Category: Viral Marketing

Viral Marketing

Mercedes-Benz Made You Look

By Delphine Hirasuna |

You read about VW’s transparent factory (below); now take a look at Mercedes’s invisible car. Mercedes-Benz’s new zero-emission F-Cell car is being marketed as a vehicle that is virtually invisible to the environment. The reason is because it runs on hydrogen fuel cells that convert compressed hydrogen into electricity to power the motor. The only emission is water vapor. To promote this fact in a memorable way, Mercedes blanketed one side of the car with LEDs and mounted a Canon 5D Mark II camera on the other side. The LEDs displayed whatever the camera filmed, causing passersby to stop and gawk at the “invisible” car.

Humor

Breaking News: Murder, Cover-Up, Public Outrage, Riots…the Pigs Confess

By Delphine Hirasuna |

The Guardian, the UK’s leading media organization, just launched a major brand repositioning campaign with a TV ad that reenacts how its “open journalism” approach works. Created by ad agency Bartle Boogle Hegarty (BBH) and directed by Ringan Ledwidge, the two-minute TV spot follows a breaking story of the Three Little Pigs being arrested in a police raid after boiling the Big Bad Wolf alive. It goes on to show how The Guardian coverage invites interaction with readers and internet users through the newspaper, website, blogs, tweets and video. Eyewitness reporting along with participatory analysis and opinions are facilitating an open exchange of information that has the potential to bring about real change — and The Guardian wants the public to know that it is leading the way.

Publishing

Is Publishing Dead?

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Turn up the sound and pay attention to the words all the way through. This video titled “The End of Publishing” was presented by Penguin CEO John Makinson at an internal sales meeting. It was so well-received that Penguin decided to share it with a wider online audience.

Prepared by the marketing arm of Dorling Kindersley in the UK, the video was done by Khaki Films in Kent. Khaki says that the approach was inspired by the Argentine film, “The Truth,” by Savaglio/TBWA Buenos Aires, which won a Silver Lion at Cannes in 2006.

For “The End of Publishing,” Khaki’s writer Jason LaMotte took four days to piece together a script that made the exact opposite point when read forwards and backwards. From there, arriving at the right voice inflexions and pacing for the film was an amazing feat in itself. Very clever. Let’s hope that the backwards reading is true.

Humor

Abused to Make a Point

By Delphine Hirasuna |

For home remodelers weighing whether real hardwood or Pergo XP laminate will wear better on the floor, check out this marketing video, produced by Atlanta-based ad agency, Fitzgerald+CO. Pergo XP foregoes the standard product performance demonstration and shows a cast of odd characters performing unspeakable acts on the flooring. Fitzgerald+CO wisely chose to film the ad in Venice Beach, California, where even bikini-clad roller skaters and Mr. Universe muscle men don’t cause a stir — just another day at the beach.

Humor

Tis the Season for Cats and Sheep

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Whether pushing soft drinks, electronic games, clothes or jewelry, all the TV ads during the Christmas season seem alike. They are packed with every Christmas cliché — a rosy-cheeked Santa, cute kids in pajamas, elves, reindeer, snow, families gathered around the Christmas tree basking in the warm glow of a fireplace. If you’ve seen one Christmas commercial, you’ve seen them all – and can’t remember any of them, much less the product they’re promoting. So, it is refreshing to see some retailers strive for originality. Here, Brooks Brothers and Walmart chose animals to celebrate the season by singing “Jingle Bells.” There the similarity ends, and the fun begins.

Happy holidays, everyone.

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