Are You Expendable?

When I first saw the ads for the movie on the walls of the Yonge subway line, I dutifully went home and YouTubed the trailers. What really caught my eye (other than the explosions) was the sheer number of different action figures both from the past as well as the present that was jammed into this film. Not to say that this is a bad thing, of course—more action for the audience! But after that passing moment, I had put this whole thing in the back of my mind and promptly forgot about it. However, a few days ago, I stumbled across this YouTube clip of Stallone (who stars in and directed the flick) doing an interview for the film, which I thought was innocuous enough. But halfway through the clip, I got a somewhat explosive surprise, which, to be frank, absolutely delighted me. Yes, that may have made me come across as somewhat bloodthirsty, but I also thought that it was a pretty cool viral marketing scheme!

After Googling it some more, I found out that not only does the film have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and—of course—YouTube, they also have a Foursquare account as well. Huh. That’s new. Turns out Lionsgate (the movie distributor, and the mastermind behind the all the marketing) has partnered with Foursquare and local businesses to market the film. How does it do that? Well, for a month now, Lionsgate has provided followers with tips and specials in local businesses in 11 different cities—all tied in to the “bad-ass” theme in the film.

For example, one of the specials in Santa Monica, CA, tells residents to check in at The Shack (a bar/restaurant, I presume), and say “Sly sent me” to the bartender, and they would be rewarded with a $2 discount off of a draft beer. Cool, eh?

Sadly enough, I don’t think any of the 11 cities are in Canada. Nevertheless, we still have Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube! The Expendables open on August 13^th. That’s right folks, it’s this Friday! Go and see what the hype’s all about—I know I certainly will!

Mad About Bananas

OK I admit, the title could be a bit better, but hey it sort of gets the idea across, doesn't it? Ish?

For those who are yet scratching their heads in bemusement, I'm talking about the latest collaboration between Banana Republic and "Mad Men" (AMC TV show). Going on their second year of partnership, the campaign hopes to build off from the success garnered the year before by promoting in every BR retail location across North America (more specifically, Canada and US). From July 21st to August 11th, over 400 BR stores will promote the TV show through their Style Guide featuring "Mad Men" characters, as well as giving customers a chance to win a walk-in role for an episode, PLUS a $1000 BR gift card.

Well. That certainly caught my eye.

After a bit of online searching, I found out that the TV network has been doing quite a stellar job in marketing this swanky show situated in the '60s. Let me give you a brief rundown of its marketing history so far:

Season 1:

AMC promoted via commercials and "behind-the-scenes" documentary. Not really interesting, I know, but for its DVD release, the box set was designed in the shape of a flip-open Zippo lighter (I'm guessing due to the heavy smoking seen in each episode). As you probably guessed, Zippo designed two lighters with the "Mad Men" logo on it soon after to be sold online and through headquarters.

Season 2:

AMC launched its largest marketing campaign by decorating the Grand Central Station subway shuttle to Time Square with life size posters of the main character and quotes from the first season. Inside Grand Central were groups of people dressed in '60s clothing, handing out business cards that said "Sterling Cooper" (the advertising company that the main character works in). As well, window displays were shown in 14 Bloomingdale stores, and wallscapes were placed in downtown Hollywood. And lets not forget the various TV commercials, print ads, and a 30 second trailer in Landmark Theatres throughout July.

Season 3:

"Mad Men Yourself" web app was created to let fans create avatars of themselves based on the fashion seen on the show. Banana Republic paired up with "Mad Men" in presenting window displays in all Banana Republic stores in USA. BR also made a style guide with the purpose of helping customers dress like their favourite characters, after which (upon entering a code located in the guide), the public can vote on their favourite "Made Men style". But wait! BR was not the only clothing line promoting the show. The American clothing chain Brooks Brothers offered a "Mad-Men Edition" suit designed by the costume designer from the show as well.

Season 4:

Seeing as how the pairing between BR and MM paid off so well, it's no surprise that the two are working together again to promote the fourth season. As for anything else...well, this blogger has yet to find out!

Oh, and for all you Barbie fans out there, in the spring of this year a limited collection of Barbie and Ken dolls were released based on some of the characters on the show. Talk about having it made.

Now, I've never seen any "Mad Men" episode, but after finding out about its campaigns and promotions, I've half a mind to go find the first season and watch an episode or two myself!

I mean, check out the clothing seen in this picture!

A Feast for the Eyes

Seeing as this is the last week of the month, I've decided to bring in a bit of fun into this otherwise wordy (but interesting, I hope!) blog. Because I often think that blogs are a fairly one sided kind of affair, don't you think? I don't know about you guys, but I get distracted quite easily, and oftentimes when a lengthy paragraph comes to my line of site, I skip it and go do something else. (As you can imagine, studying for exams is a rather horrid torture for this poor soul.)

But one thing that I rarely get bored of, and can stand a longer time with, is looking at pictures. As that old adage goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." It can provoke dynamic feelings and shock your mind, making you think about something that you otherwise might not have considered at all. That, my fellow readers, is something that artists (and I guess advertisers as well) strive to do in their works.

So that is why I've decided that every month end, I'll post up..lets say...three images that I've come across online, and ask which one YOU thought was the best one, or if not that, then the one that you liked the most, or the most thought provoking. If you want to explain why, please go ahead, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions of this!!

So without further ado, here are some images for your perusal:

(For clarification this is an ad for a vacuum.)

Tell me what you guys think!

Mmmm Starbucks

Now, before start rambling, can I just first say that I absolutely adore getting a Starbucks whenever I go downtown? There's nothing like a good cup o' Starbucks in one's hand when strolling down Yonge/Bloor that makes the experience just that much more exquisite.

So imagine my delight when I ran across an article that revealed said company to be the first brand on Facebook to reach a fan base of over 10 million! Yes ladies and gents, that's over 10 000 000! This is partially due to its popularity as well as its international presence all over the world. However, Starbucks also has an extremely active presence on Facebook, and has slowly amassed its fan base through their marketing and promotions such as giveaways and advertising. Some of their more recent promotional activities included a free ice cream giveaway, as well their Happy Hour Frappuccino event, in which yours truly (happily) partook in. In fact, they were the most popular coffee chain in the site as early as June 2009, if you would believe it or not.

According to Inside Facebook, which is published by Inside Network, the Starbucks fan page is consistently one of the top 20 fastest growing pages.

All the more reason to go out and buy yourself a Grande Latte!!

Cannes Lions 2010

As some of you may or may not know, the 57th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival just passed at the end of June at the Palais des Festivals. The Cannes Lions Festival is one of the most prestigious advertising awards held in Cannes, France annually, with over 20 000 pieces of creative advertising entered from all over the world, and judged by a jury of 250 split into judging different categories.

Below are just some of the Grand Prix winners in the many different categories. I won't put a description since I think it might ruin the effect, but I'm sure that (like me) you'll be mightily impressed!

Film Lions:

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like; Old Spice

Cyber Lions:

This was shared by Volkswagen's Fun Theory and Nike Livestrong Foundation's Chalkbot. Go here and here for links to the sites!

Grand Prix for Good:

Choose a Different Ending; the Metropolitan Police

(I actually tried this one out a few days ago, and it totally reminded me of a virtual version of those child books that I used to read when I was a child, when I could pick my different endings and flip to the different pages at the back of the book. My, I think I just dated myself there...)

For the full list (and the shortlist) of the winners of the 2010 Cannes Lions, go here. Enjoy!

For the Inner Fanboys

So lately I’ve gotten into this sudden craze of listening to classic Disney songs (Hakuna Matata, Colours of the Wind, Be Our Guest etc) and I was just lamenting on the decreasing quality of Disney movies and songs these days in comparison to those when I was a kid.

However, one of the better ones (in my humble opinion) to have been produced recently was the Princess and the Frog, which I loved and (I thought) was a great tribute to the good ol’ days. Imagine my surprise to run across an article later that talks of Disney’s newer animation, Tangled, formerly known as Rapunzel, and how Princess and the Frog helped the studio decide on the name change.

Now how does a 2D old school movie have anything to do with the 3D counterpart? Well, turns out that though PatF was a great movie, it didn’t gross in as much as the executives thought it would in the box office. And they think they know why: not as many boys saw it due to the word “princess” in the title.

Hence this time, the great Disney has learned its lesson. The studio has renamed the upcoming movie from girly “Rapunzel” to a bit more ambiguous “Tangled”. Not the mention that there will be more of a bad-boy image thrown in for our prince (who actually is a bandit), and a bit of a backbone for our golden princess. Oh, and the film will revolve more around the male character as well. All this so as to draw in more of the younger boys to watch, who also make up roughly half of Disney’s potential audience for their family films.

According to the president of the Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, Ed Catmull, “some people might assume it’s a fairy tale for girls when it’s not. We make movies to be appreciated and loved by everybody.” As well, the studio hopes that the bad-boy character can help them reach the broadest possible audience for the film.

And of course, with changes such as this one, there are bound to be some related to it. Floyd Norman, a retired Disney and Pixar animator who worked on films such as “Mulan” and “Monsters Inc.” considers the name change to be "beyond stupid" and created a cartoon in response to the name change.

So, what do YOU think about this? Yay or nay to the change?

World Cup Fever

This might be a bit late seeing as the 2010 FIFA World Cup has already started oh, I don’t know, two weeks ago. But I figured hey, better late than never! As an old teacher of mine once said, if not on time, then at least in time.

Anyway, as we all know, the World Cup draws in millions of viewers from all over the world. And with that comes an onslaught of marketing campaigns from a lot of big named companies.

Take Nike, for example. Their “Write the Future” campaign apparently linked Nike to the tournament twice as much as their biggest competitor and official World Cup partner, Adidas. Which, might I add, “had the highest levels of tournament mentions of all of the official brands.” (Of course, this only applies to the English language World Cup related messages in the different social medias on the net.) In other words, seems like Nike has kicked Adidas' butts in terms of marketing of the World Cup.

Funny thing is, Nike’s not even an official partner of the World Cup.

Here’s their campaign video that, last I checked, garnered over 17 million viewers on YouTube. (And with good reason, have you seen the cast?!?)

PS. Here's the article that can explain a bit more about the campaign ambush--and a few other brands (official sponsors, or not) that are also worth mentioning in terms of World Cup marketing.

PPS. Who are you rootin' for?