When a brand just get’s it

August 21, 2008 | 17 Comments

This is fucking brilliant (and yes it does justify the swearing).  YouTube user Levinator 25 thought he had found a glitch when he played EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08.  He posted a video on YouTube (which can be seen here), showing Tiger Woods walking on the water within the game to take the nicknamed `Jesus Shot’.  Now admittedly this is quite funny but not as funny as the response that EA have given.  They have posted their own video shown above stating “Levinator 25, you seem to think your Jesus Shot video was a glitch in the game”.  They have then produced a real video of Tiger himself walking down the fairway, onto the water reaching the middle of the pond to take his next winning shot.  Golden.  It is one thing for brands to actually use tools such as Twitter and Google alerts to see what is being said about their brand, however this is a prime example of tackling potential negative publicity and turning it into an opportunity of getting talked about in a positive way amongst the hard-core EA fans.

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, Brand, Games, Video, Viral 

Blip.fm, tunes with twitter

August 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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So i’m like a child with a new toy at the moment.  Blip.fm is being referred to as Twitter but with music.  That pretty much sums it up.  It allows you to post a song and associate a reference to it.  For example I have recently posted “Awesomeness…in the sweet screaming way” to the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Down Boy.  One of the many really great things about it, is you can link it to your Twitter and automatically feed your Blips to your followers.  Using the same @ commands as Twitter, you can also dedicate songs to your Twitter friends.  As with many of the great new community led sites out there (Dopplr for one) the guys behind Blip really understand the value in feedback, and through the feedback tab on the right hand side of the site, they keep users updated on developments they are making to the product as well as welcoming new suggestions. I like.

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, Music, Social network, UGC, Viral 

Berocca blogger Relief

August 18, 2008 | 3 Comments

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OK, so when I see a brand wanting to engage with Bloggers, I usually experience a shudder down my spine, as more often than not brands actually just want to talk about their products and services without actually offering anything in return (This is not always the case as seen by Chanel here).  However, I actually really like this little gimmick by Berocca.  Acknowledging that “we live in a world where millions of people read and demand new content from websites everyday, someone has to supply demand and blogging is a pretty hectic job”, they have developed a Blogging Relief Pack to come to the rescue of tired minds.  I received mine on Thursday and each pack contains an array of useless but cute nevertheless forrage, such as a stress ball, a panic button to change the screen on you monitor, a dead man pen holder, digital bubble wrap and of course some Berocca amongst other things.  I really like this initative for two reasons.  One; they have identified an audience who their product actually fits with and Two; they are offering something back to this audience.  Now of course when I received my pack they never even dreamed of mentioning that `if I like it they would love me to blog about it blah blah blah’ however, here I am so job done and hat tip to the agency (PR or digital).

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, FMCG, Marketing, Promotion, Viral 

The Orange balloon race

June 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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Something good from Iain Tait and the guys at Poke, a balloon race across the internet ad the furthest one wins a prize. Site owners can sign up at playballoonacy.com and register their site to be part of the fun (see balloon in the corner of this site). The one that goes the furthest in 7 days wins a £20,000 VIP trip to Ibiza for you and 7 friends. I was planning to have a year off from Ibiza this year, but couldn’t resist taking part.

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Advertising, Blog, Games, Social Interaction, Viral 

Lastminute viral

May 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

OK so this isn’t the funniest viral in the world but it still made me smile. Set in Stansted Airport, characters such as airport staff, cleaners and policemen perform a song and dance to unsuspecting passengers. The viral is to promote their half-price theatre ticket deal currently running on their website.

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, Marketing, Video, Viral