Digital Connections

yellowBird: 360 Camera

Earlier today a "tweet" did the rounds, which featured a rather nice 360 video execution by the rather clever Dutch chaps at yellowBird.

The yellowBird camera records video instead of photographs. The camera uses six cleverly divided lenses in order to capture every possible viewing direction.

Unsure who eactly brought it to my attention, so all round HT to @karagos @crispinheath @tim_weber @jackmarshall.

Its not exactly new, previously used by Saatchi & Saatchi for their T-Mobile campaign - but its a fantastic peice of technology.

.. Now how on earth can I hook it into a campaign?

Adidas: UrbanArtGuide

Hat tip to Adidas for their iPhone UrbanArtGuide.

Launched in March 09, adidas Originals launched a iPhone app giving users access to a Google map of Berlin highlighting the locations of the city's urban art.

I'll be interested as to how many downloads the app gets - irrespective of that, the campaign scores highly on "street kudos" and originality - which I'm pretty sure is the priority objective.

I look forward to seeing it rolled out across more cities.

T-Mobile: Sing (Life's for Sharing @ Trafalgar Square)

As a cycling fan, I've previously associated T-Mobile (Team Telekom) and Deutsche Telekom with their pink flouro "wind assisted" cycling team.

The hideous pink flouro remains, but instead of the cycling - I'll now think Pink and Life’s for Sharing. The discredited cycling team having been firmly replaced by T-Mobile's collaborative advertising campaign.

Back in January, I blogged about T-Mobile's flash mob at Liverpool street station and this week I felt obliged to follow its second stage at Trafalgar Square.

On Monday 27th April, T-Mobile posted a video on YouTube summoning people to Trafalgar Square at 6pm on Thursday 30th. Twitter, flyers and e-mails harnessing the power of the internet and ensuring that within hours the message was viral, spreading almost as fast as the UK's panic about #swineflu.

Using techniques made famous by Bill Wasik's pioneering flash mobs, T-Mobile took the flash mob concept one stage further, and hosted their own "flash event", a mass karaoke singalong.

Thousands gathered at Trafalgar Square (#Trafalgar) as T-Mobile filmed part two of the 'Life's For Sharing' ad campaign. Created and co-ordinated by Saatchi & Saatchi, participants were armed with toy microphones, energised by Vernon Kaye, assisted by a sound system and enhanced by Pink. T-Mobile hosted an amazing giant karaoke - right in the heart of London.

[Full set of pictures here]

The demands of recruiting and filming a TV ad made it difficult to retain the charm and edginess of an original flash mob; however Saatchi’s & T-Mobile imitated & amplified the original technique and collaborative effect on a grand televised scale.

The public's desire to appear on the small screen remains powerful as ever, despite the ease at which anybody can appear on YouTube. Bloggers like Nick have kept the idea going, as have the traditional media whilst Saatchi's production department get down to work to deliver an ad within 48 hours.

Massive hat tip to Saatchi & Saatchi, it’s a great campaign, and the organisation was brilliant.... all with minimal presence from London’s boys in blue.

Watch the ad this Saturday, May 2nd at  9.02pm during ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent!

Playlist:

The Beatles: Hey Jude

Peter Kaye: Is this the way to Amarillo?

Brittany Spears: Baby, hit me one more time

Grease: Summer nights

Bonnie Tyler: Total Eclipse of the heart

The Foundations' "Build Me up Buttercup"

Erma Franklin: Piece of my Heart.

Pink: So What

 

Photo: PA

T-Mobile at Trafalgar Square (Thurs 30th April at 6pm)

Interesting to hear that T-Mobile are filming another flash mob tomorrow night, this time at Trafalgar Square. I blogged about the first T-mobile "life's for sharing" flash mob back in January.

The Trafalgar Square event is currently being Tweeted about here or here (if the #Trafalgar hash tag takes off) 

After their previous success, I'm curious to see how T-Mobile and Saatchi & Saatchi will handle the larger crowd numbers and expectation that the word of mouth (partially aided by all those extra twitter users) will no doubt generate.

10 Factors That Contribute To Making A Message "Infectious"

The recent T-Mobile/Saatchi & Saatchi "Life's for Sharing" TV & Viral campaign got me thinking...

How many of Dr Paul Marsden's stickness factors are being addressed ......7 or 8 perhaps?

 

Here are his 10 Factors that contribute to making a message infectious

 

1. Excellence: perceived as best of breed

2. Uniqueness: clear one-of-a-kind differentiation

3. Aesthetics: perceived aesthetic appeal

4. Association: generates positive associations

5. Engagement: fosters emotional involvement

6. Expressive value: visible sign of user values

7. Functional value: addresses functional needs

8. Nostalgic value: evokes sentimental linkages

9. Personification: has character, personality

10. Cost: perceived value for money

Innovative Flash Mob Based Campaign by T-Mobile

Generally I'm not a fan of flash mobs - usually a bit gimmicky due to lack of a decent creative idea, but this one from T-Mobile (Saatchi & S) really does stand out as a very good and part of a larger integrated campaign.

“Life is for Sharing” has been T-Mobile’s strapline since June 08, based on a couple of key insights into our “digital generation” - relationships and collaboration.

Sadly T-Mobile haven’t made much impact with the “Life’s for Sharing” campaign, unlike O2‘s “We’re better, connected”. I’m not sure of the actual figures but it appears that T-Mobile are lagging well behind O2, Vodafone, 3, and Orange when it comes to building their UK brands.

The new campaign has all the right ingredients for T-Mobile to kick on further, hopefully Saatchi & Saatchi’s efforts won’t be in vain.

The three-minute flash mob ad premiered during an entire ad break during Channel 4’s 'Celebrity Big Brother' on Friday night, less than 48 hours after filming. It was subsequently posted on a tailored YouTube site.

What makes the campaign so good?

It ticks four of the boxes that brands need to adopt when targeting the “digital generation” (under 30’s basically) namely collaboration, entertainment, speed and innovation.

Collaboration is at the heart of web 2.0. The “digital generation“ are natural collaborators developing relationships and sharing information and their experiences. The T-Mobile ad is already being discussed amongst bloggers and on websites. There’s a customised YouTube channel all set up and ready for video sharing, an aspect of the campaign expected to accompany the 30 second edits. Not to mention the commuters at Liverpool Street who were recording live images, mms’ing, txt’ing and calling mates about what they were witnessing.

Liverpool Street station, traditionally a transport hub for London’s commuters was for 3 minutes turned into a 350 person dance studio. The entire event was subsequently turned into a 3 minute ad break during Celebrity Big Brother. To quote Paul Weller, “That’s entertainment”.

Live event to TV ad in 48 hours, speedy turnaround times from Saatchi’s production department, and exactly what the “digital generation” expects.

A stand alone flash mob isn’t innovative by any stretch of the imagination, but this is an innovative integrated on and offline campaign. The dance routine, the execution, the turnaround time, the understanding of the ”digital” target audience and the strategic planning … that’s what makes this T-Mobile campaign so innovative.

Time will tell whether this T-Mobile is a true success, who knows maybe Saatchi’s can finally drag T-Mobile out of the “mobile doldrums”.