The Ghost Man – where the beat, discrete and elite come to talk about sheet.


Wendy’s Chipotle Explosion
March 24, 2008, 10:58 am
Filed under: Blogs, Viral | Tags: , , ,

Per AdRants… what are your thoughts?

 In case you haven’t seen it (though it’s a year old so maybe you have), here’s the “banneed” Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich commercial it’s creator claims he created but was not approved by the client. He says Wendy’s has nothing to do with it but we’re sure they’re quietly smiling over the videos growing popularity.

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Discuss the ad…in the ad?
February 12, 2008, 6:41 pm
Filed under: Media, Viral | Tags: ,

Below is an article about a company that is adding a place for comments, ratings, basically blog activity before and after an ad you will find online.  Take a look…

Chitika Launches Ad Unit with Live-In Social Features


The new unit

Blog advertising company Chitika has released a viral branding unit designed to get people talking about brands right inside the ad.

The unit acts as a vessel for banner ads or video. Components include tabs for commenting on the brand or product, and the ability to rate and share opinions across social networks of choice.

Additionally, the unit has targeting capabilities that perform well at the site, category and keyword levels.

Chitika provides detailed analytics reports that summarize metrics like impressions, clicks, number of comments and votes.

View a sample of the ad here.
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Mobile Webisodes
January 25, 2008, 6:10 pm
Filed under: Interesting, Viral
Attention Span Media Debuts ‘Dorm Life’ Webisode Series
by Tameka Kee, Thursday, Jan 24, 2008 8:15 AM ET
ATTENTION SPAN MEDIA IS SET to launch “Dorm Life,” a Web-based series that chronicles the lives of 10 college students all living on the same floor. Starting the week of Feb. 4, the creative and production studio will release four episodes of “Dorm Life” at www.dorm-life.com –with new four- to-five-minute clips rolling out each week.

 

In addition to the Webisodes, viewers will find new content posted to the Web site every weekday, including photos, character vignettes recorded via webcam, and items like thumb-tacked flyers–as the site is set up to mimic a corkboard in a college dorm. Users can also create profiles and post messages to discussion boards, as well as interact with the characters.

“We included the webcam clips and social networking implementations because we wanted to build an experience that went beyond just the 20-episode show,” said Brian Singleton, creative producer for Attention Span Media. “You can’t just take TV content and throw it online, so we brought all of those things into the creative process from the beginning.” Singleton said that the characters have presences on Facebook and MySpace, in addition to their “home” on the site.

“Dorm Life” is the first major effort to come out of Los Angeles-based Attention Span Media, the brainchild of Emmy Award-winning TV and film producers Garrett Law, A.J. Lewis and Peter White. In addition to its own content, the studio’s team of writers, directors and other creatives also develops content for online and mobile portals like The Huffington Post and MoGreet.

Law, who serves as Attention Span Media’s COO, says that the studio has also been in talks with interactive agencies for the development of content that integrates specific brand messages. The “Dorm Life” series, for example, is monetized through banner and Flash ads on the site, as well as an occasional few seconds of pre-roll video in the webcam vignettes. Still, Law said that the balance between ads and content–particularly short-form video on the Web or via phone–is a delicate one.

Singleton agreed. “The target demo for ‘Dorm Life’ is pretty ad-savvy, so they know when people are throwing ads in their face. The most important thing is to include ads in a way that doesn’t detract from the user experience,” he said.

The studio’s next effort is for MoGreet, a mobile video messaging currently in stealth mode, which Law says will have a wider demographic and demonstrate Attention Span Media’s content development range. “Mobile is an altogether different medium for production, because the medium dictates things like how you film, how you frame the characters, and the length of the clips.” Law said. “You have to have the writers and directors and marketing talent to be able to pull it off successfully. And we do.”
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Did y’all know about this?
December 3, 2007, 11:53 am
Filed under: Interesting, Viral

http://www.viralvideochart.com/ 

I’d never even heard of this, but it’s pretty awesome.  It doesn’t look very comprehensive, though…Not sure how they determine something’s “viral-ability.”  It may be explained somewhere on the page, but it’s Monday and I don’t feel like digging around for info right now…

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Zero Tolerance Policy: Coca Cola
November 16, 2007, 1:36 pm
Filed under: Interesting, PR, Viral, new media | Tags: , , ,

The Claim Letter

What do you do when your product branches out into many different varieties: Diet, Caffiene Free, Lime and now Zero!?!?  Coke Zero is a product that claims all the taste of the original Coca-Cola and zero the calories.  How dare they, says Coke!  In fact, they are so heated they hired a law firm “Covet & Yourminy”.  Months ago, as an “in the know” marketer, I came across this campaign and decided that I, too, would like a chunk of this law suit.

Two days ago I got my payout.  A sweet coozy and a coupon. 

The coozy front
The coozy back and coupon

It’s quite the marketing campaign.  I think it’s great.  It’s funny, informative, and actually calls me to action (I want to try a Coke Zero!).  And even if I didnt’ want to pay— they gave me a coupon for a free one!

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The NeverEnding Web Site……………..
November 8, 2007, 10:59 am
Filed under: Interesting, Media, Played Out, Viral | Tags: , , , ,

Neverending BeeFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

This campaign is really cool.  I loved the TV spots.  The web site is innovative and definitely fun to navigate.  However I think that Orange UK, the cell phone provider who is offering “pay as you go” cell phone services and unlimited texts may have gone a bit overboard with the campaign.  I spent about five whole minutes trying to scroll down to the bottom of the page.  It is, in fact neverending (at least for people who don’t have actual work to do from 9-5).  Cool thing: there are Easter Eggs hidden with prizes such as free cell phone chargers if you have the patience to search.

I’m all for character advertising, but with ad campaigns such as the Gecco for Geico and the Cavemen for something… I can’t even remember while I’m typing this and now I’ve lost my train of thought!  These characters have created such a buzz that, to me, it’s insufferable. I think that the message may be getting lost in the medium. 

Thoughts? 

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