Are Facebook Applications this Year’s Second Life?

 Last week at Ad Age’s Digital Conference, an audience poll reveled that attendees believed that Second Life was the most over-hyped digital trend of 2007. The combination of gobs of press, huge advertiser interest and tiny consumer reach and interaction was the winning trifecta for Second Life. One quarter into the 2008, I’m wondering if Facebook applications may not be headed for the same fate. Of course, Facebook itself does not share Second Life’s audience problem—there is a huge and growing number of people who spend tons of time on Facebook every day. The problem is reaching those folks in significant numbers. 

Advertising on profile pages is certainly one effective way to do it. At this point, Facebook Applications probably aren’t. Despite a few exceptions such as this, most companies are not generating much user interaction with their applications. In fact, according to one Facebook executive, 98% of the 20,000 plus current applications have fewer than 100 users. That’s not the type of scale that most CPG companies are looking for.

 

Alicia Keys is on The Hills—or at Least Between The Hills

A few posts ago I mentioned that Advertising Age recently named Unilever the Digital Marketer of the Year. Well, the CPG giant continues to push the envelope, both online and off. I already told you about the work they are doing for Degree. Now comes their latest effort for Dove—a combined online, offline, content creation and distribution campaign that appears to be hitting on all cylinders.  

This campaign was created for the launch of Dove go fresh (I guess the name isn’t capitalized) a new “fragrance driven product collection” (don’t ask me what that means—that’s what the Unilever PR release says).  The center-piece of the campaign is what Unilever is calling a “micro-series”. Entitled Fresh Takes, the effort consists of three-minute episodes that will air during a commercial break of the popular series The Hills for the next five weeks. The series/commercial stars Alicia Keyes, and chronicles the lives of three friends who try to survive their mid-twenties in New York City. Here is a Unilever press release that is quite informative, but also unintentionally amusing in several spots. 

Creating your own TV show within a TV show is pretty interesting. But Dove does more, with two distributed content plays on MSN and MTV, smartly going where the consumers already are, as opposed to trying to drive them from MSN to a Dove site.  

The Beaver Would Be a Great Mascot for What Product Aimed at Women?

Feminine hygiene products can be tough to advertise. And I should know, since I work on brands in this category. It is no secret that most people—both men and women—don’t feel all that comfortable taking about pads, tampons and everything else associated with period products. Which is what makes this site for Kotex in Australia so interesting.

The site is just one part of a multi-media campaign that features a friendly beaver reminding girls and women that Kotex has great products that will help them “take care down there.”

 There have been calls to have the commercials banned from TV. Which, I think, is one of the points this campaign is trying to make.

Degree Launches a Sweaty Second Season

In our last post, we learned that Ad Age had recently named Unilever the Digital Marketer of the Year. In today’s post, we learn more about why that award was very well deserved.  

Earlier this year we looked at a remarkable branded content campaign for Degree deodorant.  Called “The Rookie,” it was based on the popular TV series, “24”, giving fans of that show exclusive, interesting content.  I guess it must have worked pretty well for Degree and Unilever, since they just launched the second season of “The Rookie”.

There are many reasons why I like this campaign. First of all, the production values are top notch, both from a video and interactive perspective. The attention to detail is impressive, and the acting would not be out of place in prime time.  Then there is the subtle yet obvious connection to the product. Plus the additional opportunities to interact with the brand. The only thing I missed (it must be coming up in subsequent episodes) is the participation of Cincinnati football star Chad Johnson. He is also the star of the Degree TV ads, which, frankly, pale in comparison to this effort. If you want to learn more about the work, here is what Ad Age had to say about it. 

CPG Steps to the Head of the Class

This week, Advertising Age named their digital marketer of the year. Care to take a guess at which company won? Those of you who said Unilever are correct. Take a look at the Ad Age article here.  That a CPG company won this award (and not an automotive, technology or entertainment marketer) is fitting and underscores a trend that has emerged this year: that of consumer packaged goods marketers embracing the web as a brand-building medium. The work that Unilever did last year in the online space is innovative from a creative, technological and media perspective. And  you can bet that other CPG companies will be following their lead in 2008.  

Bad Breath Can Be Dangerous

Mouthwash is tricky. I don’t mean using it, although I have had my share of mishaps caused by gargling that turned into gurgling. No, I’m talking about marketing mouthwash. The product treats a serous problem that one just naturally wants to make fun of.   

Well, in this site for Scope mouthwash (created by the Canadian arm of huge Japanese agency Dentsu) the advertiser joins in the fun. The “Test Your Breath” experience asks you to breathe into your computer’s microphone (ummm…right) and then shows you the effects (and the special effects) your malodorous breathing might have on unsuspecting folks around you.  

While the site is amusing and a has good production values, I can’t help but think they missed something here from a marketing perspective. I mean, if someone is interested enough to go to a site selling a mouthwash, shouldn’t they have the opportunity to find out more about the product if they want? Here, once you see the joke, there is nothing else to do except play the “game” again. There is not even the possibility to link through to the Scope site. Engaging a consumer online is fine, but giving that consumer a way to continue the engagement is even better.

Red Bull Gives You Wings—But They’re Hard to Control

When a number of people send me a link to the same site, there’s a good chance that it’s pretty decent. Such is the case with this new site from the energetic crew at Red Bull.

You are probably familiar with their advertising slogan, “Red Bull Gives You Wings”, and their loopy animated ads that have clearly been translated from the original German. Well, now Red Bull really DOES give you wings, of the virtual model airplane type, in the “Red Bull Flugtag Flight Lab Online Game”. The well-designed site lets you make your own plane (you choose the materials, paint it and even upload a photo to decorate it with). Then you can fly it. Or, as was the case in my personal experience, crash it into the ocean after flapping wildly around a bit.  

Apparently more skilled fliers can pick up points and come back to play again and again. I am certainly not the target, but I can see how it could be addictive for some people. Probably the same kids who are addicted to the drink.