Watch me productize my open browser tabs. Short on Twitter fodder? Try our canned, fresh, never-tweeted-before tweets! Everything here is under 140 characters and ready to go.
-- Jeff Gomez (founder of Starlight Runner) is the writer of "origin myths" behind some large brand narratives, including the Coke Hapinnes Factory.
-- Google TV Ads people are trying to predict what ads to show to what audience, and are sharing some numbers. "Coke is considering using the characters in comic books, video games, and a slew of new ads." (Business Week)
-- Some 50 old ad books that are still fresh today, scanned and freely available over at Duke Uni's digital archives. The snippet above is from Advertising Sermons.
-- Language barrier. When you read something like "Ad agency responses mirror those of advertisers", what do you think this means: that agency responses are the same as advertiser? Or that they are completely opposite? Like, you know, your left hand in the mirror is actually the right one? Anyway, DVRresearch.com emailed to say that people don't get the importance of DVR.
-- Pitchh.com: "You would agree that for brands, the need today is 'not' necessarily about working with the largest, but the most appropriate partner; located anywhere in the world."
Colorful balconies promote Ikea's storage bins in Germany (- ads of the world)
How a supermarket chain in Switzerland got local singles to model for underwear -- and printed their contact info. (-- Neatorama)
A story about Jesus, Tiger Woods, and a game bug that turned into a feature (-- Derek Powazek). To quote the recent but already instant classic, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."
Vending machine dispenses real men (-- Future of Ads).
- Juhll is the company of Jennifer Uhll, the former creative director at Lower My Bills who ushered in a new style of banner-making (NYT had the story a couple of years ago). Adverlicio.us has an entire gallery.
- What Kind of Blogger Are You? (The tool is kind of like those generic heartwarming zodiac readings that feel oh so personalized.)
- Dissecting Influence is a newly discovered blog that focuses on what's going on inside your (your!) head.
- Why. So. Serious. (in Heath Ledger's voice): "I'm not sure if this is supposed to be some sick, Brazil-inspired joke, but the "thought leaders" at Ad Labs raided the Half Bakery to come up with ten "half-baked" advertising ideas that they hope to see in the future. Ad Labs calls them "brilliant"; I call them scary, and not good scary."
Must be a busy day for PR folks, if my inbox is any indication.
"It's "Sausage vs. Sausage" in this custom foosball table for Hatfield Quality Meats by Red Tettemer." -- DiGennaro Communications
"This morning KFC relocated Colonel Sanders’ handwritten Original Recipe for the first time in 68 years from its original vaulted location in Louisville, KY to a secret-secure location as KFC modernizes the safekeeping of one of America’s top corporate trade secrets." -- Weber Shandwick
Axepose.com -- something to do with films, creatives, and voting. Interesting interface.
No, I have no idea what it means but whoever sent this must think AdLab readers should know that "achter de schermen is het al een tijdje bekend, maar nu is het officiëel. Hendsum&Young en Ido de Voos, eigenaar van 290 square meters gaan samen verder als creatief bureau en versterken zo hun positie als agency op het gebied van muziek, fashion en cultuur." -- Hendsum&Young.
MINI has a new advergame. About parking. With a dude riding a small tall car. -- Interone Worldwide
Chrome is Good for Advertisers: "[Tabbed browsing] is a real issue, as advertisers truly don’t care about time displayed in a hidden tab, just as we don’t care about time displayed below the fold – all measured in the traditional exposure metric. Instead, advertisers now look at a new generation of metrics that show dwell time – time spent when a consumer actually engaged with the ad. Chrome's popularity and existence might drive consumers to toggle more, but will also force marketers to put more emphasis on dwell time. This is the holy grail of brand measurement, far more relevant than ad exposure or click thru rates." -- Mortar for Eyeblaster
There's this article (blog post?) in Time about how iPhone apps won't be free and it starts with:
"It's probably been a while since you bought new software. That's because so many tech firms — buoyed by ads placed in Web-based applications like the Google Docs word processor and the thousands of apps on Facebook — can now afford to give their programs away for free."
"Anyone can solve a user-related problem with a few lines of code, but that doesn’t automatically make you the better company in this world of rent, bills, overheads and shareholders; especially when you’re not actually generating revenue."
Royal Pingdom has collected not only examples of funnily mis-targeted AdWords ("Buy Soul on eBay"), but also some true gems of creativity, such as this job ad tied to a search for a particularly volatile stock.
The letters from readers and PR people (who might also be readers) that have accumulated over the past couple of weeks:
This week's winner is this letter from Paul: "have a lage [sic] roof it measures 250 sq mtrs at our office and wondered if you were interested in looking at the prospect of using it for advertising? Google map it de74 2 dh its on the East midlands approach flight path." [ed.: If you are interested in a roof, drop me a line and I'll put you guys in touch.]
Parmesh Shahani, a good friend with whom we worked together at Convergence Cultures, just got his new book out. It's titled Gay Bombay, and if it's anything like his grad thesis, it's brilliant mixture of astute cultural analysis interwoven with breath-taking personal stories.
Andy Fletcher on what's wrong with ad agencies: "I believe there are just three things wrong with being an agency today: 1) How we are selected, 2) what we are asked to do, and 3) how we are compensated. Other than that, sheer perfection."
Lot's of fancy display ads at EyeBlaster's Creative Zone, "a comprehensive gallery of digital ads as they appeared on the Web."
"TRA brings precise measurement of advertising effectiveness by matching the ads people actually receive with the products those same people actually buy. For the first time, advertisers now have a way to find out precisely what they are receiving for their advertising spend, and can shift to better-producing media to lift ROI."
Saatchi's Kevin "Lovermarks" Roberts talks about digital and other stuff: "More than 70% of purchase decisions are made in store. Most stores are a nightmarish experience, devoid of mystery, sensuality and intimacy. They are set up by product category rather than consumer experience, with limited screen properties." Right on.
AdLab's very first advertisers and friends from Futurelab have their site nominated for this year's Webbies as one of the best business blogs. Congratulations to Stefan and Alan who've brought together many great minds under one virtual roof.
Tips, press releases and comments AdLab received over the past couple of weeks. Sorry for the hole in the publishing schedule -- a hectic week at work.
- Call for contributions: stories about advertising on the streets of your town. "On your next commute to work, take a moment to look around you. What do you see? Have you noticed these advertisements before? Do they bother you? Do you agree with them? Are they paid advertisments or is it graffiti?"
- Very transmedia: Batwave TV-Activated Handheld Batlink Game: "Tune in to the Batman cartoon and get secret messages from Batman. Capture special signals that add challenges to the handheld game." (Thank you, Erwin!)
- Ad Council Creative newsletter "highlights the wonderful creative developed each year by the industry's leading advertising agencies that donate their time and talent to the Ad Council's critical issues."
- A couple of weeks ago, I got a heads-up from a creative duo who put a rejected campaign idea up for sale on eBay: "The idea was killed internally and our attempt to sell it on ebay is refusal to accept the decision or let the idea die." I just checked back: the winning bid was £5. Now I am sorry I didn't bid; wonder what the idea was.
- Welcome "the world's largest and most powerful air vortex cannon" from the people who brought you the human flipbook last year.
- A bizarre Flash animation that is explained as a piece that "combines generative (driven by live events such as actual time (see stop frame numbers in shelves), sound input and live online weather feeds as well as interactive elements (things the user can manipulate), without ever breaking the illusion that it is a filmic piece". You blog into your mic, you click on stuff, but I'm not sure about what actually happens.
AdRant. Domain registered by two guys who do ads. I think a large part of the original Drudge Report's popularity is its interface's Google-like simplicity, so I can see how this site can become the home page on many agency browsers. AdblockPlus, true to its name, blocks all the ads, if that's your thing.
If you are into interfaces and analytics and visualizations, you will like Dashboard Spy, a fairly new blog that already has amassed dozens of screenshots of executive dashboards, including indicators of advertising effectiveness.
"Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface." In other words, it's a camera that let's you see yourself from a third-person isometric perspective, just like in a video game. Trippy. (via brand flakes for breakfast). Related: Creating Out-of-Body Experiences
For a fee of about $20, Metropix will let you transform your flat 2d floor-plans into 3d walk-throughs with a click of a button and export it into Google Earth.
Georgio Armani and Herman Miller (Aeron chairs) are now in Second Life. Herman Miller is trying to fight virtual knock-offs.
CNN writes about how Second Life and similar worlds are great for testing ideas quickly and cheaply: "Aside from these cycles of hype and anti-hype, the original goal of uninhibited mass experimentation proceeds apace."
A review of Ben & Jerry's island in Second Life, particularly interesting because it is one of the several new branded gateways through which SL newbies are channeled and trained.
Bruce Sterling's 2o04 speech at SIGGRAPH about spimes: "The most important thing to know about Spimes is that they are precisely located in space and time. They have histories. They are recorded, tracked, inventoried, and always associated with a story." That sounds a lot like products in Second Life.
From pet rocks to Tamagotchis to on-screen pets: AdAge looks at toys that boost kids' abilities in virtual worlds, like this hi-tech Barbie that "unlocks tons of new features on BarbieGirls.com, including special fashions, furniture, accessories, pets, and access to Club Beauty!"
CNet: "Virtual-worlds platform developer Multiverse Network is set to announce a partnership that will allow anyone to create a new online interactive 3D environment with just about any model from Google's online repository of 3D models, its 3D Warehouse, as well as terrain from Google Earth." Another company with such partnership is Scene Caster.
Bonus track: cracked.com looks into the next 25 years of video gaming. Year 2018: "About five minutes after the eye-projection technology hits the market, advertisers will find a way to superimpose ads over every damned surface you look at. It will detect your eyes staring at some girl’s boobs, and suddenly across her cleavage you’ll see the URL for www.soyouliketolookattitties.com."
Year 2023: Advertisers will "be able to target their ads when they know your exact emotional state. The day after your girlfriend dumps you, the porn ads will blanket the landscape."
This post consists of all the cool stuff sent in by Adverlab's readers over the past two weeks. Sorry I couldn't respond on time, guys, the work's been crazy.
Human Flipbook -- 150 shirts, 150 drawings, lots of patience, one very nice commercial and a making-of video. (thanks, John)
A periodic table of branding elements. Nice idea, needs work. The beauty of the original periodic table is that it accommodates even for the elements that are yet to be discovered and that the elements' properties change in a predictable manner from one end of the table to the other. Here's the same idea applied to visualization methods. (thank you, Tanya)
A virtual bookshelf full of Harry Potter books to promote German release. David, who sent this in, says, "Every fan can reserve their 'own' Harry Potter copy on the shelf and personalise it with marks or even pictures. The virtual book will be reserved in the bookshelf, till the day of delivery."
A script for Firefox that replaces all instances of the word "consumer" with "person" or "people". Dunno, I don't understand this entire "don't call me consumer" thing, but then again, I'm not a local so I might be missing some finer cultural nuances. But couldn't it work the other way too? "Stop calling them marketers. They are people." First rule of propaganda -- dehumanize the enemy. (thanks, Jeff)
Inflatable billboards from Adscore in Australia. (thanks, Michael)
And huge billboards installed next to airports to be seen from the sky, from Ad Air. (thank you, Chad)
An entire book about Spam (the meaty kind). A million-dollar question: how did spam (the junk emails) influence Spam the brand?
