Dec 14, 2010

2010 in Review: Google, YouTube, Mobile



Google searches in review through 2010 are excellent in the above video, but also see the official website with the mind blowing statistics displayed for easy reading.



A rewind of the year in video! The official channel/website for full top 10 viewing, plus the YouTube Blog post. The world and I share some different opinions here, but that sounds about right.



Mobile usage is massive and these statistics are really incredible! The mobile trend is nothing new, but do yourself a favour a watch this one. Wish I had the time to write these all down in bullet point for your folk, but here are some stats to note.

Added Bonus: An awesome Infographic of the year on twitter. Still waiting for a facebook review... I know these videos have been shared like crazy and are clogging up people streams of information, but I do think it will be nice to document some of them. Think they are a bit premature without the effect of a full and post December 2010, but with that said, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!

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Dec 8, 2010

Prison Advert for the Drive Dry Campaign



FoxP2, a Cape Town based agency and Brandhouse bring a whole new approach to driving under the influence and its consequences. The "Drive Dry" campaign is aimed to discourage drinking and driving, something this advert seriously makes you think about. I support the notion of "dry driving" 100% and have stuck to it for some time. The guys in the video would 'love to meet you' if you get caught! Drive safe and sober during the holidays, don't risk everything.


Source: Adweek and AdsoftheWorld

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Nov 19, 2010

RedBull Trials Bike "Way Back Home" Short Film



RedBull brings the story to life with an epic short film starring Scottish trials biking legend Danny Macaskill. The phenomenal settings along his journey from Edinburgh, north west to his home town in Dunvegan, Isle of Skye makes watching it a pleasure. The quality of the video is amazing and although it is a longer clip than I would normally post, this is worth every second (especially from 3.20 minutes). I visited the Edinburgh Castle in 2008 and gee wizz, but the front flip off the edge in the beginning is rewind and watch again material. I used to ride BMX in my school days and even though it's a completely different discipline the Tailwhip he pulls off his camper at 6.33 minutes is awesome. Also check out this interview with Danny which hosts some behind the scenes footage of the "way back home" project. Initially when I posted this, the video had over 800k views, four days later and the video has now totaled over 2 million views.

Nov 16, 2010

Cars 2 Animated Movie Trailer



Disney and Pixar are to release the Cars 2 movie in 2011 and this time they are out to save the world. A post on AutoBlog recently caught my eye and brilliantly explained the up comings as follows:
"It looks like Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater are jumping back on track to fight a bevy of international evil doers in the Cars 2: World Grand Prix. Along with going fender to fender with the best racers that the world has to offer, the dynamic duo will be joining forces with British Intelligence. Judging from the trailer, there will be auto kung-fu, car chases, missiles and plenty of destruction. Sounds like a good time to us, er, we mean the kids."

Source: Simon Spreckley and Hannes Oosthuizen on twitter and AutoBlog

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Nov 12, 2010

Facebook Serving as the Ultimate Daily Diary



A really nice thought, that looking back at our Facebook profiles in 20 years time will be visually gratifying and a long trip down memory lane. Even looking through profile pictures back to the very first, I for one had a good laugh at how young I looked then (still am). An excellent video by Maxime Luere that has changed the way I will look at uploads and updates. Not just as current news, but a future investment of memories.

Source: FurlongPR


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Nov 11, 2010

Toyota Auris Hybrid 3D Projection Mapping



The Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive has the unique ability to recycle it's energy and the projection mapping is spot on in displaying this. For a car lover it just makes it even better, especially the Transformer type movements in the beginning/end and the way the car is brought to life by the visuals. A great piece of work by Glue Isobar in London and the tag line of the campaign being, "get your energy back". This was revealed in October this year, but I just wanted to remember it here as it's simply one of my favourites.


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Oct 27, 2010

The Social Network Movie - Bloggers Preview

I was recently given the privilege of seeing The Social Network before it's official release in South Africa, thanks to 2oceansvibe and Ster Kinekor. After eventually making it to the cinema (another story) and collecting our wee free popcorn and coke, it started and we were happily seated. Directed by David Fincher and without giving too much away, I will say that I enjoyed the movie. I found it inspiring to see the determination Mark Zuckerburg has and the belief in something without hesitation. I think many entrepreneurs will find wisdom here. I enjoyed seeing his drive before he looses control. "The Facebook" gets bigger than expected and well you will have to go and see it for yourself! Walked away being well entertained, a few laughs and saw a couple of scenes that I never expected to be watching on a big screen any time soon.


Mark Zuckerburg is played by Jesse Eisenberg, his algorithm contributing friend Eduardo Saverin is cast by Andrew Garfield and the evil influence of Justin Timberlake as Napster's Sean Parker. Great job by all and nice to have further insight into what I thought was previously just a rumour. Whether you on Facebook or not, you could take something away from this movie.

Two reviews that I have seen thus far by: David Alves and Jason Adrian

"You don't get 500 million friends without making a few enemies"

View the video trailer here

Oct 21, 2010

Nissan Juke Action Game Adverts



If you can appreciate a modern day gaming environment and cars, then this advert will hit home! The Nissan Juke 1.6 turbo, all wheel drive was launched with a series of these dramatic game style adverts. The one above is set in a scene where the Juke has to conquer a giant metal car crunching machine. I was sold by this advert simply by the narrator mentioning the word, "turbo" 3 times throughout. The final advert in the series comes out on the 9th of November 2010. It is kind of like an intro tutorial to a new level in a game, but leaves the consumer with a clear image of the car/product and is entertaining enough to make one remember it. *side note* the car I would most want to own happens to be a Nissan.

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Oct 19, 2010

Ambi Pur's Augmented Reality in a Retail Store



Total Immersion surprised Spanish shoppers by setting up a clever and interactive in-store-promotion with a difference. Customers held up their Ambi Pur product and experienced a unique shopping experience. They say that reaching customers whilst in the act of shopping is very effective on sales. This usage of Augmented Reality in a retail store is one that I feel added value to the consumer and the brand. It seems like customers used refill cartridges to spark off the experience. Refills mean that they were also encouraging people to get their old Ambi Pur's releasing goodness again, rather than switching and trying a competitor. Enforcing the brand in a very cool way and I am almost sure it resulted in people buying the extra "auto sprayers" too. A nice touch to the display is that it also released the fragrances as a "sample" to the audience whilst being entertained; mmm this store smells awesome :-)

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Oct 4, 2010

Red Bull Interactive 3D Projection Art on Snow



Red Bull - Off The Planet 3D projection mapping was created by ENESS in Melbourne Australia. Red Bull snow board riders and skiers took to the ramp that came to life as they jumped over it and soared through the air. In the middle a 20-foot "sphere" was the object to clear. Not just any object though, they used infrared cameras that enabled the imagery to follow the riders as the jumped over the ramp. The arrangement of colours and visuals is excellent to watch and being a lover of technology and all adrenaline releasing sports, I really enjoyed this.

Source: Gizmodo and Das Modular's twitter feed

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Sep 28, 2010

IKEA Bring The Street To Life With 3D Chalk Art



On the Streets of Australia IKEA created an optical illusion that I think is just brilliant, interactive and fun. This was done to celebrate "60 years of the IKEA catalogue". A kitchen setting was drawn on the side walk with chalk. Chalk art along with very cleverly placed physical objects like: mugs, a pan, glasses, plates and even a dog at one point (not part of the catalogue I'm sure) contributed to a unique effect when looked at from the right angel. I found it odd that although this was done in Sydney, Australia there seems to be no 'Australia' option on their website's (.com) landing page when selecting your location. Nor is there a South Africa, but this we know as well as further competition for Game, Makro and Trade Center couldn't hurt anyone. However the video does state the Australian IKEA .com.au web address and you can find it here. The soundtrack used to compliment the experience is an awesome one!

Source: Digital Buzz Blog

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Sep 22, 2010

Nothing Sticks Like Quattro, Says Audi Using Toy Cars With Magnets



Audi put smiles on the faces of the lucky bunch who witnessed the toy cars stuck to just about anything metal around the Toranto International Film Festival. An extremely clever idea that stuck to the tag line, "nothing sticks like quattro" to the letter. I found it funny to see (or how the video portrays) that once  people starting taking the cars off and realising that it was fine to do so, they all started following. I think it is clever, because the cars are "cool" branded items that I think every person who got one, would most likely display it somewhere visible. I reckon it would have been awesome to take home a pocket Audi R8 and put it on my fridge. Would have put the word on my mouth for sure. Find out who the brilliant people responsible for the making of this were, from the link below.


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Sep 7, 2010

Google Doodle of Balls in HMTL5


Google Bouncing Balls in HTML5 Canvas from Rob Hawkes on Vimeo.

Google brought their logo to life today with multiple balls for each letter that enticed an awesome interactive experience. This is an excellent recreation of the Google doodle in HTML5 that was done by Rawkes this morning. I think this video is excellent because it is not running off Google servers and networks, but a recreation so the effect is much quicker. Fast, fun and interactive is how Search Engine Land described Google's new logo/doodle. There is speculation that it is a birthday present to Google, but people are unsure at the moment. If you know please comment below. It was a well received effort judging by the response on twitter today. Search Engine Land say something might be announced at tomorrow’s big search event that "Google is holding". Catch the post by Rawkes here. You can also see a recording of the original logo experience in plain script here.

Source: Richard Woodling on twitter and google.co.uk

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Sep 3, 2010

Tipp-Ex Interactive Video Campaign Going Viral - Hunter Shoots Bear



The interactive videos that I have seen in the last few months have been of a very high standard. Tipp-Ex or shall I say "BIC World Stationary" have released this epic story video that is supper cheesy, but should make you laugh. The ability to get people involved with the brands message or product in a fun way, drives viral behaviour and this campaign is doing exactly that (right now, here). Of course the share buttons are well in your face to share the experience, but I think the action of the viewer is so relevant. It makes you re-type things, like you would when using the product (ok, writing on paper instead). According to Chris Rawlinson, 50 video responses have been made and I recommend you try some of the cool phrases in his post by linking to it here

I like how the videos on the second landing page show a views amount image. SHOOT has 750 283 views and DON'T has 750 283 views - exactly the same, I wonder why. At this present time, the welcome video has been watched 685 890 times. So maybe this is a prediction, a fraction below their target amount of views. I am sure they will exceed or reach 100 000 more views soon. I do not want to give anything away, but whatever you choose it directs you to the same place. The video just gets brilliant from there on so play with it when you have some time. RRAAAARRR (man bear runs wild). I chose to type the same headline, "shoots" after a while and was glad that they took care of this finer detail. I reckon next time I use Tipp-Ex (may be ages from now), I will think of these videos. Have fun with it..

Added note: I looked this morning at the YouTube video and less than 24 hours later it now has 1 208 451 views. Massive! On the 7th of September, just 4 days later the video is sitting just shy of 3.5 million views. Considered a viral campaign, great job Tipp-Ex. Also added, I liked the 404 error message if type is unknown and the parental sensory on explicit actions, still entertaining.

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Aug 22, 2010

Athlone Towers Blasted Early for the Right Weather




This is such an awesome video by Adriano Bottega of the experience in Cape Town. On the 22 August 2010 the two Cooling Towers at the Athlone Power Station fell to the floor in about 9 seconds (from video). Nicely recorded man, epic tune and slow motion replay! The towers were built in the 1960's and have now marked another permanent move toward better infrastructure and a faster moving South Africa. Congratulations and respects to all who helped bring them down smoothly (looked like was going to tip..), safely and providing an area for public viewing.

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Aug 19, 2010

Virgin Atlantic Plane Makeover Time-Laps Movie


Virgin Atlantic plane livery time-lapse movie from johnson banks on Vimeo.

This is an exceptional piece of art and you will never look at another plane the same again after seeing this. The chaps propped cameras around the hanger and recorded their progress. When played back at an accelerated speed it really is something brilliant to see, on a plane I mean. You know when you about to board a Boeing 747 or even an Airbus and you walk toward the plane (best when it's outside) - planes are HUGE pieces of mechanic genius! Watch this video and tell me you are not proud of what man-kind has achieved during our time on earth. Virgin Atlantic is a company that one can admire. Click on Richard Branson to find some more about him. Strange he does not own his name.com web address.
Catch Richard Brandson on twitter
Catch Virgin Atlantic on twitter

Source: Dan from an idea and creative generating place Idea Bounty

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Chatroulette: Scary Approach to Brand Awareness (Parental Guidance?)



The hype is starting to build around the release of The Last Exorcism in August 2010 and with a radical approach, this time on Chatroulette. My take on it is simply this. I never knew the movie was coming out until today, this is how I got notified about the movie and this is what got me talking about it. I think they utilised the ability to pull off something shocking, perfectly matching the theme of the movie (kind of matches Chatroulette too). The two kids in the single frame looked too young for the movie, but if you watch the kid (in the blue, not the red), he says "what the f*c*" when surprised.

Imagine we could measure the amount of views and it's conversion rate of who saw the movie. The total number of views for the original video is just under 3000 so it's not massive, but I'm sure the total reach is far more and at what cost? Next to nothing.. enjoy and catch the website/trailer from here (as above)


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Aug 15, 2010

Dexter Series - Season 5 Video Trailer (what is going to happen now)



If you have not seen to the end of session 4 or are not a Dexter fan, then this is not for you (sorry, but have a look anyway if you are a fan or not). Dexter Morgan plays the role of a 'blood splatter expert'  for the Miami Police forensics department, while carrying a very 'dark passenger' through his everyday life. Tallying up trophies and taking out the trash should disgust most, yet it keeps me hooked and on his side (most of the time). I understand it to be released in the US on the 26th September, so may be a while before on South African television. What is he going to make of things this time round? I can't wait!

Catch the other Dexter trailers here: one | two | three | four

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Aug 9, 2010

Subaru Drifting / Gymkhana by Ken Block (best driving I've seen)



This video blows my mind and if you are a car fan, this is really for you. Ken Block shows his skills in his wick'ed 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Let the movie load and then enjoy, 1 minute intro is worth it all in the end. It is really impressive to watch among all the millions of movies out there in its class. Fast corners with the back end out, crazy big donuts, tight maneuvers and look out for the 360 through the hanger! The action continues in the video below too.



Ken Block takes to the snow with the action of snow boarders along side. I have been water skiing, wake boarding, knee boarding etc. since I was a kid and when I saw a snow boarder being towed into a kicker ramp, I had a huge "oh yes" moment. Subaru recently launched the "get more g's" campaign with awesome short drifting clips driven by BMX legend Dave Mirra.

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Aug 5, 2010

Pablo Francisco's Mexican Music in 2006 (prepare to laugh)



A classic performance by known comedian, Pablo Francisco. Pablo does the 'preview guys voice' better than the 'preview guy' does his own voice! After hearing that Pablo was performing in Jo'Burg, I sat waiting to hear if our souls in Cape Town would bear witness to the stomach ache from laughing so hard, of Pablo Francisco's funny voice impersonations. This video is a classic of his sounds, music and singing talents. I heard last night on "Tonight with Trevor Noah" that Pablo would be coming to Cape Town in about 4 months time. That is around December time, so still hopefully this year! Looking forward to seeing him at the Nandos Comedy Festival. I for one am very excited to see the show. I went to the last Nandos show and it was brilliant!

Catch @Pablo_Francisco on twitter.

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Jul 27, 2010

Audi's Augmented Reality A1 and Ford's Facebook Explorer (car reveals)


Source: Digital Buzz Blog

Audi launched the A1 with an Augmented Reality calendar for 2010. A calendar that is carless, yes that means it has no cars displayed throughout the calendar. Coming from a brand such as Audi, it could be seen as highly risky for non-tech lover customers, who would just see landscape pictures for the whole year. However for those who enjoyed the iPhone app, have a beautiful calendar that will interact with you and your mobile for the whole year (probably on your wall somewhere.. around the awesome section). On the February 2010 calendar page, the Audi A1 was revealed through the app. People who engaged with the brand in this way received the first sneak peaks at the new Audi A1
 To quote the video, "The Results, Vorsprung durch Technik came alive"

Similar to this, Ford tried a completely different approach to releasing the Ford Explorer coming out in 2011. The first reveals of the new model will be made available to those involved with the community of just under 60k people on the Ford Facebook page. Mashable.com published an excellent article covering the story further.

Both cases above illustrate an exceptional leap into the future of brands focusing on relationship forming advertising. These companies clearly have a strategy and must have done tons of research before venturing into these brave social media campaigns. I wonder how effective each were in aquiring and attaining new clients, but I do like to see reputable car brands using these marketing platforms. I encourage you to jump in and add your view points or related facts in the comments section!


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Jul 21, 2010

Un-F**k The Gulf

Oil Spill Charity "F-Bomb-A-Thon" from UnF--kTheGulf.com on Vimeo.

The unfortunate event of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on 20th April shocked us all. Everyone turned anti BP, yet we all at some point suck their product with our motor vehicles and anything that has an engine. This is a brilliant campaign that is socially aware and community orientated as a good cause. A vulgar taste, but I do not think I would have given it much attention otherwise. A massive attempt to get the gulf cleaned up as soon as possible. Get a $13 t-shirt ("$5 of which benefits gulf wildlife rescue and eco action"), vote for the charity you think the money should go to and share the message.  I tried purchasing a t-shirt and got the, "...does not deliver to that address via Google checkout (Cape Town, SA)" message, but this is me sharing it. Today the @unF--kTheGulf twitter account said they will be looking into shipping to areas outside of the US due to demand. 


Visit the website unf--kthegulf.com
See an infographic timeline of events


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Buddy the Boxer and Junior Travel Memory Lane (advert)



Buddy is back and this time with his little pal. They sit in the lounge, whilst traveling through the history of Toyota vehicles. A feel good advert that for one minute is a real brand enforcer for Toyota drivers. How many of you with Boxer dogs will buy a Toyota next after seeing this? Buddy tells Junior how to keep Toyota in the family for years to come, "the next generation are in great paws". See more Buddy the Boxer adverts.


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Jul 14, 2010

Measurable Social Advertising on TwitVid



TwitVid is a video sharing network that REELSEO said have, "mysteriously" launched SocialAds. Adverts below videos that would encourage you to engage with the brand in question. The beautiful thing that caught me the most is that it works on a Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising model. The advertiser gets a very captivating space right under the focal point (the video) on the page. The unique part about it is that the advertiser is paying for a follow, retweet or a "like".

This would mean that even as much as a click to say you "like" the video, will be payed for. This is not actually that bad a thing if you think about it. You stand to gain some exposure or credibility for your video and brand with every cent spent. It will be measurable of course as each engagement is connected to a paid click. Firstly on the home page there will be a "Featured TwitVid" video displayed above the others and will be right under the search bar on twitvid.com. Once this has caught your attention and you click through to see the video, you will be previewed to SocialAds under the video. All of which can broaden a brands exposure; facilitate communication directly to ones targets audience, building reputation and increase awareness of any brand, product or service.

Jul 12, 2010

Top Tweet on Twitter's "Promoted" Advertising Model

Promoted tweets was the first big development of twitters revenue stream. Paid messages or tweets that would be promoted to the top of searches was to be the start of twitter's advertising model. Starbucks tested this and the news spread rapidly. Twitter said it would launch tests with partners such as: Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks and Virgin America. Soon after the launch we saw a Promoted Trending Topic arise with the release of the movie, Toy Story 3. An 11th 'trending topic' on your home page that would link to a search stream and have a tweet appear in the top spot with a 'promoted' badge, just like the 'sponsored links' section on Google. It reached a point where I honestly thought every time we have a promoted form of advertising on twitter, it would make headlines. You would get free PR included in advertising costs. Had a laugh, until today I noticed another on Friday the 9th..


It was another Promoted Trending Topic, Preditors 2010 movie release in the US. This time I found it randomly from twitter. I was intrigued and followed it up. I discovered a new development with twitter, three trending tweets related to the topics host. Promoted advertising on twitter works on a resonance score, where the message needs to be retweeted (RT'ed) or engaged with to remain advertised. Below the top spot, two people got slapped with the 'top tweet' badge. Incentive to promote the brands message! Will the spammers become famous? We can only wait to see until it is fully out of beta. The screen shot below does not quite cut it, but there were two top tweets and the thirds count was 25 retweets (RT)!



I went back to try and take the screen shot again, but it had reverted back. It was late and after about 23h50 all trending topics & tweets were removed from twitter. No more advertising message. To put some prospective on how effective it was for that one day - the video trailer had seen more than 2.6 million views, the website was ridiculously cool and I think it was only a sneak peak for us in South Africa for a while. Please, if you catch any news on twitters promoted advertising and you have a moment - contact me or comment.

Jul 9, 2010

Preditors 2010 (movie release)


Already seen just over 2.6 million views - embeddable version

The new Predators movie has just been released in the US. I remember the previous movies that the franchise produced used to scare the sh*t out of me. The story is back now in 2010 and this time with social and interactive web experiences attached. The current Predators is directed by Nimrod Antal and produced by Robert Rodriguez. The first movie was released in 1987, produced by John McTiernan and starred, "I'll be back" Arnie and Carl Weathers. The 2010 movie sees the likes of Laurence Fishburne, Adrien Brody and Tropher Grace.

Only released on the 9th of July, it will be a few months before we see it in South Africa. Certainly something to look forward to and judging from the trailer, it looks pretty good. The Predators website  is really cool. I'm sure most of you know the Predators sound (almost a groan), sometimes enough to require listening to with toilet paper handy. They have incorporated it all into the site to promote a personal experience before seeing the movie. Check out the website and maybe we can get some reviews here after seeing the movie.

Jul 7, 2010

YouTube "Life in a Day" Video Vibes



What is a day in your life like? YouTube have launched an incredible crowd sourcing experiment that aims to deliver a world wide spectrum on "Life in a Day" on earth. Ridley Scott who directed movies such as Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and Robin Hood will be active in the production of this project. 

Kevin Macdonald who directed films like, The Last King of Scotland and One Day in September will be responsible for editing all the entries into one extraordinary video. 

How do you take part? 
On the 24th of July 2010, get your camera out and record the highlighted parts of your day. Upload your recordings to the YouTube "Life in a Day" Channel before the 31st of July 2010. Even if your videos do not make it into the final one, they will remain on the YouTube channel as reference for people to see what life on earth was like on the 24th of July 2010.


Source: Google Blog

Jul 4, 2010

Toy Story 3 - The Game And The Movie Are Looking Playful



Produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures. Toy Story release the third in the series! Voice over artists include: Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz), Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris and many other greats.

The new Toy Story 3 Movie is one I am looking forward to seeing. Yes, some may think it is a kids film. I have to see it, because I respected it so much as a kid, being the first really successful digitally animated movie. The 3rd movie is out soon and so is the video game! Recently the Toy Story 3 Movie made advertising headlines testing the first 'promoted trending topic' on twitter. The game looks fun and entertaining. Being able to enter the toys world and customise your game-play will be cool. To infinity and beyond with Toy Story 3, the game! Movie expected out 18th of July 2010.

Jun 27, 2010

Huge Coca Cola Man Takes a Seat in Cape Town

I saw a big red structure from the balcony of my house. Knowing that a giant Coca Cola man was assembled in Johannesburg, I thought could this be Cape Town getting one? I popped down to confirm my suspicion and indeed it was. The scaffolding is all in place and they are currently attaching the crates. 

say hello to Elliot

 The Coca Cola guy is a staggering 18m tall (16m in Joburg) and weighs just over ±27 tons. The man wears a whopping 4200 empty Coke crates (2500 in Joburg) and according to sources listed below, they will all be recycled when taken down. I think the reason for the extra crates is because in Cape Town, Elliot is sitting down rather than standing up. I spoke to the chap in-charge (Porky) and he said the Coca Cola man will be here for a full year, because they want the celebrations to continue long after the World Cup. It is situated at the V&A Waterfront at the "sea" entrance to the residential marina.

May 31, 2010

Big Ferris Wheel in Cape Town at the V&A Waterfront

Ronald Bussink of  Switzerland designed this "London Eye" of Cape Town. It is being erected at the N1 entrance to the Waterfront. These photo's were taken today of the Big Wheel.  It looked like a giant Pac-Man biting Cape Town. At about 13h35 I arrived back and the circumference was complete. I will try post daily pics of the progress during the last 10 days until the World Cup kick-off. I will refer to our resident Ferris wheel as "wheel" throughout this post.


IOLTravel.co.za released pertinent details of the "big wheel" that I found most informative. The wheel will remain here for 6 months under a contract approved by the city.  It is approximately 60m high, in comparison to the London Eye which is 135m in height. The cost will be about R70.00 a ride. Each ride lasts ±20 minutes with panoramic views of Table Mountain, Robben Island, Cape Town Stadium and the Paarl Mountains. Various pricing packages for families etc will be available.


 On the right is what the completed wheel should look like, at night.


"The wheel has 36 enclosed air-conditioned capsules holding eight people. Each trip accommodates 288 people. Running daily from 10am until 10pm (with the possibility of extending running hours until midnight), the wheel could accommodate 15 000 riders a day. At night it is lit up by 2 million LED lights, which consume only two kilowatts of energy an hour."

Converse Domaination AdWords Campaign


Converse Domaination from Ross Martin on Vimeo.

Converse use AdWords to create an interactive campaign around Google search. The first branding campaign to target "low cost", low competitive keywords that are targeted directly to their audience.  They related to what their audience were searching for and launched relevant campaigns every week. All campaigns pointed to converse.com. Traffic flowed to the home Converse site and so the online consumer community grew. On the Converse website, check out the "play" tab for the fun stuff.



Kudos to Nick Soper for bringing this campaign to my attention.

May 27, 2010

Officially Hilarious Buddy The Boxer Blooper Reel



This is purely for a great laugh. It is the full version, super funny and worth watching every second. I have watched it repetitively and often find myself quoting parts from this video. Chris Forrest, comedian and voice over artist is the voice behind Buddy. You can catch a brief live show of Chris's here. It took me a while to decide whether to post this or not, but it still makes me laugh so thought I had to put it up. I sincerely recommend watching the Buddy video right to the end. No more tomfoolery, watch the bloopers!


Some might say you need to have watched the adverts to fully appreciate. At the end of the bloopers the other ads should display. Latest adverts mentioned by AdsMitchell of "Buddy the Boxer" include the Auris & Corolla.

May 20, 2010

Jeremiah Owyang Making Your Corporate Website Relevant




Jeremiah Owyang is a partner of Customer Strategy at Altimeter Group. "A strategy consulting firm that provides thought leadership, research, and consulting on digital strategies." The content coming from this mans blog is phenomenal. Web-Strategist.com is Jeremiah's place to put his valuable thoughts on strategy and web statistics. This is where he put this epic slide for me/us to see, thanks! Timely and concise RSS feed with mature web developments, social media marketing and matrix diagrams. 

The slide - Takes you through 8 steps to a better, professional and sociably relevant website among a community. Each step is broken down to an: Example, Benefit and Challenge, with relevant examples. Very useful insights if you trying to incorporate social media into your corporate website.

"I strive to deliver insight on disruptive technologies and their impact on how companies communicate with their customers. I’ve been writing this blog since 1996" 


Find Jeremiah Owyang on twitter

Toyota - New Buddy The Boxer Corolla Advert

May 19, 2010

Waaam Drift Spectacular (Old School Videos)



Excellent views from inside a drift car around a track. See how fast it must feel at high speed. On the straight, about half way into this video you will see what I mean. The overpowering sound of the motor gives you the chance to appreciate.

May 18, 2010

Green London Bus Could Change Everything

Ads Mitchell - Celebrating 5 Years of the YouTube Community



Happy Birthday to You - YouTube

So last night I pulled all the highlights from this video and when I tried posting it, ran into HTML problems. That aside I found a fantastic Infographic today about YouTube. It has an even more in-depth time line than the video, with additional stats, information and fun facts. You can access the infograph here.

May 11, 2010

Ads Mitchell - The Epic Augmented Reality Debate

 

Layer is an augmented reality search app that enables you to point your phone and see restaurant menus, movie times and retail specials.  Imagine real-time visuals of your present area around you. I feel that it could open up a whole new marketing sphere in the world of search. Using 3D visual imagery for advertising your product on searches. Customising your area search around you for what you would require, would be of value. The Following is a quote from WebProNews regarding Layer, "First, a little about Layar's app itself.  It already has more than 1.6 million users, and serves 1.2 million augmented objects a day. Over 600 layers are published on the Layar Platform with over 2000 in development."

May 10, 2010

Ads Mitchell - Linkedin and Facebook Following Twitter



















AdsMitchell twitter profile with bio and following

Jack Dorsay was the man behind the start of twitter in 2006. It took to the world and the world responded with tweets to tweople all around the globe. As far as I know, there has always been this idea of "following" another profile. An action that simply means, you like the persons content and wish to see more. Opt-in and completely out of free will. Twitter has also always had a "bio" field. A space where you can write and display a brief summery of yourself. See the red circled areas on the screen shots.

May 6, 2010

Ads Mitchell - The Social Media Revolution 2



Some really great additions and graphics to the Social Media Revolution videos. Erik Qualman or equalman, put together an epic post that I caught on Socialnomics - Social Media blog. The first one was fantastic and so is this! I included the first video in an earlier post of mine about consumer engagement and social media here. The same rocking song has been kept and it is an absolute pleasure to watch with the updated stats and visuals. Eric put together these statistics in his post:

May 4, 2010

Ads Mitchell - Piano Guy Is Viral From ChatRoulette

This video went viral and I can see why. It is very unique, funny and will have you laugh at some point. It is just that entertaining, well at least I thought so. The video has seen more than 3 million views for a good reason. For those who don't know, ChatRoulette is a social media platform that uses video and Instant Messaging to connect people all over the world. This one guy in particular freestyles songs relating to the person on the other side of the webcam.

May 2, 2010

Ads Mitchell - Castle Lager Spirit and the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Castle Lager really uniting the spirit of our country with this commercial. We are a diverse nation living together, teaching each other of our unique cultures and enjoying the good things South Africa has to offer. I really like this advert and wonder if it is possible to actually claim an advert as THE advert for the games? An excellent advert from Castle that touches on the unique cultural diversity of South Africans with soccer. 

Apr 29, 2010

Ads Mitchell - Toyota Auris X Sport Advert - Where Buddy Gets a New Friend

Dzzzz this clip should get you laughing if you liked the other Buddy the Boxer Dog adverts. Buddy gets a new friend and they are arguing over the new Auris X. I came across this video from @MichClarke and @bangersandnash on twitter and it is certainly a favorite - Thanks and nice one for making me laugh!

It is really inspiring to see clever and entertaining ideas being used by marketers in this world of almost endless products and services. Toyota brought in Buddy the Boxer last year with the corolla and he has become liked and generally known as a brand associated pet on TV. So much so, you can follow @buddytheboxer on twitter. According to Totally Mad, "two of the commercials in which he featured made the Millward Brown Adtrack™ Top 10 Most Liked list for 2009." 

This advert is April the 23rd 2010, new!

Apr 28, 2010

Ads Mitchell - The Most Expensive Commercial


This advert says it is the most expensive commercial. Some of the figures are unreal and I wonder if it brought in enough return, but I really enjoyed it! It is a car advert for the Honda Accord. The slogan, "isn't it nice when things just work" fits this video perfectly and you will see why if you watch it. It is said to have cost $6.2 million with 606 takes and re-takes. Apparently it is all real footage and no computer graphics were used, mmm.

Apr 26, 2010

Ads Mitchell - Iron Man 2 AR Experience From Your Webcam.

Iron Man 2 is coming out in theater's on the 30 April 2010. If you can handle the quick down loadable app and the long load time (I was using slow wireless), it is worth it. Your web cam puts you in the suit of Iron Man, you can also view yourself with the mask open & climb inside with dial visuals. You can also record and share your experience! They give your avatar a bit of a persona with 10 voice prompts that speak to you. Memorise them and you can have a full conversation with Iron Man before seeing the movie. 

To access the web site and augment reality experience, Click Here

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