Inspired by the menagerie of ad-smothered games, someone took it upon himself to go, "By gad - we should make ad games for advertisers!" This dangerous stream of thought yielded the PROMO Marketer's Challenge, a drably-coloured trivia challenge on the ad industry -- complete, of course, with ads.
The purpose of the game is to get talk out about PROMO magazine, which covers promotions and integrated marketing and is prepping for a relaunch. Redesign teasers are interspersed not-so-subtly throughout; in fact, we've played enough times to merit a free subscription CPM-wise. Are you listening, PROMO? Your SPREADS are engraved behind our EYELIDS.
- Here we go again with yet another million dollar homepage thingy. This time, companies can buy one frame, yes, one frame of a video for $39. It might be cheap but no one's gonna see it.
- All animal rights efforts don't have to be as in your face or as off-putting as PETA. Animal Rights Stand takes a very different approach.
- Adobe's got a cool new site promoting its Creative Suite 3. On the site you can use the tools and build an actual website. EVB created.
- Weird. Just weird. Gremlins in Progressive Direct commercials.
- Former FCB CEO Steve Blamer is now CEO of Creston, a UK marketing holding company.
If you look at it honestly, advertising's sole purpose is to sell stuff. Forget all that crap about brand building because it's all the same thing. You build a brand so it connects with people so they are more inclined to buy from said brand. Advertising's purpose is not, despite what many would like to think, about winning rewards or creativity. Clio. Cannes. ADDY. One Show. Create. Webby. ADC. Andys. Irrelevant. You disagree and claim the winning of awards helps agencies win accounts? Fair enough but wrong.
What if we lived in a world where we knew exactly how well received our commercials were the second they aired? Well, if Nielsen and the rest of the industry can get their shit together, we may soon see that world. Commercial ratings have been much discussed over the last few years but scant progress has been made. Some half assed solutions have been put in place and even more half assed solutions have been suggested. Who wants half an ass when they cab have full on booty? Yea, we thought so.
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We know Jack Klues. We like Jack Klues. Jack Klues is a very nice guy. But we're certain Jack Klues has completely forgotten our brief, one year stint on the Starcom team...which is completely irrelevant to the news a recent salary report placed him third highest paid exec (and top paid media exec the world over) at Publicis and deservedly so. Can anyone argue the point Starcom is a media force to be reckoned with in this industry? No. Didn't think so. Say what you will about overpaid ad execs and there are plenty of their pompous asses out there but Jack is not one of them. Jack deserves every penny he earns.
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We suppose the reason we like commercials from other countries so much is because we'd never see them here in the States. Whether it be differing politics, culture, humor or sexual openness, they're always different. Always fun to watch. That's the case with this Dutch commercial for insurance company Centraal Beheer which takes place inside a prison and shows the interplay between a seasoned guard and a rookie.
The thing ends in perfect hilarity but the whole premise is one we'd likely never see in the States simply because, shocker, it would be wrong, dammit, wrong to taunt the "residents" of a prison. The PC police would be all over this one.
Green is hot, with everybody from Lexus to New Belgium promoting environmental initiatives. To keep apace, Ford of Europe launches an interesting campaign to promote vehicles powered by Flexifuel, a fun little term for bio-ethanol.
Sentimentally pinned "For the Next Generation," the effort features images of "ecologically sensitive animals all on the verge of birth," using a motherly touch to remain anatomically correct and imagine the insides of mothers without actually invading animals to create them.
The work is lovely but there's something completely bizarre about using fetuses to sell fuel. Well, stranger pairings have happened. AdCritic.com wryly notes it'll definitely win the hearts of Pro-Lifers.
The campaign kicks off in Sweden.
We dig this new effort by Xerox to get relevant again. Leaping headfirst into Web 2.0, they launch Frugal Color, which encourages "[putting] the fun back into fundamental fiscal responsibility!" It also lends some wise advice -- you don't need to spend money to make money, you just need to look like you do.
To somehow illustrate that, Frugal Color includes a virtual goat, a diversion maker and an acronymator. Weird viral would-be's a la Office Space and The Office are also located at Extreme Offices. The video is so damn funny we watched it three times to get the full effect. (It is one of those nights.)
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Macy's just launched a campaign designed to harness the power of WOM on eight campuses nationwide. The pilot brand is American Rag, and students are the vehicle.
American Rag enthusiasts were chosen as brand ambassadors to promote a contest at their respective schools. As they walk around all ragged-out, they encourage peers to design a print for the brand. The goal is to create foot traffic at Macy's stores located nearby.
If American Rag wants to succeed it would do well to change its name. There's already an American Eagle and an American Apparel, both of which pretty much own the niche Macy's is shooting for.
Plus, something about it makes us think along the lines of Jordache, Mossimo and other hopeful big-brands now confined to big boxes.
But hey, in the end the co-eds will decide.
We were lollygagging on MySpace because apparently we never have anything better to do (this is our second mention this evening) when a funny Citibank ad caught our eye.
To promote its student-targeted credit cards Citi's got this weird campaign with haphazardly drawn college students. In the one we saw, the head of an oft-complimented girl expands until she floats away like a balloon.
The co-ed courting credit cards include Citi Bronze (for Jet Setters), Citi Dividend Platinum (for the Cash Fan) and the Citi MTVU card (for the Rewards Junkie).
We love little characterizations like that. What better way to sniggle us into a frightening APR than to give each one a personality? If we weren't debating Jet Setters or Rewards Junkies we'd probably still be on Rachel or Monica.
Nothing brings people together like the promise of intoxication. Leveraging its ongoing love affair with Anheuser-Busch, MingleNow launches Clink, an "innovative new social networking promotion" where trend-setting adults can upload pictures of themselves enjoying beer.
"Supporting this niche social media outlet where people actively engage in sharing stories and images reinforces the honesty and authenticity of socializing over a beer," says EVP Bob Lachky for the global industry development sector of Anheuser-Busch.
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