Weekend POP! 27/04/2012
Chuka’s ‘Check This’ – Run Rabbit Run
Nike+ has been around for some time. Originally an application based solely on tracking runner’s metrics, it has grown into a bevvy of integrative products, applications, and forums based around the act, and community, of running. It’s raised the practice to a noble lifestyle, one distinguished from other sports and exercises for it’s distinct individuality, and honourably distinguished at that. The brand has done well with this providing a robust gamut of touchpoints, even commissioning somewhat esoteric musicians to create songs specifically for the brand.
And now, to take the brand even further, JWT Mexico has developed an auction site for Nike Running where, instead of money, members bid their logged kilometers. ‘Make It Count’, is the themeline, a phrase well known to people who exercise. Nike+ is devoted to creating innumerable ways to involve its audience in the brand, and they seem to be succeeding. This new initiative not only creates yet another interaction point between the brand and consumers, but also gives greater incentive for people to use and re-use its products. Now people are encouraged to use Nike+ to track their runs so they can get ‘free’ stuff. And of course, running more often to gain bidding kilometers will wear shoes out faster, necessitating the purchase of new ones. Finally, using an auction rather than a priced market harnesses the competitive nature of many athletes, encouraging them to outrun their competitors. It’s a great machine they’ve built.
And, to tie it all together, Nike’s latest running-related spot, which attempts to charm with a cute story of two lovers separated by states.
- C. E.
Wallpaper of the Week #03 – Lord Stanley
It’s NHL Playoff time and the streets are abuzz with hockey talk. This week’s wallpaper, designed by Bryan Neufeld, pays homage to the unique Canadian pastime that we call “Ice Hockey,” and to the beards that are grown to accompany the pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
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Bry Spy Vol. 23
Tether is an agency based in Seattle, Washington. They were challenged with the task of Re-imagining Gatorade. This is a video they produced to summarize the process.
Gatorade: Brand Videology (short) from Tether on Vimeo.
Weedkend POP! 20/04/2012
Chuka’s ‘Check This’ – The World Is Yours
I’ve long been of the opinion that the telling quality of a strong narrative is its ability to draw you in, to envelop you in its plot, characters, and universe. It’s like looking up from a book and realizing you’d forgotten entirely about the world around you, about your world. It moves past suspension of disbelief; you no longer question the veracity of the tale because you are simply, and wholly, immersed.
One demonstrated way to accomplish this is to forego exposition and address the audience as if it were part of the world already. It is a tactic that right now the marketing of the film Prometheus is employing to round out more standard trailers and promotions.
This commercial for the film doesn’t mention the film once. Instead, it takes the form of a commercial that characters in the film would have seen. It doesn’t let you choose whether or not to be part of the world, you’re in it as soon as you watch the video. When a fiction’s world has been developed this fully, the audience is exhilarated by participation, and the story comes alive all the more because of it.
To take the narrative further, they’ve also built a website for promotion of the film: www.weylandindustries.com. It’s a fully-built website for a business that plays a major part in the film’s plot. Rather nice, in my opinion.
It’s pure story, every piece of information tells the audience more about the film’s plot and premise, even the sections the viewer isn’t allowed into. Overall, the campaign isn’t an entirely novel concept, but I think it’s done well here. And who knows, maybe they have some fantastic ambient execution planned.
– C.E.
Wallpaper of the Week #02 – 8-Bit UFO’s
Today, our communications intern, Chuka Ejeckam, received word that a documentary he produced during school — titled “Hello? Hello?: UFOs in Manitoba” — will be run during the University of Winnipeg Student Film Festival. This news was the inspiration for the Wallpaper of the Week, a subtle celebration of the endless unknown all around us. We encourage you to take a step outside tonight and cast your eyes on the sky. You never know what you might see.
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Bry Spy Vol. 22
Expresh is a blog for those obsessed with letters and typography. Kel Troughton (the blog’s creator) spends the majority of his time finding the best letters the Internet has to offer, and cataloging them. He mainly focuses on early advertising, hand lettering, fonts, signs, and graffiti. Enjoy!
Weekend POP! 13/04/2012
Why Was Then, This is How
by Chuka Ejeckam, Communications Intern
The latest issue of Google’s Think Quarterly begins as they all do, with an impassioned soliloquy about a specific facet of the digital age. This being the Creativity Issue, the discourse revolves around the ability of technology to increase creativity, the things it makes possible. “We are never more creative than when we are kids,” it begins, terming children ‘wide-eyed and inquisitive.” It goes on to say that technology has returned to adults that sense of wonderment, allowing us to be “endlessly curious and profoundly creative.” It claims that as children our favourite question is “Why” and that as digitally-integrated adults it can now be, impressively, “Why not”.
It seems there is a point passed over here. While both are certainly honourable inquiries, they’re often more rhetorical than anything else. The crucial question now, is “How”.
Being able to blend media means your story takes life beyond any of them individually. Now, creative toes the line of reality, or even crosses that threshold completely. Think Quarterly itself represents it. The entire publication serves as an advocate for a brand fiercely expanding its offering. At some point, a Google employee answered the question, “How do we present Google as perpetual thought leader while simultaneously charming people and reinforcing the perception of us as an innovative company?” with the response “with a magazine.” With swiftly increasing possibilities in almost every medium, and concertedly in digital and ambient, there are more answers to that “How” question than there ever have been before. What Smart Car’s Argentinean Twitter account did a couple days ago is a lovely example of that.
Over the course of 420-odd tweets, BBDO Argentina created a stop-motion film of a Smart Car driving through a city past adoring onlookers, and then parking between two cars in a way only a Smart Car could. It’s a simple, pleasant experience that takes a specifically textual medium and makes it completely visual. And, it’s just cool.
See it for yourself. @SmartArg
-C.E.
