What a phrase:
We’re now at the busy crossroads where globalization meets Web 2.0
But it’s true in a way, and it is what this article from business week titled „Children of the Web“ is all about. Plus a good case study of how Axe managed to fascinate the global youth with the tag line „boom chicka wah wah“, which was specifically aimed at being interculturally applicable for marketing.
Ok, this one will only be fun for those of you speaking German, but indeed it could actually be a clever viral stunt:
In total, it is a range of 10 videos (sofar) also found on the website Werben&Würgen, which seems to be made specifically for the videos making fun of the work environment of Becker, Brown & Hardy, an agency from New York, also located in Berlin. The website of Becker, Brown & Hardy already has a big notice up, denying any involvement in this, stating that they will take legal action against the creators of Werben&Würgen.
But who really is the creator? Is it Nolte & Lauth? They have PR statements on their website (opens PDF) claiming to support the website of Werben&Würgen. But it doesn’t really say how they support it…
The Website Werben&Würgen.de however is registered for Olaf Bauch, Ibob TGA, Usingen. That doesn’t help much, because whatever Ibob TGA is, their website does not yet show anything. And Olaf Bauch in Usingen seems to be an engineering bureau.
So, who is behind this? It does look like a cleverly made viral recruitment campaign for either (or both) of these agencies. Since the 10 clips have already taken us this far, I suppose (and hope) we’ll soon find out the rest about this…
In the meantime, enjoy the videos, they’re a lot of fun to watch!
And if anyone finds out what the real story of these videos is, let me know!
[Update: here and here are other sites actually stating that it is indeed a stunt by Becker, Brown and Hardy. I just wonder, how they got Nolte&Lauth in to participate? The two sources mentioned above wrote their posts well before N&L were brought into this. Or is N&L a fake agency? Or is it part of the BB&H Network? Anyway, the two sources say that even the main German Ad Newspapers fell for this, so I don’t feel so bad afterall…]
Whoever doubted that widgets can be a fantastic tool for marketing? Well, probably anybody who didn’t think that a widget can actually provide a fun „anything“ sponsored by a brand.
Here is a short article about a Red Bull Widget that seems to be the killer app for all those people bored at the office (during lunch break only, of course).
It is an online version of Rock / Paper / Scissors. You can play this via the widget against other people from the facebook network. Great idea!
This might be the start of a whole new stampede of marketing widgets on facebook (and others).
Trendscout and coolhunter Josh Spear about digital natives:
Much more interesting than the fact that he gives a speach on digital natives at the Google Zeitgeist conference is the fact that he seems to market himself effectively…
Pete Blackshaw and Max Kalehoff have put together a list of 10 principles for ad campaigns leveraging consumer generated content, which are, in short:
1. Connect The Program To Larger Business Goals
2. Keep It Authentic
3. Be Transparent
4. Encourage Advocacy
5. Empower Syndication
6. Tap The Long Tail
7. Capture The Moment
8. Be Consistent
9. Embrace Criticism And Deprecation
10. Move From Campaign To Platform
You can find details to each point either here or here.
I particularly liked the points about making sure that whatever you do fits into a wholistic strategy, as well as making sure that you take the possible long term effects into consideration. With all the hype around this topic, I sometimes fear this tends to be neglected…
Even though the discussion about the life after the 30 Sec. Spot continues, there are still some amazing examples of how TV advertising produces visible results.
There is a TV spot for German Telekom currently running in Germany, that is quite nicely done, a few nice special effects, absorbing visuals and surprising scene-cuts. But really nothing special.
Yet, the spot draws you in, fascinates you (well, at least me). And that’s mainly because of the song they’ve chosen. It’s „Paint it Black“ by the Rolling Stones and a search on Technorati for this song shows that many people talk about it.
Indeed, if you look at Yahoo! Clever (Yahoo! Answers) in Germany, there are many people looking for the song in the Telekom Ad.
And, furthermore: this song, even though a few decades old, made it all the way to Nr. 2 of the German iTunes charts! Listed before Maroon 5 and P!nk, for example!
The product of German Telekom launches on the 4th of June, so we don’t know yet, how successful this will be.
But we certainly know already, that the TV spot has helped the Rolling Stones catapult one of their classics all the way up the charts. I find this rather amazing.
Wo ich sonst so bin...