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!

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

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.

Infographic - The State of Mobile Apps

Via: MBA Online and Fast Company

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.

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.

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.

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

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.