Acura on Snapchat

This is slightly odd.  Acura sent a Snapchat video of their new NSX Prototype car, revealing the new shape, to the first 100 people who followed them on Snapchat.



Someone managed to get a copy of the video (I'm sure Acura aren't that angry) and posted it on YouTube.

See more here.

I like how people are coming up with unusual ways to use Snapchat!

Katy Perry knows how to sell an album

I think it says lots about comms strategy that Kary Perry is using a physical photogenic object to announce her new album.

Yesterday she tweeted:

Find the #PRISM semi, take a picture and I'll RT you. Don't worry, Los Angeles is just the first stop on the map.
— Katy Perry (@katyperry) July 30, 2013

People love a retweet!

This is the #PRISM truck, as tweeted by fellow musician & celeb Adam Lambert:

Yes @katyperry this is crazy!! Love it! pic.twitter.com/Muuj3j4awO
— Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) July 29, 2013

& another sighting, RT-ed by Katy Perry:

And here you go! “@NayV: @katyperry I am so excited for #PRISM here you go!!! I see you :) follow back? pic.twitter.com/faDSh2pYiq”
— Katy Perry (@katyperry) July 30, 2013

Here are some pics on Instagram tagged #PRISM

It's an example of how marketers are using photogenic objects and photo opportunities to get their messages spread, in the age where everyone has a camera in their pocket - see my earlier blog post here about optimising for Instagram, and this one about photo opportunities

Also, compare this with how Lady Gaga announced Born This Way in 2011 - just a picture of herself for others to share

Update - a day later it's getting parodied, which I think adds to it:

Katy Perry Prism lorry spotted winning Grand National pic.twitter.com/NZccG8e0UV
— Popjustice (@Popjustice) July 31, 2013

&

Katy Perry Prism lorry spotted in Wales pic.twitter.com/Kp8QZ0k8in
— Popjustice (@Popjustice) July 31, 2013

Toyota RAV4 x Nat Geo

A good content partnership in the UK to celebrate the 125 years of National Geographic, from my colleagues at Isobar UK.

On the Route125 site Dan & Seb, a father and son, are cataloguing their trip around the UK, and elsewhere you can see lots of links for other things to do for active, adventurous people.

There are also lots of videos on the YouTube channel, for example



Lots to explore - very well done!

The Daily Mail's Femail Fashion Finder

The Daily Mail has just added a new and potentially very lucrative feature - the Femail Fashion Finder.

For some stories you can now hover over an icon in the picture, and buy what the person in the photo is wearing.  See an example here.

It shows the original item that the celebrity is wearing, and also offers cheaper versions, although as you can see the cheaper versions often look nothing like the original.

It's really just an online version of the staple 'get this look' feature in magazines, but this makes it much more easy to use.

It's also interesting that the Mail are doing this themselves (although I suspect it's actually through a third party), which I think is part of a larger commerce trend, for example Yelp offering takeaway food deliveries directly.

Build an audience, then think of ways to monetise.

Next Generation Media Quarterly - July 2013

See my latest presentation below, looking at key stats and stories in digital media from the last 3 months

Next Generation Media Quarterly July 2013 from Dan Calladine

Barbour's 100 Days of Summer

100 Days of Summer is a series of posts on the Barbour tumblr, just over half way through, under different themes, like:

#BarbourPocket

#ShouldHaveWornaBarbour

#DaysoutwithDog

#WeirdandWonderful

#Barbour AlFresco

It's a good content strategy, and in many cases people are encouraged to upload their own to add to the content being added by the team.

Video poster for The Wolverine

Don't think I've seen one as good as this before



At Shepherd's Bush overground station

Honda uses Rebecca Black in 'response' Vines

There seems to be a trend for brands hijacking conversations...  See this recent post, but also what Honda are currently doing in the US, stepping into conversations with some bizarre Vines.

This one features Rebecca 'Friday' Black

Hey @nickminers, we don't have those at the Honda Summer Clearance Event. But we have @MsRebeccaBlack! http://t.co/SYKywDClZ5 #wantnewcar
— Honda (@Honda) July 15, 2013

But this one is a reply to someone who only has 4 followers.

Hey @bwidow752006, head to the Honda Summer Clearance Event & stop wondering: http://t.co/Tw83GrkWpX #WantNewCar
— Honda (@Honda) July 15, 2013

Good idea, but I think they should do more work on deciding who to engage with.

More at AdWeek

Local Deliveries

I've seen lots of things recently about local deliveries.

For example:

Kate Spade's twist on the Korean QR codes in New York - order something, then a messenger will bring it to you within 1 hour (certain areas only, payment on delivery)

Yelp becoming a merchant for food delivery

Ebay is offering same day delivery, and Amazon is thinking about it, apparently

51Buy is thinking about 2 hour delivery

You can argue that eCommerce has benefited people in rural areas more than urban areas so far.  It's made more of a difference to people living no where near to a bookshop than people who live and work in cities.

There are places in cities where hundreds of thousands people work within a square mile.  When I was a student I had a job working in the postroom at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, and I spent all day walking around different wards and departments delivering stuff to people.  I'm sure there must be a way to do that commercially.

We had a quick brainstorm for things office workers might want delivered (besides food) to their desks within a couple of hours.  Things like...

Headphones & other small electronics items, even phones
Shoes
Cosmetics and toiletries
Items of clothing (someone like Asos could partner with someone like Match.com for emergency new clothes)

Things like books, music and tickets are now downloadable, but lots of other things aren't and I'm sure will soon be delivered.

(Update - it's been pointed out that Oasis already offer 90 minute local delivery in certain parts of the UK trrough Shutl)

Selling on Instagram

According to Kottke, Instagram is being used as a sales site in Kuwait.  Just take a photo of anything, and upload it, with a price or phone number added either in the pic or in the caption, and people can get in touch and try to buy it.

A couple of examples - Sheeps_Sell


& MangaBox



& it's happening elsewhere, for example MaxeeBags in the Philippines

 & Joy N Faith, which I think is in Singapore



I love it when something takes on a life of it's own, and almost starts to be a whole new internet.  YouTube did this, Twitter did this, and now I think Instagram has done it too.

Brands playing around on Twitter

I love this example of brands playing around on Twitter.

It starts with Innocent posting this picture of a dog

(No) dogs allowed pic.twitter.com/i8c4GDRcog
— innocent drinks (@innocentdrinks) July 10, 2013

O2 then tweets a reply, incorporating their promoted hashtag for the day

@innocentdrinks This is actually a cat dressed up as a dog showing everyone how to #bemoredog ;)
— O2 in the UK (@O2) July 10, 2013

Innocent replies

@O2 is this a fox? Is this a dog? Is this a fox trying to #bemoredog? pic.twitter.com/s9BlxAjDdm
— innocent drinks (@innocentdrinks) July 10, 2013

& Tango also gets involved

@innocentdrinks @O2 Here is a dog dressed as a dinosaur. YOU'RE WELCOME. pic.twitter.com/obq8tp4Ta6
— Tango (@DrinkTango) July 10, 2013

To which O2 said...

@DrinkTango Thank you! Do you have one of a dinosaur dressed as a dog?
— O2 in the UK (@O2) July 10, 2013

& Tango replied...

@O2 No, but here is a horse dressed as a stegosaurus #bemoredinosaur pic.twitter.com/8I6Vv5Khdo
— Tango (@DrinkTango) July 10, 2013

& so Innocent said...

@DrinkTango @O2 we see your one dog dressed as a dinosaur and raise you Jurassic Pug pic.twitter.com/ZoSEOAWBaT
— innocent drinks (@innocentdrinks) July 10, 2013

& then Betfair got involved...

@innocentdrinks @DrinkTango @O2 thank you, and good night. pic.twitter.com/SSwv3jnTrL
— Betfair (@Betfair) July 10, 2013

[Enough! This went on for quite a long time...]

Lionel Messi on WeChat

Interesting choice of brand spokesman...



According to AdAge:

"The campaign targets 15 markets, including Argentina and Spain where Mr. Messi is a superstar. The others are: Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey."

adidas' #hitthewinner Real Time Marketing at Wimbledon

adidas, one of the clients at my agency, has had a big success at Wimbledon with its innovative #hitthewinner Twitter game.



Before each game followers were encouraged to guess where Andy Murray would hit the winning balls, on 9 zones of this opponent's side of the court - e.g. tweeting #hitthewinner7

All the people who tweeted the winning zones were entered into a draw to win prizes.

Now that Wimbledon is over (& Murray crowned men's champion) adidas has been named the brand most discussed during the tournament:

"Over the last week there been obvious peaks in mentions as they ran the competition during matches and celebrated with images of the great man.  At the peak they received over 3k mentions and 54k mentions over the last week for @adidasUK, even more for the adidas brand as a whole (147k)"

A really innovative campaign!

Update - the Twitter blog has some more stats on the campaign:

"The #AllinforMurray hashtag was mentioned some 20,400 times while #Hitthewinner, Adidas’ real-time game, was mentioned a further 8,500 times and produced strong engagement rates. For the Champions League final in May, Adidas promoted #Allforthis and managed 14,300 mentions.
Both of Adidas’ Wimbledon hashtags were retweeted by Murray, giving the brand major exposure and ensuring that a number of its Tweets were heavily shared. Murray also mentioned the hashtags in his own Tweets, with several being shared thousands of times.
[...]
The combined organic and paid for activity helped @AdidasUK to gain about 35,000 new followers and emerge as the number one brand people were mentioning on Twitter during the Wimbledon final.
Over the entire course of the two week Wimbledon tournament, #Hitthewinner attracted 20,700 mentions as fans flocked to win merchandise by guessing where on a grid where Murray would land a winning shot.
However, it was #AllinforMurray, which was a continuation of its overarching brand #allin hashtag, that was the star performer. It amassed a total of 31,500 mentions during Wimbledon."

Dove - Camera Shy

I know what Jezabel are saying with their criticisms:

""Why are women so camera shy?" I dunno, maybe because we don't want to look pleasingly pretty just because you want us to? Because we're constantly asked to smile on command, even at work and by complete strangers on the street, and called "bitch" if we're not in the mood? Because we don't feel like performing right this second? Do you really have to ask?"



I still love it though.

Brand sponsored content on YouTube - Clearasil on AwesomenessTV

This is a good example of how brands are integrating into the new YouTube channels.

AwesomenessTV, which was recently bought by Dreamworks for $33m, is running a series called #Ultrafast Clearasil Zombie Adventure Of Epic Proportions, in which people get turned into Zombies (with bad skin)



See the first episode above - you can choose how it ends!

Be careful what you share online

A good ad for a Belgian bank



(I always wonder whether Derren Brown researches any audience members before his shows.  Comedian Adam Hills searches for Tweets from people saying that they are going to his gigs, then reads them out at the gig...)

 Update - here's another film in the same campaign