Meet the joker, Technology.

Too often marketeers are jumping onboard the bandwagon named New Technology when planning a campaign. The risk factor to fail in your communication increases dramatically because of this.
Technology is not a strategy. Technology is merely a tool to get the communication across. And way too often the message gets lost on the way.
General Electric (GE) launched a new campaign to talk about smart grids at this years SuperBowl. And they did so by inviting viewers to make a digital hologram on their campaign site. A digital hologram? I say, sounds like a splendid innovation. Indeed, but how many wants to print out a paper at home, turn on their webcam and blow into the mic to see a hologram of windmills? I'm sure there are thousands, me being one of them, but did the digital hologram make me smarter about the smart grid system? GE and their ad partners were at least clever enough to make sure that holograms were not key ingridient to enjoy the site. It was more a trigger of interest to come visit and test it if you chose so.



The other day I was pampered with messages from Fanta (in Oslo, Norway, mobile density +100%) being told to get my mobile out of my pocket and scan a so called QR Code to download Fanta movies. Great. The key message on the bus were:

"This is not a bus. This is a movie on wheels."

As the geek I am I jumped on the invitation, but the dissapointment of not getting the code to work frustrated me. When departing the bus, a similar ad was on display. I tried again. With no success this time around either. Later that day I entered a shopping mall and Fanta told me to turn on my Bluetooth to get the movies. Three times not a charm for Fanta I'm afraid.
I know my way around technology but this barrier was too high. They lost me. And the really sad part. They had nothing else to tell me apart from: Scan the code and get a shortfilm. When that didn't work I was left empty handed and disappointed. In a way I thought that Fanta at least had pulled attention towards the use of QR codes but if most people didn't get them to work, chances are small they will give it a second go at a later point.
I would like to point out that this is no critisism against Fanta as brand or their desire to be innovative. This is a general warning for all marketeers and ad men planning on using technology as a key ingridient in their communications. What impression is the audience left with if not working or takes so much attention that the actual messages is forgotten?
Never ever be fooled into letting the joker, Technology, take lead. Communication is still king. And I won't get fooled again.

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Moods of Norway with playful PlayStation branding

A short norwegian love story. The trendy clothing brand Moods of Norway has shown daring standard in design and marketing from the very beginning of their brands history. Not least, they have shown a real joy playing with their own brand.
In connection with the release of the brilliant game Little Big Planet, they have transferred this playfulness to an interactive gaming platform. LBA is a long awaited release for game enthusiasts, much due to the fact that players can create their own levels that can be shared with other players. It is precisely that, a game level, Moods of Norway has created.

The distributor of the PlayStation3 has been in dialogue with
Moods of Norway for a long period to find a good collaboration project. Marketing Director Morten Christoffersen at Nordisk Film Interactive (distributor of PlayStation in Norway) notes that this collaboration was a carefully selected choice. "Moods of Norway is perfect for a"less serious" game like Little Big Planet. Their values and the game's content was a perfect fit. There were never any doubt that this was a match made in game heaven."
So how to measure whether such cooperation is a success or not? Christoffersen noted that only after a couple of weeks 1,300 people had played the MoN board and by doing so involved themselves in the brand. (The level takes 6-8 minutes to play through). A number of media outlets in Norway and abroad have written about the cooperation, but this is not where I think the most important value is to be found. The value in taking the customer seriously and show that they want to be present in their daily life is imperative. A typical PS3 player is approaching his 30's and enjoys a good game experience. By providing a free experience to them, brandstories ignites. Stories that can be distributed further. It is rare to see something this close to a perfect and innovative brand collaboration in Norway.
Great to see that Norwegian ad agencies (Making Waves in this case) can make good alternative interactive applications. More of this please!

PlanB did an interview with Making Waves which can be found here if you want to read more about how they made the game level.
However, if you only want to see a movie of it, take a look at this charmer. As you can see. This is in real Moods of Norway spirit.

Well done to both PlayStation and Moods of Norway.

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