Grown Up Thinking

The Mr Youth Creative team was in good company Friday night. As guests at the One Show Interactive Awards at New York’s Terminal 5, we were both surrounded and inspired by an eclectic and talented crew of colleagues. Each year, the One Club recognizes the agency teams behind the most innovative and buzz-worthy advertising of the last 12 months.

Here’s our personal compilation of the “wow”-worthy winners that made us applaud hardest:
 
Kindling a community of composers…

“Sounds of Hamburg” | Client: Philharmoniker Hamburg
Agency: Jung von Matt, Hamburg
Award: Gold Pencil, Websites and Microsites: Services

Because at the end of the day “it’s just advertising”…

“Pink Ponies” | Client: john st.
Agency: john st. advertising, Toronto
Award: Gold Pencil, Online Films and Video: Self-Promotion – Single

An awareness-builder of a different kind…

“The Girl Store” | Client: Nanhi Kali (K.C. Mahindra Education Trust)
Agency: StrawberryFrog, New York
Award: Bronze Pencil, Websites and Microsites: E-Commerce

Comedic gold for the cause…

“Devin & Glenn” | Client: Overturn Prop 8
Agency: Furlined, Santa Monica
Award: Silver Pencil, Online Films and Video: Public Service/Non-Profit – Single

Crowdsourcing creativity to honor the Man in Black…

“The Johnny Cash Project” | Client: American Recordings/Lost Highway
Agency: @radical.media, New York
Award: Gold Pencil, Websites and Microsites: Social Networks/Community

Some other favorites:

“Fastball” | Client: Google | Agency: BBH, New York

“UNIQLO Lucky Counter” | Client: UNIQLO | Agency: Dentsu, Tokyo

“Pay With A Tweet” | Client: Innovative Thunder | Agency: R/GA, New York

“I Am Not An Artist” | Client: Elisava | Agency: Soon in Tokyo

“Nike+ GPS” | Client: Nike | Agency: R/GA, New York

“The Fun Theory Winner – The Speed Camera Lottery” | Client: VW Sweden | Agency: DDB, Stockholm
 
A hearty high-five to all of this year’s winners. Keep our seats warm.

We’ve found a lot that is inspiring and LOL-worthy this week (and it’s only Wednesday!) Here’s a shortlist – our spring gift to you, dear reader.

The @bronxzooscobra: Ok so it may be scary and awful that a 20-inch, pencil-thin, extremely venomous cobra is missing in the Bronx Zoo, but it is hilarious for us that our slithery, parseltongued friend is tweeting about her adventures.  Let’s hope that the zoo will find the amusement in this amidst their dismay, as 120k+ other Twitter users are.

Kraft Mac and Cheese “cnt sleep” Spots: With a speedy production turnaround reminiscent of Old Spice, these new clips (all are featured on the Kraft Facebook page) were inspired by consumer tweets about mac and cheese. One spot aired on Conan and Lopez Monday night, and it was so successful that agency CP&B repeated it again on TBS last night.

Stella Artois – Triple Filtered: From a gritty and sobbing Adrian Brody to this newest shabby and love-struck gentleman, the male cast of Stella ads play on a fun egocentrism that describes the brand itself.  In this London-created TV/Cinema campaign, our leading man finds himself chasing after a girl out of his league.  In three smooth steps he goes from scruffy to sophisticated.

Ashley Boo Facebook App – A take-down from the Hunter Shoots a Bear campaign, this Flash integration to promote Rounds (a video chat service) is intended to show the spirit and capabilities of the brand.  The fake profile of Ashley Boo gives you a taste of what you and your friends can do together using the service.

What’s on your radar this week?  Let us know in the comments!

I just sat in on a panel discussion hosted by Marci Ikeler, Director of Digital Strategy at Publicis. The focus was  on co-creating content in the social space and our need to adapt to real-time culture. As advertisers we strive to create ideas that will spread quickly among our audience. Ikeler says the key here is to adapt in real time and invite people to co-create in a way that’s comfortable to them without asking too much.

Marci says, “Whether you invite people into a community for co-creation or not, people are doing it on their own.” In the meme-tastic 4chan community, members can “bump” pieces of content as a way to self-select information they’re interested in. This is how members say they want to see more on this topic, and as Ikeler noted, “The best response you can get from your audience is that they want more.”

Will clients embrace a site like 4chan that can’t truly be regulated? She says they will because more and more things are being done in a crowdsourced way, advertisers will have to embrace that there will be content out there that’s off-brand.

So how do get consumers interested in produced or branded content when they could just go make it themselves? As one panel guest reminded us, “We as advertisers are the echo, not the boom.”

Ikeler talked through a few different strategies for effectively engaging your audience. “If you’re not creating ideas that develop naturally in a social environment it’s not going to work, you can’t just post any content in the social space and assume it will grow [...] Some videos aren’t as attuned to social spread and dialogue as more successful ones.”

Marci’s solution is micro-content: fast, small and sticky. Rather than coming up with a long-form, polished video, the most successfully social brands are posting micro-content more frequently. It can be risky to put that much content out there, but it allows advertisers to test which types of content and messaging will resonate best with their audience.

1. Smelling Like A Monster: With over 4.1 million views in just 6 days this adorable rendition of the Old Spice Man, brought to you by Grover, is a huge hit for Sesame Street fans of all ages.

2. Blimp Badge: Conan O’Brien’s comeback show on TBS is approaching, and east coast dwellers have a chance at unlocking a unique Foursquare badge for the occasion. If you see the giant orange CONAN blimp overhead make sure to check in!

3. Buying Starbucks for Friends through Facebook: As the 100th My Starbucks Idea this Facebook application allows users to reload the Starbucks cards of their friends. A great way to surprise, celebrate a birthday, or to pay that debt you owe…

4. Diesel Sneakers: Buyer beware. These shoes are “Not made for running. (Great for kicking asses).”

5. Instagram iPhone App: This wildly popular photo app allows users to morph their casual photography into amazing images, and share with friends in the process. Tapping into our egos, it also aggregates the most popular photos – challenging all 100k+ users to get their snapshots noticed.

6. Skype 5.0 Hearts Facebook: Remember when the social(media)ites were predicting a Skype/Facebook mash-up as part of Zuck’s big announcement? Well the new groups took that crown, but the functionality of connecting Skype with Facebook has arrived anyway!

7. Total Eclipse of the Heart Literal Version: I just always love this and wanted to remind all readers that it exists.

As a self proclaimed caffeine addict with an unreasonable loyalty to Dunkin’ Donuts’ hazelnut blend, I couldn’t help but be lured by their latest social media campaign aimed at finding the chain’s number one fan.

Named The Ultimate Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Fan Contest, the contest requires consumers to submit a 60 second or less video to the Dunkin’ Donut’s Facebook page for the chance to win the ultimate Dunkin’-lovers prize – 60 months of free coffee and a trip for two to Costa Rica to tour the Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Lab (a dream come true for a recent college graduate, like myself, who spends a whopping $2.05 on her morning joe).

Contestants can submit their videos through October 20^th. Public voting starts October 21^st; however, 75% of the video’s overall score will come from Dunkin’ judges. In addition to the grand prize, ten Facebook fans will earn 12 months of free coffee.

While Dunkin’ Donuts is no stranger to social media campaigns, this is their first Facebook-only campaign – a very smart strategic move for a company touting over two million Facebook fans.

With many other brands also administering number one fan contests to engage consumers, I believe Dunkin’ will come out on top. Knowing the nature of brand loyalty I can safely assume anyone even half the Dunkin’ devotee I am will be just as eager to jump on this prize.

We all knew it was coming – the day when “Go Green” would blow up to a precarious balance between conscientious and meaningless.

On Tuesday I attended the “Marketing Green without Greenwashing” panel for Advertising Week, and came away with some interesting, if disheartening, facts about the spectrum of green.

Whether deliberate or not, companies in every industry are making false claims and committing the Sins of Greenwashing.  This 2009 study showed that 98% of “green” products committed at least one of these sins (they analyzed 2,219):

1. Fibbing

2. No proof

3. Irrelevance

4. Hidden trade-off

5. Vagueness

6. Lesser of two evils

7. Worshiping false labels

So what do we look for?  As we wait for better standards and the new FTC Green Guide, we need to educate ourselves.  Here are some starters:

- Read the fine print on packages with eco labels and certifications
- Beware of claims insinuating a general or vague environmental benefit
- Look for specific facts about what makes the product a greener option
- Words like “natural” and “biodegradable” can be meaningless due to chemical processing and controlled testing, respectively

My mom used to tell me all the time, “Every dollar is a vote.”  This power to determine what is most important and relevant in environmentally-friendly products will shape future policy.  If false labels and misleading claims reduce the efficacy of consumers – companies making valiant efforts and presenting authentic, transparent information will suffer under the bulk of fallacies.

So no matter what hue of green you’re going for, be smart and deliberate in your pursuit.

What do you think about the current state of Greenwashing?

Finally! Ever since the emergence of Chatroulette I’ve been eagerly anticipating a viral marketing campaign that takes it to the next level.

For me it has arrived in the form of “The Last Exorcism” where some genius marketer has combined the two best things about Chatroulette: sex appeal and shock value. This viral move comes as a follow-up to the newly created Church of St. Marks website that provides tips and tricks to avoid being possessed by a demon, and in the event that this is unavoidable, also provides guidance to care for the possessed.

An important point to note with this is that the actual promotion on Chatroulette isn’t what will bring the movie in to the spotlight, but rather the virility of the reaction videos. Considering the largest demographic on the site is 18-24 year olds, Chatroulette seems like a perfect fit for this type of promotion.

All-in-all, I’m glad to see that someone is keeping Chatroulette in the headlines and giving us even more entertaining reactions to enjoy.

Check them out here.

I came across a box of Barnum’s Animal Crackers the other week at a train station in Delaware and immediately noticed the packaging overhaul. To celebrate the Year of the Tiger, Lilly Pulitzer has teamed up with Nabisco Barnum’s Animal Crackers, to create special packaging to support the WWF with a goal to raise $100K to save the Sumatra Tigers.

Why is this interesting? For one, its an older brand that is getting a fashionable face lift. Through partnering with a modern, nationally known fashion brand they are definitely appealing to moms, but also making a cause connection between their animal crackers and real world animals, which can be a great education element for young kids. In short, the product has a real educational effect on young children and can teach them about endangered species causes. Furthermore, they are issuing one million of these limited edition boxes, so the campaign has some decent scale to it.

On top of all that, it’s an unexpected collaboration, which is what makes it great. I love seeing brands like this partner up for the purpose of a common cause. Overall it feels genuine. Lilly Pulitzer is issuing animal prints as part of their line this season to support Wildlife, so the elements all tie in well without feeling forced or like a sell out.

We need to encourage more mass-brands to step out of their comfort zones and predictable patterns. They should be entering new spaces, initiating unlikely collaborations and using their reach for the greater good. I’d love to see these boxes make their way down the runway of Fashion Week. Who knows? They may even make good upcylced purses for cell phones and essentials.

So what unexpected brand collaborations have caught your eye these days? Leave a comment and let us know.

This article first appeared as part of iMedia Connection’s Social Media: In Focus

More than a fan aggregator

With its recent F8 announcements, Facebook has again one-upped the world as we thought we knew it. Brand marketers need to start looking at Facebook as a much deeper and broader solution than one that purely amasses a fan base. As Facebook rolls out new functionality, brands have the opportunity to act immediately in a variety of ways. In addition, it’s important for brand managers to re-imagine their brands by leveraging social enhancements.

Brands need to be able to take immediate advantage of features such as the “like” functionality, but they also need to be visionary in how they can build their brands for the future and become truly social. While I encourage brands to take part in these new advancements, we also need to make sure that we keep an eye on the Facebook future and build with this future in mind.

So, in the quest to make your brand truly social, uproot your assets and think of new ways to infuse them through Facebook integration and by adding key social layers to the brand experience. Look toward the future and start evaluating the role that Facebook can play at retail, on the ground, and across every channel your brand touches. Not all opportunities will be a fit, but one thing is for sure: If you only look at Facebook as a place to have a fan page, you are missing the greater offering and will likely be sitting on the sidelines when the future arrives.

Get the full article here to take a look at some of Facebook’s new and evolving functionalities, as well as what they mean for your marketing efforts.

Looks like the Apple/Adobe “feud” just got a lot more interesting. Fresh off the heels of Steve Jobs’ condemnation of flash on the Apple blog, Adobe released a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal proclaiming its “love” for the computer giant.

While a traditional media play may seem contradictory for a brand whose product resonates most with the online crowd, the provocative ads demonstrate just how powerful the synergy can be between traditional and social campaigns. Already, there are thousands of blog posts dedicated to the subject, and the twitter-sphere is buzzing as the tech-savvy crowd rushes to choose sides.

Regardless of where your allegiances lie, the Adobe example demonstrates an important point for marketers: traditional and social needn’t be mutually exclusive. When executed strategically (with an inherent understanding of your target’s behavior), a traditional mass awareness play can be so powerful that consumers will willingly turn to social media to weigh in, amplifying your message exponentially. All you need to do is start the conversation, and let your audience take it from there.

Who are you rooting for, Apple or Adobe?