It’s not often you see a large red bookshelf at the beach but that’s just what visitors to Bondi beach, Australia discovered yesterday. But don’t worry, it wasn’t a moment of careless littering, it was actually part of a campaign by Ikea to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their well loved “Billy” bookcase.
The bookcase was only there for a day, but gave visitors to the beach a chance to swap their own book for the latest read or make a gold coin donation, with money raised going to The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation.
After hearing all the hype I just had to check out Paranormal Activity at the weekend. But whilst you’d expect to leave the movie terrified and wanting to find out all about ghosts, demons and the like, instead I was more interested in the marketing behind it. This movie cost just $11,000 to make and has made in excess of $60 million within the first 6 weeks of US screenings.
So what made it so successful? Is it actually the most terrifyingly scary movie you’ll ever see? Or did it just involve very clever marketing? Whilst the last 20 minutes made the movie for me I’d have to go with the latter!
The screening of this movie was initially limited to only a handful of midnight screenings in college towns which promptly sold out. Fans who missed out on a screening were told to “demand it” to be shown at further locations via the official website, whilst the lucky few who got to see the movie were prompted to share their reaction via the website, twitter hashtag and facebook. This generated large amounts of interest about the movie, whilst adverts showing audience reactions only added to the hype already generated. When demands for the movie hit 1 million people it was released nationwide, and that’s not the end of it. Now rumour has it there are several endings to the movie and the one being shown in cinemas at the moment is actually a much shorter version than the one shown at earlier screenings. Which could potentially lead to increased hype if they alternate the versions shown in the cinema. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see on that one!
Either way, I think the use of consumer involvement to generate hype has been fantastic, and what did I think of the movie you ask? Shot in a similar way to both Blair Witch and Cloverfield, the relationship of Katie and Micha is believable and draws you in, there are some funny moments and the subtle goings on during the first few nights helps build the suspense. I’d definitely recommend a watch, worst case you can amuse yourself with the audience reactions! And considering it cost just $15,000 in total, makes me want to pick up a camera myself…….
Yesterday saw AOL preview the static images of their new brand identity. Images such as the “rock hand” right through to a green squiggle, provided the backdrop to the plain text logo of “Aol.” with the idea being that these images represent the ever-changing content of AOL.
Today AOL showcases it’s video, which is another bunch of eclectic images thrown together with some non-descript pop music added to the mix.
But does this collection of images really build a strong, confident brand image? Or does it just look like a rushed attempt at rebranding a company desperately trying to find it’s place in the fast-paced digital space?
I hate to say it, but America’s already Online……….does it really need AOL still?
Yesterday saw the launch of Toshiba’s latest ad campaign to promote its new 2010 REGZA SV LCD TV series, Toshiba’s first with LED backlight and local dimming.
The video revolves around the journey of an “ordinary armchair” which was made out of biodegradable balsa wood and sent up 98,268 ft. Fitted with 4 GPS systems and attached to helium balloons, the journey was shot using Toshiba’s own IK-HR1S cameras.
This is the first of two videos with part two set to hit our screens in 2010 to promote the new range of Satellite T Series of ultra low voltage laptops.
Whilst this video is certainly attention grabbing, it’ll be interesting to see whether the TV sales reach the same dizzying heights the chair has or if it’ll be one of those campaigns where the advert is more memorable than the product.
Here is a cool little video piece currently running on Hypebeast to celebrate the colab between British clothes designer Paul Smith and French mineral water Evian. I wonder how much a bottle of that will set you back?!
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