Esquire cover model Brooklyn Decker is making appearances and posing for pictures at Barnes & Noble stores around the nation. Virtually, that is.
B&N is running a promotion with GoldRun to enable shoppers to take augmented reality photos of themselves posing with Decker as a way to promote B&N's newsstand.
Oh, and you can track down augmented reality versions of the letters in the Esquire logo and you might just win an iPad.
If you can pull yourself away from Decker, that is.
For more on how major brands are putting mobile augmented reality to work, pick up a copy of my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (available everywhere books are sold).
I'm just going to come out and say you're going to going to get a kick out of Jeffrey Harmon, the 28-year-old CMO at Provo, Utah-based Orabrush, and the lively, behind-the-scenes story of how his little social media campaign for a product nobody had ever heard of came to inspire Ad Age to name it one of the best campaigns of 2010.
On its face, none of it seems like a forgone conclusion.
Let's just say it involves a device for scooping out the halitosis-causing germs from your mouth, a video about testing your breath; a newer series of YouTube videos featuring the misadventures of an obnoxious misfit named Morgan, called "Diaries of a Dirty Tongue," which has been viewed 31 million times, and a Facebook page about halitosis.
This week, the company even released a paid iPhone app called "The Bad Breath Detector Pro" - to compliment the free version released a few months ago.
This after 76-year-old inventor Robert Wagstaff had almost quit trying to sell his product after spending a fortune trying to market it. Then he discovered Harmon, who was just finishing up school at BYU. Harmon challenged a key assumption about online marketing, prompting "Dr. Bob" to give this kid a chance to show him how it's done.
Since the launch of the campaign - created almost entirely by Harmon and his friends without an ad agency or professional videographer in sight - Orabrush has sold over $1 million worth of its tongue brushes through its YouTube channel, called Cure Bad Breath, instead of being overtly branded to Orabrush.
And today, Google routinely flies Jeffrey out to meetings to help other brands grasp the power of YouTube video marketing.
What's more, drugstores around the world are beginning to stock the product, and now even the guy in the original halitosis video - a friend of Harmon's who performed for about $100 - has a stake in a small company that may be valued as high as $50 million.
In short, it's exactly the kind of digital initiative that embodies the ideals explored in the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND.
Here's Harmon in his own words - which include some great secret strategies for video marketing and branded entertainment - as well as a bigger picture perspective on what he calls "branding in reverse."
A BRUSH WITH FAME: THE JEFFREY HARMON INTERVIEW (PT 1)
It’s no secret Coca-Cola Europe has been at the forefront of the mobile revolution, long having turned the nascent channel into a major sales tool. But more recently, the beverage giant has been launching branding initiatives via mobile to astonishing effect.
Two notable projects: The Fanta Stealth Sound System, an iPhone app that enables teens to make fun of grownups using audio clips that are broadcast at frequencies too high for anyone over the age of 21 to hear; and an augmented reality tennis game that you play using your mobile phone as a racket.
In a source interview for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Prinz Pinakatt, head of interactive marketing for Coca-Cola Europe, shares his insights on Coke’s perspective on mobile in general, and then makes a blockbuster prediction about mobile augmented reality.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
"I think the biggest mistake with mobile is to try and shrink the Internet and deliver it on a mobile device."
I couldn't agree more, of course - this is a far different medium. But in these excerpts from a source interview for my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Bateman (then CEO of Interbrand NY) makes it clear he's not exactly bullish on many forms of location-aware mobile advertising, either. And don't get him started on privacy.
Frankly, I agree with him on most counts - I'm probably even more contrarian. Besides, as we discuss here, the promise is so much more powerful than interruptive (much less check-in) based mobile marketing.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
The second season of MTV's reality hit "Jersey Shore" doesn't hit until Thursday, but MTV's already out with a Facebook game that features the stars of the show as cartoon characters.
On Facebook, it's a battle over tanning location-throwing contests. And the mobile app? Well, it's called "Spread Snooki," which enables you to drop Snooki into iPhone photos.
Which is all fine and good. But I think it would have been cooler to drop "Jersey Shore" hair and tans into photos instead.
(UPDATE: Can't tell if this was part of original release or newer, Aug 31 release, but the App store page for the app says you can indeed "give yourself Snooki's famous poof and golden-orange tan." A fun way for fans to shore up some laughs.)
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
Chris Nolan's new movie Inception opens with sneak previews at midnight tonight (yes!) and wide release on Friday - but the digital marketing efforts have gone on for some time - and should get fanboys excited.
There's a must-read online comic book called "The Cobol Job" that tells the prologue to the story. A Facebook "Mind Crime" game. A personalizable movie poster app. A Verizon-based "Mind Crime Prevention" augmented reality app that, in the vernacular of the film, becomes a totem that enables you to tell when something is real life or a dream. A "green screen" app that places you into scenes from the movie via webcam or mobile phone - and more. All available through the official movie site, here.
Apparently this movie is taking the Trendrr charts by storm, which could bode very well for opening weekend.
And hey, it's a Chris Nolan film, which means it's not to be missed.
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
The creator of NBC's "Heroes" hopes he has another hit on his hands.
His latest project: A partnership with Nokia to produce "Conspiracy of Good," a 7-week alternate reality game in which participants follow and interact with a tale of good vs. evil as it develops in real-time across the Web, mobile devices and staged, real-world events.
The kicker: Beyond immersion in a transmedia narrative, the user becomes involved in a fight against an evil corporation, and in the act of being part of staged events for doing good, will actually promote and support a social cause in real life.
“The story is not a $4 million per episode television show that comes to your screen,” Kring tells the LA Times. “It’s a narrative that comes at you from multiple directions and allows you to stand at the center and be a part of it.”
Just today, Room to Read and the Pearson Foundation, global organizations dedicated to promoting and enabling education in developing countries, have announced their involvement in the experience - presumably becoming ways in which participants of the adventure create good in the real world as part of the game.
In my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, I look at such alternate reality game (ARGs) as a way for entertainment and even consumer product brands to extend narratives into multiple media platforms and engage consumers in amazing new ways.
As a seminal example, I look at ABC-TV's massive "Lost Experience," which had several elements similar to "Conspiracy of Good," with this new adventure layering in what I think is a brilliant, cause-related angle that may actually produce some good.
Look for more such adventures in the future - which in and of itself ain't bad.
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
The Boston Globe wants Bostonians to get to know more about their city, up close and personal - and it's launching a mobile scavenger hunt called The Boston Globe Trek to encourage them to do just that.
Think Foursquare-esque check-ins via SCVNGR - a mobile scavenger hunt service - to fuel five different activity-oriented, location-based challenges. Along the way, participants will scan QR codes, snap photos and check in at various locations spanning the city.
Auto brands and radio stations have run these kinds of promotions for years, of course. But this feels like a good match of mode, medium and metropolis. Imagine the history and activities of this particular town.
Throw in a challenge that involves throwing back beers at Fenway, and I might be tempted to try it myself.
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
Just got on my radar today, though it's been out for a while.
It's a mobile implementation in Japan that involved augmented reality butterflies, posted in specific locations, that consumers could then collect, share, and even turn into coupons for use at retail stores.
I could easily see how consumer goods and entertainment brands could put this to great use here in the U.S. Look for some serious action on that front in the coming months.
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
Very cool: BrandChannel has selected THE ON-DEMAND BRAND as its "Featured Book of The Month" for July.
In making the selection, BrandChannel writes, "Brand marketers will value [this book] for the detailed case studies, such as how Burger King, Coca-Cola and Axe Deodorant are using advergames; how Showtime, MasterCard and NBC are redefining viral video; and how Fanta, GE, Papa John's and Topps are leveraging augmented reality."
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
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