Ads we like: Sony Bravia paint spoof

Looking at that beautifully-shot anti-gun ad that we wrote about recently has reminded us of one of our favourite big-old-budget ads of recent times, the Sony Bravia paint slot. This spoof (see below) of the Bravia commercial makes us laugh every time. You can also see the original ad below if it’s slipped your mind.

The spoof:

The original ad:

Babelgum launches its first online film festival

Online TV network Babelgum has launched its first film festival with film-maker Spike Lee as an honorary judge.

The competition has six categories:

•    The Babelgum Looking for Genius Award – Awarded to new or emerging talent who display clear and outstanding achievement through direction, animation, writing and/or camera work.
•    The Babelgum Short Film Award — Awarded to the best short film (under 20 minutes) that presents a clear, concise and original vision using the short film genre.
•    The Babelgum Documentary Award – Awarded to the documentary that best presents its subject in a truthful and fair manner while being original and thought provoking.
•    The Babelgum Animation Award – Awarded to the film that best displays story and the craft of animation.
•    The Babelgum Social/Environment Award – Awarded to the best film that effectively addresses an issue impacting the world today.
•    The Babelgum Spot/Advertising Award – Awarded to the most creative advertising spot highlighting a certain product.

The contest is open to English-language films screened at international festivals between January 2007 and February 2008.  Submitted films will be shown on the Babelgum online channel where they can be rated by the public. The ten highest-rated films in each category will then go to a panel of judges and the top three films in each area will be passed to Spike Lee for the final decision. Winners will be announced in April 2008.

It is Lee’s second collaboration with Babelgum. Currently, his film ‘Jesus Children of America’ is available on the web-based channel. The short film, which was produced to benefit UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the Italian Development Cooperation, chronicles the life of a Brooklyn teenager with drug-addicted parents who discovers she is HIV-positive.

Anti-gun video for Choice FM is beautifully shot

We like the anti-gun campaign by ad agency AMV/BBDO for London radio station Choice FM. After a spate of shootings in the UK, the no-violence message needs to get out there. We are not sure that this beautifully-shot piece will convince hardheaded gangsters to hand in their pieces, but it looks fantastic.

MTV EMAs announce new user-generated show format

MTV Networks International has launched a new format for its European Music Awards by embracing user-generated content. The brand’s biggest experiential display in Europe is based this year in Munich, Germany and its winners will now largely be chosen by viewers. Consumers can also add extra nominations to the award categories online if they feel certain singers or bands have been overlooked.

The event will also feature a Sony Ericsson award called New Sounds of Music. MTV audiences in 18 markets will nominate their favourite up-and-coming artist through the MTV and Sony Ericsson websites. The 18 acts will then be whittled down to just three, who will be flown to Munich. On the day of the show, online and text voting will decide on a winner, who will perform at the event.

The event will be hosted by rapper Snoop Dogg and British singer Mika and American band Foo Fighters have already signed up to play.

The award categories for 2007 are:

• Album Of The Year*
• Headliner* – (Most Impressive Live Band of The Year)
• Most Addictive Track*- (Favourite Track of The Year)
• Inter Act* – (Band That Has Been The Most Interactive With Fans and Online)
• Band Of 2007*
• Solo Artist Of 2007*
• Ultimate Urban* – (Favourite RNB or Hip Hop Act)
• Rock Out* – (Favourite Rock or Alternative Act)
• New Sounds of Europe* – (The Ultimate European Breakthrough Act)
• Regional Award*
• Free Your Mind
• Video Star
• Artist’s Choice – (The Most Popular Act Chosen by Music Artists)

* Categories voted for by European audiences. Free Your Mind & Video Star awards chosen by MTV.

Our view: It’s interesting to see that ‘Inter Act’ award focusing on groups or artists that have done the most interactive work with fans. The ability to add nominations via the website is also a step in making the show much more relevant than ever before. It appears that the EMAs are also gradually integrating more online and mobile based content. Apparently, there will be even more mobile and online components to the show but MTV has not yet released that information. If you want us to ask MTV anything, let us know!

In-game ads are welcomed by majority of users?

Consumers are receptive to advertising messages placed within the games they play as long as they don’t intrude with the action, according to a survey of more than 3,500 people carried out by CNET Networks UK for the Internet Advertising Bureau in the UK.

The results

• Fifty-two per cent have seen an in-game advert in the past 12 months.

• Thirty-three per cent said they would ‘quite’ or ‘very likely’ to buy a product they had seen advertised while playing.

• Forty per cent of respondents said adverts added realism to a game.

• Two-thirds of people who had seen ads in a game reported that they felt positively towards the brand.

• More than a quarter of people (27%) do not consider interacting with a brand while playing a game – for example, drinking a can of Red Bull to increase the energy of a character – as advertising.

• Seventeen per cent do not perceive brand names that are shown in games as advertising. This highlights an uncertainty among gamers about what is advertising and what is placed simply to add realism.

• Seventy-three per cent of people do not have a negative opinion of in-game ads, provided that the placements are realistic, contextual to the game and non-interruptive to game-play.

• The majority (86%) of respondents said they would welcome an increase in advertising if it meant a reduction in the purchase price of a game.

• Just 14% of respondents said advertising spoils the gaming experience.

Reputation, reputation, reputation

Seventy per cent of broadcasting and telecoms companies have plans to tackle reputational damage in the event of a crisis, according to Aon’s Global Risk Management Survey 2007. Media companies cite potential reputational damage as their most serious threat.

However, 30% of media companies have no plans at all to respond to any crises that might emerge. This is of particular concern considering that many businesses now operate over a number of different platforms including online and mobile where they did not have a presence before.

Other top ten worries included: business interruption, third-party liability, distribution or supply-chain failure, market environment, regulation or legislation changes, failure to attract and retain staff, financial market risk , physical damage, mergers/acquisitions/restructures and failure of any disaster recovery plan.

Is reputational damage YOUR top worry? Let us know.

The Luxury Institute’s Top Ten Myths About Wealth And Luxury

The Luxury Institute has come up with the top 10 most popular myths of wealth and luxury. This is a topic of particular interest to us at Brand Strategy, as next month, we are running an exclusive event with Concetta Lanciaux, the veteran LVMH strategist on marketing luxury goods – click here to find out more about that.

The Luxury Institute Top Ten Myths About Wealth And Luxury

1. The wealthy made their money easily and spend their money easily

Most wealthy individuals spend far more hours working, embrace far more risk, and create far more value for society than their mainstream counterparts. Even today, for most, it still takes years of immense sacrifice to achieve wealth. Wealthy consumers are therefore very value conscious and discerning when they buy luxury goods and services. As a luxury provider, you need to recognize and acknowledge their achievements, deliver compelling emotional benefits, and position your
offer as a complete experience that delivers a fitting reward.

The decline of TV and rise of the internet – IBM global consumer research

The balance of power in communications and entertainment has shifted dramatically towards the individual consumer, away from media companies, according to new research into global consumer trends from IBM. The internet has also become a mainstream medium rivalling television for users’ attention and time.

Some of the key findings of the research, which surveyed 2,400 households across the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan, are:

General Trends

• Nineteen per cent stated spending six hours or more per day on personal internet usage versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing.

• Sixty-six per cent reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day versus 60% who reported the same levels of personal internet usage.

• An average 81% of consumers surveyed globally indicated they’ve watched or want to watch PC video.

• An average of 42% globally indicated they’ve watched or want to watch mobile video.

• Twenty-three per cent of respondents reported using a portable music service (e.g., iTunes)

• Seven per cent reported having a video content subscription for their mobile phones.

• Eleven per cent reported a PC-based music service.

• Eighteen per cent reported an online newspaper subscription.

Television Habits

• Twenty-four per cent of US respondents reported owning a digital video recorder in their home and watching at least 50% of television programming on replay.

• Surprisingly, 33% in the U.S. reported watching more television content than before the DVR.

• More than twice as many UK consumers surveyed use video on demand services than own a DVR, and less than a third of UK consumers have changed their overall TV consumption as a result of DVR ownership.

• In Australia, despite owning a DVR, most respondents prefer live television or replay less than 25 percent of their programming.

Online Content Trends

• Consumers are increasingly contributing to online video or social networking sites: nine percent of German and seven percent of U.S. respondents claim to have contributed to a user-generated content site.

• Twenty-six per cent of US respondents reported contributing to a social networking site. While the numbers were slightly less from other countries like the UK (20%) and Japan (nine per cent), they are also significant.

• Australia topped all countries surveyed with 36% contributing to social networking sites and nine per cent contributing to video content sites.

• Of those who contributed content, an average of 58% worldwide did so for recognition and community, not monetary gain.

Mobile Content Trends

• In the UK, nearly a third of users who watch mobile TV reduced their standard TV set viewing patterns as a result of new mobile device services. 18% said they reduced “normal” television by a little and another eight percent reduced “normal” television by a lot; four percent substituted television on their regular TV with their new device altogether.

• For respondents in Germany who had watched mobile video, 23% prefer to view user-generated content, and 21% prefer video trailers or promotions.

IBM also stopped young people on the streets of New York to ask them about whether they liked the internet or TV more. The video of the results is below:

Time Telling: an exclusive blog article

Serena Freeman, strategy director at branding consultancy Lambie-Nairn thinks brands need to rethink the importance of time. She writes her thoughts for us below in a special opinion piece for our blog readers:

“Time is people’s most valuable asset” is something we have all heard again and again. As people juggle their lives, homes, families, and their work the one thing they wish they had more of is time. We would argue that this statement is discriminatory, factually inaccurate and at its most dangerous in relation to brands.

We have an aging society where, according to the Office of National Statistics, more than 16% of the UK’s population is over the retirement age. This group will increase to 23% in the year 2031. These people have nothing but time. They plan their days in a leisurely way to maximise their time expenditure. So, it could be argued that the statement that time is people’s most valuable asset simply alienates older people. Could it even be discriminatory, and does it reinforce ageist marketing?

Call of the brand

With Tower Records going to the wall in the US last year and music retailers elsewhere continuing to post results riven with the negative impact of digital downloading, music retailers need a compelling strategy to woo consumers.

Ailing UK music giant HMV launches an overhaul of its brand and marketing communications this week in an attempt to stay relevant in today’s marketplace. Work by agency VentureThree includes a refreshed brand, a new strapline and a new advertising campaign. The strapline, ‘get closer’ is an attempt to tap into the emotion and passion that consumers feel towards their favourite music, film and games.

Everything from its website to its carrier bags is changing to ensure that it engages with customers in a more relevant way. Store formats will roll out from this week and a new social networking site is due to launch later in the year.

The brand’s iconic dog mascot logo, Nipper, will take on the role of a quality mark to communicate HMV’s heritage and expertise.