Alistair Beattie

Ads for No Ads on Sky

McD's UGC WTF?

Initially I thought this was a spoof, but no, it's real. The Tubers are going wild for this with nearly 500k views so far, I'm just waiting for the inevitable deluge of anti-McSentiment to layer around the genuine UGC efforts. But you've got to ask yourself, at the point where a genuine entry is about how to wipe your bum in the context of fast food, where does the parody start, or stop.

Welcome to want2bsquare!

Link: Welcome to want2bsquare!.

This site produced by Attic for the US launch of Scion is a great example of how engagement can be taken to new heights through the creation of an experience that encourages exploration and problem solving. I've not explored it all but the core site is huge and links out to a number of others which include a diary of live events, an online video vault, links to dealers and so on. The site drives registrations through a reward-based on-site economy in which points can be earned by exploring ever nook and cranny, or by playing the games. The games are further incentivised by the creation of competitions for real prizes like plasma screens and so on. Furthermore, the games are actually fun to play and require some brainpower to get good at. The whole thing is tonally really strange and creates a dark atmosphere in which the car shines through as not taking itself too seriously. But then when you look like you've been designed by a Vogon with a hangover, that's probably a plus. It's deep, it's rich, it's sticky and wierd. Dwell time is going to be through the roof for those that can hack it, but I think a lot of people will also just bounce of it. Having said that polarisation might not be such a bad thing, I'd rather create love and hate than ambivalance. The whole thing reminds me of Twin Peaks but remixed for a participatory consumer who likes a challenge and isn't afraid to take a walk on the wild side. Useability and accessibilty are out the window here, but that's not always a bad thing, who said it always has to be clear what's going on. Life's not like that.

A brave, and exceedingly modern take on building a car campaign.

Our latest work for Guinness

Guinness is famous for their award winning TV commercials, and this one is no exception. What's new is that the campaign was launched in digital media first with clips on YouTube and now this site.

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Viral Learning Centre

OK, I'll bite, 250k views on YouTube, this is touching a nerve: a mockvert for a School of Viral Video. If it wasn't so painfully true it would be funnier.

Perhaps we can all learn something from Nalts, a tortured viral artiste

And lets not forget a couple of key facts for brands and advertisers to know:

There are approximately 70,000 videos uploaded to YouTube every single day. Your chances of taking off are nearly entirely dependent on people liking and speading the clip of their own volition. There is no real way to buy exposure beyond initial seeding. The success of the work is hard to predict, the internet is a funny place and most of the rules of crafting good effeective TV commercials simply don't apply.

This clip is peaking now at around 1,500,000 million views. Not bad for a kid and his camera, no budget, no seeding, and no agenda beyond bragging rights and having some fun being creative. That's only half a million views short of Smirnoff's Tea Partay!

More importantly it's spawned a host of imitators, critiques, remixes and responses.  Of these, I particularly like this one...

And here's something the same but different. Lasse is 22 years old, lives in Larvik, an obscure town in Norway. He has the 27th most subscribed to channel ever with 14.5k subscribers, and 500k views of his work. There are already 1.8million views of this clip and still rising. (Embedding disabled)

Ford Bold Moves

Link: Bold Moves : Homepage.

Ford's new touchy feely online-centric gambit is a radical departure from the hubris we associate with auto manufacturers, but do they really mean it?. If they were riding the crest of the wave then it would be more convincing, as a crisis management tool, it feels gestural and unconvincing. I guess old habits die hard, but even in this moment of contrition there's a constant sense of their own importance and scale, as well as an unpleasant insinuation that the American public has somehow let them down. If they think they can rely on patriotism to save the company they're still not in touch with the reality of their world. The Japanese and (to a lesser extent) the Europeans, are eating their lunch.  The most significant scale aspect of this is the staggering extent of the losses, and the enormous human cost for the workers.

The site and the campaign are all seemingly alive to the potential of all manner of "new marketing" methods and approaches, you might encapsulate them as Stories and Conversations as opposed to the old school singular focus on brand image and messages.

First things first, this campaign has not caught fire yet. (cf Alexa). Perhaps it's a slow burn.

From the early episodes 1+2, Ford seems to have caught on to the idea that running a successful business might have something to do with listening to your customers, and that designing cars that they actually want is half a step in the right direction to maybe selling them one. Granted it's unlikely that this is a new idea for them, but this hair-shirted public chest beating smacks of desperation and insincerity.  This one comment captures the mood of many others, "You guys are the car makers, make great cars and stop spending time filming yourselves.  It's NOT rocket science." The consumer shouldn't be burdened with the future of this company, they're just not paid to be the experts. What they can give is feedback, but that's different. If this campaign fails to deliver substance, if it's perceived to be merely paying lip-service to the idea of listening and talking, then it will go badly wrong for them. That is, if it even manages to become something that people care about enough to engage with. In this world a polarised passionate consumer base is much, much better than one that can't be bothered to even talk about you.

All the ingredients for Campaign 2.0 are here, you could run a check list:

Episodic - 50 films, one a week, that's a real commitment to organic community growth

Video on the Web - check, no way could you afford all this airtime
Blogging - check, influence the influencers
Onsite Feedback - check, but hey it's moderated, so who knows...

Rss Feeds - check, can't wait for the next installment, would love to know the stats on subscribers

Tell a Friend - well I suppose you might, not sure why you'd bother though

Sadly episodes 3,4 and 5 are all about a new "halo" car, more gas guzzling, big engine, testosterone induced bullshit as far as I'm concerned. Depending on your tolerance your mileage may vary, but for me the mood of the site is transforming into a slick, elaborate, but empty PR stunt and nothing more.

Time will tell, 45 "episodes" to come...