Coffee is almost mandatory in our daily routine. And I think to actually tap on the beverage’s popularity to drive through a meaningful communication message is extremely rewarding. Nescafe’s campaign to create “Instant Connections” through their Nescafe generating machines, helps to convey the importance of sharing joy and making friends. I guess our hectic life creates lesser opportunities for people to actually communicate or know one another. But this approach truly brings people together with just a touch of the button. OgilvyOne Frankfurt gave birth to an idea which targets the busy traffic light junction where hundreds of people would pass by. Their machines piqued the interest of the commuters and had them being curious and slowly finding out the mechanics of this pairing devices. As long as both side of the machines are both pressed together, a cup of Nescafe coffee appears. Everyone likes a warm cup of coffee before heading to work and this is done with the effort from somebody else. Wouldn’t this encounter just make your day better?
Pizza movie night
It doesn’t hurt to reward your loyal customers with some good old fashion fun, usually with affordable budget. Im always keen on ideas that pushes boundaries of existing platforms to evolve it further. A good advice for most marketing executives is to leverage old or low tech. Simply because low tech does not equate to low engagement. Crafting a good brand experience can come in the form of ANY available media, platform or tech. Take a look at this awesome initiative by Pizza Hut. They embedded movies which are downloadable via QR codes on four totally different box designs! Furthermore, they are individually characterised as Slice Night, Anchovy Armageddon, Hot & Ready and Fully Loaded. As you probably would imagine, each of these names symbolises a different movie genre. Interestingly, the box by itself is known as the Blockbuster Box. I think this is very cool. The formula to create exciting experience that is very functional to its business, characterizing their boxes and giving their customers variety is a very clever combo. While the practical side of it is argueably quite difficult to pull off without dirtying your phone and the result a rather less ‘hi-res’ movie quality, it’s still a magnificent idea nonetheless. Let’s just hope it improves as the campaign idea moves along.
Pink ribbon
Bringing in a huge impression this time, creative agency, Brandenburg, Reykjavík, generated massive awareness for Cancer in Iceland this October. One that so huge in scale and would involved efforts of people and the general public. October in Iceland is cancer awareness month and the the agency came up with the idea of having an outdoor activation on the streets. With the aid of the police and authorities, the painted the streets pink in the shape of the pink ribbon logo. In the middle of Reykjavik. Check out this cool installation.
The future has come back
Do you hate what your doing and how things are moving along for you? Johnnie Walker recently had a campaign with the message: “From the Future”. We see a number of people feeling frustrated at work, disappointed and disheartened about their lives. The voiceover in the commercial narrates their situation and probes the audience if they felt the same. He then tells you that you would be different and that he cannot change you for who you are now because the voice you are hearing right now is actually yours. There seems to be a continuation and I would like to see the outcome of this campaign. This is creative work from the famous ad agency, BBH, UK, for Johnnie Walker.
Im following you
Have you been ‘followed’ by a car lately? Here is an interesting way of using Twitter to create hype and built awareness. Naturally when you follows someone on Twitter, be expected that the person you are following would check out your profile back. Now, the Volvo XC60 is following not just anyone, they are following influential people. And that brings in a lot more attention than usual. Upon clicking the XC60’s nick, the viewer would see the XC60’s profile page with the message: “Hi, now I’m following you. But don’t worry, I’m equipped with an automatic braking system”. Quite a brilliant and simple idea by BBDO Belgium, that is effective and budget savvy. What do you think?
Ctrl + Z
The power of social media has a direct impact in our lives these days. While we blog and listen to people whom we follow and get influenced by, we tend to immerse into the community inevitably. BMW wanted to create a new holiday in China. Thus, they leveraged on the influence of several popular bloggers on China’s microblogging platform Weibo. They were eventually able to garner more than 300 thousand users to mention about their greatest regrets for “Ctrl Z Day”. Apparently, it is said that the second Friday of every July is a “worldwide day of regret” and people would discuss the point in life which they would like to undo if they had a choice to “Ctrl Z”. While it is a universal term to label the undo function with “Ctrl Z”, it might not be one that would relate so much to a huge demographic. Unfortunately, I do question the effectivity of this viral campaign.
Well, this was all done in an effort to promote BMW’s Z4 sports car. BMW revealed eventually that it is behind the campaign and would pretty much relate a “philosophical lesson on life and regret” and promoting its Z4 car model.
Life is not a flat road. There will inevitably be setbacks, a few of which you will have no choice over, but regret can’t reverse them. Rather than remembering the past, it is better to look forward to the future. Life doesn’t have a Ctrl Z. Control Z4: drive and have no regret!”
Feeling tired? Try yawning
Have you ever had that craving for coffee so strong that your yawns cannot be accounted for? Douwe Egberts, a South African coffee company agrees that most of the people who yawns need a wake up beverage and it had to be their coffee. So they install a rather interesting coffee machine at the O.R Tambo International Airport. The demand for coffee here is extremely high and through the use of this machine, many had a chance to try the coffee. All they have to do is, YAWN at it. Yes. Just open your mouth and yawn and the machine would immediate dispense coffee for you. It is that easy and it is FREE. How neat is that? The machine is equipped with face recognition and it will know when you are actually yawning. All in all, this “Bye Bye Red Eye” machine has rewarded 210 yawns with their coffee. And what it receives in return is yawns and lots of smiles.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
They say distance makes your heart grow fonder. Now, with technology and simple photography we can keep the distance nearer. A campaign by Pereira & O’Dell for Skype addressed this by working together with Singaporean photographer and visual artist John Clang. They produced 3 short films with John’s ‘projected’ portraits based on the message – “Stay Together”. It enables families to be photographed together, fulfilling the dreams of most of them. These video spots were shot and directed by Station collective Peking. Check out these touching videos.
OMD’s outdoor campaign for safe cycling
Good to see fantastic work from DDB, in a partnership together with OMD for this interesting OOH campaign highlighting the importance of road safety amongst cyclists. With the support of media provider Clear Channel, these interesting graphic posters make communication messages island wide. I personally love the simple and clear messaging that anyone of any age could easily comprehend. Great work DDB Singapore.
Zack Chia 