Social Media
Lights Out, Inspiration On
Oreo’s Blackout Tweet
When the lights went out—and the game stopped—during the 2013 Super Bowl, 108 million viewers were left waiting to be entertained. Oreo and agency 360i filled the vacuum with a timely tweet encouraging followers to “dunk in the dark.” The stroke of genius—on the heels of the brand serving up rapid-fire, topical content in its “Daily Twist” campaign—ended up delivering a textbook example of real-time marketing, one that has yet to be replicated by another marketer in such a big way (though certainly not for lack of trying).
Mobile
No More of That Annoying Little 'X'
Touchscreen Innovations, by SoMo Audience Corp.
Nobody wants to be sent to a website on his mobile device by accidentally clicking on a touchscreen ad, nor do brands want to pay for that unintentional visit. It's a big problem—some 40 percent of clicks on ads via touchscreen are accidental or fraudulent. Technology from Swipe Advertising makes it possible to simply swipe past an ad as opposed to playing hit-or-miss with that tiny, annoying little "x."
Digital Publishing
A Crystal Ball For What's Going Viral
Ars Technica's The Accelerator
Every publisher and brand wants people to see its ads, but which articles will attract eyes seems impossible to predict. To capitalize on unexpected surges in traffic around breaking stories, Condé Nast's Ars Technica built The Accelerator, a logarithm-driven dashboard that predicts when stories are about to go viral, giving marketers a chance to jump on the bandwagon before traffic peaks. The net result: Better targeting for better impressions.
Tablet Media
Conan Goes Wall-to-Wall
TBS' Team Coco App
You're sitting down to watch late-night funnyman Conan O’Brien—but it could be even more fun. Just reach for your tablet, point the Team Coco app at your TV screen and hit the sync button. Up comes more Conan on a second screen, featuring content like behind-the-scenes photos of guests, trivia and tweetable clips and quotes, all automatically matched to what’s happening on the first screen. Brought to us by Turner Broadcasting and sponsor AT&T, because maybe, just maybe there’s never such a thing as too much Conan.
App Development
A Hi-Tech Makeover for Sticky Notes
Post-it PopNotes
To help Post-it reach younger consumers, agency Modern Climate reimagined the product for a smartphone-fueled world, creating a portable tool enabling users to leave digital notes for themselves and others anywhere in the world—complete with features like location-based reminders and functionality for ridiculous doodles. While the digital notes may still pile up, the good news for wary Luddites is that at least they won’t slip off your computer screen and into the wastebasket, lost forever.
Web Video
A New perspective on One of History's Scariest Moments
Clouds Over Cuba
For 13 days in October 1962, the world came terrifyingly close to nuclear war. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, the JFK Presidential Library and The Martin Agency created an online documentary that lets viewers navigate video interviews with expert historians as well as primary source documents from the era, including recordings of President John F. Kennedy's meetings with national security advisors during the international standoff. To drive the sobering point of the episode home, Clouds Over Cuba also imagines an alternate ending with four fictional characters looking back at a world where nuclear war did happen—as if the mere possibility weren’t frightening enough.
Ad Technology
Reflecting The Future
BMW i Window Display
To preview BMW's line of electric vehicles, the agency kbs+ turned a street-level window display on the Avenue of the Americas in New York into a high-tech billboard, using motion-tracking and projection tools to mirror passing cars alongside virtual versions of the brand’s new models. While touting a pseudo-dystopian future where every car on the road is a BMW i vehicle, it also imagines a world anybody can appreciate—one where drivers save on gas and help protect the environment at the same time.
Mentoring
GE’s Lightbulb Moment
The GE Incubator
There’s no shortage of nervy entrepreneurs with ideas out there, but as a global brand like General Electric knows all too well, all the innovation in the world won’t amount to anything without the mentorship and resources to bring it to market. In partnership with OMD, GE created a startup incubator, a 10-week program that walked 16 young entrepreneurs through the launch of seven enterprises, from concept to finished product. The program not only supported what was dubbed “the next generation of digital talent” but also served as a bridge between young talent and the business establishment, enriching both sides by fostering open dialogue. An added incentive: a $10,000 cash prize to the most-developed startup idea.
Product Development
Nike Shapes Workout of Tomorrow
Nike+ FuelBand
How did we ever get into shape before mobile technology made it so easy to track our progress? The quantified-self movement is gaining speed, and Nike+ FuelBand is helping to take it mainstream. Agency R/GA helped the world's largest sportswear brand build its personal fitness monitor, designing the bracelet’s user experience top to bottom, complete with dynamic charts and graphs illustrating a runner’s high points. A flashy cartoon character called "Fuelie" cheers on users.
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Marketing & Advertising | Media | Best Practices
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