Archive for July 3rd, 2008

Sell out your pets, your family and friends! A YouTube contest launched this week by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners asks consumers to “Sell Out with Sprint” to promote the new Samsung Instinct touch phone.

The effort seeks the “greatest product-placement movie of all time” and offers $20 for the first 1,000 submissions that place the Apple iPhone rival in a home video — and the more obvious the product placement, the better.

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“We’re asking you to sell out Hollywood style, letting your integrity go for a cold hard cash,” said Christian Haas, group creative director at the San Francisco-based Omnicom shop.

The contest, which runs through Aug. 1, launched on Monday with a video that opens with a sweet image of a crawling baby girl. “Nothing is more precious than family moments. Except maybe 20 bucks,” explains the booming voiceover. At that point, a hand holding the new phone comes down smack in the middle of the frame. “This summer, turn your loved ones into cash with blatant product placement,” continues the narrator, as images of the phone invade footage of weddings, birthday parties are cuddly puppies at play.

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This week, Procter & Gamble’s Pantene shampoo released two commercials created by Grey Advertising that featured original music sourced from a user-generated contest held earlier this year at the MIDEM conference in Cannes.

The competition, which was overseen by Grey’s director of music, Josh Rabinowitz, stipulated the following entry criteria for the winning song: “a main-line, loved-by-all sound; makes women feel strong and empowered; immediately branded but never a jingle; works as an instrumental in varying lengths and formats; creatively interprets the brand message of ’shine’ and ‘let the best of you shine through.’”

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First, ABC asked viewers to “Start Here.” And now, NBC apparently wants America to “Chime In.”

With no advance fanfare, NBC late last month began tagging the end of many of its on-air promotional spots with the slogan “Chime In.” It’s an extension of an idea introduced in January, when the network began playing its famous G-E-C musical cue at the end of almost all of its in-house hype.

Surprisingly in this age of viral marketing, there’s little evidence of “Chime In” on the Internet. The slogan is nowhere to be found on NBC’s own Web site, nor are there any major online video campaigns supporting the slogan. (The eagle-eyed users of Wikipedia and the TV blog Lost Remote both have brief mentions of the tagline).

One possible clue to NBC’s intentions for “Chime in” might be in a video uploaded to Brightcove. It features videos of regular folks offering their own take on the NBC chimes. While the videos look homemade, they were actually shot by NBC staffers, a representative for the network said.

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He is known for his fiery temper, genius in the kitchen and his refusal to compromise on quality.

Which was why it was strange to see the enfant terrible of British cooking, Marco Pierre White resort to using stock cubes to make his culinary creations on last night’s Great British Feast on ITV.

The idea behind the show was that Pierre White would travel the length of the country to track down the best of British produce to create the eponymous meal that would be served to 200 members of the public.

But while home chefs battle to recreate an authentic bubbling stock using carrots, celery and onions Michelin-starred chef had a far simpler method.
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EA’s “The Sims 2″ has created some very neat branding opportunities. About a year ago, EA released a “stuff pack” — a collection of items that can be imported into the game –  that were modeled and branded after clothing retailer  H&M . Just this past week, EA released another stuff pack for  Ikea, the well-known Swedish furniture company (the one with the meatballs). In a word, this is brilliant. It is also one of the best placements of in-game advertising I have ever seen. The “Sims” series has been one of the most successful games ever, with the 100 millionth copy sold in April of this year. It’s crossed the gender gap, addicting girls as well as guys. So with the infrastructure and demographics already in place, this was a fairly safe placement, and will likely bear Ikea nothing but good things.

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Hollywood’s latest labor cliffhanger will dangle unsettled for at least several more days.

The major film studios and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) met on Wednesday to discuss the “final” contract offer presented to the union earlier this week, just before their old labor pact expired, but the session ended inconclusively.

In brief, low-key statements, the two sides said their four-hour meeting amounted to a question-and-answer session about the 43-page proposal issued by the studios when long-stalled talks broke off on Monday.

“SAG asked for more time to study our final offer and indicated it will contact the producers on Monday,” said the studios’ bargaining agent, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

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The U.K.’s Takeover Panel ruled today that London-based agency holding company WPP Group has until July 9 to make a firm offer for market research group Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) or announce that no offer is forthcoming.

The ruling came almost two months after WPP made two offers for TNS, both combinations of cash and stock, after TNS and German research firm GfK announced plans to merge. Both the WPP bids were rejected as too low by TNS management.

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The search for a fast and agile getaway car for the latest edition of Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy video game led to the MINI Cooper S being featured in the game’s adrenaline-pumping driving sequences. Developed by High Moon Studios for Sierra Entertainment, a global division of Vivendi Games, the highly anticipated video game for the Playstation 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system made its worldwide debut earlier this month.

Based on Ludlum’s novels and the trilogy of blockbuster films, The Bourne Conspiracy video game allows players to take on the persona of superspy and trained assassin Jason Bourne and engage in a variety of adventures in espionage - from hand-to-hand combat, to dramatic evasions and escapes, to high-speed pursuit in a Chili Red MINI Cooper S.

“The role of the MINI Cooper S in The Bourne Conspiracy game is a great fit for the MINI brand. As the featured vehicle and Bourne’s getaway car, this integration allows us to demonstrate the agility and performance that’s inherent in the full line of MINI vehicles,” said Kate Alini, MINI Marketing Communications manager. “The association with The Bourne Conspiracy game and the additional promotional opportunities we’ve received will help us reach the male demographic in a powerful, organic way.”

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A few weeks ago a press release landed in my inbox, promoting Bebo’s next online drama. According to the PR, it will be set amongst the real-life workings of Universal Music UK’s west London headquarters. The producers will use cameos of real life Universal artists to bring “additional authenticity” - and some well targeted promotion for the artists, no doubt - to the show.

Financing for the project follows “Bebo’s proven model of brand integration“. Sony Ericsson is sponsoring, so “we can expect to see some clever references that integrate the brand or its other properties in to the show - whether it’s Sam blagging his way out to an Ibiza Rocks with Sony Ericsson gig or simply winding his boss up with mobile phone-related pranks.”

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Toys R Us is teaming up with LucasFilm for an in-store promotion to hype up the upcoming release of the CG-animated movie “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

More than 225 Toys R Us stores nationwide will open at midnight on July 26 to give “Star Wars” fans the first chance to buy toys from the new collection. The retailer has erected digital clocks in its 585 stores to tick down the minutes it will begin selling the movie-theme toys.

The company is also staging two big celebrations tied to toy-selling event, one at the Toys R Us store in New York City’s Times Square and the other in Mission Bay in San Diego. There, movie enthusiasts can dress as their favorite characters and take part in a Cloned Costume Contest. Attendees can also participate in movie-themed trivia and games win prizes.

Customers who buy “Star Wars” merchandise at Toys R Us stores during the midnight events will receive special gifts, including a holographic General Grievous action figure from Hasbro or a Lego reversible poster.

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