Snuggie gets some free airtime

The Snuggie is getting some pretty solid airtime courtesy of Subaru and Weezer. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess Christmas sales of the Snuggie will be the determining factor.

Subaru Vs. Snuggie

Weezer Snuggie Infomercial

Moms Against Climate Change – “Demonstration”

YouTube – Moms Against Climate Change – “Demonstration”

Great video portraying child protesters in the fight against climate change.

Client: Environmental Defense Canada and ForestEthics
Agency: Zig (probono)
Director: Shelley Lewis of Suneeva Films

WordPress Integrates Twitter Serving

WordPress.com has finally incorporated automatic twitter posting. Sweet.

Sony’s Soundville

Check out the new Sony spot. Interesting take on sound experiences and how it plays in our lives as humans. I’m not exactly sure if I completely get it. I mean, I get that unique sound experiences are a part of everyday life, but what does imposing certain sounds on others have to do with this experience?
Anyway, it’s a nice spot. The filming is well done. The location is beaut. And the sound… well it’s alright too.

Alberta Credit Union Makes Springwise List

Local credit union, Servus, made the coveted Springwise.com list this month for their Feel Good Ripple campaign. The campaign aims to give everyday Albertans an opportunity to pay-it-forward by giving them $10 cash to to something good with it. Whether it’s to buy the lineup at Starbucks a coffee (ok maybe just the person behind you depending on what they get), buying someone flowers, or donating it to the local food bank, Servus just wants you to feel good about it and pass it on. The credit union plans to give out a total of $200,000.00 plus a chance for someone to win $500 to give to a charity of their choice. One simply needs to visit the http://feelgoodripple.ca/ website and describe their good deed to be entered for the contest.

Although done before (in fact many times both in the US and in Canada), the pay-it-forward theme is just as fresh then as it is now. Charity never seems to go out of style!

Aside: Anyone know what agency Servus is working with?

Getting the word out

Spring Creek, a real estate development company in Canmore Alberta, has released the premier edition of “Your Canmore” – a paper-magazine about living in Canmore, the lifestyle, local food and attractions, and of course about the Spring Creek development.

I found this publication in the local Starbucks as a free magazine. All I can say is… brilliant!

The design is modern and lovely. The content is relevant and fresh. The imagery is sleek and sexy. All in all, it’s a great way to provide the community something that is useful, while also promoting the heck out of the development (three full page ads and a few articles)

I think what’s great about this is that the developers will likely continue to build the magazine and will probably sell some homes while they’re at it. It’s something a lot of companies and organizations should consider when thinking about how to reach their target market without continually bombarding them with advertising.

Danica Patrick on Twitter

Danica Patrick is (apparently) the first ever to have a Twitter feed in conjunction with a full sponsor – Tissot.
http://twitter.com/danicapatrick

How many more celebs are going to go this route? I’m sure the numbers will start to spike. It’s a no brainer for companies who are already affiliated with a celeb to partner with them on the fastest growing social networking site in the world today.

Question is, does this take away from the personalization of the celeb who’s tweeting? As a follower, am I going to get tired of seeing this? Probably. Do I care? Nope.

Is this the start of “Twitter-tising”? I think we started seeing that a long time ago.

(thanks to @mhannahp for the vine)

New, sexier Bucarsrv.com

Check it out… the new, the sexier, bucarsrv.com!

Worked on this beauty with a great team here at Mosaic Studios. Late nights and endless discussions are completely worth it when it produces great results.

Check out the demo video that Mosaic also produced.

David

Stimulant, and Seth on TED

Some interesting tidbits leading into the long weekend…

A (new?) site dedicated to Canadian ad creative. It’s produced by Strategy magazine’s Brunico Communications. Keep it in your favourites for frequent visits.
http://www.stimulantonline.ca/

Also, when you have 17 minutes (lunch perhaps?) check out Seth Godin’s TED talk on why tribes have become the most important change agent out there today. “It’s tribes, not money, not factories, that can change our world,” Seth says. “Not because you’ve forced them… but because they’ve wanted to connect.” It’s also about telling a story about yourself, your product, your offering, and letting it spread and create a movement and being a leader. Think social media marketing…
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html

Links to some of Seth’s references (sorry didn’t get them all):
Al Gore: http://www.algore.com/
Amazon’s Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Generation/dp/B00154JDAI/ref=amb_link_84306891_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0XPZ77ESDN7TVZPXEN44&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=476812931&pf_rd_i=133141011
Diane Hatz Meatrix: http://www.themeatrix.com/
Toms Shoes: http://cdn2.tomsshoes.com/default28.htm
Red Maxwell: http://www.squidoo.com/redmaxwell

Have a great Friday!
David

Tuscany, Calgary Dog Parks

What’s up with the angry residents in Tuscany, Calgary. I saw a Letter to the Editor in the Tuscany Sun complaining about all the dogs that are off leash in Tuscany. They have even resorted to calling the bylaw officers every time they see a dog off leash. Pathetic!

Well, if there were more readily available off leash dog parks in one of the largest communities in Calgary, perhaps we wouldn’t have a problem. AND, if the owners of the dogs had a better handle on the dog’s actions, picked up after them and basically acted as responsible dogs owners should, we could all get along.

I’m a dog owner. I’ll be the first to say that I let my dog off leash ALL the time in Tuscany. But I also am very responsible – so is my wife – at making sure my dog, Londyn, is behaving, not running up to people, not running away, not defecating everywhere, not being a nuisance.

Actually, I’ve never run into a badly behaving dog off leash in Tuscany. In fact, it’s the dogs that are ON leash that seem to be badly behaved.

Solutions: 1) angry residents need to stop labeling all dog owners as bad dog owners. 2) that the city/community needs more dog parks in Tuscany where dogs can get the exercise they need. 3) People need to just stop complaining about all those nice dogs that are off leash. There’s a reason they’re off leash. It’s because they’re GOOD dogs.

Harry Rosen and Social Media

When we look at corporate blogging, many have approached this amazing beast in an interesting way. Some companies have touted themselves and their products beyond consumer recognition. Some have created a completely unidentifiable messages which blurs their marketing; often to the detriment of the identity of their brand.

Some, however have taken the corporate blogging sphere and created something customers can relate to, learn from and that actually integrates their product offering into the message. One such example is the new Harry Rosen Blog - The New Confidence

(http://thenewconfidence.squarespace.com/)

The New Confidence Blog is, what I think, a nice blend of retailing, branding, storytelling and educating (here, in the form of fashion advice for Men; and dare I say we do need it!). The most recent post is a Q&A from a gentlemen we all know well, Rob Guenette, now CEO of Taxi Canada. David Ogilvy says that “testimonial commercials are almost always successful – if you make them credible.” I think in this case, an endorsement from Mr. Guenette hits this spot on. In his interview, Rob talks about making his mark in the Toronto business scene, his foray’s in creating brand experiences for clients, his comments on the economic state of the world, and of course, how a well tailored suit is really important to be a business leader.

Lower in the Blog is a short 1 min. video (also part of a series) from Harry Rosen CEO, Larry Rosen. He speaks to our own personal brands and how “it’s the wrong moment to let your attention wonder. You need to look like a leader. The impression you create is more important now than it was a year ago when we all had the wind at our backs.” An interesting message in times like these.

My only beef with this so far is that all of these “leaders” are Toronto-based, which represents only a portion of Harry’s total market. Maybe they should be looking out West for a few “leaders” of our own.

David

Another wicked music festival that ISN’T in Alberta

Thought I would share with you what looks like a wicked awesome music festival in Gorge Washington: http://www.sasquatchfestival.com/

Again, not in Alberta. Nooooo. Why would we have a wicked awesome music festival right here in the economic heartland of Canada? Good grief.

The Sliding House

Seriously cool. Brilliant, really.

T-mobile does improveverywhere

Ever seen Improv Everywhere? (Click Here)
T-Mobile new campaign does a nice job at taking a stab:

Advertising on my Coffee? Hmmmm…

Have a look. It’s a brilliant example of innovative advertising, but I could see how one would get pretty annoyed with it too!

Squeak! Squeak!

I laughed out loud! Too risky? I’ll let you decide. I think it’s brilliant.

How cool video and big endorsement are like PB&J

They just go so great together – video and endorsement.
Check these out – Brilliant messages tied to Microsoft products spoken by leaders of some of the strongest companies out there, all in a unique, memorable way using video.

Apparently, there’s going to be a “Canadian” version set to launch on Monday with Westjet CEO Sean Durfy.

Agency doing the work? JWT New York.

Nike Video and Transparency

Think Nike will go undetected for producing this video? Will it boost Nike shoe sales? Increase store visits? Unlikely. Will it make people talk? Perhaps. I think people will see through the faux video work. Notice the quick (but blatant) shots of the Nike swooshes and how clear they are, the (unbelievable, no really, unbelievable) jumping over rails and, yes, even a moving vehicle (complete with parallel bars routine), and best of all, the Parkour-like jumping to the next parkade level as she exits.

Good attempt. But will fail in my opinion through simple transparency. 
 

“Best Job in the World” = Best Advertising in the World

Unbelievable! This is exactly why when one wants good media play and to make an impact, one must go big, or go home. A $1.7 million marketing campaign + $150,000 salary for the bloke taking the job is projected to generate $70 million in media publicity.

I’d say so. 

Fernie Adventure

An amazing time was had at this year’s trip to Fernie. As usual the sky was puking snow; so much so that numerous avalanches were occurring throughout the area. However, once Fernie Resort was secure, the skiing was fabulous and, as always, legendary. 

We stayed at Dave and Elin’s place in Fernie. I definitely consider this place my Fernie home-away-from-home. Thanks to Dave and Elin for a great stay as usual. For those interested in staying in town at a great house will all the amenities of home, check out: http://www.vrbo.com/210183 Their chalet is called Fjellsynhytte, which means Mountain View Chalet in Norwegian. 

Surely the best part was skiing in chest-deep ‘pow’ on Milky Way off the White Pass chair, and hitting the hot tub with a cold beer after a day at the hill. Can’t wait to go back!

Cheers,

DW