On March 4^th Google announced the launch of expandable ads on the Google Content Network. Great news, Google!  Equally great is the fact that Google certified Eyeblaster to third-party-serve those expandable units. It’s an opportunity to get Google Adwords in the mix of your next Eyeblaster media plan (subject to Google’s beta availability in your region – your Eyeblaster contact has more details).More info on availability and publisher spex, here: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/03/announcing-expandable-ads-beta-engage.html

David Carr, Head of Interactive, Chemistry UK led the extremely innovative creative for the Orange Drum Machine campaign, which used an interactive game via webcom

What was so special about the Orange campaign?

“The challenge was to bring engagement and playfulness to direct response digital advertising making it more entertaining and memorable. The Orange Drum Machine campaign was based on the insight that Orange is offering a fantastic package for digital music fans. What can you do while waiting for your new Sony Ericsson W595 with free speakers AND a free USB drum kit to arrive?  Why not start practicing your drumming? The creative, which targeted consumers on music and games related sites, challenged people to play an in-advertising drumming game and – because the Wii has transformed gaming from simply pushing ever-increasing numbers of buttons – we even offered people the chance to play using their webcam. The result is less a piece of advertising, more an engaging, entertaining application people get to star in. So get waving those arms.”

What needs to be changed/improved in order to achieve ultimate engagement with users?

“We need to create work that is good enough to share. And then we need to be designing creative with nodal points in mind.

Often brands can approach the internet like hedge-funds play the stock market. So many strategies are double plays that aim to have their cake and eat it, to win no matter what the outcome with “a big idea” but have a side order of “social” to round out the meal. The result is expensive and doesn’t reflect the reality of the net.

The internet lets the crowd raise the things it likes up with links and tags and reposts, and it damns the things it doesn’t like with a pointed lack of attention. Old passive message, big idea, objective correlative creative with a big call to action, and series of key frame proof points doesn’t cut it anymore, there is too much noise: now things have to be good enough to share.

But just because something is good enough to share and inherently interesting doesn’t mean it will catch on and spread through the network. The work that is interesting must be structured for the network and it must allow the crowd to create nodal points within their part of the network. It must contain an idea that can be reprocessed and played with, passed on and owned.

This gives us two key challenges, one commercial and one sociological: how do we make things that are good enough to share and create nodal points; and how do we help shape the network with our work so that the nodal points it throws up in the future are the best for society and our clients?”

Potential impact of the recession on online advertising?

“In the next phase of the recession there is going to be even more pressure for blunt, back to basics messaging.

Much online advertising is already crammed to bursting with USPs and “brand essences”, proof points and CTA key frames but it is often the phatic element – the charm, the entertainment, the engagement and the smile – that means a brand actually connects. While this may seem to pander to some marketing director’s belief that we’re all frustrated artists or 15 second Cecil B De Milles (god bless the Art Director job title for this & years of confused looks at parties before my girlfriend jumped in with “he’s in IT”) it remains true that it is the best stories that you remember and want to tell other people.

And this is even more so online where you can’t force anyone to do anything. People are more than happy not to click on your banner ad and visit your flash microsite. Be honest – they really don’t care about your brand as much as you do. We need to make them interested and then make them care. Once again the new economic reality means we have to resist the pressure to art direct the brief.

I’m not saying we should cram our comms work with the digital equivalent of Pinteresque dialogue (loading bars anyone?) or big budget After Effects heavy video, but in a post “age of excess” world the smart brands can provide people with the entertainment and rewards that they used to pay for themselves.

I believe it is Brand Reality Creative that provides the perfect bridge between the important phatic entertainment and brand story AND vital real world reward and social currency.

Interactive creative must provide a framework that people can use to make their own magic/tell their own stories and balance “doing stuff for the brand” with “doing stuff for people”. We need to combine story and utility in a way that can affect the real world while reflecting the fragmented nature of the real web (not the marketing web). This means that online advertising needs to be less advertising and more entertaining applications and shareable content in paid for places.

Only by achieving these goals can we prove the synergistic value of interactive creativity in the face of the recession.”

Ryf Quail, Managing Partner of Digital at Razor, Sydney
Your idea about the perfect working day:  The perfect day is about being able to make a difference.  Just having a client lay a challenge in front of you and then coming up with an insight that leads to a solution – whether that is a great creative execution or a great media execution or something completely different, makes it a pretty good day. Then when you see great results, that makes a pretty good day.

Your muse best comes when: Quite often – when I am having conversations with 2-3 people talking to me at the same time about the same stuff.  Or when I am on the way home on my motorbike – it is amazing how much clarity you can have on a motorbike for an hour - by the time you get home you have solved the world’s problems. 

What needs to be changed/improved in order to achieve ultimate engagement with users?  First – the way the industry perceives what engagement is – often times we talk about engagement when we should be talking about effectiveness.  Everyone is wrapped to metrics, but the metrics are often counting the wrong things.  Effectiveness means that the campaign had an impact on changing people’s perspectives.  Sometimes people get more involved in counting rather than pre-post ad and the consumer’s attitude towards the brand. 

Once we change that perception – we need to unleash hell in terms of creativity.  Sometimes we create for metrics rather than effectiveness.  Need to do the opposite. 

Finally, the bandwith issue needs to be solved.  Particularly in Australia, the bandwith is a real handicap in the Australian market, although we have already seen an incredible improvement in the past 2 years. 

Favorite Brand Experiences:  I enjoy going through your creative zone.  It allows me to play and see what can be done.  We try to do what we can within the confines of the Australian market.  Australian creatives – we tend to be very hard on ourselves.  Everyone complains that we are behind the world – but we are very good at being resourceful.  I really enjoyed the ads for Jumper and always like the Nike clothing ads. 

Impact of the Recession on Digital Advertising in 2009:  We are still bracing for the recession – luckily we haven’t felt anything yet.  Being a relatively small, strong and independent agency, we are away from global alignments and we don’t have the exposure that bigger agencies do.

Any final thoughts?  In terms of the technology – we really believe that Eyeblaster is a great facilitator. It’s all about pushing limits.  Our clients expect us to do something innovative.  We were looking for a platform to drive innovation – that is why we partner with Eyeblaster, but also from service on the ground – there is a real can-do attitude.  We are not a technical agency, but we reach out to Eyeblaster and see what can be done.  We get a consultative approach from Eyeblaster. We are proud of the fact that our agency is delivering the ideas. We just test it with our partners and see if it is possible.