bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/

Bless the BBC, helping the animals this Christmas has never been so cute. A great viral for everyone and a nice site for the family (The "Birds love fat balls" wallpaper is a favourite). http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/doonething/christmas/

uk.youtube.com/guardianravenhill

Can YouTube switch the balance between interesting, artistic and intelligent content and the usual shit that bring in the audience? Surely that would be shooting themselves in the foot but the web do need more initiative like this. http://uk.youtube.com/guardianravenhill

reindeerracer.com

I know that's it Christmas, I know that not everyone has big budget but what is that got to do with an insurance company? At least they have a league mechanism but surely a little viral video would have been better...http://www.reindeerracer.com/

akqa.com/happychristmas/

Well it's AKQA so what would you expect if not something good, even if it's only a video. http://www.akqa.com/happychristmas/

loveatfirstsite

As budgets go down, the net goes up. This campaign prove this as the budget for the video and the site must be cheaper than buying advertising space for TV. Is it worth it? who care, you are entertain for more than 10 minutes wish means you are viewing the brand logo for 10 minutes so everyone is happy. Of course the interaction is minimal and can be frustrating at time as some are quite tricky but nevertheless it's worth the effort. http://www.loveatfirstsite.gr/en/

savetango.co.uk

After the PR joke that was "Pasta Hut", Tango over the top campaign is fresh and fun with a few un-PC clips throw in for good measure and a stupid game. The campaign is also offline so have a look at the now necessary combination of Facebook, Flickr and Youtube. http://www.savetango.co.uk/

fortheloveofgod

An interesting display of people reactions towards the "For the love of god" piece by Damien Hirst. Remind me of Uniqlo but I would I liked to seen more opinions choices or the possibility to submit a question, nevertheless it's an interesting approach but more user interaction would have been appreciated. http://fortheloveofgod.nl/

elfyourself.jibjab.com

Elfyourself is a classic site at Christmas and as been running for 3 years now. The animations this year are still great and the ability to upload up to 5 faces is ideal for family and team. I was expecting something more this year, I don't know, perhaps the ability to grab all your friend photos from Facebook and make a massive Elfyourself movie but no, this year is all about making profit as you can purchase your movie for $4.99 or plenty of shit gifts with your faces on it. It's Christmas, it's a promotion, the download should be free and the focus on innovation...greedy Santa... http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/

luckybuckoff.com

Haaaaa... the classic upload your picture mechanic at Christmas...it's cute but nothing is going to beat the traditional elfyourself.jibjab.com. The problem with this campaign is that they are not using the "upload your picture for what is supposed to be and that's looking at yourself. Here you are looking at the buck bar to get your voucher and therefore missing the animation. As for the game, it's not challenging enough and as the voucher code is the same for everyone (8DVRL3) you might as well use it without wasting your time playing. http://luckybuckoff.com/"

myla-seduction.com/

It's only really Christmas when you start seeing campaigns based around the Christmas calendar, this one will please the male more than the female and could have done with a few more options: Longer videos, descriptions of the outfit and price would have been good and the use of "Send to a friend" a "Send to partner" would have been more effective. http://www.myla-seduction.com/

whoppervirgins.com

This site, or should I say video, doesn't need any comments from my part, view it in its entirely and if you are a well balanced human you will spot everything that is wrong about this campaign. http://www.whoppervirgins.com/

Back of the net...

I will start posting again on Monday and my first post will be on http://www.whoppervirgins.com/, see you on Monday...

Holidays

I am taking a well deserve break from the digital life, so no update for 2 weeks, stay tune as we will be well into December on my return and should see some interesting Christmas campaigns by then.

quebuenoesteneramigos.com

Apparently it's pretty funny if you can understand the spoof. A classic user generate mechanic around lads friendship. http://www.quebuenoesteneramigos.com/

wiimusic.com

It's one of the big release for Nintendo this Christmas and sadly we only get the usual videos from Nintendo. I know that their marketing is all about not offending anyone and pushing offline try out (as they did with the Wii fit) but I wanted more, so much more especially when you have someone like Cee-lo or Rev Run at your disposal. They could have made a site full of sound experiences or a game where you battle against any of them but no; it's all bland as usual. At least you won't need to read the manual when you are done with this site. http://www.wiimusic.com

metro.co.uk/kisses

It's more of an online campaign but it works because they not faking it. Of course it's only a mini-site, of course it's basic and there is nothing new about the competition mechanic or the sent to a friend but it's perfect for office worker and the general public and it's a good mix with the Metro audience. Is this enough for you to go and start buying Galaxy? I don't think, a downloadable voucher would have helped. http://metro.co.uk/kisses

fastnasaldelivery

Saw a full add page on the paper for this, as the design of this site evolved from the usual scam you get in your email? Sadly not and the animation on how the product work is a classic. It would be a challenge to take on a product like this and create a digital strategy for it, any taker? Surely a bit of Papervison would make this so much more existinghttp://www.fastnasaldelivery.com

micheledauria.com

As we know the latest trend for big brand is to produce content, let's face it the traditional advertising model doesn't work anymore. This is not the place to start discussing the pros and cons of corporate sponsorship but it means that more creative work are being done and that's a good thing for the industry. So take what you need out of it...http://www.micheledauria.com/

uniqlo

I am going to stop posting about Uniqlo soon as all their campaigns are so stylised it puts most of what's on the web to shame. What this site lack of technical genius from their previous work make up in content and presentation, yes it's only a big portal for links to online store but I defy you not wanting to look at all the videos, and therefore the products. http://www.uniqlo.com/meets/

microsoft.co.uk/defyallchallenges/

Silverlight is back in a big way, scary I know, but it's time to stop laughing and actually look at it as some serious tech are in the making, even if this site is made in Flash! Using the Machinina format is a way of getting to the geek community. What's missing in the Machinina maker, is preview of VO and SFX and videos before you drag them on the stage and the ability to upload your own VO. The site is sleek and fast but the design could have been improve as I still don't know why there is a map icon as I can not actually walk around, it's one think to simulate and interface, it's another to play with user expectation. http://www.microsoft.co.uk/defyallchallenges/.

liveguy

The concept of finding someone to get a prize is so old it hurts but Vodafone is actually using the web to bring life to it, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Picasa are all part of the campaign...They are missing Google Map, Last.FM, eBay and a desktop widget to make it even more interesting. The writing is pretty good so get ready to track him down dead or alive. http://liveguy.vodafone.co.uk/

aee.gouv.qc.ca

It's well executed, it's less then 5 minutes, it won't change the world but it's fun. Would I like to see a woman and kid version. http://www.aee.gouv.qc.ca/en/energuy/game/

theplaceswelive

A beautiful site that let the image speak for themselves but not the people as it seems that they have been replaced by actors. I believe having the right soundtrack with subtitles would have been more powerful; nevertheless this should make you humble in this credit crunch time. http://www.theplaceswelive.com/

experience.eagleeyemovie.com

I always wanted to see an online high quality version of the 'create your own adventure' books and this experience is borrowing from them but because of the subject matter, follow the instruction or loose, your choices are actually restricted as you only option is to do what you have been told and this make the all thing boring (and why do I pick up objects when I am not using them?). It's a shame because the site is slick, polished and drags you in the movie plot, it drags you in so much that you already know a 1/4 of the film by the time you finished. http://experience.eagleeyemovie.com/

kirill.uk.msn.com

Microsoft does content just for the sake, of it...mixing 'Lost', with 'I legend', with 'The Thing', with '12 monkeys'. Good blogs writing to support the story...to be honest it's actually the talent of David Schofield that makes this worth watching. A good thing for video production companies as we carrying on seeing the rise of bespoke content for the web. The Silverlight integration in the sections is sadly not as impressive as it should be. http://kirill.uk.msn.com

thephotographicadventuresofnickturpin.com

A great idea but badly executed. The all point of the campaign is to be able to select a part of the image, it would have been nice be able to actually be able to have a large version of the photograph and a large version of the results. It's is really a shame that they are not offering a full blog (Twitter doesn't cut it) of Nick's journey or let us see other photo taken during the trip. As for the presentation of the phone; using videos hosted on Yourtube might had your marketing guy exited thinking it will go viral, well it didn't and it look cheap. http://www.thephotographicadventuresofnickturpin.com

fortheloveofwispa.com

Online call to arms, advertised off line to make a TV commercial. Interesting concept, can't believe that they haven't got any banners or confetti yet when they already have 2 helicopters and 3 aeroplanes or are these already been planned by the marketing agency? The site isn't exiting enough for you to care as you are not sure of the reward ("may be" isn't enough) and with think like "children in needs" people have other stuff to do. http://www.fortheloveofwispa.com/

now.sprint.com/widget/

This certainly makes the point clear on what can you do with the wireless device, granted it's only a aggregation of stats but the presentation is slick and with a mix of interesting and silly choices of facts. http://now.sprint.com/widget/

toshiba.eu/whatnext/

It's cute, it's lovely, it's well coded, it takes inspiration from "Lost Wind" and "Okami" but it's only a portal and you will never go back to it, give it to me as a screensaver, as a wallpaper, as a Google Skin as a Blog Skin and I would have accepted the Toshiba logo without even thinking about it. http://www.toshiba.eu/whatnext/

dothetest

Still using the same concept as their first advert and improving it as the gimmick is now becoming associated with the campaign. It's only a viral but I like it. http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

anorangeamerica.com

Fantastic integration of Twitter feeds and great insight of what people are doing and thinking...has it grab twitter feeds some adds have appeared (election on the Figaro.fr) but what's more interesting is that it's sponsored by Tropicana. At least it's not sponsored by Bodyform but as much as I like the application I would have preferred if it was born out from a group of developer in their spare time... http://www.anorangeamerica.com

twittervotereport.com/

Beautiful integration and great service, god know what will we be doing in 4 years. http://twittervotereport.com/

uniqlo

Having fun with a brand you love is what keep the consumer coming back and being proud of being associated with it. Uniqlo understand this and come up, again, with a great campaign that translate well in banners and widgets. I started thinking it would have been better to give the user the full range of sounds but in fact the constrain of having only random sounds make for more creative output. http://www.uniqlo.com/utloop/

iftheworldcouldvote.com

Today more than ever... Simple, making a point, PR friendly and demonstrating that we should not take our freedom of speech and technology life for granted as when I visited the site Guinea had 3 votes registered and Tonga 1, so http://laptop.org/. I would have asked the community to translate the site as this would have helped the site popularity.http://iftheworldcouldvote.com

thecigaretteisdead

Guerilla marketing for a good cause, hard to knock down and some really interesting outdoor activities. The fact that you can enter your own story will help others and make you feel better. I would I like to see a better way of searching through the stories (by genre, by photos or by videos for example). http://www.thecigaretteisdead.com/

farcry.uk.ubi.com/experience/

The all point of this experience is to demonstrate in-game footages for Far Cry 2 and the site does a good job of demonstrating the physics and action you will encounter when playing the game. What it doesn't do is giving you control as you are only selecting multiple choice. I wanted to be able to try my hand at the sniper rifle but instead I had to watch a pre-rendered sequence and this sucks as unless you are a hard core gamer you might have switch off by now. http://farcry.uk.ubi.com/experience/

lou-paris.com

Another "video experience", for women. We could start talking about the fact that if you are man the experience might bring some genre issues or that the model is probably not reflecting the size of real women but this could be another post all together. It's actually a shame that the experience end with a disappointing competition mechanic, they should have at least recorded a video segment to introduce it. It's also a shame that all the other sections are presented in a pop-up design when they could have used the video space to display high quality image of the collection. http://www.lou-paris.com/

absolut.com/iaawau/

Absolut is doing a Carlsberg with this campaign. Sadly it's not out there enough for people to join the fun and only 264 signatures have been registered so far. Better go back to the clever and smart campaign hey?http://www.absolut.com/iaawau/index.html

condenast.co.uk/partner/fordka/en-gb/

A mini site for Girl to promote Ford's Ka. Some cheap backstage footage, a poor "get the look" video, shit quizzes and a pop-up with registration. This is not a campaign but a bunch of content thrown together to get the most of Ford product placement money. http://www.condenast.co.uk/partner/fordka/en-gb/

seety.co.uk

Trying to beat Google and not get done for invasion of privacy, this is going to be hard. Good luck to them. http://www.seety.co.uk/

actionaid.org.uk/march/

A really sweet idea that doesn't required too much involvement from the users. You can even download your avatar but the creation tool isn't as good as some around. This is a campaign that actually needs a widget so people can display the March on their page and I would even consider a Facebook application to recruit people. http://www.actionaid.org.uk/march/

acdcrocks

Am not sure that "the First Video in Excel" is something worth bragging about and I did not see AC/DC fans as Excel geeks but hey; anything these days to try to be different. I would have been more impressed if they had the balls to do this for the full length of the official video more than just the gimmick that this is. Let's face it, this doesn't beat Radiohead. If you are into Ascii try the Matrix. http://www.acdcrocks.com/excel/

coldisthenewhot.com

Why people would like to visit this site is beyond me but someone got paid to do so and they actually done a descent job. Nice 3D animations (some sound would have been nice), basic content and a competition. Granted is simple but it's on brief, easy money... http://www.coldisthenewhot.com/

try.bigsnapsearch.co.uk

Microsoft is so trying to beat Google that it has to resolve to some vouchers promotion, how sad. http://try.bigsnapsearch.co.uk/

canadairman.com

Another funny concept from Axe, the video works on its own and the game wasn't necessary but it reinforce the campaign and is used as a "send to a friend". I would love to know if people actually used the widget because I understand if you want to blog the video but why the widget? A bit more info on the product would have been good and a coupon too. http://www.canadairman.com/

pilotrussia.ru/flash/

Forget the classy videos intro and you are left with a basic car site presented in an interesting way. The soundtrack has been worked on and the letters effects have that whoa! factor but really this is style before innovation. http://www.pilotrussia.ru/flash/

boostup.org

An aggregation of all the boosts found on social network sites are counted on the main site so you see where the boost came from. The simplicity of the campaign reside on the fact that you are following real people throughout the year and actually make you want to see how they are doing. It's great that they have included last year stories too so you can see how the site helped people in the past. The designed could have been polished especially the text sections but again praise should be made for a campaign that actually has more right to be on social networks than any shit products.http://boostup.org/

jordanscereals.co.uk

Beautiful redesigned site that bring "web 2.0" to the business without compromising the brand heritage. Great use of flash to bring life to the site, great use of Ajax for interaction and great use of Blogs for content creations and user feedbacks. Perfect and lovely designed. http://www.jordanscereals.co.uk

joost.com

Joost desktop application is no more. To be able to compete they now have launched as video community site; hopefully the content will make them stand out of the rest. I do miss their original interface to be honest as I used to found it intuitive and useful. Can they become the Last.fm of the video world? http://www.joost.com

eagleeyefreefall.com

If you live in the USA this is good...I don't 8(
http://eagleeyefreefall.com/

liveyourbeauty.com.cn

I haven't got a clue what's going on here but it's always good to see different designs, plus it's cute...http://www.liveyourbeauty.com.cn/

sexysciencebydita.com

I am one for recognising that using Flicrk or youTube for your campaign is a good thing but this is stupid as there is not high quality version of the film on the official site; therefore we are left with a low quality, badly scale version. With a bit more money they could have had full screen videos and full screen photos to be able to showcase the new range as surely this is want Wonderbra want? and please stop the pop-up and get an e-commerce solution working. http://www.sexysciencebydita.com/

malibu-rum.com

Something is missing here, there is something amateurish about it, the animations and the design are behind the standard that Absolut as set and it show; even the "drinks" section seems cheap. It would have been nice to have some easter eggs on the site or to be able to download the recipes. What's interesting it's their Yahoo channel initiative http://uk.video.yahoo.com/network/100662101; it's sadly just a collection of old virals...they could have done so much more with it, especially to illustrate the "Get your island on" campaign. http://malibu-rum.com/

Viral Galore

Enjoy

hlfragrance.com

Bang on target audience for this site and great marketing plan here as you can request a sample and have a bit of Gwen love through the post. The design of the site fit the products perfectly and the products are a stroke of genius as it target the kids, the teens and bring the Japanese manga spirit to the masses but still with a western execution. The karaoke section is nothing news but the visual comments encourage interaction, is extremely well executed and of course you are listening to Gwen's songs. a youTube channel would have finished this perfectly. http://www.hlfragrance.com