last but not least, iPad talk!
I’m a self confessed Mac Whore and therefore I’m dying to get an iPad. This time tomorrow I’ll have one pre-ordered and I can’t bloody wait – especially when you see apps like this one below:
Although, I have to say – the new HP Slate tablet isn’t less appealing:
Before I forget, make sure you also check the latest video by Erik Qualman from Socialnomics who has just released Social Media Revolution 2. The video is an update to the one who I’m sure everyone embedded into Social Media presentations few months back
If you haven’t heard about Robin of Shoreditch – you definitely will in a couple of days time as something like this doesn’t happen every day.
I received an email from Little John at the weekend asking to feature this awesome project on my blog… I’m generally quite picky with what goes on here but how could I say no to this?!
Robin of Shoreditch is an anonymous group of creative outlaws looking to take from the rich and give to the poor; with the rich ones being the Top 100 Companies from the Brand Z Report and the poor ones being the people of Haiti who desperately need some serious help after the dramatic earthquake happened earlier this year.
The guys have come up with a fantastic marketing idea for each one of these brands and are slowly uploading these idea-showreels on Vimeo for the attention of each Brand Director. The hook? Each brand is free to take the idea on board and if happy to develop this further, all they need to do is pay Robin of Shoreditch 1/10.000.000 (that’s one/ten-millionth) of how much the brand is worth as a fee. For example, being Nike valued $11.9 million, the brand will only have to pay $1,199.90 for the idea.
The guys have set up a JustGiving page for the companies to send the money to.
100% of the paid fee goes straight to DEC for Haiti, the guys are not getting anything out of this, which I think is highly commendable ….Enough respect chaps!
There’s not much else to say other then this project is simply #AWESOME.
I will try my best to reach all the people I know within those companies to get the word out there. But if you are reading this, please share it with your friends, get the buzz rolling and make those brands aware of this fantastic project.
You can follow the guys on Twitter, you can befriend them on Facebook, check how they’re getting on with Daytum and follow their blog.
Make sure you check some of the idea-videos as they’re brilliant, and if I haven’t managed to explain the project in the right way, check the video below…
I wonder who’s gonna be the first brand to take advantage of this and pay up … Sweepstake anyone?
. What’s your view on it?
