Dutch navigation device manufacturer TomTom offers a very special set of new navigation voices in joint promotion with Star Wars. This viral – yes, we do consider it a viral – created by Pool Worldwide and directed by Willem Gerritsen (CZAR), advertises Yoda’s voice – on sale for US $13. In May Darth Vader was released. Very funny, though we can imagine – as the commercial already shows – that this voice will (literally) drive you nuts after a while. On the TomTom website you can also listen to voice samples of the other Star Wars characters – Darth Vader, C-3PO, and Han Solo. There’s also a Star Wars game – we could almost hear the client say “let’s also do a game”. It has to do with augmented reality through your webcam, using the force and winning ‘a personalized Yoda voice’ – whatever that may be. All in all, TomTom – in difficult times because of the recession and tough (mobile phone) competition – and Pool have done a great job in turning TomTom into a more likeable brand.
Archive for the ‘Game’ Category
Samsung 3D takes over YouTube with game
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Last time we wrote about Samsung, it took over a building in the centre of Amsterdam with a 3D projection. Today Samsung is taking over You Tube with a game. The game-take-over starts with a film of the 3D projection on the Beurs van Berlage. Then it slowly takes over YouTube. The game is nothing special (click on as many butterflies as possible and win a 3D LED TV), but the take-over makes quite good eye candy. Created by Muse.
The first augmented reality outdoor ad with Layar
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Finally, the first example of Layar – the augmented reality browser – applied in advertising. Created by TAB World Media, a company that specializes in augmented outdoor advertising. With an Android or iPhone you can watch the new trailer of Walt Disney’s ‘Prince of Persia, The sands of time’ through Layar. But of course there’s more. The Dutch AR browser also gives access to a game. The movie character Tamina speaks to the player (see image) and explains you need to answer three questions. By answering correctly the player can earn 50 ‘Movie Minutes’ – for 90 MM you can buy a DVD. The Layar also gives access to an augmented cinema locator and the option to share the game within your social network. We look forward to the future – this is just the beginning…
O’Neill introduces virtual surfing with AR game
Thursday, April 8th, 2010Two weeks ago we already mentioned that augmented reality (AR) is picking up in the world of advertising. But as far as we know this is the first time it’s being used for an online game. In this game for surf brand O’Neill – created by Achtung! and built by IceMedia – you can virtually ride the waves. The longer you stay on your board the higher your score and the bigger the chance you win a trip to the World Cup of Surfing in Hawaii. To play the game you need to have a copy of the print ad of the new HyperFreak, which is – according to O’Neill – the most technical boardshort in the world. The funny thing is that we saw the HyperFreak print ad earlier this week, but didn’t know at all what we were looking at – would that be a waste of budget? Anyway, apart from playing the game, you can also see what the HyperFreak looks like in AR and on the website you can find out more about its special features; stretch fabric, super strong and light, no inseam, etc. What a nice campaign! It made us realize that AR is going to be the biggest revolution in advertising since the invention of YouTube.
Easter egg hunt in supermarket App(ie)
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
These are the Easter eggs that were hidden by Holland’s biggest supermarket chain, Albert Heijn (AH), in the latest version (1.5) of its iPhone App. The App, called Appie – a good choice of name, since many Dutch use it as the grocer’s nick-name – helps its customers to make a grocery list, search for recipes and of course find the latest ‘Bonus’ offers. Though probably only a tiny part of AH’s customer base will frequently use the App, it shows that AH wants to create added value for its customers in an innovative way. And that, we believe, makes the grocer very likeable. And since we’re only at the beginning of the App revolution, you can expect many more services on the App(ie) in the future. Anyway, to show that AH has a sense of humour, some Easter eggs were hidden in the App this Easter. On Twitter (#Appie) hints were given about where one could find the eggs. AH also hid a IRL Easter Egg in one of its stores. The person that found it, won an iPad (not on sale yet in the Netherlands). The Apps were built by digital agency Muse. If the 1.0 version of the App won’t win an award (for digital advertising) at the SpinAwards tomorrow, the 1.5 version definitely should next year.
‘Tansu’ sneaker for Onitsuka Tiger
Thursday, February 11th, 2010Here’s a teaser for the new Onitsuka Tiger campaign made by Amsterdam Worldwide (AW). What a cool brand to work for. First of all Onitsuka always seems to give its agency carte blanche with respect to coming up with truly creative stuff. Secondly the brand proposition ‘made of Japan’ allows AW to draw inspiration from the rich Japanese culture. Every year the agency creates a giant sneaker with a special Japanese theme. Last year it was the Zodiac calender. This year the agency created an integrated campaign around the traditionally crafted ‘Tansu’ (a chest with box shaped drawers). It took a team of Tansu masters four months to handicraft the shoe shaped ‘Kaidan’ (step) Tansu, using techniques that date back from the time of the Samurai. Back in the days these chests were used both as a cabinet as well as a hidden ladder that made upstairs lofts look inaccessible – and thus not taxable – to the tax collector. But there’s more; the Onitsuka shoe works like a puzzle; the boxes must be unlocked in a specific sequence to unveil its hidden treasures. For those who cannot admire the real chest – on display in Onitsuka’s flagship stores – AW made an online version that invites the consumer to solve the puzzle. The project is topped off with special instore Tansu-themed materials. Talking about craftmanship…
Nike Football+ Challenge
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
The ‘Nike Football+ Challenge‘, that’s quite a mouthfull for this ’transmedia’ campaign created by Boondoggle. The challenge – accessible through Hyves (the Dutch Facebook) – asks Hyves members to show their football skills to Dutch football player Wesley Sneijder. The best ‘players’ are flown into Milan to train with Sneijder – who plays for Inter. We tried the first challenge, testing whether you can quickly asses match situations and predict where Sneijder played the ball in real life matches – by clicking in the game footage. We performed really badly, but were impressed by the intelligence and the execution of the campaign. It looks like Nike and Boondoggle properly invested time and energy to make it work. The only pity is that you have to be a Hyves member to participate. Though the social network site has a very strong penetration in the Netherlands (it has about 8.5 million members and the Netherlands counts about 16.6 million inhabitants), we suspect that a big part of Nike’s target is not actively involved in the site anymore – it either switched to Facebook or uses other social media tools to stay in touch with friends. On the other hand, these are the kind of games that make Hyves more interesting. So eventually it’s a win-win concpet for both Nike and Hyves.
Vodafone keeps trying, this time with Lucky Calls
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
We’ve been writing quite a lot about Vodafone in the past months. Mainly because the mobile company seems to be in some sort of identity crises. Every time we see a Vodafone advertisement it communicates in a different way, with a different style and seems to be targeted at a different group of consumers. It started with the mutated guinea pigs, then they were giving away phones and other stuff, then you had to search for them (off and online) and the previous promotion asked us: ‘Who wants to be a prepaid millionaire?’. This time it’s not about your knowledge, but about your luck. That is, if we go by the campaign proposition: ‘Lucky Calls’. The concept is simple: you just call your favourite phone and ‘Anouk’ picks it up by moving through the screen in different ways. When you can answer a really simple question, you might win the phone. Not until you’ve submitted your personal data though – so Vodafone can add you to their database. Fortunately digital agency Super Heroes tried to make it all as digestible as possible.
Volvo C30 DRIVe around the world
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
EuroRSCG4D created this Facebook page – together with LBi Göteborg – for the Volvo C30 DRIVe. The new Volvo can drive 1333 kilometer on a full tank, thanks to the start/stop system and regenerative charging. Surprisingly enough these technologies are not mentioned on the website, which is a different approach from Volkswagen that recently introduced a special ingredient brand: Blue Motion Technologies. Instead, Volvo chose the playful route. On the dedicated Facebook page you can invite your Facebook friends to virtually drive around the world in as few stops as possible. So for example, if you live in Amsterdam you virtually drive to Berlin, where a Facebook friend drives the next lap to Moscow, from there another friend drives further east, until the car has completely circled the earth. To win the game, every single lap has to be as close as 1333 kilometers as possible. If you win, Volvo donates € 15,000 in your name to a project that fights global warming. Since we couldn’t play the game (the site told us “Oops, something went wrong. We are working on fixing this problem”), it’s difficult to judge it properly, but we wonder whether this prize gives the consumer enough incentive. We know, global warming is ‘hot’ and all, but consumers are still very opportunistic. So if you want them to play a game online, it either has to be very engaging or give away great prizes – a C30 DRIVe for example.
Treasure hunt for Vodafone’s mobiles
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
We ended our last post about Vodafone with ‘to be continued’. Why? Because we were surprised that Vodafone’s new, distinctive characters (the ‘mutated guinea pigs’) weren’t used at all in Achtung!’s brand activation, ‘Upgrade a stranger’. And while Vodafone internally is still being divided over the new ad property – created by THEY – Achtung! was asked to create yet another activation campaign for the (young) consumer. The principle is quite similar to the previous activation; through two different micro-sites Vodafone gives away more mobile phones. The first campaign is called BlackBerryHideout; phones (BlackBerry Curves) are hidden around universities, video clues are given by two students (in English) on the website and anyone can search for it – in real life. The other activation, is called TheYouFlickInMyHyveFaceChase; an online treasure hunt through social networks and blogs. This time the prize is a Samsung H1 (and some other prizes). We are not sure how many consumers are involved in these activations, but it definitely sounds like something that will cause a lot of rumour around the brand – this time mainly positive rumour…
