Click here to view the embedded video.

With the help of IDF bracelets developed by Publicis E-dologic people could “Like” real objects and activities in the park. On arrival every visitor was outfitted with a bracelet ID linked to their Facebook account and transmitting RFID signals allowing them to use the “Like” machines throughout the park. If a visitor “likes” a special feature of the park, it will automatically appear on their Facebook news feed. Additionally, a photographer was present and if you wanted to tag yourself in any image you just had to wave your ID bracelet to the photographer.
The images also appear automatically on the Coca- Cola Village Facebook fan page, fully tagged of course.

It is a very innovative way to connect the virtual with the real world and enables Facebook users to share their experience with their friends worldwide in a fun and new way.

Personally, I think I would have had a lot of fun “liking” things via my bracelet and being automatically tagged in photos. It is stuff I do anyway on Facebook and I don’t see the harm.  Facebook and Coca Cola just facilitated what people do anyway, only difference that is was in real time.

I would also argue that this exercise was a very clever way to revive the “like” button. These days the button means almost nothing and is just a virtual grunt of appreciation. By transferring it into the real world however, it becomes an association with a real emotion. Surely, that will result in a fantastic brand image for Coca Cola which in turn will result in more sales.

No doubt, Coca Cola gains the most out of this exercise and it has been reported that over the three day period 35,000 pieces of content was posted on Facebook. On average each of the 650 visitors posted 54 branded pieces of Coca Cola merchandise to their Facebook page.

While Coca Cola is famous for bringing the brand alive via events such as the Coke Zero and Mentos Rocket Car or the Coke Happiness vending machine, it is the first time Facebook has ventured outside the virtual world.

I am wondering if we really want Facebook in the real world and if Facebook will repeat this exercise in a different location soon.  It certainly is a trend to bring Facebook, your activities and “likes” into the real world, evident in the launch of Facebook Places in the US last week. Facebook Places, Foursquare and other real time location sharing apps will be gaining more and more popularity and possibly become the next big thing, at least for a while.

I certainly would have a lot of fun using the RFID signal bracelets and hope I get a chance to do so in the future.

pepsi, originally uploaded by FRANkVizeum.

Pepsi is trying to save the world and get some advertising at the same time. How? Well, they would like YOU to come up with an idea, promote it and win between 5k-250k to make it come true. It’s a great idea that finally has been picked up by a mega brand (although the name: “Refresheverything” is a bit try hard). Think about all the money that goes every year towards re-branding/ad production/Superbowl broadcasting – Pepsi is going to spend the same amount (around $1,300,000 per month) to sponsor people’s dreams. True, they’re not doing it because they’re really concerned, it’s more of a way to get piggybacked into people facebook profiles but hey, beggars cant be choosers. Maybe this can be a new way we do advertising? How about a company helping out in a tsunami? How about a tyre company sponsoring a road? How about an energy company sponsoring people who make energy?

Back in June we first spoke about Guvera . Well  it’s finally launching in a few weeks…15 December we’re told. The Guvera model is based on engagement in favour of the classic advertising-interruption model. From their eDM “Instead of advertising being perceived as disruptive or annoying, Guvera allows the advertiser to align their brand with their customers passions, allowing the brand to become the hero that provides new ways to find and get music, for free.”

If you think about your own experiences in meeting people you’re more likely to end up talking with someone who is approachable and listens rather than someone who just wants to talk about themselves.

 The Guvera approach allows brands to be able to fast-track engagement via an understanding of consumer preferences across a range of crieteria. Registering with Guvera is like speed dating for brands. To register you’ll be asked about your prefences on holidays, sport, music, gadgets & things, web activities, countries, books, films, food and charities. Just the kind of topics any one might ask in getting to know you.

I’m currently reading Mike Walsh’s excellent book, Futuretainment. In this he says “The challenge/opportunity for brands to benefit from an engagement-approach is to shift their brand strategy focus and to start behaving like media companies. Great brands engage consumers through telling stories. By learning more about the stories that surround a brand we can form our own impressions of their products/services and what they mean to our own lives and experiences. As audiences fragment one of the few ways for brands to achieve mass awareness is for their message to be compelling enough for consumers to do the distribution for you.”

It’ll be interesting to see how brands manage this opportunity with Guvera. In this emerging era of brand engagement it is clear that some brands (just like some people) are socially inept and there are likely to be degrees of sensitivity between the one-night stand approach and building longer term relationships.

As Mike says “the future of entertainment is not advertising- the future of advertising is entertainment.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ve put our own spin on the ‘look’ with an intricate stencil on our walls thanks to signaction who have done an awesome job. Here’s a short movie using our new flip video camera which gives you the general idea. Enjoy.

Thanks to Tracey from Melbourne’s GPO, we had the pleasure of watching this cool video for Perth’s shopping centre, Forrest chase. I’m sure you’ll agree the concept is beautiful and people seem to really connect with it. It’s an engaging “purple cow“, something you’ll take out your digital camera for. It’s something to tell your friends and blog about. Here’s the free media this little video achieved: (Currently Forrest chase don’t have it on their site)

Last week Apple announced a wave of new developments from its new operating platform…called 3.0. One of them will enable e-commerce.
This opens up the field to all sorts of pocket convenience for services such as subscribing to magazines.
We see this as an interesting opportunity for publishers in a climate where hard copy sales are generally heading south. Any savings from not having to print could be passed on, ads could be interactive, new concepts could be trialed, real time opinions could be garnered etc.
Watch for an avalanche of e-commerce enabled apps tumbling into play this June.

Go Saints.

 MGPO fashion collective                             LMFF Runway 5

Melbourne has been swarmed with fashionista’s this week with the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival taking place.

My week kicked off at the Melbourne’s GPO on Tuesday 17th with a day of designers showcasing their autumn/winter fashion amidst the picturesque Elizabeth street colonnade including the likes of Lisa Ho, Hussy, Wayne Cooper, Lella Smith, Leona Edmiston, nicolangela, Gorman and many more.

Central Pier then rocked the LMFF with Runway 4 (sponsored by In Style) and Runway 5 (sponsored by Yen) hitting the stage… personal favourites including Arabella Ramsay & Thurley

Amidst all of the doom and gloom with the economic climate at the moment, it was nice to get lost in a week of high spirits and most importantly… fabulous fashion

Click here to view the embedded video.

 In 2000 Colonial State Bank paid $32.5 million for 10 years of naming rights. later that year, Commonwealth Bank took over Colonial State Bank and sold the naming rights to Telstra for about $50 million. The name was changed to Telstra Dome on 1 October 2002.

I recall the “pain” of Colonial Stadium becoming Telstra Dome and now just when this sits comfortably we’re off to Etihad Stadium. It’s good to see some brands take a longer term stance as such changes can take many months/years to hit the vernacular, hence the 5-6 year contracts.

What does it say about Colonial, Telstra and Vodafone, as they drop off? Does it mean they’ve sufficiently trodden on our conciousness and it’s time to move on or that they couldn’t afford to maintain this figure head positioning or the investment isn’t worth it or the new brands are willing to pay more? Whatever the reason we can expect Etihad in particular to leverage this positioning as we approach the AFL season…the direct mail has already begun to land.

It will be interesting to see if the Etihad Stadium becomes ‘The Stadium’ when referred to by commentators with rival airline sponsors…Collingwood springs to mind with their Emirates sponsorship. 

So a tiny post today to keep things interesting!

Diesel is celebrating their 30th aniversary with a big XXX party running parallel across 17 countries (not Australia unfortunately!).  It will be featuring stars such as Soulwax, N.E.R.D., Pete Doherty, Ed Bangers, etc.  Check it out Diesel XXX.

To promote the event, check out this viral video inspired by Safe for Work Porno work!  Diesel has taken images from 70s porno films, replacing “private” parts with well-thought out designs: