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Creative OOH executions

by DOmedia on May 20, 2008 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns with No comments

As promised, here are a few of the creative examples from Jeremy Gutsche’s (trendhunter.com) opening presentation at the HOW Design Conference. You may have seen some of them before:

This stop action viral film for MTN used 1,000,000 Post-It notes and 96,314 digital photographs. Check out the number of people watching the process…

CBS used eggs to announce their upcoming Fall line-up last year… Yes, I know this is old news, but it’s just a reminder of the range of options out there.

This campaign for Blush swimwear promoted it’s stand against nudism, dressing Berlin (Germany) statues in its latest collections.

Greetings from Boston: Part I

by DOmedia on May 19, 2008 in Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns, Events with No comments

I’m writing this week from one of my favorite cities outside Ohio, Boston. I’ve made the trip east for this year’s HOW Design Conference…an amazing collection of designers and others associated with the business of being creative. For a few days, we get to disconnect (at least a little….full disconnection in an age of wireless internet and PDA’s seems virtually impossible, but that’s another topic) from the day-to-day tasks and learn new skills, refuel our creative tanks and think of our businesses in a while new way.

The event officially opened last night with a keynote presentation by Jeremy Gutsche, the brainchild behind TrendHunter (incidentally, if you haven’t paid the website a visit, I highly encourage it). As you might expect, Jeremy is in the business of scouring the globe, interpreting the trends and predicting what will be cool next. His topic to kick off the next few days was Creating a Culture of Innovation. I won’t even try to regurgitate his presentation here, but it covered a lot of the things we typically know, but rarely get around to implementing.

But one of the things that really struck me while I was listening to his presentation was the number of times he used out-of-home executions as examples of breakthrough ways to engage your customers, creating a memorable link to your brand’s message. While we all tend to hear so much about the power of the Internet to deliver highly targeted, personalized messages (which is absolutely true), viewing Jeremy’s examples last night reminded me of the power our physical medium possesses, when applied in a creative, relevant way.

I’ll post as many of the examples from last night as I’m able to find. Hopefully it will help drive some conversation, provide some creative inspiration and give us yet one more reason to be glad we’re in the business we’re in. Cheers!

Doc, I’m Hearing Voices…

by DOmedia on May 14, 2008 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Technology with No comments

A while back I read about a number of interesting outdoor executions promoting the A&E original series Paranormal State…most notably a billboard where a face mechanically protrudes then fades away and a wallscape that incorporated sound that only passers-by could hear. In fact, this second execution won an OBIE this year for Special FX (the ghostly visage was a finalist in the same category). All really cool, creative ways to not just promote an upcoming show, but also captivate people in a pretty freakish way, totally in line with the brand offering.

But other than the “very cool” factor, I really didn’t give either execution too much thought. Until, that is, I ran across this article that explains the technology behind the “ghostly voices” execution. Apparently the advertiser uses hypersonic sound technology to actually beam the message (or in this case, voices) right into your ear drum. According to the article,

The technology works by beaming waves of hypersonic sound at a pitch that is undetectable by the human ear. The waves continue until they smash into an object such as a person’s body. The waves then slow, mix and re-create the original audio broadcast. If the person steps out of the waves, they are no longer obstructed and are rendered inaudible.

For the A&E promotion, area New Yorkers “heard” voices whispering “Who’s there? What’s that? It’s not your imagination.” I can only imagine how anyone who had a few cocktails reacted… The campaign was an incredible success building buzz for the unreleased show and the shear novelty of the execution had people actively seeking it out so they could experience the “in your head” advertising themselves. According to A&E VP of Marketing, Lori Peterzell, “The technology really basically made it seem like the sounds were coming from inside your head…It was totally a freak-with-your-mind experience. It was a great way of building buzz about a show that didn’t exist yet.”

So, as I’m reading the article, I’m in awe of the technology and the incredibly brand-relevant application for a show about ghost hunters… Wait a minute! Did they just say advertisers can beam messages straight into your eardrum, so it seams like it’s all in your head? OK, that’s pretty freaky and a little scary. First we had billboards emitting odors, now we have marketers playing voices in our heads. While the hypersonic technology skirts any “sound pollution” ordinances, it feels a little invasive, even moving into that controversial “subliminal advertising” realm.

Right now, the novelty of the technology certainly lends a positive buzz appeal, but what happens as more marketers find a way to add hypersonic sound to their billboards, wallscapes, phone booths, subway installations, etc., etc., etc.? With no way to avoid hearing these messages, will we, as an industry, experience a backlash against this and other types of sensory assault in the name of brand promotion? As with any number of new technologies, the old rule holds true here: Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

The Sky’s the Limit…or not

by DOmedia on May 7, 2008 in Alternative advertising, News, People, Technology, Uncategorized with No comments

You may remember us talking about Google advertising on the moon, and then Virgin and Google joining forces to conquer Mars. While those seem to have been elaborate April Fools’ hoaxes, we just ran across another far-fetched advertising opportunity that is, in fact, the real deal.

Remember when you were a kid and you could lay outside looking up at the sky making pictures out of the clouds? Some looked like flowers dancing in the breeze. Others looked like playful dolphins swimming in a vast sea of blue. You get the idea. Well, it seems an Alabama entrepreneur has found a way to customize those cloud shapes into recognizable products and logos. Special effects gurus Francisco Guerra and Brian Glover have parlayed their movie magic talent into the branding world, launching Flogos, “logos that float.” (If you want to see exactly how it works, check out their video on YouTube.”

According to the USA Today article,

“Francisco Guerra, who’s also a former magician, developed a machine that produces tiny bubbles filled with air and a little helium, forms the foam into shapes and pumps them into the sky.

The Walt Disney Co. will use one of the machines next month to send clouds shaped like Mickey Mouse heads into the air at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Guerra said.”

I can see the Targets, Nikes and Apples floating by now. Oh wait, that’s a real cloud.

Mediaweek Gets Out (There)

by DOmedia on May 6, 2008 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Press with No comments

While we were at the 2008 Traffic Audit Bureau Eyes On Conference a few weeks back (has it really been that long?!?!), one of the many interesting announcements highlighting the growth of outdoor advertising was that Mediaweek is launching a monthly feature specifically about out-of-home media. In the first “Out There” issue, Editor-in-Chief Michael Burgi unveiled the section with the following introduction:

“Welcome to Out There, our first-ever editorial section devoted to the burgeoning out-of-home media business. Compiled and reported by senior editor Katy Bachman, the new monthly section aims to cover all facets of the business: traditional outdoor billboards, place-based media, digital technology, alternative offerings, as well as advertising and research issues. We also plan to showcase creative elements that are driving innovation and unusual media executions.

Why now? Money. Revenue growth in the OOH sector outpaced all other media except for the Internet in 2007, and the medium is expected to keep growing at a healthy clip. And if you work in any major market, it’s simply inescapable. In my daily walk to the Times Square subway station, I’m dwarfed by massive wallscapes and spectaculars of all sorts as I pass phone booths (the few that are left) equipped with digital signage. Even taxis now carry video content.’€

In addition to the print feature, Mediaweek is also showing a little online OOH love with their new Out There resource on mediaweek.com. It’s a little sparse to begin with but it’s nice to see their intent to develop these categories. We look forward to seeing this section grow and mature along with the industry it’s covering.