Contagious ideas by PSST : spreading 2.0 innovation (editor = jérémy dumont, strategic planner, france)

Projects on mobile and digital platforms for Hip Hop stars

Rap Stars Reap the Benefits

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Seen in Contagious Magazine

Hip hop and you don't stop - endorsing that is. This last week has seen announcements from of two of the world's most successful hip hop artists concerning individual projects on both mobile and digital platforms.

Currently one of the most notable music producers across multiple genres, Timbaland has just signed a groundbreaking deal with Verizon Wireless. Described as the world's first mobile album, Timbaland has agreed to record one track per month for the project over the next year, with each installment made exclusively available to subscribers of V Cast - Verizon's mobile entertainment service. Each new recording will see Tim collaborate with another artist, extending the appeal of the promotion further still.

Timbaland has insisted that the deal will not harm his personal contract with Interscope - quite the contrary in fact, because each additional artist to feature on the mobile album will be from Interscope's roster. The tracks will be recorded and produced with the different artists at a variety of locations throughout the US on Verizon's Mobile Recording Studio Bus. Selected subscribers will also be given the opportunity to visit the facility and watched him weave his magic, whilst others can enjoy similar footage streamed to a dedicated Timbaland mobile channel. Ed Ruth, director of digital music for Verizon describes their aim - 'to show the music industry that we're truly a viable distribution platform for them.'

http://products.vzw.com/index.aspx?id=music_vcast

Not one to miss out on the action, the producer-come-rapper extraordinaire Kanye West has just launched his very own search engine - which the internationally renowned wordsmith has named... Search With Kanye West.

The artist has partnered with Prodege LLC - the world's largest provider of branded search engines. It will be powered by Google and Ask, meaning that users won't sacrifice their results when they choose to 'search with Kanye'. What they will get however, is the reward of digital dollars, referred to as Swag Bucks, which can then be redeemed for Kanye West merchandise such as signed CDs and clothing, free MP3s and even popular household electronics. The complete list of available merchandise from this and other branded engines can be viewed at swagbucks.com and users can even increase their chances of winning by downloading a Kanye West branded toolbar. Not that he is suggesting that y'all are gold diggers or anything...

http://searchwithkanyewest.prodege.com/

I think like Audi, therefore I am

Audi's Thinking Man

seen in Contagious Magazine

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Who has all the answers? Audi does, according to this fun new Japanese microsite.

Inspired by Auguste Rodin's sculpture 'The Thinker', visitors to the site are invited to pose any question they like along with their email address. Within minutes, a reply is sent, often comical or slightly irreverent but always surprisingly accurate. Questions can even be asked about Audi's main competitors - allegedly, the answers to queries concerning BMW, Porsche and VW are amongst the most amusing.

The site contains a downloadable widget with the same questioning application, and if you fancy using it on the go an iPhone-compatible mobile version is also available. Other goodies include desktop and mobile phone wallpapers, along with adverts that are expected to follow once the campaign shifts from viral to more traditional media channels.

The success of the campaign is already evident - in a recent report by blog search engine Technorati Japan, they listed the viral in their top five most popular keyword searches. Not bad considering that on your first visit to the site it appears completely unbranded, so any hint of Audi's involvement is left temporarily hidden...

www.questioning.jp/

Virtual Showroom for Volkswagen

COntagious Magazine

Roll up, roll up to Volkswagen.co.uk - the brand new website realised by digital masters Tribal DDB is a simple, clean, intuitive white space where your eye is focused on the car and your attention on the user experience.

After a year and a half’s work by a dedicated team of 50 people, ranging from designers to account management, the project comes in response to the swiftly evolving purchasing behaviours of modern, aware consumers. As retail spaces became less sales–oriented and more focused on experience and engagement in a bid to transform the consumer in a ‘trysumer’, the digital space seems to be the perfect medium for DIY sofa-based customisation.

Volkswagen’s relationship marketing manager, Marianne Nicholas, explains: ‘The challenge for us was to respond to this change and ensure our website is equipped to give buyers and owners the information they need at the touch of a button. The old site has seen a massive rise in visits over the past three years – up from 500,000 in November 2004 to 1.4 million in November 2007, which clearly indicates the importance of the web in a customer’s buying process. Our new site offers the most realistic experience on the web of what it’s like to sit in and walk around a Volkswagen car – it’s a richer, more responsive experience and heralds a new approach in the web’s role in selling cars.’

Witness the success of the FIAT 500 concept lab, in which auto enthusiasts contributed their suggestions and saw them worked in to the final design of the car. Thanks to increasingly speedy broadband, automotive websites are becoming virtual showrooms where users have the possibility to configure and explore their future car without the distraction of a sales man urging you to transform your Golf into aull-spec space ship and making you feel obsolete if you don’t have the latest acronymed gizmo - EPS, EDG, AFR.

The avant-garde 3D configurator doesn’t just help build a car; in the very near future visitors will be able to book test drives in real time. Marketers have realised that the web platform is essential in the online – offline – online purchasing process: buyers go to the web to get info on their potential next car, then they go see it and try it in the shop to come back again online for the customisation and final decision. Well done to Adage’s network of the year – the first time a digital agency has scooped this honour.

www.volkswagen.co.uk

www.tribalddb.com

http://adage.com/article?article_id=123184

IAB Creative Showcase Awards 2007 in association with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions

The time? Monday 4th February. The place? Sketch, London (amazing loos) and the event? The IAB Creative Showcase Awards 2007 in association with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions.

http://advertising.microsoft.com/uk/online-creative-showcase

The awards exist as means by which to exhibit, celebrate and pay testament to the very best digital marketing solutions seen over the last year. Bravery, originality and innovation are all commended across five specific award categories - Best Creative Campaign 2007, the IAB Unthink your Brand Advertiser Award, Agency of the year, the Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions most Innovative Campaign and lastly the new most Contagious Campaign award, judged by the hardworking editorial team responsible for this very newsletter...

The guest speaker was the eagerly anticipated Miles Beckett - Creative and Executive Producer of the YouTube phenomenon lonelygirl15 and its British equivalent, KateModern. After an introduction from Chris Ward of Microsoft, Beckett took to the stage and spoke in detail about the conception, execution and resultant evolution of his online series.

'We realised that online content could no longer be static - we were interested in experimenting with a transparency and interactivity that would facilitate proper engagement.'

With this in mind, we couldn't help but admire the fact that these observations and insights which are considered cutting edge today, were in fact made over two years ago. Perhaps this explains how lonelygirl15 has managed over 80 million YouTube hits to date...

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=lonelygirl15

But who won what? We hear you cry...The grand prize of Best Creative Campaign 2007 went to Poke for their fully-integrated Orange Unlimited. We spoke to Nik Roope, Creative Director at Poke about its success, which he attributed to it being 'both a simple, single minded idea and a huge, sprawling canvass of creative possibility. A rich, deep, engaging, playful experience that fits into a one-liner.' Indeed. We were big fans of the never-ending website and have spent many an afternoon since the launch chatting with the ice cream man on the banks of the rainbow river…

The IAB Unthink your Brand Advertiser Award went to Sony for its comprehensive Vaio Online Script Project, starring John Malkovich. If you haven’t already seen this then we fully recommend that you check it out and have a go yourself…

The Agency of the year was awarded to glue London, whose most effective campaigns of the year included Royal Marines - State of Mind, adidas – Impossible Story, McCain - Potato Parade and of course the unforgettable Virgin Trains – Nature Speaks.

Microsoft’s Digital Advertising Solutions most Innovative Campaign award went to Tribal DDB, for its  Mid-Life Crises Retreat campaign promoting the Volkswagen Passat. This campaign showed how a clever idea, nicely executed and aimed at precisely the right target audience can have a tremendous effect.

Lastly, we helped Poke do the double by awarding them our most Contagious Campaign award for their Spot the Bull initiative. There are many things that we loved about this online competition to win Glasto tickets, but above all, it was the way in which it provided a sophisticated digital representation of everything quite un-digital – namely cows, mud and rock n’ roll.

Nik Roope summed up the standard of work on display at the showcase quite succinctly - 'The UK is a world leader, standing shoulder to shoulder with the best stuff out there. That said there are still blind spots and weaknesses here so it's no time to be complacent.' Indeed chaps, afterall, there's next year's Grand Prix to think of...

source : Contagious Magazine

                                                            

NINTENDO creating an online/offline reality treasure hunt

DS Treasure

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05/02/2008 00:00:00

We’re loving the migration of alternate reality games into the mainstream, from their murky past as the property of a geeky and highly obsessive few. Brands are now producing some really exciting work – just have a look at ARG forum unfiction.com to follow the discussion around Guinness’ Tipping Point for proof (featured in Contagious 13).

Nintendo is the latest to step up, creating an online / offline mixed reality treasure hunt on the Island of Enoshima, near Tokyo, for the DS handheld console, with the help of treasure hunt planners, Rush, Japan. ‘Treasure Quest: Enoshima – treasure of the Dragon’ requires players to use their Nintendo DS to follow clues around the island, hunting for a mystery hidden treasure. Neatly showing off the console’s wi-fi capabilities, the game relies on players finding clues and then matching their on-screen location with their real world position – players know they’re in the right place when the graphics shown on screen match the real world. To win, all the missing clues must be found, and then processed to solve the mystery and claim the treasure.

An additional bonus for the gamers is the interaction and group collaboration that the game brings about, in the style of team-building assault courses, allowing Nintendo to build connections and a community of people who’ve actually met. Pretty novel compared to other friends in social networking worlds. The game’s friendly start comes from creators Rush Japan, specialists in creating treasure hunts to stimulate tourism, who hope that the ARG will allow the gamers to integrate with the Island’s inhabitants and will be enjoyed by both visitors and locals.

The game is running until Feb 19th, is free to play, and accessible to all ages. All you need is to download a free piece of software to the DS and you’re away. Register at http://akai-tori.com/quest if you’re in the area and have got a DS handy.

Happy hunting!

Via www.pinktentacle.com/2008/02/nintendo-ds-mixed-reality-treasure-hunt/
www.psfk.com/2008/02/mixed-reality-treasure-hunt-nintendo-ds-required.html
http://akai-tori.com/quest

source :Contagious Magazine