His Royal Highness, the Burger King, is finally winging his way to NZ! And it’s about time. Y&R has murdered that account for a decade or more, shooting TV ads about monkeys testing burgers and rugby girls on horseback. Meanwhile BK in the US has been doing a lot of good work, including branded Xbox games featuring the King for only $3.99. And now Colenso looks set to go down the same route. The TVC leaked so far looks pretty slick and leaves me wanting more. The only thing I found a little lame was the ‘reality video’ on Facebook (the one where the King arrives at the airport). Posting such faux user content is just treating punters like mugs. It’s an AD CAMPAIGN guys – treat it that way! Let’s hope BK uses this fresh start to improve its actual in-store experience – some of the stores are pretty grubby. (What’s with that 50s theme anyway?)
I know what you’re thinking – how can I sneak off to the football on Valentine’s Day without getting red carded from the bedroom? Well fear not, for the lads at Puma have brainstormed a truly romantic gesture to keep you onside with your better half. Simply dedicate this charming love song via Facebook or email and prepare for the red carpet treatment when you get home. The Puma ‘HardChorus’ ad, ‘featuring’ a motley collection of Tottenham supporters, will air during TV coverage of the Bolton v Tottenham FA Cup tie.
Hand on heart I can honestly say I’m not one for train wrecks – in fact I turn away when cringe TV comes on – but I can’t resist this lesson in how not to do Facebook, courtesy of Waiwera Water. Check out the response from the company when an unsuspecting (?) customer raises doubts about the quality of its bottled water. On top of this, many of the posts elsewhere seem little more than brand boasting, a tactic that hardly lends itself to genuine two-way dialogue with followers. Does anyone else feel there are way too many brands on Facebook and Twitter for no great reason, or am I the only one? (I’m thinking brands that represent low involvement purchases in particular.)
I love simple, cheap ideas that work their buns off, like this one for the opening of the new IKEA store in Malmö. The guys at Forsman & Bodenfors created a Facebook campaign that invited people to tag products for their chance to win. Now the stuff IKEA comes out with is hardly Charles Eames but Swedes love it and word about the new store – and interactive IKEA catalogue (extra brownie points F & B) – soon spread. I guess this is a more sophisticated, more engaging (and more sincere – i.e. legit) version of those junk emails that promise a reward if you forward it to 10 friends. I got one just the other day promising me a brand new Sony laptop. Yeah right.
Looks like the whole augmented reality/motion capture thing is really gaining momentum, judging by this new application from Zugara. Basically, it lets you ‘try on’ clothing while it tracks your movements so you can interact with the site’s content. No keyboard. No mouse. The agency says: “It’s not a secret that friends/family recommendations influence a consumer’s purchase decision and beat any other ‘consumer touchpoint’. Now, we can help brands empower their consumers to integrate their friends and family into their online shopping process like never before.” Though, from a mere shopping POV, I prefer what KnickerPicker did two years ago. Not because it’s lingerie but because it lets women select a model of the same size who then walks up and down, revealing a 3D, 360-degree view of how the garments really fit. Perhaps the augmented reality technology might be better suited to solid objects like glasses and furniture.
Becks is giving away beer on Facebook. Nice. I wonder how many punters will be converted to the brand. Either way it looks like a good money spinner for bars – two of us spent $30 on finger food at La Zeppa. The only downer with the mobile vouchers is the fact most cash registers aren’t bluetooth enabled, so the poor old barman has to key the 16-digit code into the eftpos terminal every time.
That is the question for companies like Wal-Mart that create profiles only to abandon them soon after. If you’re in two minds about the next step for your brand, you might like to catch a recent post by Igor Beuker. It’s full of interesting titbits like the fact the H&M Hyves page now has 250,000 members, even though the company ignores it completely. There will always be exceptions to the norm like this one but, as Igor points out, you generally get out what you put in to online communities.
I like the idea of brands interacting with customers on an everyday level rather than simply relying on big TVC campaigns. It seems to make them more relevant to people’s lives. A while ago, Vodafone UK asked friends on Facebook what they would do if they ruled the world. One guy said he’d wear skinny jeans and give everyone an ice cream. So Vodafone made it happen, hiring three ice cream vans to drive round Swindon.
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