Humor and interactivity typify this month’s new and notable campaigns.  Click here for the full August Newsletter.

The Spotlight Campaign went to the brilliant set of video clips perfectly timed for Orcon.

“A great example of what can be created when the objective is on the banner experience rather than counting clicks. The hard work came from the planning of the set, the shoot and the choreography required for the cast so that we could link the video sections together as seamlessly as possible. We employed some smoke and mirrors to get it to work but the result is a fantastic use of the banner medium. Everything is hooked up to MediaMind custom interactions so we can measure all the interactions, video views, dwell time and share functionality. So far the stats are looking exceptional. Hats off to Special Group for coming up with a great concept and to Exposure for shooting it. And check out the moving wall on wheels!”
- Michael Chalberg, Creative Director, Salt Interactive

Orcon ‘Special Office’ Video Select, AU
Client: Orcon
Lead Agency: Special Group
Interactive Agency: Salt Interactive
Production Company: Exposure
View demo

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New & Notable Campaigns

The Black Keys Brothers w/Download Poster, US
Media: The Gary Group
Creative: Pixel Hustler
Format: Expandable Banner
Interactive Features: Download, Video, MP3
Vertical: Entertainment
View demo

Rowenta Cyclonic Expandable Banner, FR
Media: KR Media FR
Creative: Little Big Web FR
Format: Expandable Banner
Vertical: CPG
View demo

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Vodacom Broadband Video Banner, ZA
Media: OMD Digital
Creative: Draft FCB
Format: Polite Banner
Vertical: Telecom
View demo

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Ferrero Milch-Schnitte Homepage Takeover
Media: Xenion (Carat Germany)
Creative: Xenion (Carat Germany)
Format: Homepage Takeover
Vertical: CPG
View demo

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Fiesta Homepage Takeover, MX
Media: Mindshare MX
Creative: Wunderman MX
Format: Homepage Takeover
Vertical: Auto
View demo

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.

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).

Meet Scott Lemos, Digital Marketing Manager at Sony Pictures who was interviewed as part of our ‘Favorite Brand Experience’ series.

How long have you been with Sony Pictures?

As they say – I am ‘part of the furniture’ around here. I’ve been with the company for 14 years.

What is your idea of a perfect work day?

I have always been more efficient early in the morning, so my day starts with a brisk walk to the train station then put the iPhone to use on the short commute to the office. I grab a coffee on the way in the door. Then, as I work closely with our team in Los Angeles, it’s on the phone catching up with the U.S. team and approving microsites and digital assets for our upcoming films. A check of the overnight box office tracking reports to see how our films are performing and then the daily ritual of uncluttering my desk which always makes me feel more productive and calm for what lies ahead for the rest of the day!

How do you seek inspiration, or when does inspiration find you?

It’s usually the simplest of things that feeds my inspiration and almost always when I’m not looking for it – be it reading a magazine, chatting with friends or listening to music.

What is your favourite brand experience?





It’s always fun working on our big blockbuster films as I have more scope to be creative and budgets allow for great and diverse rich media executions. Over the years there have been many but one that comes to mind was last year’s hit – “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs”. My objective was to bring the fun, colourful film content to the user within the ad unit and MediaMind was the perfect vehicle to help us achieve this. One such execution enabled the user to select any letter of the alphabet and a corresponding food starting with that letter rained down the screen. This resulted in us delivering a well balanced campaign that produced a solid end result – box office success!

How did you get started in digital advertising?

Long before the world of ‘digital marketing’ as we know it today, I was asked to maintain what was then a very basic company website. As digital rapidly gained momentum, my role started to expand and I found myself riding the wave and being immersed in all things digital. Now when I look back on it, it was very much like a switch was flicked and my world at Sony Pictures changed forever.

I’m proud of the fact that Sony Pictures realised the importance of digital marketing & a need for digital advertising within the traditional marketing mix. It gave me the opportunity to grow my role and start up a new ‘digital marketing department’ within the Australian team. A few years later, other International Sony Pictures territories followed suit and employed Digital Marketing Managers and we are now a group of about 15 Digital specific Managers lead by a first class digital team in the U.S.

Who is/was your mentor? Whose work do you admire, or what campaigns have inspired you lately?

I am very fortunate to have guidance from a strong digital team in our Los Angeles studio. Over the years I have learnt a lot from some of the best digital specialists in the industry. Some very positive, inspiring leaders who encourage me to take risks and try new things. Not all works out the way you hoped but you learn from this and gain a better understanding and a whole lot of experience along the way.

Meet Jonathon Betts, Joint Head of Implementation Planning and Investment at MediaCom, as part of our Favorite Brand Experiences series.
 

What is your idea of a perfect work day?

Having made it through emails by 10:00, sitting down with the team to see the ideas they’re working on with suppliers for client campaigns. Grabbing a bite to eat and then speaking to clients about their digital objectives. Seeing some great comms planning work from the teams here at MediaCom and getting excited about how we could deliver these in digtial.

How do you seek inspiration, or when does inspiration find you?

I have always been a problem solver, so any new challenge sucks me in. When you get a great brief to work on it’s fantastic to start looking for insights and crafting ideas. When your solution involves doing something genuinely new you don’t want to stop working on it.

What was/is your favorite brand experience?

I like advertising where we’re delivering a fantastic creative experience or delivering something relevant to people looking at a website.

For Fast & Furious we had a great synchronised video ad, each different placement on the page was coordinated and the story was told across all formats.

For Justin Bieber we had live updates from various social networks feeding in to deliver an up to the minute message.

How did you get started in digital advertising?

I started at a specialist digital agency in the UK, i-level. I started working on campaigns for Yell and British Telecom. I think we managed to run the first ever “overlay” campaign in the UK for Yell.

Who is/was your mentor? Whose work do you admire?

At i-level there were two people I learned the most from: Faith Carthy and Ed Ling. They were both inspiring in the different ways they approached the media business and the work they did for clients. They always insisted on the best from people and made it fun too. I like campaigns that don’t see a boundary between media and creative and offline and online. Some of the most successful draw people in and make people want to spend time with campaign. The online hype campaign for the Dark Knight was immensely successful at getting people excited about the movie, involved in the campaign and building buzz before it launched.