Infectious

See BOGOFs with fresh eyes

longwave777 — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 08:57:03 +0000

BOGOF – Buy one get one free – can often translate as ‘get something you don’t need for free’. Great, if you’re buying a good you can stockpile. Not so fine if you’re planning to dine alone. And, if you’re buying specs…?

Given the task of picking 2 pairs of frames, one must ultimately come out second best. You don the perfect, first-choice pair. And save the substitutes for a rainy day or blue moon.

Recognising that second-choice specs often end up languishing in an underwear drawer, warbyparker have launched a BOGOF with a difference.

In their world ‘G’ stands for ‘give’ (rather than get). Buy glasses from them and you automatically gift a free pair to a more needy individual.

Good deed meets good deal – now that’s retail therapy!

> Learn more about warbyparker’s work

Is your web copy ‘readability-optimised’?

longwave777 — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:58:02 +0000

Many are the musicians whose lyrics don’t stand up to closer inspection. Stripped of their surrounding gloss, what once sounded impressive can look lame.

Copywriters beware: the same now applies to websites. Imagine stripping away the surrounding visual attractions. Design templates, photos, 3rd party ads. What are you left with?

If the answer is “not much more than a bunch of loosely connected keywords” then think again. Because people like the folks at arc90 are aiming to change the way we read web copy.

Readability is free editing software that strips all the copy out of a web page and renders it in a text only window. The eye gets to focus its full attention on written content, without any competition from peripheral images.

Picture your web copy laid bare, left to make an impact on its own merits. Think: Would it pass the readability test? And draft again…

> See readability in action

Thinking outside the circle

longwave777 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:50:47 +0000

> See Howard Schultz discuss new starbucks logo

QR brings book to life online

longwave777 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:56:07 +0000

In 2010 qr codes started to become a common feature of press advertising. Now, Italian restaurant guide ‘spagoguida 2011′ has gone further, designing a whole book around them.

Each of the spagoguida’s 50000 entries is prefaced with a smartphone-readable barcode. Interested in more info on a particular restaurant? Scan its qr code and your phone will link you to a dedicated webpage, complete with up-to-the-minute photos and user-generated reviews.

SpagoGuida is compiled by an independent community of food lovers who snap and sample constantly. Traditional guides start to go stale the moment they are printed. This guide’s innovative use of qr codes means it will stay relevant throughout the year.

What’s your QR idea? There’s no time like the present…

In 2011 if you can believe it, then you can do it…

longwave777 — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 08:55:01 +0000

Picture the scene: You’d love to experience miami’s nightlife but your national airline doesn’t fly there directly. You couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of connecting flights. So what do you do? Write off your dream party plans? Or… convince klm to lay on a plane for you?

Amazingly, with the help of twitter, a bunch of dutch clubbers have done just that. @fly2miami was set up with a mission: to speed up the process of getting to Miami’s ‘Ultra Music’ festival.

A bet was laid. klm accepted the wager. If @fly2miami could guarantee filling 351 seats then a jet would be laid on for them. 5 tweeting hours later all 351 places were booked up. KLM’s first ‘twitter-deployed’ plane takes off on 21 March.

Welcome to the world of marketing in 2011.

> For more backstory see the fly2miami website

Who needs ministers when we have Apps?

longwave777 — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:56:07 +0000

Worried about the new mobile speed cameras? Think it’s time you became a more careful driver but don’t know where to start? The new App from toyota might be just the thing to save you multiple fines and penalty points. And save the planet.

The app is called ‘A glass of water’ and it works like this: Imagine how carefully you’d drive if you had to keep a tumbler of liquid balanced perfectly still on your dashboard. Confident you could do it without spilling a drop? Now’s your chance to compete with others to prove it.

‘A glass of water’ aims to reduce co2 emissions and promote ‘ecodriving’ by changing aggressive acceleration and braking habits.

Ready to take the test?

Check out aglassofwater.org >

Photo Boxi – Brand memories are made of this

longwave777 — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 08:58:12 +0000

Hands up who’s never had fun in a photo booth? Piled in with friends, struck a model pose or pulled a silly face? Time was when the resulting snaps were limited to staying a personal memory. Not any longer.

New social media sensations photo boxi are intent on rebooting the photo booth for the facebook century. With brand owners in mind.

In the words of their clients, Photo boxi is “a great tool to engage people in a fun way, promote you in a social network and acquire contact info”.

Photo boxi is made for brand events. It comes in the slimline form of a fashionable floor stand – with or without backdrop. All you need do is clear a spot for it. Its infectious appeal will do the rest.

The twists on the standard photo booth output: 1) Your photos are framed with event-relevant brand artwork, and 2) they are destined to be widely spread online (rather than end up on fridge fronts).

The concept is taking off rapidly. After all, in the words of its innovators: “What do people love more than taking pictures of themselves?” Showing them off to others, perhaps?

See photo boxi in action – Check out the demo video >

Are plants becoming the new pets?

longwave777 — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:06:48 +0000

An urban gardening trend is sweeping continental Europe. Perhaps it’s due to a desire to save on pet psychologist bills. Whatever the reason, there’s no mistaking it – Sharing apartments and balconies with foliaged friends is IN.

The dutch flower council’s response? A daring bid for a lead-role in the greening of Paris.

An audacious marketing idea was required – and duly delivered. The campaign ”My bubble, my plant and me” took to the streets last weekend.

Overnight, 4 micro botanic gardens popped up in front of 4 key Parisian train stations. Crammed full of house-friendly plants, each pod offered a different ‘discovery experience’ for 2 visitors at a time. The interest? Phenomenal.

Previously, Parisians wouldn’t have been expected to think ‘Dutch Flower Council!’ when looking to buy a plant. They will now. Why? Infectious marketing.

Check out the campaign website >

Why bloggers are brands’ new best friends

longwave777 — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:51:43 +0000

A new battle is consuming managers of Britain’s biggest brands. The competition has expanded from markets and minds to include… blogger share.

Chanel, American Express, Toyota, Britvic: all have stepped up their attempts to woo bloggers through direct approaches and dedicated events. The ‘blogger outreach program’ is fast becoming a ‘must have’ for the modern uk marketer.

In a process akin to football scouting (only using technorati and extensive internet search), the key is to find and target bloggers just before their popularity curve rockets upwards and they gain mass appeal.

Why the spike in interest? Contrary to ‘Blogging RIP’ headlines, popular blogs are resolutely holding and adding to devoted audiences. Traditional communication channels can seem impersonal, scattergun and one-way. Bloggers, conversely, are very real, extremely plugged into their networks and ultra responsive to shifts in mood and interest. Followers see them as trustworthy authorities in thought leadership and taste setting and are highly susceptible to their influence.

So how can you convince these individualistic independents to name-check your brand? The key is to grant them near-exclusive access to something that’s really likely to excite their readers, allow them to buck typical press-release protocols and write in their own voice, and look beyond one-off courtships to merit constant mentions.

Or, why stop at that – when you can make like Britvic and set up your own blogging site?

For pucka parenting posts check out Britvic’s “Ready for Ten” >

In smartphones we trust

longwave777 — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:55:06 +0000

Say goodbye to stepford-wife-style grocery shopping. Our days of cruising round supermarkets on auto-pilot look to be numbered.

It looks as though a new wave of iPhone apps is set to slap us out of our in-store slumber. Impartial bar-code scanning tools are spreading like wildfire stateside.

Companies like fooducate are on a crusade to help people make more sense of on-pack nutritional info. Product not as wholesome as its presentation would lead you to believe? Fooducate’s ‘better eating’ advocates want you to know.

Scan a barcode into their app and they’ll help you judge a product’s goodness with simple icons and conversation-like reviews. Not only that, they’ll allow you make instant comparisons with other brands in the same bay.

Once upon a time, getting your product handled would almost guarantee a sale. Looks like the marketers’ work just got harder…

Fooducate yourself >