Ad Chat: Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches (Evolution)

I hadn’t planned to talk about the new Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches ad campaign but I couldn’t help but chat about it with a few Google+ friends and  bringing up my  love of the 2006 award winning Evolution campaign. Anyway, while Sketches nowhere near as good as Evolution, I like some element of the campaign enough to share it here.

Real Beauty Sketches

Evolution

The Making Of Evolution Of Dove (I just found this “making of”, it looks like a bad copy but I can’t find a better version to use)

(note: cartoonist and television producer of “Producing Parker” Stephanie Betts play the “pretty, but ordinary girl” in the ad)

Stephanie Betts‘s Kids Screen Summit bio:

“VP Kids Development, DHX Media

Lucky Go Daddy nerd @JesseHeiman kissed Victoria Secret’s Model after working hard

Behind the scene Pix (Click to see): How +Maria Quiban ”actually” :) kiss actor Jesse Heiman (who kissed Victoria’s Secret model Bar Refaeli)

Thanks to +Maria Quiban +FOX 11 Los Angeles  for an  #epic  hangout withactor Jesse Heiman who got to kiss Victoria’s Secret model Bar Refaeli in that GoDaddy “Perfect Match” ad!  #superbowl2013  Go Daddy “Perfect Match – Bar Refaeli kissing Jesse Heiman” Super Bowl 2013 commercial

P.S. Most people just want to think “What a lucky guy?! People have no idea Jesse Heiman has been an actor (working as extras and other roles) for 12 years and has an extensive resume!

I love this quote, ““Ben Hogan said, ‘Golf is a game of luck, the more I practice, the luckier I get.’ The harder you work, the luckier you are.” Yes, before you attribute others’ success on “luck”, work hard, very hard. You may then earned the “luck” to experience Louis Pasteur’s “Chance favors the prepared mind.” yourself one day. I work very hard to get lucky. Wish me luck (or success)! :)

Fox 11 Google+ Hangout: Jesse Heiman The Go Daddy Nerd Talks About Kissing Bar Rafaeli

Reference links:

- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/go-daddy-super-bowl-nerd-kiss-ad-biggest-sales-day-ever_n_2623541.html

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Refaeli

Oreo Super Bowl Power Outage Twitter Ad campaign – Chat & Analysis

“This is an opportunity. The entire world is watching and there is nothing on. So  quickly, everyone pull together a design, a caption, the folks from Oreo were in the room, and we got something out in just a few minutes [kempton's note: 360i was ready in only 5 mins after the power outage but waited for 5 more mins to confirm people were safe before the tweet].“ - Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i (WSJ Video interview, Feb 4th, 2013)

I LOVE smart Ad campaign especially during the Sunday surprised/not-so-surprised Super Bowl Power #fail. Great job @Oreo with its Super Bowl Power Outage Twitter Ad campaign! As I was telling a prospective client recently, the best ads are often the ones, once you paid to get it created, you don’t little to get it spread because people are sharing it as content!

It was my pleasure the Monday morning after Superbowl to host an event to have an insightful chat with Kim Beasley and Trev Warth to specifically talk about the very successful Oreo’s “Power Out? No problem.” tweet campaign. Here is a video of our chat.

Oreo Super Bowl Power Outage Twitter Ad campaign – Chat & Analysis

References:

Official blog post post account by 360i: “How Oreo Won the Social Media Bowl with a Single Piece of Content“

- WSJ Video interview, Feb 4th, 2013: “ How Oreo Stole the Super Bowl Spotlight - A quick response from Oreo’s social media turned a timely tweet about the power outage into the brand’s most successful social media message yet. Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i, joins digits.“

- Oreo’s “Power Out? No problem.” tweet

- 360i Company site

- 360i leadership

- Cool tweet by Adam Kerj, Chief Creative Officer of 360i

Why are @IKEACanada and Leo Burnett silent in global trending Twitter #ikeamonkey?

I wrote humourously about #ikeamonkey in my article “Top 10 Reasons why Monkey Darwin shops at Ikea & No charges by T.O. police!” so I won’t repeat those points here. In this article, I will take a more serious look at the business side of things.

I’m first of all puzzled and wondering “Why is @IKEACanada silent during global trending Twitter #ikeamonkey ?” I see people from around the world on Twitters write and write about #ikeamonkey. And the media outlets not just in Canada but from around the world are also turning this into a viral discussion! But then paradoxically, I see the @IKEACanada account (yes, the official verified IKEA Canada Twitter account) being completely silent on #ikeamonkey! Why is the IKEA Canada social media tweeting nothing about #ikeamonkey? And, more seriously, why is the Toronto-based Leo Burnett, IKEA’s creative agency of record (since March 2011) NOT convincing IKEA Canada to do something creative and fun to engage all the people tweeting about IKEA!

Questions for Leo Burnett & IKEA Canada

Why is Judy John, chief creative officer, Leo Burnett and her team doing nothing? Are there heavy resistent from IKEA Canada? Now, may be they are doing something but in the Twitter age inside a perfect viral storm, one viral #ikeamonkey day is easily more than 100 human days! Since monkey Darwin was first spotted by shoppers at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, so one viral #ikeamonkey day (100 human days) has officially passed without something fun or engaging from @IKEACanada or Leo Burnett! What a waste of social media positive energy.

Lets have some fun IKEA Canada & Leo Burnett

There are many ways to engage and have fun. I spent a few quick minutes to come up with a few. Feel free to post and share yours in the comment.

Here are my free #ikeamonkey ideas/advices 2 @IKEACanada & @LeoBurnett #hint #youshouldreallypayme4myideas #yyc #canada

Some fun ones:

How about: You’r right! @IKEACanada our furnitures are a ton of fun to monkey with! #ikeamonkey

How about: Yes, @IKEACanada We let you monkey with your furnitures with no extra charges! #ikeamonkey

This one is just a nice way to thank monkey Darwin for all the positive & free publicity (good karma):

How About: Thx #ikeamonkey 4 your visit @IKEACanada We are donating $1,000 to your new home Storybook Farms Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland

At this point, some thoughtful social engagement by @IKEACanada about #ikeamonkey will tremendous good for IKEA as a global brand.

Now, I don’t mean to criticize Leo Burnett (Toronto) too harshly as I think they have done some great work over the years like this one, “Ikea’s Cardboard Outdoor Posters Fold Down Into Moving Boxes Take one and start packing.” But I just can’t help but think about the wasted positive worldwide fun & positive attention to IKEA (not just IKEA Canada). What a waste! I feel like someone dumping tons and tons of preciously liquid gold randomly into ocean, once lost, they can’t be found again! It sucks!

Update: I rethink a little, since this is an article about social media, I will wait & see if @IKEACanada or @LeoBurnett see my Twitter tags re this article or do anything today. If I have time or want to do a followup article on this, I will then call up Leo Burnett and see if I can get a comment.

Note: This post is cross-posted by me at examiner.

“Chairs Are Like Facebook” #fail Wieden & Kennedy Ad for FB to honor users

Wieden & Kennedy is a great Ad company that bought us the exceptionally cool “Old Spice Man campaign” in 2010 but its lastest “Chairs Are Like Facebook“ Ad to celebrate it had reached its billion-user milestone has left this reporter and many people scratching our collective heads. To many people, Facebook is a Lovemark to them but this ad isn’t one fit for a Lovemark.

Rebecca Van Dyck (FB), former exec for Apple and Levi’s and hired by Facebook in Feb 2012 as its head of consumer marketing, told AdAge, (emphasis added)

“What we’re trying to articulate is that we as humans exist to connect, and we at Facebook to facilitate and enable that process.” “We make the tools and services that allow people to feel human, get together, open up. Even if it’s a small gesture, or a grand notion – we wanted to express that huge range of connectivity and how we interact with each other.“

Ms Van Dyck continued, (emphasis added)

“We started thinking about this a year ago and approached Wieden & Kennedy to help us craft a message that articulated our values and who we are. It wasn’t until recently that we realized we were close to reaching 1 billion, and we thought what an amazing way to honor our users, to create this piece for them.“

For an ad that aspires to articulate “our values and who we are“, the least it should is to touch us emotionally, be meaningful, and may be have it stand the test of time. I’ve watched the Ad quite a few times now to make sure my comments express my feelings fairly. And I’ve also transcribed the words from the voiceover of “Chairs Are Like Facebook“ so I can read it in full and you can see for yourself.

[red wood chair suspending in mid-air in a forest]

“Chairs. Chairs are made so that people can sit down and take a break.

Anyone can sit on a chair and if the chair is a large enough they can sit down together and tell jokes or make up stories or just listen.

Chairs are for people and that’s why chairs are like Facebook.

Doorbells. Airplanes. Bridges. These are things people used to get together. So they can open up and connect about ideas and music.

Another things people share: Dance Floors. Basketball. A Great Nation.

A Great Nation is something people build so they can have a place where they belong.

The Universe. It is vast and dark. And makes us wonder if we are alone. So may be the reason we make all of these things is to remind ourselves that we are not.“

[facebook] in white appears on a black screen.

Reading the about FaceBook Ad copy, it just seems, to me, totally disposable and ready to be thrown away next week/month and ready to be replaced by something flashy, different and new. In stark contrast, Apple’s timeless “Think Different” Ad campaign is so impressive a copy that I’ve personally heard it read out loud in wedding ceremony! Yes, people love it that much! As this reporter wrote in 2011 when the Steve Jobs biography was published, the voice (someone has to read the copy) of the voice over deserves tremendous attention! And I don’t know what happened in the Facebook voice over casting?! Anyway, here is what Steve Jobs went through in his struggle to decide whose voice to use.

“Jobs couldn’t decide whether to use the version with his voice or to stick with Dreyfuss. [...] When morning came, Jobs called and told them to use the Dreyfuss version. “If we use my voice, when people find out they will say it’s about me,” he told Clow. “It’s not. It’s about Apple.”“

Have a listen and watch of the following two versions of “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” videos.

Steve Jobs narrates The Crazy Ones (video, not often heard)

Richard Dreyfuss narrates The Crazy Ones (video, this is the official one many people have seen)

(note: By the way, I totally agree with Steve’s decision and rationale here.)

To this reporter, the normally cool Wieden & Kennedy has a big #fail in “Chairs Are Like Facebook” Ad. What do you think?

Cross posted by me at examiner.com

McDonald’s Big Mac Commercial 1984 – Cantonese trumped English campaign

The following are videos of 1984 McDonald’s Big Mac commercials in US (I believe) and Hong Kong respectively. To me, the Cantonese campaign actually trumped the English one! The HK commercial actually came as a part of a really smart campaign. And in hindsight, it can also be said that it was part of a campaign to “brainwash” HK kids with the virtues of Big Mac! How so? Well, HK kids were asked to memorize and recite a promo about the virtues of Big Mac in less than six seconds (see following Cantonese ad), in exchange for a FREE Big Mac!

I and many HK kids recited the promo in less than six seconds with flying colours! I didn’t know then, but in hindsight if this campaign didn’t fall under “brainwashing” I don’t know what would. Yes, in case you ask, after all these years, I still can recite the Cantonese Hong Kong Big Mac promo in less than five seconds (not six)! In Canada (I am less sure about US), we now have advertising/marketing guidelines as to what we can do to advertise to young children, and I am happy to say there are forms of advertising we don’t allow any company to do to influence the mind of young ones.

P.S. Setting aside ethics and morality for a moment, the Hong Kong advertising/marketing team did one heck of a job in improving upon the original US ad concept. Translating the language and culture of an ad is almost impossible but improving upon was really pushing everything one level up! Great job even I had to set aside ethics and morality to praise the original 1984 HK McDonald’s Big Mac team.

English “1984 McDonald’s Big Mac Commercial”

Cantonese “香港電視廣告 – 麥當勞: 巨無霸急口令 (1984年)”

In Chinese/Cantonese: 隻層牛肉巨無霸, 醬汁洋蔥夾青瓜, 芝士生菜加芝麻, 人人食過笑哈哈

McDonald’s “Our Food. Your Questions.” campaign finally gets some love

After a #fail Twitter #McDstories hashtag campaign earlier this year (see “#McFail! McDonalds’ Twitter promotion backfires as users hijack #McDstories hashtag to share fast food horror stories“), McDonald’s is finally getting some positive buzz for its “Our Food. Your Questions.” campaign in Canada. One factor to judge this campaign is the over 5 million YouTube views in less than 10 days. I will actually go further than “buzz” and say McDonald’s is finally getting some “love”.

Behind the scenes at a McDonald’s photo shoot

Fast food, especially McDonald’s fast food, has received some decidedly bad press (some say rightfully) when the world has become more health aware. It is a breath of fresh air when Hope Bagozzi, director of marketing at McDonald’s Canada, not only put herself in the center of a marketing campaign that can blow up quickly, but have a team of dedicated people & experts in answering some serious questions from people. Here are some questions and screen captures from tonight.

Charles S. from Concord, ON asked “There is a concern that animals are breed to reach a maximum weight in the shortest time. At what age is your livestock put to slaughter?“

Madison L. from North Battleford, SK asked: “Is the chicken real meat?“

Laura B. from Toronto, ON asked: “How is it that a McDonalds burger does not rot?“

Nikki L. from Blackfalds, AB asked: “Does Canada use “pink slime”?“

Sarah H. from Brampton, ON asked: “Why should I eat anything that has ingredients like “dimethylpolysiloxane” embedded into it?“

As you can see, the above sample questions are not “softball” questions at all. Not being a food expert or medical professional, it may be hard for us to decide if the answers provided are “justifiable” or “acceptable” but at least McDonald’s is posting these questions and giving an attempt in answering them.

Duncan Fulton, SVP Canadian Tire, talks about cutting edge advertising/e-commerce technologies at #banff2012

It was extremely insightful and illuminating for me to listen to and interview Duncan Fulton, Senior Vice President of Communications and Corporate Affairs, Canadian Tire, at 2012 Banff World Media Festival. Before Duncan‘s presentation, I frankly would never had associated Canadian Tire with “cutting-edge” e-commerce (or as Duncan puts it in the presentation, simply “commerce”).

Duncan explains and share his experiences with using Sport Chek (a Canadian Tire owned and operated brand via FGL Sports) to experiment with new/cool social media, Google/YouTube and Facebook advertising/marketing campaigns. I agree with Duncan that the best way (when everything is so new) is simply by “trail and error” to figure what actually works and what doesn’t. Find out what contributes to the bottom-lines and makes money and what actually destroys shareholders’ equity. Once what works are found (via Sport Chek), then applying the lessons learned to Canadian Tire as a whole. Very interesting real world examples.

My interview with Duncan Fulton, SVP Canadian Tire, at #banff2012

Ducan’s talk at 2012 Banff World Media Festival

Here is Duncan’s official 2012 Banff World Media Festival bio,

“Duncan Fulton
Senior Vice President of Communications and Corporate Affairs
Canadian Tire Corporation

Duncan Fulton is Senior Vice President of Communications and Corporate Affairs at Canadian Tire Corporation & Chief Marketing Officer of the Forzani Group, including mega sport retailers like Sport Chek and Sports Experts. Duncan is a member of the Canadian Tire and Forzani Group executive teams and works across all the company’s business areas, including Canadian Tire Retail, Automotive, Part Source, Petroleum, Mark’s, Financial Services and the company’s charity, Jumpstart.

Duncan currently represents the company as a board member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and is also on the Board of One X One,a non-profit foundation committed to supporting, preserving and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, Haiti and Africa.

Before joining Canadian Tire, Duncan was the General Manager and Senior Partner of the Toronto flagship office of international public relations company, Fleishman-Hillard Communications. During his seven years with Fleishman-Hillard, Duncan led and worked on the company’s largest accounts across multiple practice areas. As a key strategist within the Omnicom network, Duncan played an important role in multi-agency campaigns, bringing together experts in advertising, social, experiential, direct to consumer, and paid and earned media.

Prior to Fleishman-Hillard, Duncan was a communication advisor and press secretary for Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Duncan was also Communications Director for the Minister responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Press Secretary for the Hon. Dalton McGuinty – now Ontario’s Premier – and communication assistant for Premier Frank McKenna.”

Conversation with Nikesh Arora, Google SVP, Chief Business Officer #banff2012

Have a watch of this insightful Conversation with Nikesh Arora, Google SVP, Chief Business Officer at 2012 Banff World Media Festival.

Here is Nikesh’s official bio from Google’s management page,

“Nikesh Arora Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer

Nikesh oversees all revenue and customer operations, as well as marketing and partnerships. Since joining Google in 2004, he has held several positions with the company. Most recently, he led Google’s global direct sales operations. He also developed and managed the company’s operations in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets and was responsible for creating and expanding strategic partnerships in those regions for the benefit of Google’s growing number of users and advertisers.

Prior to joining Google, he was chief marketing officer and a member of the management board at T-Mobile Europe. While there, he spearheaded all product development, terminals, brand and marketing activities of

ideas from Saatchi & Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts

Saatchi & Saatchi‘s Kevin Roberts on Ideas as the Currency of the Future (speech delivered to Wharton students)

Saatchi & Saatchi CEO – Kevin Roberts – Manage Innovation

Kevin Roberts speech (CEO Worldwide Saatchi and Saatchi) – International University in Geneva

Kevin has sometimes used variations of the UBC neurologist Donald Calne quote (emphasis added),

“The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions.“

Paul Chard – The most interesting person at #banff2012 to me

My good friend Gingi Baki asked me: who is the most interesting person you met at Banff 2012? Tough question! You see, I have met television creatives & luminaries like Chuck Lorre, Glen Mazzara,  Jeanne Beker, Mike Fleiss, Terence Winter and I can easily put any one of them on my “most interesting person” list. But if I do that, I will be doing a diservice to you. What would you gain if I name any one of them? Nothing! Because you know them already. Instead I will share with you a name that, unless you are in the “business“, you may not heard of.

To me, the most interesting person I met in #banff2012 is Paul Chard, Global Head of Content of MediaCom.

Paul is the brain behind bringing the international format Got Talent into the almost impossible land of China (rebranded to be China’s Got Talent 中国达人秀) which was a 15 months effort and lots of negotiation (as Paul wrote, ”co-operation and partnership with IPCN, Shanghai Media Group and format owners Freemantle and SYCO“). China’s Got Talent is one of the first TV formats that got into China. I actually saw widespread popularity first hand at the time as many of the amazing China’s Got Talent videos were shared by my friends on their social networks. (for more details, see Paul’s 2010 blog and ICPN page with video clip)

Paul Chard talked about brokering “Got Talent” format into China #Banff2012

My one-on-one interview with Paul at #banff2012

Paul’s on stage talk & interview at #banff2012

The idea of learning from interesting & insightful people

Kevin Roberts

I half-jokingly asked Paul to not hold it against me that I’ve been a big fan of Kevin Roberts (blog) (CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi). You see, I’ve been reading Kevin‘s ideas/writings since the late 80s. You may not realize but the parent companies of Paul and Kevin are the globally competing WPP Group and Publicis Group respectively. (update: Paul showcased the #awesome T-Mobile Royal Wedding video in his presentation, and I just discovered via MBA (mediaCom beyond advertising) that the campaign is a team effort including mediaCom, Saatchi & Saatchi, and others).

Gary Carter

I stumbled upon a talk by Gary Carter at the 2007 nextMedia/Banff World TV Festival (yes, 5 years ago!) and his insights were amazingly deep. Since then, I’ve attended all of Gary’s talk I can and try to pay close attention to what Gary does and related news, including his recent resignation as FremantleMedia’s Chief Operating Officer. I am sure whatever Gary does next will be worth my attention to know and learn from. (note: Gary came back to Banff in 2009, here is a great list of Gary’s 2009 clips, see The Susan Boyle Phenomenon, and FremantleMedia Experimental)

Paul Chard

Which brings back to Paul. And I am going to share with you a secret trick I use. I use Google Alerts to track and try to learn from interesting & insightful people. I am adding Paul to my Google Alerts list along the likes of Kevin and Gary. In life, I believe an important way to better ourselves is to learn from the best.

Kevin wrote years ago, “Ideas are the currency of the future.” And the likes of Kevin, Gary, and Paul are “rich people” going by the quote. And William Gibson’s quote “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” enlightens me to realize that the best way to look into the future is to look and see what “rich people” like Kevin, Gary, and Paul think and do!

P.S. Who is your “most interesting #banff2012 person“? Please share with your reasons in the comment section.

*******

Here is the official Banff session description.

“Paul Chard, Global Head of Content, MediaCom: How Content is Changing the Business
Paul Chard is a true industry veteran, getting his start over three decades ago, in 1980. Today, as the Global Head of Content at MediaCom, Chard is responsible for media sponsorship, sport, branded entertainment and advertiser funding, social media and emerging platforms. In 2010, Chard brokered the successful “Got Talent” format into China and saw it become the biggest foreign reality show ever screened in the country. Having seen this industry from every angle, Chard carries with him a wealth of knowledge and insight. Join Chard as he reflects on his career and looks forward to the future of the entertainment industry in this exclusive opening keynote.”

Do Hello Kitty and SpongeBob create instant Lovemarks for Heinz?

Hello Kitty and SpongeBob are loved by many and easily qualified as Lovemarks. Now, I am curious of the commercial benefits of licensing the images of Hello Kitty and SpongeBob to put on pasta products. May be all Heinz wants is to put their late coming products stand out a little from a large field of competitors and that benefit alone is worth the price of the licensing fees. What do you think?

Are Hello Kitty and SpongeBob creating instant Lovemarks for Heinz?

Catch up with Bill Buxton

Bill Buxton is one of the smartest technologists I know of. Once in a while, I try to “catch up” with Bill by finding some of his online presentations/videos to watch. I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I do.

2011 TIFF Nexus: Locative Media Day Keynote: Bill Buxton on Whereable Media

Bill Buxton presents at AdWeek 2011

Bill Buxton speaks about technology’s effect on advertising at AdWeek 2011

See my previous post about Bill here, here, here, here (video), and here (video).

Also check out tiff.net/nexus. Here is an intro video.

smart thief caught on cam

Smart thief caught on cam. I used to pay to watch stuff like this! :) 3.6+ million views in less than 20 days, not bad!

Kevin Roberts @ nextMEDIA Toronto

Earlier this month, Kevin was asked to speak about Lovemarks in Toronto, he shared his insight in his blog article “Stand Up The Storytellers“.

From BNN (video), “What works in advertising: with Kevin Roberts of Saatchi & Saatchi“

“What makes some brands inspirational, while others struggle? BNN’s Kim Parlee and Andrew Bell find out from Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi.”

Kevin talks Apple (iPhone, iPad) vs Blackberry. “[RIM] is out of touch with the consumers. They rely very much on matrix, research, and facts. [...] The miss how the consumers feel.” I had a lot of fun seeing Kevin chat with the two hosts.

Enjoy a 53-Year-Old Internal Memo Penned Leo Burnett

Have fun, enjoy. Read a 53-Year-Old Internal Memo Penned Leo Burnett – Legendary Adman’s Musings on Client Loyalty [HT AdAge for the article & the memo]

a

2011 Top 10 Ads

It is that time of the year to pick Top 10s. Here is my list of 10 favourite ads in 2011. Please share your favourite ad or ads in the comment section.

The T-Mobile Royal Wedding - who would forget this timely and well-produced ad? :)

Maria Aragon – Born This Way (Cover) by Lady Gaga – A self-promotional video by the 7-year-old Maria. A video that connected her with Lady Gaga and the rest is history and legend. I say a win-win for Maria and Gaga.

BORN THIS WAY – Lady Gaga performs with Maria Aragon live in Toronto (March 3rd) – One small promise kept by Lady Gaga has helped Maria fulfill some of her dreams for sure.

Motorola – Empower the People – Good ad, too bad the product was priced too high and the product never sell too well. [blogged in Feb 2011]

NextBigThing 60 Final – Samsung

Lenovo “Boot Or Bust” Air Drop – Turning something as boring/technical as a 10 seconds boot time into a dramatic ad with its “behind the scene” making of video is definitely a great idea executed well.

Zeitgeist 2011: Year In Review – A great way to advertise a whole bunch of Google products in a way that you want to watch the video! Nicely done.

Time Is Love 2011電視廣告「這三年間」- 2分鐘電視劇場版 - (Chinese ad, love this short version)

Google Chrome: Lady Gaga - Google: “The Web Is What You Make of It” Agency: Google Creative Lab Launch date: May 2 Views: 21.2 million [HT AdAge]

Google Chrome: Justin Bieber - Google: “The Web Is What You Make of It” Agency: Google Creative Lab Launch date: May 2 Views: 21.2 million [HT AdAge]

Jennifer Lopez – Papi - Fiat: “Life Is Best When Driven” Agency: Doner Launch date: Sept. 12 Views: 27.4 million. I didn’t like it at first but have grown to enjoy it by the end of the 5+ minutes music video/ad. [HT AdAge]

Kevin Roberts, CEO worldwide Saatchi and Saatchi keynotes nextMEDIA Toronto Dec 6th, 2011

You see, I am a big fan of Kevin Roberts‘s ideas (KR Connect). How big a fan? Well, five years ago in 2006, I read and reviewed his two books Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands and The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution. I even spent the time to research and create the initial Wikipedia pages for Kevin and Lovemarks! I was so proud and excited when a friend asked my help on his marketing assignment which involved class lectures in, you guessed it, Lovemarks!

So it is very cool to see Kevin coming to Canada to share his insights even, sadly, I can’t be in Toronto to attend in person. So if you are in Toronto next week, register for Dec 6th one day pass to hear Kevin (or better, attend both 5th & 6th for the full conference experience)!

The following is from the nextMEDIA Toronto 2011 (Dec 5 – 6) press release.

“CEO worldwide for creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi, Kevin Roberts is a marketing pioneer with a heart for nostalgia and has been bringing popular brands to market and straight into consumers’hearts since the early 1970s. Roberts has worked with large-scale international clients such as Carlsberg, TMobile, General Mills, Procter & Gamble, Sony Ericsson, JCPenney, Toyota and VISA Europe among others.

Roberts is the author of a number of best-selling books, including Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, in which he describes the emotional connections we create with the brands we’ve grown to love.

So, here’s the real question: How does your brand achieve Lovemark status? Well, fear not, Roberts is heading to nextMEDIA Toronto this year to help you solve that very problem.

Named one of the top ten ideas of the decade in 2010 by advertising and marketing news website AdAge, Lovemarks transcend brands, leaving their iconic symbols emblazoned in the hearts and memories of consumers worldwide.

Join Kevin Roberts at nextMEDIA Toronto 2011 for an informative keynote session about hisLovemarks theory, offering crucial insight into the future of marketing and an analysis of the way we identify with our favourite brands.”

Sadly @googlenexus challenge shows Google Galaxy Nexus has Logic but lacks LOVE in its DNA – Challenge #1 solution explained

Because I am looking to buy a new phone, I was initially excited by the @googlenexus challenge: 10 chances in 10 days to win a Galaxy Nexus and even retweeted it. [HT MS] I thought it was a cool way to generate buzz for the new Galaxy Nexus. But then my excitement quickly faded once I saw and then struggled for hours with challenge #1 (see above message). Which lead me to think about the problem with this promotional challenge #1. See later this post for my challenge #1 solution explanation.

Logic or Love?

In the Galaxy Nexus Oct 19th launch video, a presenter wondered out loud and wished that Galaxy Nexus is more LOVED! Unfortunately @googlenexus challenge #1 clearly showed, to me, Google Galaxy Nexus has Logic but lacks LOVE in DNA. How so?

If Galaxy Nexus is to be loved, it can’t just cater to the geeks (or super geeks)! Should a promotional campaign be enjoyable and solvable by your average Grace & Gary? Or should the challenged be fun and solvable only by super geeks? To be honest, who the heck had any idea what the beep this picture mean? I was pissed off enough that I tweeted with the #fail tag and used “stupid” to describe 99.9% of us fans,

* Is @googlenexus too smart for its own good? Why make its first #GalaxyNexus Challenge so hard that 99.99% of its fans look stupid? #fail

* Hey @googlenexus We are just happy fans trying to have fun & win a $500 #GalaxyNexus phone right? This is not a job app for #google ? #fail

You see, the challenge was hard enough that Google had to post a hint! Given the hint, I looked up the Flag semaphore and soon realized there can be many combinatorial variations and one can’t really solve the problem easily without spending a ton of time or even writing a computer program!

One such non sensible interpretations of the symbols I came up with is,

(1,2) to indicate number, then “689 944” then (1,3) to indicate letters, then “PICO ALIE CHILAM“

Challenge #1 solution explained

What I managed to do was only to verify someone’s answer! For beep sake, the challenge shouldn’t be this hard that it frustrated 99.9% of people who tried to give it a shot!

* #GalaxyNexus is well-traveled, coming to @googlenexus from What did J Cook call Hawaii

Process to verify solution:

Converting pictures to Symbols (from left to right)

(note: top flag is the position 1, then clockwise count from 2 to 8 to convert all flag positions)

Symbol #1 (1,2,3,5,6,6,7,8); Symbol #2 (1,1,5,5,6,8); Symbol #3 (1,3)

Symbol #4 (1,5,6,7,7,8,8,8); Symbol #5 (2,2,5,5,6,6,6,8); Symbol #6 (2,3,5,5,6,6,6,6,6,7,8,8)

Verification

“What did J Cook call Hawaii“

WHAT – W (2,3) H (6,7) A (5,6) T (8,1) [Sources of confusions: (5,6) can also stand for the number 1, also (1,2) can also stand for an instruction for "Numerals"]

DID – D (5,1) I (6,8) D (5,1) [Sources of confusions: All these combinations can also stand for numbers.]

J (1,3)  [Source of confusion: This time, (1,3) also stand to indication coming are Letters!]

COOK (  (5,8) (7,8) (7,8) (1,6) )

CALL ( (5,8) (5,6) (6,2) (6,2) )

HAIWAII ( (6,7) (5,6) (2,3) (5,6) (6,8) (6,8) )

Challenge #2 – Any more love?

Well, challenge #2 has now been posted,

* “Challenge 2: Make something geeky & edible. Include #deliciousness & @googlenexus in your submission“

* “Challenge 2 entries evaluated on creativity, originality & use of humor. Rules: http://goo.gl/5dpAK. Can’t wait to see what you concoct!“

At least contestants will be judged on their “creativity, originality & use of humor” but the challenge itself stills want entries to be “geeky“!

iPhone vs. Google Nexus

I think it is safe to say iPhone is loved my many people. People don’t LOVE things logically! And I just can’t imagine Apple will be insane enough to try a contest like challenge #1. Sadly, the @googlenexus challenge #1 shows Google Galaxy Nexus seems to be unable or unwilling to broaden its appeal to the general public. If you are not a geek (actually they mean super geek), we are not interested in catering to you or have you interested in our new phone!

It is hard to inject LOVE into Google’s DNA when it is so much built on logic and calculations.

Steve Jobs biography review/”best of” – Think Different, Jobs as iCEO

I am adding “Chapter 26 Think Different, Jobs as iCEO” to my Steve Jobs biography review/”best of” series.

Think Different has a very special place in my heart. I wrote this many years ago,

“Here’s to the crazy ones”,
a timeless Apple Computer advertisement that showcases
the core DNA of ideas Revolutionaries.
We aspire to Think Different

This chapter now completes my knowledge of the back story re the creation of the Think Different campaign. For this alone is probably worth the price of the book for me as I’ve spent many hours (without success) to find out the info in this chapter.

See is my personal “best of” in the “Think Different, Jobs as iCEO” chapter (click to read the high res capture).

To me, this excerpt in the Think Different chapter is very telling in Jobs’ thinking (emphasis added),

Jobs couldn’t decide whether to use the version with his voice or to stick with Dreyfuss. [...] When morning came, Jobs called and told them to use the Dreyfuss version. “If we use my voice, when people find out they will say it’s about me,” he told Clow. “It’s not. It’s about Apple.”

Steve Jobs narrates The Crazy Ones

Richard Dreyfuss narrates The Crazy Ones

Walter Isaacson talks about “The Leadership of Steve Jobs“