Yeah. I’m not sure I really see the connection between beer and Nike’s either. But that doesn’t mean I’m complaining.
When the Nike Heineken Dunk came out a few years back, I was intrigued and perplexed. Although partly because I’ve never understood the infatuation with Heineken (no offense to anybody out there). The announcement of a summer ‘08 release of a Newcastle Dunk is an entirely different story, although admittedly partly because I have a special place in my heart for the Newcastle brand. I appreciate the heritage, the history, the packaging, and the simple branding that Newcastle Brown Ale already has. Refreshing in the sea of in-your-face beer labels, on which some accounts I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with. Anyway, I think the strength of the Newcastle brand translates beautifully into the Nike SB Dunk. And in short: I can’t wait.
P.S. Even if you’re not a Nike or a beer fan, check out Newcastle’s website. An interesting (and fairly successful) branding & image campaign.
A few Newcastle SB links (with photos) after the jump, if you’re into that sort of thing.
I’ve never been a die-hard World of Warcraft fan, but many of my good friends somehow ended up sucked into it, so I’m vicariously involved… at least through having to hear about it daily. But today, I have become a fan. Not because of the game itself, not because of a friend, but because of Mr. T and a Shatner. As you may know, I’m a big Mr. T fan, and he’s the sole reason I eat snickers again (hell, he’s even on one of my ringtones). And Shatner is, well, just plain Shatnerific. So therefore, I have to become a diehard WoW fan, just by default.
So the big question: Does WoW really need to advertise? And what do Mr. T and Shatner have to do with WoW? Is that really the target demographic? Does it make a difference? After watching T and the Shat, I don’t know that I really feel the need to answer all those questions. I’m under the spell of Shatner.
I still hesitate to freely use the term viral. I feel that a true “viral” has to be more than some random crap posted on YouTube. But that’s another discussion that would take significantly longer (hell, I even wrote a few pages on the subject in a thesis).
Anyway, The Internet Stars Are Viral is basically a giant compilation of internet virals. A viral of virals, if you will. And if you check out the site, there’s a complete list of the “lyrics” complete with links to all the virals clips are borrowed from. So you can techno-geek-out and vastly expand your catalog of viral knowledge, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Almost a year ago, I wrote about the brilliance of the Michael Walsh “video,” The Machine is Using Us… Well, the same concept has been taken leaps, bounds, and blog posts further in the newest project from Walsh. The first was so stunning and powerful, I didn’t expect anything else to come close. I was wrong again.
These ads for Findus Salmon flat out make me laugh. Mostly because they’re so to-the-point and frank, and actually deal with real issues, that if I didn’t chuckle, I might actually be scared. It’s impressive to see a message handled so tactfully yet powerfully that still makes me laugh and feel good about the product.
The ads were done by CB Grey in France (whose website is awesome, if you haven’t seen it) with some beautiful photography from the consistently stunning Ilario Magali.
You might remember Struck Creative as the guys behind the award-winning Shave Everywhere site (and if you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth giving a few minutes of your time). Anyway, Struck is back with some very cool, yet incredibly simple stuff for Calle, a brand promoting street soccer in the US. Calle’s website (also by Struck) opening blurb begins “when it happens on the street. when pigeons are your audience…” which I find very intriguing for some reason. And their logo of a pigeon is almost more than I can handle. I’m already sold. But their clothing tags are the killer. The nail in the coffin, so to speak. The tags are a sticker, resembling a soccer ball when put into context of a street sign. Cool idea that’s been done in the past, but not quite as uniquely as this. Very simple, very easy, and speaks exactly to the company. Very cool.
If you haven’t been to FreeRice yet, click the image above and check it out. The FAQ on their site can explain more in-depth than I, but basically, you play a simple vocab game that sharpens and improves your vocab prowess, while simultaneously donating “free rice” to those in need via the United Nations World Food Program.
How does it work? Advertising. Advertisers of the likes of Macy’s, Apple, American Express, Fujitsu and many more have their icons appear at the bottom of the vocab “game.” That’s it. No pop-ups. No gimmicks. Simple advertising dollars being spent for a bit of good. A novel idea.
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen any outdoor/ambient/installation advertising that’s really piqued my interest. Until today. I stumbled across this Jeep ambient campaign, and am blown away. It’s so simple… almost too easy. But I guess that’s why it works so well. Done by Bates Y&R in Copenhagen, Denmark. I think this comes pretty close to satisfying my daily need for cool.
Transformer. Hyundai. Cool. Three words I hadn’t expected to be in the same post. Not to bash too much on Hyundai… they’re making progress in the right direction, but still: cool? This new spot transforms things a bit (sorry… bad pun, I know).
I’ve had a good deal of interest in transformers and transforming lately, like the Citroën transformer and the Rubik’s Cube ad. This Hyundai ad is different. It blatantly admits that the old Sonata is weak, and the new is significantly better (apparently your watch & wardrobe transform when you drive a new Sonata as well).
I like the facelift idea. I like that it’s jumping on the Transformers bandwagon (even if it is a bandwagon). I think as a strategy, it’s not a bad idea for Hyundai. And on the whole, I think it just might make me like Hyundai a bit more.
I’ve been intrigued lately by the idea of “searching.” Probably spurred on, in part, by the plethora of Ask.com commercials (like above) on the television lately, promoting a change in the way we search. While new and dynamic services like Ask.com are indeed changing how searching can be accomplished, I have to wonder how different it is than a specific and detailed Google search. Although I suppose the interface and the ease of use are definite selling points.
Anyway, at a time when searching is becoming a more refined skill, it’s interesting to see “professional searchers” or “researchers” still around. The newest iteration, after the fall of Google Answers, is Uclue. According to the blurb at Cool Tools, many of the Google Answers researchers are now at Uclue, a site where one can ask a question, assign a monetary value for an answer, and then open their question to the Uclue researchers. Without question, an interesting way to look at research, and the internet. While Google feels Answers isn’t sustainable, it’s interesting to see Uclue pulling in so much interest. It will be fascinating to watch the next revolution of the internet search. The next “google” to become a verb, if you will.
