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Fallon's 'Skimmer': One Soc-Net Interface To Rule Them All

Fallon's one of my favorite agencies right now - they clearly are passionate about the latest-greatest ways to communicate with consumers, in the digital sphere and otherwise.

They even just launched an application called Skimmer that lets you manage all your social networks - Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Blogger and YouTube and so on in one place.

I've only skimmed Skimmer, but it looks like there might be a few glitches, and it's unclear what managing your soc-nets has to do with an advertising agency.

But of course that's not the point. The agency's showing off their chops in the hot digital milieu d'jour.

And they're showing that advertising agencies today need to be far more than just ad agencies. As Tom Bedecarré of AKQA was telling me the other week, agencies need to get hip to the fact that they're in software development now. R/GA and AKQA have done as much to create products and/or product features than just market them. Ditto for Crispin, Porter+Bogusky of late.

And now Fallon is showing it can play in that world, too.

Others had better catch up - fast.

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Papa John's Readies Augmented Reality Campaign

First there was the General Electric used augmented reality to bring its eco-imagination to life.

Then Topps let you control 3D holographic images of popular athletes using your keyboard.

Now, Papa John's wants to use the same technology to help you drive a 1972 Camaro.

See, CEO John Schnatter sold a 1972 Camaro in 1984 to open up his first pizza joint, and now, that joint will post AR symbols on 30 million pizza boxes to enable you to hold that box up to your webcam and then use your keybard to drive a 3D holographic Camaro to help celebrate his triumph.

I dig AR - and I think this could be a nice way to complement are larger, integrated campaign featuring Mr. Schnatter on a cross-country trip. I also think you're going to see a whole lot more of the technology.

I was recently talking to Prinz Pinakatt, group interactive marketing manager for Coca-Cola Europe, who predicts that every major brand will use the technology within the next year or so. 

“It’s my personal conviction that [very soon] every medium-to-large marketing campaign in pretty much every industry will have some sort of augmented reality piece to it, because it’s fairly easy to do,” says Pinakatt, who has created augmented reality experiences for Fanta and other beverages.  

“If you think about it, we sell 1.5 billion drinks a day. If we just take the Coca-Cola logo and turn it into a [QR] logo, that means we generate one billion additional contacts with our consumers. All we have to do is tell consumers, ‘Show your logo into the camera phone and you’re going to see something fantastic.’”

Until then, we'll settle for driving Mr. Schnatter's Camaro.

Read more about the campaign and others using augmented reality, here. And check out the road trip website, here.

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'Terminate Yourself': Turn Yourself Into A Cyborg

Why be a member of the resistance when you can be a killer robot instead?

A new app lets you upload a photo of yourself or a friend to make yourself a cyborg ala old Arnie - complete with metallic plates and circuitry peaking through your shredded skin.

There's even an iPhone app where you can snap photos with your iPhone and manipulate them into cyborgs.

In other words, fun for the whole family.

I think "Trek Yourself" was a little more seamless - but this will be fun at parties.

Terminate yourself or a friend, here.

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comScore: Twitter Surges Past Digg, LinkedIn & NYTimes.com With 32 Million Global Visitors

A full 60% of new users may quit after 30 days, but that's not stopping 32 million people from coming to read those Twitter feeds each month.

As TechCrunch reports today, new research from comScore reveals that Twitter has passed Digg, LinkedIn & NYTimes.com in unique monthly visitors.

Remember, that's not just people who use Twitter, but rather the total number of people who visit Twitter - a number that could reach 100 million by the end of the year.

I don't know; seems like you've got to reach saturation at some point. At what point has everyone already opened a Twitter account, posted a handful of feeds and then checked out? What will be left to visit? And won't Google buy it before then, anyway?

Read more, here.

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Hot For 'Terminator Salvation'? Don't Forget The Animated Series

The Wall Street Journal got parts of the story wrong - it says Warner Bros. developed "machinima," the technique of filming videos from within virtual worlds and/or video game environments, using avatars as actors and the backdrop for settings.

But never mind that. The news here is that the studio DID leverage the well-established technique used by so many others before it to develop a new animated series based on "Terminator Salvation." The six-episode series is designed to help market the film and act as a companion storyline to the movie. 

Which is (virtually) cool - if not quite as revolutionary as the Journal thinks it is.

Read more, here.

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Online Effort Pays Off: 'Chuck' Off Fall Lineup - But Will Return in 2010

The Intersect has officially been unplugged. At least for now.

NBC announced its fall lineup today and, well, "Chuck" got chucked.

It got dissed, in fact. The show that replaces it, something called "Trauma," will air in "Chuck's" time slot AND AGAIN on Saturday night.

But all is not lost. NBC says it's renewing the show for a third, pared down 13-episode season in spring 2010 - thanks in large part to the massive online effort that included a high-octane, fan-fueled promotion with Subway sandwiches that in some ways may redefine the way advertisers and shows collaborate. In fact, now the Chicago Tribune is reporting that the brand will be integrated into the show even further than it has been of late, with Sarah Walker now working at a Subway.

"This innovative partnership is a perfect example of the effectiveness of the NBC Infront," NBC co-chairman Ben Silverman says in a statement. "By involving Subway early in the process, we were able to bring a quality show like 'Chuck' back to NBC for next season. Everybody wins -- NBC, Subway, and the loyal fans who so enthusiastically lobbied for 'Chuck's' renewal."

"Our goal ... is to initiate early and ongoing dialogue with our advertising clients regarding the network's programming. "adds Mike Pilot, NBC's president of sales and marketing. "We were thrilled when Subway, who had been integrated into the show lately, expressed a desire to expand their relationship with the series in a creative way."

The multi-platform partnership with Subway will offer a variety of opportunities that will include significant integration into the show, as well as traditional advertising tie-ins.

All this said, I finally caught up with all the episodes from season two, and thanks to a very satisfying season finale, I would have been okay with the show ending. But knowing it's coming back means we've got something to look forward to next year.

Here's to a whole new season of fun every time Sarah or Casey says "Chuck, stay in the car."

Kudos to the fans - and Subway - for the effort.

(In other, sadder news, word's out that "30 Rock" has been benched, at least for a while this fall. Hey Subway, can you do anything about that?)

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Hilariously Bad TV Spot Using Racial Harmony To Sell Furniture Becomes Internet Sensation

Yes, it's a real commercial for a real company - in fact the people in the spot actually work at the North Carolina store. And yes, it's meant to promote racial harmony and sell furniture. Yes, it's cheesy as hell. Yes, it's working. And yes, it's an Internet sensation.

The first time you watch, you'll be shocked. The second time you watch, you'll start wondering if this is what Doritos user-generated Super Bowl ad contests might look like if Doritos was in the furniture business.

Dumb commercial. Smart marketing.

Read more about the effort, here.

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Nearly Half of Online Ad Spend Goes To Two Companies

Guess which two companies get 47% of all online ad buys?

Google and Yahoo, of course. 

Guess what it means to online ad spend?

Too many pieces, too little pie.

That's the word from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which pegs online ad spend at about $23 billion. When two companies account for nearly half of all spend, and an infinite number of other players splitting the rest, it doesn't bode well for ad-supported business models in the online space. IE, look for more pay-per-use and subscription models to challenge the "everything's free" web mentality.

Frankly, with a TNS projection of $132 billion in ad spend, traditional media may be seeing some losses, but it may still offer a better business model in terms of splitting revenues between a much more limited number of players.

Read more, here.

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Chrysler Uses Digital Response Data To Dramatically Boost Effectiveness of Online, Offline Campaigns

If Chrysler can start making cars as smart as its advertising operation, it won't just survive this downturn - it might even thrive.

Today's Wall Street Journal as an interesting piece on efforts from Organic to truly innovate the way Chrysler spends its ad dollars through data analysis that helps identify the best ad spending mix, how long to keep the URL visible on TV spots, and how much advertising to place where to get sales projections within 1% of accuracy. They've even determined which site visitors to take seriously. Using the car configurator to build your dream car? So early stage. Enter a zip code on the dealer locator, you're ready to buy.

All of which is a big help when you're in bankruptcy and have already seen  your ad spend cut 34% in the last year, and are faced with an additional 50% cut.

You've got to read the piece. This is non-personally identifiable data collection that can work wonders for the way marketers reach out and sell a new generation of shoppers.

Check it out, here.

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Grand Slam: Denny's Does Digital In New Multiplatform Campaign

Denny's does it again.

First there was that whole "Real Breakfast" campaign that included  television, banner ads, mobile alerts, offer-based online games, video ads, to paid searches and music polling/custom playlists such as consumers' top fave breakfast songs.

Now As part of its integrated "Denny's Allnighter" campaign to cater to the younger, hipper, late-night crowd looking for some munchies after a night of partying, Denny's is launching, of all things, an iPhone app.

The integrated campaign focuses on four buddies – Wade the T-Rex, Steve the Unicorn, Finn the Leprechaun, and Gary the Regular Guy – enjoying a Denny's late-night experience after a night on the town. TV spots highlight the Denny's Allnighter offering's "Good Friends, Good Value" message.

Additionally, original Webisodes, featuring the four characters in various scenarios will be hosted on comedy Web sites and the official Denny's Allnighter Web site.

And a new iPhone application, "Denny's Dance Allnighter," will also be offered via iTunes and will allow users to compete as the characters, in a re-creation of a popular dance videogame. Incorporating sound bites from the characters, Webisodes, and plugs for menu items on the Allnighter menu, the iPhone game will further the campaign message.

Personalized character profile pages will also appear on social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. These elements of the campaign will be activated the week of May 25.

Is this a case of rotten eggs or a grand slam? I think it' somewhere approaching the slam side.

True, I'm not sure how the dinosaur fits it - that evokes the geezer end of Denny's clientele – but it may be I just need to see the spots.

On the plus side, Mobile's right where it should be - as part of an integrated campaign.

I do have to wonder, however, why special offers and reminders aren't sent to the iPhone app on weekend nights to help boost traffic.

Maybe it's coming. I mean, who can turn down Denny's after a big night out? 

Read more, here.

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'Sims 3' Get Social Media Campaign - But Possibilities Are Much Bigger

The Sims are back, and they're ready to socialize.

Today's New York Times reports that EA has a massive integrated campaign in the works for the release of 'Sims 3,' which goes on sale June 2.

The effort is not lacking in the digital department. Among other things, there will be a free trial of the game at Sims.3.com as well as the Sims 3 fan page on Facebook.

Sim Friend enables visitors to the website to pick a Sim pen pal from 120 options, who will then send emails to the user about things in the Sim's life.

And a new Sim Sidekick enables you to choose from six characters on the website, which will then follow you around the web, floating on top of your browser and interacting with site-specific responses designed for Twitter, MTV.com, YouTube and so on. On Twitter, for instance, the character will react as a flock of bluebirds descends on him or her.

As the Times points out, this recalls Skittles' recent move to a graphic floating on top of the browser that points the user to social networking pages associated with the candy brand. I like this execution better.

But one of the more interesting marketing aspects to this gets scant attention on the Times piece - one that doesn't relate to marketing the game, per se, but rather, marketing within the game.

Apparently, you can customize characters within the game now, and even, say, replace them with characters based on the cast of "Lost," to see what it might be like to live near them. There are myriad ways entertainment brands could use this, to play roles within Sims and how the user's Sims interact with their world.

I posted a while back about how advertising will be permitted in the Sims 3 world, to bring verisimilitude and to enable marketers to sell within the game. This character customization capability to take tat a giant step further.  One could imagine "Thor" from the upcoming movie from Marvel, for instance, making much mayhem within the game (at least where there's a live Internet connection for upload. Or even Tony the Tiger and other Kellogg's characters bringing their brand of hi-jinx to the world.

Can't wait to see how someone puts it all to good use.

Read more here (sub. req.)

'Star Trek' Gets Mobile Apps, Augmented Reality & More

If a movie promotion has a mobile tie-in and it's not on the iPhone, does it really count?

After wondering where the cool Star Trek apps are - just some lame curios in the App Store - I saw a commercial during last night's season finale of "Lost" (lame!) that revealed all the happening "Star Trek" stuff is over at Verizon.

Verizon and Nokia have set up a site called Join Startfleet Academy where users can watch trailers, spots, and download tricorder and phaser apps, mobile games, ringtones and more. There's even a pervasive mobile game called "The Hunt for Nero" where you might win a trip to space(!) The rules didn't make any sense, but still. Oh, and there's even a holographic "augmented reality" offering.

Now it all makes sense. What with Nokia's product placement within the film, of course it would have dibs on the big tie-in promo.

This looks pretty good. Too bad most people didn't even hear about it until last night!

Warner Bros. Teams With Facebook For 'Watchmen' DVD Promotion

If you're like most people, you didn't watch 'Watchmen' - and Warner Bros. wants to change that.

The studio's Warner Home Video unit has announced a plan with Facebook to launch an innovative marketing platform for the movie's video release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Warner is said to be working with Facebook to sync up "friend'" networks with the interactive community-screening featurs of Warners' Blu-ray Disc releases, starting with "Watchmen: Director's Cut."

That means folks will be able to watch the movie simultaneously and share comments with friends via Facebook.

In my view, this is a very nice new approach to CBS-TV's social viewing rooms, where viewers can log on and watch shows like "Amazing Race" and "CSI" together and participate in polls, quizzes and even throw virtual objects like tomatoes and kisses at the screen.

All of which leads me to think, dang - if Warner had delivered this kind of innovative thinking to the original theater promotion, the movie might have done a lot better.

Read more, here.

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Mobile Mistake? Nokia Asks Advertisers To Brand Its Phones

The brand integration with Captain Kirk using a Nokia phone in the new Star Trek movie was one thing.

Now, word's out Nokia is offering up its most prime real estate - the screen, some content and even the phone itself - for a small fee to advertisers. The rationale is that brands like Coca-Cola also appeal to Nokia's target demo.

But the success of Seda-branded phones in Brazil notwithstanding, the company's missing the lesson to be learned from its own feature film product placement. Its target demo loves CONTENT brands like Star Trek.

And branding the phone around user affinities (via those content brands) appeals to the demo without butchering the brand by enabling other consumer products to control the real estate. 

Read more, here.

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'Meet The Volkswagens' Facebook App: You Don't Know Them, But They Know You

The new "Meet The Volkswagens" Facebook app is a fun-dumb little curio that illustrates the future of database-driven 'smart ads.'

As Adweek reports, the app uses data from your Facebook profile - think date of birth, educational history and so on - to help you find the perfect VW for you. 

Never mind that the selections are getting poked fun at for being wildly off base. The app demonstrates that your data can and will be used to serve you.

Longer term, we'll all need to decide if that sentence will end with "whether you like it or not."

Try it yourself, here.

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Business Week: Social Media And 'The Ashton Kutcher Effect'

For some reason Business Week seems surprised that when celebrities call attention to products and services, consumers actually try them.

Huge shocker that visits to Twitter went up 43% after Oprah Winfrey's started twittering and Ashton Kutcher got his million (wo)man flock of followers.

The Obama Administration set up pages on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter the other day, too. And people are trying these services like never before.

(That, of course, doesn't mean they won't quit in about 30 days, like 60% of users do.)

Still, come on, the celebrity endorser has been a mainstay of advertising for decades (more like a century), and of unpaid media since the dawn of awards show schwag. 

Time will tell if all the attention generated by celebrities will actually result in viable business models.

Read more, here.

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