The Power Of Fan Emotions

Below is irrefutable proof that when it comes to blending emotion and branding, no one does it better than a loyal customer.

The video is a fan-made montage edited by the son of a now-deceased motorcycle owner that tells the story behind what the bike meant to the family and how it was restored to its glory after the original owner passed away. According to Brandchannel, even the rights to the soundtrack was bought by the original maker of the video for $1000. It's $1000 well spent, as it really captures the essence of the emotion of the story.

Ball is now firmly in the BMW Motorcycle division's court!

Via - Branchannel

Football Gets Big

EA Sport's latest football-related communication campaign, called "How Big Can Football Get", aims to bring together football fans from around the world through the power of Twitter.

EA Sports has developed a new application, released on beta which uses data driven by an estimated two million Fifa10 games played each day, encouraging players to share their opinions, passions, and dedication for their team.

Fifa Earth uses data from Twitter, tapping into tweet mentioning keywords or hashtags such as goals, football, soccer and uses geotagging, to show how the world talks about and plays both real and virtual football. The application also aggregates game score from Fif10 matches, creating a live interactive competition. The better a user plays in Fifa10, the higher the team's ranking on Fifa Earth.

Via - Brand Republic

Beck's "Music Inspired Art"

Becks has launched an interesting interactive initiative in promotion of their campaign, dubbed "Music Inspired Art".

The beer brand has installed interactive billboards all around London that invite passers-by to plug in their MP3 players and view their selected tracks in the form of visual displays. The interactive poster generates a graphic display from the music that is being played on the iPod. Once the track is over a still is taken of the display and uploaded to becks.co.uk/flickr.

Uploaded pictures are tagged to the various posters sites, which completes the interactive circle for participants.

Via - Talking Retail

New Marketing For Retro New Balance

New Balance is making their latest limited edition offer enticing for consumers by combining interactivity with a feeling of exclusivity.

Those who purchase the New Balance 574 has a polaroid taken and are invited to the online portal - 574 Clips - which features a short video for each of the shoes sold, where owners can match their polaroid to the video about their particular pair of shoes.

Once a match has been made, the user can "claim" the video and have their name featured at the end of that clip.

Via - 574 Clips

Burberry Ventures Online

Luxury brand Burberry has ventured online in their latest shift of resources to online engagement.

The luxury label will soon launch an online portal called Art Of The Trench which will invite consumers and fans to send photos of themselves in the brand's iconic trench coat. The portal, Burberry hopes, will offer a consolidated brand experience for those who might not otherwise have had that much exposure as yet.

It will be interesting to see how this latest online engagement from a luxury brand turns out when the website launches. In the meantime, interested consumers can sign up for an automated update from Burberry.

Via - Brand Republic

Pepsi Max Crowdsources Global Campaign

The creative direction for Pepsi Max's next global campaign rests solely in the hands of fans and budding digital creatives.

Pepsi Max is calling on entrants to submit a proposal for a 90-second ad under Pepsi's ethical banner 'Refresh Everything', with the eventual winner being granted budget and guidance to produce a Pepsi Max digital advertising film that will be rolled out in early 2010.

The added incentive is that the ad will also be played on the big screen before the gala premiere of British actor Clive Owen's new film, Boys are Back, at the London Film Festival.

If you think you have what it takes, download the brief online here.

Via - Revolution Magazine

Breathing Life Into Toys

A new online platform developed by US company ToyBots is about to revolutionise the way children interact with their toys in future - or rather, how their toys interact with them.ToyBot's new platform will essentially provide the online software for toy-manufacturers to build their "hardware" around. With internet connectivity and GPS tracking enabled on potential future products, a teddy-bear could ask it's owner for a hug or even learn some catch phrases and talk to their owners.

According to Revolution Magazine, "Other innovations include being able to "tickle" -- say for example -- your Barbie online and it will giggle in the real world or a grandmother would have the ability to record a story that the toy can read to her grandchild hundreds of miles away."

An interesting application which the platform also allows for is the connection to social networks from the physical toy - which would allow children to have a physical avatar to their online presence whilst interacting with each other.

Via - Revolution Magazine

Be A Ralph Lauren Designer

Ralph Lauren has launched an iPhone app that allows users to design their own customised rugby shirt on their handset and then immediately order their perfect shirt online - as long as you're based in the UK.

The application has also been designed so that users can superimpose their own faces on the design and share it with others - adding a nice social media element to the initiative. Users can share their look on Facebook Connect, email, or within the app's Rugby Gallery, which will distribute the look to Rugby.com as well interactive high street store windows across the UK.

Via - Rugby.com

Consumer-Generated Vitaminwater

Glaceau Vitaminwater is making use of social media for research and engagement with their latest Facebook application, which monitors buzz from various sources including Google News, Twitter, Flickr and food blog Foodgwaker to create a list of the top ten flavours at any given moment.

If a certain flavour consistently causes enough of a buzz, a final top-ten list will be published on the virtual Flavour Creator app where a final ballot will be held and the most popular flavours available in stores by net year.

Another nice touch calls for consumers todesign the label for the bottle, name the flavour and write the entertaining blurb explaining the water's health benefits, with the winning design selected by Vitaminwater's celebrity partners 50 Cent and Carrie Underwood. The new flavour and label will be announced in December with the winning designer taking home $5000 for their efforts.

Basically, the entire process allows Coca-Cola to create the most popular flavour for the relevant target market, by simply handing over the power to the consumers themselves.

Via - Brand Republic

Report Suspicious Non-Human Activity

Sony Pictures UK has launched a successful online campaign in promotion for SA film, "District 9" which calls for all humans to dial in to a 24-hour line and report any suspicious non-human activity. According to the digital agency handling the promotion, hundreds of callers have already left messages about alien sightings in the UK since the phone line went live last week.

The online campaign have also included takeovers of various popular UK sites, such as Sky Sports and MySpace.

Rich-media ads will also appear on The Guardian, which lead to sites that have been created to support the films release - including its very impressive homepage at www.d-9.com

The ads also encourage users to share their video content via social networks, helping drive online buzz on websites like Facebook and Twitter. It's a fantastic example of a cleverly integrated online campaign which we'll hopefully see more of in the future.

Via - Revolution Magazine

Armchair Experts Recognised

In an attempt to tap into the unlimited source of sporting knowledge that most fans seem to think they have, Nissan Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian Football League, has launched the first ever open source football ‘platform’.


The site allows fans to log on and submit their own American Football moves for their chosen team. All submissions are then ranked according to user generated votes, with the winner crowned ‘Armchair Hero’, as well as winning tickets to the cup final.

Is seems like a highly interactive campaign with some built-in longevity. A simple, well-executed idea that I wished I had thought of.

Via - Contagious

Give A Little, Take A Lot Later

Towards the end of 2009, the Python team, fed up by the tens of thousands of clips illegally uploaded to YouTube by fans, took an unusual step to combat falling sales of their DVD's.

Instead of removing each illegal clip on video sharing site such as YouTube, the team made their intellectual property officially available, labeled, sorted and categorised in high-quality, with a call to action asking people to buy the official DVDs.

According to FastCompany:

"The trick of making Monty Python videos available for free online has boosted DVD sales of the comedy sketch show. If you compare DVD sales figures on Amazon before and after the creation of the Monty Python YouTube channel, the boost apparently tallies in at around 23,000%."

Not a bad return for a little generosity is it? Perhaps there's a lesson for a lot of brands who are still clinging onto what they feel is rightly theirs? Time to consider a bit of giving before the taking...

Via: FastCompany

Best Buy Listens

US consumer electronic retailers Best Buy has been listening to consumers. Through their latest initiative, known as Blue Label, Best Buy will be addressing customer needs in a way that no retailer has done before by providing feedback to manufacturers in order to better product offerings.Best Buy learnt from their customers that they were after more from the feature set on available laptops and went directly to manufacturers to address the issue. Some of the requested details include backlit keyboards, thin and light design and free warranties. Currently, Toshiba and HP Lenovo are on board with the program and both manufacturers have exclusive laptops on sale now at Best Buy.

Financial viability for initiative such as this one must be a deterring factor for many companies, but with Best Buy's footprint and influence, the success of this initiative could lead to a whole new way for manufacturers and product developers to gain inspiration for their designs.

Via: I4U, Best Buy

Doritos Challenges Consumers To Beat The Pros

Ever watched a terrible ad on TV or seen some other irrelevant advertising communications and wondered who came up with it? Ever thought that you could do better? Now Doritos USA is allowing you to do just that.

In truth, Doritos has been harnessing user-generated adverts for their yearly Super Bowl spots since 2007. The interesting bit is that for the 2009 initiative, added incentives for calls to entry has been included in the campaign.

In addition to airing one fan's self-made Doritos ad to a captive audience of millions, Doritos will give that talented winner $1 million if their :30 spot takes down "the big guys" and becomes the first-ever consumer-created commercial to claim the No. 1 ranking in USA TODAY's annual Ad Meter.

Five finalists will be selected and announced in January next year. The winner will be determined by fans' popular online vote. Each of the five finalists will receive a cash prize of US$25000, as well as a trip to the Super Bowl itself.

Via: Earth Times

Collaboration Between Shoppers & Designers

Ponoko is a company that manufactures highly creative and bespoke products. The company initially began by selling unique items designed by aspirant designers. But realising that many consumers have great ideas for products and as another way of appealing to the target market, the company has introduced a clever new option, Ponoko ID.


Ponoko ID allows users to submit a request, including a description, reference material, as well as their ideal price and delivery deadline. The request is then sent to a selection of designers who can put forward a bid by emailing a brief proposal to the shopper.

After reviewing bids, the shopper can accept the one that best matches their Once the designer confirms the transaction, the request/bid becomes a binding agreement. The shopper makes payment to the designer (through Ponoko), and the designer creates the item. While this may seem an arduous process, it does create transparency for both groups. By allowing shoppers and designers to review each other's profiles, the transaction also feels far more personal for both parties.

David ten Have, Ponoko's CEO comments, "Ponoko ID is the world's first online service for getting unique products custom designed just for you, without the costs and hassles involved in finding a designer, manufacturer and materials."

Sounds like a win-win for both parties, and it's a novel way for aspirant designers to ply their trade in today's world.

Via: Springwise

Some Marketers ARE Listening To Consumers

A Youtube user, who calls himself Levinator 25, posted a video on YouTube a while ago highlighting, highlighting a glitch in the EA Games Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 game which allows players to hit shots while standing on water hazards.

The commentator joked about how the Tiger Woods character was able to pull off the "Jesus Shot" by sinking a shot whilst playing off water. The following is EA Games response.

Although the response clip from EA Games takes a bit of time to get their point across, it's still a great example of how marketers are able to respond and react to consumer input in a constructive and fun way. The clip has been viewed over 260,000 times on YouTube so far.

Via: Brand Republic

See Your Designer Boots On Arsenal vs Man U Match Day

For all of you who enjoy fast paced soccer with plenty of passion and skills thrown into the mix, you'd know that one of the games guaranteed to deliver are the derby games between Arsenal and Manchester United.

Nike, who happens to be the sponsor for both teams, have decided to make use of the first derby game to garner some more fan involvement and self promotion.


Using the Nike ID application, where users have always been able to customise their own Nike shoes, Nike now lets fans have the opportunity to design boots for 3 players from each team.
The top 10 fan-generated designs as per popular vote gets put forward to the players themselves, who ultimately choose their favourite design and wears that particular pair on derby match day.


An interesting element for fans in their bids to to gather the most votes is through the integration of social networks into the marketing mix. Designers can embed a widget onto their Facebook profiles asking all of their friends to vote for them.

The site is slickly designed and will surely interest a number of football fans worldwide. To design your own boots or at least check out the amazingly detailed flash site, please click here. A wonderfully simple idea that's well executed, it's a little example of why Nike is such a powerful brand.

PS: Below is the one of a kind "George Chen" edition. Bidding starts at $200.

Facebook To The Rescue Of Thousands of Africans

There are countless Facebook groups calling for positive change in the world. From fights against poverty and HIV/Aids, "click here to feed a hungry child" schemes to anti-animal cruelty leagues, i often wondered whether I was wasting time by paying too much attention to these groups. After all, are there any corporate brands who have the financial muscle to make these positive changes even listening?

Evidently, some are.

Coca-Cola executives recently responded to a Facebook-based call for humanitarian action, and showed a new opportunity for dialogue between consumers and corporations.


Incensed by the irony that remote African communities had limitless access to bottles of Coca-Cola, but no infrastructure to get medicines to sick children, innovator Simon Berry decided to speak up and ask Coca-Cola to dedicate a fraction of its distribution network to carry medicines for simple, widespread and life-threatening ailments like diarrhea. At first, Berry's ideas fell on deaf ears; after all he was the only recruit in a one-man army.


Now, a modest Facebook publicity campaign has catapulted Berry's message into the Coca-Cola boardroom. Salvatore Gabola, global head of stakeholder relations for the beverage giant, took notice of the social networking momentum and has invited Berry to Coca-Cola's European headquarters to discuss his idea.

By pleasing these typically marketing-wary Facebook users, Coca-Cola stands to gain enormously as a brand, as well as altering perceptions of the brand in the eyes of a tough market segment.

Via: World Changing

Crowdsourced Sneaker Design

A new business based in Portland USA is attempting to build a new sneaker brand, based on the creativity and crowd participation.

The brand, called Ryz, lets users submit graphic designs for a high-top sneaker model. Members vote for their favourite designs, and the sneakers that get the most votes are taken into production. Designers receive a one-time payment of USD 1,000 plus one dollar for each pair sold. Shoes are priced at USD 90, and are produced in limited runs.

The company's founder, Rob Langstaff, has plenty of industry experience—before starting Ryz, he ran Adidas' operations in North America and Japan. As quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, Langstaff believes Ryz will generate revenues of USD 40 million by 2012.

Via: Springwise

Chemical Brothers' Album Launch With Google Earth

The British group Chemical Brothers have challenged fans to produce a short film or photography based on the theme 'Midnight Madness' that will become part of a music video to accompany the single of the same name.

Joining forces with Google and the search-giant's Google Earth application for this user-generated content promotion for their "best of" album, the winning participants wull have their work edited by producers Nexus, as well as having their entry made into a music video and premiered on The Chemical Brothers website and YouTube as an exclusive in the same week 'Midnight Madness' is released, August 18. Entrants will upload their work onto Google Earth via The Chemical Brothers' website, where they can tag its exact location.

The work can be submitted as a film that is anywhere from 2 to 20 seconds long, which is inspired by the midnight theme and related to a specific point of origin.

Given that not all of their fans will be budding filmmakers, The Chemical Brothers are also allowing fans to tag and then launch their favourite track from their location on Google Earth.

This will enable anyone using Google Earth to click on a location and discover which Chemical Brothers' track a fan has chosen as their favourite.

Via: BrandRepublic