A while ago we brought you ‘Smell is Power’ from Old Spice and talked about how P&G had cleverly ambushed their own marketing (with help from W+K). This time round the campaign has gone truly interactive and lets you use Terry Cruise’s muscles to make music. Enjoy.
So you want to shoot some video?
May 3, 2012So you want to shoot some video? No problem.
I have a degree in Television producing, so surely we can figure something out. I know a friend whose parents still smother him with gifts (instead of love) and he just got a new Canon 5D – he probably knows how to use it by now too. While everyone else was studying Economics, another friend and I spent our senior high-school years ‘learning’ Film & TV. He used to have a pirated copy of Final Cut on his laptop, so he can probably edit some stuff to look real sexy.
Yeh, we can make you a video alright. Maybe it’ll even go viral – why not? As for remuneration, just buy us a case of beer and we’ll call it even. Easy.
…if only.
The art of film is exactly that – an art. Professionals exist for a reason, and have spent years refining their skills in one of the many particular and often excruciatingly specific roles that exist in the industry. You’ll find a guy on set whose only role is to change the focus of the camera during a shot (Focus Puller). Why? Because he is damn good at it.
As Razorfish moves further into the realm of creating great video content for its clients, we must accept that we aren’t traditionally the experts in this area. Luckily, the guys at Thinkbone are.
To set the scene (so to speak) this week Thinkbone’s crew turned our lobby into a live set in order to teach us a thing or two about production, budgets, and the different outcomes you can expect. They were to film the same scene (Pulp Fiction’s famous “$5 Milkshake”) three times – each with a different budget, and thus final product. For the purpose of the exercise, let’s assume each budget is for 60 seconds of final video.
- Low budget: For this we are looking at a stripped back pre-production (logistics, scripts, basically all the organizing), three days of post, a bare minimum crew (Producer/Director, Production Manager, Production Assistant, D.O.P), catering and a basic camera and tripod set-up. Oh, and your mate/Mum/cousin acting. Approximate total: $20,700.
For that you can expect to produce something resembling the quality of video below:
- Medium budget: In addition to the above, we’d be looking to add an Art Department, props, wardrobe, casting, semi-professional Actors, make up, location costs, and a beefed up camera kit. Approximate total: $ 65,200.
And for the extra money and effort you’ll be looking at something of this quality (ignoring travel costs):
- High budget: Let’s add more crew, professional actors, expert lighting, more location costs, more catering, and amongst other things, a better camera, a dolly (the thing on the train tracks), and a dolly operator. Approximate total: $97,000.
Now we are looking at some high-end video production capable of matching, or even improving on the original scene. This isn’t to say you need to spend big for every bit of video you create. Each grade of production serves a purpose, so it depends on the individual project and the objectives as to how much you should be budgeting.
Here is the final take of the day (sound is from the camera mic, so apologies). Thankfully, Thinkbone opted to waive the $97,000 – thanks guys. That case of Superdry should arrive any day now.
Dean
Little Fish, Big Pond
February 13, 2012“I wish I could’ve done that when I started”
That is the standard response from most in the office who hear about my graduate program. Nine months of experience rotating through all of Amnesia’s departments, from Account Management to Creative, Strategy to Emerging Technology, and even a short stint with Finance (my apologies to the finance department in advance). Nine months of new and different. Nine months of digital, Amnesia style.
Of course it is an enviable program, and I intend to make the most of it. And whilst it may be all about learning the digital ropes, in a lot of ways it is a chance to show nine months worth of proof – proof that this little fish can swim.
So who am I? I am Dean, a new fish in the pond that is Amnesia Razorfish.
Seinfeld makes me laugh. I conduct limb transplants on gummy bears. I think great food is, well, great. A world map has pride of place on my wall. And I always “find the fun” in any situation.
I am a lover of media, both online and offline. My professional background lies within children’s television at Network Ten, where I worked as a Production Coordinator and freelance Scriptwriter, creating ‘riveting’ work such as this.
For me, it’s time for change and adaptation – from sleepy Brisbane to bustling Sydney, offline to online. I’ll be documenting my time at Amnesia Razorfish with a no holds barred look at agency and digital life. I have a lot to learn and you can read all about it here, or follow me on twitter.
Dean
@deanvowles
P&G hijack their own advertising (smell is power)
February 3, 2012Two very different worlds of advertising collide in this new campaign by W+K. It is a very smart and (perhaps, more importantly) funny move.
The only question is, can you really go back to the tried and tested formula for the other brands now… Either way, we like.
Sex Sells! This works even for bottled water
December 1, 2011or in the case of the French bottled water company Contrex a fun ad campaign using a Neon Male Stripper.
This ad was broadcasted in October and it features pink exercise bikes in front of a, what seems to be, historic building in Paris and when some curious ladies start pedalling Neon lights come to life and reveal a male stripper starting to undress.
At the end the girls are told that they just burnt 2000 calories which falls in line with Contrex “My Contrexperience” digital campaign which says that we all would lose more weight if the process was funnier and these ladies definitely look like they had a good time.
Interestingly there are a few rumours online that claim that this is fake as nobody recognizes the building and citizens of Paris claim they never heard of it.
I think it is still a great campaign – tell me what you think in the comments.
DDB: ADC Annual Awards Call for Entries Campaign
November 15, 2011Love this! Esp as most of us can relate to it. DDB New York’s campaign for ADC’s Annual Awards Call for Entries.
@danKrause
Do you have Sweden’s safest hands?
October 5, 2011Cool idea by Swedish agency Åkestam Holst.
I had to Google translate it from Swedish but still reads well… (article from the agencies blog).
“Sweden’s safest hands”, is a contest in the iPhone, which is organised by the Post. The contest is part of a larger e-commerce campaign that is about to record is the safer choice when you send your packages.
The contest is to carry a digital package a certain distance using an iPhone app. This applies to transport package is as safe and secure as the Post.
42 packages have been packed with secret content to a value between 300 and 5000 dollars. Every day at 6, 12 and 18 released a new package. Do you deliver the package intact before anyone else, you win the contents. You decide where to begin and end, so it does not matter where you live in Sweden.
Download the app and compete on posten.se / safe hands
See contest trailer:
Watch it:
@danKrause
Idea Envy: VW BlueMotion Roulette
September 2, 2011This is one to file under ‘ideas you wish you’d come up with’ – in this case it was VW’s Norwegian agency Apt that got there first.
So how do you make people care about a boring-but-important feature like a car’s fuel consumption? What about asking consumers to upload their favourite fuel-economy related stories to your Facebook page? Or not.
In fact, these guys decided it would be more fun to turn one of Norway’s longest highways into a giant game of roulette. The person who correctly predicts where the BlueMotion will run out of fuel gets to keep one – finally giving people a real reason to research fuel economy…
(Kudos to @lyndonjhale for spotting this)
Unexpected Thinking : 3 of the best from Cannes
August 19, 2011The APG held a Cannes Highlights evening last night at the Verona, themed around ‘Unexpected Thinking’. As well as the usual suspects (Nike ‘Write the Future’, Walkers ‘Sandwich’, TippEx ‘Hunter Shoots A Bear’ etc) here are a few examples that hopefully haven’t been blogged to death:
1. Heartbreaker, Kaizers Orchestra
(Starcom, Norway)
Media generally doesn’t turn up the most electrifying case studies but this was a truly ingenious idea: build up anticipation for a new album release by giving it away – as sheet music. The outcome: cover version mania sweeps Norway.
Kaizers Orchestra – Hjerteknuser (Case study, English) from Anorak on Vimeo.
2. Gigantic Nose, BGH
(Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires)
It’s fashionable for digital people to slag off big ideas but this is a great example of how a creative strategy can create excitement over the dryest of product benefits. To promote a new airconditioner with an above average filtration system, Saatchis focused on those who needed it most – people with massive noses.
3. Monopoly City Streets, Hasbro
(Tribal DDB, UK)
OK, so this has been around a while but it’s still a nice idea. A lot of digital campaigns try and get people to participate for the sake of it but this is a lovely example of how a campaign that’s genuinely fun to get involved in can yield dramatic results. How do you promote a board game that’s already turned out more ‘special editions’ than Sports Illustrated? Go large by turning the whole world into a giant game.
Facebook Video Chat… World Takeover Strategy
July 7, 2011Now that facebook has not only dominated the social network space, launched a successful advertising platform, launched geo location offline business integration(facebook places), why not just jump into another market ? video chat ?
The facebook+skype integration allows users to connect with their online friends via skype
Step 1 seen above is selecting the person you want to start a video chat with.
Next thing we need to do is download and install the software that makes the video chat possible, this is a simple 2 click process(Tell google to keep it simple). Are you excited yet ?
Now you run the file and within seconds you can be chatting away with people all over the globe. Without having to invite them into circles(out the box functionality, now way!) Yes way.
A simple web call authentication that installs the program
What you see above is what it looks like when requesting a video chat call(if you are the person requesting it).
A simple call request before a call launch is seen above and the grand finale, the peice de resistance is seen below.. Drumroll please
And below is my little cousin who never wants to use any new technology(we all know someone like her)
Presto.
Since none of my friends have video calls and the 1 person I called was unlcothed, it will be a while before you see the actual video call image
Underwater Sydney and 52 Suburbs meets Creative Social
April 13, 2011Creative Social is the monthly gathering of Australian Creative Directors working in digital. Tim Buesing Digital CD for Mojos put his post on his blog http://between0and1.org/ – go check it out or read on…
We interviewed our speakers Louise and Richard before Tuesday’s get togetherat MOJO / Amnesia Razorfish and here’s the video of the night, a bit rough around the edges.
Both speakers are keen to take their projects further, so if you are intrigued by their work, identify with their projects and feel like you could contribute, please do get in touch via their respective sites:
Louise Hawson’s 52 Suburbs
Louise is planning to get ’52 Cities’ underway soon, and you would guess she is not talking about 52 cities within Australia. So as per Ben Cooper‘s suggestion, you might see her project gain traction on Kickstarter soon.
Richard Vevers Underwater Sydney
Richard’s project is getting major digital support from BMF through our Creative Social member Aaron Michie. But BMF building a new site won’t be enough, so if you are an agency willing to donate time and expertise in whatever field of communication, please get in touch. The underwater sea life literally needs more visibility.
The next Creative Social takes place at The Hallway, hosted by Jules Hall andJamie Corker, speaker still to be announced.
The real Mad Men Christmas party: pretty dull actually
December 21, 2010Droga 5’s recent full page ad in The Australian confirmed what we all already knew. Despite telling everyone who’ll listen that ‘the old agency model is broken’, most people in advertising still prefer the idea of a Sterling Cooper-style long lunch to a four-hour workshop on cross-media integration.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. Except that according to the BBC’s Adam Curtis, the reality of sixties adland was actually a bit less glamorous than Don Draper and co would lead us to believe.
On his blog ‘The Medium and The Message’, Adam’s posted a fascinating, if slightly dreary, documentary about the 1969 Christmas party of London ad agency Davidson Pearce Berry and Tuck.
26 year old Media Director Allan Rich is pure gold – he puts an upper limit of ten minutes on festive socialising and shuns alcohol for a cheeky glass of bitter lemon.
Check out the video footage here.
Will it go dot.mum? (the real adnews article)
November 25, 2010A new phrase has entered the building – dot.mum. It was blurted out (as these things normally are) in a creative brainstorm the other day, ‘I like it, it’s a great idea, but will it go dot .mum?’.
At the time, it came out as shorthand for ‘the mainstream’. The incomplete thesis behind the mumbling was once you’ve gone dot.com you then need to go dot.mum, which means you’ve pretty much got yourself into every household (pretty much – an incomplete thesis as I said).
As the presumed ruler of the household purse, Mums have long been the targets of some pretty one-dimensional strategies (we’ve all seen it before in this industry; food = fear, toilets = pride, etc) and, of course, the terrible advertising that accompanies it. There is a lot more to dot.mum than meets the eye though (now that I’ve actually bothered to explore my mind fart) the truth of the matter is that actually dot.mums are changing the nature of what the mainstream is.
The Entertainment Association of Australia quietly released a study last month which predicts mums are set to overtake teenage boys as the new gamers (ask anyone at Facebook and they’ll tell you they’ve already seen it happen). Their study shows that 46 per cent of the Australia’s gamers are now female, with the average age 30 years.
While we’re fighting some female marketing stereotypes, I’d like to include a side point of clarification here: In the same way that mums aren’t fear-driven, pride-seeking, FMCG buying machines, when women play games they do not necessarily want teddy bears and shopping apps.
A study undertaken in 2006 by the Australian Catholic Univeristy no less (their misspelling not mine… Given this, perhaps we should view all results as indicative at this stage) found that female gamers find mental stimulation, creativity, interesting story lines and superior graphics more important than anything else (more important than dolphins and flowers for example).
Once you’ve put your copy of Ad News down go and check your analytics for some genuine insight. When we launched our paper plane game (check it out – it’s fun) we found out that the majority of the users where female (55%) and since then we’ve taken specific learnings into a number of campaigns. One implication is the fracturing of engagement (mum’s are very busy people) so we need to make any content bite sized, flexible and something they really want to return to.
Make no mistake the dot.mum phenomena has its downside. Is something still cool if it has gone dot.mum? Just ask Dido. And then there is the question of where dot.mum finishes? Once the chick chick boom girl appeared on sunrise her cache evaporated. So where does Sunrise fit and should we include Sunrise in our media plans for dot.mums? That really is the stuff of sleepless nights.
So guess what, games are increasingly a mass marketing channel and women aren’t idiots. No, there is much more to it than that. Going dot.mum is important, it is the future of the mainstream, a future mainstream we must connect with and, in order to do so, ultimately understand. If we can’t get that far let’s at least make sure we don’t fall back on some of those bad marketing assumptions.
Now you’ve read this rubbish, go and check out some serious gamer girls here – girlgamers.com.au, thumbbandits.com or womengamers.com (the latter of which is now 11 years old btw).
Ben Hourahine is Strategy Director at Amnesia Razorfish – @benhourahine
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Published in Adnews – ‘Dot.mum is the new mainstream’ – 19.11.10
This is the original version before the re-edit, my name is also spelled correctly here too 😉
Once you’ve put your copy of Ad News down go and check your analytics for some genuine insight. When we launched our paper plane game (check it out – it’s fun) we found out that the majority of the users where female (55%) and since then we’ve taken specific learnings into a number of campaigns. One implication is the fracturing of engagement (mum’s are very busy people) so we need to make any content bite sized, flexible and something they really want to return to.
Google’s Place Search to squeeze returns
November 5, 2010In the search engine marketing and optimisation sector, it really does seem that change is the only constant.
In June, I wrote about the launch of Google Caffeine and the impact of social search in the marketing mix. Just four months later and Google has added another game-changing feature to their search engine results pages (SERPs), called Place Search.
As its name suggests, Place Search prioritises search results based on proximity of the website to the user’s current location, in an effort to make consumers “feel like a local everywhere [they] go”. It is very similar in concept to Yellow Pages but doesn’t require users to leave the Google homepage.
This is good news for consumers seeking local restaurants, shops, entertainment and the like, but for companies there are new challenges that come with it.
In addition to having its own dedicated category, Place Search also appears in natural results on the main SERP (in the form of business listings with reviews and a map showing result locations) when Google predicts that the user is looking for local information. But it is what that new content is replacing that is of concern.
Companies currently paying for Google AdWords to gain higher visibility on more generic search queries may find that their click-through rates suddenly take a tumble thanks to the new Places map, which is positioned in what was previously a lucrative AdWords position: the top right-hand corner.
Not only does it take a prime position, it maintains that position as the user scrolls down the page, which means significantly less visibility of company-sponsored AdWords.
It would not be far-fetched to expect AdWord costs to increase (due to the increased competition and importance of gaining the top three spots), despite a greater risk of fewer click-throughs and thus a decline in return on investment for those not appearing in the top spots.
In every challenge, there is an opportunity. In Place Search, the opportunity for companies is to raise the visibility of bricks-and-mortar stores to among 60 per cent of Australians who research online with an intent to purchase offline.
To do that, I asked one of our search experts here at Amnesia Razorfish to provide their top five tips on optimising for Place Search:
1. Get listed and be consistent: claim your free listing by providing your company details at www.google.com/places, ensuring that multiple locations each have their own profile containing the location/suburb in the Places title. Choose your categories carefully, and ensure your description is consistent across other directory listings.
2. Enrich the experience: take the opportunity to add additional information such as opening hours and rich media content (photos, YouTube videos, and so on) to your Places page; you want consumers to get a good feel for who you are and what you do.
3. Reviews: customer reviews play an important role in Place Search ranks. Ensure you have the process in place to monitor and respond to user reviews about your business.
4. Sponsored map icons: make your business stand out by investing in a personalised map icon that displays your logo.
5. AdWords ad extensions: link your Google Places listing with AdWords to enable users to see your location from the sponsored ad.
And my recommendation? Make the most of this opportunity while it is still free, as you have to assume Google is not out to destroy its own commercial model.
To that end, I would expect to see related new forms of paid advertising being launched by Google in the weeks and months to come. Given its current focus on location, my guess is that mobile advertising is next on the hit list. Watch this space.
Mini get-away: Virtual reality game from Stockholm
October 29, 2010I love this game. The rules are simple but the game is not easy. You download the iphone app. Find the virtual mini and you ‘take’ it if you get within 50 metres of it. Then comes the tricky bit … you have to keep other players from taking the mini from you. Keep hold of it and you win a real life mini. Nice.
Watch this space for mash-ups from every agency going 🙂
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