BRITONS GO DIGITAL

A certain article caught my attention today which was based on how Britain is becoming more technically enabled. A collaboration of Scanzine and the Manchester based firm Love have created a QR code advent calendar. The calendar was published on to a flyer which has been distributed throughout cities such as Manchester and London. The flyer works by the user scanning the appropriate code corresponding to the day to find out what is behind 'the door'. They have also produced an online version for those that are not so technologically advanced, after clicking the correct day, prizes promotions and seasonal offerings are revealed. 

This also links to another campaign I have recently read about called 'Get Someone Online'. For all the hype surrounding iPads and smartphones, it is easy to assume everybody knows how to work the internet. However, research shows that 9.2 million Britons remain to have no access to browsing online, leading to a campaign launch by Martha Lane Fox (the UK's Digital Champion) named 'Go On: Give Someone Their First Time Online'. This encourages people to donate their old and unwanted computers and laptops which will then be handed over to the digital apprentices. Top brands such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MSN and Micosoft are all involved in an attempt to create a 'Networked Nation'.

http://www.get-someone-online.com/

SOCIAL NETWORK INFLUENCE

Today I logged on to Facebook to find a vast amount of my friends had changed their display photos to cartoon and different animated character from their childhood. The reason for this was a campaign by the NSPCC who produced this statement that was virally spread around the social network site: 

'Change your Facebook profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same for the NSPCC. Until Monday (December 6th) there should be no human faces on Facebook but an invasion of memories. This is campaign to stop violence against ......children.'

Of the fifteen contacts displayed on this screen-shot from my Facebook homepage, fourteen of them have taken part in the campaign; indicating it is influential.

Whether or not the campaign is legitimate or not I personally think it was successful as more of my contacts had changed their profile photos as the campaign created more awareness. Also, it did not only successfully serve the purpose but it was also enjoyable to see the different characters as a reminder of our childhood memories, as this relates directly to the charity being one set up for children. 

Thinking back to other examples of how social network sites, Facebook in paticular, have had a major effect or made a difference, here are a few...

The successful campaign for Cadbury's Wispa bars to return to the shelves after 14,000 people signed an on-line petition.

The page that made Rage Against The Machine the 2009 Christmas number 1 opposed to the usual X factor winner.

The IKEA campaign, a cheap way to advertise the opening of a new store by creating a profile for the store manager, photos of items from the store would be uploaded on a daily basis, the first person to tag their name in the photo would win the item pictured. The store gained global recognition quickly through viral advertising.

A more recent successful campaign resulted in Brain Blessed being added to the list of voice overs available for TomTom's satnavs.
 

IKEA campaign, screen-shot from an album in the profile.

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Andrex, Skoda and Marks & Spencer have all taken a different approach in their recent television commercials. However they have maintained continuity by keeping certain aspects the same. In the Andrex advert they still use the puppies, in the Skoda advert the idea of producing the car in an unrealistic way and in the Marks & Spencer advert the familiar faces flaunting the clothes.

Andrex Ad

The Andrex commercial is something different for the company as they have used computer generated images, however I don't think the use of  non-real puppies are as effective as using real puppies (previously blogged about).

Skoda Ad

The Skoda advert 'made of meaner stuff' is similar to the 'full of lovely stuff' commercial in which the car is made of cake, however that advert would of stereotypically appealed to women (housewives) as opposed to this advert targeting men, in particular because of the title 'made of meaner stuff'.

Marks & Spencer Ad

The Marks & Spencer commercial has taken a more humorous approach to advertising the brand, I think this is due to signing Peter Kay as one of their representatives and people instantly relate him to comedy. This idea works well, especially as the advert is seasonal; for the Christmas period and the commercial is able to put a smile on everyone's face.  

MICROEXPRESSIONS

Today I watched 'Lie To Me' for the very first time, it's a series based on a private company 'The Lightman Group' who specialise in the study of facial expressions. They are employed by the public sector and the government to determine whether suspects are lying or not and the reason behind this. They do this by reading microexpressions which indicate different emotions such as fear, contempt, happiness, sadness, anger and disgust which are shown through the facial muscles. This method is an alternative to using a polygraph test as there is a common flaw in 'lie detectors' which is if a certain emotion is felt strongly this will override other emotions therefore the results of the test are not precise. However, the the flaw of using microexpression reading is how credible actually is it?  

Here is a clip of the TV series  Click here

The feature of the programme which particularly stood out was that when analysing a certain expression, they related it to familiar faces using real life images and clips of American presidents, celebrities and politicians. 

The technique was devised by philosopher Paul Ekman who studied facial expressions by categorising them in to six main emotions. This method is taught to airport security workers in America in an attempt to try to prevent potential terrorist threats. Ekman is the inspiration for the 'Lie To Me' series and writes a column for the show, he supports the idea but believes some of the content is somewhat fast and loose. 

After watching several episodes and exploring the subject I question;
how credible will microexpression be in the future? 

http://www.politicsofwellbeing.com/2010/11/how-easily-can-we-read-face.html

OLD IS THE NEW NEW

After hearing last week about Heinz going back to their original label to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their most famous Cream of Tomato soup, at the weekend whilst at work at Morrison's I noticed we were selling it with the classic 1910 limited edition label. What I also did notice was that allot more people were purchasing the product and of these people the majority seemed to be of an older age, mostly pensioners. This older generation were likely to be attracted to the soup in its original packaging as that is what it would have appeared to be in their generation, giving them an essence of their youth. Clever advertising or innocent idea? 

I then thought about other brands that have used a similar strategy, for example Fairy Liquid returned to the original bottle design to celebrate their 50th birthday. The bottle itself was synonymous with Blue Peter viewers, mostly children who eagerly awaited for the contents of the bottle to be used up so they could create a 'here's one we made earlier' masterpiece. Fifty years later these children, now adults are more likely to purchase the product in it's original bottle in nostalgia for the brand aswell as the existing customers who would already purchase it. However, although the release of the celebratory bottle falls in 2010 on Fairy's 50th anniversary, the brand released figures a year before stating sales were down by 38.8% nevertheless  they still remain to have the biggest market share in the hand dishwash catergory in the UK. Once again... clever advertising or an innocent idea? 

   

Other brands that have explored advertising using this method are Monster Munch, going back to their original characters, packaging and  the crisps themselves have returned to their larger form. Also Aquafresh, Tetley, Milkybar and Milky Way returning to the original state through TV commercials targeting their original audience, an older generation that grew up with the brand. Cadbury's Wispa returned after a Facebook campaign in 2007 stating the bar was in demand.  

CLEVER ADS

I recently bought a new HP touch screen printer and it wasn't until after purchasing it I saw the advertisement. The selling feature of the product is the 'ePrint' aspect, allowing you to print from anywhere in the world by sending photos from your phone or laptop to the email address of the web connected printer. The commercial focuses on this idea by using a baby in a comical situation. Take a look for yourself...

Click here

 With a catchy soundtrack and believable camera tricks the advert instantly grabs the consumers attention, but not only is this a successful advert it's also cleverly constructed to appeal to the market. The child and parents are featured indicating a segment of the target market is families, therefore by using a baby the creators are creating a response which will result in interest and eventually for them to purchase the printer. I then found that according to a poll created by Adweek Media; 39% of women and 29% of men claimed babies used in advertising would cause a elicit positive consumer response 'tugging at their heart-strings'.

Furthermore, the figures from this poll stated a puppy used in advertisements would cause an elicit consumer response and 'tug at the heart-strings' of 45% of women and 37% of men. Meaning that brands are using this imagery even if it isn't necessarily related to the product they are selling just to create an emotional response from viewers. 
ANDREX ARE DEFINITELY ON THE MONEY!   

THE POSSIBILITIES

Whilst researching new technology and transportation methods earlier today for our Glasgow project, I came across a video that made me consider the possibilities for the future. Take a look for yourself...

click here

This type of transport is currently being explored by a Minnesota based company and is being financed by a Swiss-based firm who have began to raise the capital to commercialise this idea. The JPods vary in size, with the standard carriage holding four people. They are powered by large cables conducting electricity through the system and are designed to endure the worst of weather conditions. The reason for them is a solution for cleaner, faster, safer and affordable public transport. 

The company JPod LLC have released a statement stating the JPod system is more efficient than most public transport systems that are currently in use, claiming that less non-renewable fuel sources are required, potentially cutting global warming and pollution problems.     

The video of the system appears to be very futuristic and almost unrealistic as it is unlike any other form of transport seen before. However, the evolution of transport throughout the past decades is proof to that anything is possible. Maybe this is an insight to the future...

X FACTOR DOMINATION!

Week in week out the nation tunes in to X Factor on ITV1 every Saturday and Sunday evening to watch potentially new stars performing live. With icons such as Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole aswell as global stars like Usher and Katy Perry making guest appearances, the show is massively dominating the TV.

Not only is it dominating the TV but also newspapers, magazines, radio and social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter, constant updates and new pages created relating to the show, also performances uploaded on to Youtube gaining mass amounts of hits in short periods of time.

This years first live show during 7.45 to 10.15pm was watched by 13.8 million people which is 53% of the overall TV viewing audience. After reading about the extreme viewing figures I then started to question how much money Simon Cowell was actually rolling in?

With a bit of 'googling' I found that during last years finale ITV made £6million in advertising, charging between £190,000 to £250,000 for every 30 second commercial claiming it was a fair price to pay for prime time viewing as the companies advertising would have guaranteed increased profits, as well as benefiting ITV as a welcoming boost to a difficult year for the company. Nevertheless this still works out at £8,000 a second! 

However, I will end on a positive note with some brilliant commercials that paid up to be aired at peak time, some being better than the show itself...

Ikea kitchens commercial

Yeo Valley commercial

MAGICAL

It's that time of year when the trees are bare, the grounds are frosty and the air is fresh. Then a particular advert is shown and suddenly that magical Christmas feeling is all around...

... but how can this 30 second series of shots make us feel this way? It's not just the visual aspect it's what it represents...

 ...the idea of waking up and peering through the window to find everywhere white over with snow...

...or a mystical land we can only dream of in the deepest of our imagination...

...or a collection of untold thoughts that is yet to be opened...

...or a product that can be purchased, packaged in a small bottle and ready to use...

 ... or an illusion that questions reality and possibility...

... or a simple image directly in front of us where we have to look a little deeper to find the implicit meaning...

... whatever you may think, 'the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand' or simply 'a term that refers to an unrealistic expression', maybe we need to imagine a little less and instead look at the simple things that already surrounds us...

LIVING IN A 'BIG BROTHER' REALITY?

Whilst watching an episode of Police Interceptors last night, the subject of CCTV was touched upon. The latest in this technology are 'talking cameras'. The cameras themselves are the same as normal CCTV the difference is the added speakers which broadcast messages to the public from the staff in the control centre. They will be used to prevent people from littering and committing anti-social behaviour. Already used in Middlesbrough, they are stretching over 20 more areas in England, costing the tax payers £500,000!

When watching the footage, the first thing that came to mind was the reality TV show Big Brother, being watched 24 hours of the day and instructed through speakers, the resemblance was eminent. There are already 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain with the average citizen being captured 300 times a day and now with the added prospect of the 'talking cameras' it prompts the idea of are we all living in a virtual reality?  'Talking Cameras' article

CLAIM TO FAME!

So I get home from work to find my dad browsing the internet for materials to renovate the house with, when I notice the Wharf Plumbing website have uploaded a new video advertising their company. Remembering when I visited their showroom a few months ago, there was a camera crew talking to the staff but I thought nothing more of it at the time. It was only when I watched the video to discover me and my mum were the stars of the ad! Take a look for yourself...   Click here

Not only am I studying advertising but also starring in advertising, it made my day anyway!

CAN A SOUNDTRACK SELL A BRAND?

I always find myself humming the tune of a song i've recently heard. Not knowing the name or artist I scour the internet for clues using a few of the lyrics I managed to pick up. The majority of these songs aren't the usual records produced by popular singers that dominate the charts, but instead are soundtracks cleverly used within advertising campaigns to sell their brand. 

I came across a commercial the other day that instantly grabbed my attention through the use of the music...

Adidas Originals Commercial

You might say the advert is successful due to the famous faces featured (David Beckham, Agyness Deyn and Noel Gallagher) but if you were to hear it with no visual image I'm sure you would engage. Thinking back to other TV commercials that were highly successful from their soundtrack, Levi's as a brand are a good example of this...

Levi's Commercial - Flat Eric

Levi's Commercial - Planets

In response to the question, I believe a cleverly chosen 'catchy' soundtrack can sell a brand.