When worlds collide

Nike's most recent 10k race, held in Buenos Ares, had a unique feature: a one-of-a-kind ad campaign that integrated its advertising for the event with their online presence on twitter and the actual race itself. 

It was the first marathon to take place in both the real and virtual worlds. To promote the brand - and the race - Nike hired BBDO's Argentine office to write an app that combined the real-life race with an online race in an innovative way. 

I love how they engaged their consumers by canvassing their campaign through the digital space.  The treatment's not too bad, either.

"Hey, we're changing our ad campaign!"

One of the things that's become increasingly clear is the need to make sure your presence permeates the digital ecosystem.  It's not enough to have a presence in one aspect of digital space (TV ads on broadcast, cable, hulu). Companies need to connect with their consumers and follow them where they go. That means social sites, check-in sites, even through apps they commonly use. To do this effectively, you really have to know your consumer.

Old Navy's new ad campaign is a great example of this. Their new music-centric campaign delivers its message through original lyrics in a pop tune that's searchable with the Shazam app. When consumers use Shazam to identify any of the songs, they'll also see current deals, new looks and styling tips pop up on their screens.

In a clever twist, they used the campaign switch as a way to connect with consumers by "leaking" the "audition tapes" of the previous campaign's principle characters, the Old Navy Mannequins on youtube.

I love that they turned something as basic as a new ad campaign into an opportunity to promote themselves.

Transmedia Storytelling

You have a company that's been around for a long time. Its consumer is aging and the company wants to reach out to a younger demographic. How to do this?

In this particular instance it's a Dutch public broadcast station whose median viewing age is 55.  Its solution is to reach out into spaces where today's younger audiences are connecting. It did so by using a rule-bending format the director refers to as Transmedia Storytelling. 

The resulting experience goes beyond a standard single media stream. Instead, it integrates the content you'd traditionally expect - talking head interviews - with interactive maps, gaming, animation and a fictional story line to get its point across.

What I find compelling about this as a producer is that it makes me think. Who is the audience I am being paid to reach? How might I best do that? What I've always done before may not be the best solution going forward.

Our clients are constantly telling us they want something fresh and different. Granted, it has to be delivered within budget and on time, which can dictate exactly how "fresh and different" we can be. The old adage of "good-fast-cheap, pick two" is still very much in play.

But I think it's incumbent on us to be ever-exploring, to foster an attitude that borders on dissatisfaction with where we exist creatively now, as opposed to where we could be. 

Take a look at this company's solution and let me know if it causes you to think about your next project differently.

Transmedia Storytelling with CAT London

Amazing what you find if you look hard enough

My big find of the week - and all I did was a little googling.  What's not to love about 100 free After Effects tutorials? (And some free plug-ins that help you achieve these effects?)


All Bets Are Off is a NYC based post-production house that has recently begun to offer products, services and advice for people in the multimedia industry.

You can check out some of their work here (click on logo to click through to their site):