Intel's CHASE Web Video Is Kicking Ass On The Viral Charts

To build excitement around the 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 processor, Intel launched this action-adventure video titled "The Chase." The spot demonstrates the performance capabilities of the new processors by creating an action-movie style chase sequence that takes place through a wide variety of program windows on a computer desktop.



Ad Age reports that "With 1.8 million YouTube views and its first entry onto the chart, Intel's "Chase" mini-movie makes it to the straight to the top for a good reason -- it's a great action flick with a sexy heroine and two leather-jacket-and-gold-chains bad guys. The campaign won 1.1 million views in its first week alone."


Credits
Advertising Agency: Venables Bell & Partners, USA
Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will Mcginness
Creative Directors: Paul Foulkes, Tyler Hampton, David Kim
Copywriter: Josh Parschauer
Art Director: Beau Hanson, Dan Kenneally
Director Of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Agency Producer: Kacey Hart
Interactive Producer: John Eagan
Interactive Design Director: Ezra Paulekas
Production Company: Nexus Productions
Director: Smith & Foulkes
Director Of Photography: Oliver Wood
Executive Producer: Tracey Cooper
Production Manager: Alistair Pratten
Editing Company: Trim
Editor: Paul Hardcastle
Sound Design: Human
Music: Human
Composers: Edmond Dunne & Gareth Williams
Music Producer: Jonathan Sanford
Mix: Play, John Bolen
Color / Flame: Time Based Arts, James Allen & Sheldon Gardner
Aired: January 2011

A Look At, And Analysis Of, Some Serious Social Media Screw-ups.

Social media most undoubtedly has its benefits and its drawbacks. Especially since brands and marketers are still experimenting with the concept.

I've reprinted an article and analysis from Bernhard Warner with a slide share presentation from Social Media Influence's editorial and social media training partner, Custom Communication, who has gone back through six years of social media and compiled a visual narrative of company misadventures with bloggers, tweeters and other social media voices. [Still images added by me].

Since 2004 they’ve identified 37 notable instances where companies have been caught short by social media protests and complaints or where they’ve shot themselves in the foot with dumb marketing.

A snapshot of the history:
Given the explosion in social media participation it’s not surprising to see a steady year-on-year increase in social media screw ups but while 2006 saw 7 major incidents the 10 recorded so far this year suggests that corporate communicators and marketers are becoming more savvy in how they engage and look after their online reputation.

The numbers are trending nicely for social media. As the IAB UK points out this week, the surprising surge in online advertising through the first half of 2010 can be attributed in part to more money pouring into social media marketing. There’s another social media figure on the rise, and it’s not quite so inspiring.

According to the new piece of research by Custom Communication, “Social Media Screw Ups – A Short History,” along with the surge in social media investment comes a surge in social media screw-ups by major corporations using these channels to reach the public. 2010 is on pace to see more reputation-bruising social media gaffes than in any previous year. Haven’t they learned anything from the Kryptonite lock fiasco of 2004? Apparently not.

Social media Screw Ups - A History

In reviewing the findings, it’s become clear: many of the mistakes are being repeated time and again. We list here the most oft-repeated missteps and misconceptions that lead to trouble.


above: kryptonite lock could be broken with a pen, image courtesy of wired.com

* Underestimating influence/impact of your social media critics. Kryptonite is the business school case study here, but loads of brands since – from Target telling the blogosphere they don’t rate to Nestle telling off eco Facebook protesters – have failed to understand that bloggers/Tweeters and Facebook protesters may not be The Guardian or New York Times, but they do hold plenty of weight.


above: bloggers bitch-slapped L'oreal for using false eyelashes on Penelope Cruz to sell mascara, image from L'oreal

* Giving the online community flashy marketing message when they just want simple, straightforward detail. These days, companies can get into big trouble for issuing fictitious glowing reviews or trotting out seemingly genuine testimonials by paid actors. Even before these consumer protections were put into place, L’Oreal paid a higher price – it got burned by vigilant bloggers.


above: Dell Hell, courtesy of blaugh.com

* Culture of unresponsive/uncaring customer service fuels recurring gripes, becomes PR headache. Dell learned the hard way that Jeff Jarvis’ customer service gripes were not an isolated issue; a massive backlash was brewing. It just took one well-connected critic to put his finger on it and the avalanche ensued.


above: the Diet Coke and Mentos experiments could not be hushed, image from reputation online

* Failing to understand the Coke credo: “our consumers control our brand.” Coca-Cola tried to stifle conversation around the combustible combo of Diet Coke + Mentos. Later, it would acknowledge, you cannot hope to muzzle what everyone is talking about.


above: the Chevy Tahoe commercial competition, image from Chevy.com

* Petition the public for crowdsourced ideas, only to be caught out when they have something nasty to say. Crowdsourcing is in vogue these days, giving loyal fans a chance to name a new product or devise a new softdrink formula. But as Chevrolet learned with its Tahoe SUV, be prepared to get from the public more than a clever new slogan.



above: the controversial Vodaphone tweet and reaction from Vodaphone

* Asleep at the wheel: giving junior employees full reign of the channels and providing them with little direction. What could go wrong? Where to start here? Last year, the epic #fail was engineered by Habitat which gave an “overenthusiastic intern” the keys to the Twitter feed. The result? Famously tweeting sale promotions by piggy-backing on the trending Iran election hashtags. More recently, the Vodafone UK Twitter feed was hijacked by a rogue employee who let fly with the odd homophobic Tweet.


above: Wal-Marting Across America, image from walmart.com

* Attempts at feel-good social media washing won’t come back to bite. Wal-Mart took the most heat here when a folksy, it-will-be-blogged “Wal-Marting Across America” journey emerged just as it was getting pressured elsewhere for its checkered labor practices. All goodwill was lost when it was revealed Wal-Mart was funding the feel-good road trip.


above: negative comments on Nestle's Facebook Fan Page

* Facebook is a forum for fans and “Likes.” Burger King, Nestle, and BP, to name just a few have seen their Facebook pages overwhelmed by critics who want to expose dodgy company practice. Greenpeace has had great success mobilising its followers in a series of corporate Facebook pressure campaigns. BK quickly caved to the demands to cheers. Nestle, on the other hand, shouted back, inviting more opposition.

The biggest culprits – plain dumb marketing, officious customer service and asleep-at-the-wheel moments in monitoring online reputation – are alive and well and triggering protests from the general public. For all the fresh money pouring into social media, we would expect the number of screw-ups to rise before companies really get the message that social media investment means more than crafting a slick campaign. It means two-way dialogue, transparency and, yes, learning from your mistakes.

sources: SMI, Reputation Online, Custom Communication

Stickers With A-Peel. Chiquita Banana Design Contest & A Little Brand History.

above: 6 of the 18 winning designs, all of which are shown later in this post

"I'm a Chiquita Banana and I've come to say...." Okay, most of my readers are probably too young to remember the legendary jingle, so I'll just get to the point.

The Chiquita brand just ran a design contest in an effort to both refresh the brand and elicit consumer engagement. They asked people to submit new designs for the stickers that are placed on their bananas, which they have been doing since 1963. Note that you can still use their sticker generator to create your own online sticker and then purchase that design from Zazzle.


above: the current Chiquita brand sticker was designed in 1986

Each entrant was limited to submitting no more than 25 designs. The designs had to be on a white background and in the classic Chiquita sticker shape and could not use "Miss Chiquita", the brand mascot, in any way, shape or form. Entries had to include the outer blue ring and the design had to be contained within what they term "the yellow racetrack."


above: the company mascot, Miss Chiquita, as the 1944 version by Dik Browne and the current version drawn in 1987 by Oscar Grillo, was not allowed in the new sticker designs

50 designs were selected as finalists based on the following criteria
* Creativity (30%)
* Visual impact (30%)
* The extent to which the sticker embodies the following five Chiquita brand attributes :Fun, Family-friendly, Youthful, energetic, Fresh (25%)
* The extent to which the sticker can be recognized as a Chiquita banana sticker (15%)

A person could have no more than one design in the 50 finalists which were then posted on the sticker-contest website. The public was then invited to vote for their favorite sticker design.


above: 8 worthy finalists designs that did not make it into the winning 18

Before I show you the 18 winning sticker designs, here's a little brand and sticker history:

Miss Chiquita was introduced in 1944 and Chiquita was the first company to brand a banana. The idea of the stickers came along in 1963 and believe it or not, they are still put on by hand so as not to bruise the fruit.


above: The brand used posters like this one from 1950 before putting stickers on the bananas.

The very first drawing of Miss Chiquita in 1944 and stickers from 1963 to the present:


Now, the 18 final winning designs which will be appearing on bananas in November.












Be sure to see all 50 finalists because there were some great designs that should have made it into the final 18. See all 50 finalists here

Go here to learn more about the winning designs.

Lights Fantastic. New Video & Interactive Site For LG dLite Mobile Phone.

A cool song, animated video and interactive website are all part of a marketing effort for the new LG dlite phone from Tmobile, a slim mobile phone in bubble gum pink or bright blue that has a customizable external screen with an LED matrix and fun sound effects.



The Animated Video:
To promote the new mobile phone, LG dLite, Sophie Gateau, of Paranoid US, directed a playful music video to showcase the phones character-based digital display. The video, via DOJO SF, tells a classic love story to the track, “White” by electropop artist, LIGHTS. The campaign features a website, the video, and other interactive elements.

Using the LIGHTS’ track as a basis for the pixelated boy meets pixelated girl storyline, Sophie created a 3.5 min animated piece. Sophie utilized her CG and motion graphic background, for the LED narrative. Sophie collaborated with Paranoid Design Studio’s Lead Artist Vincent Rogozyk to first develop the story as an animatic.




This solved the production challenge of finding a way to duplicate a few phones to appear as if they were in mass. Utilizing motion control to shoot the available 45 pre-production models , Sophie shot twenty passes--moving the phones along in each pass. The Paranoid Design Studio team then assembled the passes, tracked animated characters and environmental drawings, and composited them into the scenes. The LED look was then finished on Flame by Paranoid Design Studio VFX Artist Seb Caudron.



DOJO Executive Creative Director’s, Geoff Edwards and Mauro Alencar, share why Sophie was handpicked for the project. "Sophie has a unique way of creating a relationship between the audience and the story. Her work is personal and feels like someone is talking directly to you," said Edwards. "The combination of her willingness to collaborate with us and LIGHTS made Sophie the right choice for this program,” added Alencar.


The Website


But that's not all... To accompany this marketing effort, an interactive website allows you to create your own story by dragging and dropping animated lights to the tune of the song "White" and then share it with your friends.




You also have the option to allow the site to access your webcam and microphone and create your own music video by tapping and playing.




credits:
Title: LG dLite Brilliant Together
Client: LG Electronics
Assoc. VP, Consumer, Trade & Insights Marketing: Tim O’Brien
Agency: DOJO
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Mauro Alencar Executive Creative Director/Partner: Geoff Edwards
CFO/Partner: Jeremy Brown
Art Director: Chris Masse
Copywriter: Michael Leibowitz
Senior Producer: Annie Uzdavinis
Partnerships: Audrey Santamarta
Production Company: Paranoid US, Los Angeles
Director: Sophie Gateau
Executive Producer/ Partner: Claude Letessier
Executive Producer/ Partner: Cathleen O'Conor
Head of Production: Matej Purg
VFX / Animation: Paranoid Design Studio, Los Angeles
Head of Post Production/Producer: Guillaume Raffi
Lead VFX Artist: Vincent Rogozyk
VFX Artists: Michael Tavarez, Jahmad Rollins, Derek Hansen, Andrew Cook, Naime Perette, Joe Ball, Maggie Balaco, Alexandre de Bonrepos
Production Assistant: Julie Amalric
Track: “White” by LIGHTS
Mix: Lime Santa Monica, CA
Mixer: Sam Casas Asst.
Engineer: Jeff Malen
Executive Producer: Jessica Locke
Color: New Hat Santa Monica, CA
Colorist: Bob Festa