Teaming up with Bing, the marketers behind this campaign created a code that spans the globe, and provides consumers with the necessary tools to crack it. All 320 pages of the book were scattered in plain sight across different mediums throughout the world, with consumers, passengers and even pedestrians  being able to take photo’s of some pages and use Bing to track down others in different cities.

Any fan who managed to locate and put together all 320 pages of the book went into the draw to win a double pass to every Jay-Z concert for life. This was much easier said than done! The pages were placed in areas that they related to, including the bottom of a pool in Miami, the lining of a custom made Gucci leather jacket, on plates at Jay-Z’s own ‘The Spotted Pig’ and even on a vintage Cadillac – and that’s just to name a few.

As for results, the campaign boosted Jay-Z’s Facebook fans by more than 1 million, and increased Bing use by 11.7% and the book went to number 1 within weeks. It’s therefore no surprise that the campaign itself  won the integrated Grand Prix at the Cannes International Festival.

For some more examples of how the pages were displayed check out Trendlland.

We’re excited to be on the list, especially being among only a handful of independent agencies making the cut.

How did it all happen? New Zealand based DB Export Dry did some market research and discovered that their target market of 18-25 year old males didn’t like wine but drank it to fit in. To solve this problem, DB produced a bottle of wine called ‘ You Don’t Have to Do This’ and placed in amongst the other wines in the bottle shop. The bottle, which claimed to come from ‘Some Valley in France’ wasn’t actually wine, however, and rather had instructions on the back of how to get out of buying wine, and in the process, get a $5 discount off a case of DB Export Dry. This is an exquisite example of understanding your target market and creating advertising that resonates with them to get real results.

Despite greater access, the number of consumers using their devices to scan QR codes has remained relatively low until now. Some people even argue that QR codes will never reach the mainstream promotional stage. Despite scepticism, the adoption of increasingly complex personal technology suggests there is potential. It will be up to marketers to make the most of the opportunities QR codes offer.

Above is an interesting example of QR code marketing that shows how they can enrich the product experience. Global supermarket giant Tesco responded to the issues of time-poor Koreans by bringing the shopping experience to them with virtual stores based in metro stations. Shoppers were encouraged to browse life-like images of supermarket shelves and scan the corresponding product QR code to add them to their “shopping carts”. Their purchases were then delivered to their homes. This is a great example of how QR codes can add value.

Google+:
- Ideal if you have limited time, as you are able to share the same status or link on G+, FB and Twitter.
- Great if you want to share different content with different segments of your followers.
- Useful for capturing organic search results as Google’s new ‘next generation search’ platform integrates G+ content and keywords into search results.
- Note: 63% of Google+ users are male and the majority of posts are technology related.

Pinterest:
- Perfect if you have the time to create or source visually stimulating content.
- Best suited to Business-to-Consumer or product oriented businesses.
- Great for referrals. Many businesses find that Pinterest generate more referrals for their site than G+.
- Note: 83% of Pinterest users are females aged 18-34 and the vast majority of posts relate to design, fashion or home décor.

It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks of ratings pan out, and whether either network decides to make changes to scheduling. We’ll keep you posted!

The past few weeks have demonstrated the true power of social media and viral marketing – this platform and metaphoric megaphone has made it possible for any regular person to reach out and inspire an audience of millions without spending millions of dollars to do so.

The most successful viral achievement of recent times is the campaign by American NGO, Invisible Children. Irrespective of your thoughts on Kony 2012, it’s difficult to deny the success of this viral campaign, which included the release of a 30-minute YouTube video along with numerous events and PR stunts worldwide. In the 25 days following the release of the video, it accrued over 85 million views on YouTube alone.

So what’s the point of telling you all of this? Viral Marketing is a powerful marketing tool, and if done right, it can be an unrivalled way of speaking to your audience or customers. After all, viral marketing is aptly named due to its similarity to a virus, so unless you’ve had your shot of skepticism, it’s all too easy to become infected.

For Nine, the stakes were even higher with the launch of the estimated $22m program The Voice.  Nine took the unprecedented step of delaying the telecast of the 2012 TV WEEK Logies red carpet and award ceremony to screen The Voice at 6.30PM.

Seven retaliated by counter-scheduling the premiere of its hit program Dancing with the Stars, which also meant that several high profile Seven talent were unable to attend the Logies.

In the end, Nine was the winner – The Voice drawing an audience of 2.1m and providing a strong lead into the Logies, with the red carpet coverage peaking at 1.8m viewers, and the award ceremony drawing 1.3m.  Dancing with the Stars had a disappointing debut at just 1.07m viewers.

The campaign aims to strip back all the complex tricks of the marketing trade and in the words of Charles van Es, brand director of Newcastle Brown Ale “give it to them straight, just like their best mates would do”. This approach is based on the brand’s origins in Newcastle, England and the campaign celebrates the Geordie’s ability to take a joke and say things as they are – no spin. In taking this approach, the brand is loving itself – accepting its heritage and not pretending to be something it’s not, and we think the public will love them for it.

The campaign consists of TV, digital, outdoor, in-bar advertising, social and PR. Check out some of the creative we liked most.

The concept involved draping one side of the car entirely with LED lights, and mounting a camera on the other. Everything the camera saw was projected on to the LED’s creating the illusion that the car was transparent.

This is a big statement for Mercedes, who normally focuses on the profile of their cars, highlighting their aesthetics and associated status. Mercedes took a risk in making themselves invisible, but we think it has paid off.