Twignature: Amnesty

As much as I can praise the use of Twitter to be relevant to today's audience I am wondering how far this can go as Twitter isn't still a global player, especially in countries where human right is still being ignored. Still 20k signature is a reasonable easy target to achieve with a bit of PR.

http://twignature.amnesty.ch/

You Are blind

Simply crafted and a good use of webcam technology, but I have an issue with the story.

Too graphic, too dramatic, I think the point could have been made without the shock factor. Nevertheless it's a nice experience that make you think.

http://www.youareblind.com

Pepsi Sound Off

Maybe am too old, maybe I am not the target audience but this sort of initiative really annoy me.

The interface is terrible on PC, it's probably being designed to work on tablet so the audience can interact in real time with the Xfactor but for normal web use it's shit.

You have to admire them for building such platform and going on social, but this does 2 things, give content for all the teens that haven't got a clue how social media work and secondary it's open to abuse. You can abuse the system by writing offensives comments and you can view the profile and tweet to anyone...scary stuff.

I don't see a real strategy behind the site apart for trying to trend on Twitter without having to pay for it. The gamification is basic and I believe people are getting bore with it. Well at least it's free content, not like pheed.com

http://www.pepsisoundoff.com

MTV: Gif Me More

I haven't got a clue if this is for an MTV program, for Samsung or for both but I certainly want to found out more as the tech / POV in this piece is extremely well done.

Nice idea to have a few missions to complete, I still think this could have been pushed more with more bio on the people, more shareable content.

http://www.gifmemoreparty.com/

Cravendale: Epic Straw

The website isn't going to win any design award but the campaign is nice and simple, if only they had partner with https://diy.org/ this could have been really interesting.

Another issue is that I can not find a simple gallery without having to join our register, it's for kid it should be as open as possible to start with.

http://www.epicstraws.co.uk/

Durex: Make it slide

Good partnership with Dailymotion and an simple game to introduce the lube concept. It's not revolutionary but it does the job well (use the product to make it easier) and the videos refer to the fragrances available. It's PG rating but than again you don't want to panic your audience in trying out a new product like this one.

I would have had at least one video that start with man for the female audience.

http://www.dailymotion.com/sas/durexplay

Alzheimer Day 2012

Am not sure how many people are actually going to do this as it required the user to be comfortable installing  the plugin and using Chrome. So the audience is limited; it's a good idea but probably won't go viral due to these restrictions.

They also probably forgot (see what I have done here) that the 21st is Peace One Day and that the PR machine will focus on this even instead.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/olibmfkodmmmoimoiemiabfnpcebgjcf

Resident Evil 6: Shared Nightmare

Am not sure if Take This Lollipop 2 will be made, so this was the time for Capcom to raise the game. Sadly we have a really simple FB integration, seen so many time before.

Their Twitter campaign  https://twitter.com/WeskerSon seems to be targeted at PR only, I have asked for a package, let's hope I get one.

http://eleos.nohopeleft.com/ is another angle on the campaign and could have been interesting, sadly the site looks too amateurish to maintain attention.

But the "Last Goodbye" idea should work as it play perfectly with the FB audience,  https://www.facebook.com/residentevil/app_181688471962353 , a better way would have been to link this to the user status message to freak out their friends.

https://www.facebook.com/residentevil/app_133606656784236

Electrolux: Now you're cooking

Understanding your audience is worth more than anything else. They haven't spend a lot of money producing the films or taken the photos but they have spend a lot of time understanding what the food lovers like. They like beautiful imageries and Electrolux give them just that, even the classic quote image.

Add Tumblr and Pinterest and you start having a dialogue with your audience.

http://nowyourecooking.tumblr.com/

Nivea: Singing in the shower

This is why I love digital, because campaign like this can only exit via our medium. It might be cheesy, it might be simple but the execution is effortless and talk perfectly to the audience.

http://vdushe.com/en

Missile for peace

I am surprise this is actually an official campaign for Peace One Day. It's not a new idea, apart from the people on the ground no one is going to come back on the day and see the event live and on a more moral debate using a rocket isn't a smart move. I understand what they are trying to say and symbolised but it's not doing it for me, I can't wait to see what happen when they will parade the rocket in London

The video is boring (the more videos link is wrong), the photos are boring (the more photos link is wrong) and yes you can tweet with their # but even if they promote @missileforpeace there is no link on the page to follow it and therefore they have only 28 followers at the moment (more than half working at LB).

Please tell me you had 8h to come up with the idea, design, shoot, edit and code because if not you have no excuse.

http://www.missileforpeace.com/

Unicef: Pinterest

On the surface hijacking Pinterest is a great way to get traction but Pinterest is mostly all about people makings list of desirable objects, inspiration photos and so on.

Where do you think someone is going to pin a badly photoshoped picture of a tap? They won't because they have to ask themselves the same question and because Pinterest isn't about broadcasting an opinion or a though. They should have look at what people are curating on the subject and give them similar content, copy included.

http://pinterest.com/AmiMusa/really-want-these/

Bacon Barter

This is show one thing: when the product is loved it doesn't matter if your campaign isn't clever or new as long as you had a bit of humour to the mix.

Everyone love bacon (look away veggies) so am surprised it took so long for someone to reuse the classic A to B travel with no money idea and apply it to bacon!

Am even more surprise that the Youtube views and Tweeters followers are so low but hopefully the campaign is going to get memento soon, because everyone love bacon.

To be honest launching this campaign during the 9/11 week might not have been the best move from a PR point of view.

http://www.baconbarter.com/

Uniqlo: Vader

The store opening date is right at the start of the site, the rest is just pure fun to entertain the audience and remind people why Uniqlo are a great brand, they even gone and done an app.

Simple avatars integration add a bit of personalisation during the game and during the league table. The game in itself is hard and over the top but you can get to the end without starting from scratch so casual people can have 5 minutes of branded entertainment and the hardcore gamer can spend hours trying to be number one.

http://www.uniqlo.com/bicqlo-vader/

Uniqlo: Lucky Cube

I always love Uniqlo's campaigns but this one is disappointing. There is no interaction, no interesting technique, no real craftsmanship. This is a pure game of chance, with a video that repeat itself, with the same consolation prize and most annoyingly pushing people to do Facebook connect.

Yes it's cute because there is a cat, a famous one too http://www.youtube.com/user/mugumogu but this is also a weakness of the creative team in my eyes. This would have been perfect as a FB competition for the fan but not as a launch piece for the SF store.

http://www.uniqlo.com/luckycube/

Pfaff Tweet Race

What a shit name Pfaff is really and what a shit prize, you get a car but for 1 year only. Yes that's right, they give you the car and then they take it back...what sort of prize is that?

What do you need to do? well you need to get 2,500 new followers.
So you have now 2 options:
1. Wait for the news and create a funny account that doesn't clash with the T&C and go viral.
2. Screw your network by trying to follow as many people as you can, bots, spam, porn stars your name it, just do it, just screw your Twitter credential...

They don't even monitor their feed, shame on you

http://www.pfafftweetrace.com

Hyundai: Sexy gets Angry

I had to included this campaign, check out the trailer and don't tell me you don't want to see how bad it can get?

Well it can get worse as what do you get once you like their page? You get a text form, yes! a text form entry competition and the possibility to leave a comment about the car but no info about the car, nothing; no info about what they will do next with your idea, nothing; no making off, no photo shoot, nothing.

https://www.facebook.com/HyundaiAustralia/app_134702366673932

PG Tips: To Monkey with Love

Do I really still need to "Like" you page to enter a competition? haven't we moved on? (support the cause here http://goo.gl/0mzPQ)

I know PG tips is supposed to be simple and fun for the all family but it does look like monkeys have actually designed and coded the tab. I clicked an heart by mistake and I can not undo this! I have an high resolution monitor but if you select an entry at the bottom of the page you have to scroll all the way up to see it.

Frustrating...but the people seems happy sending monkey some love, does it help selling the product? no, does it keep the fans engage? yes and that's why PG is one of the top UK brand on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/PGtips/app_132696750208199

Nissan: Improv-tastic Road Trip

Always risky to do a live one day event, Coke pull it off because they had Maroon 5, Skittle because they had personalised messages in their 1000's but Nissan?

I haven't got a clue who the comedians are and this is I think a big issue here, you should bring out the big guns if you are going to do this. The humour is pretty basic to be honest and probably not right for the target the audience, if I want silly songs I might as well watch this.

What is that got to do with the Nissan Pathfinder? I haven't got a clue apart from the fact that after 5 songs I wished for the comics to get into the car and drive into a lake.

https://www.facebook.com/nissanpathfinder/app_431474653562154

Ban&Jerry: Wanna Spoon?

Let's face it, this campaign is all about the play on words because it's not the most original used of FB Social Graph, still the fact that you also get a coupon will make this little app popular.

https://apps.facebook.com/wannaspoon/

Intel: The Beauty Inside

Taking its concept from an underground movement of digital film makers creating stories together, Intel is trying to bound everyone and create the ultimate social movie.

Apart from the people selected and their mums I don't see why the general public will spend time on the FB page watching the auditions and then follow the film (If you want a great audition video watch this). Most of these auditions are from under 16 to probably haven't got the catch to buy an Intel PC at the moment.

https://www.facebook.com/thebeautyinsidefilm

LG 3D Newsfeed

Promoting a 3D TV on conventional screens is always hard, so LG decided to create a simple utility to demonstrate this and of course FB was chosen as, you know, everyone target audience is on it.

I don't know about you but I just skip my news feed now and again on my mobile, it's simple fast and easy, why on earth I would want to seat in my front room, put a pair of 3D glasses and read the usual blurs this way?

The website is sweet but for as a 2D experience it sucks and am not convinced that it would work in 3D ever. This is the sort thing you show your friends that haven't got a 3D TV and then forgot all about it.

http://3dnewsfeed.lg3dstudio.com/

Donate your words

Great concept in the style of putting your money where your mouth is. Asking people for money is really hard and this campaign does a good job to make this happen but I think it would have been better to have a predefine cost by words and let people write until a certain amount they define run out, instead of letting people play with the donate sliders. The more people play the more they think about it.

This way once someone had used all the "pay" words, they could be reminded of the campaign and encourage to donate again.

The app could also calculate your average words in your last 50 status updates to give you an indication of how much you should donate.

https://www.facebook.com/womensrefugenz/app_124919567648634

Skip Town

It's cool, it's interactive, it represents summer and vacation, it's near perfect. The robot was off when I tried it so I really hope you can share your skipping video as this would bring a nice level of social sharing.

http://www.stoneskippingrobot.com

Hyundai: Undead

This required a lot of planning and trust from the client but this marriage of a car brand and the 8th art is made in heaven. It's a change from all the prototype cars I have seen before and really speak to the young audience they are trying to reach.

Not much of a web experience as the only thing so far on the site is a sweepstake, I would I liked to see some 360 interior videos or even a partnership with Carmageddon.

http://www.hyundaiundead.com/

Coca-cola: Toe Tappy

For god sake, when will this madness of dance moves stop? It's the summer so Coke is trying to own the dance floor by crowd sourcing a dance move.

I hate the idea of it, still it's seems that the campaign has been successful thanks to a big PR push. When you actually look at the view on Youtube it seems that apart from the big commercials that have over 1 millions views or 3 millions for the one that feature Carmen Electra and Perez Hilton (they will do anything these 2) the rest of the entries range from 100's to 1000's, have a look here http://www.youtube.com/user/CokeZeroDance/videos?sort=p&view=0. For a brand like Coke this is, in my view, some poor results.

What can we learn from this?  UGC is dead and manage your expectations in terms of numbers, if not have a plan B (I think Carmen Electra is free next week).

http://www.makeitpossibleproject.com/

Nokia: Gotham City

I haven't got a clue what Nokia and Batman have in common, I don't really see Batman relying on a smart phone for his day day-to-day business. What's even more frustrating is that I have to use Facebook connect and Like Nokia to get started. The clues are on the Nokia Facebook page so there is no need to push people to do so.

Nevertheless this is a great use of Nokia own map tech and it's impressive. Sadly, like most people, I will probably stick with Google Map as the 3D is actually still only restricted to major cities.

http://www.nokiaconnects.com/exploregothamcity/

Axe: Hot Angles

Understand your audience and use country insight and you get the perfect campaign. The fact the Japanese men are obsessed with young girls panties is perfect for this campaign and thinking about it probably perfect for most of the world. Good use of webcam technology.

http://www.axeeffect.jp/dry/

Brandon Generator

I use Chrome but switched to Explorer 9 to see this site because I already have it installed, not sure if a punter would download it for the sake of a site that you know nothing about to start with.

The films are well produced but at 7 minutes each you really hope your audience is ready to spend that much time with you and not simply use the skip button.

You can leave a Skype or mobile message to Brandon and the Social media links are introduce simply and not push in your face but considering the amount of posters and ads for this site, just over 1,500 followers on Twitter and 2,000 on FB must be a disappointment.

The site asked too much UGC in my opinion, people are still in the frame of mind being entertained and considering this is a site for Explorer 9,  I would assume you want to make it as easy for people to do stuff and learn about the product as to be honest I haven't see anything major in the site that exited me about IE9, this ads works better than the site in my opinion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOP9W9zQ_do

Episode 3 interactions are the same as episode one, I wanted something new, I didn't get it, I turned off.

The making-off is actually the best thing about it http://www.brandongenerator.com/behind-the-scenes as you actually understand what they really want to do and what messages they were trying to convey to the audience (it's an HTML5 experience - they should have shouted about it).

Too much thinking, the creative team got stuck into their dreams and Microsoft add the money to make it happen, shame...

http://www.brandongenerator.com

P.S: Also make sure it doesn't crash

Samsung: Unleash your Fingers

From the viral videos to the website; they could not go wrong, using the most famous "Finger Tutting"  (I still think this is a shit name to describe this activity) artist on the globe and Justice for the soundtrack.

The website is slick with everything that you hope for to learn and remix and create videos to spread the message even further. Doesn't innovate but do the job really well.



http://www.unleashyourfingers.com

Puma Social Cards

Everyone must have been exited about this one as it follow the trends of using Intagram on a night out and add a bit of fun and social on top of it. Sadly this is also the downfall of it: If you already use Instagram you are not going to switch to another app.

See above: a search for Any Time / Paris / Any teammate return 2 results. 

http://socialcards.puma.com/

Evian Chez Vous

Really? people do really order Evian on a regular basic? Apart from the fact that it's heavy to carry bottle of water I don't see why you would want to do this. This is only for Paris at the moment and it will be interesting to see how this initiative goes as am wondering how much return Evian is making considering that:

1. Running the service must cost a lot

2. Supermarkets must be annoyed

3. Tap water works well too

4. They are doing it without a partnership

it will be interesting to see if the next stage is for Danone to add other products like baby milk and yoghurts. 

http://www.evianchezvous.com/

Honda CRV

All exited to play with my phone and the website until I choose to do FB connect and was on hold for ever, after that I was then told to use my keyboard instead of my phone to actually drive the car and then the signal was lost and the site had to be rebooted, bad start.

No matter how much gimmicks they threw at me I was more annoyed to use the phone to navigate the site than anything else as it was more natural to do the actions via keyboard or mouse. You shouldn't have to look at your phone in my opinion, the phone is a remote not another screen in this setup, check out http://www.frisbeerush.com/ for a great experience.

It's a shame because the site is beautifully crafted, apart from the music loop that is too short and annoying,.

http://www4.honda.com.br/novocrv/experiencia/

Das Landerspiel

Works on Facebook, iphone and Android, live competition of penalty shoot out. Perfect for the Euro 2012, funny, simple and beautifully executed. You just want to play it again and gain trust me...

http://goo.gl/eMWF6

Parche Poderoso

Untitled from DDB Colombia on Vimeo.

I know that Sharp is running a global fan stats http://www.sharpfanlabs.com but I found this little app more personal.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/parche-poderoso/id522106857?mt=8

50 Problems in 50 Days

Not so much of a campaigns but so many ideas are packed on this site that it's worth mentioning here.

http://50problems50days.com

LG: Ticket Hunter

Great competition that only works by spending a lot of money to get it started.

The more you tweet the more the location is revealed. it would be interesting to see the split between students, kids and working people on this one because let's face it how many of us have the time to do this?

Will students and kids remember this is an LG promotion when they have the cash to buy the products? would anyone actually click on the LG Optimus tab? I mean the tweets are coming fast but what is the message? Considering that they have around 2000 tweets and hour, managing only 115 LG likes is a bit shit so let's hope their Twitter followers is increasing.

http://lgtickethunter.com/

AT&T: Daybreak2012

Tim Kring from Heroes helped developed the story and the production value is one of a sitcom for sure.
It's all amazing and beautiful but does it actually deliver the message? Trying to found out about the device when playing the experience is actually annoying; if you do you are bounce off to AT&T boring site and terrible R&D videos.

This is a shame become the tech they are developing are actually interesting.

 An app is available on Android and Iphone to play along, so you don't need the Samsung Galaxy to take part. The App is impressive and worth a download but how many people will take the step to do so?

As crafted as this is I wonder if ARG is really the right choice for their audience,  they probably think that if enough nerds get involved, enough nerds might buy the device and become ambassadors for it. I personally think that most nerds will enjoy the ride but stick with their devices.

http://www.daybreak2012.com/

http://findthetruth.jackboxers.com/

Singtank: Kill, don't kill

Singtank - Give it to me by singtank-official

Cute girls, an hommage to Tarantino, a pop song that your hears can endure for 2 minutes and a few méme references. All good.

http://www.singtank.com/

Prada: A Therapy

Whoa, I can't imagine how much this has cost and considering they have so far around 500,000 view on youtube am not sure if they have their money back yet. Still am sure they will generate enough PR to make up for it. But what a waste, I would have love to see at least a multi camera angles interactive experience with this one.

http://www.prada.com/en/a-therapy/backstage

Diesel: Sunamatic

Maybe am missing the point here, I do get the relation between the glasses and how you see the world, I do get the fact that they are jumping (really really late) on the filters (á la Instagram)  functionality but really?  4 filters and a functionality that is not exclusive to your app...

I mean if you are already using Instagram for example you will more than likely share your results on Facebook by default, if you are not, you probably don't care about filters.

There is no competition to encourage interaction; and if you want to share on Diesel's wall you have to do all the work yourself; the design of the app is really slick but only work well in a resolution over 1680x1050, below that you miss the products and have to scroll up and down all the time.

http://sunamatic.diesel.com/

Shag Tag

Have they just stole and old idea? 

They might just get away with it as it is for a good cause but they could have done a bit more with the design, UX and maybe use Facebook credits or text messages (yes still) to encourage donation. A mobile version could have been fun too and great way to interact with the audience.

https://apps.facebook.com/shag-tag/

Borjomi: The Deepest Site

If you are going to make a point make it in style. This is perfect, you know exactly why you should buy the product and the challenge element makes you FB connect with the site and therefore the brand.

Problem? Well most people probably only go as far as 50m after their fingers hurt. The good thing? they might just watch the video instead so more exposure to the product...

http://thedeepestsite.com/

Autism: Carly's Cafe

Am glad someone finally done an experience that is emotionally involving in an Autism POV.

I wishes there was a little bit more interaction / footage and that a the end there was some explication on why Carly see thing like she does (Autistic people focus on details, can be overwhelm by too much sounds, light, people...). This would have helped educating people that might not want to read the book.

http://carlyscafe.com/

Uniqlo: Alarm Clock

Love the concept but will it actually wake you? Just by listening to the sample music I wanted to throw a brick at my screen but maybe this is not my kind of music...

http://www.uniqlo.com/wakeup/en/pc/

Only: Because we can

Great video production, great tune and a lot of ideas stolen from Wranglers and ASOS'experiences.

The trouble here is that the interaction is not involving at all or surprising. Even if you do not interact the film will carry on regardless and the interaction is forced on you, no discovery, no playfulness and the most annoying thing no basket integration just a link to the shop.

As for the story, the tale of girls gone (mildly) wild as been done 100's of time.

http://www.onlybecausewecan.com/

Lufthansa: MySkyStatus

Not only this is a great tool for robbers so they now when you are away, it's also a great way for a brand to actually make something that is useful to everyone and are not precious about their product.

In fact the clever thing about it as that even if you are flying with another airline you will be exposed to Lufthansa branding anyway!

http://www.myskystatus.com

Heineken: Fever Keeper

Let's forget how bad is the design of the Facebook page and concentrate on the idea. Hide all the Champions League content from your browser so you can enjoy the game later.

Great idea, good PR but I don't think people will use it more than once and for 5 minutes as it does hide indeed everything.

https://apps.facebook.com/keepitlegendary/

Skype Humoticon

I actually fell for it and though I could actually create my own emoticons for Skype, instead I get a .Gif that I am supposed to share and be grateful for.  http://3fr.ms/  or  http://gifninja.com/ have been helping us doing that for years without forgetting all the new apps out there.

The gallery is full of copyrighted material or static picture, hardly amazing stuff.

So I don't get it, I don't get why should I share this or even or I could actually use my humoticon more than once.

Also the call to action link takes you to the Skype website and not on the Skype app on Facebook, surely if you want people to try out your product make them use it on the platform you have a deal with and where people have friends. Then if they like it they might try the full product.

https://apps.facebook.com/humoticons/

Orange Phone Fund

I would love to know the tech involved in this live project as it's awesome, have you noticed that your profile pics appears in the tower? simple thing like enhance the experience.

The design is slick, the interface simple what more can someone want?

Well I would love to see more sounds, the lack of ambient sounds and music seems weird, I would love to hear all the mechanic elements coming to life.

It would have been better if the camera focus on where the mouth stopped as sometime you end up not seen it at the end of the round. Changing camera angles would have been great too so you could follow it yourself.

Tweet or Facebook message to participate, of course people will do it, of course people will do it more than once but is this the way forward? Will the power of Tweets and FB messages be diminished by more and more campaign using this system to engage an audience? FB Likes mean nothing now because everyone use them as an entry mechanic to see content and participate in campaigns or even votes. I am just worried for the future...

Nevertheless this is a great campaign, it's live, it's real, it's engaging, it's a lot of craft and tech coming together, it's simple, it's fast, it's rewarding, it's a job well done.

http://phonefund.orange.co.uk/

Smart Open You Mind Twitter account

Brilliant use of a different approach in using the medium, it's smart indeed...

https://twitter.com/#!/smartArg

Domestos: Flush of Fortune

You have to give it to the people that sold this idea to the client. From an user point of view asking people to share to get extra point is wrong in my view, but am a purist, and judging by the Tweets people are actually doing it. it's a sad day for social media and a great win for the client.

At least you don't have to stay on the site to see if you have won.

The design is a bit shit and should have been worked on to give panache to an actual clever idea.

http://www.flushoffortune.com/

Chairlift Met Before

Simple choose your own adventure music videos, seamless interaction, quick choice, good stories, the fact that I like the song probably helped.

http://www.chairlifted.com/metbefore/