Image: joelaz

For a nice round up of the best stuff from last month here’s the top ten links posted via the trendplanner Twitter profile.

All made possible thanks to the stats I get from Hootsuite.

1. Unconventional use of Google analytics to achieve: Converse Domination (Clever) – http://ow.ly/1LUnu

2. The digital poster adverts that can see who you are (and offend you when they get it wrong!) – http://ow.ly/1Ms52

3. The world in a state of panic… FarmVille to leave Facebook? http://ow.ly/1JvJJ

4. Teens and Their Mobile Phones: An infographic – http://ow.ly/1HCqL

5. McDonald’s make another playground, but this time for adults! – http://ow.ly/1Pxfp

6. I like Twitter, I like high tops, but this might be a step too far… http://ow.ly/1Sa6I

7. The Facebook location service we all knew about is now official – http://ow.ly/1IX8y

8. Enjoying the top ten most complained about ads – http://ow.ly/1Q0FZ

9. Nice way of using Google adwords, to get a job! – http://ow.ly/1KHfR

10. Would you let Dr Pepper mess with your status updates?! – http://ow.ly/1P4vB

Gone are the days that billboard adverts offered a one way channel of communication with an audience. Digital technology means billboards can accommodate user interaction.

A great example comes from McDonalds in which they combined the latest technology with the facts that most people have a phone with a camera on them at all times, and that people tend to engage when they can be rewarded with something for free. The digital billboard gave the audience the chance to win McDonalds products. All they had to do was take a photo when the right item flashed across the screen, then present the image at the McDonalds down the road to receive their award.

As well as providing the customer with an engaging fun experience, McDonalds can gain a real measure of advertising impact via the measure of photo voucher claims.

Source: Every-ware.fr

A little late this month (my excuse is starting a new job!) but here’s the top ten tweets I sent out in March (based on link click rate). As always Hootsuite made this possible, so big thanks to them!

1. Stats that suggest Facebook and Twitter are Making a Major Impact on Purchase Decisions: http://ow.ly/1n7s6

2. Watch: The Last Advertising Agency On Earth… http://ow.ly/1pi03

3. The Social Media Cheat Sheet – http://ow.ly/1fu3R

4. Great idea: Marmite ads to stage parallel election – http://ow.ly/1s5Qk

5. Clever girl: Lady Gaga’s Social Media Genius – http://ow.ly/1fitC

6. Specsavers parodies Lynx bikini commercial – Good stuff. http://ow.ly/1kZ68

7. Brilliant – Mad Men Barbie! Is it wrong that I want one?? – http://ow.ly/1gBWb

8. Google facts and figures: Infographic – http://ow.ly/1cfAz

9. Trendplanner Twitter Top 10: February 2010 – http://ow.ly/1cGeY

10. Save money on your campaign: Use money (if it’s not illegal!) – http://ow.ly/1o3AR

Image: raster

Here’s a great idea from Vodafone using money as a medium.

By placing their message on bank notes they were able to reach their target audience by simply spending these notes in the places their audience visit. Then of course they just had to sit back and let the shop assistants, taxi drivers, and alike spread the message as they gave customers their change.

It’s not the first time I’ve heard of money being used as a medium. Perhaps an even more creative example comes from a sexual health campaign in the UK, in which 10p coins were placed on the floor of colleges across the country. Laying on the floor the coins appeared as normal but when students picked up the coins they were exposed to a message. On the other side of the coin a sticker read ‘some things you can’t help picking up. HIV or a STI shouldn’t be one of them’. A great example of how creative thinking can help you really engage with an audience that might not necessarily want to listen.

Both great campaigns with a nice sense of irony that money saved money.

That said, isn’t defacing money illegal??

Sources: thehiddenpersuader & Chris Arnold: Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer

Here’s a well put together video that aims to help people comprehend just how powerful Google is, and how incomprehensibly powerful they may become.

Is it possible to command such power and retain the principle “don’t be evil”? Or on the other hand is it possible to command such power and have people believe the brand isn’t evil whether their intentions are good or not?

With more and more reports and videos such as this Google is going to have to do more and more to demonstrate that Google really does have our best interests at heart. Google must remain transparent, continue to let the user retain a sense of control, and of course some brilliant emotive advertising can do wonders for a brand…

Once again here’s a list of the last month’s top tweets based on link click rate. As always the stats come courtesy of 3rd party Twitter app Hootsuite.

1. The Puma Phone. It actually looks pretty good, it even uses solar power – http://ow.ly/18u7D

2. Chatroulette Explained: 71% Male, 15% Female, 14% Pervert – http://ow.ly/1b7Xn

3. Your tweetage, illustrated – http://ow.ly/14cXD

4. VW Social Media Campaign wants to get everyone punching again – http://ow.ly/12Gxv

5. Trendplanner: Back in the UK and searching for a new Planning role in London – http://ow.ly/1aifW #jobs

6. Some interesting thoughts on What Advertising Agencies Will Look Like in 2015? – http://ow.ly/1b7Y4

7. How To Use Google Buzz. Worth a bookmark even if you’re like me not fully embracing the service yet – http://ow.ly/17XPb

8. Loving doings.co.uk – daily tasks and activities that keep the day fresh and zingy – http://ow.ly/12CBQ

9. 10 amazing Ads on buildings – http://ow.ly/TfYD

10. Man City: Breaking the Big Four with the latest marketing techniques – http://ow.ly/17I71

Image: Scobleizer

As it might be quite apparent from the subject matter of my posts changing from Chinese taxi touchscreen advertising to English dog walking woodland advertising that I have now returned from my travels to the East.

I’m now in the London area and available for freelance but preferably a permanent Planning role within London.

Please take a look at my website mattjksaunders.com to find out more and contact me at matt@trendplanner.com to request a detailed CV and to find out what I might be able to do for your agency.

Image: GeneM1

There aren’t many places left in this world where you won’t be subjected to advertising. However, you would assume that while walking the dog in the middle of the woods, miles from any LCD screen, or even mobile signal, you might have found one of the few remaining places still devoid of advertising.

So it was to my surprise when I spotted this ad in that very context. Here’s a great piece of targeted advertising that matches anything Google’s targeting algorithm can come up with, in a place where Google can’t reach.

It just shows that as much as the latest modern targeting approaches can provide us, there is still a place for the real local knowledge these approaches can’t give us , such as exactly where people go to walk their dog.

That said, as demonstrated by pleaserobme.com people are sharing more and more about their location and perhaps when the mobile networks sort out their coverage we’ll be able to check geo tagged status updates of those people ‘out walking the dog‘ (perhaps).

In English Football there are 4 dominant teams, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal, collectively they’re known as ‘The Big 4′. Their dominance on the pitch is reflected in their level of support both in the UK and across the globe. The Premier League is a global phenomenon, millions of people across the world are football obsessed and loyal fans of their chosen Premier League team. But this support is nearly always given to a member of the big four, these fans might be able to tell you every player in the Man United squad, but will struggle to name more than a handful of players that reside outside ‘The Big Four’.

For years now clubs have being trying to break into the top 4, some have come close, but none have pushed anyone out of even made the big four into a big five. One of the most recent clubs to fancy their chances is Manchester City, and thanks to some rather well off new owners from Abu Dhabi they might just stand a chance. Man City are determined to become a major force in English and World football, and are doing everything they can to cement their place at the top. As well as splashing the cash on world class players, they’re using other methods off the pitch to ensure the club is perceived and supported like one of ‘The Big Four’.

While the players get on with their end of the bargain (with limited success so far), advertising and marketing agencies are working at convincing the world they are the real deal, and in turn gaining respect and support. Of course it is nothing new to see the influence of marketing on football, this is a sport where players can be almost primarily signed simply for their marketing potential. For better or for worse football became a business long ago, however, it is interesting to see how Man City are using new techniques in order to achieve their goals.

One of the most memorable campaigns was run at the start of the season after Man Utd player Carlos Tevez did the unthinkable and made the move across the city to fierce rivals Man City. Playing on the fact that United are based in Greater Manchester and not the City of Manchester, a poster was put up in the City of Tevez with the words ‘Welcome to Manchester’. In a similar vein City ran ads featuring their new signing Emmanuel Adebayor formerly of Arsenal in the days before the two clubs met. Both campaigns are clear and direct attacks on the competitors, in both a sporting and marketing sense. Although the attack might have had a limited effect in a sporting context (Utd did beat city in their next encounter), it gave football fans around the world a clear message of City’s intent and suggested they were directly taking power off the so called ‘Big 4′.

Man City are also making use of the digital channel to boost their support and reputation across the world. Thanks to top digital agency Poke they have one of the best club websites online. The professional and functional site helps represent the level of quality that City strive for, while various features and social media content allow the club to interact with fans new and old. Man City have seen the importance of their website while other have yet to understand the role it can play. Man City understand that the site is a window into the club for many fans, and they have ensure they provide their fans with an experience that is useful, enjoyable, and appears to be built around the fans needs opposed to the clubs. Although other clubs do have great sites, far too many of them offer very little content of real use, or appear to be built around the needs of anyone but the fans with an abundance of advertising and a limited supply of content that fans actually want.

Furthermore, Man City are creating some great video content to build support before major games. We are now used to the likes of Nike and Adidas creating content using players but it’s not often we see clubs creating such content. Thanks to the Internet this content can easy circulate the globe, and can build support by rousing the people of Manchester to get to the game, and also making people thousands of miles away to consider tuning into the Man City game opposed to the usual choice involving one of the big four. One of the latest pieces involves Craig Bellamy, and as with Tevez and Adebayor it will be pushed in the run up to the Man City game involving Bellamy’s former Big four club, who in this case is Liverpool. Incidentally the remaining big four club in need of build up material is Chelsea, Shaun Wright-Phillips is a possibility for the star, but I think people would love to see something from Wayne Bridge (if this means nothing to you read here).

We are still yet to see Man City perform like a top four team consistently on the pitch, but it appears that if they manage to break into those top four places they’ll have the backing to ensure that they can convert success on the pitch to success off it. What’s more it will be interesting to see how the big four react in the marketing area if Man City start stealing fans as well as points.

A little bit late, but nevertheless here’s the twitter links shared last month that got the most clicks. As usual it’s thanks to Hootsuite that I’ve been able to put this list together.

1. 10 amazing Ads on buildings – http://ow.ly/TfYD

2. Great collection of clever and creative IKEA advertising – http://ow.ly/Wljt

3. Five markets to watch in 2010 – http://ow.ly/TfQM

4. The most irritating ads of 2009 – http://ow.ly/WliZ

5. Now you can use your iPhone as a TV Remote – http://ow.ly/SB5v

6. Do you have the perfect profile pic?? The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures (more info than you’ll ever need!) -http://ow.ly/ZnJt

7. Diesel wants you to Be Stupid – http://ow.ly/XAby

8. Nice example of advertising as a welcome distraction: Shanghai Taxi Touchscreens – http://ow.ly/11MXa

9. Another list of technology predictions for 2010 – http://ow.ly/Yv7y

10. Top Tools For Tracking Topics on the Web – http://ow.ly/ZnNk

Here’s a nice bit of advertising technology that can be found in the back of taxis throughout Shanghai, China.

More than just a screen pushing ads, the interactive touch-screen device (or ipad as they’ll all be referred to as soon enough) gives the user something to do as they make their way across the city.

Reaching out to the audience in contexts where they have nothing better to do allows advertising to be seen as a welcome distraction opposed to an unwelcome interruption. New technology is allowing us to provide better experiences in such contexts. From TV screens above urinals to gaming at bus stops waiting has never been so much fun.

So here’s the ten most popular twitter posts I sent out last month.

1. Social media in China – It’s a whole new world – http://ow.ly/CJI8

2. The Ultimate List of Niche Social Networks – http://ow.ly/tjB0

3. Good tool. YouTube – Insights for audience. http://ow.ly/CJPM

4. Sony Japan turns ads to jeans – http://ow.ly/BQLg

5. Six Social Media Trends For 2010 – http://ow.ly/z60C

6. Social Media Accounts for 18% of Information Search Market – http://ow.ly/DDh2

7. It’s a map… of the future. Crazy but good. http://ow.ly/z5Zn

8. Good insight – 10 Principals for Engaging Teens/20 somethings. http://ow.ly/pq90

9. Scary stuff! Your Company May Own Your Tweets, Pokes, and YouTube Videos – http://ow.ly/zJhG

10. The Next Mobile Leap Forward: Fold-out Screens and Apps That Anticipate Our Needs – http://ow.ly/DDii

Thanks to the Internet it’s now possible to discover trends, technology, and advertising from around the world. However, there really is no substitute for first hand experience, so from next week I’ll be leaving the UK for a few months.

I could go pretty much anywhere in the world and be sure to learn something new, but with our emerging digital world in mind there are a few stand out locations.

It’s hard to talk about the latest technology without mentioning my first destination, and it’s certainly a place that is frequently mentioned on Trendplanner. From next week Trendplanner will be coming to you from Osaka, Japan, and in the following weeks from other various locations across the country.

Following Japan, I’ll be heading the the country with the largest Internet population in the world, that of course being China. Then time dependent I’m hoping to visit various places including Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Hopefully I’ll be able to share my experiences and new insight via Trendplanner while I’m away and in person when I return.

If anyone has any advice on where I should be heading (In Japan, China, and beyond), or would like to meet up in any of these locations to talk digital and advertising just send me an email or just comment on this post.

Image: JVK

Here’s my August Twitter round-up.

Using the power of Hootsuite here are the most clicked links from the Trendplanner Twitter account for August. For other useful Twitter links on similar themes, check out Qapture which collects links shared by various interesting people on Twitter.

1. Nike: “We don’t do advertising any more. We just do cool stuff” http://ow.ly/kGup

2. The Portable Social Graph – the next big thing in social marketing? http://ow.ly/j1he

3. What playing Poker can teach us about using Social Media – http://ow.ly/krqz

4. 41 Shockvertising Campaigns – From Deplorable PSP Posters to Powerful PETA Ads http://ow.ly/lmIo

5. First iPhone Augmented Reality App Gets Past Apple and Appears in the App Store – http://ow.ly/lmLS

6. Ebay wicked sick BMX – Does creativity work? http://ow.ly/jxaX

7. “Don’t make digital strategy a speciality, make it cost-of-entry to all planners”(via @benshaw) http://ow.ly/lxfj

8. Everything You Never Knew About Facebook – http://ow.ly/j2q1

9. Steve Jobs on why Apple doesn’t do market research – http://ow.ly/iyXN

10. 10 ways musicians are embracing digital – Not everyone is fighting change. http://ow.ly/loT9
Image: Wiselywoven

Obviously Lego is a toy of many peoples’ past, but this needn’t be a negative thing. Lego has used it’s history to create a whole new audience for it’s product – people who aren’t kids any more. Lego is retro, retro is cool, so now you’ll find the Lego brand in some rather unexpected places. So people are loving Lego again, but perhaps they feel they’re a bit too old to be making things out of blocks? No problem, Lego has teamed up with fashion label Paul Frank to bring you Lego products that you can wear. You can also get your hands on a section of Lego accessories such as cameras and mp3 players, not all of these are official Lego products, but all go towards keeping that Lego brand in fashion.

It’s all very well appealing to new audiences, but this is no good if you end up neglecting your original and still primary audience. Lego are still providing products aimed at children, and key to this is the work they do around these products. Toys such as Lego face serious competition from digital content such as computer games and various online activities. Many brands would try and fight this digital technology, fortunately for Lego they are not one of these brands. Instead of working against digital technology, they have worked with it. Lego can’t stop kids playing computer games, so Lego have made their own, Lego can’t stop kids spending their time online on social networks, and online games, so once again they have made their own online content, and put themselves in the places people already are. More brand collaboration has enabled Lego to turn competitors into partners with the likes of SpongeBob Squarepants and Harry Potter Lego, and take the brand into new markets such as their recent tie in with Kickers school shoes.

Lego have not just been getting involved with the technology their audience are currently using, but they are heavily involved in developing the technology they will be using in the future. Augmented reality appears to be starting to take off, and Lego are one of the brands at the forefront of developing the technology and essentially directing the path it takes into the lives of their audience. Lego has used the technology to complement and assist the current product. Lego has installed AR terminals into their stores (above) in which customers can hold up a box full of Lego pieces to get a 3D image of what the product will look like when it’s finished. Then when the customer gets home they can even use AR to help them build the product.

Lego haven’t been doing the hard work by themselves, some of the best content has been done by Lego fans (see above) and can be found all over YouTube, and other Social Media sites. But then that’s what happens when you’ve built a brand people are happy to associate themselves with and most importantly when you’ve got a great product that lets your audience be creative.

Key to Lego’s success is synergy, isolate anyone element of the Lego offering and its very unlikely to perform at the same level, but together each element works along side one another which benefits the individual elemetent and the brand as a whole. Lego have managed to expand and evolve their product offering while staying true to their brand, be it amazing theme park rides or augmented reality experiences you can always trace it back to those original plastic blocks.

One reason for the current popularity could be due to the fact the technology required is now so readily available, you can pick up a digital camera for next to nothing these days, and the software required is affordable or even free, and then when you done the hard bit you simply upload it to youtube (or perhaps vimeo) for the world to see.

Of course it not all about affordability, it might be that stop-motion videos let you do the impossible such as make a plasticine man walk about or watch a tree grow in 30 seconds, but then this is all pretty tame compared to the special effects coming out of Hollywood these days. Perhaps the key to the popularity of stop-motion video is the appreciation that people have for the effort that goes into making them, often each individual frame will have been painstakingly prepared and captured.

There are some truly great stop-motion videos out there, here are 6 of them.

Niagara Falls in Motion

Deadline post-it stop motion

MUTO – a wall painted by BLU

Light – Paint piano player

PSP Advert

Stop motion – with wolf and pig

1. Agency site – made in YouTube – BooneOakley.com – Clever. http://ow.ly/altG

2. Top 10 Trendplanner tweets – May 2009. http://ow.ly/al1z

3. Google: Expect 18 Android Phones by Year’s End – Am sure some will be great but problem is they wont be called ‘iphone’! http://ow.ly/akF6

4. Consumer Psychologist: How Cool Are You? The 5 factor cool test… http://ow.ly/akEw

5. The Living Book: The book written entirely in QR codes. #qr #mobile #marketing #advertising http://ow.ly/cM0m

6. 5 Digital Music Trends. Things are changing whether the record companies like it or not! http://ow.ly/akEf

7. Red Bull gives you wings – Paper wings that is. Red bull paper wings weltfinale. http://ow.ly/an4w

8. 10 trendspotting tips in 10 minutes. nice slideshow from @jon_howard http://ow.ly/aCuI

9. Do you really want your TV ads to make your audience mad? http://ow.ly/e7xr

10. Top 10 Augmented Reality Adveritising Campaigns so far. #ar #tech http://ow.ly/dsHv

Here’s the latest TV ad for TV advertising, which I ironically saw on youtube.

Don’t get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed the ad, it brings back memories of some great ad campaigns of the past and the context and comic timing does raise a smile. This ad would have been perfect before the emergence of digital media channels, but then of course back then there would have been no need for such a campaign.

The message of the ad is that TV can get through to your audience like no other medium, you can use it to push your message and it will get through. When the psychiatrist delves into the patients ‘deep subconscious’ he discovers nothing but classic TV ads. The context of this ad seems to represent the old way of approaching marketing, as a one way communication channel, where brands simply push their messages at their audience. However in our new digital world things are changing and as so is the  model, the brand audience now have the option to communicate with the brand, and with other member of the actual and potential brand audience.

The audience will no longer be satisfied with one way communication aimed at them (they might not want to be a a gibbering mess on a psychiatrist’s couch). Furthermore, brands should not be satisfied with this approach. No longer are they limited to aim at simply trying to push their messages into the audience subconscious, they can now truly engage with their audience, and can aim at building a relationship with can be of benefit to both brand and consumer. I’m not saying TV advertising doesn’t have a part to play, just that its approach will have to change, and integrated properly with other mediums it can play a key part in many campaigns.

The evolution of communication channels means that the brand audience can easily talk to brands, and to fellow audience members, and with a bit of luck they won’t have to talk to psychiatrists.

Orange is currently celebrating 5 years of Orange Wednesdays, and celebrate they should, as the campaign has been a success in so many ways. For those that don’t know, Orange Wednesdays is a service which allows UK Orange customers to get 2 for 1 cinema tickets.

Orange claims that the offer has been used over 14 million times, and it has made Wednesday go from being the least popular day outside the weekend to visit the cinema to the most popular. The campaign has clearly boosted the UK cinema industry, and is a great example of how brands can really do things that can benefit others.

So has Orange directly increased sales from the promotion i.e. have the benefits of the campaign been the primary reason why people have become or remained Orange customers. You would need to carry out some serious market research to obtain this data, and I would argue that would not be time well spent. I am sure there are people who have been directly influenced by the campaign in such a manner, but the real value comes more indirectly in the strengthening of the brand.

The campaign has worked particularly hard at associating the brand with the film industry (importantly backed up by other activity and award sponsorship). Orange can enjoy having the positive connotations of ‘film’ attached to their brand, they can now be associated with traits of the film industry such as originality, entertainment, and quality. This is not an easy association to make, as there is no obvious link with mobile and film to build upon. However, Orange saw how their brand could be involved and improve the cinema experience for its audience. Orange became a major part of the cinema experience, you went to the cinema on Orange Wednesday, you text from your Orange phone in the day to get your voucher code, then you made sure you brought your Orange phone to the cinema to claim your free ticket. Orange did have a potential barrier to brand association in that the mobile phone or a major brand was actually something that could ruin the film experience, people using mobiles in the cinema ruins the experience for those around them, and even worse a mobile brand such as Orange could try and push it’s way into film by encouraging promotion of it’s services within major films. However, Orange had this covered with their long running series of ads (see above) in which Orange mocked the idea of brands trying to get their way into films and also served as a reminder for people to turn off their phones before the film.

The key the success of the campaign was that Orange actually provided something useful for their customers and the industry it was trying to associate themselves with. Of course the usefulness of such a campaign rests on the customers ability to use the service. Success was found in a simple and technologically sound 2 for 1 concept and simple text and show system, if this process had not been so simple none of the fore mentioned success would have occurred. Orange have also had similar success in other campaigns, such as when they sponsored UK music festival Glastonbury they provided festival goers (not just Orange customers) with a virtual map that they could download to their phone. Another useful service that could be simply downloaded to the majority of mobile phones.

In the current recession the cinema is as popular as ever, so there is no reason why the camapign can’t live on for a while yet. Of course as our digital world changes the film industry, with people getting their content from the Interent, Orange will have to adpat their strategy. Maybe we’ll see buy one get one free film download or Orange could once again serve both the film industry and audience by sponsoring content so the industry gets paid and the user gets free content (see Could brands take on the pirate bay).

News Source: Mobile Marketing Magazine

These days it goes without saying that your TV ad should live online. But why simply post the ad online, ignoring the possibilities of the digital channel?

There has been some great examples recently of branded video content that engage the audience and allow audience interaction, but none of these were necessarily directly building on the TV ad campaign. Honda have produced a great example of using digital to help bring the TV ad to life and give the audience a little bit extra.

The video above is the original ad that is currently running on TV, click on the link below to see how the viewing experience is expanded (literally) for the online viewer.

http://vimeo.com/4281939

This is a great little video from Germany that provides a little bit of marketing history and nicely demonstrates how our new digital culture is changing everything. For some people the content in this video is hardly anything new, but it’s presented in such a great way that it can serve as a little reminder to some, and as an education for others.

Source: Michael Reissinger

The truth can be funny.

Source: clevurdesign

See if these ads make you want to rush out and by the product or stay in and sleep with the lights on!

You’ll need the sound to really bring on the nightmares.

Again, add sound to get the full messed up experience, and note this is a real product available on amazon!

The people that let these ads lose on the public are either seriously inept or seriously wrong in the head!

A unique Billboard has sprung up in Toronto promoting Cadbury’s Creme Egg. The Billboard reacts to the weather with snow fall causing an enormous creme egg to edge closer to an equally enormous fan, resulting in a serious ‘goo’ explosion.

As to exactly how this goo explosion will occur you’ll have to wait and see, and thanks to the magic of the Internet you don’t even have to go to Toronto to find out. The Canadian Creme Egg site has a live webcam if you want to follow the egg’s rise to destruction.

It’s a good idea, much like the touch screen bus shelter ads, where people got to splat cream eggs as they waited for the bus.

But maybe they could have combined these two ideas to have created an even more interactive experience. Why not have the game at various bus stops near the billboard, with top scores contributing to the egg’s rise to the fan, and perhaps even an online version of the game for those who can’t make the trip to Toronto.

Source: Trendhunter

During this year’s  Carling Cup Final (English Football) Carling are giving football fans the chance to use their electronic advertising boards to display messages of  support for their team.

Fans need to send in their banner suggestions via the carling website, and as long as it’s not offensive it might be displayed during the game.

Not a bad idea to drive fans to the site and get them involved with the event and the brand. However, surely it would be a much better idea to allow fans to text or email relevant messages of support during the game. You could still drive fans to the site by requiring them to register before the game. As well as being more engaging and impressive it should avoid the inevitable message of optimistic support for the team that is losing 4-0 in the last minute of the game!

image: eurosport

Remember when ITV decided to run an ad break at the most important part of a football match, consequently missing the only goal of the game?

Well one of the brands shown in the ad break has created a clever little viral for anyone who missed the goal. Tic Tac have re-created the goal with their orange and green Tic Tacs.

It’s clearly very budget, and been rushed together. But these shortcomings are usually forgivable in quick response virals, problem is this wasn’t really quick response, with the clip coming out a week after the event. Still, it’s a nice idea, just that it could have been a lot more effective if they’d sent those Tic Tacs down to the park a little earlier.

Above is a clip of last nights FA Cup reply between Everton and Liverpool. The game is at 0-0 and there are minutes remaining, the last thing you want is an ad break (especially if one team score!)…

ITV had apologised and claimed it was an accident. However, this is not the first time they have upset sports fans with their poorly timed ad breaks, a few years back they did the equivalent in Formula 1 by running an ad break (this time intentionally) during the last few laps when two drivers were side by side going for the victory.

So would you want your ad viewed during this unexpected ad? You should get the undivided attention of the audience, but it might this attention might come with a solid dose of rage. Surely this is not something you want your brand to be associated with?

Perhaps not; to Everton fans am sure the joy of beating their biggest rivals in the last minute quickly overshadowed the disappointment of actually seeing the goal live, and Liverpool fans were probably too busy cursing the manner of the goal.

But the main reason you would want your ad to be placed in this untimely ad break is demonstrated in this very post, thanks to youtube people all over the country will be watching these ads over and over today, not in a rage but having a good laugh at the failings of ITV.

Psychology has always played a part in marketing and advertising, after all you require an understanding of the human/consumer mind in marketing and psychology is the study of exactly that. Marketing Agency Neurosence aim to truly combine the two.

An ever growing and major field in Psychology is Neuroscience, which in this day an age often involves using brain scanning techniques to understand human behaviour. Neurosence make use of these techniques in the aim of providing greater insight into the consumer mind.

Neurosense claim that their techniques enable them to obtain real feedback on the consumer mind, that they can tap into the unconscious processes behind human decisions and behaviour. This is controversial for many reasons:

• There is still great debate in the psychological community to what we can information we can really obtain from brain imaging. Just because we can what part of the brain is activated by certain behaviour does not necessarily mean we actually understand this behaviour.

• On the other hand  if the technology does reach a certain level, there are potential moral issues involved, total understanding could result in total influence.

I definitely believe that psychology is a vital part of marketing and advertising, neuroscience included, there will be times the findings can be transferred but there will also be times when they cannot. Furthermore, I don’t think we will ever gain a total understanding of human behaviour, we will of gain a much better insight, but I these insights alone are not suffient, they needed to be backed up by creative ideas that you won’t find in a brain scan.

So E4 teen drama ‘Skins’ is back. For those that don’t know Skins is a UK drama that follows the lives of a group of teens living in Bristol. Now in it’s third season, it’s back with a new group of characters.

Like the series that proceeded it the third season is a triumph in nearly every aspect. Unfortunately that missing aspect is the programme itself!

The problem (or genius is you like) with skins is that they have turned the art of programme making on its head. Conventionally the process (and list of importance) is; write the script, find a cast, create the programme, create the advert, market the programme. What they seem to have done with skins is have a truly brilliant marketing campaign, but then seemly forget to actually create a good programme.

The real problem is that this works! People watch the programme, people talk about it, they might think its awful but they still watch it and they talk about it even more.

The marketing campaign is truly impressive. The ads are edgy and exciting and leave you wanting more, on the other hand the programme lacks edge and drags along. As with any good campaign there’s a lot more than TV ads, you’ve got competitions, sponsored gigs, and some great digital content spanning mini sites, virals , and social networking profiles. Of course this all runs along way before the first programme is aired gaining the series a set of hardcore fans that won’t miss an episode before they’ve even seen it!

All this fits nicely with Psychologist Cialdini’s principles of influence, specifically that of consistency. People desire to appear consistent in their actions and will often go to great lengths to remain so. If before viewing someone decides they like the programme, tells people they do verbally or perhaps by signing up online, they will be inclined to try and appear to retain this view whatever the content of the programme.

If you’ve not seen it, just watch this great video above, don’t ruin it by watching the show.