Volkswagen are running an innovative social media campaign for the new Tiguan. In search of some viral buzz they’ve created something a little different with “the people’s reviewer” campaign that leverages a range of social mediums like YouTube, Blogs, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.
The campaign started with thousands of YouTube auditions to find interesting people who’d potentially make a good reviewer. Then, they split them up into heats and taught each contestant how to utilise Twitter, Facebook and Flickr to build buzz around their review of the Tiguan (to win votes) while they were driving it for the week.
The winning reviewer will drive away the Tiguan they reviewed! It’s a great example of an integrated online/offline campaign that utilises social media to create buzz but also useful and valuable information back to the public that can be used to directly influence sales.
A city-wide garbage collector strike in Toronto has been in place for almost a month over protests about sick pay and benefits. This means that people in the city have been taking their rubbish to temporary dumping sites in parks and car parks. Residents have been asked to double bag their rubbish and collect recycling in clear plastic bags. Bin bag brand Glad saw an opportunity to help Torontonians.
Glad has donated 25,000 bin bags and clear recycling bags to the people. A Glad “Clean-up Crew” has been recruited to distribute the bags at various locations, with a list of times and places found at Gladtotherescue.com, along with news and maps. Glad will also hand out information about how to manage garbage during the strike and a coupon to redeem $1 off any Glad product.
The move was supported by full page ads in the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun. Glad had done something similar in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, donating trash bags to the city as part of its "Glad to Help" scheme.
US-based estate agent Coldwell Banker wanted to demonstrate the brand’s investment in innovation and the fact that it welcomes consumers any time, anywhere.
The company has a long track-record of embracing new technologies to sell its wares, and its latest endeavour is no different. The brand has taken over a billboard in Times Square, New York, to showcase some of the houses it has for sale. But there's a twist: the interactive billboard will display homes from requested post codes in real time. Passers by just text the word “homes” and any post code to a number on the billboard and a range of three houses appears in three different price ranges. They also receive a text from Coldwell Banker directing them to a link with more information about the listings.
The campaign also features portraits of the company’s founders, Colbert Coldwell and Benjamin Arthur Banker, who started the company in 1906. The founder portraits offer witty comments about New York and modern-day technology, mirroring the commentary they provide in related TV spots.
Nokia wanted to promote its N96 handset, which featured a five megapixel camera and functions that make it easy share photos over the internet using the Ovi Share website.
It was important for consumers to understand what differentiates the N96 from other mobile handsets. Out-of-home was used to do this both visually and experientially.
The campaign was split into two phases.
The first phase included strategically-placed billboards in major districts. LCD screens were placed in the centre of these specially-constructed billboards to bring the N96’s high resolution camera to life.
The second phase included specially constructed stands on Istanbul’s main streets which allowed Nokia users the opportunity to share their photos via a free wi-fi internet connection.
The campaign resulted in great awareness of the product and tangible understanding of its benefits.
The National Lottery is launching a nationwide search for a unique viral idea, to celebrate its 15th anniversary. With the help of best-selling author and TV personality Danny Wallace, the Viral Nation competition is a chance for people to submit an idea to show how Lottery funding has had a positive impact on them or their community. This idea will then be produced by a team of experts into a viral video.
To promote the competition, Danny Wallace stars in the How Not to Make a Viral video which takes a look at the things to avoid when making a viral, including hilarious spoofs of famous virals Where The Hell is Matt? and Keyboard Cat.
VISSUMO is a provider of next generation touch technologies for industrial, architectural, retail, transportation, instructional, and entertainment applications. The company has recently undergone a name-change, from Infini Touch to VISSUMO, and it was my task to create the new logo and business card.
Design brief
My client expressed concern that it would be too difficult to capture the company technology using an image or mark, and a logotype was preferred from the outset.
This ties in with a rule I like to follow revolving around company names — an interesting or original name (such as Vissumo) should utilise a simple design (think Google), whereas a generic name should show a more complex design (think Sun).
Specific keywords for the project were clean, professional, durable, and technology-based (which gave me thoughts of a sans-serif font).
Brainstorming
Sketching
Logo option 1
A visual slice has been taken from the text, leaving a symbolization of two surfaces — the finger and the touch-screen. The slice doesn’t travel the full width of the company name, with the leading character (V) forming the connection that drives the technology.
The designer who came up with the VISSUMO name wanted to create a “visual” reference, with “sumo” having a size connotation. This design idea splits the syllables, placing emphasis on the visual, and incorporating a surface-like mark.
The typeface used is Knockout Sumo.
Colour options
We experimented with a number of different colours, with the final decision coming down to either red or blue. As one of the main competitors uses red (3M Touch Systems), the options (above) were decided against, and you can see the chosen blue below.
The unique selling point is that users can interface with any semi-rigid touch screen surface — glass, plastic, metal, stone, wood, ceramic, or a combination of materials.
VISSUMO touch screens can withstand the force of a 9mm bullet — impressive (Engadget thought so too).
Because of a spin-off, our business needed to update our name and logo in a short time period. I was familiar with David’s work, but not sure if he could work with our time frame. To my delight, David accepted the project and quickly completed a fantastic design. We feel he understood our goals and created a great logo we can use for a long, long time. Kudos.
