We might assume this spells the end for many traditional advertising channels such as billboards and TV, not if necessarily.

They just need to evolve.

Below is nice example of a billboard which is completely dependent on audience interaction. This digital billboard was recently installed at Brussels airport by the energy company Electrabel, and as people pass by it provides a thermal image of the heat energy given off by each person. A great idea based on what their brand is all about, and as the video demonstrates it clearly engages the audience.

Source: Blogilvy

Another great example of audience interaction in what is traditionally seen as a one way communication context will be provided by O2 in cinemas across the UK in the coming months. Prior to watching the latest ice age film, cinema goers will be able to participate in an interactive 3D game where their hand movements will determine the path of the spaceship O2 through an on coming 3D asteroid storm.

With the latest technology the audience can interact in communication channels that might never have seemed possible. The key of course is giving them the reason to do so. In the examples above the audience is drawn in by the new technology, but when this technology becomes established brands won’t be able to rely on the wow factor of the technology to engage the audience. This of course is true of all marketing using the latest technology such as Augmented reality and QR codes, it’s only so long the technology itself can be used to hook in the audience. Brands will either have to take the technology yet another step forward or they could concentrate on making the most out of the evolved channel and provide a genuinely entertaining or useful experience to engage their audience.

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.

The BBC is to a launch a new series aimed at 12-17 year olds called The Cut. But this is not just another Grange Hill or Byker Grove , this series is embracing the new technologies available to the youth of today, as well as their new attitudes towards entertainment.

The show will be aired on TV and online, and in the spirit of social media and the end of one way broadcast communication the audience will be able to influence the show through various online activity. What’s more the thirst for short bursts of entertainment as provided by youtube and MTV will be satisfied by 5 minute clips available online.

Contrary to what a lot of people might be saying research shows the UK youth are still watching TV, but they are also spending a lot of time online, often while they are watching TV. The BBC seem to be one of the few who has started to embrace the possibilities based around the fact people are browsing online while they watch TV, allowing people to rate football players performances while they watch the match, or play games related to the programme while it airs such as the apprentice result predictor. It will be interesting to see how the BBC communicates simultaneously via the two channels during this new series.

BBC – The Cut

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

The first video in this post is an ad for Freesat (UK TV service), the second video is from youtube called ‘Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years’. The second has been viewed over 12 million times and was posted over 2 years before the freesat ad. Notice any similarities??

Clearly the Freesat ad has taken ideas from the youtube video, and this is certainly not the first time this has happened. You’ll find a lot of ads on TV that have taken ideas from youtube content (try the latest aero ad). Furthermore, this practice is not restricted to video, you’ll see it in all communication channels. For example new Skittles social media portal site clearly took ideas from the agency Modernista! who previously used the idea for their agency website.

On the surface of it, it appears we have a new problem. But the truth of the matter is that it’s nothing new, and it’s anything but a problem.

So the freesat ad took an idea from a youtube video, the skittles site took an idea from Modernista! But is anyone actually losing out? Most people don’t post videos to youtube for financial reward, they do it to share their ideas, to gain views, and respect. What better compliment could your video be paid than having the idea used by a major brand? On the other hand what better compliment could a digital agency get than having their idea used by a rival agency for a major brand. I imagine hits to their site shot up as a result of all the skittles site talk.

People have been taking ideas since the the beginning of time, Shakespeare found most of his ideas from other plays, do you think Ford came up with the concept of the wheel? But now thanks to the Internet the real influencers can be found, even if people do not pay direct compliments to their influences someone else will, what’s more the evidence will be time stamped on the Internet for all to see. The point to remember is that the taking of others ideas is nothing new, it’s just become far more visible.

We need to appreciate that all great ideas will be influenced by other ideas, what’s more it’s impossible for any idea not to be influenced by the context within which it’s created. For example, any idea for a web based idea will be largely defined by the context and concept of the Internet. Furthermore, when we appreciate broader factors of context such as the culture, society, and even scientific paradigm (See Hume) in which an idea is created it becomes truly apparent just how unoriginal any idea really is.

So next time you think you’ve seen a blatant rip off, appreciate the compliment this is to the ‘original’ idea, appreciate how the idea has been used, and appreciate that nothing is original anyway.

In 1992 Robert Dunbar proposed that the number of meaningful social connections we can successfully maintain is 148. Since then a lot has changed and many would argue that our new digital tools enable us to maintain more relationships than ever before. While on the other hand many would maintain that ‘Dunbar’s number’ is still valid, and although our facebook and twitter profiles might suggest otherwise  it is in fact impossible nor desirable to manage over 148 social connections

There are various points of view about this issue formed by some excellent minds, but why waste your time with these when you can listen to a UK X-factor reject singing about the issue?!

Eoghan Quigg – 28000 friends

“how does it feel to be alone,with so many friends that you don’t know?does your snow white skin ever see the sunshine?
you and your 28,000 friends
(im talkin bout)youtube,facebook,myspace,im”

Have you ever seen such a painfully awful attempt at being modern, relevant, and appealing to the youth of today?

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!

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.

This is the new Adidas Origianals Ad to be shown on the website and on TV. It’s the first time that Adidas has promoted the Originals brand through TV.

Firstly I must say that I do like the Originals brand, and I do actually like the ad, am sure David Beckham is always going to parties like that without his bodyguards.

However, I’m not sure that a TV ad is the right way to go for the originals brand. This particular sub-brand of Adidas is supposed to be more exclusive and more unobtainable than the standard brand. People embrace the originals brand to be part of something that only a select will understand, they will happily pay twice the price for Adidas and have the majority of people not know that it is any different, but get recognition from a select few in the know.

I don’t think TV exposure will ruin the brand that Adidas has created, but I don’t think it will do it any favours.

Sky recently announced that they hope to have targeted TV ads by 2011. This means that for the people who opt in, that during non prime time TV the ads they receive will be dependent on a collection of information about their household. For example, if you’re a family with young kids and you can expect to see a lot toy ads and consequently hear a lot of ‘I want, I want’.

So although this helps makes ads more relevant and hits more of their target audience, even if this system is implemented it’s still some way of the potential of targeted ads on the Internet.

However, a couple steps down the line and this needn’t be the case. PSFK recently reported on aims to make mobile phones also function as remote controls.  So it wouldn’t be impossible that when you change over the channel to watch that TV show using your mobile phone as a remote, the TV knows it’s you and it knows all about you, so in the ad break you’re going to be watching some ads just for you. It might not be long before we all have personal internet browsers that remember our all our settings, preferences and history and that can be accessed via any internet enabled device including a mobile phone, which of course brings it into line with the potential of targeted internet advertising.

News Source: Brand Republic

Image Source: Flickr

Lets be honest, very little is original these days, espcially in the world of TV ads.

But there’s taking inspiration and building upon various concepts, and then there’s just lazy stealing. You might have heard that ‘Talent imitates, genius steals’ but genius makes it a little less obvious than in the new Oxy (facewash) campaign. We see boy use product at home, then girls can’t help but be drawn to him, the Lynx effect? No, the Oxy effect actually.

Am sure there are examples of much worse, but the format of the ad is so similar that am sure some people will think it’s actually a lynx ad.

Images: Girls involuntrily pressed again a window due to a spray of Lynx above and a dab of Oxy below (I image that would be a little painful)

Chances are your Mum (hopefuly) didn’t look like this and she might have used different methods to put a stop to your constant demands, but this is a great little little ad from Argentina that we can all relate to (yes even if you’re not a mother you were a child once).

My favourite bit is where they cut to the picture of happy Mum and son. Aimed at the modern single mother, keeping the brand up to date, or am I over analysing?!

Source: Adage

There has been a rather sudden rise in the amount of combative or negative advertising recently. The old rule not to mention competitors brand names seems to have gone out the window.

The majority of this content is coming over from the states, it seems all those negative election ads have provided some inspiration if not a little extra confidence in the method. What’s more, the current economic climate might be forcing brands to be a little more ruthless, and potentially focus a little more on the short term rather than the long term.

Dunkin Donuts have created a campaign based around taste tests that showed people
preferred their coffee to Starbucks. Not a million miles from the old
Pepsi Challenge campaign (but a bit more web 2.0).

Microsoft recently hit back at apple’s negative campaign against them:

Apple hit straight back:

Now we’ve got Moemax very indiscreetly knocking Ikea