CBC Finds a Brand New World

Pretty cool radio piece. Click to listen.

TV SPOTS ARE “TRAILERS FOR EXPERIENCES”

Finally, someone has said what I’ve been hinting at the past year: TV commercials are becoming either recaps of experiences (like the Hyundai test-drive spots, for instance) or trailers for experiences. The days when a spot can carry the message are over, because the experience is the message.

Check out this interview with Shiv Singh, the global head of digital at PepsiCo. Here’s a choice quote:

TV ads “won’t be measured by the impact that the TV ad has when it’s aired but also by its residual influence on engagement in other mediums in the weeks that follow the airing.”

Amen, brother.

TOTALLY EXPERIENTIAL…FROM MICROSOFT?

I just love how they ordered pizza for the audience. Great example of digital to physical experiences.

PS. My agency actually pitched a very similar idea to Microsoft about 1.5 years ago. I guess it takes a kooky agency name like Wexley School for Girls to get client buy-in.

THE VENUE IS THE EXPERIENCE: AWESOME SPORTS EVENTS

This is a crazy cool pictorial of some of the most interesting and “experiential” sporting events ever.

What caught my attention was that the venue is in itself an experience, but the action itself is not.

In fact, the actual sporting event is practically irrelevant — it could be a football game, a hockey game, a tennis game, etc.But the context in which this game occurs makes the event into an unbelievable experience.

In this particular case, the context is the message. Super cool.

See all the pics here.

 

 

Occupy Spawns A Pretty Cool (and Experiential) Accessory

I love this idea: a bandana designed specifically for protesting. 

The Guy Fawkes-inspired bandana can be worn half over or entirely over the face, giving a bit of anonymity to Occupy activists. The bandana also includes protest tips and phone numbers for legal aid and the ACLU. (That’s so freakin’ cool.)

According to the creator, Matthew Borgatti, the idea came from a very experiential place:

After seeing protests erupt all over the world I wanted to make something that could change the game a little. I want people to be able to protest with OWS without the risk of being fired for showing solidarity. I wanted to make something useful, portable, something that could make the biggest difference to the most people. I came up with this mask.

Bravo. Thanks to Laughing Squid for the blurb.

In Honor of Quitting Smoking, Here’s a (Vain) Interview Conducted As I Smoke

(I know, I know. I’m vain.)

This was an interview done in Montreal. Where else can I smoke so freely.

But seriously. I’m done with the ciggies. Don’t offer me any, okay? Especially when I’m drinking. Or giving interviews.

 

Tags: max lenderman

BRAND NEW WORLD: AdAge’s Peak Into India and China

Although reading Brand New World is a better idea, you can get a glimpse into the massive paradigm shifts in India and China in these reports from AdAge. Here’s a run-down:

CHINA

1. Largest internet market in the world

China has become the world’s largest internet market with nearly 480 million users (with 277 million mobile internet users). Web use has grown rapidly, with a typical user now spending about 20 hours a week online. Nearly 80% of internet users in China have access to broadband connections. That has helped spur growth of online video services from firms such as Youku and Tudou.

2. Local internet players have excellent growth prospects and global ambition

China’s relatively strict regulatory environment and linguistic complexity have helped the country develop its own group of internet companies that in terms of scale and size match some international players. Companies such as Baidu in search, RenRen in social media and Taobao in e-commerce have well-established positions in China and have the ambition to expand into new geographic markets.

3. State TV broadcaster is must-buy for advertisers and sells inventory via auction

As the only truly national broadcaster, China’s state-owned CCTV is arguably the sole way for display advertisers to reach a national audience. This scarcity value allows CCTV to auction its advertising inventory to the highest bidder. The annual auction, held in November, is primarily done in conjunction with media agencies and is a must-bid event for leading consumer packaged-goods companies.

4. High penetration of digital displays in the outdoor industry

China’s outdoor advertising industry has relied heavily on digital sign displays due to a scarcity of traditional outdoor infrastructure and lax rules on placing digital signs in office buildings and public transport. The Chinese outdoor advertising industry is highly fragmented with a large number of foreign and domestic operators led by six main firms.

5. Print media faces commercial and regulatory challenges

China’s traditional print media industry remains highly fragmented with strong state involvement and a complex regulatory environment that can require different ownership structures for commercial and editorial operations. In the short term, these challenges have been masked by a booming print advertising market. In the longer term, many publishers are likely to be under-capitalized as they try to develop more aggressive digital strategies.

INDIA

1. World’s largest filmed-entertainment industry

India has arguably the world’s largest filmed-entertainment industry with 1,300 films produced in 16 languages and more than 3 billion admissions each year. The industry has evolved over the past 10 years from single-screen cinemas to multiplexes. Major international media firms such as Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp. and Viacom have made significant investments in India.

2. Enormous mobile potential with almost 800 million subscribers

India’s mobile subscriber base over the past 10 years has experienced astronomical growth from 3.6 million to almost 800 million subscribers. The recent launch of 3G services and better penetration of smartphones have created major opportunities for mobile-based media services. Over the next five years, the mobile handset will be the primary means of internet access for most Indians.

3. Diverse media supporting at least 16 languages

In the past 10 years, India’s advertising market has quadrupled in size. India’s media and entertainment industry is characterized by great linguistic and cultural diversity with traditional and new media operating in 16 key languages.

4. Relatively untapped markets in small towns and rural areas

Major cities have media reach similar to developed markets. But India’s small cities, villages and towns represent a relatively untapped market for most media. TV is widely available, but newspapers, commercial radio and online media still have relatively low penetration in semi-urban and rural areas.

5. Growing and profitable newspaper industry

Unlike most developed media markets, India’s print-newspaper industry continues to grow both readership and advertising. India has a large and vibrant newspaper industry, with the market leaders published by a small number of family-controlled groups. Online ad spending in India still has a relatively small share of the market. Local-language newspapers with a strong reach in small towns and semi-urban areas have the best growth prospects.

But if you want to get the context to all this — and especially from an experiential marketing POV — you better read this.

PEPSI’S ANSWER TO COKE’S HAPPINESS MACHINE

I’m a fan of live advertising, especially if that experience surprises and delights people — giving them something more than just a message or impression. That’s why I’ve written about Coke’s Happiness Machine campaign — a campaign that tries to faithfully deliver on the brand promise in a way that a tagline just can’t.

So this idea for Coke’s rival gets my attention. PepsiCo’s vending machine for its Lay’s brand “is combining product sampling with storytelling in Argentina in an unusual vending machine that appears to manufacture Lay’s potato chips before your eyes after a real potato, rather than coins, is dropped in a slot.”

The Lay’s machine, which will make its first appearance in a Buenos Aires supermarket this fall, features an intricate system of tubes, flames and boiling water as the potato is seen going through six distinct steps: washing, peeling, cutting, cooking, salting and finally packaging, ending with a bag of Lay’s potato chips popping out of the machine. The process, which looks incredibly real, is actually a video that appears to show the inner workings of potato chip manufacturing.

That’s pretty cool. I especially like this touch:

There’s even a small heater at the bottom so the sample pack is dispensed to the shopper warm, like a freshly cooked potato. But the heater must turn on briefly to warm each bag and then switch off, because the machine would melt down if the heater were on all the time.

Check it out here.

READING JUST GOT EVEN MORE EXPERIENTIAL

Ever since high school, I have studied with music playing in the ambient background. That has translated to pleasure reading as well. So this news is pretty cool. Apparently, we will soon have a soundtrack that goes with a book.

In the film versions of “Pride and Prejudice” the music jumps and swells at all the right moments, heightening the tension and romance of that classic Jane Austen novel.

Will it do the same in the e-book edition?

Booktrack, a start-up in New York, is planning to release e-books with soundtracks that play throughout the books, an experimental technology that its founders hope will change the way many novels are read.

Imagine how much more spine-tingling an Edgar Allen Poe story can be with a spooky soundtrack to it, one that morphs and changes with every turned page.

Pretty cool. And wholly experiential.

Here’s the link.

Tags: experiential reading

BEST CAR CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR…EXPERIENTIALLY

Absolutely awesome way to prove a point! And it's a great example of spanning the digital-to-physical bridge.