Uwe Gutschow

Great Banner!

These words don't often come out of my mouth, because I hate advertising.

But this really is a clever banner:

It's for VW and ties in with their branding efforts and what they are doing on Facebook.

You enter your Twitter handle and they'll analyze your tweets to recommend a vehicle that would fit your lifestyle. Personally I could care less for my result, the GTi (because it's horribly wrong), but it's a great way to get you to interact.

Although I think they should've added some kind of social tagging at the end, it's a great idea.

check it out here: http://caseyshultz.com/vw-ad.php

I keep asking myself more and more... do we really need another website?

The web is littered with them. Shiny, bright web sites with bells and whistles - banners and other useless advertising that drive people to them.

We've always said... no need to create another community or social network around your branding efforts. If it's worth talking about people have already created it. Just join in on the conversation and give them something useful and valuable.

Shouldn't the same go for websites or as the industry loves to call them... microsites?

When I hear that word I cringe and get flashbacks from 5 years ago. It's so 2004!

Instead of trying to get people to flock to your creation why not be a valuable addition to the space they are already in... facebook, myspace, twitter, youtube, etc.

Agencies struggle with this 'cos surprise, surprise, creatives like to create something. They want to shoot, produce stand back and go, fuck that looks good and I made it.

But then again I also blame award shows (judged by the same people I might add) as they still award single websites/banners. Cannes does have a much coveted Titanium and Integrated award which in my book is where creativity really shines --- #integration, #connectivity, #innovativethinking

McDonald's Piccadilly Circus

Thanks to Jay Tannenbaum for letting me know about this one. At face value this looks like a great idea to make outdoor advertising a little bit more interactive. 

Must be honest when I heard this was interactive and I saw the video I kept looking to see how people were affecting what was appearing on the sign, but it turns out it's just really people taking a picture in front of it (unless I'm missing something).

It looks like they are trying to start some kind of viral activity of people doing this. Great idea in principle, but it'll be difficult for them to get any momentum going without some media exposure, and here's why:

1. An extremely over crowded space of electronic signage screaming for attention 

2. You need to have seen the video or really have heard about people doing this to know what to do

3. The video has been up for a month, which I presume was staged and seeded to get things going, but yet on Facebook they only have 67 fans and there doesn't seem to have been a lot of user uploaded photos on Facebook or Flickr

4. It's just not that funny or interesting (it's too expected)

Now of course interaction is just one measure of success. Ultimately this is creating content that will get eyeballs and on Youtube they have attracted a modest 50,000 views.

It does appear as there is a very competent moderation team behind this effort, contributing and conversing on YouTube and Flickr, which is great to see.

Check out the video:

Useful TV advertising

Insurance has to be one of the worst categories to advertise for. 

A lot of this type of advertising is about scaring people into thinking that they need your product and if they don't have it they will go straight to hell... I mean be in financial trouble. And then there's the other end of the scale: a cool, calm sounding voice that reassures you that they are there for you and that they have been in business since 1920 (so they won't go under, I guess).

Well I'm glad to see someone out there is starting to create some useful TV spots.

The latest Nationwide Insurance spot advertises their iPhone App. It shows how easy it is to record an accident, report and claim it, all from the app. 

Now that's useful! 

A tool that helps you deal with a car accident and connects straight with your insurance

The spot is not well produced or well directed, but who cares. In my mind this is great advertising. Before this spot I hardly noticed any of their advertising.

Toyota Rock The Space Myspace contest

Toyota and our agency Saatchi LA has a partnership agreement with Myspace.

Instead of littering Myspace with even more advertising we decided to provide users with something useful that adds value for arguably the reason why Myspace got started: music and bands. Other than Toyota Tuesday, where we give away a free mp3 every week, we have created a Rock the Space competition for unsigned bands.

Our Rock the Space contest gives bands the opportunity to submit their demo tape for a chance to win a record deal.

And as we have lots and lots of ad unit impressions, we've decided to use them to promote the contest and bands rather than product.

Bands will also get all sorts of widgets and badges that their fans can use to promote their band across the web.

We've already been flooded with entries - way more than expected.

You can check it out at: http://www.myspace.com/toyotamusic

And today's Twitter spam award goes to.... @Chrysler

that's only half ... here's the rest  

Why not just link to the press article? 

Terminator Twitter Game

SMS games are nothing new, but this is the first time I've seen a Twitter game to this scale.

This game is part of the launch campaign for Terminator Salvation.

It keeps score on the main site for actions performed in response to their twitterfeed.

It's kinda geeky, but fits perfectly with the type of audience that would watch this movie. Great idea!

Dear YouTube, I know you gotto pay the bills...

... but seriously?

Nike+ Men vs Women

This is a great idea. 

Utilizing the competitive spirit of athletes and the rivalry between sexes. A simple idea that is sure to get a lot of attention and involvement.

Geico Gecko seeking YouTube fame

At first when I read about how the Geico Gecko had been included into popular YouTube vids I thought: "That's kinda interesting".

But then when I looked at the actual clips I realized they've just tried to capitalize on existing internet talent. Not a bad idea, but when the talent and clips are old (read outdated) how is that relevant?

Remember the Numa Numa Guy... barely (nearly 3 years old by now). Same with Noah who took a picture of himself every day for 6 years.

I applaud them for using the iconic Gecko in a subtle way and not trying to 'own' or change the entertainment value of the clips. But seriously, why not look at the up and coming videos and talent on YouTube and integrate with the 'next big thing'?

Probably because there's no sure why of knowing what's going to be the next big thing? Although there are ways that will help you track how quickly certain clips are gaining popularity - YouTube's "Rising Videos' is one way.

So the agency decided to rather go with clips/talent that had existing credibility. Not bad, but could've been better  if the objective is to try to insert themselves into pop culture.

Kudos to the client for not trying to overtly brand or place sales messaging on the clips.

Here are some of the clips, in case you haven't seen them: