Social Ad Creation at Zooppa

Zooppa, meet Vitrue. Vitrue, meet Zooppa. And AdCandy. And V-Cam. People create ads for participating brands, than rate them, then the author behind the top-rated one gets paid.

While I'm at it, why do "consumer-generated" ads always have to be videos? Consider the amount of effort, skill and resources required to create each of these types of media:

• Spoken word
• Written word
• Drawn images
• Photography
• Recorded sound
• Animation
• Machinima
• Recorded video
• Computer game

I've seen great campaigns that involve photography -- by Nikon and more recently by RedBull, one by Chrysler around machinima, and very few that let people play with sounds (Snakes on the Plane?), but most of the efforts are in videos that require the highest amount of skill and resources and that often produce fairly, well, amateur results. Is this the case of an old agency TV-oriented thinking trying to adapt? How about having your customers design an advergame for you, then?

Earlier:
The Flip Side of Consumer-Generated Advertising
Vitrue to Mediate Consumer-Generated Ads

Virtual Shoe-Fitting Mirror by Adidas

In its Paris store, Adidas has installed a virtual mirror that, instead of displaying a true reflection, shows a 3D image of customers' feet with different shoe models on them. Gizmag writes, "The camera captures the customer’s feet and legs and displays them as a video scene on the monitor. The various shoe models are inserted into this picture. Customers can now try on a variety of models in front of a virtual mirror without changing their shoes. They can navigate through the collection by simply pointing at products on a computer screen."

Earlier:
Concept: Social Retailing
Mirror as Intelligent Computer Display
Mirror with LED Messages
Talking Mirror with a Face
Smart Fitting Room Gives Fashion Advice
Interactive Mirrors for Infiniti
Promotion for Visa Bridges Real and Virtual

Mind-Reading Game Controller

"Project Epoc is a headset that uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals naturally produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expression. It connects wirelessly with all game platforms from consoles to PCs. Project Epoc now makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player's mind."
-- via Kotaku

Speaking of game controllers, here's a force-feedback ForceWear Vest that gives you "physical feedback transmitted from the virtual world". Got shot playing Doom? Get a real-life bruise.


-- via Gizmodo

Earlier:
Sony Patents Telepathy
Dream Machine and Subliminal Ads?
Future: Product Placement in Dreams
Mind Control Update

Virtual "Wanted" Poster on MySpace

Police have put up a MySpace profile for a bank robber they are trying to catch. The profile says the robber is on the site "for networking" and has over 1300 friends already. Brilliant.
-- via smart mobs

Display Ads in Gmail?

Woke up this morning to find what seems to be either a browser glitch (?) or a botched attempt at a display ad in Gmail. The mis-compressed image doesn't click anywhere and seems to be an ad for Federated Media, a blog ad network. That's what it looks like when the image is seen alone:

Geico Ad Turned into TV Show

ABC is turning Geico's "Caveman" commercials into an actual half-hour comedy project.

The single-camera laffer pilot is based on the Geico ads that promote the insurance company's Web site as so user-friendly that even "a caveman could do it." The spots follow cavemen in modern settings, reacting with offense to the derogatory slogan. In one, a Geico spokesman apologizes and takes the Neanderthals out to dinner. [...]

But it's not without precedence: The 2002 CBS comedy "Baby Bob" revolved around a talking baby character that was first seen in a series of dot.com ads. After the Eye canceled "Baby Bob," the character returned to its commercial roots, spending time as a pitchman (pitchbaby?) for Quizno's Subs."
-- Variety

Joost's Advertising Model

[Update: May 6, 2007] Now with screenshots.

More on Joost on Adverlab:

• More Details on Joost Advertising
• Joost Launches
• Screenshots: Advertising on Joost
• Joost's Advertising Model
• Joost Runs on Apple TV

Have run into a couple of articles discussing the advertising side of Joost, an upcoming video delivery service from the makers of Skype and Kazaa. (From their site: "Joost uses secure peer-to-peer technology to stream programmes to your computer. Unlike other TV and video-based web applications, it does not require users to download any files to their computers or browse through complicated websites.")

Wired: "But the project also aims to add value to free TV in a way that only the Internet can: less commercial time. Like, 90 percent less -- as little as one minute per hour of viewing, if projections pan out. "The key in the past was volume and frequency," says Clark. "Now it's going to be quality."

One of the Leiden crew's top priorities is a backend ad engine that can pinpoint viewers by location, time of day, viewing habits, and opt-in profile information to serve up a perfect ad. Developed by open source geeks in privacy-centric Europe, the central database doesn't store any identifying data. Personal information is stored only on the user's own PC. Clark, the ad sales chief, is happy to blue-sky the possibilities: "Buy all the Desperate Housewives viewers in a zip code. Or the first thing a given viewer watches on a given day."

In theory, that kind of control will make the network much more valuable to advertisers. "We offer targeting they've never dreamed about in the TV world," says Werdelin. "And a deeper relationship with customers. Not just deeper than TV, but deeper than most of what you get on the Net. I don't think anyone really knows what those things are worth."

AdAge:
"So far, Joost's ad model includes five- to seven-second ads that pop up when certain videos are initiated and mid-roll video ads in videos more than five minutes long, the number of which are scaled pro rata to the length of the content. Wrigley, T-Mobile, Maybelline and Phillips are among the beta advertisers. The idea is to have a single advertiser sponsor a piece of content, but to give it multiple elements, Mr. Clark said.

Like other web ads, they're interactive and let users click through for more info, e-mail offers and long-form messages. The service also touts what will be powerful targeting and reporting capabilities. Echoing Joost's founders, Mr. Clark said, "We're combining the best of the web with the best of TV."

Hacking Wisdom of the Crowds

Wired runs a nice round-up on the ways you can manipulate wisdom of online crowds -- community-scoring systems -- in your favor. These ways are:

1. Invest in building your own group of power users.
2. Buy the votes.
3. Identify existing power users and link-bait them
4. Build your reputation on small transactions to cheat on the big ones.

Here's a bonus story about an experiment in crowdhacking: the articles author tests how effectively one can drive traffic by buying Diggs on Users/Submitter.

Earlier:
Pay To Get Dugg
Reality Check: Community-Governed News Sites

YouTube Videos in AdSense Ad Units

Amit Agarwal from Digital Inspirations writes in to point out a new AdSense format Google is apparently testing -- a flash module with an embedded YouTube video. Read the details at his blog.

I am trying to wrap my mind around a hypothetical model where people (or advertisers, who are probably people too) upload videos on YouTube, fill up their account with some cash, then check a box to make the videos available throughout the AdSense network. Would be pretty cool, no?

Earlier:
Idea: How to Put Ads into YouTube

Using iPods for Walking Tours

To recognize the growing use of podcasts as walking or museum tours, Apple has a new page up devoted just to that topic, with a few such podcasts from SFMOMA,The Met, and other museums.

Earlier:
Virgin Atlantic Podcasts Travel Destinations