Welcome!
Darker evenings eh? Someone needs to book the Christmas party soon or we'll end up at that all-you-can-eat scottish buffet restaurant with the bagpipe karaoke, like the last 3 years.... It must mean it's the end of September, so read on for the best of our projects and the viral industry for this month.
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News Round-up:
Viral viral
In one of our favourite projects this year, Dennis (not sure where the name came from) has been brought to life in an animation to raise awareness of World Hepatitis Awareness Day.
The simple, cute animation has been an instant hit as Dennis sets out on his quest to catch Hep C., little realising he may already have it after some wild (and not so wild) times.
Dennis is a mainstay of the WHAD website and will be seen soon giving an interview for the event- it seems a long time since we were sitting down, trying to work out how you could make something that was funny about the ways you can catch hepatitis (without offending an awful lot of people).
Still, Dennis lives- for the time being at least- so go have a look at WHAD
Online growth- more stats, no surprises...
A Guardian special Report, earlier this week outlined the trends and growth of online advertising. This confirmed a lot of what we're seeing in the viral industry and supports our claim that viral is a most effective way of reaching consumers online.
A few interesting points from this report:
-The value of online advertising passed the total spent in the country's national newspapers last year and, by mid-2008, Google will suck in more ad pounds than all of Britain's TV channels put together, according to Mindshare and Initiative, two top media-buying groups. That will mean that Google is taking in more than £1bn of UK ad money.
-86% of UK internet connections are now broadband and, by the end of next year, two in three households in the UK will have broadband, according to internet researcher agency Point Topic.
-A third of Europeans watch less TV once they have broadband, according to Forrester Research. The average European spends 14.3 hours online each week, compared with 11.3 hours watching TV. The growth of online video beyond the low-quality (but hugely popular) clips on YouTube looks to only accelerate as more homes get broadband.
This associated article, flagged up some other good stats:
-A study by ad agency Carat and released by the Internet Advertising Bureau says money spent on online advertising is 2.4 times more effective than the same amount of money spent offline.
-Many web surfers are actively filtering out requests to "click here" on banners and skyscraper adverts. The latest figures published by advertising researchers at AdTech show that only one in every 500 banners are clicked on.
A final thought from the articles:
All too often advertisers simply reuse their conventional 30-second TV ad on the internet - widely regarded as lazy and ineffective. The trick is to adapt content to your internet audience - make it shorter, quirky and engaging and you're onto a winner. Marketers worldwide are now looking to the medium as more than a direct response tool - it's great for brand-building, too.
We hate to say we told you so....
Rubber push for BBC Electric proms
It's been pretty crazy at Rubber towers over the last few months, helping push out virals for brands and agencies across the UK.
Our latest viral seeding campaign is for the BBC's Electric Proms - which takes place in Camden in late October.
The campaign's based around two viral activities, and has been masterminded by the guys at Fallon, together with the digital gurus from their sister agency Hyper Happen.
To check out the first in the series, visit: www.newmusicexperience.com
The strategy behind the campaign is to target core music-fans of the 80 different bands performing at the event + also reach across the wider music loving community at the same time.
Bands performing at the Electric Proms include Paul McCartney, Sean Lennon, Sigur Ros, Ben Westbeech, the Kaiser Chiefs and Jamie Cullum - so a really eclectic line up.
Who needs programmes, when you can watch ads all day...
Still in development for an October launch- Firebrand, is a new online channel that will only show ads- "because great ads are always getting interrupted."
Before you leap to look, thinking it will be showing only the best of the best, be warned that placement is available to those who can pay enough. We can only hope that Firebrand will have a strict policy on the quality of what it shows to protect it's image and keep users loyal.
There's some hefty names behind this one- one of the founders of MTV John Lack as well as investment from Microsoft, NBC and GE, so keep an eye on it...
And a quick thank you...
To New media Maze who sent us a lovely T-Shirt for Bulletproofbaby after our newsletter mention last month- a good viral with just the right effect.
5 of the best
We're usually stacked up with games to review at the end of each month, but September has brought us a whole range of different ideas and very few viral games. Here are our hot picks:
O2 Rugby Stareout
This one has really caused a stir, a really inventive idea executed very well. This stare-out contest with the England Rugby Team has had lots of press coverage since it's launch earlier in the Rugby World Cup.
BBC New Music Experience
How do you create intrigue about an event and get people to spend time finding out about it? An interactive poster from the BBC seems to tick both boxes. Shiny.
What's in a name?
A way to discover a baby's potential in life based on the name they're given. Your chosen name will be compared against lists of sport stars, oscar winner and rich list members before generating a name certificate...
Fight for Kisses
Great film, great game. All super slick and all this to sell....razors?
The baby-training sequence is a classic. A must see campaign.
Le Duel
Brilliant. Fun. Funny. Clever. Engaging. Shows off the product well. Wow. (Watching this may invalidate the warranty on your web browser...)
