Sorted's Silly Season Warning

"Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money." ~ Anon 

With Christmas less than a one month away, silly season advertising is ramping up. Swimming against this tide these bus shelters caught my eye. Sorted (The Retirement Commission) has extended their "Dumb Debt" campaign to address our Christmas spending habits. This post by Sorted shows how true the above quote actually is for many New Zealanders. 

What I like about this campaign is the copy writing - without sounding patronising it highlights the juxtaposition between our actions and thoughts. It reminds us of the longterm consequences of silly season splurging. A pretty effective message that cuts through the Christmas ad clutter.   

Are Interactive Catalogues All Show But No Go?

One good thing about Christmas shopping is it toughens you for the January sales  
~ Grace Kriley 

This Christmas, like every before, retailers will be pulling out all the stops to get your present spending. From the usual 'shout at you' ads, through to some more elegant ways of pulling in the holiday dollars. 

The biggest hurdle for most shoppers is the actual experience of shopping during Christmas season. The crowds and carpark pandemonium are enough to deter most sane people. Hence, online shopping becomes an attractive option, even for consumers normally preferring the bricks and mortar option. Enriching the online experience and lowering barriers to purchase remain important factors in converting online browsers into sales. One format that caught my eye is the interactive retail catalogue. 

Farmer's Interactive Christmas Catalogue 

Farmer's have just released their latest interactive catalogue for Christmas. The first edition was pretty harshly received on Stoppress and I was interested to see what improvements has been made. 

The Good Bits...

1. The Christmas Section 

As a slight caveat I will admit I'm a Christmas fan. Yes I am that person that happily spends hours spent wrapping presents in matching ribbons, planning elaborate table decorations and my Christmas tree has a theme colour. That said, I experience the same gift purchasing stress and online shopping is a nice way to avoid the lunacy that is a Westfield mall during December.

• Christmas countdown: The homepage/front cover features a real time countdown to Christmas in days, hours, minutes and even seconds. What a wonderfully panicking way to drive Christmas hysteria! 

• The Christmas Gift Selector: The gift selector page is pretty clever – however it only selects from the catalogue items so if you want to spend $30-50 on a woman your only choice is a cupcake stand!

• The "Wish List" Perfect for accidentally printing and leaving in obvious places around the house, such as on the fridge door... 

Reebok CrossFit launch creates world record street art

I love seeing what brand's accomplish when they set out to break a world records - usually it's a product launch that inspires this creativity. Encouraged by the value of earned media through social media and the internet, some truly spectacular results are achieved in the name of 'viral marketing'.  

Here's an example from Reebok's launch of CrossFit - as envied on Adverblog

The process of creating the world's largest (and longest) street art piece - images from Super Punch

The wider campaign links to the Reebok Facebook page, where fans can participate in an 'extreme' workout session with Reebok CrossFit team and then share their results on the Reebok Facebook page. 

 

Background from Adverblog: Reebok wanted to create a backdrop of truly epic proportions for their range Cross Fit. Hopping on the 3D street art craze, they commissioned artists 3D Joe and Max to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever 3D street art piece.

The painting was created in a week amidst fog and rain at London’s West India Quays, Canary Wharf. Anyone could then take part in a Reebok CrossFit WOD (workout of the day) on the 1,160.4m² artwork. I hope the exercise was countering the English November weather well.

Augmented Reality Uses - Part 7

Use #7 - Bring Your Brand To Life! 

National Geographic uses augmented reality to create close encounters in US malls

It's no longer enough to talk at consumers - social media and new digital technology means brands can communicate directly with consumers. Like never before, one-to-one communication is possible. To stand out, brands must provide engaging interactions that allow people to experience the brand, after all actions speak louder than words! Augmented reality provides the perfect platform for an engaging brand experience - here's how two wildlife brands are creating very different results with AR... 

WWF

Augmented reality can be used put your audience into someone else's shoes. This provides a powerful opportunity for charity organisations. WWF Russia let people know how being a Siberian Tiger feels using specially design tee shirts and augmented reality TVs in clothing stores. The result was sure to leave a lasting impression...

Augmented Reality Uses - Part 6

Use #6: Entertain Your Customers

Adidas used augmented reality to create a game controlled by a shoe

Plenty of brands have seen the value of developing games to engage customers and reinforce product messages. Augmented reality elevates game playing to another level, creating an interactive experience that can be unique to each person. 


The benefit to brands is that your product can become an integral part of the game. For example, Adidas has created a game that uses its shoes as the controller (see more here: Wired). Great idea when the shoes are new but wouldn't suggest after a bit of wear! 


Red Bull AR Race Track
As this clip shows - Red Bull created a free app that allows you to create a custom race track by scanning cans of Red Bull. The augmented reality technology then translates the layout of the cans in real life into a virtual track for you to race on. 



Envied at Augmented Planet

Augmented Reality Uses - Part 5

Use #5: Help People Find You

It's the sort of problem that keeps marketers awake at night... what if you customer can't find your product? What if they settle for the competition because you're not stocked? If your customer was walking down a street, any street, would they know your closest retailer? 


What if you could ensure that customers allows knew how you find and purchase your products? Augmented reality allows your brand to be in your customers backpocket in the form of a digital map. 




Here's a couple of examples of how augmented reality is being used to ensure customers can always find a brand... by putting an interactive map in their back pockets. 

Augmented Reality Uses - Part 4

Use #4: Your Virtual Dressing Room   
Augmented reality means your dressing room can be anywhere - even in your customers home! Virtual showrooms and dressing rooms lower barriers for those not keen on pushy salespeople in store or preserve the anonymity of exclusive clients, augmented reality allows consumers to try on your merchandise wherever they are. 


Tissot Watches
Tissot Watches took to the street outside Harrods to allow passerbys to try on their watches using augmented reality wristbands. The same technology is used on the Tissot website, allowing viewers to try on the full range in their own homes by simply printing a wristband. Try for yourself on the Tissot website. 

Augmented Reality Uses - Part 3

Use #3: Your Virtual Sales Person  
While robotic sales people may still be a while off, a virtual salesperson through augmented reality (AR) is already a possibility. AR can be used to provide information on the product and brand. The AR experience often requires the the customer to pick up the physical product and hold in front of a screen. A smart move - considering getting your product in your customer's hands is often the first step of selling in retail!


42Below's Alternate Worlds 
Holding a bottle of 42Below (with a special necktag) in front of an in-store display stand unlocks the 'alternate 42Below world'. Each flavour unlocks a different world which can be manipulated and controlled with the bottle. See how this works after the jump...

Augmented Reality Uses - Part 2

Use #2: Your Virtual Promo Model  


Lynx Causes Angels to Fall From Heaven 
Lynx makes commuters' dreams come to life by using augmented reality to send angels from heaven.

A charity collector interact with a 'fallen angel' but finds she doesn't donate much!

Augmented Reality Uses - Part 1

Use #1: Your Invisible Store   

Airwalk Shoes Invisible Pop-up Stores 
The original Airwalk Gym was sold to a generation of youth that spend their time at the beach or skatepark while ditching gym class. So for the limited edition relaunch Airwalk took the shoe back to these places. They created invisible pop up stores, the only place that the new shoes could be purchased, and the store was only live for one day.  

Still Red Hot After 25 Years!

Today is my 25th birthday. I must admit, I was a little bit upset this (the psychological impact of hitting a quarter century!)... until I found this video from Virgin. The nostalgic 80's tribute  "Still Red Hot after 25 Years" made me smile and I little less sore about this milestone!





I hear they are actually bringing back the famous red high heels to their hostess uniform. While I am a high heel lover, known for wearing towering shoes almost everywhere, I always revert to flats when flying. Poor girls! 

Style.com innovates backwards by launching print magazine

“It’s a magazine for fashion obsessives by fashion obsessives” ~ Style.com 

With so many magazine titles moving to digital, and new titles being launched online only – Style.com has surprised many by doing reverse. This week the site launched the inaugural edition of their print magazine. But there’s no possibility of forgetting the magazine’s online roots with its slightly awkward title Style.com/print. So what does Style.com hope to achieve by innovating backwards? 

Top 5: Fun Halloween Advertising Campaigns

Halloween is about having fun - treats, tricks and dressing up - no downside! Here's my top five creative Halloween advertising campaigns - while the confectionery category was (logically) well represented the automotive brands also had some great ideas.