This Site Doesn’t Stink, Yet…

At Digitas, some of the folks I work with are in the middle of a project for a fragrance client. In a past life, I did some work with Chanel in France, and I have always considered the perfume business to be a cousin of packaged goods clients (albeit a very good looking, quite thin cousin who leaves the farm for the big city where she hangs out with equally fabulous looking people, eventually marrying a rich man and, no matter how smashing her appearance, never quite makes sense when she speaks.  But many people still buy her story).  A distant cousin, perhaps. 

So I was very interested to see this work from Dior, launching their new perfume, Midnight Poison (they rejected the first name, Noon Indigestion.)  The site is visually stunning. It features a lavishly produced film, with a haunting soundtrack. But, for an interactive execution, it isn’t very interactive at all. In fact, the interactivity consist mainly of choosing which of the lavishly produced scenes of the aforementioned film (from which the 30-second commercial was born) you would like to see.

It seems like a bit of a missed opportunity, given what they must have paid to shoot the film. But that’s just my two scents (HA!).

Shopping Meets Entertainment–They Hang Out Online

In the last five years, the internet has become a huge shopping channel. And, of course, the online world is fast becoming the number one entertainment option (hello YouTube) for people around the world, especially amongst the sought after 18 to 34 demo. Now, with the launch (technically, it’s still in beta) of Honeyshed, Droga5 attempts to merge entertainment and shopping with a new site that puts a fresh spin on branded content (in the interests of full disclosure, Droga5 is partially funded by Publicis, the holding company which also owns Digitas, the agency I work for, and Dave Droga is the former worldwide creative director of Publicis). 

Instead of hiding the product in an entertaining film or other online experience, Honeyshed puts the brand/product front and center, and attempts to wrap entertainment around the brand. Think of it as one part Amazon, one part CVC, with a little MTV VJs thrown in for good measure. Here is what Creativity said about the launch.

 Honeyshed is launching their Beta version with around 30 videos (content that is specific to a product) including a number of CPG products, many in the health and beauty area. Will it be successful? After spending 30 minutes on the site, I’m not sure. But tell me what you think. While there are clearly still many kinks to get worked out, ultimately it will be a question of just how entertaining people find the videos. And how much product Honeyshed helps move.

New and Improved Kitchens

As loyal readers know, very rarely do any of my posts deviate from the stated—and noble, if I do say so myself—purpose of Attention Shoppers!. That, of course, would be: Exploring the ways Consumer Packaged Goods companies are using the internet to connect with consumers in new, more powerful ways. 

But I do make exceptions if I find work or ideas that merit them. Today is such an exception. I just saw the new version of “Ikea Dream Kitchens” (I know it has been out there for a while, but I’ve been traveling—what can I say). Once again it comes to us from the very talented people at Forsman and Bodenfors, in Sweden. They continue to do some of the most remarkable work in the online space, both from a conceptual, visual and technological perspective.  

I always have mixed feelings when I see work like this. Part of me admires its beauty and brilliance, and another part (the lesser part, perhaps) of me gets all depressed because I didn’t do it. In any case, here is an interview with one of the artistic Swedes involved. 

For my money, this is one of the simplest, yet most satisfying and breathtaking user experiences I have seen in quite some time. It takes the simplicity and sophistication of the original “Dream Kitchens” (one of the most awarded interactive efforts of the past couple of years) and takes it to a whole new level. The 3-D quality of the images, plus the magic of flying from one scene to another, plus the elegance of the soundtrack, plus the brilliant way they bring the selling part of the site to life…well, it all adds up to another industry-advancing piece of work from those remarkable envy-inducing Scandinavians. We should all aspire to such excellence.

Would You Rather Have A Happy Sandwich or $50,000?

 Yesterday Kraft doubled it’s pleasure in the brave new world of marketing by launching a program for Kraft singles that incorporated both social media and user generated commercials. The program is called “Have a Happy Sandwich.”  Here’s what the New York Times had to say about it. In addition to five of their own TV spots, the folks at Kraft are offering consumers 50,000 smackers if they create a video about grilled cheese sandwiches that ultimately becomes a Kraft commercial. The contest is being hosted on MySpace. So far, I only see one video that has been submitted. However, there are over 200 “Friends”, which, I guess, isn’t bad for one day. We’re talking about “friending” a sandwich here, after all.

Nascar Headaches

As y0u all know, we’re right smack dab in the middle of the “Chase for the Cup” (then again, you may not even have a clue about who’s chasing what cup, but lots of folks do).  Nascar is, of course, very big business. Although I am not a big Nascar fan—ok, I am not a fan at all–I have done my fair share of Nascar online promotions. But I have never done anything as sophisticated, involved (and certainly expensive) as this site/game for Tylenol.  

As far as I can tell, the game is about helping five Nascar drivers discover why Team Tylenol is so darn fast. Of course, there really is no Team Tylenol, and the speed in question is really just the time it takes new rapid-release Tylenol to get to work.

There is nice use of video, Flash and sound, and the transitions are cool.  

To be honest, I didn’t solve any of the missions. But, according to a few blogs I’ve read, the site seems to be popular with some of the Nascar crowd. It also seems to be confusing to others.

Cheese From North of the Border

Over the years, there have been a number of very successful campaigns aimed at selling commodity category products. The most notable of these, at least in the US, have been for milk (Got Milk?) and pork (The Other White Meat).  

There have also been a number of goof efforts on behalf of cheese and the people who make it (Behold the Power of Cheese, for example).  This execution, however, comes from the cheese heads at Taxi, a very creative Canadian shop. It is entitled All You Need is Cheese. Why it is so titled confuses me a bit, as the format of the execution is a game show in which contestants use several odd cooking implements, including a tennis racquet and a blow torch, along with a bunch of other ingredients, to whip up some tasty cheese-based dishes. So cheese isn’t all you need at all. But perhaps I’m being too literal.  

The video-based show features an appropriately cheesy game show host, and allows users to help the contestants make choices. It takes a while to load (probably a little too long—I am assuming there will be significant drop off), but it’s fun and informative.

Dove Attacks The Beauty Industry Again

I may be ahead of the curve for once, as I spied the new Dove viral video just one day after it premiered on YouTube. At this point it only has 160 views, but you know that will change quickly.

Based on the url at the end of the film, it looks like this work was created in the UK (the wildly popular “Evolution” viral film was the brainchild of Ogilvy in Toronto). This time, Dove goes after the beauty industry even more aggressively than ever. Which is kind of ironic if you think about it—but Dove is betting you won’t, and I wouldn’t bet against them.

In any case, the film, once again, is very, very well done. Perhaps not quite as interesting as the first effort, but still quite impressive. It feels more like a public service spot than a commercial for a huge CPG company. Which is quite a neat trick.

Is Sex Really the Only Way to Get A Young Man’s Attention?

As long as there has been advertising, creative teams have been using sexy girls to grab men’s attention. Recently, the various body sprays of the world have taken the art form to an entirely new level. And when I say “world”, I mean it. Axe, of course, is the most famous of these. And while you may be familiar with their work in the US, the creative work in other countries—most notably the UK and Australia—is even more risqué than the edgy stuff we see in the US.

This latest example from our Aussie friends is a good example (for some reason, in Australia they call Axe Lynx). While it is undeniably sexy, I had a devil of a time figuring everything out. But then again, perhaps I am not as bright as the average hormonally charged Australian teenager. Or perhaps they just have more time on their hands for this stuff.

The question, of course, is this: is it possible to sell body spray using anything but sex? I am on the lookout for evidence that indeed it is.

Special thanks to Sara Andrews of Digitas for sending this my way.