This Thursday morning Parisian people woke up wondering whether Sarkobama was another buzz campaign or a joke: hundreds of posters of "Sarkobama" had been stuck on Paris' walls.
The taglines? - "A tax for poluting companies? YES WE CAN" - "Ensure each household save 1,000 eurose per year? YES WE CAN" - "Create millions of jobs in Europe? YES WE CAN" - and so on...
Sounds like a spoof of Barack Obama's campaign tagline? Yes but the mystery is still going on regarding who's behind this buzz as the French Government is denying they have anything to do with this camaign... So let's wait and see!
I've been approached a couple of weeks ago with regards to the launch of MyMall, the world first virtual mall. The agency behind the launch campaign was keen to get some feedback on the site so here I am...
I've finally taken some time to look at MyMall and I must say I was quite impressed at first with the look of it. It really feels like walking down a virtual shopping centre: first of all you chose the floor you want to visit and a lift take you there... I picked up womenswear and landed onto a virtual shopping centre, with windows of brands such as Ben Sherman, All Saints, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, etc. Really like walking within a proper shopping centre... A very interesting user experience. Then I guess (but it's still in beta) that where I was slightly disappointed is that I thought the look and feel was so great that I just assumed I was going to be able to visit each store in a 3D environment (yes, some memories of visiting the American Apparel store in Second Life must have proped that up!).
But no, right now you can't actually enter the store in a 3D way but actually what's interesting is that this Mall is more like a "directory" with information on each store and a link to Dorothy Perkins online.
So what's interesting about MyMall?
Well they’re planning on
making it into a social network within a year complete with consumer reviews and
consumer interaction: "It will
allow you to buy products in the mall and display them to your friends. You will also have an opportunity
to earn commission on any referrals. This together with a Voip mobile phone network allowing for free calls
will create a community of millions across the Globe all sharing ideas and communication".
What do you think? Have a try and let me know how you imagine the social networking side of things: a Facebook for shopping? Let me know, I'm curious to see what everyone thinks?
And ended up with this v.cool video featuring David Beckham as 'guest-star':
But check out the video, Mister Beckham is far from being the only celeb in the video clip and you should be able to spot musicians and icons Estelle, the Ting Tings, Missy Elliott, athletes Kevin Garnett, Mark Gonzales, and designers Kazuki and Jeremy Scott...
Check out all the details of this brand new campaign that kicked off yesterday in the US to celebrate Adidas' 60th birthday (which is in 2009), on MarketWatch.
I've just tried using Google SearchWiki and it's pretty interesting: once you're logged in to your Google Account, Google SearchWiki lets you customize your search results. You can edit the results, move up the ones you like, delete the ones you're not interested in and see comments from other users.
Not sure what's the image of Burger King in the US - however as a French person I feel this latest Burger King project is something that French people would be VERY excited about (let's just say that BK disappeared from France about 10 years ago and that the whole nation is still crying out for the return of the 'king' !).
But more to the point, what is the Buger King Studio project all about?
"We get it. You like things the way you like them. Your playlists, your ringtones, your calling plans,
the cartoons printed on your debit cards, the tricks that trick out your ride—You want it your way. From customizable t-shirts and merchandise to one of a kind events, Burger King Studio is all about the things
that are “uniquely you”."
Burger King US asked six young artists/designers to come up with their own vision of the 'King'. This is an online and offline project. And if you can't make it to one of the real life event, you can still check out the store and customize your own cool T-Shirt. Check it out the blog for more details!
Altogether a very interesting campaign - in a way it reminds me of the current This is Now campaign we're working on at We Are Social, which proves that using art in campaigns is the way to go I guess ;-)
Once again I haven't been blogging much lately... So when I found out that Barack Obama had his own photostream on Flickr, I couldn't resist and here I am writing those few lines...
I know a lot has been said about how the use of Social Media and the Internet in general has clearly helped Obama winning the campaign; I know how the Barack Obama website is a benchmark in terms of website content as you can find everything under one roof: you can watch Obama TV, buy some Obama merchansing, read the blog, read about his family, learn about his program and so on; but, until today I hadn't heard about Obama's Flickr stream and I am not aware of any other politician -or even celeb- who have their own Flickr stream. Are you?! It's brilliant in any case!!!
What do you think? To me this is revolutionary in terms of starting the conversation as a "human being" rather than a politician: you can obviously see Obama as a politician in some pictures but the fact you can see him as a family man, in his own environment is genius!
ps: is this me or this picture make you think of David Palmer and his family in 24H ? Ok, surely I watch too much TV series ;-) But very cute family picture anyway!
I found out about Magpie a couple of days ago. Although I'm not really sure about the idea, I won't be negative straight away - I will wait and see before I make my final judgment so here is what it's all about...
Magpie is basically a way of converting your tweets into "bling-bling" as they say. What does that mean ? You register with them and they will ask you to advertise some products, brands via your tweets, against remuneration. Now, that can be tempting: I've checked out how much my Twitter account was worth and apparently I could earn up to 77 euros per month (£65).
However, the issue I have is that surely my Twitter Followers will get annoyed if I start posting some regular "Magpie-Tweet" to advertise products or brands. Ok, surely I do it from time to time. Yes, sometimes I genuinely like a product and I'll Tweet it. Sometimes also when I'm being outreached for a marketing campaign and I like the idea, I also Tweet about it.
But, still I'm not sure that I want to start losing my followers (especially now that Qwitter is here to remind you that some people stop following you !).
So, as I said, I'm not totally convinced about the business model. I won't use it. But at the same time I don't want to be negative straight away. After all, some bloggers are now paid to publish information about brands and/or products. Although I don't like the idea either, it's happening and it's apparently effective...
Well, the least that can be said about the US elections this time is that even if you're not into politics, they turned out to be interesting, from a marketing point of view but also just plainly entertaining...
Barack Obama and his team first of all have clearly understood the use of communication to speak to their audience.
Having Gossip Girl stars Blake Lively and Penn Badgley supporting Obama along other teens in a video is clearly a huge thing in terms of its effect on the younger generation. I love the end of the video when Blake, associating McCain to alcoholism says: "and you're ever out somewhere and considering voting McCain, just call me, I'll pick you up, no questions asked"...
But that's not all, Obama's team have been busy with, for example, buying in-games billboards (source: advertblog).
In the meantime, team McCain was equally busy with stories of Sarah Palin breaking out on a daily basis... Not sure you've heard the latest prank ie the one from yesterday when a Quebec humourist called Palin pretending to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but it was very amusing (but also depressing on the basis this women is potentially a vice-President of the US and doesn't even realise it's a prank, even when fake Nicolas Sarkozy tells his wife his "so hot in bed" !):
So, anyway, I've already voted for Barack Obama, via TwitVote and it looks like we all agree on Twitter who should be the winner in a couple of days :-D
And if you're not convinced yet, check out who sucks the most on the Gum Election 2008 website...
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I work at We Are Social, a social media agency - however, this is my personal blog and the views expressed here may not reflect those of my employer...
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