Friday the 13th… unlucky for some!
Content
Friday 13th
It’s Friday the 13th, unlucky for some…. In Paris superstitious diners can hire a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest to make up the numbers. Fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. Chicago airport has no Gate 13.
Friday 13th, whilst synonymous with bad luck, seems like a missed opportunity for a brave brand to hijack, how about an insurance brand taking over the YouTube homepage with mishap stories.
AT&T goes all out with an interactive content campaign
AT&T, the US network provider, have this week launched an interactive content experience called ‘Daybreak’. Players have to solve a cinematic-style mystery through 5 online films and complete challenges using a gaming app. The tie-in is that to complete the challenges, people have to use technology devices that AT&T can provide (translator app, GPS friend-locator, voice recorder). A good example of how good content can both provide entertainment and showcase a product’s features.
Music band finds new way to engage potential fans
Enjoying your favourite band’s music is best done collectively, with other fans. Kitsuné America have done an interesting promotion where they released their compilation album to the general public by playing it out of special listening boxes on the streets of New York. Fans could find out where these boxes were on the website and once at the location, you could download the album for free.
Content has a role to play at all stages of the purchase funnel and can be especially powerful at point of sale (according to Internet Retailer visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than those than do not). A new digital platform called Gimbal has launched which serves personalised and time specific content to people’s mobiles, taking their previous interests and activity on their mobile into account. The key to ensuring people use the service is ensuring the relevancy of content.
Gaming
Sony acquire a US company that stream video games online
For the small fee of $380 million Sony Corporation have purchased Gaikai Inc, an open cloud-based video game platform. Streaming video games has not taken off as quickly as streaming music and film due to the high data download but it’s on the rise. An interesting future facing move from Sony who have traditionally focussed on the hardware rather than the software.
Sponsorship
O2 and Nike partner for Priority Sports
O2 Priority has traditionally been centred around music via Priority Tickets and shopping via Priority Moments. Now Nike are getting on board to provide access to a digital sports club for O2 customers. Customers will be offered access to Nike plus, events & training clubs and product exclusives through their mobile. A great content distribution channel too for Nike to reach 23 million UK customers.
Environment
Nissan LEAF promotes EV with cheaper TAXI ride
To get Londoners into electric vehicles, Nissan promoted a new original initiative. People who tweeted their destination to hashtag #6XCHEAPER could call a ride from the new Nissan LEAF ‘taxi rank’ in East London, and they’d be shown the cost of the journey in petrol and electric to compare. A great idea to increase EVs popularity, particularly among the sceptics. How can we demonstrate the value within EnergyShare in a similar vein?
Social Media
While many consumer goods brands have embraced social media as a essential way to engage & retain customers, banks have been so far reluctant. BNL Bank has made its first step into Facebook by creating a brand page that is all about people, their lives & their needs. As one of the least trustworthy business categories, this is a brave step which will become increasingly necessary to communicate transparency and win back trust.
Juiced 