Pepper Advertising & Experiential Marketing » Aisha Williams

A Day on the Internet

Aisha Williams — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:00:05 +0000

These mind-numbing figures represent one day on the internet.

5 Funniest Super Bowl Ads

Aisha Williams — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:58:35 +0000

Humour can be a great way to tap into emotion and remain memorable. Car manufacturers, Doritos and the use of animals, pets or children tend to big hits in Super Bowl ads, they are winners today.

5. “Matthew’s Day Off” – Honda

Great nostalgia factor, you had to have seen ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ to get it. I guess the target market is that age now.

4. “Here we go” – Bud Light

Who else feels kinda sad for the dog? Great coverage for animal shelters.

3 “Missing Cat” – Doritos

Sometimes humour has to go dark to be memorable. Dorito’s brand always tends to walk that fine line between funny and mean.

2. “Vampire Party” – Audi

Yes. I hate the ‘Twilight’ phenomenon THAT MUCH. I also conversely love Audis THAT MUCH. What happens when an Audi S7 arrives on scene.

1. “Happy Grad” – Chevrolet

“I can’t
believe
you got me
THIS CAR!!!

AHA HA HA HA HA!!!”

Honourable Mention:

The Dog Strikes Back & its teaser (yes a teaser for an ad) The Bark Side - Volkswagen

Just my Shell – M & Ms

Vocal Kombat – The Voice

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Everybody loves Anya

Aisha Williams — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:00:30 +0000

Sex tape? What sex tape?

By appearing on Lifetime’s Project Runway and making it to the final 5, Anya Ayoung-Chee has rewritten her “one thing.”

Beginnings

First introduced to the T&T public as our representative to the Miss Universe 2008 competition, Anya would go on to become the IT girl about town with her highly-evolved fashion sense and high-profile appearances, culminating in the launch of her own fashion line, Pilar.

Anya’s fame (or notoriety) would grow with the leak of a much-discussed sex tape featuring Anya, her then-boyfriend and a 3rd party. Wisely, Anya took the high ground by choosing not to respond to the leak.

Re-inventing herself like any good Material Girl, Anya is currently among the final 5 finalists to win Heidi Klum-hosted Project Runway. Even if she doesn’t win outright (we’re at Episode 11 of 14), Trinis will do their mightiest to ensure Anya wins Fan Favourite.

Digital Fans Unite

Tech-savvy Trinis have shown their might against Project Runway’s international fanbase. The raw stats get even more interesting when we note that Fan Favourite is based on the number of Twitter Hashtag mentions (#pr9anya) and Twitter Followers is based on the number of Tweeps . I say interesting because, you know, Trinis supposedly don’t do Twitter.

Take a look at how Anya stacks up against the other finalists:

Anya Ayoung-Chee, Joshua McKinley, Kimberly Goldson & Viktor Luna

Fan Favourite on Project Runway

*Anthony Ryan?? How are you in the lead? You were outed on Episode 10!

Project Runway Profile Page Comments

Project Runway Profile Page Likes

Facebook Fans

Twitter Followers

Talent Scorecard

Sure, Anya’s got the popularity vote. But she’s no slouch in the talent department either, outright winning the challenge or appearing in the ‘Top 3′ several times.

No surprise as Anya attended (ahem! our alma mater) Parsons School of Design in New York and spent several years as a graphic designer in NY and England. Now she’s returned to home to Parsons, Project Runway’s host school, to make the circle complete.

Project Runway 9 Scorecard – Click for full version.

How proud are you of #PR9Anya?! Vote for her now as Fan Favourite!

Statistics as of Sun 9 Oct, 22.12.

The new Facebook Timeline is WILD!

Aisha Williams — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 05:03:29 +0000

This is what your Facebook Fan page is going to look like within the next few weeks (click for a larger view). Everybody who told me they “don’t really know how to use Facebook” is really going to be thrown for a loop.

The new timeline allows to you scroll through your entire (Facebook) history. Remember that snide crack you wrote on your friend’s wall back on the 16th November, 2007? You don’t? Facebook does! Remember that event you were invited to that you clicked ‘Attending’ on, just to make yourself look cool? Facebook remembers! Remember that morbid status update you wrote on 7th April, 2009 because you were depressed? Yep, Facebook kept that too.

I always used to wonder that Facebook took the time to store terabytes upon terabytes of data for 500 million people dating back to Facebook’s launch in 2004. I thought, HOW on EARTH were they storing all that data and furthermore WHERE on earth were they storing all that data? Looks like Facebook too, realised they had tons of STUFF just accumulating and accumulating, doing nothing. Well, they finally put it to use.

It’s scary and shocking to delve back into your history and find all these well-preserved skeletons in your closet, its the kind of thing only a narcissist would love. Oh wait! I forgot we’re all narcissists now.

Love it or leave it?

The Era of the 8-to-4 Job is Over

Aisha Williams — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:37:51 +0000

Well, in Trinidad, at least, its slowly coming to a close.

More and more of my acquaintances, especially those in the IT field, are working an odd, hazily-demarcated mixture of flexi-time and work-from-home. Pepper, led by our MD, Dennis Ramdeen, has embraced this trend.

Pepper routinely meets clients and conducts interviews or meetings via Skype. Most of the staff take advantage of Blackberrys to check email and message co-workers. Working in Digital Marketing, Pepper-e routinely services clients’ accounts on weekends on holidays and late at night, not your standard 8-hr workday.

Therefore, to quote a line from the following infographic ‘Increasingly work is something people do, rather than a place people go.’ I’m happiest when free of routine and deeply grateful that Pepper can recognise productivity doesn’t have to live in an office. Dennis has his Dream Job, and I have mine.

The Mobile Workstyle [Infographic] – Gist.com

Click image for larger version.

Japs hits POS

Aisha Williams — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:48:43 +0000

Japs on the Move

I’m not a huge meat-lover, but I’ll make an exception for Japs. I am pleased to report that the little-engine-that-could, hailing out of the East, has finally landed in POS.

Guess where they landed?

Right next to KFC.

Check out the vacant parking lot right next to KFC on Broadway. You’ll find this little mobile Japs on the Move van. How’s that for competition? I’m surmising they’re looking for (or saving up for) a permanent location in downtown Port of Spain. It’s not a stretch to say it’s going to be a hit – just walking a few blocks with the Japs box in my hand I saw the covetous looks. One woman stopped to ask me where I’d gotten it.

I’m glad the no-forays-past-the-lighthouse crowd will get a taste of what the rest of us have been enjoying.

Will you be abandoning the KFC lines for Japs?

Digicel vs Bmobile in a Kick-up, Round 2

Aisha Williams — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:15:29 +0000

….and the fight continues. After trying to knock out Digicel in an ad battle in Round 1, bMobile is out for revenge in Round 2.

bMobile hits Digicel with a round-house kick to the lower abdominals in its new Street Fighter arcade game-inspired video ad. (Thanks JR!) bMobile’s Green Warrior character (a black Ryu) takes on Digicel stand-in – Red Congoree.

I love the sound effects, illustration and animation involved in this Ad vs Ad entry. I can see the animator/illustrator having a ball taking this parody to the extremes. Take a bow for excellent execution.

Attacking Digicel in New Media

bMobile looks like it IS attempting a viral campaign… But, wait, hold up! 19,537 bMobile Facebook fans and only a combined 27 likes on this video after 24 hours on Facebook? Currently, 308 views on YouTube. Where is the love?

This idea had a lot of potential, I mean Buhwamoder-Slap-Chop potential. Sometimes a viral video grows organically by itself, but for a commercial endeavour like this, I think you’d need to put in some elbow grease and hype it yourself.

In addition to having viral video potential, bMobile is also attacking Digicel in its New Media territory. Digicel has heavily invested in digital marketing, its Facebook fanbase, for example, now stands at 111,125 fans. This is a whopping 25% of all TT Facebook fans (437,220).
bMobile can only raise the stakes by developing an actual Flash Game.

Game Over – the Legend of Zelda

And there’s more! The gaming theme seems to have taken a life of its own in a ‘Game Over’ mini ad campaign.

In the campaign, The Legend of Zelda Nintendo game is referenced with a Link-like protagonist destroying an evil red phone-monster. The bMobile Link character is so similar to Zelda’s Link character, I’m hoping the designers checked with the legal team before proceeding.

In the fight for Brand supremacy, who wins this round, kids?

Venus Williams, you are not a -Designer

Aisha Williams — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:30:10 +0000

To quote Maury Povitch – 'Venus Williams… you are NOT the fashion designer.'

We’ve grown accustomed to the multi-hyphenate celebrity. Jennifer Lopez springs to mind as one of the most prominent of these. In the building of her brand empire J.Lo’s become a dancer-singer-actress-perfumer-fashion-designer-tv-judge-producer. But given the Jack of all trades, Master of none adage, its probably unlikely many of us can excel at each hyphenate. For me, Venus Williams’ hyphen designer skills are seriously called into question on a regular basis.

The Goddess Herself

I can be amused by Rihanna’s bikini-costumes, Nikki Minaj’s polka-dot hair and Lady Gaga’s eggs. I CANNOT be amused when an otherwise incredibly gifted athlete, blessed with a statuesque figure, killer bone structure and beautiful chocolate brown skin deliberately creates and wears eyesores. This woman – is the 1st black woman to hold 1st place ranking, this woman – has 21 Grand Slam titles to her name, this woman – holds 5 Wimbledon Singles titles, this woman – is undeniably an above-average athlete and highly-skilled tennis player.

I’m upset that with all the power she has – to break barriers, to help others break barriers, to be a living legacy, a symbol of beauty, grace and strength she throws that kind of branding away to be a… floozy? Might we even say ghetto-fabulous? A ‘what-on-earth-is-she-wearing’ joke?

Yes, of course, its her track record on court that I must pay attention to, not the nude underwear she’s wearing. Let’s say Venus IS breaking class, race or gender boundaries with her garments – by all means do so – but could the results be more beautiful? More befitting your now-exalted position in the History of Tennis? Did you buy that Associate Degree in Fashion?

From A to V

She’s doing damage to her personal brand, or what her personal brand could be. She could have been an Andre Agassi. Agassi was an exciting, dangerous bad boy with his long hair, all-black attire and gigantic shorts, he put his edginess to use in Canon’s Image is Everything campaign. The campaign played with his on-court ‘rebel’ personality.

Admittedly, at the time, Agassi wasn’t taken seriously as a tennis player, but when he stopped making statements and just focused on the tennis he became one of the most successful and beloved players of all time.

Heidi Klum says ‘You’re out’

Here’s a look at Venus’ most questionable designs

Currently wearing this at Wimbledon 2011, its been called a toga, a jumper, the Venus eye-trap, or for some, in a nod to her Goddess of Love name, its her Goddess toga.

(AP Getty Images)

This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Worn at the Australian Open, it is called the ‘Wonderland’ dress, Venus says she was inspired by Alice in Wonderland, who went down a hole and didn’t know what she’d find.

(Coco Perez)

I was actually watching this match. CBS updated a tug-tally of how many times Venus had to pull down this dress. It was 42 times.

This dress was actually almost knee-length when properly adjusted. As she was playing the US Open in New York, the fireworks on the dress signify…. yadda yadda…

Another city-themed dress, playing in the French Open in a can-can corset-inspired outfit, complete with nude pants. This combination caused spectators to wonder if Venus was wearing underwear at all.

(AFP Getty Images)

Digicel vs Bmobile in a Kick-up

Aisha Williams — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:40:04 +0000

Ding! Ding! Ding! Round 1 goes to…. bMobile?

bMobile is ‘kicking’ up some fun at Digicel’s expense. A bMobile branded street fighter is seen knocking out ‘Redz,’ dressed down to his face paint as Digicel’s ‘Iron Top Up’ character. These two ads came head to head (as it were) in Sunday’s Express, Digicel occupying the back cover, with bMobile almost occupying the inside cover.

If it’s an attempt at a viral campaign, it would be amusing to me to see bMobile’s folks at McCann really step up with some more marketing efforts outside of a press ad.

Blockbuster Value

Digicel had recently mined musical genres as fodder for ad campaigns with their Turn Up De Value Record series, presenting Bollywood fare in Ashwarifree, Pop & Dance with Lady Blah Blah, Hip-hop using J.Free and Funky Free as the James Brown-lookalike funk entry.

Digicel now seems to be turning from music to movies with their Blockbuster Value series. They’ve begun with the ‘kick-up’ genre of movies. I predict we’ll see Western themes, Bond/spy movie themes, another nod to Bollywood, and possibly a Romantic Comedy spoof.

Iron Top Up on TV

Iron Top up on the Web

But Digicel’s Iron Top Up, doesn’t just appear in the Press & on TV, he’s on the web! Currently on Digicel’s Fan Page, submit a photo of yourself dressed as a ‘kick-up’ character to win cash, credit and a free phone. So far, they’ve got roughly 70 entries in the 1st week of the 2-week competition.

Ad vs Ad Wars

But in a more introspective vein, in the ad vs ad wars – who really comes up on top? Is it the consumers, whose cash pays for the marketing? Is it the competitors, who’re vying for market share? Is it the newspapers & magazines, whose booking quota gets filled?

Is anybody looking out for the man in the street by actually providing blockbuster value?

Advertainment: Advertising disguised as Entertainment

Aisha Williams — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Advertainment, or branded content, explained by Wikipedia as being form of marketing where advertising is distributed as entertainment, with a highly branded quality. Personally, I first encountered this form of marketing with BMW’s The Hire series in 2002.

Chanel Nº5′s heavily invests in this form of marketing. Their take on advertainment features major film directors producing extravagantly long TV ads. The directors are often paired with their muses or favourite actresses – who are all extraordinarily well-known.

“Chanel Nº5 The Film” by Baz Luhrmann, featuring Nicole Kidman

Baz Luhrmann claimed not to be able to film advertisements. He chose instead to make a trailer for a film, a film that you will never see. The super-romantic, fairy-tale story is of a trapped woman who briefly escapes her life and falls into a great love affair. When she leaves, all her lover has of her is the memory of her smell. The film reunited Nicole Kidman with her Moulin Rouge, director, Baz Luhrmann.

When it was released in 2004, it was the most expensive ad ever made, clocking in at $42 million USD and running 3 minutes long. Costuming and fitting were done by the legendary designer, Karl Lagerfeld himself and Clair de Lune by Debussy performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

“Night Train” by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, featuring Audrey Tatou

Released 5 May, 2009, the story is one of missed chances. Tatou and a handsome stranger encounter each other on a train. She expects him to visit her, he dares not. After a series of missed encounters, he finally embraces her at the train station. Feeling that he needed a very expressive actress to tell a story within 3 minutes, Jeunet recruited his lead actress from Amelie & A Very Long Engagement.

The ad’s imagery reflects Jeunet’s interests: sleeper train scenes, light refracting off of the perfume bottle, scenes of Istanbul and the lovely Tatou’s fragile neck and shoulders. Jeunet finally concludes the ad with the entwined Chanel logo in mosaic tile beneath the entwined couple.

Coco Mademoiselle with Keira Knightley

Coco Mademoiselle parted ways with model/spokesperson Kate Moss after 5 years together. In this 2007 ad, British actress, Keira Knightly takes up the mantle, evoking Coco Mademoiselle’s more independent, mischievous flavour. Knightley teams up with director, Joe Wright who collaborated with her on Pride & Prejudice & Atonement.

The soundtrack, James Brown’s It’s a man’s man’s man’s world, as performed by Joss Stone is initially misleading. By the end of the ad, one can tell that it’s not really a man’s world. It wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl.

Released in 2011 as a sequel to Knightley’s previous ad, the actress rides a Ducati along the Place de la Concorde, Paris to a rendezvous with a fashion photographer whom she seduces.

Which ad is your favourite? Which is the most successful at marrying a brand to a compelling story?

Pepper Advertising & Experiential Marketing » Aisha Williams

A Day on the Internet

You might also like...

5 Funniest Super Bowl Ads

5. “Matthew’s Day Off” – Honda

4. “Here we go” – Bud Light

3 “Missing Cat” – Doritos

2. “Vampire Party” – Audi

1. “Happy Grad” – Chevrolet

Honourable Mention:

You might also like...

Everybody loves Anya

Beginnings

Digital Fans Unite

Fan Favourite on Project Runway

Project Runway Profile Page Comments

Project Runway Profile Page Likes

Facebook Fans

Twitter Followers

Talent Scorecard

You might also like...

The new Facebook Timeline is WILD!

You might also like...

The Era of the 8-to-4 Job is Over

You might also like...

Japs hits POS

You might also like...

Digicel vs Bmobile in a Kick-up, Round 2

Attacking Digicel in New Media

Game Over – the Legend of Zelda

You might also like...

Venus Williams, you are not a -Designer

The Goddess Herself

From A to V

Heidi Klum says ‘You’re out’

You might also like...

Digicel vs Bmobile in a Kick-up

Blockbuster Value

Iron Top Up on TV

Iron Top up on the Web

Ad vs Ad Wars

You might also like...

Advertainment: Advertising disguised as Entertainment

“Chanel Nº5 The Film” by Baz Luhrmann, featuring Nicole Kidman

“Night Train” by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, featuring Audrey Tatou

Coco Mademoiselle with Keira Knightley

You might also like...