Brands' Friends Invited to Submit DIY Commercials
Apparently,
coBRANDit believes DIY commercials by brands' fans are more believable than the glamorous agency-made stuff and began soliciting 90-second clips about everyday things people do with beer, gear and cars. "coBRANDiT is building a network of creative people to whom brand sponsors can introduce new ideas and products in exchange for documentary video and authentic creativity; the results will be used in on-line media campaigns."
Videophones Get Placement in Sci Fi
Videophones always have been a staple of any self-respecting sci-fi film, but now in a strange twist, a company is paying to put actual videophones into a movie.
"The Sci Fi Channel is giving videophones a new name via a product placement deal on the network's popular science fiction series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
The videophone, developed by communications service provider 8x8, Inc., will be featured in upcoming episodes of the hit TV shows. Through the product placement deal, viewers can learn how to use the device."
--
Promo Magazine
Milk Not Cool
"Wooed by flashy advertising and promotions, kids are now drinking three times more soda than milk. Not surprisingly, childhood obesity rates also have tripled in the last 20 years. New milk research suggests that simple marketing and product improvements can help students choose a healthier alternative at school, and increase milk consumption by up to 34 percent."
--
Yahoo via
Cool Business Ideas
New DC logo: liquidating the past
"The design community erupted earlier this May when DC Comics unveiled its new logo, informally titled the 'DC Spin.' Designed by JoshBeatman of Brainchild Studio in New York, it replaces the 30-year-old 'DC Bullet,' designed by the legendary Milton Glaser, who is probably best known for his 'I (heart) NY' logo, now omnipresent in the Big Apple... The folks at DC wanted a logo that looked more like newer logos by companies started well after 1937, and without founding characters like British detective Cosmo, Phantom of Disguise. In short, rather than a logo that leverages the past, DC's new logo liquidates it." –
BusinessWeek
Engagement to Become New Ad Metric
"After years of mulling concepts like attentiveness, involvement, and engagement as a means of measuring the impact media buys have on advertising effectiveness, Madison Avenue is officially embracing "
engagement," as its new media planning metric - one that could replace the vaunted concept of "frequency" as the multiplier in most media plans."
--
Media Post
Dissecting Blurbmeisters
"The arts section of Friday's
New York Times is chock full of movie ads that feature positive blurbs from critics. Leafing through the ads, I found quotes out of context, lousy reviewers, and faint praise. I'm hardly the first to write about misleading movie ads, and I don't expect the practice to disappear. But tracking this weekly will at least provide a record of the practice, and it should be an 'entertaining thrill ride.'"
--a
weekly column at Gelf Magazine by Carl Bialik
Study: Toddlers Recognize Brands
"Children as
young as two can recognise two-thirds of popular brand logos, a new study has found. Psychologists have discovered that toddlers can recognise the emblems of famous brands including McDonald's, Shell, Nike, Mercedes and even
Heineken."
--
Scotsman via
Agenda
Photographed Celebs as Silent Product Endorsers
CityRag asks: "Has anyone calculated the amount of free advertising Starbucks is getting from all the photos that make the rounds of today's hottest A-List celebrities holding tight to their cups?"
Retail Sabotage
"Shop dropping, also known as "reverse shoplifting," entails altering the packaging of retail merchandise and depositing the products back onto the shelves."
--
CNN via
AgendaAlso, "shop-dropping consists in pirating the commercial system by putting free items on store shelves, without authorisation. This way you can drop free home-made CDs in big record stores, free photocopied booklets in “new books” sections, copied DVDs or videotapes in blockbuster departments, and so on."
Here's a
good post at Indymedia explaing the phenomenon, and here's the
Drop Lift Project's website.
Godvertising
An amazing
gallery of DIY billboards advertising church services.
Earlier:Church Marketing Blog
Airlines' New Clothes
It's not only
McDonald's that getting new threads these days.
USA Today writes that "Six international airlines, including Delta Air Lines, have hired high-profile designers to revamp uniforms for thousands of flight attendants, reviving a nearly dormant industry tradition. Airlines are turning to Christian Lacroix, a premier Paris designer, and Richard Tyler, a Los Angeles-based designer who has dressed Julia Roberts and two Desperate Housewives. They're creating suits, coats and dresses, as well as shoes, hats and handbags."
Collection of Cereal Boxes
An
amazing collection of assorted cereal boxes from across generations.
Extreme Makeover: McDonald's
"McDonald’s is recruiting Russell Simmons, P. Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger to perform a miracle makeover: Turn its employees' mundane uniforms into hip street wear. As it attempts to change its image from a fat purveyor to phat icon, the world’s largest youth employer is turning to these style-setters for what could be an $80 million makeover for its army of workers. The idea is to turn employees into walking brand billboards as they circulate among their peers."
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AdAge (free reg)
