Brief:
ING launches a checking account and wants people to know about it.
It’s online only and completely free.
Problem:
Checking accounts in particular, and banks in general, are not the most exciting subjects.
“It’s completely free” isn’t exactly a USP, in people’s perception they better damn well be free. And people would be right, it doesn’t make sense to pay to pay.
Solution:
Well put a toilet online! http://www.i-needtogo.com (campaign isn’t active anymore, mail me for login and password)
The rational (yes, there is one) is the following:
Ever since the inception of the Internet more and more services have moved online: buying books, banking, dating… One of the few services that haven’t moved online however is public bathrooms. And public bathrooms are one of those services that are annoyingly *not* free. In Belgium, France and Holland the entrance is guarded by “Madame Pipi” who keeps the bathrooms clean in exchange for pocket change. So what we set out to do was create an interesting experience that reminded people of the annoyance of paying a small fee for something that should be free, but in which we underline that it is free, because it is online, “just like the site next door, the ING Lion account”.
On top of doing this campaign as a website, we also did it as an embeddable widget. This way people could “put a toilet on their blog” so they wouldn’t lose their audience due to toilet breaks.
Result.
This was a smashing success. The site had over 600.000 visitors in three weeks, the widget was viewed a hundred times that amount, it got a nice amount of newspaper coverage and it was the campaign that was on everyone’s lips for a while.
It also did good for my agency who got an article in Contagious magazine out of it and it won a bunch of awards among which a much coveted Webby award.
Here’s the case on my agency’s website, and this is the trail it left on the Internet.
Problem
After we launched the Proximus Moblogs we were asked to raise awareness for them. Budget was nearly nothing. So media buying was out and production costs had to be kept low. Very low.
Context
Considering the budget there was no other choice than to do “something viral”. And I know how tainted that term is. Viral is a result. But considering the budget we had no choice but to try.
Solution
It was just after Everyday Noah was doing the rounds so we decided to spoof that (or coattail on it’s success, ymmv).
But it made sense for the product. Everyday Noah was the same picture taken everyday for 6 years. We decided to make a moblog with the same picture taken every day for a year, than putting them in a movie that’s easily passed around and with a clear reference to the Moblog URL (http://www.ilovejosiane.be)
The movie’s full of little references to Internet Memes, Belgian inside jokes, the obligatory sexual references and obviously, a pretty girl, all there to get people talking. We also added loads of background details so people would go through the moblog to see them and discover the moblog feature while doing so.
Result
The film itself isn’t as polished as I’d like it to be and views-wise it was a moderate success. It didn’t sweep the nation but most of the blogging crowd saw it and the fact that it was full of link bait also made for a nice amount of conversations. The version on Dailymotion got 15 thou views by itself + the views of the site where enough to jump start the Moblogs who where viral by nature.
Then there was the fun part, using three friends (with large wardrobes) and one digital camera made for one memorable weekend.
Here’s the latest example. (Though it isn’t one really, just an excuse to bring up the subject.)
So AC/DC made an excell sheet with their latest video in to promote their new album. What you saw in this video was in fact, the demo, or if you want, “the case”. The video is close to getting 350 000 views on Youtube.
Now how many people do you think actually downloaded the the file and opened it in Excell?
I’m guessing it’s way lower than 350 000.
Does it matter? Nope, I actually think it’s a rather interesting approach, and one we’ve been seeing lots of. Because it’s exactly what all the so called “guerrilla actions” do too, like the one hereunder:
Did anyone ever see this? Does it even exist? I wouldn’t now but millions of people must have seen it online.
It’s the “let’s not and say we did” meme, which kind of says a lot about digital marketing. It’s easier to say you did something, put it in as easily digestable format like a .jpg or a youtube vid and have that spread, than actually do something that is more involving.
There’s a smart and deep thing to be said about that here, but I can’t think of it right now.
This a project I did back in 2006 and am pretty proud of. Back then the expression “branded utility” wasn’t coined yet, today this could act as the poster child of branded utilities. *cough*
Problem:
A telco launches a new youth-oriented mobile subscription. And wants “a website” to promote it.
Context:
It was the beginning of the Web2.0 hype, kids where in “social networks” (What are those should we make one too?”) and created “User generated content” (Should we ask them to make a video?)
Solution:
Instead of pumping money in a big flashy website I suggested they add something to the product. Every subscription now came with a free moblog. (moblog: a blog of phone pictures uploaded directly from phone to web).
But giving them yet-another-thing-online wasn’t what we where after, all along the goal was to be where the youngsters where: on MySpace, in the blogosphere, in fora etc. So we put all the tools in place so they could spread their pictures: a slideshow you could embed on your blog/MySpace page, blog sidebar with latest pics, posting direct to Blogger using the API.
So we created added value for the users (free moblogging, updating their MySpace from their phone) and the telco (pictures watermarked with their logo all over the youth web ecosphere).
Result
This was a great success, and as a proof of that it is still running and the client expanded the moblog feature to all it’s mobile offers.
So instead of a short-lived campaign, Proximus got a platform that is becoming more relevant every day, even two years later.
And the youngsters got a way to connect their mobiles to their online lives without having to pass through a computer.
I thought this was really smart: The University of Illinois is trying to get the word out that the ideal rhythm to perform CPR is 103 beats per minute, which, as it happens, is the exact BPM Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees uses.
So if you’re performing CPR, do it to the tune of Stayin’ Alive.
For those of you too young to remember Disco’s golden age:
I love the way they harnessed something that’s embedded in the world’s collective memory to their advantage here.
It’s a home run because of three reasons:
1. It’s the right beat.
2. It’s the right title.
3. 1 + 2 + the fact that it’s a Bee Gees song gives it a quirkyness that makes it newsworthy, which makes that he message’s getting spread.
This is about the umptieth time I give this blogging thing a go. What’s different this time is it’s not ambitious. Just a place to post my work and thoughts about stuff.
