Pixel Hustler takes us behind the scenes of a successful online campaign for the new Black Keys’ Brothers album.

What was the goal of the campaign for Black Keys?
The goal was to simply let Black Keys fans know about their new album and introduce more people to the band. The concept was very straightforward. “This advertisement is interactive. Experience it – Rollover”.

We focused on the copy and style of the album cover and drove it with animation. We added some social networking share options, a “print a poster” feature, music video, sample audio tracks and a photo gallery.

Although the animation for the ads was pretty straightforward, they were time consuming and could have made it difficult to finish the ads on time and to spec. I developed a Flash tool to speed up creating coded animations and keep the file sizes down so I could focus on the added features and still meet our deadline.

How did you come up with the idea of the ad?

The music, the band and Michael Carney – the album cover artist – set the tone. It only made sense to bring the message to life and amplify it on the rich media stage. The initial banner animation was done, the panel was finished and the social networking features were added. At the last minute I added the “Print a poster” feature which extended the direct nature of the campaign with “This is a poster” messaging. Lastly, we took a chance on having the messaging change on rollover a few times in hopes of peaking curiosity and urging a click.

What feedback have you received?

Although everyone was happy with the creative concept, we really weren’t sure if it would translate as well to our audience. We launched the campaign with our fingers crossed and. Phew! (Wiping sweat off brow)… Success! The results demonstrated that users were printing the poster, checking out the media and sharing on social networking sites. Most importantly… many flights performed well over benchmarks in regards to click through rates. It was a huge success and so much so that we are in the process of revising the banner and launching a second round of the campaign.
You take a gamble when you don’t follow the usual models and do something a bit out of the ordinary. There’s a lot on the line, but you have to take a leap of faith and take a chance on the creative concepts that come from the heart. It takes courage to take the risks necessary for higher returns on investment. Time and time again, these campaigns derive better than expected results and reinforce the notion that everyone should follow their heart or get out of the way.

Your idea about the perfect working day?

No pending deadlines. A slow morning filled with coffee and mindless web browsing all in preparation for lunch and drinks with an eclectic, fun and intelligent new client. The client would ask me to work on an interface design and develop the software for an innovative new device that would merge the capabilities of the internet, social networking, GPS satellites, mobile, desktop, broadcast, etc… like no one’s ever done before. It would be stylish, efficient, convenient and easy to use. Money would be no object and I would have all the time in the world. I would be allowed to take an “open source” approach and allow other developers to contribute to the project.

Your muse best comes when?

…I’m not working and simply enjoying some good food, wine, music, people, friends, fun, and philosophizing on the nature of existence, as well as the future of technology.

Already at 11:30 am I started feeling the thrill.  At 11:55 I went on Gilt.com and started refreshing the page.  Finally it happened.  Exactly at noon, the site started another sale of luxury brands. 

I immediately went browsing with full force—my chance of owning an Ermenegildo Zegna, for 70% off, or just for a few hundred bucks.  Apparently, however, I wasn’t the only one there, and within minutes all that was left was empty online shelves.


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Gilt Groupe is an invitation only site that sells designer brands in up to 70% off their retail price.  Each sale lasts for 36 hours and is then removed from the site.  The sales are first come first served, and the number of items is limited, so typically many items are sold out a short time after the sale begins.


What has made a calculated guy like me go wild and be willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a whim on items that I am not even sure that I am going to wear?  What is that spell that Gilt casts on its members that pushes them to spend?  Gilt is using three powerful techniques that can help any advertiser get better performance and increase sales on his or her campaign:

• Perceived value – As the famous phrase of many infomercials go:  “you’re not spending, you’re saving.  Gilt provides their members the sense that they are getting a great deal that they cannot get anywhere else.
•  Time limit – Buy now or be silent forever.  As each sale is for a limited time, you are constantly under pressure to make the purchase immediately.
• Value of scarcity – There is limited stock from every item.  Items are also sold out pretty quickly.  Therefore, start practicing the art of browsing without blinking.  If you like a specific item, you need to make a decision on the spot, or it’s gone.

When combined, all of these techniques push even the most astute consumer to an online shopping spree.  Try any combination of these techniques in the message of your ads to push users to action now, and you too should be able to get users to pull out their credit card.



 

Ariel Geifman | Principal Analyst, MediaMind Research






 

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Hunt for clues and hidden codes on MediaMind destinations around the Web, and you could win round-the-world airline tickets for two.

Pack your e-bags, because you’ve got some travelling to do.

We’ve placed four clue questions and coded Post-It™ notes in MediaMind locations around the internet. Find the Post-It notes, answer the questions, crack the code at your local Digital Experience Day, and you could win round-the-world airline tickets for you and the travelling companion of your choice.

Here’s your itinerary:

1. Your journey starts at the Digital Experience micro-site with your first clue question, aided by a hint.
2. From there, you are guided to four other MediaMind Web hotspots including Twitter, MindMindTube on YouTube and Facebook.
3. As you go, answer the clue questions and collect code numbers for a word scramble displayed on Post-It Notes. Keep the answers and numbers in a safe spot – you’ll need them later.
4. At your local Digital Experience Day, pick up the 5th and final code number in person to solve the 5-letter word scramble.
5. Complete your online entry form anytime from September 7th thru November 18th using the clue answers and number codes you’ve gathered, and you’ll be on your way to a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience.

Bon Voyage!

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Can the same food taste different when served in a five star restaurant from when it is served in a fast food joint? Obviously environment matters, and when we taste, we consider not only what is on the plate, but also the décor, environment, the ambiance and the crowd. A recent OPA study shows that we engage in the same process when considering our attitude towards an online ad.

In a recent research, “A Sense of Place: Why Environments Matter”, the OPA suggests that the manner in which an individual perceives the site has an impact on the manner in which he or she perceives the brand featured in the ad, and determines whether the user will respond to it. OPA sought to understand how users’ perception, rather than the mere quality of content, affects the responsiveness of users to advertising on that page. The OPA conducted quantitative and qualitative research, analyzing participants’ perceptions of the site’s content and examined the correlation with their opinion on the brands advertised on it.

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We’re pleased to bring you an interview with Ivan Zambanello (aka Mars Spider), Senior Flash Platform Developer and Team Manager at Upgrade Multimediale in Italy who recently worked on an innovative campaign for Audi.


Your idea about the perfect working day?

I love my job and I should say that, doing what I do, every day is a perfect working day. But to want to be picky, and even a little less than ideal, I would say that a perfect day of work begins, especially after a good sleep.

Cool place, music through headphones (from Pearl Jam to Wagner, from Jethro Tull to David Bowie, Verdi’s Requiem maybe …), lots of water too… after that: a look at these 15/20 sites and blogs that I read each morning and then headlong into the code.

The perfect day?

Well, better if there is a big problem to solve, stimulating, creative or technical… the best satisfaction of my work is to get out of an impasse with a better lateral solution, something brilliant in its small way, that others had thought maybe… And then a look forward, new technologies, new media… I like to call myself a “revolutionary” in the sense that I don’t like “sit still”, I’m always trying to find something new and exciting. The routine and the monotonous are my kryptonite.

Then, to finish off, the evening with Carla and little Alessandro.

Your muse best comes when?
As I said before, creativity comes when it seems that there are no solutions.

During my job interview in Upgrade in 2001, I was asked: “Do you feel more a designer or developer?”…

Tricky question?

Now, as then, I think that creativity is not confined to an advertising page or to create a genial copy. Writing code, because that’s what I do more, has a strong creative process. Not only this, usually I also participate in the starting stage of projects and I can say with certainty that in me, creativity comes when I’m put to the test, when the challenge is great, when “it appears that there are no solutions”.

How did you start working in digital advertising?

I started working in digital advertising in 2000. Member University, Faculty of Engineering, I imagined how my life would have been, and there was no sign of engineering.

So I prepared a portfolio CD with Macromedia Director to present my work (at that time I was doing several sketches and a lot of 3D) and I presented it to a couple of agencies with a laptop borrowed from a friend… no one was interested in my work, but the fact that I had a CD authored with Director allowed me to receive job offers from each of the agencies in which I presented it.

After a few months I started to use Flash (version 4) and after about a year I came to Upgrade.

What was the client brief for the Audi campaign

The customer had the need to talk about the launch of the new Audi A1, they wanted something that would make people talk about it, that would generate “noise” around the new release, still keeping a link to the global website created by the international agency.

Upgrade, as always, tried to find a new way to present the product, to get the most benefit from Flash and also take advantage of the capabilities of Eyeblaster (now MediaMind).

How did you come up with the idea?

The idea started from the introductory video of the global site.

The creative director, Fabio Guzzano, presented at the meeting where we had to decide how to develop this campaign with a block on which was drawn the “A” of the creativity, which should have been detached from the site and get “standing”. This creative solution represents the freedom of the Audi A1 to interact with the space around it.

The question was “can we do it”?

The challenge was tempting. This was to lift the “A” from the page of the site as being part of it. I knew from a previous discussion with Joseph Caston of Eyeblaster, that the platform also offers a screengrab of the page for rich media formats. The difficulty was now to create three-dimensional effects, to make all dynamically linked without any timeline animation and make the car really seemed to pass under the raised “A”.

I am not going to dwell on actionscript solutions, but I would say the result was very satisfactory.

What feedback/results have you received?

The client was very excited within the result. The campaign, particularly the rich media formats, has achieved a click through of 22% for some placements, a percentage that is rare to see for banner campaign.

The best result, however, was the possibility of creating a new user experience through a simple banner, an experience that has attracted people and certainly did talk about the Audi A1.

All this thanks also to Eyeblaster (now MediaMind).