The Ad Feed aggregates the headlines from 24 advertising/design blogs and posts thumbnails to creative work from many more sources (this blog included). It's easy to read, well designedl and has become the one site I always visit.
Now I just need a site that combines this with video games, youtube picks, worksafe smut and photography news and I'd never have to surf the web again.
I had no idea God of War was such a big hit. But after watching the trailer for God of War 2 I'm now itching to play.
To promote the sequel to this Playstation 2 bankable franchise, Sony have created Battle of the Gods. Which lets you select characters from the game and watch them battle in real life. LARP style.
You get a feel for the site by watching this trailer for it below.
If you don't know what LARP is then you might remember "Lightning Bolt guy" see below
I'm fasinated by LARP and it's funny to see a the activity featured in a promotion. I think it takes itself a little too seriously to really work but it's fun viewing more so for the absurdity.
The site also features some behind the scenes type footage where you meet the "real" people behind the characters and learn the rules. They also seem to have employed people from the Darkon game which shows they went with autenticity. They didn't just try to rip them off.
It also instantly reminded me of Let Tekken Decide. Which was also for Sony.
Now I can't report 100% accurately as I didn't attend the midnight PS3 launch last Thursday. But I can use the photo evidence and my own account of the Xbox360 midnight launch to make this analysis.
1: Crowds:
You can't have a launch event without a crowd.
Xbox pulled about 1,000 people with little room to even swing a Wiiremote.
PS3 was lucky to reach 200 people. Xbox also handed out free 360 caps to people silly enough to wear them.
Winner: Xbox360 by a wide margin
2: Entertainment: OK you're expecting crowds of people to wait around for your product. Better keep them entertained or they'll get rowdy.
Xbox360 had cheerleaders and a hip hop krunk dance show. The cheerleaders were branded Xbox360.
PS3 had 3 minute massages and a screening of Casino Royal. Maybe Sony forgot they have a music department? Also it couldn't have hurt to have event staff in PS3 gear?
Winner: Xbox360. While the hip hop show was interesting, the cheerleaders were a crowd fav.
3: Food:
Waiting for a console to launch is hungry work.
Xbox360 had little to offer the hungry masses. Although I do vaguely remember some dodgy finger food.
PS3 had free drinks and ice creams although served by this excited fellow from 2DayFM. Would it have been too much work to get him in a PS3 T-Shirt?
Winner: PS3 just. When's the last time you went to a launch event and all you got was an ice cream on a stick and a can of drink?
4: Try before you buy:
You're launching a gaming system so let the plebs play with it.
Xbox had at least 15 demo stations setup playing their lacklustre launch lineup.
PS3 had one jumbo screen playing Gran Turismo while a lot of bored people look on.
Winner: Xbox360. I used to hate waiting to play the consoles at department stores and now that feelings magnified by the size of the screen and the fact you're there at 11.30pm.
5: The MC:
You can't host an event for 2-3 hrs without an MC.
Xbox360 went with Nova and the James Matheson from Channel V while
PS3 went with 2DayFM's Lizzy Lovette.
Winner: Xbox360. While Lizzy is cute I'd say she thinks a PSP is something her tax agent deals with. James may be over saturated with the Idol gig but hey he's the best of the worst when it comes to radio/TV personalities.
Also with Sony fingers in so many entertainment pies this is the best they could do?
6: Big Screen Impact:
What better way to show off your HD gaming system than to show it big.
Xbox360 had one 46" screen setup in a VIP area playing Fight Night.
PS3 had a massive projector screen screening Casino Royal and then used to display the PS3 game play.
Winner: PS3. You can't mistake the impact of a big mofo screen.
7: People:
You can tell a lot about a person by the friends they keep.
Xbox360 had these two lovely ladies in cosplay but I think they were paid so they don't really count.
PS3 had this little guy Dalton, who looks to be the happiest little guy on Earth right now.
Winner: Tie. Cosplay was so last week but you can't argue with sexy chicks to please the mass of male gamers and anyone who's seen Carnivale, LOTR and Twin Peaks know how cool little people are.
8: The first customer:
OK now's the time to get some PR spin for the first Australian to own your next gen console.
Xbox360 pulled all the stops with Far North Queensland teen Jake Spencer, a recovering stroke victim, had his Starlight Foundation wish come true when David McLean, Xbox director Australia, presented him with an Xbox 360 console and stack of games before official trading commenced.
PS3 wound up with some bald knob called Danny from Pyrmont.
Also the Sony exec looks like the dad off American Pie while the Xbox Exec looks like a guy who may have actually played avideo game.
Winner: Xbox360. Unless Danny's baldness is from kemo, then Sony don't really have much of a story to work with the press.
Final Score:
Xbox360: 6
PS3: 3
Xbox's event was the biz and is rightfully the winner and even wet weather couldn't put a dampner on the night. Sony could and should have done a lot more to make this a grand event.
Also isn't Microsoft boring and Sony cool?
I guess it's the underdogs who try harder.
Media Coverage:
You can read gaming media reports about the PS3 launch here on Angry Gamer and Kotaku.
Or you can read the main stream media like The Age, Cnet and News. Maybe the News team got a free PS3 for putting a good spin on the night.
Jeep has been busy with 3 big online promotions launching recently.
First we have Goonies: Return to Astoria produced by Fuel Industries. The game looks great, there are 4 levels and a fitting 80's soundtrack.
I guess all the kids that liked the movie will now be old enough to buy a Jeep.
This leaves just Tron, The Breakfast Club, Revenge of the Nerds and Ferris Bueller's Day Off as cult films of the 80's that haven't been turned into a marketing campaign. (Let me know if I'm wrong here).
Next up we have The Way-Beyond Trail for the Jeep Patriot. A choose your own adventure style game. The production is good and the adventure fun and with 45 scenes it's large enough to have reply value.
I also like the data entry at the beginning and that choices there affect the content of the videos.. Look out for some nice little Easter eggs if you linger on some screens for too long.
Lastly we have The Patriot Factor. No, not a game show where they test your level of love for your country but a Jeep and Marvel online comic where the users suggest the story. A nice feature for comic book buffs is being able to see the pencil and ink artwork as well as the final colour rendering.
I'd love to see a case study at the end of the promotions to see what was successful. I preferred the Way Beyond Trail myself even if it was a little cheesy in places, the humor was actually funny in places which is rare for this type of content.
Jeep have certainly gone all out and while not as focused as say Mini's online endeavors, they are definetly picking their game up. (No pun intended)
CarsGuide.com.au has produced a cartoon spoofing Knight Rider which is being promoted on Youtube.
It's being promoted on the homepage promo spot which I'm guessing has been localised for my Australian IP? What do people think of the homepage video placement? Do people actually watch the videos there?
The actual URL for the campaign which has a competition to win a Transam isn't linked on the Youtube channel or the video's page and the which seems like an oversight.
It's early days for Ten as they put their tippy toes into creating a destination off the back of their channel so it will be interesting to see how it fares. It's very advertising light right now which makes it feel nice and clean.
Also a friend mentioned that the new site resembles USA Networks.
OK, I understand that positive comments on your agency's banners make you feel good. And the opposite can be said for negative comments, and we get both kinds here at Bannerblog. Some a little harsh, most are to the point and constructive criticism.
What isn't helping anyone is agencies posting positive comments, wait let me rephrase that, over the top positive comments on their own banners. The agencies responsible don't even bother to comment on other banners, just their own.
So here's my tips for how to make your fake comments seem more real.
1: Go down to the local internet cafe and post. Don't do it from your agencies network, the same network you submit the work from
2: Try to spread the comments out a little. 8 in as many hours is suspicious.
3: Tone the language down. You didn't save the world, you made an animated advert. Hazahh!
4: Ask your IT guy to change the name of your server to something less specific. web.agencyname.ext is a smoking gun. Try web.ISP.ext that leave some doubt.
Or for all our sakes
5: Send the link to friends and ask them to comment honestly on the banner.
NOTE: If you are worried about negative comments on a campaign you can request to have them turned off when you submit the ad. I'd rather see an add up there, sans the ability to comment, rather than never see it.
So in conslusion I feel bad to have to make a point about this but it's getting a little silly. The comments were so OTT they are comical. I do support agencies commenting on their own banners to respond to feedback or give more information but always identifying themselves in the process.
I had to share this commercial for an unfortunate appetite suppressant. I wonder if the guys from South Park saw this before they did their AIDS episode?
Goodby Silverstein & Friends are at it again for the Got Milk Campaign... this time with an involved and visually engaging game about a family of characters trying to "Get the Glass"
Getting back @ Google for the deal falling through
An attempt to make their partnership with Joost seem more legitimate
A frustrated lashing out of old line media at a the fact that they no longer control the distribution of content once it is released
All of the Above
I'm not sure where I come in at, although I'm pretty skeptical of the whole thing. Even if they do have a leg to stand on under the current US law (which they may or may not,) they are potentially doing more harm than good to their business.
To me this just points again to the complete lack of understanding that big business has of the "new world" created by the Web 2.0 world and consumers use thereof. Those clips are up on YouTube because of dedicated fans... perhaps rather than sue, Viacom should have just quietly asked for an ad revenue cut. So, syndication, but user initiated / driven. Or perhaps they should have cut a deal with Brightcove since their whole model incorporates syndication and user distribution.
Not one but two campaigns from Nokia and FarFar this month.
This one, promotion the Nokia N95, titled Great Pockets showcases Henry Needle & Sons - Bespoke tailored plus sized pocket fashion for the mobile multimedia gadget lifestyle. Again great use of video (I love the transitions after clicking no thanks) and great talent. All wrapped up into an original and funny concept.
We also have a Myspace page, a Flickr account and youtube videos. Although I'm unsure as to what purpose the Myspace page serves as there isn't really anything on it. Could be SEO?
What makes this site work is the integration of the product and the call to action to win. You win a Nokia N95 and your friend receives a pair of great pockets.
How better to show your love of the medium than to get a personalised licence plate. Banners can't be doing that good for this person if they are driving a Toyota Seca.
While there is a plethora of books on every form of advertising there is little concentrating on online. I have ordered the book above in the hope of seeing a few goodies I can post up here. Luckily the book comes with a DVD which might help save me time aswell.
I really like this site for the new Nokia N800 called The Internet Walk. The execution is flawless and it works well to sell the features of the handset. It has one strong idea and works it well. No need to complicate it too much just explore the idea to its fullest.
Farfar did the site and have done lots of nice work in the past.
Oh and I love the loud voice at the start "LOADING THE INTERNET"
It'd be great if this kind of narration occured all the time.
"LOADING MIDGET PORN!!!"
"NOW PLAYING KYLIE MEGA MIX!!!"
"NO NEW FRIEND REQUESTS!!!"
Oh and there was also a "viral video" to go with the campaign. (i prefer my viral with people getting kicked in the nuts.)
welcome to another issue of the Bannerblog newsletter. We realise the sporadic nature of these emails is leaves something to be desired but we ensure you a system is in place now to ensure regular updates.
If you didn't notice already we have a new sponsor. Tangozebra have stepped up to support the site for 2007. Without their support the site could not function. Martin Pavey from TZ has also joined the editorial team.
Award Season
We are looking forward to the award season with Cannes and One Show prejudging beginning soon. If you are on the judging panel or have access to a list of entries we would love to be privy to it. Don't worry we won't tell anyone ;)
Also there's no better way to pre-test your work before spending money on entry fees. So submit your work to Bannerblog today.
Sure Ashley's agency made the site and he also edited this issue of the email but that aside the new Frubalia site for Uncle Toby's Roll-Ups is pretty special.
We have a few feature articles in the Bannerblog news you might be interested in. And yes we actually spend the time to put these together rather than just regurgitate press releases.
Thanks for continuing to support Bannerblog, and keep the submissions rolling in. Remember, we’ve got a News section now which is growing rapidly and we’re filing stories every few days and would be happy to promote your latest campaign. Drop us a line
Da Bitch from Ad-Rag/Commercial Archive has posted her experience with a banner that took over her browser and made her install a program. Pretty scary.
I've had a similar experience when on Mypace with ads getting around the popup blockers installed. These type of ads should be policed better, especially if they are running through ad networks and not just rouge websites.
LONDON, March 1st, 2007 - DoubleClick Inc., a leading provider of digital advertising technology and services, today announced that it has acquired 100 per cent of Tangozebra, a pioneer in the rich media industry and a leading digital marketing technology provider in Europe for advertisers and publishers. This acquisition underscores DoubleClick’s commitment to providing leading technology and best in class service on a global basis to the fast-growing rich media market.
This continues 2007 as being the year of mergers and aquisitions. Australia has recently seen alot of activity in the online space, Blue Freeway and C4 being off the top of my head and it will continue as companies capitalise on the strength of the online sector.
