POST DIGITAL

ON: A Thought For The Day

That life is worth living is the essential message and assurance of all art.
—Herman Hesse

ON: Mad Men

Smoke filled rooms, sexist behavior and print advertising never seemed so sexy.  Mad Men is set in 1960s New York.  The sexy, stylized drama is a dynamic way of viewing the golden age of advertising as well as lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.

Who knew that the ego-driven world we live in here on Mad Ave would make for some of the best TV out there?  I am not surprised that it would... I am just surprised that it took so long to create a show about the people who have made the art of the idea that sells come to life in a sophisticated way. 

If you have not seen it, see it.  If you have chosen not to watch, I would recommend that you take a peak as the art direction alone is something to laud and aspire to. 

For many of us it provides great insight to see how far we have come and how far we have to go.   So who is Don Draper?  His character is rich, similar to Tony Soprano, he is written in a way that makes the sociopath likable.

Related posts:

• Check out Ad Age's ode to the show at http://www.adage-360media.com/adage360/madmen
• Boston Globe - It all adds up for 'Mad Men'

Season two premieres next Sunday on AMC. (just enough time to cram in on iTunes of via DVD)

ON: Milk Love

I was cruising creativity mag online when I stumbled on to the mouse looking for milk ad in the corner of the page. What appeared to be a repost-able ad fueled my click.  At first I thought I could copy and paste the code but in an attempt to do that I was taken to new "Got Milk" campaign site.

For those of you who live outside the US (and for those in the US who have lived under a rock since 1993) the Got Milk? slogan  is an American advertising campaign encouraging the purchase of cow's milk, which was created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 and later licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers. The campaign is credited with putting life back into milk sales nationwide after a 20-year slump.

Since I happen to love milk, actually, I live for it in a way that makes for constant fodder by my children. Some would say it was weird that in the summer i drink it with ice. (its a Texas thing) In the winter I warm it with a side of cold girl scout cookies.  So when I clicked through I was looking for a new spin on the "Got Milk" site.  The thirst for something new was quenched when I saw that the site takes milk passions sells them as benefits to adding the healthy drink to your diet.   

The site's design and punctual animation combined copy gave the site a teen's tone of voice.  The short hand copy for the navigation made the site engaging and relevant for people with so many other beverage options.  As an adult reading it gave me a new way to talk about a commodity like milk to my teens. 

It simply made Milk cool again!

Check out the site at http://www.gotmilk.com

I was so taken by the site's copy and design that I completely forgot that I could not copy and paste the ad here on the blog.  The fact I could not put the ad here is merely a  missed opportunity for further message distribution / word of mouth amongst a group of consumers who has no problem sharing something good like a glass of milk.

ON: NIKEFootball's Widget Launch

"NIKE, AKQA and MindShare Partner to Change Widget Advertising For Good" was the headline of the press release that I received in my ON: Inbox last week.  While it peaked my interest it also gave me pause and reminded me that "change begets more change".  Widgets are not a new change for consumers.  What has changed is our use of them as an easy way to distribute content for brands by sharing the content and functionally in them with our communities.  the brilliant marketers at NIKEFootball know that the brand site, at launch, is a place for consumers to fall in love and share. 

In an attempt to deliver on of the largest video widget campaigns ever, the European Soccer Championship, Eyeblaster, NIKE, AKQA and Mindshare worked together to extend the reach of NIKE branded football films found on its groundbreaking NIKEFootball website.

NIKEFootball’s video widget campaign moved across more than 10 countries, revolutionizing the way any brand has ever used ad serving technology. The campaign uses bought/paid media combined with Nike Media (ie sites, banners and applications) to inspire earned / consumer generated media across the globe.

Here is the lift from the press propaganda sheet:
Eyeblaster, home of the world’s most innovative integrated digital marketing solutions has been selected by global advertising agency AKQA and worldwide media agency network MindShare to serve and measure innovative branding video widgets for NIKE across 10 countries.

As part of a multi-faceted campaign that crosses multiple borders, the widgets leverage Eyeblaster’s digital expertise and technology to enhance user experience and brand integration for one of the most well-known brands on the planet.

“We’re excited to launch one of the largest global video widget campaigns ever,” said Mike Cookson, content and media director at Nike EMEA. “AKQA’s creative ability, MindShare’s leading distribution strategy and Eyeblaster’s targeting technology is enabling Nike to distribute content in ever-smarter ways.”

NIKE’s new campaign uses ad-unit content distribution (ACD) to extend the reach of NIKE branded football films found on its groundbreaking NIKEFootball website. AKQA designed the NIKE widget to showcase video using well known sporting and media celebrities to deliver NIKE branded content directly from a video banner ad to social networks, homepages, blogs, etc.

“NIKE’s new campaign breaks the traditional online advertising model,” said Chris Hancock of AKQA. “We wanted to invent a way to push content out to users. Using Eyeblaster, we designed a campaign that uses advertising space on websites as a channel to distribute video from a site in conjunction with the added ability for consumers to ‘grab’ the content.”
“The widget represents fresh thinking that adds value to consumers' experiences of the brand.  It allows us to sustain a 3-way dialogue between Nike and consumers and amongst themselves, throughout the campaign and beyond, by continually refreshing our messaging and the functionality of the widget,” added Hani Mahdi, account director at MindShare WorldWide.

To maximize ad spend and add a viral aspect to the campaign, AKQA integrated seeding technology with the video widget. The seeding technology is powered by Gigya in cooperation with Eyeblaster. Users can “grab” the widget from the website they are looking at and install it on their social networking page. This opens a direct, permanent communication channel with users where NIKE can update video content at anytime.

“NIKEFootball’s new widget campaign revolutionizes the way any brand has ever used ad serving technology,” said Gal Trifon, CEO and co-founder of Eyeblaster. “Eyeblaster makes it possible to fully execute MindShare’s and AKQA’s creative strategy and we are confident that the campaign will generate great results.”

The campaign is being served and measured using Eyeblaster’s Ad Campaign Manager (ACM) platform. With ACM, AKQA and Nike can access data consolidation and manage geo targeting, dynamic content and global distribution from one platform.

This does not feel new, but it sure feels big.  Perhaps the change they speak of is when a big brand like Nike pushes the limits on content and distribution perhaps it will inspire other categories to follow suit with relevant content that will inspire brand love.

If this is the LARGEST WIDGET LAUNCH EVER - Does anyone know which widget sharing platform they used?  I scrubbed the code and it looks like Gigya has done it one more time!  It just seemed highly unlikely that they would re-invent that wheel at the brand's expense.

ON: Kawasaki's Language of Motorsport Love

Dynamic Flash, Actionscript 3.0, Limelight Streaming video Technologies, Ajax, XML Data Feeds make up the sweet sensation that is one of the most rewarding product sites I have seen in a long time.  The Kawasaki Teryx RUV vehicle site is so stellar that it represents both an awareness and conversion site.

The artful influence of the experence designers at Fuse Interactive have launched the New Teryx RUV vehicle site to a wide ranging demographic - community in the motor sports world with a year long feature rich site.  Check out the Terrain section with Hank Williams 3, yes that's right.. Grandson of the late Hank
Williams,  country music legend.

After trading a few emails with CEO and Exec. Creative Director of Fuse Interactive, Stefan Drust  writes "Another nice feature is we worked with SpeedTV on a 13 week 22 minute short movie about the Teryx and it's capabilities, we then were able to leverage the content from the TV into our site. So overall the goal of reaching into the hearts of the consumer at the riding level only helps us better understand the consumer and truly provide potential Kawasaki customers 360 degree experiential marketing.We have linked our online marketing efforts with the TV as well as with the In-store POP."

The site's tone and design reaches out and holds the heart of the heart land of America which is the community which are the core evangelists of this category. The site is rich with content that is relevant to the brand as well as the lifestyle of its core consumer target.  The question I have is why have they not enabled the ease of consumer conversation by widgetizing every piece of content for social media.  With  criticism aside this is yet another stellar creation from Fuse Interactive 

ON: MySpace Is For Everyone

In a world where MySpace has become a mass market communications platform even Jesus has a MySpace page

Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/isthisjesus

ON: The New MySpace Player

MySpace sports a new player. The Dark Knight in HD

The interaction design seems to be activated on the backbone of an AS3 framework.  The new MySpace player now takes on YouTube with a flash full-screen mode, a related videos menu, skinning, ad and localization support.  My favorite part was the HD video feature.  An no good player would be worth a thing with about the wigetization of its sharing platform.  Now I just wish MySpace would make it easy for me to install their movies across all social networking platforms.

ON: Flickr Related Tag Browser

The design and display of information is not new but the Flickr Related Tag Browser lets you surf Flickr's 'tag space'. Flickr tags are user generated keywords used to classify images. When you type in a tag, each tag has a list of 'related' tags, based on clustered usage analysis.

Check out how AirTight has adapted the Flickr API.

Check it out at http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/related_tag_browser/app/

ON: Stride's Hook Up with Traveling Matt

Where is Matt today?  Stride and Matt are at it again. Look for the Stride credit at the end.  Imagine a client giving up so much creative control that all they want is a small logo.  Matt is not wearing Stride gear or chewing Stride. 

Can anyone tell me if the 4.8 million views are translating to more gum sold in their target demo?  I guess a few plane tickets and the cost of a web site seem a small price to pay for a little awareness.

Get the Advertising Age version of the story >>

ON: Trippin' Back To Max's

Do you guys remember Max' Kansas City???  For those of you that did not frequent NYC in the 70's, Max's was an amazing concert venue that the locals frequented and rubbed shoulders and asses with icons of music, fashion, art and literature.  When the local talent collided with the Icons what you got was fantastic forms of  debauchery.

Like CBGB's, and Studio 54  the doors may have closed but the legend lives on!  Elliott Azrak, the current owner of Max's artistic brand license, has resurrected its legacy via a handful of colorful, Warhol-styled posters on its homepage.  Check it out at http://www.maxskansascity.com 

What I love about this site is that it capture the lore of what once was...  Check out the link to the different David Bowie "Ziggy Stardust" poster where one gets a rich narrative of Bowie's days at Max's.  Catch the the rare footage of a 1973 club performance from a young Bruce Springsteen.  I think the simple yet beautifully designed navigation gets visitors to scan galleries of images featuring the famous peeps who dawned both the "Front Room" and the now notorious "Back Room" of Max's.

Check out the nods to Aerosmith and their tie to the Guitar Hero game which features Max's Kansas City as the performance space.

Check out this sweet site at http://www.maxskansascity.com