30.5.10

Flashmob






In March 2006, Bill Wasik, inventor of the Flash Mob, wrote a great report on how he created and grew the flashmob phenomenon - Harper's Magazine (March 2006 issue.)

He talks about how events moved from the original email he sent out ('Q: Why would I want to join an inexplicable mob? A: Tons of other people are doing it') through to discussing the MOBs at the New York shoe store, the Grand Hyatt next to Central Station and the dinosaur worshipping in Times Square Toys R Us. Bill discusses how the phenomenon grew and analyses the different stages of awareness, participation and media coverage.

Bill Wasik ran 8 MOBs and reasoned that the Flash mob craze would die out, thinking that 'co-optation of the flash mob by the nation's large conglomerates would, I reasoned, be its final (and fatal) phase.' This moment seemed to have come when in summer 2005 the "Fusion Flash Concerts" were announced, a 'series of flash mobbing events staged by the Ford Motor Company and Sony Pictures Digital to promote the launch of the new Ford Fusion car.'

However, this did not mark the end of flash mob gatherings. If anything 2009 has been the year of the flash mob - albeit slightly removed from the purity of the original mobs. The MOBs of 2009 have tended to be ad funded and corporately organised displays intended to surprise those who were not in the know, rather than random spontaneous assembly for no obvious purpose.

T-mobile were largely responsible for the re-birth of flash mobbing with a TV ad (subsequently uploaded to YouTube) filmed in Liverpool St station in London - now with over 15m YouTube views:





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In March a Belgian TV channel then created a mass performance of 'Do-Re-Mi' in the Central Station in Antwerp:





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In April Trident Unwrapped used 100 Beyonce lookalikes in Piccadilly Circus London:

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Michael Jackson's death sparked global 'flash mob' performances of his dance routines - the highlight (probably) being this performance in Stockholm:





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In September 2009, to launch the new Oprah season, Oprah hosted a Black Eyed Peas outdoor concert in Chicago - where to her surprise the crowd turned into a huge flash mob:





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In October 2009 HTC ran a flash mob at Raffles Place in Singapore:

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In October the Bondi Beach 'Say Cheese' performance became Australia's most significant contribution to the flash mob craze (a stunt to promote Flip):





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Earlier this month Elf Yourself ran a flash mob in Union Square in New York to promote the fact that Elf Yourself is back for 2009:





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3 days ago Janet Jackson appeared at a Janet Jackson flashmob in Los Angeles (a series of MOBs occurred across LA on the same day to promote her new album):





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and Flash mobs are even now happening inside retail stores!





In October TV2 in Sweden ran a MOB in a Swedish IKEA store to promote the new series of 'Skal vi danse' ('Shall We Dance'):





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and now we have Microsoft store staff dancing to the Black Eyed Peas too:

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So why didn't mobs die when Bill Wasik predicted they would? The above are only a few of the mobs from this year, so why has 2009 seen so many? I think there are two main reasons:





1) Joy. It doesn't matter how many times this is done, being near or part of a flash mob / spontaneous outburst of performance raises a smile. With so many economic issues in the world this year, bringing happiness to people (no matter how tenuous the link) creates a positive feeling - a good context for an advertiser message.





2) Social. A flash mob creates Conversation. Those people who are present tweet about it, update their Facebook, take videos and upload to YouTube. Some of these films (or associated UGC versions) have huge, huge view numbers. Often the most effective way of creating buzz in online communities and social networks is to do something in the real world that then prompts people to share it in their virtual ones. Being part of an event gives participants something to talk about and the act of sharing with friends increases buzz and awareness (invariably it will prompt them to search out the info for themelves.)





Conversation (talking about the event) drives people to The Destination (the relevant video, channel, Facebook page etc). If the content is good, these visitors will then share it with their friends, who then talk about it, prompting even more people to visit the Destination. Thus an event can be far more cost-effective at driving coverage than a traditional campaign. (Not forgetting that it also instills joy and positive feeling into the message too.)





In 2003 Bill Wasik was surprised to see his MOB events featuring on blogs who were syndicating the email instrutions - but he did not object. He 'did not want anyone to learn the mob details without making human contact with another mob member, but blogs are by their nature such intimate endeavours that even the most widely read among them seem to foster a sense of close connectedness among their readers.' 'A mob spread partly by blogs was still, as I had intended, a virtual community made physical.'





MOB founder Bill was forward thinking, but in his mind it was all about email / blogs / WOM etc pushing people to the event. In today's media model it's the other way round. Advertisers are creating events to push UGC coverage, a physical community made virtual . The event drives the Conversation, rather than the other way round as Bill intended.

'Social media' doesn't happen in isolation, Conversation needs to be driven and then end up somewhere - and if the Destination is strong enough it will fuel further Conversation and keep looping and growing.







Nokia Snake in Bogotà


Flashmob action by Coke









Surprise Wedding Reception
we picked a random couple getting married at the City Clerk’s Office in Manhattan and threw them a surprise wedding reception. The couple was treated to dancing, toasts, cake, and gifts, all with complete strangers.


Hammer Pants Dance















Beyonce 100 Single Ladies Flash-Dance

Piccadilly Circus, London for Trident Unwrapped





I Gotta Feeling - Lipdub - One Take Music Video in University Of Quebec




FLASHMOB.CL - Aprendiendo a volar
Agencia El Traductor de Donald Paseo Ahumada Chile

Untitled from ortegaxpriest on Vimeo.




The Condo mob














Greenpeace shock Zurich

Activists from Greenpeace and the alliance "No to nuclear" , as part of a campaign against the use of nuclear energy, produced on May 25 last flash mob who knows some success, especially on the Internet .Flash mob in question uses the lever action shocking, and not surprisingly, the video displays 370,000 views in six days. 



Utah Department of Public Safety| Motorcycle Safety Campaign



Utah Department of Public Safety: Motorcycle Safety Campaign, Bumps
Bikers make lousy speed bumps.
Drive aware.



Utah Department of Public Safety: Motorcycle Safety Campaign, Heads
Headlights can be replaced.
Heads can't.
Ride aware.



Utah Department of Public Safety: Motorcycle Safety Campaign, Bones
Cars have bumpers.
Bikers have bones.
Ride aware.





Utah Department of Public Safety: Motorcycle Safety Campaign, Bug
To cars and trucks you're the bug.
Ride aware.





Utah Department of Public Safety: Motorcycle Safety Campaign, Wind
Wind feels great in your face.
Bumpers, less so.
Ride aware.







Utah Department of Public Safety: Motorcycle Safety Campaign, Not crazy
It's "born to be wild", not crazy.
Ride aware.


Utah Department of Public Safety: Motorcycle Safety Campaign, Road rash
Road rash is a preventable disease.  
Ride aware.

Advertising Agency: Richter7, Salt Lake City, USA
Executive Creative Director: Dave Newbold
Creative Directors: Gary Sume, Ryan Anderson
Art Director: Ryan Anderson
Copywriter: Gary Sume
Published: May 2010

The Philippine Consulate Dubai | Disaster


The Philippine Consulate Dubai | Disaster
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Dubai
Executive Creative Director: 
Marc Lineveldt
Copywriter: 
Neil Harrison
Advertiser's Supervisor: 
Robert Ramos
Account Manager: 
Hema Patel
Account Supervisor: 
Lisa-Marie Anders
Art Director: 
Hussain Moloobhoy
Photographer: 
Ziad Oakes, Hussain Moloobhoy

Huggies Jeans Diapers|"Hit the Streets!"

By| JWT New York




29.5.10

Jim Beam| Guys never change. Neither do we.

Jim Beam, founded in 1795, is currently the best selling brand of bourbon in the world,Jim Beam is positioned as the bourbon whiskey for real men. Of course the “real men” stereotype involves interaction with the opposite sex, at a shallow level

THE IDEA
GUYS NEVER CHANGE. And one thing that never changes is that guys have been debating meaning-
less crap since 1795. We love to get together, argue our opinion on any topic, and one-up each other. And we do this best when we’re drinking Jim Beam together.
Lets own this behavior. Brand it. Instigate it. Celebrate it.

Puppies

Jim Beam guys know that the cute factor is worth investing in, just to get the attention of women.


Girls

Jim Beam guys stop what they’re doing when they notice a good looking woman passing by, together.









Advertising Agency: Energy BBDO, Chicago, USA
Art director: Tod Hoffmann
Copywriter: Al Wyatt
Photographer: Tony D'Orio
Filming was shot by director Zach Martin via BOB Industries, Los Angeles. Editor was Matthew Wood at The Whitehouse Post. Post production was done at Filmworkers Club, Chicago. Music and audio were produced atEarhole Studios, Chicago.
========

Guys never change. That’s the message in this billboard advertising campaign for Jim Beambourbon from Chicago, which won a bronze at the 2010 Clio Awards. Guys never ask for directions. Take Christopher Columbus for example. Guys never change. And neither does Jim Beam. See our earlier story on the TV advertising campaign.
Jim Beam Guys Never Change


Jim Beam Guys Never Change
Jim Beam Guys Never Change
Jim Beam Guys Never Change
Jim Beam Guys Never Change

28.5.10

Kaiak| scented banners


Scented-banners

Everyone loves a cool ad execution, but some are clearly advertising for advertising people. This is particularly true during award-show season. The video below, getting some passalong among the adverpeople of Twitter, shows a Brazilian campaign by ID/TBWA for a fragrance brand Kaiak. Kaiak came up with a reformulated scent for its cologne, but it's only sold door to door. (I had no idea that door-to-door sales were still popular in Brazil.) How to sell it online? The Brazilian shop outfitted computers at 15 Internet cafés with machines that produce scented samples when users click on a banner on the café homepage offering a sniff. Cue the hidden-camera footage showing the shock and delight of the samplers. Kaiak says it got a 17 percent click-through rate and distributed 10,000 strips in a weekend. Color me skeptical, but that's a long walk for a small beer. Oh well, you can probably expect it to take home a bunch of Lions next month in Cannes. 




Challenge“Kaiak” is the best-selling men’s fragrance in Brazil. Working-class men are its target market. It is sold door-to-door exclusively. The client wanted to make an online campaign to announce that the product had changed — but not much more than that. We couldn’t show the new fragrance on the internet … Unless we could find a way to put the scent on the banner! And that is what we did!
SolutionFirst we made an agreement with more than 15 Internet cafés, which are used mostly by young working men who do not have computers in their homes. Then we created a plug-in that inserted the banner on the Internet cafés’ internet start page. The banner read “The best selling men’s fragrance in the country just changed. Want to try it? Click this banner. It’s scented.” After the click the banner went out of the computer screen at the same time a custom hardware developed by us, ejected a paper version of the banner with the scent sample.
Results
The scented banner had a click-through rate of 17.2% — That is 43 times higher than the global average. 10,000 scented banners were distributed in just one weekend.

Advertising Agency: ID\TBWA, São Paulo, Brazil
Concept: Domenico Massareto
Creative Director: Domenico Massareto
Planner: Igor Puga
Production: Natalia
Gouvea
On Air: May 2010

Why Milk?


Got-milk-hasselbecks

"Got milk?" ads have gotten increasingly family-oriented lately, as evidenced by the Why Milk Web site, which shows off how good milk is for growing children and their parents. There's even a celebrity section, to whichTim and Elizabeth Hasselbeck are a recent addition
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PhoneBook

The amazing children's book peripheral by Mobile Art Lab that turns an iPhone into an interactive reading device is now selling on Japan's Amazon and a couple of other stores (Rakuten7netshopping) for about $30 in yen equivalent. .
pairmovie
AdFest 2009
AdFest 2009
AdFest 2009
AdFest 2009







25.5.10

Facebook users in MENA outnumber newspaper copy circulation







A new report from Spot On Public Relations has confirmed that there are more subscribers to social media service Facebook in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) than there are copies of newspapers circulated in the region. The report, ‘Middle East and Africa Facebook Demographics’, shows Facebook has over 15 million users in the region, while the total regional Arabic, English and French newspaper circulation stands at just under 14 million copies.
“Facebook and other social media platforms are now beginning to define how people discover and share information, shape opinion and interact. Facebook doesn’t write the news, but the new figures show that Facebook’s reach now rivals that of the news press,” said Carrington Malin, managing director of Spot On Public Relations. “The growth in Arabic language users has been very strong indeed: some 3.5 million Arabic language users began using Facebook during the past year, since the introduction of Arabic support and we can expect millions more Arabic language users to join the platform.”
Five country markets in MENA now account for some 70% of Facebook users; Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with a gender bias towards male users that flies in the face of international figures – only 37% of Facebook users in the Middle East are female compared with 56% in the USA and 52% in the UK. Despite the strong growth in the number of Arabic language users, the report also shows that some 50% of MENA Facebook users select English as their primary language, with 25% selecting French and just 23% Arabic.
Egypt’s 3.5 million Facebook subscribers help to make North Africa the largest Facebook community in MENA accounting for 7.7 million out of a total of 15 million MENA users. 98% of MENA’s French language users are from North Africa. The GCC states today account for some 5 million Facebook users.
The two key markets of the Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been quick to embrace Facebook – some 33% of the UAE’s population uses Facebook and it also now stands as the country’s second most visited website after google.ae (according to websites ranked by Alexa.com). Interestingly, some 68% of Facebook users in the Emirates are over 25 years old, flying in the face of perceptions that social media is a ‘generation Y’ phenomenon. However, much of Facebook’s growth across the rest of the region has been driven by the under twenty-fives. Over 48% of Facebook subscribers in Saudi Arabia are under 25 years old, with an equal split between English and Arabic users. However, about three times the number of Arabic users have joined Facebook in Saudi over the past year, compared with the number of English language users. 67% of Saudis on Facebook are male.
“For users, Facebook is becoming a richer and larger component of their daily lives, but for advertisers and communications professionals it’s starting to look like an essential part of the MENA marketing mix. In this region, if you’re going to go where your customers are going, then the answer’s clearly online,” said Alexander McNabb, director, Spot On PR. “However, the key challenge here is the nature of interactions over platforms like Facebook and other social media tools are totally different to traditional media – and it’s important to get these interactions right.”

Facebook has become a force to be reckoned with in the Middle East and North Africa and the platform can now claim 15 million users as of May 2010. Whilst Facebook saw strong early growth in 2008/2009 from English and French speaking users across the region, Facebook’s decision to add an Arabic interface in March 2009 has opened up access to a whole new demographic of Internet users and added 3.5 million Arabic users over the past year. Egypt and Saudi Arabia’s Facebook communities have seen the strongest growth among Arabic users during the past year with each adding 1.1 million Arabic language interface users. We soon expect the number of Arabic language Facebook users in Saudi to surpass the number of English users.
However, with the strong expectation that the weight of numbers will move from English language users to Arabic language users in a number of key MENA Facebook markets, today’s reality is that just 23% of users across the region use Facebook’s Arabic interface. So, those seeking to make the most of the Facebook platform are advised to keep up-to-date with its changing demographics.
Here are some of the key Facebook statistics covered in this report:
— There are now 15 million Facebook users in the Middle East & North Africa (this figure excludes Iran, Israel, Pakistan and Turkey).
Top MENA Facebook Communities
— MENA’s top five Facebook country markets, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, account for 70% of all users in the region.
— 50% of MENA Facebook users have selected their primary language for using Facebook as English, with 25% preferring French and just 23% Arabic.
— Only 37% of Facebook users in MENA are female (compared with 56% in the USA and 52% in the UK). Only Bahrain and Lebanon Facebook communities approach gender equality with female users accounting for about 44% of total users.
— The GCC has five million Facebook users, which Saudi Arabia and the UAE representing 45% and 31% of that total respectively.
— North Africa has 7.7 million Facebook users, with Egypt accounting for 3.4 million users (or 44% of all North Africa users). Egypt has the largest Facebook community in MENA.
— Francophone countries Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia together account for 3.7 million French speaking Facebook users, equivalent to nearly 25% of all MENA users.
MENA Facebook Users Under The Age of 25 (By Country)
— Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen all have Facebook communities with more than 50% of users below the age of 25 years old.
— The UAE has the oldest Facebook community in MENA with 41% of users being over 30 years old, 28% being 25-29 years old and 31% being under 25 years old.
You can find Spot On PR on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/spotonpr

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