'Touch the Truck' is a marketing classic - last person left 'touching the truck' wins it. In Sweden, Peugeot re-imagined this for the digital / Facebook generation, running a virtual 'touch the truck' competition. Facebook integration, gaming / competitive mechanics and more were built into the Peugeot 'take the car' competition and winners would have a week with the selected car.
More details on the Peugeot 'Take the car' competition are in the case study video below:
JK Rowling has just announced (via YouTube) the impending launch of a Harry Potter community site at www.pottermore.com
Pottermore will launch in October and promises to be an 'online reading experience unlike any other.' Pottermore will be built 'in part by you, the reader' and aims to be a safe area for Harry Potter fans to congregrate and further enjoy the texts - with JK Rowling even joining in to share additional Harry Potter information from time to time.
The JK Rowling Pottermore announcement video also reveals that Pottermore will be the exclusive venue for purchasing Harry Potter digital audio books and Harry Potter ebooks for the first time.
...and those who 'follow the owl' may be able to access Pottermore before the official launch!
The British Secret Service, MI5, is recruiting. Instead of just running print ads though, they are running print ads that feature a large QR code that drives to the mobile web:
MI5 QR code recruitment ad in the Sunday Times (19/06/11)
The James Bond / MI5 QR code press recruitment ad is another example of Paid Media being used as a content gateway - it's not just about delivering a message from the ad itself, it's about creating an entry point to further digital content.
Tottenham Hotspur have revealed that for the 2011-2012 season, the new Spurs shirt will display the name Aurasma, a new Augmented Reality platform from Autonomy.
Aurasma Augmented Reality platform - new Tottenham Hotspur shirt sponsor
In 2008 after the Premier League's first match between two teams with no shirt sponsor (West Ham v West Brom) I wondered if shirts could be used as a gateway to content, suggesting that QR codes could be displayed on shirts and club merchandise and linked to ever changing content. This was a bit fantastical at the time, but just 3 years later a top flight club are being sponsored by a technology platform.
The Autonomy / Aurasma sponsorship of Tottenham Hotspur may not see shirts being used as a gateway to content, but will see Spurs content becoming more innovative and interactive - particularly on mobile devices.
The announcement of the Autonomy / Aurasma Tottenham Hotspur shirt sponsorship on the Spurs website reveals:
'Aurasma is powered by pattern recognition technology using some of the most advanced systems in the world to bring the physical and virtual worlds together for the first time on mobile devices.
Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur, said: "We are pleased to be supporting Autonomy and its revolutionary Aurasma platform. Autonomy continues to push the boundaries of new technology and with Aurasma we are seeing the future of augmented reality and mobile technology."
Fans can look forward to future developments, including bringing Tottenham Hotspur content to life with interactive features using Aurasma.'
Seems a long way from the traditional type of shirt sponsor and shows how quickly Augmented Reality is developing - from niche to mainstream in just a few years. It will be interesting to see what effect this Autonomy / Spurs partnership has on forthcoming Spurs digital content.
Tactics for social network pages and Owned Media spaces are quickly evolving, particularly in measurement. More and more brands are looking at numbers of active fans and volume of engagement rather than just size of fan base.
Posing questions and eliciting response has become a key tactic and Swedbank in Latvia have made the most of this recently with a campaign based taking this idea and fusing it with social gaming creating an initiative called 'how well do your friends know you?'
The Draugiem activity amplified Swedbank's three key objectives - 'know customers better', 'earn trust' and 'grow together with them.' Friends answered questions about each other, with the Q and A execution based around the Swedbank logo and housed in content hubs both on the Swedbank Latvia site + the Swedbank Latvia profile page on Latvian social network Draugiem.
This activity is on the Golden Hammer shortlist for 2011 and delivered impressive results - the video below explains more:
In the latest example of how m-commerce is quickly evolving, UK restaurant chain Pizza Express have partnered with Paypal to allow meals to be paid for using a Pizza Express iPhone app.
The Pizza Express app includes a range of functionality (eg table booking), but the most interesting element is the integration of Paypal that allows meals to be paid for through the Pizza Express app. The following video explains how the Pizza Express Paypal app works:
The new Coors Light (UK) video features Jean Claude van Damme giving his thoughts on Coors Light and "frozen pants." The video sees Jean Claude van Damme walking across an icy wasteland and discussing different levels of cold.
The video description states: "Coors Light & Jean Claude Van Damme know that even frozen icy pants, restrictive ones, pants frozen solid and tight are nothing compared to the ice cold refreshment of a Coors Light."
The film then points to the associated Facebook Page, www.facebook.com/closesttocold and encourages Liking to see more Jean Claude van Damme / Coors Light action.
Random, but the sort of content that has potential to spread through Earned Media conversation.
[Disclaimer - I have not personally been involved in this campaign, but a number of the campaign elements are being handled by the UK division of ZenithOptimedia]
The new media landscape can be defined in terms of Paid Owned and Earned, but all 3 of these are linked. Channels need to be thought about differently as activity in one area has the potential to see knock on effects in another. A good example is how TV is changing. Broadcast TV can still be used to deliver a message, but it also acts as a gateway to content (Owned) and drives participation and conversation (Earned.)
The EIAA Mediascope 2010 research found that 36% of Europeans are using the internet whilst they watch TV. (Other studies have also identified this trend though the % figure varies.) TV can therefore push people online driving further interactions and conversations.
There have been various examples of how this can work in practice. In the UK, last night's episode of the Apprentice saw the candidates briefed with creating a free magazine. One of the teams decided to create a title aimed at the over-60's called 'Hip Replacement.'
This, and other suggested titles, soon became the subject of widespread Twitter conversations, so much so that 'Hip Replacement' became a global trending topic on Twitter (one of the top 10 phrases most used on Twitter across the world) - one trend blocked out to prevent spoiling for those who haven't seen it:
Twitter Trending topics for the UK Apprentice - 150611
The @bbcapprentice Twitter account reported that in the UK various other magazine names discussed in the show were featuring highly in UK Trending topics:
@bbcapprentice tweet
This is not the first time this sort of phenomenon has been seen. In February this year, Howard Stern publishing a real time directors commentary on Twitter pushed people to watch an HBO re-run of Private Parts:
Howard Stern Twitter Director's Commentary for Private Parts
Last year ZenithOptimedia and Moxie Interactive produced a Trends video which labelled this trend the 'Amplified Present' and gave further examples of this being seen:
Furthermore, advertisers like Yeo Valley have found success through changing their TV strategy in order to maximise the chances of generating conversation and additional impacts through Earned Media conversations.
So the question becomes not about how best deliver a frequency of 3 through Paid Media, but how to deliver frequency through the combined use of Paid Owned and Earned. Broadcast / traditional media is able to deliver critical mass / volume audience for a message and with the right supplementary content and conversational mechanics, Owned and Earned media can then amplify it - more and more, the best returns are found in linking everything together.
China Merchants Bank, a leading commercial bank in China, and prominent Chinese social network Renren have jointly announced that they will soon be issuing a co-branded Renren CMB credit card in July 2011. The card will have features that will harness social, location and mobile services.
RenRen
Renren's Location Based Services will be integrated with CMB's 10,000 merchant partners which will then offer information and services accordingly. When card holders "check in" through Renren's Location Based Services function they will receive promotional information from CMB merchant partners located nearby. A wide range of loyalty incentive programs will also be offered by both Renren and CMB for the co-branded credit card applicants and holders.
The launch quote from Joseph Chen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renren, is interesting and highlights the idea of fusing social networks and finance solutions. He is quoted in the press release announcing the initiative as saying:
"Social networking is increasingly penetrating many aspects of people's lives.......through this co-branded credit card program, we see a business model we previously envisioned start to materialize, combining social, location and mobile services to make people's lives more convenient, more informed, and more fun!"
Wimbledon marketing has started with Sony reprising the classic Bravia bouncing balls ad for the start of Wimbledon fortnight - this time using (CGI) tennis balls. The new Sony balls ad highlights the fact that Wimbledon 2011 will be filmed in 3D by Sony and shown in HD by the BBC for the first time.
Sony have also created an online tennis ball hunt featuring social / refer a friend mechanics, primarily around Facebook (hosted at http://bounc3d.com) and everything is pulled together under the slogan 'Wimbledon, as you've never seen it before.'
I prefer the Tango recreation though.....
......especially the supplementary Tango promotional work that saw a spoof website created, which, masquerading as a site by the 'Swansea North Residents Association', complained that 'large amounts of fruit matter [was left] across the streets, caused damage to property, scared wildlife and residents, and was unaccompanied by financial compensation.' Visitors could even sign a petition to join the protest!
iPhones, iPads, iPods, iBooks and iTunes - Apple numbers continue to grow. Rishad highlighted that at the recent WWDC 2011 conference Apple revealed a whole host of stats and Apple facts and figures.
Here are 10 Apple statistics from Apple's WWDC 2011 (as reported by Techcrunch):
1) 25 million iPads have been sold in just 14 months
2) 2/3rds of all mobile web browsing is done through mobile Safari
3) There are 225 million iTunes accounts (with credit cards attached and ready to spend)
4) 15 billion songs have been sold through iTunes
5) Apple has 18 million songs in their total iTunes Store library
6) There are now over 425,000 apps in the Apple App Store — 90,000 of them are built for the iPad
7) 14 billion apps have been downloaded in less than 3 years
8) 130 million iBooks have been downloaded in a little over a year
9) After just 9 months, there are 50 million Game Center users (Xbox Live has gotten 30 million in 8 years)
McDonald's have used interactive digital billboards in the past, such as the socialised Piccadilly Circus McDonald's display or the digital display that offered coupons to people who could 'catch' McDonald's products on their phone display:
In Stockholm, McDonald's have now taken things even further, using a digital billboard as a gaming venue, with passers-by using their mobile phones as game controllers. Winning results in the player receiving a McDonald's coupon which can be redeemed at the nearest restaurant:
Clever stuff and another example of gamification, with the mobile handset taking on the role of game controller.
Paid Owned Earned is a framework that can be used for classifying different types of marketing activity, the key though is understanding how everything links together and nothing works in isolation. My original thinking around this was using a model of 'Destination' and 'Conversation' which I presented at Adtech in 2009, but in the last 18 months I have redrawn this in the context of Paid Owned Earned:
The Paid Owned Earned ecosystem and how it links together
- Paid is the traditional method of paying to place an ad, a 'go here now' message.
- Owned was traditionally a store or product packaging, then encompassed websites and microsites, before more recently becoming social network pages and apps.
- Earned was traditionally conversation around a watercooler or journalists being persuaded to write nice things. Earned has grown in importance as it now covers a whole range of digital channels too, like blogs, forums, YouTube, social networks and so on - the idea that anyone can post, comment, link to or share.
The key to this new ecosystem is the arrows between each bucket though. Paid drives Owned which can drive Earned, but things are more complicated than this.
- Owned Media presence (for example a YouTube video) can aid visibility on Search Engines and can also be used to drive back to the main site (for example Alexa currently shows that 44.64% of visitors to Evian.com come from YouTube.)
- Conversation can also produce activity that aids SEO (through creating an increase in both Search results and links) with this helping Paid Search ads to work harder.
- Nielsen Research ('The Value of Social Media ad impressions') produced various data that showed that incorporating social / Earned actions into Paid Media placements increased their effectiveness on Facebook - Earned helps Paid to work harder
- Conversation can amplify the effects of offline Paid Media advertising too and this can change the approach to Paid Media strategy. Traditional frequency of three thinking was based around Paid Media being used to drive all impacts, but the scaling of the conversation means that the second or third impression can now be delivered through the sharing actions of the so-called 'People's Network.' (Yeo Valley is a great example of this.)
- The Conversation can also be a great source of insight, surfacing trends that can be harnessed, providing focus group type insight, facilitating customer service or providing data for measurement - with everything then fuelling other parts of the Paid Owned Earned ecosystem.
(There are clearly many more nuances and mechanics, but getting everything to work together can produce a whole that is greater than the sum of it's parts.)
I have recently presented this type of Paid Owned Earned thinking in a number of places, a video of my session at the recent IAA Digital Download event in London is here:
Paid Owned Earned is therefore more than just a collection of attribution buckets for media. Everything is linked together and the newer players (like Facebook and Twitter) are appearing in all three meaning it's very difficult to work in one area without having an understanding of the other aspects of the ecosystem (which is made up of everything from customer service to product to marketing and advertising.)
