Going to the Wolves…..

Eristoff Vodka developed a fantastic guerrilla marketing campaign that utilized a number of fake online videos that tried to convince London that one of the acts had escaped & that wolves were roaming the streets. Wolf in London!!

In November, they launched a fictional website called Dakov Circus and promoted a “Circus Freak Out” event. They also ran advertisements in Time Out and London blogs. After the launch, Eristoff made an announcement that the “Wolves of Vale” act had been suspended until further notice.  Then they uploaded fake videos, similar to the one below, to YouTube & Social Networks. They supported the campaign with Twitter postings to drive people’s interest & excitement.

Check out their videos below:
Escaped Wolves in London

Thank You Redditgifts for bringing Santa back to life.

I was obsessed with Christmas growing up and I believed in Santa. My parents made a consistent effort in making the holiday “magical” by surprising us with the Christmas gifts we really wanted even if they didn’t make it on our Christmas list.

As I got older the magic became tarnished by my 2 older sisters and their goal of tormenting their little sister. However, my mom was sure to explain to me that everyone has a little “Santa” inside them and that all we have to do is look around for someone who could use a little “Christmas magic”. So, I spent my pre-teen and teenage years leaving “surprise” Christmas gifts for random acquaintances that I knew needed a little magic in their life.

Fast Forward to 2010, My mom’s tradition had fallen by the wayside and I was having a bit of a blue time. I wasn’t really in the mood for Christmas celebrations but being a fan of Reddit, I signed up to participate in a Redditgifts exchange. I did my part and sent my gift and didn’t think much about it until one day I got home and found a package. When I opened it, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my secret Santa Claus and the effort that went into it. They single handily made my blue mood turn cheery and bright. It was exactly what I needed to remind me how magical Christmas could be.

So, Thank you RedditGifts for bringing Santa back to life and reminding me that each of us has a little bit of Santa inside.

And Thank you Redditgifts for inspiring me to walk in my mom’s footsteps by looking for people in or around my life that seem to need a little magic and trying to delight them with an anonymous Christmas Gift.

I’m Sorry…Now, that I have your attention

Over the past year, corporations of all shapes and sizes have embraced a teenagers cree- “If I admit it, and apologize now, I’ll be in less trouble”. We saw it with Groupon’s Super Bowl Gaffe, Kenneth Cole’s Twitter travesty and most recently Netflix’s Fee hike that helped introduce Quickster (It’s exceptionally bad when you need an apology for your apology speech).

It’s such a popular thing to do that Domino’s built an entire Marketing campaign around their Mea Culpa. It started with saying they had “cardboard pizza” and now it’s on to attacking the cheesy goodness of their breadsticks. I’m hoping they stop attacking their products before they reach the cinnamon sticks. You see- I LOVE Domino’s cinnamon sticks and will be terribly offended if they say it’s awful- I mean what does that say about my taste buds? I’m warning you, Dominos. Don’t touch the cinnamon sticks.

Now that I’ve warned Dominos, I must say that as a marketer, I believe that the Mea Culpa is not the best marketing plan. In fact it’s a risky short term plan and does damage to your brand equity. It’s like the Boy who cried wolf- It only counts the first time and then people quit believing you. Remember that GroupOn- the superbowl isn’t that far away.

However, This Thanksgiving I came across the very first “I’m sorry” that I believed and at the same time endeared the brand to me and inspired this post.

This is their apology:

Lagunita Sucks Holiday Ale

 

This is their product:

Genius. It cracked me up and spoke to every single beer lover at our table. We passed the box around so everyone could read it and then talked about how awesome it was that they took their operations gaffe to heart and then could have some fun with it. Multiple people at dinner posted the box on their Facebook accounts, and some even tweeted about how it sucked that it happened but at least they made a good beer. It also made us really want to try the feared BrownShugga Ale, so I put a reminder in my ICal to look for it next Thanksgiving. Don’t mess up again, Lagunitas.

Seriously though, Great job Lagunitas Brewing Company.  You have a fan now and I hope that BrownShugga is as good as Holiday Ale.

 

 

The Art of Occupy Wall Street

Art activism has been a key element of social protests for hundreds of years. Below are images from the Occupy Wall Street Movement.

Above: Artwork from the #OWS movement’s Day of Action.
Below: Occupy Wall Street poster available for free to any protester from an online supporter

Below: Artwork from the Nineteen Hundred and Eleven Party who’s goal is to create interactive artwork that celebrates our enduring desire for social justice and change.

Below: Artwork from the Occupy London movement in support of #OWS

Video made the brand Star

Who doesn’t remember the 80′s hit, “Video killed the radio star”? Now, it looks like Video is no longer in the killing mood and instead is assisting in bringing brands of all levels to life.

The opportunity in online video for brands is a HUGE one. More than 3 billion videos are viewed per day on the web’s largest video-sharing platform, YouTube. Their monthly traffic hovers around 800 million unique visitors. Nearly 75% of U.S. citizens have visited a video-sharing site in their lifetimes, and more than a 25% visit video-sharing sites on a daily basis, according to a July survey published by Pew Research Center.

However with video there is a high risk with high reward. Videos rarely became viral by themselves
In fact, more often then not, videos flop. However by reaching out to online media, including bloggers, a brand’s video can quickly reach a large online audience of product enthusiasts. Brands should also embed and share their videos across other social channels.

SEO is another major benefit of online video. The more content a brand puts out on high-ranking websites — YouTube included — the more relevant that brand and its properties become to Google. And the more relevant the brand, the cheaper its cost-per-click rate becomes in paid search.

Online video can also be used to drive sales on-site. Ralph Lauren created a storybook and a catalog with their RL Gang books. Each book tells a fun story with characters clad in RL children’s clothing. If mom happens to like little Hudson’s oxford, she can click on it and find it immediately. I think it is a great example of online video that helps with point of purchase.

The best part of video is that it can show your brand’s personality. Some of my favorite brand channels are below:

-       Roxy: The fantastic aesthetic of wicked waves and big beautiful swells help make Roxy’s content captivating. Roxy’s webisodes and mini-documentaries go beyond amazing surf footage and give consumers inside access to what goes on behind the scenes on the professional surfing, skating and snowboarding tour circuits. The video selection also features vlogs by the pros, lifestyle profiles of up and coming musicians and a potpourri of other content.

-       Tara Stiles Yoga: While Tara hasn’t quite turned into a fashion mogul yet.  I don’t think it will be long before she has her “Rebel Yoga” line. She has a growing brand and each week she creates new content that is riveting, educational and helpful to the expanding on the “Yoga” lifestyle.

-       H&M: H&M’s brand is all about affordable fashion and their videos support that notion. Each video is about collaboration, their seasonal fashion lines and how to get the most from your shopping spree. Their videos speak to their core base and is interesting enough to woo new fashion addicts.

-       Freaker USA: I first must state that I just LOVE these guys. I donated money via kickstarter to help them launch and I just find their quirky style and positive energy to be endearing. Their YouTube Channel helps support their “Freaky” qualities and really promotes their universally sized product. If you haven’t checked them out, please be sure to check them out.

Video still is considered the step-child of digital marketing but I hope that more brands embrace it and realize the power of video.

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