Google salutes Atari… If you do an image search for “Atari Breakout” on Google, the results turn into a space invaders-style game celebrating the 37th anniversary of the launch of Atari’s landmark title. Happy 37th Anniversary!?! The tiled image results shrink down to form the layers of bricks as the bouncing ball emerges from the bottom of the screen. You can use either the mouse or keyboard arrow keys to control the paddle. When you rack up your best score, you can share it on your Google+ page from right inside the game. Frankly, you guys can do better…
Month: May 2013
Texting & Driving… Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile join AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign, with a multimillion dollar ad campaign, set to blanket TV and radio airwaves this summer. The campaign is unusual not just because it unites rivals, but because it represents companies warning against the dangers posed by their own products. After initially fighting laws against cellphone use while driving, carriers have begun to embrace the language of the federal government’s campaign against the risky practice. The recently released study, by Cohen Children’s Medical Center, discovered that 50 percent of students admit to texting while driving and more than 3,000 teens are killed every year in car crashes caused by texting, overtaking drunk driving –which kills 2,700 every year — as the biggest cause of teen deaths in the U.S. The campaign’s creative effectively targets younger drivers with youthful art direction, accessible copy, compelling videos and the intensive use of social media. This is a more than disturbing new threat to both teenagers and anyone that gets behind the wheel. Let’s do what we can and encourage continued focus on this situation. Drive safely…
Stockspot… 85 Seconds. Follow up to last year’s, From Love to Bingo (check post from 05 23 12) Brazillian agency, lmapBBDO delivers another touching spot for Getty Images showing off the stock house’s vast library of video footage. This effort, composed of 105 video tells the story of a young couple who grow up as friends, but whose lives diverge, before they eventually meet again. All in a heart-tugging 90 seconds. Certainly gets you to think about life and possibly about Getty’s 63 million-plus seconds of video which could potentially be the answer to your next creative challenge. Kudos to the creative team for what must have been a colossal research and editing job. Again, while stock video (or still photography) has its well-known challenges, this spot does make you think that there are vast, unexplored possibilities…
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Odd pairings… Open wide for the latest photo editorial from Copenhagen-based contemporary culture and lifestyle magazine, Bitchslap (another new small-circulation title from the recently prolific Scandinavian nations). This story with a featured traditional Danish as centerpiece, delivers an offbeat visual presentation melding smørrebrød, a Scandinavian open-faced sandwich that stands among the Danes’ favorite, alongside a range of casual garb (all Scandinavian). What’s not to enjoy about food and fashion? But in this case, it is more about the variety of seasonal patterns and prints that is intriguing. Not sure the Danes are quite ready for the global runway, but here’s to creativity with imagery. Skål!…
Everyone needs help
Site SPOTTED. Help: One of favorite new brands and websites. Help (official company name is Help Remedies), a pharmaceutical startup launched back in 2008, is fast becoming a branding case study. The idea behind Help is to simplify common medications with single-ingredient drugs in low doses, with casual, clear, symptomatic titles, such as “Help: I Have a Headache” (acetominophen) or “Help: I Have a Stuffy Nose” (phenylephrine). Help injects a large dose of humor into all its communications. “If you try to maintain a tone of science and seriousness, it’s really alienating,” says Nathan Frank, one of Help’s founders and its creative director. There are dozens of mock problems on their website, such as Help: I don’t know what fork to use; Help: I’m going bald; Help: I don’t know if I am gay; Help: I have ghosts; Help: I forgot someone’s name; Help: I am worried about my penis size or Help: I want my cat to be a cover model, each of which links to a clever, tongue-in-cheek solution. Kudos also for the minimalist white packaging featuring color-coded graphics that illustrate the sizes and shapes of the particular remedy inside. Deliberately offbeat marketing tactics including pop-up stores, performance windows and viral videos complete the brand strategy, mixing up straight-forward facts and benefits with endearing humor and silliness. Help products can be found in major pharmacy outlets, as well as Target and Walgreens with aggressive expansion plans on the horizon. Hopefully, we can rest assured that there will always be Help…
Absolutely jammin’
INNA Jam: One of our favorite small company food finds. Both for quality of product, packaging as well as marketing. First, this stuff is delicious. Kudos to proprietor, Dafna Kory, for launching this extraordinary seasonal jam business out of Emeryville, CA. Sourced from local organic farmers, Kory produces single-varietal jams with bright, unique flavors. They also make shrub (?!?) which is a fruit-vinegar-sugar syrup that one mixes with sparkling water or in a cocktail. Again, fresh, natural and wonderfully appealing. Black mission fig, Royal Blenheim apricot, quince to name a few on a seasonally dynamic lineup. Love, love, love the super simple packaging which lets the beautiful colors of the jam and shrub shine, along with the minimalist labeling. No frivolous text or graphics present or needed. Country meets modern is the vibe. Website seems like a starter site, so we look forward to see what INNA does next. In due time. Coming to your favorite, local- or artisinal-appreciating food shop near you. Pump up the jam (and shrub)…
Convey it concisely
Lead graphic to The Scientific 7-Minute Workout, The New York Times piece on the latest fitness research and how it all adds up to less time needed for a solid workout. All you need is a chair, a wall and the desire to push yourself for an intense 7-minute quickie. The simplistic diagram effectively lets you quickly see what you are getting yourself into. Fast and efficient just like the new fangled routine. Ready, set — JUMPING JACKS …
Don’t forget Granny… While we are celebrating the moms in our lives, nice to also think about Grandma. Sweet photo collection by photographer Gabriele Galimberti celebrating grandmothers around the globe and their signature dish. Galimberti traveled to 58 countries where he shot his subjects with the original ingredients and the completed meal. Subjects couldn’t be sweeter. Styling is happy, cheery and colorful, although we did find the arrangement of the ingredients a bit strange and too symmetrical. We definitely could see this concept (real people shot by a competent photographer with some kind of professional art direction or styling) as something businesses ought to be thinking about for marketing and social media efforts moving forward. In this increasingly visual world, everyone should be thinking about upping their imagery game. Better visual assets help elevate marketing messages from the mundane to the memorable. Simple, no? Now, time for dinner…
Featured from top:
Marisa Batini, 80, Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy, swiss chard and ricotta ravioli
Grace Estibero, 82, Mumbai, India, Chicken Vindaloo
Eti Rumiati, 63, Jakarta, Indonesia, Soto Betawi (beef soup with coconut and vegetables)
Brigitta Fransson, 70, Stockholm, Sweden, Inkokt Lax â (poached cold salmon and vegetables)
Eija Bankach, 62, Massa, Morocco, Chicken Tajine
Laura Ronz Herrera, 81, Veracruz, Mexico, vegetarian tamal
Flatar Ncube, 52, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Sadza (white maize flour) and pumpkin leaves cooked in peanut butter
Inara Runtule, 68, Kekava, Latvia, Silke (herring with potatoes and cottage cheese)
Boonlom Thongpor, 69 Bangkok, Thailand, Kai Yat Sai (stuffed omelette)
Animated salesmanship… We are fascinating with the creative resurgence of the good ole animated gif. From the cute and clever to the more sophisticated and tasteful, marketers seem to be demanding a simpler action. This ad for American Apparel is a good example of a simple, straight-forward online ad with a rapid fire dose of product promotion. Certainly not a bad way to push da goods…
