Aviva TV ad kick starts communication of Norwich Union name change

Aviva have launched a new TV campaign to announce the name change of Norwich Union to Aviva, as part of a global brand alignment. This has been done using an all star cast including Bruce Willis, Ringo Star, Alice Cooper, and Dame Edna Everage, all asking "Would this have happened if my name had been...?".



According to Brand Republic the campaign is due to run across TV, print, outdoor and online media for six months.

Heineken Know The Signs Campaign

Over the last few months Heineken have carried out a piece of World Wide research into the characters people experience when people drink a little too much. To help us spot the signs before its too late Heineken have put together the Know The Signs Campaign, which highlights this to us, in a video rich online game.



Once on the Know The Signs microsite, users are asked to play the part of a security guard, and given to task to seek out the troublemakers in the crowd, before its too late.



The characters - The Crier, The Fighter, The Sleeper, The Exhibitionist, and The Groper, are each given their own videos once spotted on the security camera, with the player given the chance to send the clip to a friend in the form of a widget for their Facebook or iPhone etc.



This is a nice site, and a good way of showcasing Heineken's corporate social responsibility in an engaging way which is both interactive, and entertaining. It was also quite interesting to read about the campaign, which apparently highlighted America as the most emotional bunch, with 68% saying they saw The Crier in their friends on a night out.

PG Tips Monkey gives alternative Queen's Speech on Christmas day

This Christmas we will see a slightly different take on the usual Queen's Speech on Christmas day, with PG Tips this year releasing their own version, given by the PG Tips Monkey. Monkey's speech is due to air on Christmas Day, with a feature length PG tips advert with comedy partner Al played by Johnny Vegas, on ITV1 between 9.05pm and 9.25pm.

To give everyone a taster of what is to come, PG Tips have put together a prelude to the Christmas Speech which can be viewed below...



Enjoy!!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Trailer

The Marvel fanatic inside me may have just wet himself a tiny little bit after seeing the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer. For all of those which are yet to see this, here it is...



Right that's my little outburst of excitment contained. Enjoy!

BBC Breathing Places campaign viral aims to help UK wildlife this Christmas

To promote their new Breathing Places campaign, the BBC has put together a site encouraging the public to create a refuge in their gardens, and support wildlife this Christmas giving them somewhere to hide away out of the cold. People are driven to the site by a viral music video which sees our fury little friends taking centre stage, including robins, squirrels, and mice.



The site also includes a host of information for schools, as well as downloads, other facts about the animals the campaign wishes to help out, and a postcode finder. This is a nice campaign to see at this time of year, and fits perfectly with other BBC programs and initiatives such as Autumn Watch.

Alexandra Burke wins X Factor 2008

As many of us thought, Alexandra Burke has been crowned the X Factor 2008 champ, a title which has not only seen her win the top prize of the coveted £1m recording contract, but also seen the show obtain its highest viewing figures in its five year history.



Alexandra Burke ‘Hallelujah’ – Winner’s Performance


Brand Republic reports that the show achieved a peak audience of 14.6m viewers, and captured a 54% share of the total viewing public between 9.40-10.40pm, according to unofficial overnight figures.



Alexandra Burke ‘Hallelujah’ – Single


Alexandra Burke now looks set to enjoy Christmas safe in the knowledge that her single 'Hallelujah', is bookies favourite to take the Christmas number one spot.

Campaign publishes Top 10 turkeys of 2008

Continuing the theme of the best, and the rest of 2008, Campaign have put together their Top 10 turkeys of 2008. So for all of you who want to reminisce over all of those cringworthy ads which made us change channel, or decide that it's time to put the kettle on, here they are:

1. Gillette



2. Specsavers



3. Renault



4. Warburtons
(Sorry no clip available)


5 Country Life



6. Kellogg



7. Orangina



8. Premier Inn



9. Samsung



10. DFS



For the full article please click here: Campaign's top 10 turkeys of 2008

Top 10 Viral ads 2008

As a break from the barrage of Christmas ads we are now awash with, I am happy to see lists such as the Top 10 virals for 2008. The Top 10 virals for 2008 list as compiled by GoViral based on compiling numbers of views from Youtube, Dailymotion, Metacafe, Break and Vimeo, with the rankings adjusted by taking into account a "people's verdict". Enjoy!

1. Wassup 2008 - Obama presidential campaign



2. SFW XXX Party Invitation - Diesel



3. Kobe Bryant jumps over an Aston Martin - Nike



4. Extreme Street Football - EA (FIFA Street 3)



5. Take it to the next level - Nike (Directed by Guy Ritchie)



6. "Jesus Shot" - EA (Tiger Woods 09)



7. Bean Counter - Apple



8. Unboxing - Samsung Omnia i900



9. Fate – Leave Nothing - Nike



10. Adam and Eve - Centraal Beheer




Via - Guardian

Pepsi Max drives consumers to mobi site via QR Codes

This morning whilst carrying out my morning browse around the web, I noticed a new campaign by Pepsi which seems to be pushing QR codes to the UK public via online display. The banner ad shown below features the QR code with a message to click through and find out more.




Pepsi Banner Advert


Once on the site the user is educated as to what QR codes are, and how they work. There are also pointers on how to enable your mobile to recognise QR codes, and the benefits of doing so. In the case of Pepsi, the benefits to visiting their mobi site are games, videos, and other free content.



It is good to see another example in the UK of a brand trying to push consumers to use mobile to engage with their brand, but I can’t help but think that we as advertisers should be doing more. Although in the current economic climate it is challenging to encourage brands to ‘try something new’, there are brands which are proving that mobile can be a cost efficient media, and an effective branding tool.


http://www.comscore.com


The use of the mobile Internet has seen massive growth since the release of the iPhone in the UK, in early November 2007 (above), offering unlimited online access as part of their monthly package, and has shown how a simple technological movement can have such an effect on users browsing habits. As we are already seeing brands capitalise on this trend, it could again illustrate why it is so important for brands to test mobile sooner rather than later.


Related stories:
Street Art, QR Codes and Google Maps

Ben & Jerry's Christmas Cowal aims to beat x-factor to the number one spot!

I apologise from the outset as I fear that you may be hearing this a lot in the coming weeks. Ben & Jerry, the Ice Cream company, are releasing their very own song Ben & Jerry's Christmas (with all proceeds going to the RSPCA), with the aim of taking on the X-Factor winner for the Christmas top spot this year. Have a look below to make up you're own minds...


Ben & Jerry's Christmas


The track has been released one week before the X-Factor final, to be shown next week (13.12.08). The X-Factor final will see the three remaining finalists competing for the life changing title of X-Factor champion 2008. It is rumoured that the winning act, Alexandra Burke, Eoghan Quigg, or JLS, will be releasing 'Hallelujah' - the song written by Leonard Cohen.


Alexandra Burke - X-Factor Finalist


So will Ben & Jerry's Christmas be able to do it? Well the number of views on the Ben & Jerry YouTube Channel have started off slowly, but as we have seen in the past with the likes of 'Bob the Builder', and 'Mr Blobby' anything can happen.

If you wish to download Ben & Jerry's Christmas here is the link: Ben & Jerry's Christmas

'The Game' is back in my life - Thank you Metro

Roughly two years ago, on the way back from a rather messy night out, my best mate and I were told about a game which can be played anywhere, but will stay with you forever! This game, named 'The Game' has one simple objective... to forget about the game. As you can imagine it's not quite as easy as it sounds, hence why I am writing this blog entry.



As I flicked through the Metro this morning, imagine my horror when on page 3, I saw an article reporting about the cult following which is 'The Game' along with all the details of how it's gathered its worldwide following over the years, leading to some schools in the US suspending children caught disrupting lessons by playing it.



'The Game' was apparently created by two sound engineers, Dennis Begley and Gavin McDowall, who after missing the last train, decided to create a game to keep them entertained. ‘The Game’ was born, and has snowballed ever since, which can easily been seen on the website, www.losethegame.com, which includes forums, maps, pictures, and even a strategy page. Apologies to all those players which have read this, but I wasn’t going out on my own.

Oohgle mystery posters hit the UK

Do you Oohgle? Do you even know what oohgling is? Well neither did I, until I started my online search the same way the majority of the online world now does as a matter of course… through a search engine. Upon typing Oohgle into Google, I was introduced to a PPC advert asking me if I’d seen the ad, and to click through if I wanted to find out more.



Oohgle is apparently the term coined for those of us which see an out-of-home advert, and follow it up with an online search (as most of those visiting the site would have done). The site put together by Posterscope, promoting their Prism Search tool, goes on to explain everything, and there is an optional short survey to enter a competition.



This piece of research will probably make its way to the agency world soon, and I’m hoping will give us some insightful knowledge of the way out-of-home is evolving people’s brand journeys and experiences. One of our increasing challenges as planners is accountability, and any research showing how media can work together is very welcome.