Pen company Pilot has launched a web application that lets you create your own handwritten font. How cool is that! I think it’s spot on for the brand – electronic communication certainly lacks the personal connection we feel when we receive a handwritten letter. I haven’t tried the application yet because I don’t own a printer but judging by the video the default email template includes a big ugly pen. How subtle. Many brands go too far in wanting credit for their good deeds. Pilot just adds to the list.
DDB Canada has come up with the idea of live Twitter murals to catch the attention of busy Americans in New York, Chicago and LA. Maybe Tourism New Zealand would have been better off doing this kind of stuff rather than blowing $300,000 a day on a giant rugby ball.
The producers of a bitter tonic water in Argentina recently gave jilted lovers the chance to immortalise their revenge by posting their feelings on a website. From these the best 72 messages were published in an illustrated book released on…you guessed it…Valentine’s Day. I rather admire the originality of this project, which demonstrates a certain entrepreneurial flair (over 2,000 copies were sold in three weeks), as well as the crossover between real and digital worlds.
Take a look at the future of publishing (possibly). Adobe talks as if the new iPad is the best thing since sliced bread but can it really add that much more to users’ online experience? Rather than merely sexing up the way titles are packaged, I think publishers need to focus on more new ways to truly engage users, be it journalists replying to comments on every story, asking users what they want, giving them buying power, creating targeted events or finding a better solution to banner advertising.
Oh who to believe! AKQA is shouting about results for its VW iPhone application – 4 million downloads plus an ’80% increase in leads, test drive and quote requests without a print ad, banner or broadcast spot in sight’. But compared to what exactly? One Facebook fan, Paul Bartlett, makes some interesting points in a post on the agency’s wall. Personally, I hope the stats are as flattering as they sound – I’m trying to get my own app across the line at the moment.
The Kookmeyer Institute learned a lot in 2009, perhaps most of all from two websites for adidas.tv and 221B. The former made me realise that destination sites really do need to be supported by an integrated marketing strategy – be it a seeding campaign, above-the-line advertising, POS, swing tags or whatever – to drive traffic. Because if nobody sees it what’s the point? The latter made me reassess my approach to content. AKQA will probably win some craft award for its online game to promote the new Sherlock Holmes movie. But it’s so comprehensive that in appealing to the most diehard fans it might have lost the opportunity to hook borderline punters. Perhaps a better approach would have been to simplify the game and keep more users involved for longer. Interesting. I wonder if the guys at ViralBlog will get their hands on the stats and share some kind of report with us in the new year.
This is a year old but it’s the most engaging Christmas idea I’ve seen from an agency. Simply walk up to the Wieden + Kennedy office in London, get your photo taken as Santa or whoever and go online to create a personalised Christmas card! Much better than microwaves going off or, in the case of Hewlett Packard NZ,
a ‘12 days of convergence sing-a-long‘. You might also like to check out W + K’s advent calendar for 2009 (I tried but it wouldn’t open for me). PS Vimeo’s so much cooler than YouTube don’t you think, even if it’s not as popular. Not that it does anything better but it’s like buying adidas when everyone else is buying Nike (if you know what I mean). PPS Merry Christmas.
When you write a blog that nobody reads there has to be some sense of self-indulgence. Check out this music video by MC SpandX. I love it, love it, love it not least because I too hate those hipsters on their fixed wheel bikes.
Apparently one of the casualties of the recession is recycled waste, which continues to stockpile daily. Still, we have to believe (BELIEVE) we can make a difference. Download this software for PC or Mac and wait for the lovely chainsaw reminder the next time you press Ctrl + P.
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