nick burcher

'Nandos Fergie Time' on Twitter - chicken restaurant reacts to Manchester United news! #nandosfergietime

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Nando's restaurant have responded to the widely tweeted news that Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of the season.

In recognition of 'Fergie time' (the belief of many that Manchester United are seemingly granted additional time at the end of matches when they need it most) Nando's have arranged for all of their Manchester restaurants to be open for an additional 5 minutes tonight.

Nandos have tweeted about this and have been retweeted around 6000 times in 30 minutes!

#NandosFergieTime - Nando's restaurants open later today to honour Alex Ferguson

Nando's have even changed the restaurant opening times on their website!

Nando's Fergie Time - opening hours changed on Nando's website

Always-on content marketing is about having a finger on the pulse and being quickly able to capitalise on the Zeitgeist. Another name for this is 'newsjacking' (the idea of piggybacking a news story in order to drive relevance and coverage) and #nandosfergietime does exactly that!

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YouTube blood donation film integrates into video progress bar (Hemorio, Brazil)

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:46:00 +0000

A clever new film from Hemorio in Brazil highlights the fact that in Brazil, no matter how much blood is donated, there is always someone waiting for a blood donation - the film is therefore named 'waiting for life' and aims to encourage more people to donate blood in Brazil.

Screengrab from blood donation film on Youtube - the video progress bar morphs into a catheter...

In order to make the film more noticeable (and newsworthy), the makers created "a link between the waiting time and the importance of getting blood to those who need it. In the video, the blood leaves the veins of the donor and enters the YouTube video progress bar as if it were an extension of the catheter", then when the blood reaches its destination the patient comes back to life...

The full English version of the 'waiting for life' blood donation film is here:

A nice example of how content can be strengthened through integrating it into the mechanics of a platform!

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Ed Sheeran - Lego House (Lego version) - animated video remix drives new attention

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:58:00 +0000

A user generated LEGO remix of Ed Sheeran's 'Lego House' video is drawing new attention to the track.

Ed Sheeran's 'Lego House' video was originally published to YouTube in October 2011 and so far Lego House has attracted 47 million views. LEGO animator Dylan Woodley (check out his Insomniac Animations channel here - http://www.youtube.com/NXTManiac94) has now breathed new life into the Lego House track with an animated LEGO version that Warner Music have uploaded to the official Warner Sound YouTube channel.

The new version of Ed Sheeran 'Lego House' sees a split screen approach that shows the original 'Lego House' video on one half of the screen and the animated LEGO version on the other half of the screen:

The LEGO version of the 'Lego House' video is really nice piece of content that is sure to attract more views for both itself and the original (the original version of 'Lego House' is prominently linked to from the description of the new video), it may also drive new subscribers for the channels involved too.

*This is another example of how in today's world it can be better to harness and promote the efforts of others rather than trying to do everything yourself!

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BMW April Fools Day 2013 - BMW P.R.A.M. [images] #aprilfool

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:19:00 +0000

BMW's history of BMW April Fools adverts continues for 2013 - this year BMW have announced the BMW P.R.A.M. (Postnatal Royal Auto Mobile) with the headline 'Your P.R.A.M. Ma'am' [on page 3 of the Daily Telegraph today.]

BMW April Fools Day 2013 - BMW Pram

The BMW April Fools Day 2013 ad for the Royal BMW Pram then states:

BMW April Fools Day 2013 - BMW Pram ad text

"With a royal baby due this summer, we are proud to announce the launch of our limited edition BMW P.R.A.M. (Postnatal Royal Auto Mobile.)

Available in Princess Pink or Royal Blue, this soft-top convertible has been designed using our Efficient Dynamics technology. With two or four-wheel-drive, it rides as smoothly on a polo field as it does down The Mall and comes with air conditioning and built-in extendable flagpoles as standard.

For those who are ‘too posh to push’ this masterpiece of motherhood even comes fitted with N.A.P.P.I.E. (Nanny-Assisting Petrol-Powered Injection Engine). To find out more or book a test drive, contact our Head of Postnatal Innovation at Joe.King@bmw.co.uk or ring 0800 093 6161"

BMW P.R.A.M.

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Dave Seaman Kickstarter DJ Mix compilation #kickstartdave - the first crowd funded 2 x CD DJ Mix compilation album!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:14:00 +0000

Dave Seaman is a dance music legend and his latest project is interesting...

Previously half of Brothers In Rhythm, Dave Seaman has had chart success as an artist (remember Such A Good Feeling?), as a producer / remixer for many big names and as a DJ in his own right, featuring on CD mix album releases from the first Mixmag complitation through to mixes for Global Underground and Renaissance. Dave Seaman's latest project takes in a fresh approach though - namely using funding platform Kickstarter to generate the finance to create the first crowd funded 2 x CD compilation album.

Kickstarter allows anyone to post an idea and ask for backing from internet users. If a project reaches its target by the deadline date it goes ahead (if the target is not reached, backers don't get charged and the project does not proceed.) In successful Kickstarter projects the creator gets to follow through on an idea and the backers get a stake in the final outcome.

Kickstarter has seen some prominent successes and interesting stories realised so far. $10m was raised for the Pebble watch, $3m was raised to create an 'affordable 3D printer.' Numerous video game and ents projects have also been realised thanks to Kickstarter support, including the real-life rags to riches film of the former Watford football player Jay DeMerit's career! (Produced after raising $223,442 through Kickstarter from 1937 backers - http://jaydemeritstory.com/kickstarter-jay-demerit-story-soccer-documentary-gift/ )

Dave Seaman kickstarter DJ Mix compilation

The Dave Seaman Kickstarter target is £25,000, money which will be used to bring the first crowd funded DJ mix compilation into being.

Money will be used for:

"licensing advances for the artists and labels featured, mechanical royalties, artwork & sleeve design, production and manufacture, postage and packaging. Plus, we have to pay people to actually do the licensing and contracting for us, mastering engineers to make it sound perfect and maybe even some PR people so we can spread the word about what could potentially be a game changing concept."

Backers of the Dave Seaman Kickstarter project will be rewarded, with the reward corresponding to their level of contribution. I have bought a 'backer only version of the CD', but there are other options too:

"In exchange for your support in making this happen, you, the pledger has the opportunity to secure all sorts of exciting and exclusive rewards from signed copies of the album (a double CD no less), your name featured in the Thank You section of the album credits and exclusive T shirts featuring fancy artwork from those awesome designers Neighbour right through to one-to-one DJ lessons, VIP nights out or even a private party for you and all your friends. Well not all of them, just 30. Now you don't get all that when you pre order from Amazon do you?"

The Dave Seaman Kickstarter DJ mix CD is another example of the ability of the internet to directly connect artists to the audience to facilitate groundbreaking initiatives and, with 24 days to go, £11,116 of the £25,000 total has been raised from 225 backers.

Really interested to see how this turns out!

(Disclaimer - I am not an investment advisor, I am simply highlighting this as an interesting use of Kickstarter and kickstarter terms and conditions apply to every project)

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WolfDog - the new Old Spice campaign running across multiple social channels

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:22:00 +0000

Mr WolfDog is the new face for Old Spice. WolfDog is the new 'Executive Director of Marketing' and has taken over the official Old Spice Twitter feed. WolfDog also has a Twitter account of his own @DirectorWolfDog.

- Mr WolfDog announced his Old Spice appointment in a YouTube video announcement ("sometimes you gotta eat people America, that's how business works"):

- The Old Spice Facebook account has been suitably updated with WolfDog imagery and comment:

Old Spice WolfDog Facebook

And there is a range of other WolfDog / Old Spice content that incorporates some of the latest content trends:

- A Mr WolfDog animated gif:

Director WolfDog Old Spice animated gif annoucement

- an Old Spice WolfDog Tumblr at www.mrwolfdog.com

Old Spice Wild Collection WolfDog Tumblr

- a WolfDog Google Hangout (where internet users could apply to work as the WolfDog assistant #workforwolfdog)

The tone of voice is similar to the original 'I'm on a horse' Old Spice man ads and Mr. WolfDog has been brought to life across a range of channels with everything unashamedly mentioning / promoting the new Old Spice animal scents.

Will be interesting to see how long this WolfDog Old Spice activity runs for and how it develops...

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Pony remixes - #danceponydance mixer and alternative versions of the new ad campaign for 3

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:55:00 +0000

The new UK ad campaign for mobile phone network 3 features a moonwalking pony and a Fleetwood Mac soundtrack before finishing with the strapline 'Silly Stuff. It Matters.' (The Dance Pony ad is supporting 3's mobile internet proposition and encourages viewers to 'Keep On Internetting...')

This 'Dance Pony' film has been gaining YouTube views, but internet users also have the chance to remix the Three Pony Dance ad ('mash up your pony') using the Pony Mixer at ponymixer.com:

Dance Pony Dance Pony Mixer

Dance Pony Dance Pony Mixer Rock version

The Pony Mixer offers a number of options for 'mashing up your pony' including:

- Boyband Pony featuring WestLife 'When You're Looking Like That'
- Hip Hop Pony featuring Run DMC 'It's Tricky'
- Rave Pony featuring Darude 'Sandstorm'
- Rock Pony featuring Europe 'The Final Countdown'
- Love Pony featuring Bonnie Tyler 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart'
- Funk Pony featuring Wild Cherry 'Play That Funky Music'
- Punk Pony featuring the Undertones 'Teenage Kicks'
- Bollywood Pony featuring Tu Meri

There is a Pony Mixer trailer:

and different Pony Dance videos have been created for all the different Pony Mixer options available, leading to Pony Dance YouTube films like this:

Hip Hop Pony

Rock Pony

Love Pony

The Pony Dance ad therefore plays out on TV / cinema as a piece of broadcast creative, but then drives people online where they can interact with different Pony versions and share them with friends - TV leads to YouTube which leads to a microsite that leads back to YouTube which then encourages further sharing - all in support of the idea of 'Keep on Internetting.'

Paid Owned Earned with a feel good factor!

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Red Bull Harlem Shake skydiving (and Pepsi and Sea World too) - brands join in with the Harlem Shake craze...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:19:00 +0000

Advertising agencies have been quick to jump onto the Harlem Shake bandwagon, indeed there is a Tumblr dedicated to ad agency Harlem Shake efforts at Harlem Shake Agency here and the efforts of over 200 agencies are featured. However, (surprisingly?) few brands have tried to follow the Harlem Shake trend by making their own Harlem Shake brand videos. There are some examples but I can't seem to find many:

- Pepsi Harlem Shake videos uploaded to YouTube show one Pepsi Harlem Shake with product and one Pepsi Harlem Shake video with Jeff Gordon and his crew:

- Sea World San Antonio Harlem Shake stars various Sea World trainers and animals doing the Harlem Shake routine together:

- Perhaps the best of all the advertiser brand Harlem Shake videos to date has been published by Red Bull:

Red Bull Harlem Shake Skydive edition screengrab

True to the Red Bull extreme sports personality, the Red Bull Harlem Shake video is based around Skydiving (and also notes in the comments: "WE KNOW! Everyone is making Harlem Shake videos, and to be honest its about time to close this chapter of the internet. Thats why we decided to go out with style.")

The 'Harlem Shake (Skydive Edition) - THE END' may be a great way to finish the Harlem Shake trend, but I think it might have someway to go yet...

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Harlem Shake - the new Gangnam Style? New dance craze takes over YouTube

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Die Hard infographics become More Than insurance content marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:15:00 +0000

The latest film in the Bruce Willis Die Hard series is about to hit the cinemas and some friendly internet folks have distilled the statistics of various Die Hard into handy infographics (infographic for original Die Hard movie is below, Die Hard 2 infographic is here.)

Die Hard infographic

These Die Hard infographics were entertaining and this has prompted More Than insurance to follow up by making their own Die Hard infographic based on John McClane's activities over the years!

More Than have been able to piggyback the original Die Hard infographics and use their own 'A Good Day to Die Hard' infographic to talk about insurance in an interesting and fun way. This we see the A Good Day to Die Hard infographic highlight:

- 'cost of personal accident insurance for John McClane'
- 'damage roundup'
- liability for the following claims
- costs for personal liability insurance, car insurance and the total.

More Than / A Good Day To Die Hard insurance infographic

The More Than / A Good Day To Die Hard insurance infographic is great example of how to develop brand related content whilst capitalising on a trend!

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Downton Abbey sing 1D / One Direction 'What Makes You Beautiful' - video / music mashup

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:37:00 +0000

New YouTube mashup sees the Downton Abbey cast sing One Direction 'What Makes You Beautiful'!

Downton Abbey perform One Direction 'What Makes You Beautiful'

YouTube user Buchan39 has mashed together various Downton Abbey clips over the top of the One Direction hit. The result is remarkable... The video jumps around a bit, but I think it's very clever and can't imagine how long it took to mash One Direction and Downton Abbey together!

And if you like the One Direction / Downton Abbey mashup then you might like the cast of Mad Men singing Rick Astley too:

Thanks Rik for the link - and another example of how creative YouTube users can be...!

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Harlem Shake - the new Gangnam style? New dance craze takes over YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:03:00 +0000

Yesterday a colleague (Karl) introduced me to a new craze that seems to be sweeping across YouTube called Harlem Shake.

Last summer a dance track was released: Baauer - Harlem Shake (you can buy it on Amazon here: Harlem Shake.) Harlem Shake has now had new life breathed into it thanks to YouTube videos where people have started making crazy videos of themselves dancing to the Harlem Shake track.

Part flashmob / part Gangnam style, part suggestive / part silly, Harlem Shake tends to be staged in two parts. Most of the Harlem Shake videos following the original seem to feature one person or a small group dancing before exploding into a large scale Harlem Shake event with lots of people joining in.

Filthy Frank started the Harlem Shake craze and we now have Harlem Shake offices:

Harlem Shake agencies (W+K's Portland edition):

>

and even Harlem Shake firefighters too:

Fuelled by the attention of users of sites like Reddit and Buzzfeed, the Harlem Shake videos have exploded across YouTube in the last few days. The Google Search Trends graph also shows how searches for 'Harlem Shake' have risen dramatically this week too:

'Harlem Shake' Google Search trends

The Harlem Shake trend has appeared and spread very quickly and it seems to be the actions of different groups and communities that are fuelling the Harlem Shake distribution. Rather than being focussed on a single video (as Gangnam Style was), Harlem Shake spread is about different groups of people coming together to create the most relevant thing for their communities and audiences - office humour tends to be different to gamer humour, college humour and so on but the underlying principles of the Harlem Shake routine remain the same and each new Harlem Shake version is seemingly driving more traffic back to the original films (especially as the early Harlem Shake videos seem to be labelled with version numbers...)

So how big can the Harlem Shake get?

UPDATE:

More and more Harlem Shake videos seem to be appearing. Here are some of my favourite Harlem Shake videos from the last few days:

The Norwegian Army do the Harlem Shake

Harlem Shake in Tutt Library at Colorado college

David Hasselhoff Harlem Shake in Australia whilst at 2DayFM

Harlem Shake in Lapland "extreme version"

Harlem Shake Oregon Duck version

So what's your favourite so far? (post a link in the comments)

Gangnam Style Yourself!

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Harry's records - IKEA makes room for your life [video]

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:13:00 +0000

Emotional story that people (including me) can relate to centred around clear demonstration of product benefits - welcome to IKEA UK's new film, 'Harry's Records: make room for your life.'

I think this is a great example of how content marketing is different to TV advertising. The story of Harry's Records doesn't pretend to be anything other than product based content created by IKEA, however the background story and subsequent transformation work well as a piece of YouTube video - nice work!

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Anti-social TV - Borgen, The Killing and others force viewers to focus on the TV screen

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:48:00 +0000

The BBC have just finished showing series 2 of the Danish language political drama Borgen. Described by some commentators as the 'Danish West Wing', Borgen is made by DR Denmark (the same people behind The Killing) and has succeeded in finding a global audience as subtitled episodes have been sold around the world.

Borgen Episode 10 title screen (Danish language and English translation)

Borgen has been shown as a double-bill every Saturday night on BBC4 / BBC HD and in a world where everyone now seems to be talking about the 'second screen' I have found Borgen to be an oasis of calm as using a second screen means you lose track of what is going on in the programme!

Borgen episode 10 opening quote

Reading subtitles makes it very hard to tweet, post to Facebook etc (at most the Borgen experience involves checking into GetGlue and then passively viewing until the show is over.) Indeed, the need to switch off and concentrate on the programme itself is a break from the other Saturday night programming that relentlessly pushes voting, hashtags and so on...

The Borgen TV programme itself is great, to quote the Bygone Bureau blog "the global hipster monoculture has chosen its latest talisman [and] the good news is, Borgen’s third season only just started in Denmark this month", and the ability to unplug and relax around it only adds to it's charm.

As the world gets more and more connected, maybe the appeal of subtitled, imported drama like Borgen (and the Killing and the Bridge and Wallander and Inspector Montalbano and all the others) will grow as viewers are given permission to actually disconnect and relax?

[...and if you haven't seen Borgen yet, you can buy Borgen series 1 and / or Borgen series 2 on Amazon below]

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Duracell and Oreo Super Bowl power outage Facebook responding - lights off creates opportunity for conversation...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:01:00 +0000

Every year much is made of the advertising placed around the Super Bowl and many brands work out strategies far in advance of the big event. There are also conversational opportunities on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook too...

Last night, when the Super Bowl lights went out as a result of the power outage at the New Orleans Superdome both Oreo and and Duracell were quick to create conversational content. As viewers across America turned to social media platforms to discuss what was happening, these brands used the opportunity to participate and create attention.

Duracell simply posted a Facebook status update alongside a photo with a suitable (brand related) comment:

Duracell "if only duracell were powering the lights" Super Bowl Facebook status

Oreo went one stage further and even created a piece of Facebook content specifically for the Super Bowl lights out power failure (in line with the Oreo brand voice and previous Oreo Facebook postings around events):

Oreo "You can still dunk in the dark" Facebook Super Bowl post

Both Oreo and Duracell acted in line with their brand tone of voice and joined the Super Bowl lights out / power cut conversation in a very relevant way gaining significant coverage as a result - Duracell gained over 40,000 Likes and the Oreo Superbowl post was shared over 6500 times.

There is always a difficult balancing act in creating content around a major event (permission / sponsorship rights etc) but I think in acting quickly around the Super Bowl power outage both Oreo and Duracell have been able to generate significant attention and engagement.

UPDATE: Audi USA joined in on Twitter too, gaining 9213 retweets of a tweet that simply said 'Sending some LEDs to the @MBUSA Superdome right now...':

Audi Super Bowl power outage tweet

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Red Button Part 2 - "A dramatic surprise on an ice-cold day" is Turner Benelux follow up to 2012 viral hit

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 21:15:00 +0000

One of the (surprise?) YouTube hits of 2012 was a video by Turner Benelux promoting the drama on their channels. 'A Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square' has now had over 40million views as YouTube users watch the consequences of the big red button being pressed... [if you haven't seen it, here is the link]

Dramatic Surprise 'Add Drama Button'

A new version of the Dramatic Surprise film has now been released by Turner. 'A Dramatic Surprise on an ice-cold day' is set in the Netherlands this time and follows the same idea of 'unexpected stuff happens if you press the red button':

Does it work as well a second time? I don't know, but the view count of the new Dramatic Surprise film is rising quickly so it might not be long before we find out!

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Calm Down Dear! Michael Winner, E-Sure and viral culture

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:08:00 +0000

The sad news of Michael Winner's passing today reminded me of some text that I wrote about the (now legendary) 'Calm Down Dear!' E-sure insurance campaign of 2003. The campaign ran in the UK, starred film director / food critic Michael Winner and mutated from being a standard paid TV spot into something that penetrated viral culture and mainstream press discussion. I originally researched this activity as I planned to include it in my book 'Paid Owned Earned', but it didn't quite make the final cut...

Michael Winner 'Calm Down Dear!'

In 2002 Michael Winner started to appear in TV advertising for E-Sure. Essentially Winner crashes into 'the back of' someone's new car. Terrible dialogue and bad acting lent a kind of charm to the production, but the catchphrase that Winner used throughout the ad, ‘Calm Down Dear’ began to live outside of the 30-second spot as it permeated everyday life. I remember the phrase being used repeatedly in our part of the office and Google now returns me 129,000 results against an exact match search on the ‘Calm Down Dear’ phrase - indicating just how much discussion the ad prompted!

This ad also becaming a hit in remix culture circles and became quite prominent. Indeed whilst it's quite hard to find the original Calm Down Dear ad on YouTube, my favourite piece of related E-Sure / Michael Winner content is more prominent - a YouTube hard dance remix by Jakazid called ‘Calm Down Dear! REMIX’. This remix was even praised by E-Sure in a national newspaper with a spokesman telling The Sun "We were flattered that someone enjoyed our ad enough to spend the time to do this". The Jakazid remix then got a second lease of life once YouTube was launched and people started uploading the E-sure Calm Down Dear remix to the fledgling video platform:

The PR coverage continued as E-Sure and the Michael Winner Calm Down Dear slogan turned up in other areas too. Chris Moyles, then host of the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, became obsessed with the ad slogan and, across a number of shows, his 7.5 million or so listeners heard him repeatedly reference E-Sure - all on the non-ad carrying BBC:

On Tues 8th April 2003:

"The team had Michael Winner on the phone. The ‘calm down dear’ commercials have apparently sold loads of insurance policies for esure. All the Ads were shot outside Michaels house. He used to be a really bad driver; he once crashed through some railings and into someone’s living room. He has written about Chris in his Times column, full of lots of praise apparently. It’s out Sunday if you’re interested. "

On Weds 9th Apr 2003:

"Chris had gained an exclusive preview of the new Michael Winner advert. The clip featured a carpet spillage and Michael saying 'Calm down dear! We can claim for it on our insurance policy!' The team thought it was very funny. The advert will be shown during tonight's episode of The Bill. Chris had to play an advert for digital TV featuring Dave Pearce and an old woman. When it had finished Chris said 'What the hell was that?' Dave replied in a Michael Winner voice 'It's a commercial!' The team made personal commercials for the listeners in honour of the genius that is Michael Winner and his two new commercials being aired tonight. The only criteria was that each one had to have the ‘calm down dear’ phrase in it. "

On Thurs 10th Apr 2003:

"The team recieved some presents from esure for plugging them so much. They had a stress ball which when squeezed said 'calm down dear' and a specially made cartoon saying 'calm down dear, it's the Chris Moyles Show' "

An article on the BBC website in 2005 highlights the Calm Down Dear campaign:

"If Winner was made to look a touch silly, he probably wouldn't mind. For nearly three years now, he has been the star - and director - of a series of adverts for insurance company Esure which have been as irritating as they have been effective. Whether crashing a car, or dressing up in drag and standing on a chair, Winner showed no reluctance to make himself look a bit foolish for the sake of publicity. And the tactic has worked: the company claims it has reached a million policies in less than four years in business."

The BBC article then quotes Francesca Newland from [advertising magazine] Campaign:

"They [the Michael Winner E-Sure ads] stand out for their awfulness, but that can be a good tool for advertisers, as long as not many other people try it. If everyone tried it, eventually everybody would turn their televisions off. They are very irritating, that's certain, but in this case Michael Winner managed to pull it off."

The persistence of the 'Calm Down Dear' catchphrase was then once again show in 2012 as it hit the headlines after UK prime minister David Cameron told a female opposition MP to 'Calm Down Dear.'

Ultimately an ad campaign that felt 'homemade' and irritated a lot of people, managed to become an (ironic?) multi-media property as the catchphrase quickly entered popular culture in the process turning an insurance start up into a household name.

All of this happened in a pre-Facebook / pre-Twitter world, but a number of lessons still apply. Talent is important, playing out across multiple channels helps and quality and virality are not necessarily synonymous, but at the end of the day....

'Calm Down Dear - it's just a commercial!'

RIP

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Wallace and Gromit Family Hangout Google+ holiday promotion

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 07:28:00 +0000

This year Google are promoting Google+ Hangouts as a means for family to get together over Christmas with a special site at http://familyhangouts.withgoogle.com showing people how to connect via Google Hangout.

Google+ Hangout site

Google have also enlisted the help of children's characters Wallace & Gromit who feature in a promo video and star in personalised Google Hangout invites that can be sent to family and friends through the http://familyhangouts.withgoogle.com site.

Nicely done and something that could well drive usage of Google Hangouts over the holiday season!

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2012 on Twitter - global highlights and your own personal Twitter visualisation

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:59:00 +0000

2012 has seen some significant global events and all of these have played out on Twitter. From London 2012 to Hurricane Sandy and the US Election, tweets have captured the vital moments and Twitter has provided a back channel that has rewarded Twitter users with additional insight and extra information.

To mark the end of 2012 Twitter have aggregated some of the key tweets from the year. These tweets are shown in a video visualisation here:

Twitter 2012 tweet visualisation

2012 Twitter activity is also hubbed at a website at http://2012.twitter.com. This allows key tweets to be explored in different ways - looking at Trends, New Voices, Golden Tweets and so on. There is also the opportunity to login to your own account and visualised your own tweets using the Vizify powered app.

Nice execution and re-inforces the way that Twitter is the real-time, on-the-spot reporter wherever news or events are happening...

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San Diego airport landings video visualisation - 5 hours of landings in 30 seconds!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 23:29:00 +0000

As more and more data becomes available the challenge is not just in collecting it, it's in being able to visualise it in ways that are quick to understand and easy to digest. Infographics are growing in popularity and I love Cy Kuckenbaker's video visualisation from San Diego airport - all the landings from between 1030 and 1500 on Black Friday (23rd November 2012) mashed into a 30 second film!

How would you prefer to see the data presented - reams of tables / data lists on paper or 26 seconds of beautiful video? I think I prefer the video...

Landings at San Diego Int Airport Nov 23, 2012 from Cy Kuckenbaker on Vimeo.
Great work!

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Gangnam Style Yourself! New JibJab animation lets you replace Psy...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:44:00 +0000

Personalisation can turn videos into viral gold. I talk about this in Paid Owned Earned (discussing the success JibJab have had through allowing people to create personalised videos) and whilst Office Max's ElfYourself is still the king in this area, a genuine 2012 competitor may have just emerged - Gangnam Style Yourself!

The first stage in Gangnam Style Yourself involves uploading a photo and then using the configuration tools to make sure your photo fits the Gangnam Style Yourself template:

Gangnam Style Yourself face configurator

Gangnam Style Yourself setup

After setting up your Gangnam Style video, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy as you replace Psy and take centre stage!

Gangnam Style Yourself video

At the end, users can download their version of Gangnam Style (for a $4.99 fee) or can embed their version of Gangnam Style to Facebook or website / blog.

Here is my full Gangnam Style Yourself video - have you made yours yet? Go here now!

My Gangnam Style Yourself video

Related posts

Elf Yourself 2012

Obama Yourself

Mad Men Yourself

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Le Slip Francais - #lasurpriseduchef - underwear, eggs and a hammer...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 11:15:00 +0000

Silly, surreal and entertaining, this film for French underwear brand le slip francais involves eggs, hammers and underwear. Titled 'La Surprise du Chef' / 'The Chef's Surprise', it's a break from the category norm and it made me smile.

Le Slip Francais underwear ad

...a great illustration that social content does not have to have blockbuster budgets, a good idea can resonate through social channels.

This Le Slip Francais video is another example too of how video content can bypass language issues making content accessible to everyone.

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Dumb Ways To Die - Metro Melbourne's viral social safety campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:01:00 +0000

Accidental train related death is a 'dumb way to die' and this is the basis of a new safety campaign from Melbourne Metro in Australia that is generating significant attention through the social web. The Dumb Ways To Die campaign is executed across a number of social channels and centres on an animated YouTube music video which has been viewed over 16 million times globally in just one week (!):

The Dumb Ways To Die video is nicely put together, unashamedly focuses on the message and features a catchy song by Tangerine Kitty - but the campaign doesn't end there...

Dumb Ways to Die animated characters

The YouTube video links to the other Dumb Ways To Die campaign aspects:

1) the Tangerine Kitty - Dumb Ways To Die song is available to download from iTunes or to download / listen to on Soundcloud here:

2) the Dumb Ways To Die Tumblr (http://dumbwaystodie.tumblr.com) which features related animated gifs and the headline 'don't do any of these OK? Especially the train ones':

3) The Dumb Ways to Die website (http://dumbwaystodie.com) which pulls together a number of aspects and directs to different campaign elements - 'thanks for taking the time to check out this website. For the majority of us, this advice is unnecessary. Most people are able to recognise that trains are big, fast and not to be messed with. But sadly a few just don't get it. And that's why we're running this campaign. To stop them from that brain fade, from doing something dumb and being hit by a train...'

The campaign centres around shareable content, utilises cutting edge platforms (like Tumblr and Soundcloud) AND then harnesses the YouTube audience scale to foster distribution with YouTube then acting as a gateway to the rest of the content (also interesting to note that Reddit was a big traffic driver too.)

Good stuff with the potential to save lives across the world - the campaign was developed by Melbourne Metro, Australia, but now also has the potential to impact in other areas / other countries too.

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Skydiving cats from Folksam in Sweden [video]

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 07:39:00 +0000

Cats are prominent features of internet meme culture with online users seemingly unable to resist posting and sharing cat pictures and videos. This presents a challenge for those advertisers with cat / animal related products though. There is potential for relevant content to be widely shared, but it has to cut through all the other cat videos in order to gain attention.

A new video from Swedish insurer Folksam to promote their pet insurance services seems to have found a new angle for the cat video - skydiving cats(!):

Folksam skydiving cats!

UPDATE:

Since posting the above, the skydiving cats have indeed 'gone viral', with internet users across the world watching and spreading the film. Pass on is being fuelled by a 'this is cool' mentality, but there are also a number of people who seem to think that cats really were sent skydiving during the filming of this ad (they weren't!)

As the view count has risen, an English version of the skydiving Folksam cats film is now online:

The Swedish skydiving cats have even appeared in a news segment on CNN which explains how the ad was shot (driving further attention and coverage both internationally and within Sweden):

Language has not been a barrier to this content spreading, skydiving cats + R. Kelly seems to have universal appeal! (It is also worth noting that after a while the news story changes from being around 'look at this content' to becoming about 'look how far this content has spread.')

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ElfYourself 2012 at elfyourself.com - OfficeMax Christmas tradition returns for 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 23:53:00 +0000

ElfYourself is back for 2012! The OfficeMax tradition is returning for Christmas 2012, allowing you to 'ElfYourself' into a personalised Christmas message by simply uploading a photo and designing an Oddcast powered Christmas Elf greeting.

ElfYourself 2012 - powered by Oddcast

ElfYourself was first created for Christmas 2006 by the Evolution Bureau and the idea of Elf(ing) Yourself has grown to become a popular holiday pastime across the world. In the first year ElfYourself.com received over 36 million site visits with 11 million elves made. The number of elves created has continued to increase as the elfyourself.com site has returned year after year and hundreds of millions of elves have now been created. How many more elves will be made through Elf Yourself 2012?

Over the years ElfYourself has gradually evolved and users can now upload photos from desktop, webcam or Facebook. Elf Yourself creators then use the tools provided to manipulate the faces of their elves:

ElfYourself 2012 - adjust elf face

ElfYourself 2012 - make another elf

Originally starting as a simple microsite, elfyourself.com is now powered by Oddcast and has email / social sharing built into it. Users of Elf Yourself can share their films with friends through Facebook, Twitter etc, embed their films to blogs / websites and can pay to download their ElfYourself video (this enables Elf Yourself users to have a permanent version of their films - the ElfYourself.com site only opens for the holiday season.) There is even a range of ElfYourself merchandise which can feature a users' personal ElfYourself images - for example items such as mugs, magnets, puzzles, blankets, mouse mats and real world greeting cards are available to purchase directly from the ElfYourself site.

This year Elf Yourself options include variants such as Classic, Soul, Hip Hop, 80's and Charleston:

ElfYourself 2012 - Hip Hop elf!

ElfYourself 2012 Charleston elf!

The principle of creating templated personalised messages continues to spread and be adopted by more and more brands and organisations ('Obama Yourself', 'Mad Men Yourself', 'Simpsonize Yourself' and so on.)

Indeed, a major premise behind many viral initiatives is this idea of personalisation of content. Personalisation and user involvement helps turn Owned Media into something to be shared and talked about (Owned drives Earned) and Office Max's Elf Yourself remains the king of the genre - I'm sure ElfYourself 2012 will be another hit!

Update:

There is now also a live aspect to Elf Yourself 2012 - using a webcam users can broadcast Elf style to the world:

ElfYourself 2012 Live - broadcast to live to all the other Elf Yourself users!

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Darth Vader in Disneyland promo video (#disneyland)

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Burcher) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:22:00 +0000

'Darth Vader: What Are You Going To Do Next?' is the title of a newly published Disney Parks Disneyland film.

The video shows Darth Vader enjoying various rides at Disneyland and, after the Disney / Lucas announcement, the description simply states 'now that Darth Vader is part of the Disney Family, find out where he's going next.'

In itself the Darth Vader Disneyland film is a nice piece of brand content. However, this is actually a re-edit of a video that was first published in June 2011, but topicality has made it stronger and enabled it to have a second wind - a great illustration of how news events can be used to drive the content / Owned media agenda.

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