Super Bowl 2013: The Power Of Real Time Responses

The lights went off at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome during the Super Bowl 2013 game. Play was suspended for 37 minutes in an embarassing rush to figure out what went wrong.

During this time, a bunch of hilarious tweets were pushed out by various brands capitalizing on the moment to show a bit of creativity.

Tide has already adopted the "Newsdesk" approach to social media conversations by establishing a social media listening post with processes in place for rapid responses based on ongoing topics/issues going on in real-time, akin to an actual newsroom. See their amazingly quick response when Tide Powder Detergent was used to clean up the fuel spill during a car crash at a NASCAR race

Tide did it again with this tweet during the Super Bowl blackout.

Oreo did it with this supercool response ad - You can still dunk in the dark.

Audi used it to slam their rivals Mercedes Benz (given the match was held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome)

I have a firm believe that we don't always need the big clunky long drawn ad campaign that have been developed over many months and tested before being shown to the world. In the age of conversations, simple, well designed moments that tap on real time situations can build brands.

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

Microsoft Windows 8 Activation

This is an awesome activation campaign by Microsoft in Portugal.

If you want to say "I'm simple to use", don't just say it, show it. In this activation, Microsoft uses children to do Windows 8 product demos. A great way to create an impactful brand experience for customers at point of sale.

I love how Microsoft prioritized the Win 8 messaging which is something many brands within this category find very difficult to do - Which product benefits should I communicate to address consumer barriers, how do I say everything in one piece of communication.

In this case, the Win 8 TV commercial focuses on the communicating that Win 8 is everything (at once) for everyone. However, a key barrier for Win 8 is that it is a paradigm shift from the old Windows experience that everyone has come to know and people are worried if they will be able to adapt and if the new user experience would be too complex.

What better way to solve this by ingeniously asking children to do Windows 8 demos to customers in an effort to prove that the new operating system is easy to understand.

Great moments strengthen the overall brand experience and as Microsoft puts it: "The moment speaks for itself".

 

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

Landfill Harmonic

This is an amazing social project done by a truly remarkable group of people in Paraguay: An orchestra that plays instruments out of trash. A truly awe inspiring tale of the things that can be done when people band together against adversity and circumstances to create music and an emotional experience for everyone that watches this.

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

Mobile Orchestra

This is a true testament to digital agencies, the ones that make and build things be it for their clients or for themselves. Those that go beyond creating web banners and microsites to actually building applications and physical objects; marrying the disciplines of design, sociology, hardware and software engineering.

Credit to AKQA for this great musical mobile orchestra in their collaboration with the Pacific Chamber Symphony to present Carol Of The Bells this Christmas 2012.

You can try it out with your own mobile devices here

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

Face Retirement

Merrill Edge (a self directed online investment arm of Merrill Lynch and part of Bank of Amercia) has launched a really interesting online application that shows you how you would look in the future when you get old to prompt people into starting to save for their retirement.

The application is powered by ModiFace (a Virtual Makeover Technology company) that creates a composite photo of your face revealing wrinkles, spots, saggy skin and all the bells and whistles that come with ageing and being old.

The insight for the app came from a study conducted in 2011 where researchers found that we're often reluctant to save for retirement because deep down, we don't identify with the older person we'll one day be. It was nicely encapsulated into the quote "To people estranged from their future selves. saving is like a choice between spending money today or giving it to a stranger years from now".

Test subjects in the study also underwent a virtual reality simulatin that showed them a computer generated vision of themselves at retirement age and then asked them questions about money. Researchers concluded that those who interacted with their virtual future selves exhibited an increase tendenacy to delay gratification (i.e. save and accept later monetary rewards over immediate ones) and save more.

Try it for yourself here

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

The Browser You Love To Hate

Love the new marketing campaign for Internet Explorer 10. Just to be clear, I hate IE. It's given me so many problems in the past and I have switched over to Firefox and Chrome and never moved back; Except when required while doing site and app testing. However, the new campaign for IE 10 is absolutely brilliant.

IE was once the dominant browser and has since fallen from grace by being inflexible and overconfident. The campaign is sparked by a very self aware point of view that progress takes time and humility to get back to the top and comebacks come in many shapes and sizes. Just give the new browser a chance, and you'll be convinced.

It starts off with a nice self depreciating TV commercial where an Internet troll follows news of the launch of IE 10 and sprews hate at every chance possible about the new broswer with a vegence. The message at the end is clear, some progress even a little, is good progress.

Users can also go on to The Browser You Loved To Hate to find out more about why and how IE 10 is in fact mounting a serious comeback.

Microsoft has taken the humble approach in this one and it seems to be working quite well. A promise of something great without the flashy display of the browser and obivious and overzealous user testimonials.

See the full gallery on Posterous

#WellPlayed Microsoft. Well Played indeed.

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

Recipeace

Bring peace amongst conflicting people and countries through the universal medium of food. Find out more at recipeaceday.org

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

Dumb Ways To Die

An interesting approach to educate people on safety when taking the train (by Metro Trains). After all, it is incredibly silly to die in an accident that was a cause of you doing something stupid that could have been avoided. Check out the campiagn site at dumbwaystodie.com/ and the accompanying music video with a track that can be downloaded on the iTunes store for free.

 

 

 

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer

Amex Sync with Xbox

In additional to syncing your Amex card with your Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter accounts, you can now do so with your XBox gamer profile and earn card rewards and statement credits while you game

Posted via email from The Digital Marketer