Augmented Reality Film

The Witness claims to be the first film to take place on the "outernet", blending drama with real life interactivity through a specially designed iPhone app, where participants either inadvertently saves the day or becomes the villain of the story as a result of a series of decisions they make along the way.


In order to participate, German viewers would apply online, where "winners" got to enter a real-life version of the movie in which they play a role, using their phones to watch snippets of the film that play out like a virtual layer over the physical environment they are in.

Via - YouTube

The World's Longest Banner Ad

BMW shows that not only are long-copy ads not dead, but can very comfortably find life in the world of online as well!

See if you are disciplined enough to read the ad yourself by clicking here.

Via - Ads of the World

Interact With Ads - There's An App For That

In support of the new Honda Jazz campaign, the Japanese automotive brand has launched an iPhone app that allows viewers to participate and influence the commercial.

The app lets viewers catch and play with the characters as they appear in the Honda Jazz spot, whether it's being viewed on TV, a computer or iPhone. The goal: try to catch them all, and watch for some "unpredictable extras" — and, of course, keep Honda Jazz top of mind.

Via - YouTube

Adidas + Intel = New Spin On Retail

Intel, in partnership with Adidas, has launched a spectacular virtual display that renders products in 3-D, and allows a shopper to spin and zoom in on the shoes, and call up specs from a touch-screen display.


Supplemented by a supply of actual shoes that can serve as fit models, the display wall allows retailers to deliver massive inventory in a relatively small space.

The clever use of technology can really catapult traditional retailers into more interactive and immersive experiences for shoppers and is the closest any brand has come to combining e-commerce and traditional retail.

Via - FastCompany

Nativity Story - 2010

The nativity story translated for those born during the digital age. Lots of fun and very nicely executed!

Via - Adverblog

Hyundai's New Owners Manual

Rather than just providing written information, Hyundai USA has taken advantage of the iPad's capabilties to deliver an app that demonstates to you what it's talking about.

The added advantage of presenting the manual in the form of an app - apart from the obvious value-add for the purchaser in the form of a new iPad with every purchase - is that the the app is free to download on iTunes whether you are an owner or not, thus doubling up nicely as an interactive product brochure for potential buyers too.

Via - Autoblog

Absolut App Driven By QR

Absolut, the premium vodka brand, has introduced a neck collar incorporating Quick Response (QR) technology, in a bid to distribute its Drinkspiration app to consumers.


Launched in 2009, Absolut Drinkspiration combines mobile technology with social media interaction and user generated content. It is an encyclopaedia of illustrated recipes that allows users to browse drink recipes or receive personalised recommendations based on a variety of preferences such as desired taste, colour, spirit, time of the day, weather, bar vibe, or what is popular.

The initial drive will see QR-tagged neck collars on 200,000 bottles of Absolut and Absolut Naturals in the UK, which will allow iPhone users to download the application instantly and free of charge just by hovering their mobiles over the code.

Via - Marketing Magazine UK

Mini's Interactive Vending Machine

Mini's latest communication in Canada features an interactive "vending machine" billboard, which was projected onto the side of a building near Toronto's Air Canada Centre.

Cheeky and fun, the execution does well to not only interact with potential buyers of the car, but does a great job at showcasing the various models that Mini now offers to the public.

Via - YouTube

World's First Ice Touchscreen

Nokia brings the world's first ice touchscreen to life.

What started out as a "playful experiment" for Nokia's team has resulted in an interactive device that gives us a glimpse of what can be achieved when it comes to interactivity in the future.

Below is the video, which offers a short explanation of the technology behind the innovation and reminds of the MIT Sixth Sense as featured on TED.

Via - New Scientist

iPhone Movies In 3D Made Easy

The clever Japanese have made watching 3-D movies possible anywhere, as long as you have an iPhone/iPod Touch - without the need to wear the embarrassing 3D glasses.

Media artist Jitsuro Mase invented a simple attachment that clips onto your device which instantly gives you the power of 3-D films in the palm of your hand.

Via - Fastcompany

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

Audi's New Car Configurator

Audi has launched an interactive car configurator with Microsoft Surface as the main hardware to run the program.

For the initial launch, Audi will allow multiple users to configure and customise the A4 of their dreams in an immersive 3D environment. Through simple hand gestures or motions, one can virtually alter everything on the car. It'd be interesting to see whether the brand will make use of this latest technology in their dealerships, as opposed to the more traditional brochures.

Audi Car Configurator on Surface @ IAA 2009 from Neue Digitale / Razorfish on Vimeo.

Via - Neue Digitale

Work On Your Guns With Your iPhone

Here's another innovative iPhone app which will no doubt contribute to iPhone owners' sense of superiority!

For a fee of £1.79, iPhone owners can download the REPS app which promises to turn your phone into a mobile Nintendo Wii. Users can set weight loss targets and view their progress via a real-time rep counter, which calculates how many calories have been burnt and alerts users to how many reps they have completed by vibrate or sound. Users can also use the app while listening to the iPod music on their iPhone.

There are also motivational audio clips from a personal trainer to further keep you motivated.

Via - Revolution Magazine

Surprising Service

PSFK provided an interesting new idea for restaurants who are looking to increase their word-of-mouth recommendations.

The restaurant in question is called Ogori Cafe in Japan. Apparently an innocuous enough looking cafe with an interesting difference in the way patrons experience their orders.

According to the post, "you get what the person before you ordered, and the next person gets what you ordered. Thus, if you’re in on the game, you can choose to be either a generous benefactor, and treat those that come after you – or try your luck at being cheap. Either way, it’s an interesting experiment that explores surprise, kindness and encourages interactions."

There's also an interesting account of their personal experience when they visited Ogori on the post which definitely makes you realise that unexpected generosity is possibly the easiest way to bring joy to those around us.

Via - PSFK

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

Castrol Speaks To Drivers In Traffic

Castrol launched a campaign in the UK earlier this year highlighting their wide range of product offerings, allowing the consumer to find the right oil for their individual vehicles.

The campaign was supported online, as well as via a simple mobile app which allows consumers to send in their vehicle registration details. Castrol then checks the registration with the department of transport, thus allowing the brand to know the details regarding your vehicle before sending the user their recommended Castrol oil.

The brand has taken it a step further this week. Castrol has set up registration plate number recognition cameras at five slow-moving traffic sites in London, and once the registration details has been verified on the database, the correct oil recommendation for the vehicle is displayed on adigital billboard further down the road.

It's a clever use of technology which will allow the brand to add a highly relevant touchpoint for potential consumers.

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

Connecting The Old Fashoned Way

Whilst Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube have been considered essentials for any marketer worth his or her salt in the 21st century, it'd seem that one of the most established communications tool is making a comeback and offering an older, but perhaps more effective way of connecting with consumers.

A small company based in the Silicon Valley called SayNow has been offering a free service allowing stars to connect with their fans (65% of whom are teenage girls) via voicemail over the past few months. The approach has been gaining in popularity, with the service claiming that it averages 10 million fan calls per month - equating to one million voice minutes per day.

Callers can also leave voice messages of their own, many of which are then made public on SayNow.com. Callers can sign up to get text alerts when stars like Selena Gomez, of “Wizards of Waverly Place,” or the Jonas Brothers (22 million SayNow calls from fans and counting) record a new message.

Artists can also choose to chat on live conference calls, as well as returning calls for one-on-one conversations that can be broadcast to the entire group. Part of the value-add SayNow provides to it's users is the ticket sales alert, allowing fans to be the first in line to purchase tickets to see their favourite artist in person.

With cellphone penetration ever increasing worldwide, SayNow's business model is certainly one worth keeping an eye on for brands.

Via - NY Times

Lots Of Product-Related Tweets

Having analysed over 500 000 tweets, Pennsylvania State University researchers Jim Jansen concluded that around 20% of them disseminates some kind of product-related information.

Jansen and his team looked for tweets mentioning a brand and why the brand was mentioned - to inform others, express a view on the brand or something else - and found that people were using tweets to connect with the products.

According to the press release, "with about six million active users daily and predictions of more than 20 million users by the end of the year, Twitter has become the next big thing on the Web."

With businesses starting to make profits from the use of Twitter - both in terms of sales and as a brand-building tool - the micro-blogging tool could see increased adoption in future. Imagine your brand reaching a potential of 6 million per day, can any brand afford to ignore this free channel?

Via - Penn State University