Coffee Wars - Dunkin' vs. Starbucks

Starbucks announced they will stop serving Decaf after 12pm to its patrons. The world’s largest coffee chain, will stop continuously brewing decaffeinated coffee as part of a drive to waste less and save $400 million. Disadvantage to consumers who don't want caffeine in the afternoon. Advantage to the competition. In particular, Dunkin' Donuts.

After an ad that featured Rachel Ray in a Muslin scarf being pulled, Dunkin' Donuts found a way to redeem consumer loyalty via a slip in the economy. Dunkin' Donuts launched an online campaign that used a blind taste test to prove better than Starbucks. Now to follow the online campaign. A new print campaign with some clever copywriting (Click on the image to read the full text):

"We don't work around our schedule, we work around yours."

Every. Man's. Dream.

You definitely know it's Super Bowl time. Agencies are beginning to roll out the big ideas, and the majority tend to be quite entertaining. for the most part, I look forward to this around of super bowl ads that go on through out the course of the night. Of course, Budweiser and Miller Lite seeming always compete for the best ad of the night. But we can't forget about our imports now!

Heineken released this spot that plays on how women who LOVE to throw a house warming party and of course to showcase the new pad to all her friends. You take them to the one place your girlfriends are dying to see... the walk-in closet. Well guys have a similar agenda too.



That's right... Every. Man's. Dream.

What's G?

I couldn't figure out just what is so 'G' about this commercial. (I'll get to that in the moment.)



With the economy slowing, now is an opportune time for generating awareness on your brand. Pepsi who owns the majority of Gatorade is aiming to promote a new style for its flagship. With the help of TBWA/Chiat/Day, the drink will remain the same, but it has a new finesse, it is putting an attitude behind it, stepping up on the competition as the brand to drink.

The bottles will support a new label to the packaging. Representing the Large copy 'G' and the brands you know them have taken to new names to the likes of "Bring It" and "Be Tough".

The commercial gets your interest, but falls flat because we're left not knowing what the heck it is! the g in the commercial should stand for geez!!

I see that they want you to ask the question....What is G? But they did not execute the viral ability of the campagin. I found a YouTube channel, but nothing more of this besides an AdWeek article.

Update: Fellow Binger Laura, fellow blogger at BINGenuity sent me this Wall Street Journal article

Consumers are feeling the same way:

"The commercial is great, but it is frustrating when you don't know what they are trying to advertise."

So Relaxed

Due to the power outage, it occurred to me that I might have to move into a hotel to survive without power. But with the availability of hotels in the area, how would one like to lure me in, perhaps promoting the comfortability? Extended Stay Hotels and ad agency Toy, New York, do just that.



I guess to appeal to the those who think that fart jokes are still hilarious this would suit them, but this is quite for the flatulent humor. I would not want to stay in a bed or in fact a room that was being farted on, but I guess there could be worse...alot worse! Revert back to my previous post on cleanliness, if comfortability doesn't suit your Hotel needs.

For those suffering from the devastation of Ike, there is always hope. Thanks Laura for little amusement.

Tiger Performs First Miracle

Here's a funny viral video from EA Sports. About a year ago a YouTuber uploaded a video of a glitch in Tiger Woods 08. He was able to get Tiger to stand on top of a lake and drive the ball into the hole. In response, EA came out with this viral video to show that what the poster had claimed, is indeed true in real life. View the original video here.

Like a previous post, Calm Before the Storm, It's a clever way for advertisers to use social media sites that have become so popular for viral related content. The best marketing is that in which you can get the consumer involved and what a better way than to pick out a video to showcase a product and to ease into a pull market by having he consumer spread the word. The agency Wieden + Kennedy, Portland came up with the idea to create a video response and launched the ad on Youtube. As of Saturday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 900,000 times.



A little blasphemous. The company had concerns that the "Jesus shot" phrase used in the original YouTube video, as well as showing Woods walking on water, had the potential to offend some people. However, the feedback from consumers has been uniformly positive.

More than Meets the Eye

In a campaign to create more hype around USA Network's hit espionage show, “Burn Notice,” mailed out 14,000 “FYC” (For Your Consideration) press kits, printed in invisible ink. The elaborate kits, produced by TDA Advertising and Design, each have a slip-cover, 3-panel, hardcover kit holding a UV flashlight and the instructions:


Step 1: Use this flashlight to reveal hidden text.
Step 2: Deny you ever used this flashlight.


Across all three panels, no other words or images are visible, except under black light – at which point photographs of the lead actor and supporting actress, a list of six potential “Drama Series” Emmy nominations, and four press blurbs (e.g. “The show floats along on a spy’s handbook. Narration that sounds remarkably convincing.” – L.A. Times) come into view. Also, tucked into a slot are 4 DVDs with this season’s 12 episodes, plus written synopses.

The hour drama about an ex-spy runs Thursdays at 10PM EST on USA Network.

Great execution for this direct mail kit. Out-of-the-box thinking but practical for reading? Probably not, but will get the show some great buzz.

Summer of Sports

Because of the Summer Olympics and the success of my soccer seasons. I bring you a few sports theme posts today.

First goes to "the beautiful game". European football is at an all time high. My squad is back from a summer tournament where we placed second after finishing first in our division. Now it's time to improve, and what a better way to improve than to recruit.



Appearances aside, this deceptive team of over-aged and beer belly pub players prove their skills in this viral ad for Lucoazde Sport produced by agency M&C Saatchi, London.

Moral: Performance enhancing drugs can help you play like you are twenty again.

Stopping Leaks Better than a Plumber

A young actor with a rare talent bursts onto the scene. Huggies contracted JWT, New York for this promotion. It had to deliver a powerful message targeting moms where they spend a lot of their time...on the Internet.

Premise: The advertisement shows a father changing his son's diaper at a party. Everything in this room and even old dad gets soaking wet as soon as the diaper is off. The scenario repeats until the father is able to secure the diaper. "Huggies. Nothing stops leaks better," is the tagline at the end.



This original ad called "Geyser" aired several months ago. The popularity of the ad prompted JWT to create a "mockumentary" version, dubbed "Inside the Diaper."




Anyone with a baby boy can relate to a child and their uncontrollable urge. In order to engage moms and be able to convey a difficult message that typically compares a brand name to the "leading" brand. It's able to put a little comedy behind the natural wonders of old faithful.

They Say "Less is More"

Denver Water has a clever conservation campaign I have dubbed this campaign...CCC™. Agency Sukle Advertising & Design, (which by the way have an interesting 'temporary' site.) Having the idea of conserving water and using the minimum with the tag "Use Only What You Need."

First this boardless billboard, doesn't exactly get the conservation award, since plenty of electricity seems to be surging through it. Still, the idea is to save on water, the campaign's artistic design is in good display.



Unfortunately, I can't say the same about making park benches slightly uncomfortable. The idea and presentation of the ad is considerably good. But it leaves me to think that they really want the people of Denver to get healthier.



And to make this a little bit more humorous, a friendly reminder from your electric company, Eskom.



UPDATE:

I may have only captured the two billboards, but this campaign is brilliantly displayed here and here.

Commercial ad as well:

Inside a Google Video

This interesting outdoor campaign for Google Video Germany used a billboard imitating a real-life video player capturing the simple things in life. The tagline "Any Film You Can Imagine", is a simple message that intice people to search for videos and to upload their own videos.

The billboard has a google search bar at the top with a search phrase with the billboard placed somewhere in Germany where people might be doing that of which is in the search criteria and the bar below shows what looks like a video streaming.



It's not very clear if the campaign was launched before or after the YouTube, but the fact that the video embedded above is from YouTube tells a lot about Google Video's success. The campaign makes the point that online video presents life in all it randomness and that is what makes it a success with the crowds.

Calm Before the Storm

The quick-turnaround for a viral campaign is critical and it usually shows how strong brands can stay current with today's trends. Well not necessarily a trend in this case, but a strong gail of wind forcing a tree to fall to the streets was captured by amateur video. The falling tree almost hit a car. The agency, Colenso 99, took the original footage and recreated the scene of for a Jeep owner "Having fun out there."

99 Auckland explains;
"Last week saw some of the worst storms in recorded history to hit New Zealand and what defined this in the hearts and minds of New Zealanders was viral footage and News coverage of a falling tree almost hitting a car in Nelson, South Island. 99 Auckland thought about the Jeep brand proposition of 'Have fun out there' and what would happen if a Jeep was there? The original footage was sourced, and we recreated the scene of a Jeep owner doing just that, 'Having fun out there.' The viral was sent out a day after the news coverage aired, to maintain relevancy."



This would have been even better if they aired the ad on TV after the news the next day - but such quick media-buy is long gone isn't it?

Brother of the Bride

Humor and sincere. Hallmark icontinues their series of touching stories featuring greeting cards with “Brother of the Bride”, set at a wedding. Agency Leo Burnett created this spot.

In short, a young man, the brother of the bride, makes it clear through his continual conversational gaffes that he has little tact or accuracy. When he gets up to say a few words about his sister everyone is anxiously interested to hear what he’ll come out with.

But he’s taken the safe route of sharing the inspirational words from a Hallmark card. The ad is rescued from sentimentality by a humorous reference to the bride’s mother.

Forget the Glove Test

This girl and her tongue find out just how clean her hotel room really is. Extended Stay America uses this viral video, cleverly named "A Girl, Her Tongue and a Hotel Room." In it, a blonde woman steps into a hotel suite and begins to lick things. With the call to action an offering the URL extstay.com inked on her palm.



Call me a bit skeptical, but I find that I happen to like seeing how clean a hotel room really is with one of those flourescent black lights we typically saw on a local news feature. But Extended Stay America – and agency Mullen, seem to have captured the essence of what clean is for a hotel.

I can't seem to figure out if this is an ad for porn or for a hotel. Even the URL EXTSTAY sounds like ecstacy, so maybe in each room you get a cute blonde willing to lick every nook in your room.

I think the only medium this is good for is web/viral though. I can't even imagine what the parent organizations would do if they got a hold of this on network or even cable television.

Pen is Mightier than the Sword

Today's posts I found a couple new ad campaigns that take are drawn by the the ink of a pen. The first showing how vivid a pen can really influence choices you make and the second a more friendly turn to ....

The first video was created by TBWA France, ADWEEK's Global Agency of the Year in 2006, introduced this year, for the client Amnesty International, and directed by Zurich 29 (You might want to translate this page). This video touches on some very controversial issues and it really gets the consumer to want to act. It provides the emotional feel that gets the viewer in touch and that many people can relate to when contributing to charities.



This animated spot sends the message that a pen can be stronger than a sword, and we all have the power to save the abused victims by using our own voices, and signatures. A great piece, and a rich message. Talk about a life-saving signature. This was actually a second spot of the Amnesty Ink.

You can view the other spot, called Signature > HERE. This won a Cannes Gold Lion earlier this year.

The second in our series is a Nokia spot called Maps. In this video, the people use the Nokia Maps application on their Nokia phone to help them determine how to draw the map. This spot ran in the UK, with agency direction by Wieden+Kennedy.



It's best to say that "the pen is the tongue of the mind."

The Environmental Shoe

Adidas going green? Not quite...A recent ad campaign billboard in London, Adidas appears to be reaching out to the environmentally conscious type. The ad features an Adidas running shoe without typography or a logo on a billboard composed of vines, plants and foliage. The brand is well known for it's three stripe etching on the shoe that it's pretty easy to associate which brand it is. The message they are going for is clear, but only points in the right direction and is far from sincere.



Reports have come back that the vines are made of plastic. I got to say I was a little let down once I heard that...to find out that a beautiful ad that represents such a positive message is constructed of plastic that so happens to be polluting the world. Shame to hear that loss. Innovative idea nonetheless.

Source: Injoy Design

A Pennies Usefulness

Billboards today!

Most people won’t make the effort to bend over and pickup a penny from the street. Chevrolet tested this idea by creatively placing a 20 foot billboard in London and covering it with over 20,000 pennies.



The pennies were all plucked from the billboard in less than 30 minutes.

Chevrolet’s Les Turton said:
“There have been some great car adverts before, but none that has stopped traffic and actually put money back into the motorist’s pocket so this is certainly a first. We’re glad we’ve topped up lots of people’s wallets, purses and, in some cases, rucksacks, but it would have been nice for the billboard to last a little longer than 30 minutes.”

While the ad may have only been truly effective for 30 minutes, it will continue to catch eyes all over the internet for the next week or so. Don't you just love viral marketing!

Guinness Light Show

Today's featured content is from an Irish advertising agency IIBBDO with creative direction from Mal Stevenson.



Now doesn't that make you want a tall glass of Guinness. Oh goodness. It was hard to catch on what was going on in the video, but I think they could have captured this from the panoramic view that they used at the end of the video more vividly.