SPINNING AROUND: SEVENTY SEVEN THINKING OUT LOUD

NOKIA N9000 ... AS MAD AS IT COMES

This is proper mental. I am going to have to watch it many times before I actually have an opinion other than "that's odd, that". Which is not much of an opinion, to be honest.

LOVELY, LOVELY WORK FROM SAAB

I was reading the back pages of my brother Rob's blog (which is a rum old mash of film, music - a lot of good music - marketing and dotcommery). I came across this and liked it so much that I thought it was worth sharing here. You can pretty much tell what it's all about from the post title ...

WAITER, THERE'S ADVERTISING IN MY SOUP ...

Following on from dogvertising, cowvertising and indeed Seventy Seven PR's Lambient Media, we have Fly-vertising. A sort of marketing swat team.

ALL CHANGE IN GUINNESS' EPIC RETURN

The latest work from Guinness, which has (according to CR) dropped the "Good things ... " strapline in favour of "Bring it to life". The new work is below and aired for the first time last night.

It's an ad that you need to watch in full-screen. Seriously.

For my money, it'll be interesting to see what they do with the idea of "Bring it to life" outside of the ad - it feels like a far richer territory than Good things did (although that particular brand promise also delivered some of my favourite advertising of all time, so who's to quibble) ...

KASABIAN CREATES FOOTBALL HERO

So Kasabian has created a large-scale hack of Guitar Hero, made as part of the rock band’s album marketing campaign.

Using the remarkable skills of freestyle footballers from Woody & Kleiny, it features wall-mounted controls placed in front of a three-story screen. Footballs kicked at the life-size panels provide the physical interface for the game within the game.

And it's all a bit clever and actually quite watchable.

STUNT OR CANDID CAMERA?

My vote goes for stunt.

Could be wrong, but it feels like a neat piece of viral. In which case, I shall consider my role complete having done my bit to add to the spread.

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

AS MAD AS YOU LIKE ... HELICOPTER BOYZ

Helicopter Boyz are a weird little Japanese pop duo who seem to do little more than dance (badly) to a pre-recorded backing track of happy electro.

But, in a remarkable moment of lateral thinking, they appear to have become the heroes of Nikon's latest Japanese stunt to promote the fact that the brand's latest cameras also have a projection facility.

It's a bloody clever way of showing how the whole thing works in an entirely watchable sort of way. Mad, but bloody clever.

via CR

THE LATEST AARDMAN FILM FOR NINTENDO

There is a full back story to this piece of work.

Meantime, enjoy the latest film ...

FUN THEORY ... VW FOR THE WEEKEND

Alan came across this really cute little campaign for, of all people, VW.

Lovely piece of brand creatvity (I sort of hesitate to call it advertising because it just doesn't feel like it). It celebrates "the fun theory" and is a handful of clever and creative ways of making stuff that we don't tend to do fun, so that we do it more.

So these two are getting people to put stuff in bins and getting people to walk up stairs.

And they are lovely things. Clever, witty, smart and, above all, engaging.

But more than that, they hit the mark so beautifully in delivering the idea that this is a brand that applies some thought-through solutions (based in science and engineering) to basic problems in the real world that are interesting. And that they might do the same to problems with their car sprockets or differentials or something that aren't interesting.

Great piece of work, if you ask me.

CANAL+ ... THE POWER OF THE STORY

Just came across this and thought that it was worth sharing. Shows that the power of a good story can still raise a smile in marketing land.

FLIPPING QUALITY WORK WITH NINTENDO

Brief mention for a cracking campaign that Seventy Seven has been working on with Nintendo.

Faced with the need to create an idea to promote Flipnote Studio, the new DSiWare software that enables users to create flipbook animations with their Nintendo DSi, we came up with the idea of working with some of the creatives at Aardman Animations to see what they would come up with.

In the end, they came up with gold. Mad gold. But gold nevertheless.

So we have a collection of 12 mini-films, all of which have been created with Flipnote, that we hope will show what can be done with a bit of time and effort and will inspire people to get flipping.

So far, film one (released a month or so ago) has clocked up over 225,000 views on Flipnote Hatena (the site that hosts the flip note films). The second and third films in the series are doing very nicely too thank you, numbers-wise.

And they have picked up some cracking online coverage delivered by Nintendo's network of European agencies. Which is what it was all about.

The first three films are below for your viewing pleasure. Note: someone has ripped these to YouTube, so the numbers aren't quite as high. To see them on Hatena, they're here, here and here.

THAT'S ONE WAY TO PROMOTE A SINGLE ...

Actually, rather a clever one as it turns out.

Hadouken have glued together excerpts from 100 of the most-watched (ever) YouTube clips, stuck their new single in behind it and have unleashed it on the world. Over two-and-a-half million views later, it seems to have gone down pretty well, on balance.

Thought that I would do my bit to add to the fervour. But also to add that this is just a bloody good marketing idea and that it's handy inspiration type stuff. And that I wish that I had thought of doing it. For what, I don't actually know ...

TELLING THE NAKED TRUTH ABOUT GAMBLING

A bit of self-congratulation if you will beg our pardon ...

News hit today that we've picked up the work for the Betfair-backed right2bet campaign.

And what a cracking campaign it is too.

We're working (alongside our European network partners in Sweden, Netherlands, Germany and Finland) on a PR and digital campaign to try and garner 1 million signatures, forcing the EU to take a more balanced and consistent approach to gambling regulations.

At the moment, gamblers in many European states can't access services from businesses based in other countries. So while you can play strip poker in public in many countries, you can't play poker in the comfort of your own home. Madness.

So we're on the case with our petition to tell the naked truth about gambling.

First up, the naked petition. Head to the right2bet website and sign our rather lovely campaign ambassador ... ANYWHERE about her body. What's more, if you do sign our friendly lovely, you'll be treated to her "bouncy video" as she celebrates your sign-up ... with a Space Hopper.

Lots more to come from this one ...

PUMA INDEX ... WORK OF GENIUS

There are some agencies whose work is always received in glowing terms and is lauded by all and sundry. Droga5 is one such agency.

But when they're creating work like this, it's kinda justified.

Basically, Puma has created a stock market tracker with a bit of a difference for their bodywear (read underwear), range.

There is a crop of scantily-clad ladies involved. And when the markets are down (the DAX, DOW or ASX), they're clothes come down too ... And when the markets are up, back on they go.

Just now, they aren't wearing a great deal.

Which is basically the point.

The thing that I love about this campaign is that it has taken a totally sideways look at the whole thing.

The link between the markets and pants is not well known.

But do you know what, if you need an excuse to show pretty girls (and blokes, now I think about it, there is that option), then the rise or fall in the markets (something that a lot of people care about right now) is not a bad one.

So they've come up with something that makes compelling, engaging content and have just kinda gone with it.

Cracking piece of work.

SONY MOVES ONTO SOUND

Having a bloggy kind of afternoon ...

Interesting, this one. Sony has started something of an online buzz campaign for its latest Fallon-created push.

First there was colour.

Then there was motion.

Now sound.

Apparently, they have created "Soundville" in which a small, Icelandic village was turned into a giant sound system. For a week or so.

Then they made a lovely film about it all.

Now the film is lovely. And I am writing about this thingy (as have some of the other ad blogs), but I'm not really sure WHY.

What's it all about? What's the message? What's the ... well ... point?

Is this just a lovely film that is (in all truth) eminently watchable? Or is there going to be some remarkable reveal that will explain why on earth they have done any of it? God knows, I hope so.

WHAT A LOT OF BULL ...

Dare's film for Sony Twilight Football. Lovely work ...

A CLEVER PIECE OF ONLINE FOR AMNESTY

Well, sort of.

First of all, I am well behind with this one ... it happened months ago but I just came across it.

That said, it was so bloody clever that I wanted to keep a log of it for future use.

So basically, Amnesty's agency in Malaysia (Lins) came up with these fantastic posters that work superbly well online, I think. The strapline: See no Evil? kind of delivers the message.

Click on the image, stare at the cross for a wee while (about 30 seconds should do it). Then look at a white space (a wall, ideally, a ceiling) and blink hard. The whole thing should reveal itself. Clever, I reckon ...

HALO BACK WITH ANOTHER EPIC

Another Halo, another epic online film that will no doubt keep the gaming community happy (with some just cause, it is properly lovely) ...

NIKE ... WEIRD, WONDERFUL, BEAUTFULLY SHOT

Loved this ...

CADBURY IS AT IT AGAIN ... THEIR FIRST SINGLE

Now this was interesting ... really interesting. For a start, I like the music. I kind of like the video too.

But I love the idea behind it. When Cadbury said that A Glass and a Half Full Productions was going to do more than make ads, I was sceptical, like so many others.

Well, they've only bloody gone and done it.

Their first single and film. From Ghana (more than a little bang on from a brand perspective, in a market that had done about as much as there was to do to shout about sourcing).

Absolutely marvellous piece of thinking, of creativity and a real demonstration of what a brand can do when it puts its mind to it, as well as its heart on its sleeve. Genius.

Oh, and profits from the sale of the single will go towards funding education projects in cocoa-growing areas of Ghana. So it's got a conscience too.

GUITAR HERO PUTS THE BOOT IN

Thought that this was a lovely collaboration: Guitar Hero x DM limited editions.

Classic 14 hole DM boots with an extremely subtle (so subtle you wouldn't know unless you were an "insider") guitar logo across the back.

But it also got me to thinking that if experiential might've been en vogue a couple of years back and that it's now all about social meeja, maybe PR agencies should be thinking more about taking a lead in putting together these kinds of partnerships for their clients.

As brands become more social and as so many have huge fan bases or communities (whether online or off), so a smart partnership provides a way of sharing those fan bases and a way for both brands to benefit as a result.

So, in this case, Guitar Hero makes DM contemporary and "now" and helps them access a younger generation of rockers, keeping the brand modern and transitioning it into Generation Y, so DM gives Guitar Hero an aura of rock legend credibility and endorsement.

It's a funny thing, but we seem to be working on a lot more of this kind of activity for a couple of our clients at the moment. But it feels to me like we should be doing more of it.

A smart brand partnership, where there is something to be gained for both partners, means that each can create and access the other's consumer base (whether online or off), new and surprising (and therefore newsworthy) things can be created and the world starts to look a happy place.

Sure, there have already been some stunners (Nike+ with Apple springs to mind, H&M or New Look working with designers and style leaders likewise).

But it also feels to me like PR agencies should be at the forefront of these kinds of partnerships. We're a bunch of people who are tactically minded, we understand relationships and how they can be forged to mutual benefit and we ought to know how to make these kinds of partnerships work hard for all parties.

I reckon that this is going to be an area that we really should be watching and developing our skills in, because done well, it ought to be one in which we have a lot to offer, skills-wise.

KEEP WALKING ...

Well, this had the desired effect on me. And on Alan, a native Scot.

Lovely, single-take film. Really gorgeous stuff.

TWEETING LA

More fine work from agency of the moment, Droga5. Their v4320 campaign (see also the Twitter feed) is simple but rather lovely for all its simplicity.

Basically, they grabbed a bunch of Twitter users (BIG Twitter users, you understand) and they took a bunch of them on the all-new Virgin Airways Sydney to LA flight to mark its opening.

Once there, they had to Tweet every minute - making for a total of 4,320 Tweets all-in (get it?).

Now, if you ask me, there is little if anything that I can think of that would be less interesting than reading all of these Tweets in one place detailing the minutiae of a trip to LA minute-by-minute.

But there are plenty of people who DO want to read that sort of thing. So many in fact that they crashed the server that the site was on.

Remarkable stuff and a great campaign for the rest of us to watch and learn from.

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

Thanks to Izzy for this wee clip-ette ... Snatch Wars (not as grubby as it sounds, tho I wouldn't play it with those whose ears are a bit sensitive.

Mash-ups seem to be flavour of the month here in Seventy Seven (see this and this). We'll get over it shortly.

CAN ANY BRAND DO DIGITAL?

Nice work from the folks at Bensons Beds ... of all people. Shows that anyone can do good work online. Neat idea, well executed.

WHEN TOP GEAR MADE ADS

... they were actually rather amusing. Made me smile gently ... it's the idea that you have in the office, fall off your chair laughing about but know is too obscene ever to mention to the client. Hey ho ...

For those who might be interested, this was the effort that the boys came up with before Jeremy created the spot above and James "made" the effort below (which does actually look like a VW ad, to be fair to him and the team of people who helped him) ...

AIR NEW ZEALAND BARELY DOES SAFETY

Nick Burcher saw fit to hat tip Spinning Around for the Thomson Holidays post ...

By way of return, he also mentioned a cute little number for Air New Zealand which makes use of the same "let's use our safety video as a viral stunt" tactic.

Sweet idea ...

COMPANY BLOGS SHOULD BE LIKE THIS?

The World's Best Ever features a piece on all of the finest ads for off-beat fashion and lifestyle retailer, American Apparel. SEE, there IS a marketing-related reason for the image above.

Seriously, though, flicking through some of the ads, it got me to thinking that this is a brand that is utterly and remarkably of the moment. You can understand in so many ways, flcking through Dov Charney's almost-pornographic images, how the brand has gone global.

It's a business that wears its heart on its sleeve (sweatshop free cotton was where it started out), celebrates its people (many of those who feature in the ads are staff) and sells bloody good product at pretty reasonable prices.

But more, it's got a leader who feels like he still stamps a mark on a helluvalot that the company still does - including how it speaks to its consumers.

(PS. should agency blogs have posts like this on them - particularly with pics like the one above? Dunno, strikes me that if they don't have them, they should.)

NICE WORK THIS ...

Can't think of a time that I've watched a piece of marketing and wandered away at the end feeling a little more laid back and relaxed. This one had that very effect.

For those who may be interested, it's for Paul Rodriguez's third Nike SB limited edition skate shoe. Have a poke about here and there's a 2 minute version.

FORD KA'S "GO FIND IT" COMES TO THE UK

Spotted this chap on't telly and actually rather liked it, against expectations.

Interestingly, an ad that made me (and therefore I assume a handful of others) think "hmmm ... Might head to YouTube and watch that again".

In essence a spot the hidden stuff ad in which we're expected to look deeper at Ford's implausibly named Ka. Bit what's interesting is that it's an ad that is designed to get people to engage and play the game, as well as start connversations.

An ad, in other words, that is also a fabulously engaging piece of content. And if Ford have any sense (I have yet to check), they'll have a bloody good digitial outfit stirring it up online to get the conversations started.

All lovely ... and, as it turns out, a UK remake of a US campaign that ran in the early part of this year. Does that diminish it? I s'pose a bit, but it's still a lovely little piece of work so you can understand the re-versioning.

My only question: why do we in the UK only have to spot 64 Kas, while our American cousins had 80 to find? All most odd.

Anyhoo ... the UK version ...

The US version ...

For those who are interested, the soundtrack for this one is "I'm not Invisible" by The Tease featuring Megan Wyler, apparently.

MORE COKE HAPPINESS

I'm not sure that this is making me entirely happy, however. I get it, for sure. It's a really cute idea, for sure.

But making music for brands is always a really tough call because music polarises to such a massive degree. And I'm not sure that I like the track anywhere near as I like the idea, which rather undermines the latter.

Anyway, take a look and let me know what you think. A bit schmaltzy, if you ask me.

Meanwhile, Coke has also released a full 90 sec version of the mad piano creature thing for our viewing pleasure ...

IDEAS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF SOBRIETY

The only way that it could EVER have come into being ...

via ITIABTWIC?

WHICH TRIBE ARE YOU, THEN?

Really enjoyed this ... the latest work from The Glue Society (Creative Review's favourite Australian agency).

HULA HOOPS IN SURPRISING RETURN TO FORM

'Nuff said.

The missus (or Brunette to AA Gill's Blonde) saw it and mentioned it.

Charming, I thought.

THOMSON ADDS KIDS, GOES VIRAL

Funny old thing, I thought. Those of you who work in PR will know that there are some old stand-by tactics that will work at least to some degree. Research, chuck a celeb at the problem, make a list. Same old, same old.

Looks from this clip that the same piece of thinking has been applied to this piece of film by Thomson: their latest in-flight safety film. With small cute children in it, doing what small, cute children do.

I can't decide whether to be a bit cross about this. Or whether to applaud the fact that they've done something at all, even if it is a bit safe (no pun intended).

More than that, though, I really hope that we don't end up seeing a rash of viral/online ad cliches erupt as a lot of new brands come to the medium and as a lot of agencies that don't have quite the creative talent of others do their work.

EVIAN BABIES GO VIRAL

The Evian babies ad is as freaky as it gets. The virals are slightly less disturbing, but are also as "bag of squirrels"/"box of frogs" mental ...

CADBURYS ITALIA

Cadbury's Dairy Milk campaign goes all Italian. Men will be mystified, women less so ...

THE NEW PARKOUR ... MORE REPLACEMENTS

It's been a while since we found a potential Parkour replacement (part of on-going quest). Alan came across this option. Kinda works. Now just got to find the opportunity, really.

ONE MORE FOR TODAY

One more for today (will also sort the AdAge top bloggers this evening) ... LOVED this. Bloody amazing stuff. Disclaimer: it's by AMV, who own Seventy Seven. LOVELY.

EVIAN BABIES ...

I reckon that Ben (AKA son of Scamp) got it right. This is "Satan-jumping-out-of-the-loo-while-you're-taking-a-dump fucking creepy".

BUD LOVES US ALL ...

Post-pitch frenzy (some successful, I am rather pleased to report), I realised that Spinning Around shifted a LONG way down the priority list. A really long way. Anyway, I'm back and pottering about and have got a load of bits and bobs.

First up, the new Budweiser work from DDB London that is up and about on Campaign and Guardian Media. Just so very pleasing. And a bit clever. And eminently watchable and re-watchable. Am really hoping that they take this into PR, digital, experience: there is SO much that could be done with it. Great work.

DAMN UNIQLO FOREVER

I am now sorely irritated. Uniqlo have done another really, really good thing. This time around (the latest in their range of digital branded widgetty content campaigns), they've created a calendar.

Alongside the weather for a range of international locations, there are cute short, time-lapse films of Japan. By all accounts, "tilt-shift techniques" are what has distorted these mini-movie masterpieces to make them look like man-made models ...

Do feel free to pop the sound on ... I muted it because it kept playing evertime I loaded the page and got a bit annoying.

BEATLES ROCK BAND TRAILER: STUNNING

Our Lucy is out in LA at E3 at the moment (actually, she'll be on her way home shortly). However, before she left the big city, she thoughtfully knocked over the trailer for the Beatles Rock Band game. What a stunner ...

LIONS IN TRAINING

Has to be said, this is some SERIOUSLY smart work for the Lions Tour idents. Shame that the team aren't performing quite up to the standard of this hype if their first performance is anything to go by ...

As knicked from the excellent IFTABTWIC?

APOLOGIES ... AND MORE GOOD SAMSUNG WORK

Sorry ... another busy week in Seventy Seven has left precious little time to be blogging. Still, one account win and a shortlisting for the Children in Need pitch makes it more than a little worthwhile.

Anyhoo ... the lovely folk at the Viral Factory have been at it again with their on-going and apparently pretty successful work to change perceptions of Samsung.

The lord god alone knows what the Korean electronics giant has put into this campaign, but it's doing some really interesting things to my perceptions of them.

First of all, I love the fact that there is no need for consistency in the creative. All of the work looks different. All of it is lovely content in its own way.

It's a brand that has realised that if it is going to play "media owner" or try to get its work aired for free by other media owners then it needs to play by the rules that apply to a producer of content, not the rules that apply to a purchaser of media space.

Samsung are created interesting content.

Second of all, they're doing something quite brave. TVF (who have made this work) are far from cheap (in PR terms, maybe not so in ad terms). They barely get out of bed for less than £20,000 and this kind of stuff feels like nearer £50,000 or more.

That suggests that they are putting £100,000-200,000 a year into the creation of content. Relative to an advertising campaign, that's a small sum of money. Relative to the millions they could be spending on media, it looks good value.

But it also means that they are spending that £100,000+ on a bet that the work will be good, because if it's shit they don't get free space on blogs like this and the Tweets that it will trigger and the email pass-ons that will be created. And that is quite a brave move, if you ask me.

That makes me feel better about them as a brand. I like brave.

DRENCH FOLLOWS BRAINS WITH PHEASANT RODEO

I'm on me holidays this week.

But thought that I would take a break to take my hat off to Blackpool.

And then thought "sod it, I'll stick something together on that too ..." with this absolutely insane follow-up to Drench's Brains spot.

Barking. Absolutely fucking barking.

Will work out later whether I like it ...

As Ben put it (where I first spotted this chap), it's "absolutely hatstand" and adland has gone "stark, staring batshit".

IN HASTE FOUR ... DORITOS DODGEBALL

Thought that the AMV work for Doritos was worth a mention.

If only because it made me wonder two things.

How will ad agencies make sure that the world knows about their fabulous work ... and appreciates it ... when they haven't seen it on TV? And how many people seeing or doing something is "good" (appreciating of course that if they are the right people and buy the product, that's what counts)?

Anyhoo, not sure that I have answers to either.

In the meantime, it's well-worth taking a look at the really quite sweet piece of work that the chaps at the parent (AMV) have made to celebrate the launch of Doritos cheesy balls (or somesuch).

They got a bunch of dodgeball teams in to face a series of internet-controlled cannons.

Lord knows whether it's working. Nice idea, though ...

IN HASTE TWO ... TRILLION DOLLARS POSTER

 

Been meaning to take my hat off to this absolutely stunning piece of work for The Zimbabwean, a newspaper created by exiles of that sorry nation.

As a former resident (back in the good days, when it was one of the great hopes for Soutern Africa), it's been utterly depressing to watch the country slide further and further into disaster - or be dragged there.

So this campaign was particularly resonant as it makes the point that, thanks to Mugabe's regieme, the Zimbabwean dollar might as well be used as wallpaper for all that the notes are now worth. There are a couple of pics above and below and more on their flickr photostream.

There were millions and trillions of dollars used in the campaign - the value of which plummeted as the posters sat there for no more than a couple of weeks.

A brilliant, brilliant campaign. I thought.

NICE WORK ... AND I'M BUGGERING OFF

I'm on hols next week, so Spinning Around will be a bit quieter than usual. I'm also trying to bash out a load of stuff that I've been meaning to post but haven't due to a pitch needing to be hauled together.

This is properly insane ... Oasis' follow up to Cactus Kid (which I absolutely hated) is actually something that I think is, in its own sweet way, absolutely lovely.

The latest Coke spot. Also a bit mad. But bang-on for their whole "Happiness" strategy. Products and brands that celebrate the fact that they just make you feel a bit happier is a good thing after the obesity-debate-imposed austerity.

That said, my favourite piece of Coca Cola advertising of recent times is the grandaddy of the current campaign ... welcome to the Happiness factory ...