Cool Marketing Thoughts

After the interactive billboard of BBC World, here’s another piece of journalistic objectivity: BBC World placed this billboard on a corner of Times Square with the statement “See Both Sides Of The Story”, stressing the impartial way and openness of their reporting. Pretty inspiring, and for a country like the US, where most of the news is ‘pre-approved’ or somewhat ‘adjusted’, BBC World anticipates on a growing feeling of distrust towards the existing news sources. I’m not saying the US has no alternative news sources, I’m only pointing out that most of the ‘giant’ TV channels somehow ‘alter’ the news a bit and that additional information from BBC World might add some extra background or context to some stories.

Image from Room 116

Somewhere in New-Zealand (apparently), they’ve placed these giant sculptures of Lord Of The Rings above the entrances of cinemas and on the roof of other buildings. Quite impressive and very very cool. That must have costed some serious money, really. I wish I could have seen these with my own eyes. I wonder what would’ve happened to them after the campaign. Would somebody of the agency have them placed on top of his own house? :)

via Billboardom | some Russian site

Here I was thinking that ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ was a classic cult movie from 1974, but apparently it also seems to have been a hit series on 8TV, although a search in the schedule doesn’t return any results, so I figure the below guerrilla is quite ‘old’ already. The original movie is all about Air Force Colonel Steve Austin, an astronaut who had walked on the moon. In a plane crash, he is almost fatally injured and almost all of his damaged body parts are replaced by experimental bionic limbs, including his right arm, his left eye, and both legs. These bionics give him superpowers such as increased speed and strength and the ability to see long distances. To pay the U.S. Government back the $6,000,000 it cost to rebuild him, Austin goes to work for the Office of Scientific Investigation as an agent, investigating foreign spies, mad scientists, bombers, space aliens, and even Bigfoot. Sounds a bit like robocop, but we’re in 1974, so this was very impressive back then. So, for the hit series on 8TV, I guess the story should be something alike. This explanation should provide you with enough context to fully understand the elevator guerrilla for ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ pictured below:

via Mighty Optical Illusions | IMDb

Here’s an interesting execturion of some vertical thinking by BBDO Korea for Amore Laneige Water Manager Emulsion. Apparently one of the benefits of this product is a drippy face. Although the billboard has been awarded gold in the 2003 Times Asian Pacific, I don’t think it’s that clear in its communication. Sure, a concentrated supply of moisture that helps hydrate and moisturize dry skin is effective and for many women a grateful invention. But one way or the other this billboard isn’t saying what it needs to say. The way I understand it, the ceiling billboard is drooling in the bucket. It would have made a lot more sense if there was a reservoir of some sort attached to the ceiling that dripped onto the face. If the billboard then would have been on the floor with a slight inclination from the side to a sort of well in the middle, I would have been a lot clearer. I don’t know. It’s an original execution and never seen before, I agree. But still…

via Advertising For Peanuts

Here’s a cute ad for Bacardi Rum, promoting limbo night at a bus stop somewhere. This is a cute way to interact with the audience althought I don’t think everybody will get it. Of course that’s not the point because for a brand like Bacardi, you can be sure that the consumers of this spiritual drink do know what’s going on here. Lovely way to engage with the target group. I’d love to see the look on the face of the occasional old granny when she’s standing next to the ad, waiting for her bus to come. :) Priceless, without any doubt.

via AdsOfTheWorld

Heheh. Brilliant. There’s not much more to add. Nice concept, I love the links with the historical, iconic, events. The first ad is titled ‘Marilyn’, named after the famous pose of Marilyn Monroe, the second ad is titled ‘Spaceman’ and refers (from a distance) to the Apollo 11 flight, the first mission in which humans walked on the moon and returned to earth. The astronaut pictured is either Neil Armstrong or ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, but if you go for fame you could opt-in on Armstrong. I like the way the ads combine facts, humor and history. Really funny.

Title: Marilyn
Agency: Rethink
Creative Director: Chris Staples/Ian Grais
Art Director: Rob Sweetman
Copywriter: Jono Holmes/Rob Tarry
Producer: Chris Raedcher
Studio Artist: Steve Pinter
Photographer: Robert Kenney

Title: Spaceman
Agency: Rethink
Creative Director: Chris Staples/Ian Grais
Art Director: Rob Sweetman
Copywirter: Jono Holmes/Rob Tarry
Producer: Chris Raedcher
Studio Artist: Steve Pinter
Photographer: Hans Sipma

via ihaveanidea

Seems like a lot of guerrilla action is actually placed inside or around the toilets this year. Must be an emerging trend. The ad below is for a condom brand, and the action was executed in Spain by McCann Erickson for the Jontex brand. The tagline reads: “You’ll never know exactly when you need it”. Although there are better places to get laid, I think this might work for a few reasons. First of all, it’s totally ‘in your face’. It’s a real eye-catcher, nobody will ignore this. On the other hand, it might have worked even better if the text was upside down, because people actually enter the toilets because they really have to go. Sitting down on the loo, they’d be exposed to the brand during their entire stay. To maximize the awareness, it would have been nice to put the brand name and tagline in the opposite direction. Now they have to turn their heads too much to read it. But it looks kinky, and it might have its effect. Especially on youngsters.

via 24