Jun

8

Cool uses of tech in recent advertising

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media, Technology | Comments

I wanted to highlight some of the advertising efforts that have gotten attention recently because of their creative use of technology. Video games, bands, major brands, and ad agencies themselves are all coming up with new ways to get attention online while typically leveraging the most popular social networks.

I placed the following examples into 4 categories: Social Media, Mobile, Interactive, and one honorable mention under Augmented Reality. Click on each example to check it out.

Social Media

The Protoype Experience

Prototype is a new game coming out (from Activision) on XBOX 360, PS3, and Windows. Sign in using your Facebook account, wait for it to load, and sit back and enjoy the game preview that’s customized with some of your Facebook data. It’s being described as the coolest use of Facebook Connect so far.

TRVSDJAM Mixtape

Simply connect using your Twitter account, post the auto-generated message with the #trvsdjam hashtag, and you get to download the new mixtape free of charge. Coldplay also recently released a free live album, but instead of a tweet, they just wanted your email address. What’s important to notice is how quickly good deals (especially free) have begun to spread now. Before it was mainly through forums, email, and instant messages, but now social networks are increasingly becoming the way most people share deals online.

It shouldn’t surprise you that this resulted in tons of links on Twitter and the hashtag #trvsdjam showing up in the trending topics for several hours. This also reminded me of another recent effort when Crank tried to take over your Facebook status. Advertisers have to be careful with this approach. Unless there is enough value in it for the consumer, the backlash against a campaign being considered spam can be brutal with the online crowd.

BooneOakley YouTube Home Page

Although this example is not advertising a product or service, it’s a genius way of an agency being creative with their own online home. Plenty has been said about this already but it’s a must see if you have not come across it yet. This is my new favorite agency website at the moment with a close second being Wexley School for Girls.

Quicksilver’s The Spot

I think they got this idea from the Honda Insight Let It Shine video on Vimeo, but that’s not important. This Quicksilver video got my attention (for long enough) to see that it ends with a skateboard being thrown at the screen. The shattering glass effect then shakes the browser window a few times which I had never seen before. I’ll take a shaking browser window over an auto-maximizing one any day.

Old Navy Supermodelquins

These Old Navy Twitter accounts might have been setup a while ago but I found out about them only after recently attending the Crispin Porter + Bogusky Digital Peepshow here in NY. Instead of just creating a general Old Navy Twitter account to push out deals and news, CP+B decided to take a different approach and created several accounts for the fictional store mannequins that are also featured in the latest TV ads. During the presentation, they mentioned Alex Bogusky does most of the tweeting for these accounts himself which I thought was very interesting :) I’m now following all of them, it’s like a comedic drama that takes place in my Twitter stream.

So lots of creative stuff being done with Twitter and Facebook. I don’t think that will slow down anytime soon since these are the two social networks where people spend the most amount of time right now. The introduction of Facebook Connect and Twitter OAuth has made it possible for digital agencies and brand marketers to create experiences like these instead of just the usual fan page or brand account.

Mobile

Digital iPhone controlled Ads

Although this idea is not something completely new, it’s the first I’ve seen with the iPhone. I don’t think many people will take the time to engage with these ads unless there is something in it for them (coupon, exclusive preview of product, etc). The linked article mentions “digital outdoor” but the ideal location for these types of ads will be indoor shopping malls. CBS has partnered with Westfield Shopping Centers so you should start to see these pop up soon at your local shopping mall.

One example of something similar to this was done as part of a campaign for NikeID in Times Square as Richard Ting, Executive Creative Director at R/GA pointed out to me. It also shouldn’t be long before more events and conferences create these types of setups allow people to play games or interact with live product demos.

Nissan Cube Accessorizer

Nissan created this iPhone app which lets you customize and build your own Nissan Cube. Essentially the same thing you could do online but now on your iPhone. What the app is missing is a way to share your customized Cube with friends or through Facebook once it’s customized. There isn’t even a way to save your car to bring in to a local dealer and order the exact configuration. Unfortunately, no matter how I customized it, I still couldn’t get it to even look somewhat decent. iTunes direct link is here.

Gillette uArt

I wouldn’t consider this a cool app but I wanted to mention it anyway. I downloaded the new Gillette iPhone app uArt because I thought it would be fun to see what I’d look like with different beards. I tried it out and within seconds found the app was a huge disappointment. A decent idea but the execution is terrible.

But I give Gillette credit for the recent How to Shave Your Groin video they put on YouTube that is already approaching close to a million views. Gillette is clearly putting some money toward unconventional marketing methods online and in mobile, but they need to work on the mobile part.

Overall, I had a lot of trouble finding good examples of branded iPhone apps, even with 50,000 in the store now. I do like the fact that more apps are starting to include Facebook/Twitter sharing options. The AP Mobile News app recently added this to their latest release so I can now use Facebook Connect and my Twitter account to share articles in less than 3 seconds.

Interactive

GTI Project

Although this VW site isn’t targeted toward the U.S. market, I still enjoyed this simple game because I am a car enthusiast and I’m always interested in anything VW/Audi related (I currently drive a Honda but have owned a VW & Audi). There is a leaderboard so if you’re competitive, it could suck you in until your time gets better and better.

There are probably a ton of other cool interactive sites that were just released, but this is just one that I recently came across after seeing a link to it on Twitter.

Augmented Reality

USPS Virtual Box Simulator

This was created by AKQA for their client, the United States Postal Service. It’s being described as one of the first practical uses of this technology. The first example using this technology that I came across was GE’s SmartGrid not too long ago which I thought was pretty amazing. I’m looking forward to seeing what else this can be used for like this video I found on YouTube.

Update: I came across a great blog post with 10 more great examples of augmented reality being used in recent campaigns.

Coming Soon

At the Digital Peepshow, Crispin Porter + Bogusky gave attendees a preview of a Facebook app they have been developing for their client Coke Zero. They partnered with the University of Illinois to license face recognition technology to create an app called the Facebook Profiler. The Facebook Profiler will analyze your photos and then find your look-alikes on Facebook (to promote Coke Zero tasting just like regular Coke). Keep an eye out for the app over the next couple of months and expect it to get as much attention as the Whopper Sacrifice app they released not too long ago.

Any other creative campaigns that I missed? Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr or comment below.

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May

3

How Palm is strengthening their mobile brand online

Filed Under Branding, Customer Service, Engagement, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media | Comments

Palm is getting ready to launch what will most likely be their best-selling handheld device ever, the Pre. There have been several attempts from most major handset manufacturers to catch up with the iPhone over the past couple of years but none have really lived up to the hype including the BlackBerry Storm and Google’s G1. Early demos and press of the Pre (which is rumored to launch May/June) have generally been great and there seems to be a lot of people that think it will be a huge success.

What I’d like to summarize as best as I can in this post is what Palm is doing online to engage with potential early adopters and long-time loyal Palm fans (which there are many of). I believe Palm could be considered a Prom King Brand, which advertising consultant Alan Wolk describes as a brand that people don’t mind “conversing” with. I think that alone has simply been the biggest factor in helping Palm successfully grow an online following.

Here are 7 things I noticed they are doing very well:

1. The Official Palm Blog

The blog looks to be managed by Palm’s Director of Online Communications, Jon Zilber and Palm’s PR agency, Edelman. It is updated a couple times a week, just enough to keep people coming back and interested. There are great discussions going on beneath most entries where Palm fans voice their opinions and seek answers to Pre questions (which usually get answered).

In Rohit Bhargava’s latest book, Personality Not Included, he refers to a great example of a Moleskine blog that was started by one passionate Moleskine customer, or what he calls an “accidental spokesperson” (pg. 59). Moleskine didn’t realize it would make sense for them to have a blog until one was started. The blog owner was later hired to officially continue his efforts for the brand. It’s obvious that a blog makes sense for Palm, especially since there are already several “unofficial” blogs out there that are doing very well. This official blog gives them better control over the information and rumors that are released about their own products.

The only thing I would suggest is for Palm to make it easier for visitors to share the content via Digg, Twitter, and Delicious.

2. Facebook Fan Page

The fan page is currently approaching 7,500 fans which is a solid start but still way behind BlackBerry which has 135,000 fans. The newsfeed is regularly updated with links to developing Palm news (even on other sites) and other online media. The Discussion board is very active and is used frequently to have featured Palm employees answer fan questions (where the accompanying blog entry directs you). Comments and Likes are common on most newsfeed items which makes it obvious the fans love the constant updates.

3. @Palm Twitter Profile

The Twitter profile appears to be for many purposes. The profile bio sums it up nicely, “Stay connected with Palm and learn about news, products, tips and tricks, deals and more.” Addressing customer support issues is another way they are using Twitter. What caught my attention was how well they are using their blog, Facebook, and Twitter together to host conversations and spread new content.

When asked about who handles the account, the reply was:

I think that will change after the Pre launches and the account grows along with Twitter.

4. Pre YouTube Channel

No need to go anywhere else, these videos straight from Sprint and Palm offer plenty of in-depth demonstrations of how the Pre will function and improve your mobile life. Apple did something similar for the iPhone but did it directly on Apple.com. Posting the videos on YouTube allows them to spread easily online by allowing people to embed them wherever they want. YouTube videos also tend to rank very high in Google search results.

5. Pre-Launch Pre Buzz

It’s becoming more common to see a brand highlight and try to aggregate all the buzz going on online in one location. Skittles drew a lot of attention to their site recently when they redesigned their homepage to link to Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook. If you head over to the Pre homepage on Sprint’s website, they are doing something similar but keeping it all on one page. I think this site also aligns nicely with their recent What’s Happening advertising campaign that got a lot of attention.

6. Become a Real Reviewer

The Real Reviewers program is a great way to give back to the online community by creating an opportunity for die hard fans to get their hands on a free Pre for 6 months. This type of transparent focus group can be great if the company really believes they are about to deliver an amazing product. Put it in the hands of some of your brand’s biggest fans and let them do what they do best.

This immediately reminded me of another similar project that was launched recently by Ford called the Fiesta Movement. Ford partnered with Ogilvy to identify 100 “agents” that get their very own Ford Fiesta for 6 months before anyone else in the U.S. These selected agents are already starting to create and share their experiences with the car on Twitter, YouTube, and their blogs. All this new content is being aggregated on the newly created Fiesta Movement website.

Just like Ford carefully chose their agents, Palm is looking for select applicants that are completely wired online (like me!) and heavily rely on their mobile phones for constant connectivity to their social networks. This post called Do Something Small on the Brains on Fire blog reminds marketers that really good things can come from putting a lot of time and effort into working with a small group of loyal customers instead of always trying to reach as many people as possible at once.

7. Notify Me Pre Alerts

SMS/Email alerts are still a great way to reach out to potential customers who are willing to opt-in to your brand and get the first updates about a new product or service. This method of engagement starts online and extends to email, text, or even live phone outreach if it makes sense.

Because Palm is a reputable company that I have known for many years, I trust that they will not use my personal info for any other purpose besides what I signed up for.

Final Thoughts

Palm had a rough couple of years, but with the Pre it certainly looks like they are about to strengthen their position as one of the major players in the smartphone market. Growing their online community and leveraging it to constantly improve upon their products will only help the company overall.

A couple of questions come to mind: How will they react to any negative feedback and press once the Pre is launched and how will they make sure their other products don’t fall off the grid?

Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr and while you are here, check out 6 ways to provide customer support and feedback online.

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Feb

16

Some thoughts on iPhone apps

Filed Under Apple, Mobile, Web | Comments

How are they changing the Web? The obvious is iPhone apps are increasingly allowing people to access online content during times when they didn’t have access to it before, therefore continuing to speed up the rate of information sharing. Where apps are having trouble is keeping the users interested after a few uses or a short trial period. Social networking apps like the ones for Twitter and Facebook don’t have this problem because they are allowing people who are connected on the web to continue their relationships away from their computers. The rising popularity of iPhone apps with location-based capabilities (and soon to come the iPhone version of Google Latitude) are creating useful ways for people to access relevant data about events, businesses, and even people that are nearby.

How are they being used by brands? The smart brands are the ones that have already thought of ways to connect with a large base of current iPhone users (Kraft, Obama, Audi, to name a few). Most other major brands are most likely in the process of or just starting to think about developing an iPhone app because of the successes they are continuing to hear about. But only a select few out of the rapidly growing database of 20,000+ apps with be successful because they will either be really useful, linked to a well-liked brand, or very creative. Of course the longer it takes for the app to be released, the smaller the chance of it being successful. It’s worthwhile to note that companies like Remember the Milk, Salesforce, Mint.com are creating iPhone apps to supplement their web services as an added benefit to offer to their customers. Some of the most impressive apps aren’t just displaying content in a mobile-friendly manner, but also paying very close attention to creating a sleek user interface and coming up with unique ways to engage people using the iPhone’s features.

What about publishers? They need to recognize that besides an electronic reading device like the Kindle, people are already browsing their content frequently on the iPhone (and most likely not having the best experience if nothing has been developed for them). Even though it will take time, the iPhone will be a big advertising platform for publishers in the future. Besides newspapers, I think most major magazines will have iPhone apps soon. What they will need to figure out is a revenue model that makes sense because as of now the app store does not allow publishers the freedom of charging readers a recurring monthly fee to subscribe to the latest content downloads. The first successful magazine app will owe a lot of it’s success from free PR and it looks like Lucky Magazine and People Magazine are very close to launching. Update: Apple has announced that the 3.0 software update will allow subscription based purchases to be made within the app. Great news for publishers.

How are they affecting the gaming industry? The cost of the app plays a huge factor, but not as much as you might think. We are starting to see more findings that indicate increases in spending for apps on mobile devices. People are willing to spend $5-$10 on good game because it’s an inexpensive alternative when compared to most video games that cost over $40. It’s only a matter of time before more games that offer online play gain in popularity just as we saw happen for all the major gaming consoles over the past couple of years and the classis example of the iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge. While no one is sure yet if increasing sales of iPhone games are damaging the sales of the major players, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the iPhone’s popularity is already hurting the sales of other handheld gaming devices.

Some further reading: 8 reasons for building an iPhone Web application, Mobile ROI: You get what you pay for, and Apple iPhone controls over 66% of all mobile web use.

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Oct

22

How To: Getting started with an unactivated T-mobile G1

Filed Under Gadgets, Mobile | Comments

As of right now, there still no quick way of unlocking or “jailbreaking” the T-mobile G1. But, it’s fairly easy to set up the phone to be used for everything besides making calls (unless a VoIP app becomes available in the future like the iPhone). I was able to purchase a G1 earlier today without signing up for a new 2 year contract with T-mobile (at the $399 price). The store manager was reluctant to sell it at first without a contract but finally agreed after some convincing. The fact that it didn’t look like the launch demand was as high as they thought it would be, definitely helped. It seems that the stores have been given specific instructions not to sell any G1’s without a new 2 year contract, at least until the first couple of shipments are sold. It’s a hit or miss.

The G1 was purchased for my company to use for testing purposes only, so we just wanted to be able to access all the phone features, apps, and internet browsing whenever connected to a nearby Wi-Fi network. And we did not want to get stuck paying for 2 years of monthly service to do so. Here are the steps we followed to get past the initial setup without having an activated SIM card. (Note: You will need a friends activated T-mobile SIM card for only a couple of minutes - data charges may apply.)

  1. Insert friends activated T-mobile SIM into G1 along with battery
  2. Power on and wait for setup screen
  3. Go through setup process to link any Gmail account
  4. Go to Settings > Wireless Controls > Wi-Fi Settings > Enable Wi-Fi
  5. Connect to nearby Wi-Fi network if one is available
  6. Optional: Stop the phone from syncing with Gmail account by going to Data Synchronization and unchecking Auto-sync, Gmail, Calendar, and Contacts
  7. Once done, take out friends SIM card and insert unactivated SIM that came with G1

If you already have T-mobile service, you should be able to pop your SIM right in and get going. You can also do the same with a G1 purchased from eBay and using a prepaid T-mobile SIM card. I doubt T-mobile will do anything to change this because you are paying full price for the phone! One other thing to note is if you would like to change the Gmail account in which the phone syncs with, a soft reset is necessary and you must follow these steps again. For a comprehensive review of the G1, check out Engadget’s hardware and software posts which are very detailed. Also, check out my colleagues initial thoughts on how Google is becoming more evil because of this.

If you know of any other ways, please leave a comment. I will also be keeping an eye out for unlocking instructions as they become available. Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr.

Update: Got linked to by Engadget and Gizmodo! Please see my comment below if you are confused about the difference between ‘unactivated’ and ‘unlocked’.

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Sep

26

Next iPhone Contestants: BlackBerry Storm and T-Mobile G1

Filed Under Gadgets, Mobile | Comments

It’s been approximately a year and 3 months since the iPhone was released here in the U.S. During that time, there has been lot’s of hype for competitor phones like the LG Voyager and the Samsung Instinct, but that’s all it was, hype. How many people have you seen carrying one of those phones today? Pretty soon, we will have two new contestants on the market…

The BlackBerry Storm is looking great and I like the sounds of the T-Mobile G1 running Android but both have major weaknesses. It’s too bad we can’t combine the strengths from both and make what I think would be the first real iPhone competitor to put out Apple’s fire. The iPhone is far from perfect, but I don’t think anyone else has yet been able to offer a package close enough to really compete.

Things I like about the BlackBerry Storm: great design, large screen, Verizon network, and 3MP camera.

Major flaws: no multi-touch, no application store (Update: Looks like there is plans for a BlackBerry marketplace which is great), won’t be easy to store/play music and videos.

It’s not that there is anything wrong with the BlackBerry OS (I would take it over Windows Mobile any day), but they still have not announced any plans to offer an open marketplace for third party apps. It will be more difficult since BlackBerry offers their devices on several carriers, but they need to do whatever they can to figure out a similar app solution quickly. It took them a while, but Google will soon have their own app market with some amazing apps like ShopSavvy, which will allow people to scan bar codes and compare product pricing information from their phones.

BlackBerry has always been very successful at targeting business users. The problem is the iPhone now handles the business functions BlackBerry users need while also providing the storage and features to playback hours of music and video, something BlackBerry needs to start doing. They may not have cared about this when they first started, but they need to suck it up and realize their market share will continue to get smaller if they don’t.

Otherwise, Blackberry clearly stepped up their game for the Storm. Everything from the teaser website to the flyer I got the other day in the mail is well done and actually has me looking forward to being able to play around with it. The fact that it will be available on a more reliable network is a major plus.

Things I like about the T-mobile G1: open source marketplace, free apps, and the ability to run multiple apps at once.

Major flaws: no desktop syncing app, no multi-touch, no internal storage for media playback, and no headphone jack.

This device looks like it was designed by geeks for geeks. The hardware design and user interface (from the pictures I’ve seen) is where it’s definitely lacking a polished look. An Ex-Google Product Manager even came out and said the design didn’t change in the 2.5 years it took to release the phone.

With a $180 price tag, many people are quick to automatically assume that cheaper will equal more sales, but I disagree. I don’t think I need to go into detail here, just think about why any high end brand does well. Most people just want a nice looking phone with cool functions and they will pay more if need be.

I attended an iPhone vs. Android iBreakfast event the other day and the general response was positive on how the mobile industry in general is advancing. Allowing developers to be creative has really begun changing the way people are using their mobile phone for things like travel, social networking, and commerce. You can watch the full T-Mobile G1 press event here, which will also give you a very good idea of what Android is about. Also, many more great examples of apps can be found here. It will be interesting to see how Android evolves on other handsets around the world and if more manufacturers will jump on board to support Google. If that happens, will Symbian and Palm just disappear?

Other Thoughts

It’s important to remember that when Apple announced the iPhone, they started a wave of innovation that has had a huge impact not just on the mobile industry, but also the marketing and advertising industries. Although there is not enough solid data yet, the responses we are starting to see and hear about from the brands and developers who have gotten on the iPhone early have been better than expected. One developer even made $250,000 in just two months from selling a simple game. Who could have ever predicted that?

I still recall being on the phone with the Verizon rep about a year ago while he was trying to convince me to stay with Verizon and consider the LG Voyager that wasn’t even available yet! I was still locked into a 2 year contract with Verizon at the time, but because I already had my mind set on the iPhone, I did what I needed to do to get out of that contract. If either the Storm of the G1 were as compelling, I would do the same.

I’d love to see just how many people left other carriers to get the iPhone. Now more than ever, I see the full benefit of why Apple keeps their product release details under strict secrecy and I think it really paid off for them more than ever with the iPhone. They gained a huge advantage in the smartphone market here in the U.S. How long do you think it will take before their fire is put out, if ever?

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