Save as .wwf, save a tree.

So simple, yet brilliant. Out of the box thinking. WWF created a new file format that is in collaboration with the essence of their organization. This new file format .wwf does not allow you to print out the material on that particular file, in order to avoid unnecessary printing. This software is free for downloading for everybody. You can do it here.

Japan gives me shivers

Good conversations lead to interesting findings. This is not science fiction, this is really happening. This is a virtual anime diva Hatsume Miku, whose voice has been generated with Vocaloid, a computer program developed by Yamaha. She is designed to be a 16-year-old girl and has released many popular singles in Japan. That’s not all folks. Previous stuff did not impress me. The real intrigue comes from the fact that she is giving LIVE concerts to a live audience. And people are just simply going nuts to go and see her. She is being projected as a dynamic hologram that brings her virtually into life. Check it out here:



As crazy as it may sound, here is one more act that leads conservative ATL marketers into a heart attack. The developers have given the brand a possibility to grow with the help of the fan-base and released software that enables the fans to create their own Hatsume Miku songs. Now they have released already additional software that features different tones of Miku’s voice – Soft (gentle, delicate voice), Sweet (young voice), Dark (mature, heartbroken-like voice), Vivid (bright, cheerful voice), Solid (loud, clear voice), and Light (innocent, heavenly voice). Also there is available the MikuMikuDance freeware! program, that helps to produce 3D animations for the character. And the story goes on…

It gives me shivers, what kind of possibilities this creates for the marketers in the near future.

Dunlop tyres – Feel the road

All my male reader please pardon this post, but I just need to express my womanly opinion. My ride home from work takes 20 minutes. Although there is some construction work going on, it's pretty regular road, considering Estonian road conditions. Yesterday, after coming home, saw a TVC advertising Dunlop tyres. Their international slogan and the slogan also used  in this ad was “Feel the road”. I imagine that this was meant the way that this gives bigger control for the driver, the driver can read the car and the road better and lets to enjoy the ride every inch with those tyres. Put please dear advertisers, consider the local road conditions. I do not want to feel the road, as there are holes big as lakes in some country. If I would liked to feel the road I would buy a sports car with proper sports suspension. The ones who buy a sports car in Estonia, are forced to sell it after a short while, because it destroys healthy bone structure and loosens some skrews in their heads. We are not living in Italy or US where the roads are smooth and comfortable. You can actually loose a tyre in the Estonian bumpy roads. So in Estonia “Feel the road” does not equal a comfortable and secure drive.

Perhaps I should buy a plane.

Vacuum cleaners made from the plastic waste collected from The Baltic Sea

Here is a textbook example of cause marketing. A brilliant example. 

Vacuum cleaners are made for cleaning and to make that extra clear, Electrolux took the idea of cleaning into a higher level and decided to collect plastic waste from the world's major oceans and seas, so they could raise public awareness that plastic waste is polluting vulnerable marine habitats and produce a limited number of vacuum cleaners out of the plastic they gathered. 

Here is their vacuum cleaners collection made out of plastic derbies:

From left to right: North Sea Edition, Indian Ocean Edition, Medittareanen Sea Edition, Pacific Ocean Edition, Baltic Sea Edition.

The global reach of this project is remarkable, as even me, who lives in a small place called Estonia, is touched by it, as my home country runs alongside the Baltic Sea. Although the waste gatherings were made in Poland, Latvia and Sweden it still rings my bell more, than to hear that someone gathered plastic waste form the Indian Ocean. 

Read more about the plastic gatherings and recycling from here and watch the video to illustrate their cause:

Although it's one-time action as we are dealing with the limited edition here, it is still a very smart, simple and inspiring idea. And please note that the pretty vacuum cleaner are not for sale. They are made for making a point. You can buy a piece from their Green Range called Ultraone.

While selecting my country from the webpage, as it forced me to read swedish, I was amazed by the countries list. There was no Estonia, there was European Union. This page did not open. And there were Latvia and Lithuania, but no Estonia.  And to my big suprize there was a country called Soviet Union, which to my knowledge stopped from existing 1991. See it yourself from here. 

Mouth propaganda

The answer to my last blog post is not TV, newspaper ads or direct mail. These seemed like wallpaper. I shut my sensors off and did not notice them. The reach and reliability of these messages is not what a marketer dreams of. Not any more.

I analyzed what were the messages that reached me, during this dark time of no internet and the only ones that really affected me were simple recommendations. From friends and family. This is no new revelation. For centuries there has been recommendation letters for recruitment and then there were bibles like "The Tipping Point" and "Buzzmarketing". Online marketing platforms use them, catalogues use them etc. but it is fascinating that mechanically forced recommendations do not work anymore. If a friend sends me an e-mail recommending me to go to a spa or buy a new and better frying pan - I delete the mail. It is already spam for me. It does not matter it came from a friend.

If my relatives and friends discuss over dinner-table that SEB and Swedbank are no good anymore for pension fond portfolio management, and they are moving over to LHV, although they take bigger fee, then this is what I want for my brand. I did not notice the TV ads LHV was running, but I immediately started to think, if the information came from people close to me.

It seems like a spontaneous talk, that cultivated during dinner chit-chat. But was it really? LHV has lately very vigorously spread into ATL and we can see that taking over pension fonds is their goal of the year. And they have invested in it. I'm anxiously waiting for the results as luckily these are measurable. So is it really possible to create massive WOM without ATL support?

Here is a nice graph by Nielsen to make the trust levels very clear. Basically now people believe the talk of the stranger more than TV ads or brand websites. That's the power of online forums. The power of free speech. 

To make the merger of business and anthropology make wonders, keep in mind the core principle. You have to earn peoples trust to be effective. The closer/ must respected the recommendation source is to you, the better it works. Please also note that if I see a friend recommending me something every day, it is wallpaper. If I see it once a year, I take it as gold, depending how close/ reliable the person is to me.

The key is to create outstanding experiences in the first place. If the product/ service is not outstanding, then there is no reason to buzz about it. If it is outrageously outstanding then the word will spread around organically, if not, then ATL support is needed, to spread to masses. There is no suits-all solution for all brands and every brand should find out the solution best for their brand.

Three weeks without Internet.

I consider myself the biggest internet addict I know. I work, consume information, prepare for school, communicate with friends and family, run my everyday errands like banking, shopping, vacation planning and etc. via Internet. And now due to some changes I had to manage without it.

What a shock.

I thought it will be liberating, but was it really? What did I learn? Work – absolutely not possible to manage. Luckily I had a vacation and no harm done, if not to consider some personal projects.

Information came mainly via TV and not in the amount and shape I’m used to. I am used to create my own information flow in the internet, so I consume only the information I’m truly interested in. So not completely satisfied with the local news, as it’s not tailored according to my needs. Although if there would be a hurricane, earth quake or some other major disaster I should know of, I would know and I would not die.

I was totally cut out from social communication as I manage it via msn, Facebook and e-mails, as I’m from the new era of communication and instead of meeting my friends, I tend to communicate electronically. I’m not used to pick up the phone and ask “Hey, what’s up, how you’re doing?”, what’s worse, actually get dressed and visit someone instead of calling. I do it from time to time, but not on the regular basis. So now I get sms-s and calls inquiring “are I still alive?”. As for the known quote: if you’re not online, you do not exist.

There is also one institution who thought there is something wrong. My home bank, because my regular payments were not on time. I dragged myself to the bank office and made my payments manually via payment machine, which was a first time experience for me. Pleasant luckily. It was very easy to handle.

As for the vacation planning, it was a total failure. How do you book something if you do not know how it looks and what is said about it in the forums. How do I know if the price-range is reasonable or is there a room for negotiations? I can handle some background checking via phone in Estonia, but if my interests are behind the national border? How do people without internet travel at all? I do not understand. They look at some packaged offer from the newspaper ad and read from the encyclopedia what the main attractions are? What if I’m into fine dining or extreme tourism? I should then totally rely on the travel agency and that robbes away my independence. Or I can just hit the road and see what tomorrow brings… which is a nice option, but not always. Especially if you plan to travel with kids.

Anyways living without internet in the longer run is expensive. Your choice is limited and the effort made, to consume, bigger. Also the phone bill.

There are still many families who run their everyday lives without internet. My dad for example. I still wonder how he manages all his errands so well. Although I have to admit, the life tempo is from another dimension and comparable to geese migration speed. As a marketer it triggers, how to reach those households, without internet. There in an answer. About it in my next post.

Brainwashed by Disney

Being a parent, Disney, as a brand, is part of my everyday life. We have different Disney channels via satellite, most of our DVD selection is Disney produced, the kid’s playroom is, let’s say, accompanied with „a few“ Disney books and toys. Trip to Disneyland is a dream, which will come true eventually, as she is very persuasive. And she is only five. She is brand-washed and she loves it. I do not mind. I like Disney as well, as I find it safe, educating, entertaining and I still continiously refuse to grow up. The whole concept is so well targeted and continuously wholesome that it is inspiring, and I let it happen in front of my very own eyes.

If a kid finishes watching a Disney fairytale cartoon on DVD, there are so called extras. which run automatically. These are fully packed with brand conscious materials, which are truly inspiring. There are people behind the hard work, sparkles in their eyes, telling how they made one frame like… 30 days until it was perfect. There are gardeners from the Disneyworld who are talking about the passionate effort they made to build this dream land just for the joy of making it. They have captured the essence that drives kids. Joy of creating something, just because it is fun and makes you feel good. And they sell it good. What an industry.

Disney channels run neo-Disney programs mixed with some traditional programs. But definitely is Disney not resting in its glory. It’s conquering new horizons. Hanna Montana for example and etc. Please look at those pictures made few years ago by Anne Leibovitz, which is an advertising campaign letting people know that Disney is old and safe combined with new and exciting. Lovely pictures.

Scarlett Johannson as Cinderella


David Beckham as Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty

Jennifer Lopez as Jasmine and Marc Anthony as Alladin

Roger Federer as King Arthur

Jessica Biel as Pocahontas

Rachel Weisz as Snow White

See the whole photo series from here.

Man's nightmare

The nightmare of every boy or a man. Underwear as a present. Does not matter how good these ads are. Underwear as a present is a very bad idea. Seriously.

Click on the image to see the fine print.

Small remark: so good it's vice versa, if it comes to women.

Copycats vs Parallel Geniuses

Yesterday evening I received a call from a journalist who had noticed that the ads Taevas has made for a Raadio Uuno's morning program were extremely similar to the ads made by Miami Art School for Red Bull. You can read the article from here. Use Google translate, if not Estonian.

That’s true, they do use the same technique. This is not some rocket science originality, I admit, but these ads have very well served the purpose they were supposed to and lifted the awareness of Raadio Uunos new morning program. Mission completed. Not so good for the agency, as who wants to be called copycats anyway.

But this case is really interesting. These things happen. All over the world. Parallel geniuses. Thinking the same thoughts. Without knowing about the existence of the others.

Please check out this blog, which has dedicated itself for revealing shameless copycats and exposing just unfortunate coincidences. I’ ll take the privilege to copy some of those revelation into my blog. Please enjoy:

The art of recruitment

Finding the employees that fit the company’s profile and expectations can be a struggle. I’ve seen some well targeted and composed recruitment ads (like this), but nothing I’ve seen before is comparable to this genius act done in here.

Their main goal was to find an accountant that was more attentive than others and in order to find one, they transferred 1 euro into the competitive ad agencies accounts using the posting line for the job ad.

As you can see from the site, they found what they were looking for.

Estonian Next Top Model

New Estonian Top Model has born. Last year he did the campaign for Statoil, promoting environmentally friendly carwash and now, all over Estonia, you can witness this amazingly well posed, at ease look he is promoting for this package recycling campaign.

I loved the Statoil ad, as the frog was earning a higher purpose and fitted perfectly into the context. But this package recycling campaign is not really my cup of tea. As from the funny faces in the packages I assume that this is directed to children and the message is clear and well directed, then why is the frog in the picture? This particular frog happens to be in the RED LIST in many countries, but not in Estonia. Estonian kids would have better related to some animal they have fallen in love already. Like this lovely animal, actually living in Estonia and who is in the dangered animals listing.

Perhaps this is a call to think globally, as the globe in his hand refers to. This should be injected to small children at the early age, I agree. But why this iStock frog. Why?

Ok, I’m just jealous, that my time as a supermodel has passed and frogs are taking over.

The art of good casting

Simple and over-used idea, but I simply just love the casting. Watch until the end.

Happy Father's Day

Crew Uniform Update

Estonian national airline, Estonian Air, has initiated an online voting for finding the best possible uniform for the flight crew. I like the idea, that Estonian Air is taking measures to become more close to the customers and shows that they care about what the client wants. They have already initiated a complimentary snack and beverage offering program for economy class flights and this Crew Uniform Update competition is only second in their list of ten of becoming more pleasant and comfortable flight operator. Impatiently waiting for the next steps.

Although Estonians are considered a little bit conservative, airline companies are in a desperate need for good reputation building/ maintenance and the weather in here is constantly bad, what’s up with those granny vs. Mary Poppins looks? As Ryan Air has proved numerous times that bad reputation is increasing their profit, then here are some good examples of making people click on your advertisement, in the longer run buy tickets to long distance flights or … loose all family reservations.

Please note that the votes people give, count only 33 %, so this is not a “choosing the best uniform” contest. This is “we pretend to care” image campaign. Good thought though, as the majority does not read fine print and press releases, so probably they will get their way with this one.

Slogans speak up

As regular recruitment ads are just boring for ad agencies nowadays, it is fun and inspiring to watch how one agency, speaking the language of slogans, makes a point. This recruitment video is made to hire a copywriter to Memac Ogilvy Dubai and actually makes sense. Luckily the idea shines further than the bad acting.

Tyrannybook

Amnesty International Portugal and Leo Burnett Iberia launched Tyrannybook, a social network that aims to generate a global consciousness about the world leaders who violate human rights the most.

The page itself is a Facebook look-a-like, made in co-operation with Facebook, only using an aggressive red to stress out the cause of this action.

Users can follow the leaders they are the most interested about and the users will be updated about the faults committed by those leaders against human rights. The updates to the tyrants’s profiles will be made by the Amnesty International and also by the users.

As the site acts like a limited version of the Facebook, there is possible to create groups, events, uploads videos, pictures etc.

Although all the information is available in the internet this is the way creating awareness among the Facebook generation, as now the information is wrapped up in the way that they have used to consume information and made easier to understand.

Now the only thing to do, is to wait, until the tyrants destroy the page, which would be the biggest dream of AI’s publicists.

Vacation pictures found a new home.

For those who love taking photos and always have trouble with sharing i.e. vacation pictures or any other (baby, weddings, birthday-party, nature etc), Trip Advisor launched a new photo-sharing platform called Trip Wow.

You can actually make a movie-like interactive slideshow, which looks good and you can stop it or zoom in any time you like. The coolest feature is the sharing option. You can embed it to your website, blog, send via email or share in Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc. Only thing missing in my opinion is the commenting feature.

Here is a nice slideshow from the Great Flood in Soomaa during this spring. Welcome to Estonia:

This travel slideshow of Aivar Ruukel’s trip to Parnu was created by TripAdvisor on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 12:50pm UTC.

Monton on the right track

Here’s a very good example how Estonian fashion brand Monton has captured the essence of the social media and realized that it is all about two-way communication.

My homebank's new imago

Hard times in banking, so during the renovating period a hairdressing saloon was opened in SEB branch located in a shopping mall. Wider the area of expertise, bigger the client coverage.

Ok, that’s not quite true. I love my homebank and was very surprised to see this SEB branch turned into a hair saloon last night. Unwillingly and caused by pure boredom I assume.

Here’s a little recommendation. While renovating, please use curtains or do it overnight. Otherwise all those fancy image campaigns do not pay off.

Still, if they finish renovating, i’m hoping for free head massages while waiting for my number. That would be something to remember and buzz about !

Pixels are taking over

I love the idea and production.

So sweet.

This ad invites you to personalize your own M&M candies and do it online.

How to start a movement.

As said in this presentation: If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.

Spring sales are here!

Spring sales are here. Everybody is screaming louder than the others. As my everyday path to the office goes through the main shopping centers in Tallinn, Viru keskus and Kaubamaja, then I had the pleasure to witness the madness this morning myself. Usually I rush through it, but today this beautiful girl caught my eyes. She was telling me where to travel in the serene and relaxing tone. Inside the shopping madness and people with determined eyesight rushing toward the cashiers, she was just glowing. Actually, she was a moving picture and projected to the plexiglas figure, voice coming from speakers. But look at the good signs. She never gets tired, never needs to use the toilet and is always glowing. More - the pictures in her hand are moving to illustrate her words. Just a ray of sunshine inside this gray and rainy day.

Insights from Password 2010 vol.2

Today I’m talking about Johan Ronnenstam’s speech in Password 2010. First of all: he was outstanding on the stage. Now to the less important matters.

He had a very liberated way of thinking. Should send him to brainwash large monster companies to let go from stamp-thinking what to do and what not to do.

For ages there has been belief that all the traffic related to your company should be inside your own web frames. So you could control it. Better write a blog in your company platform, share news, manage comments and post videos. But today you have to be where your fans are. And if fans are not coming to you, you can go to them. Anyway, why to pay for a web platform if it’s been already invented and working.

You can build your brand in different channels like YouTube, Facebook, Flicker, Wordpress, Wikipedia etc. and manage all the channels not killing your brand but expanding it. As these are the places where the eyes of your fans are. Still you need to provide value to get traffic and conversation, as the media only is not buying peoples eyes.

Another brilliant thought was about compromising/interesting information. If you happen to possess something valuable and you think others could find it interesting as well, do not run with it to the newspaper and get paid peanuts. Invest. Share it to all your friends via social media, you get more responds and in the longer run you DO get your money.

He was fascinated by this guy, Gary Vaynerchuk, doing Wine Library TV in his basement 5 days a week. Let’s face it. He is quite a handful to watch. Wine has really got into him and the charisma really shines through the screen. Check him out. The whole concept is actually so outstanding, that he deserves his own blog post someday.

I’m still waiting for the Best Marketing to publish the answers to the questions asked during the conference from the speakers and were not answered on the stage. If somebody sees them answered, let me know.

Insights from Password 2010 vol.1

Last week I attended Password 2010 marketing conference that is the biggest and the most important marketing event in Estonia triumphing with the annual advertising awards ceremony Golden Egg. Firstly I’m going to talk about Andy Milligan’s speech about how to build strong brands.

His main message was that a brand has to be simple and memorable to succeed. In order to understand the brand essence it has to be clear even to those who are not bright or determined enough to read the brand diagrams in the main office. As the brand diagrams are complicated to fulfil and usually only those who created it fully understand it. Others simply just do not get it. The brand has to be delivered so everybody can understand it. Ok, that I could have read from the book and probably have already.

When talking about memorability he talked about the Ryan Air who according to research has the worst customer service ever, smallest seat space etc. But the sales are up. Is it because their flights are cheap, their baggage lost rate is significantly lower than in British Airways or is it just the fact that Ryan Air just gets you safely and memorably to the destination. The worst customer service pegged with low prices has given Ryan Air the face that’s hard to forget and that’s what is needed to make a strong brand. Good point.

The most fascinating thing I discovered from his speech was a site called daytum.com. This is a site where you can collect, categorize and communicate your everyday data. Everyday data basically means how much you sleep, eat, drink etc. It lets you track almost everything you do. The clean-cut and simple design makes it easy and pleasant to consume. My need for control is not on that level yet that I would sign up, put see what you can do with it, if you decide to sign up. For free.

For example you can track down how much did you really work today:

How many hours you spent on meetings:

When did you have your last drink:

What have you eaten?

Good things come to those who wait.

Last night Taevas Ogilvy won the title “Agency of the Year”.

The giant teeth of Kliinik 32 I talked about a while ago got the prizes they deserved among 15 other prizes. The results of "Kuldmuna" advertising awards are posted here. I'm so happy, excited and still smiling that the people I love so much, got what they deserve and now it's official that we... have to work harder than ever to keep up the reputation. If I have recovered from the after-party and back on the ground with my two feet (long way to go), I’ll post some insights from the Password 2010 conference.

The song of the century

Here is a really deep and mind-blowing musical piece of art.

Listen the masterpiece HERE. And all sing along:

Make The Logo Bigger (Lyrics)

Make the logo big.
Make the logo bigger.
Make the logo big.
Make the logo bigger.

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

That logo isn't big enough.
So, make the logo bigger.
Bigger, bigger, make it big.
Make the logo bigger.

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

Yelling
Don't try to be the brave guy!
We don't have a job for you!
You know what you've got to do!
You gotta stick to the process!
Make the damn logo as big as you can!

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

I don't want to tell you how to do your job.
But, could you make the logo bigger?
Bigger, bigger, make it big.
Make the logo bigger.

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

What it takes to be a good designer?

To understand better how people work, it is recommended to use Myers-Briggs Indicator.

Jung Myers-Briggs Type Indicator documents 16 personality types based on four categories: Extroversion vs. Introversion, Intuiting vs. Sensing, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving. ISFJ is said to be the perfect personality if you wish to be a designer.

According to Myers-Briggs Indicator designers are believed to be:

• Introverted – likes to work alone, seeks to understand the world, prefers depth over breadth
• Sensing – trusts facts and data, accepts the world as it is, prefers practicality
• Feeling – seeks harmony, considers the feelings of others
• Judging – gains control through planning, focuses on results

Michal Roller was curious if it’s really so and carried out the test among 64 designers, to prove it is not true and designers may have other personality traits and still be creative. The results were following (click on it to see bigger):

Results showed a strong level of Intuition and Judging among the group. And there was no strong personality trait that was the most popular. If you wish to know more about yourself please take the test HERE.

Vimeo takeover

Vimeo is known as a high-quality competitor to YouTube. Here are same good examples how to take over Vimeo. For full experience please see the Honda video here and my personal favorite Frito Lay Dips video here.

Honda Insight - Let It Shine from Honda on Vimeo.

“And Then There Was Salsa” from Frito Lay Dips on Vimeo.

Pepsi Max's TVC

Asteroid is coming. Show some love. Now.

Battery test

I know what happens to kids when they are bored. Some versions are presented here:

The brief given to agency was to increase sales of Energizer Lithium Batteries over the Christmas period. Target audience being parents, due to the amount of batteries being purchased over the Christmas period, namely for toys.

The slogan is: The world’s longest lasting battery.

But here is a very nice time-lapse video test showing which battery actually dies first. So do not let their toys dye, but to not buy Energizer. As these ads do not give a competitive advantage to the Energizer battery and as they are not the market leader then these ads are just nice battery ads, but to not directly increase Energizer sales. This doesn't count that they are saying to be the longest lasting batteries. As they are not telling the truth, obviously, and customers are not simple-minded.

McDonalds in the Vancouver 2010 mode...