ADVERTISING + EXPERIENCE

why Brands need to SAY + DO

HEINEKEN LIGHT STRATEGY: “Rather than settling for constantly mediocre instances and routines, the campaign celebrates consumers and their 'occasionally perfect' experiences. While every occasion is not right for Heineken Light, the beer is a perfect fit for those situations that call for something a little more unique, special and upscale.” (via)

ADVERTISING




EXPERIENCE




Getting people to experience what we want our brands to stand for is most meaningful in the real world. But because of digital media we can now share activations and real-world goodness the whole world over.

Just realized that this image could well be mistaken for the Digital Sh*t.
But this conference was quite the opposite!

Two days of intense information overload. Still absorbing and thinking through all that was said and tweeted. But will post something soon!

TADD GADDUANG for Brand Ambassador! (slash endorser)

(Not exactly digital except in the channel I'm using to campaign :P)

Tadd Gadduang, who I follow and tweet regularly at @D8Tadd, is one of the top four finalists on So You Think You Can Dance (in case you aren't so familiar, here's my quick intro ). And he's Filipino!

He is awesome! On a show that gets dancers to stay fabulous even outside their comfort zones, he has somehow conquered almost every style thrown at him. Even if he is a B-boy (breaker), he is able to do so many styles brilliantly.

Similar to what I wrote for also-awesome-Pinoy Marko (yes the top two guys in the SYTYCD finale are Filipino!), I believe that it is only a matter of time before some brand brings this guy over as an endorser and I will be damned if it is not the agency I work for because I want to meet him! So people at that collaborative place were I work, please listen up.

MARKO GERMAR for Brand Ambassador!

(Not digital except in the channel I'm using to campaign :P)

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will likely have seen my messages to @D8Marko. That is Marko Germar - a pure Pinoy who is vying for the top spot on reality show So You Think You Can Dance (in case you aren't so familiar, here's my quick intro).

Marko has been a frontrunner from the beginning. He and partner Melanie started the season with a Travis Wall contemporary routine. The judges gave the pair a standing ovation and the rest was history!


As much as I love this show, I usually save SYTYCD posts for my non-digital personal blog on Tumblr. But now I have a marketing-related issue so I'm only too happy to have an excuse to post something Marko- or SYTYCD-related on this blog!
I believe that it is only a matter of time before some brand brings this guy over as an endorser and I will be damned if it is not the agency I work for because I want to meet him! So people at that collaborative place were I work, please listen up.

Notes on So You Think You Can Dance

(This isn't digital but I love this show and need to write this as a reference for my next two pieces.)

So You Think You Can Dance is one of my favorite shows. Even if I have zero dance background (not counting my ballet classes as a kid), I love this show. Every (U.S.) summer, I rush home every Thursday night to watch the latest episode. I avoid Twitter on Friday mornings so that I won't see who was eliminated. I LOVE THIS SHOW.

For those of you who haven't had the immense pleasure yet of watching the show, So You Think You Can Dance, it is a reality show on the Fox network, sister to much more popular reality competition American Idol. While AI has infinitely more viewers and fans, SYTYCD is a far better show. The contestants train for years (whether in formal classes or hmm... on the streets? like if you're a hip-hop dancer?) and by the time they get on the show they are experts at their own style - contemporary, jazz, ballroom, Latin, Broadway, etc. The challenge every week is to be able to master a range of styles outside of their own. Contemporary dancers are asked to do hip-hop, hip-hop dancers are asked to do ballroom, and they all get weird styles like African jazz or Bollywood, and the point is to shine no matter what style.

TV Hashtags, Part 2

TV shows use hastags to organize real-time word-of-mouth about new shows and new seasons.

(Click for TV Hashtags, Part 1)

Suits, a brilliant new legal show on the USA network, leads viewers to Twitter with a question + hashtag. In an episode where junior associate Mike decides to keep something from boss Harvey, the show asks "Have you ever lied to your boss?" and indicates #suits as the hashtag.

Project Runway, back for its ninth season, is inviting viewers to vote for their favorite contestants using hashtags. At the end of the season the show will award a Fan Favorite based on Twitter hashtag votes.

Hashtags can be pretty messy - I'm certainly guilty of making up my own hashtags even if I don't know (or care) if anyone else is using them. But mainstream media is one way to provide the common keyword that consolidates and unites conversastion on Twitter.