Man, This Site is (Grape) Nuts

 

This evening, the staff from Attention Shoppers! was huddled around the editorial desk collectively reading our weekly Newsweek magazine when we came across an ad that intrigued us. It was for Grape Nuts. And it was very odd. In fact, we cannot even begin to explain it. OK, we’ll try.

 

The headline read: Record Heat…Melting Ice Caps

 

But the headline was crossed out with a red marker, and the red marker had also written the words “Wake-Up Call”  and on the bottom of the page: “It is what it is.”

 

There was also a URL: NoGrapesNoNuts.com

 

So I went there. And it was a very weird experience. I should say at this point that I am a major Grape Nuts consumer. It is a wonderful product. I eat it often. But this site is very confusing to me. It features a pretty funny comedian. Who is very nervous as he talks about Grape Nuts. But I am not sure what he is going for here. Clearly, they are looking for a younger demo.

 

 I should also say that, technologically and from User Experience point of view this was not a great site experience. I had a bunch of issues when I tried to click on stuff or wanted to go to various destinations.

 

Still, major kudos for Grape Nuts for pushing the envelope. I look forward to NoGrapesNoNuts 2.0.

Jump Rope and Drink Coke (But Not at the Same Time)

 You may have noticed that Attention Shoppers! has focused on the online marketing efforts of the Coca-Cola company more than once. That’s because Coke happens to be one of the most successful marketers in the world, and their target audience happens to live online. We believe there is a lot that CPG marketers can learn from Coke.

 

Our example today comes from Coke in Brazil. You may know that Brazil is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But you may not know that it is also a hotbed of advertising (and internet) creativity.  

 

There is much to like about this site that takes jumping rope to an entirely new place. With fun—and easy to understand–navigation, a catchy music track (that you can download) and tons of instructional videos, this is an awesome site that provides fun and value to Coke drinkers and non-drinkers alike. There is also a user-generated content component and YouTube partnership.

 

While I’m not sure if Coke is jumping on a Brazilian craze or attempting to start one, they certainly get high marks for this effort.

 

Slim Jim Spices Things Up

I have a long-standing, highly emotional relationship with Slim Jim, those pepperoni inspired and chemically enhanced single-serve sausages wrapped in plastic and loaded with extra fat. When I was growing up in rural Minnesota, Slim Jim (and Jim’s first cousin, Beef Jerky) were staples at the local bowling alley. A low-cost treat that would tide you over until breakfast. Or maybe even be breakfast.

 

Back in the day, Slim Jim’s advertising was not nearly as spicy as the porkish product. In fact, I can’t remember a single ad. These days, things are quite different. In the last few years, Slim Jim has been spending heavily on TV. But since their major target is young men, they are also, quite logically, focusing on the Internet.

 

Their most recent effort is quite ambitious. The campaign is entitled “Spicy Side” and invites dudes (and dudettes, one assumes) to explore their spicy side in a virtual world a la second life. You create your own avatar—based on the funky animation style the brand has created and your uploaded photo—and then explore Spicy Town, where you can chat with other avatars and try to earn enough points to hit the leader board.

 

I am a bit suspicious about the other avatars actually being real folks as opposed to unreal animations, but I have not spent enough time in Spicy Town to make a definitive judgement. I do like how my avatar turned out, however, and the fact that when I return to the site my avatar is there on the opening page without having to log in.

 

While I will be curious to see how many folks join in the Spicy fun, Slim Jim gets high marks for an interesting, fun experience. And here are a few banner games that you can play to get you in the mood for Spicy Town: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3.

 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some bowling to do.

This Deodorant Ad is Attractive and Repelling

Every now and then Attention Shoppers! comes across a banner ad that is so simple, compelling and fun that we feel it is our moral duty to bring in to your attention. That’s because it reminds us how effective banners can be. Here is such an ad, for Lab Series Deodorant, which was produced in Singapore. Look at the ad, move your mouse and then click and hold.

 

We discovered this ad via an interesting site, Ads of the World, which allows you to search for ads by country, industry, channel, agency, etc. It is both useful and inspirational. Special thanks to our colleague from Leo Burnett, Italy, Gaia Gilardini, for pointing out this site.

Stride Gum Partners With Semi-Famous Internet Dancer

As Attention Shoppers! has often pointed out, it is difficult to create, from scratch, an online experience that attracts significant numbers of eyeballs. At least without spending lots of cash on an online ad campaign. Advertising to drive people to your advertising, if you will.

 

It makes much more sense to go to where the eyeballs are hanging out. And instead of always creating your own branded content from scratch, it also seems to make sense to associate your brand with existing, already popular content. This is, of course, standard procedure for other channels, but it’s something that is still developing with online marketing.

 

Here is a good example of a CPG brand that is doing just that. Stride Gum is sponsoring the latest around-the-world trip of dancing fool Matt Harding (read what Ad Age had to say about it here). Mr. Harding, who claims he has not had a job since Stride signed him up to be a dancing pitch man, has achieved a measure of internet fame (over five million YouTube visits) by being filmed dancing at recognizable landmarks around the world.

 

The result is a very entertaining montage, that has progressively gotten even more fun to watch as people around the world have joined in the dancing.

 

The relationship with Stride Gum is tenuous at best (Stride Gum lasts a ridiculously long time, as do Mr. Hardings trips and dancing) but, in this case it doesn’t really seem to matter. Increasingly, it will be the job of ad agencies to find this content and offer it up to their clients. If they don’t, there will be plenty of PR firms, Media Planning and buying agencies and Production companies that will be perfectly willing to do it instead–and they already are.

Fresh Breath Makes the World a Better Place

 

What does minty fresh breath have to do with giving third world children the chance to play sports? Not much, as far as I can tell, but that’s not stopping Listerine from leveraging their ties to Olympic athletes (the Hamm brothers, gymnastic medal hopefuls) in this online campaign. They are offering to donate one dollar for every click on a big red ball to the “Red Ball Child Play” program. They are capping the donation at $100,000, and are currently at 73,000 clicks (which doesn’t seem like all that many clicks, but that’s another topic).

 

I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this effort. It’s obviously a worthy cause, and Attention Shoppers! has discussed successful cause related marketing a number of times in the past. It is a growing part of CPG marketing efforts–and for good reason. It’s just that, in this case, the link between halitosis and kids playing sports in poor countries is not all that clear.

 

People Loved to Watch HBO’s Voyeur at Cannes

Since there was so little award-winning work in the CPG category at Cannes this year (significantly less than last year, which is curious) we will venture to winners from other categories which you should find interesting.

 

If you have not yet seen the remarkable work that BBDO New York did to promote the HBO online and on-demand project, Voyeur, you should do so post haste. Here is the video that accompanied the Cannes entry. The multi-channel effort was a massive award winner, taking home two Grand Prix trophies (in outdoor and promotions) as will as five Gold Lions, a Silver and a Bronze in Media, Cyber, Design, Promotions and Film.

 

The premise is simple—HBO gives us a glimpse of what people do when they think no one’s watching. The site itself is mesmerizing—an amazing way to tell stories without dialogue.

 

Of course, no creative work this successful comes without some controversy. Check out this complaint from the interactive shop that collaborated with BBDO.