The Expendables YouTube Takeover... and other brand examples

This week to promote the launch of the new The Expendables movie a video with a difference has blasted onto YouTube, showing what a brand can do when pushing the site to its limits. The video shows an interview with Sly himself, before all hell breaks loose resulting in Mr. Stallone destroying the page with his trusty bazooka.


Pic - The Expendables YouTube Takeover

There have been a few examples over the years of brands pushing YouTube to its limits (URL's of which I've included below), but I really like the way this incorporates a response mechanism in this example by means of Twitter, Facebook, and email, but also allows you to buy tickets for the movie by entering a Zip Code (US only). You can view the full The Expendables Youtube video here: www.youtube.com/expendables


Via Nick Burcher!!


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Guitars Dropped into Volcano - Power Gig Viral

I came across this today and thought I share it. To promote awareness of the new 'ultra realistic' guitar playing game for Xbox and PS3, Power Gig have released the below video. It shows a heap of guitar game controllers being dropped into a volcano from a plane flying overhead, which is quite entertaining to watch, and I think gets their point across (Just remember that there are easier way to solve your problems).




Enjoy!

Facebook advertising best practice - Top tips

Earlier in the year it was reported that Facebook quadrupled it's number of advertisers in one year. It is therefore no surprise that It's often asked of us what is the best practice for standard advertising on Facebook (I mean there isn't really a lot you can do with the ASU format), however we have come up with three top tips which have certainly been handy to us and will hopefully help anyone also interested.

1. It is important to refresh the creative every month in order to optimise the best performing creative, and avoid burn out.
- The number of different pieces of creative needed depends on the budget running per month.
- It is strongly recommended that the creative is changed every month to maintain strong performance.



Photo Credit


2. Tailor messaging according to the users, approaching different demographics in different ways.
- It is also recommend using different tone of voice when approaching different demographics in different ways. For Example - Thinking about the users mindset when using Facebook – chatty, nosey, cheeky, fun,…If the message can be tailored to catch the eye of the user then this can really improve performance.
- Test, test, test!


Photo Credit


3. Increase performance with a strong call to action and topical/seasonal creative.
- Use calendar events to freshen up creative. E.g. strawberry’s in image of creative during Wimbledon. Christmas will be an opportunity to tap into user’s festive spirit.




Now this is by no means a definitive list, and I would happily invite anything else people have come across which has helped them in the past so please comment if you have anything to add.

Double Rainbow meme in Frontierville

The Double Rainbow meme of the moment first immortalised in the below 'amazing' remix, has now been added to the social game FrontierVille. The game from the creators of FarmVille added the meme on the back of the storming viral effect it has had over the last week or so. Users playing the game can purchase the Double Rainbow item using in-game currency to brighten up their frontier.


Pic - Double Rainbow meme available to purchase in Frontierville


The original video shows YouTube user Paul Vasquez marveling over twin rainbows in Yosemite National Park, and became an overnight viral hit with the video already achieving just under 9 million views.



Video - DOUBLE RAINBOW SONG!!


Via

Social Media Monopoly Board Game

Yes it's here the Social Media Monopoly the board game, bringing together everything we love about the web today into one place. Properties include Facebook, YouTube, Foursquare, Digg, Reddit, and Blogger, with the Jail now replaced with Myspace (where you are sent to think about what you've done). The board can be seen below, with the Mashable and Technorati cards below also. Enjoy.


Pic - Social Media Monopoly Board Game


Mashable Card Examples




Technorati Card Examples





Via

Farmville roll out promotion with Green Giant

Over the last year social gaming on sites such as Facebook has exploded, with millions of people logging on and playing every day, and millions of pounds spend on virtual transactions to enhance their game play. Well now social gaming giant Farmville (currently with 65m users, and 20m playing daily) has teamed up with Green Giant placing Farmville Cash coupon stickers (for ‘5 free farm cash’) on selected products in 4,000 supermarkets across the US.




It was reported on Mashable that in the six week pilot for the promotion, which was launched in Target Fresh Grocery and Super Target stores, there were more than 100,000 in virtual Farm Cash redeemed using the stickers which appeared on 25 different Green Giant products. The promotion was then expanded to supermarket nationwide as a result of the success of the pilot.

It is great to see how the social gaming space has seen such a fantastic increase (despite the hundreds of daily updates in my news feed), and will be interesting to see how it evolves.

Cadbury create first round YouTube player

Cadbury Australia have collaborated with YouTube to launch their Cadbury Rollpack, by creating the first circular round YouTube player. As shown in the picture below the fully playable video is everything you would normally see on the site, with the exception of being a completely different shape.



Pic - Cadbury create first circular YouTube player


Although this is nothing more than another quirky execution for Cadbury's Glass and a Half Full Productions branding activity, I still think it's pretty cool and another good example of using YouTube in an innovative way.

Click here to view the YouTube Cadbury player!!


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