Following up on my much earlier post on some practical uses of Augmented Reality for marketing, here is one on what it could look like in the future- have seen many around the same topic, but this one struck- and thought should share. If for nothing else, then for the pure eye candy and the ‘cool’ factor that marketers are mostly after.

The setting could be in your kitchen.

Enjoy.

Governments are largely reactive in nature. Things move with a heavy foot, there are processes to be followed, and ‘corporatization’ is frowned upon. By ‘corporatization’, I largely mean ‘marketing’.

The fundamentals governing this thought process have ground in the fact that governments need to be largely ‘welfare’ units, ‘not-for-profit’ organizations. Which they should be- but with a broader perspective.

Marketing is so synonymous with greedy profit churning and pushy sales calls, that it is almost a bad word- and because of lack of hard data supporting usefulness of each marketing initiative, governmental organizations find it easy to leave it alone. Not to be touched. From a useful discipline that allows one to make their ideas reach relevant people, it becomes a cryptic, pseudo-relevant science.

There is little specialist talent, therefore, within governmental organizations to proactively take marketing initiatives.

Things, however, are changing. Not only do we see political parties and political candidates using the power of new age marketing techniques and tools, we also see some governments taking a pro active approach towards connecting with their stakeholders.

And from what I have seen in the recent few years, fewer government organizations have used new marketing  opportunities than those within Singapore.

Specifically from the ‘Social Media’/engagement standpoint, there have been some recent successes that I noticed- I will list some of them here- mostly from top of mind recall, but I am sure there are more cases out there.

Like most new things, these initiatives have not been without their share of criticisms (ample to find that in Singapore) and execution hiccups.

But the highlight is not about how great the campaigns were, how flawless the execution was or how measurable were these campaigns.

Many of these campaigns were none of these, and many probably failed miserably at achieving the desired results.

But what is worth highlighting is that they tried. It is BIG DEAL in governments. These are government or quasi government (aided or assisted with government control/stake) organizations. These are not nimble enterprises. The fact that they take this ‘risk’ of venturing into hitherto unknown territory and risk mockery or failure, is HUGE. To me, it is important enough that these campaigns saw the light of the day.

Time does not permit to dissect these campaigns, but I hope to, sometime in future. And also, my point of view on how they could have been better or what could be the next steps following up from where they left it.  As of now, just listing some details on these campaigns.

• Singapore Tourism Board (STB):
  • Aided by their agency partners, STB seems to have undertaken a few non-mainstream initiatives
  • STB Crowdsourcing Ideas from public: Following up on their roadmap to year 2020, STB launched a website asking the common person on their vision of how to improve this sector in 2020.
  • STB blogger connections: STB now has a section on their website featuring Blogger perspectives on Singapore.  Bloggers talk about new stuff, their experiences, and bring in a slightly different side of the life in Singapore- which could be of immense interest to the visitors who want to get the story from individuals not corporations.
• Reach Singapore: The organization entrusted with community development in Singapore, had launched early some basic steps in connecting and reaching out to the community, specially the youth. Setting up the ubiquitous Facebook and Twitter communities were basic attempts, but the fact that some initiatives were as early as 2008, is interesting to note.
• Senior ministers in the government now actively engage digitally- and participate in forums. This is seen even ‘offline’. Last year, at the omy.sg (a bilingual site in mandarin and english) Blogger award night, the Chief Guest was Mr George Yeo- Minister of foreign affairs in the Singapore government. Attending a congregation of largely teens or tweens!
• NTUC Fairprice : Less known as a “trade union corporation”, more as a supermarket chain, their facebook page now boasts more than 26k members. Frankly, it is quite basic, slightly unkempt (“What’s up” section has nothing inside (!)) and seems a lot more could have been done than promoting a contest and their TVCs. But still worth a mention.
• SingPost: This is what happens when an old school service tries to appeal to the new age consumers. Singapore Post or SingPost is essentially a postal service (actually they have a lot more to their repertoire) and here is what they tried:
  • In the wake of Youth Olympics in Singapore, they decided to undertake a stealth marketing campaign.
  • Some graffiti artists were hired and in full public view, were made to paint graffiti on Singpost postboxes. In Singapore, that is BIG DEAL. Any graffiti on public properties is treated as serious vandalization and is punishable by law.
  • The morning after effect assumed was that people would talk about it, it would spread- followed by Singpost admitting it was a publicity stunt -and all will be hunky dory. Only it went the other way- complaints and social media buzz derided the act as distasteful and counter to the values we should impart to the youth.
  • To me, it was Classic germFeed- created an opportunity to talk- bystanders created content- took videos/took snaps, shared it and commented on it.
  • Good or Bad- to get a postal service get talked about by the youth is a huge deal. I am not sure if kids nowadays would think of Post Boxes as something to be like a fire safety poles. If kids were all about sharing and compassion and love and the spirit of games- gaming and cinema would have died long back.
  • Could it have done in a better way? Sure it could have been. Was graffiti necessary? Sure it wasn’t. But the idea of doing a radical exercise- something out of the ordinary- by itself is worth a mention.

What would I have done? Here is what I would have done- stick color codes or Augmented Reality code stickers on all Post boxes- promote it across media channels- encourage people to snap it with their camera phones- wherever they saw the boxes and create engaging content to engage with it. Maybe show the journey of a parcel,maybe show profile of Youth Olympic atheletes- tonnes of things to surprise people with.

Actually, as I said, none of these are examples of ‘great’ initiatives. But if they evolve from hereon- it is what will make the difference. If they continue trying it is then they will make that difference.

They have had their share of criticisms, let us allow them to entertain and engage us.

Think About It

Shalabh

In my about to be launched book- “Think About It”- Ideas shaping digital media and marketing in the new decade, I discuss something that is just one step behind Augmented Reality, and if used correctly, could really boost interactive marketing processes and adoption.

I have also mentioned in the past, that Augmented Reality is cool- though a technoolgy whose time was not there yet. I saw its adoption increasing from mid 2010 onwards- specifically in Asia.

AR is used across touchpoints now- like with printed codes, webcams and computers but to me the real coming of age would be interactive usability via camera enables mobile devices.

However, I see signs of Augmented Reality coming up faster than expected- with usage that is more practical than just ‘cool’.

Though when you see advertisers like Nike and Adidas using this technology, the ‘cool’ automatically associates.

I discuss some good campaigns around AR here:

Nike (via marketing interactive): This one is from Asia- Hong Kong.

Nike launched this programme (mcCann+hyperfactory) to target teenagers- for strengthening its soccer products.

For four weeks, Nike plastered a series of secret codes around Hong Kong, in Nike stores and at the Causeway Bay MTR station.

The codes invite users to download a mobile application that allows them to view its T90 soccer boots and ball in 3D through their mobile screens.

So this is simple- but an early entry into this market- makes it newsworthy and upholds the innovative/cool factor of Nike.

There are some other campaigns as listed bby Devora Rogers on iMediaconnection

Samsung:

This is a simple, yet great use of Augmented reality and we could see more such stuff in the near future.

Samsung’s AR execution, which helps consumers figure out what a TV will look like on the wall, before they hang it. Users print out an image that they then show to their webcam, which faces the wall on which they want to hang the TV. The screen recognizes the AR trigger, and instead of seeing the printout, users see a TV laid over their wall through their screen.

With these examples, this technology seems perfectly well suited for home improvement and decoration industries- but the potential goes much further than that.

Home Depot:

This US retail giant has reinvented the humble gift cards.

Simply put, when you receive a gift card, displaying it in front of a webcam enables users to browse and buy products online or plan for their next project.

Here’s more- in video:

Ray Ban:

Another really cool yet practical usage by Ray Ban.

Rayban Virtual Mirror application demonstration. Using key points on your face the app maps pairs of augmented reality shades onto your face. Then you can click straight through to the store.

Ordinary people:

Well you could use this on your resume or on your business cards. Imagination is the only limitation here. Of course being a bit flamboyant helps

The real coming of age of this technology will be when it is more end user focused rather than being inward focused.

Think About It

Shalabh

“Think About It”- Ideas shaping digital media and marketing in the new decade

Its love’s labour. Really.

After more than a year of running ChasingTheStorm – with loads of loving time spent- and acquiring loads of loving friend circle, this is it. I put together a book.

“Think About It” is a book inspired by Ideas from this website. With more meat, more thoughts and well, in a different format. The title of the book is actually the signature I use in most articles.

The book covers Digital Media and Marketing trends in the new decade, Mobile Media, new marketing paradigms and Marketing Case studies.

It is written not as a tutorial to digital media platforms or Digital marketing 101. Rather- it attempts to raise a storm on specific Digital media issues. Offering an easy read for the evolved, thinking marketer, it is a book to raise debate- and expects a degree of interest in Digital Media.

I’ll talk more about it later- but since I am quite excited about it, I decided to put up the news anyways.

It’ll go in print soon (and available online and on the Kindle)- but as usual, not without your support in its making. I need you to help pick up the right cover design.

My good friend Ankur Khurana volunteered to get the cover design done- and boy- he did get them designed in two days flat. Many thanks buddy. And many thanks to MG Harti- the Art Director who helped the idea come into reality by doing many iterations.

So here are the designs- (the copy/text and some elements are dummy).

Just from a design layout perspective- let me know which ones do you like the best?

You could comment here, or

Email me: shalabhpandey at gmail dotcom

DM or @ at Twitter : @shalabhpandey

The cover Designs for “Think About It”

GROUP 1:

Cover One

Cover 2

Cover 3

Cover 4

GROUP 2:

Cover 5

Cover 6

Cover 7

Cover 8

Comment here, or

Email me: shalabhpandey at gmail dotcom

DM or @ at Twitter : @shalabhpandey

Think About It

Shalabh

Happy New Year 2010.

The MicroInfluencer (TM) as a concept in pop culture has caught on. When I had first thought about the concept of the MicroInfluencer and published it, I wanted to highlight real life people who had actually achieved some success by exercising their influence over the digital medium. The thought of individuals and everyday people having influence on the internet was not new- but the phrase itself brought clarity to the meaning.

Anyhow, I intend to start a process I’d been thinking of since long now- highlighting MicroInfluencers from time to time – as and when I discover a few- and as and when you lead me to some of them.

Here is one- and quite with times too.

MicroInfluencer(TM): Danny MacAskill a.k.a the urban cycllist

Danny MacAskill- a bicycle mechanic. From Edinburg. Pretty obscure- maybe known in the local circuits. And then one fine day, he and his roommate decide to shoot a video of his ‘stunts’ en route to work.

Dave Sowerby- his roommate picks up a cam and shoots some excellent videos over the next few months. The founder of Inspired Bicycles- Dave Cleavers- (who has a razor sharp marketing brain it seems- following the success of the video- he has come up with new cycles similar to those of MacAskill’s and his bike brand has got some cool buzz going on the net. For his brand, he has started what I call the BuzzLifeCycle and is riding a meme at the right time) then had it put in YouTube. What results thereafter is this:

• More than 13 million views
• Highest viewed sports video on YouTube
• Spread all across the net via blogs and other social networking sites

Danny had made it- and like this article says- his life could now be phased as “Before youTube” and “After YouTube”. The video became a Germfeed Item that spread really quickly and constructively impacted Danny’s life.

This is the video that started it all – in case you don’t happen to have contributed to the 13 million views:

The video caught on like wildfire and soon enough not only Danny gets interview requests but even gigs- like this professionally produced ad for  recruitment company/website.  The story from the sponsors here.

What followed the epic first video was a flurry of interviews/articles and presentations from mainstream media. Worldwide recognition.

This excerpt from the NYT article sums it all:

One day, he was asked to appear in 10 countries. Filmmakers wanted to make documentaries about his life. Advertisers pounced. Big companies, like Red Bull in Britain, lined up to sponsor him. People wanted his autograph. Ellen DeGeneres, who bears a faint resemblance, wanted him to dress up as her and ride around Los Angeles. The Doves, a British rock band, wanted him for a video. Lance Armstrong called MacAskill’s video “a must watch.” A circus in South Korea wanted to hire him to perform stunts.

Danny is from Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. Go figure where that is (clue in the beginning of the MicroInfluencer intro topic). From an unheard-of town to worldwide acclaim, being invited across the world for adverts and paid gigs. It’s a long way baby- in a pretty short time. You will soon be a MegaInfluencer.

Think about it

Shalabh

Content is at the centerstage of Social Media. While we all associate content to be textual stories, video, audio and pictures, one format of content makes it easy to understand nuances of social media.

This is the pictorial representation of the various facets of social media- in the form of diagrams.

‘Social Media’ by itself is a generic term used to represent various facets of this vast discipline- from understanding the various elements associated with it, to the platforms and vehicles and even to the relationships between the players.

I am collecting some of them and mentioning some quick ones here. Do add some more.

• The Webtrend map: You would have seen this earlier in its earlier 3 versions. A cool version of the various Web properties mapped om the form of a Tokyo sub system. This is not just Social Media properties, but hey, if it is about Web trends, you know what to expect in times like these. Covered all across the web, this even sells in case you need to buy it- for about $49- printed version available. Click to enlarge- and enjoy!

Web Trends Map from www.InformationArchitects.jp

• The Periodic Table of Social Media Elements:

Large Size here

For all those who hate chemistry. Rejoice. And get some pervert pleasure from this.

Rick Liebling- the guy who made this, clearly was either good at chemistry in school or sucked at it so bad- he decided to take out his frustrations by getting back. A Social Media periodic table. Believe it or not.

“What’s the use?” You ask? Well for one, it seems ideal for those marketers who are in the pharma sector and trying to sell Social Media to their clients.

The hierarchy of digital distractions

They took it on to them with a neat, eye candy pyramid.
There is a hierarchy of needs by Maslow- and then there is this intensely illuminating one. Developed by David McCandless, this one is about Digital things that distract you from your work. Of course this is not just Social Media properties- but not a surprise to find too many Social media properties here. (Where is ‘Pacman’? Of course people still play that- it is THE eternal time waster from productivity)

iPhone at the peak makes me wonder what do people fiddle with- I won’t be surprised to find Social Media there too.

“Device failure” at the top cracked me up.

Social Media Propeties
By Social Media agency- “Overdrive Interactive”. The original map in the pdf form could be downloaded from their site here

Nothing fancy- clear and concise- and you know all the properties don’t you? Spot the odd category out of this chart though. Did you feel the inclusion of Search Engines to be a bit odd too?

And then two of my own:

The Social Relationship matrix:

I try to establish that Brands, no matter how loved or disliked they might be, don’t have the same relationships with people- as people have with human relationships. In this case, it was justifying why Brand communications and relationships could be handled by third parties, with sufficient caveats in place. Full read here.

Social Relationship Matrix

The Brand Relationship Onion

I followed up this article with the Brand Relationships Onion . The attempt is to highlight the various ‘layers of relationships’ that a Brand could have with people. This ranges from Distrust to nonchalance to approval to likeness to the holy grail- Love.

Brand Relationship Onion

Think about it
Shalabh

In a previous post, I contested a fact that people brand relationships are different from people-people relationships.  The Social Relationship Matrix lays down some parameters elaborating on that phenomenon and tries to establish that relationships are not linear- rather complex- and many could be played with different expectations, objectives and characteristics- somewhat like the 7 notes of music.

Just like the notes of music, each of these relationships have their layers of complexity. And just like music, there is a science and arts involved in understanding these.

That leads us to the question of what are the layers of relationships can a Brand have with the individuals.

Here’s the deal- Brand-User Relationships could be best defined by layers of an onion. Peel off one skin and you get a different layer.

Realistically speaking, there are 4 layers or stages of the relationship :

• Distrust
• Non chalance (I care a damn)
• Approval
• Likeness
• Love

In the next post- I define the characteristics of each of these attributes, the cause and what are the actions one could take- from a digital marketing perspective to improve upon or leverage upon these parameters.

PS: Those in the field of Brand Management would know this term- Brand Onion.

It basically covers positive or negative share of the consumers heart on the basis of :

• Attributes (like physical/technical properties)
• Benefits (Functional benefits that the end user derives)
• Values (Emotional values that the end user has)

My diagram is could be said to be one step behind this stage. It touches upon the layers of relationships (share of heart). This is version 1- in the next version, I would specifically identify how that fits into the Digital ecosystem.

Shalabh

In part 4 of this 4 part video brainstorm, we discuss how to market a start up.

Start ups usually do not have the luxury of huge advertising spends- and this pushed the boundaries being creative and using only the most efficient mediums for maximum bang for their buck.

Thorben highlights how he uses the Influencers (what I call the MicroInfluencers) to gain traction.

I had lots to discuss- but this was about them- and some good points were made .

Enjoy

Shalabh

In part 1 and part 2 of this 4 series video brainstorm, we discussed Orsiso and Advertising on social networks previously.

In Part3, we discuss whether downloadable appplications have a significant advantage over browser based or web based applications. Also another point- the funding story- the issues- what do investors look for, and the like.

In part 1 and part 2 of this 4 series video brainstorm, we discussed Orsiso and Advertising on social networks previously.

In Part3, we discuss whether downloadable appplications have a significant advantage over browser based or web based applications. Also another point- the funding story- the issues- what do investors look for, and the like.

Enjoy

Shalabh Pandey

We featured Orsiso in Part 1.

In part 2 of the discussion between myself (Shalabh Pandey) and Thorben, amongst other things, we discuss advertising on social networks, its significance and nuances.

Enjoy!

Everyone has seen some version of “Did you know” series. The series aims to highlight some amazing facts about digital media. And puts all the trends in context.

I am embedding all the four videos from the series here:

Did you know version 4.o (courtsey Digital Trends)

Did you know version 3.0

Did you know version 2.0

Did you know version 1.0

Enjoy
Shalabh

Are you into Social Media Marketing? Want to go beyond Social Media overview and get your hands dirty with ‘on-ground’ hacks and processes?

“Building Facebook Fandom” is an eBook that might help you get an overview of what works inside the walled gardens of Facebook.

Afternote: Just got notified that It will be available in a few days- but you could register at the site now to receive it later.

Written by Ryan Lim of Blugrapes marketing, the ebook is about how to utilize Facebook to the maximum for marketing advantage. Of course, the ebook serves as a marketing material for their services- but I have always believed that giving something of value to your audience always works as a win win.

I had met Ryan earlier and he discussed about his eBook. The subject is topical- given the volume of conversations around this topic, and there is surely some interest from agency guys- media planners and account executives alike.

Another good thing is that some observations apply to all the social media platforms. The Facebook platform has its own nuances and restrictions. And for anyone attempting to undertake a marketing exercise, it would make a huge difference really understanding the medium.

The eBook is free (as I mentioned earlier, BluGrapes specialize around Facebook- so this also serves as marketing material for them- this is what I call germFeed) to download as pdf from this site

It is an easy read for those looking at harnessing the power of Social Media marketing (I call it Social Reference Marketing)- specially Facebook.

As a critic, I expected the book to be more visual (with more images/screenshots) and feel that it could have been much more impactful if the content delivery was through video. I have one such video demonstrating the nuances here.

But then again- this is short, handy and written in easy prose. So if you are someone concerned with utilizing FaceBook as a platform to build a community (a fan page or a group) or for reaching out to your TG (Social Ads), some tips can be quite useful.

Some handy tips pointers and my critique from the ebook (available here for download as a pdf):

• Ad fatigue: 2 weeks is a good time to refresh your Social Ads. After this, the ads might start getting fatigued (I would have loved to see some real life examples or case studies supporting this fact)
• The right threshold for viral?: To achieve the viral effect, scale itself is important. On Facebook, a 1000 member fan base could be the magic number before you start going really viral
• Social Proof: People are more likely to be a fan of your page if 4 of their friends are already fans of your page (no examples – but seems they have arrived at this figure using some of their previous campaign analysis)
• Day parting: Best timings for your status updates? Very interesting stuff from an operations perspective- though not with numbers to boot. This attempts to look at which is the time of the day that the users are most likely to receive your status message.

Enjoy!

Shalabh

PS: I am not related or affiliated to BluGrapes and this is not a incentivized plug. I am happy to receive and disseminate such information and material for all the readers, inspite of this being marketing material.

I am putting together a resources section on the site- and will hopefully have more such content on the site. Keep watching this space.

Whew!

We did this about a fortnight ago. A (apprx) 40 minute discussion caught on video- on Start ups, funding story and advertising on Social media- amongst many other things. Between me (Shalabh Pandey) and the CEO and co-founder of Orsiso- Thorben Linneberg.

I finally managed to clean up the video and uploaded the final video brainstorm- after about 2 weeks of having shot it.

Featuring the entire series in 4 parts- so enjoy this over the next few posts.

Part 1 of 4:

This is our first time doing a video- and the quality is a bit low. The video was on analgue tape- and I had only Windows Movie Maker- to help me with the editing. There was a time lag between the video and the audio- which was proving impossible to curate in WMM. And hence the quality is still not up to my satisfaction, but after having spent close to 25 hours or more on this- I thought I’d better get this up and running now.

The problem with me is I cannot compromise on quality of end product- and that pushes me to do as much as is within the outer boundaries of my limits.

But I believe web video is the future- and there are learnings for the next time.

• One learning has been that even though you can manage without the best equipment and software- it is not advisable to do so. You end up spending too much time and effort just cleaning the whole thing up.
• Another learning for me has been- in the absence of external mikes, speak up! My voice is a bit soft, and I also have a bit of a hunch- and since video is about presentation, it shows. Tip to remember next time.

Overall, it went off well- we had some help too- from Orsiso’s side- we had Laurent Roux- Business Director- helping co-ordinate- and from ChasingTheStorm we had some great help from Mohd Hisham with the camera set up.

The objective was to introduce Orsiso and alongside also have a little discussion session around the Web landscape of today.

In the first section, we discuss largely about Orsiso- how it aggregates various social networks and organizes your social life on the internet.

In the second section, we move on to discussing advertising and social networks

In the third section- we discuss whether downloadable applications are back or the browser based applications?

And in the last section, we discuss How to market a start up- basis Orsiso’s experience.

Enjoy!

Shalabh

An example of marketing through a Facebook app. A recent example of Vitamin Water.

Usually, when marketers are trying to figure out protocols and wall posting type campaigns- this comes across as a very cutting edge approach- at, well, consumer insights using social applications.

Reported by insideFacebook, the app is not yet fully functional, and might be in ‘soft’ launch. Any which ways- that’s besides the point.The post is about what the app does.

So Vitamin water, a coke product, launched their own app on Facebook recently.

Called the Flavorcreator , it attempts to engage the audience by enabling them to participate in product development process.

Yes- the audience could select and vote for the flavors they want.

The entire process is across 3 stages- and the company would launch the crowdsourced flavor in December. So the engagement goes for about 3 months or so- with the marketing campaign. even after that, obviously there will be ample opportunities for engagement.

In the first stage, you could vote for your favorite flavor from a swirling tag cloud and that’s not all. You could see all the buzz around that flavor across various platfoems like Flickr (!), Twitter, Google search and a foody site foodgawker.

Not only that, you could ‘like’ a particular flavor from the result. That keeps the flavor in the database and will be used in the final flavor shortlisting.

The second stage attempts to keep users involved till the next stage when the product is shortlisted. You could play games on the app itself. There are three amusing games around the concept of ‘healthy is good’ that the audience could keep themselves amused with.

Of course, here they take advantage of the viral component of the Wall and your results could be posted on your wall where others could get intrigued and come to play the game.

The third step goes live in October where you design a graphic, a name and a blurb for your drink. They also use some celebrity power here and use 50 cents and Carrie Underwood to finalize the results. Quite cross media potential, in my opinion.

That’s it- a quick Saturday post on the latest campaign in the field of Social Media Marketing

Think about it.
Shalabh
(twitter @shalabhpandey)..oh Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shalabhpandey

I sporadically cover marketing/advertising campaigns and tutorials in my post. And when I do, I try to make some observations rather than just report on something cool. Like my analysis of the Dell Swarm campaign.

I try to keep an Asian perspective but cover International campaigns (Like Grasshopper). There is a lot of noise specially if they are in the social media domain- and that too international campaigns

And then sometimes, the post is for documentation and for general reference. Like this time- here’s an international campaign from Philip’s agency (ies) .

The “Philips Vs” campaign

Note: Just before the post, three terms I’d like to reintroduce: GermFeeding is creating ‘Spreadable’ content;  GermSeed or Enzymate is the act of spreading or intentional placement of content to make it readily spreadable. Germ refers to an ‘enzyme’ and GermFeeding is like introducing a culture (germ) to milk to make it curdle. It is a more positive and all encompassing theory as compared to the concept of “Viral”.

You have heard little about this campaign- undertaken about 2 months ago towards the end of June. The campaign piggybacks on the MicroBlogging/Twitter phenomenon and tries to exploit the frenzy surrounding the newness of this platform.

• The proposition is simple- in order to win a Philips TV, participants in this marketing contest have to Twitter a “Philips Versus _______” tweet

• Their Profile Bio on twitter sums it up: “Philips_vs_anything you can imagine in 140 characters. We challenge you to challenge us for the chance to win a Cinema 21:9 TV & worldwide fame “

• You need to follow them on Twitter and reply to them (or use the hashtag) with a description of an idea or visualize with a link to an image or video that you have created. The best suggestions were retweeted and the Jury’s favorite to be filmed and shown all over the web
• The campaign seems to be over with the last tweet seen on July 13th (but that does not matter- not promoting the contest here but the methodology)
• They had a cool site with clever creative interface and one that explained the idea creatively and clearly
• They also had GermFeed (Spreadable content) created for this campaign like this video:

Not only this, they even took it on the streets as an on ground engagement/experiential campaign and challenged people to challenge Philips using a play with one of their products. Then again, they converted it into a video and posted it online as a classic Germseeding tactic.

On the audience participation front, there were some good submissions, and two of my favorites are here:

All of these things seem like good ingredients for a buzz generating campaign. Only they did not seem to work. (As Viral Blog showcases in this  brilliant analysis)

Even though it was a twitter centered (though not limited to- because content could be created anywhere) campaign, the buzz on twitter was not rocking

And even the general buzz on the internet did not have any effect around Philips.

So what actually did go wrong here?

Any Ideas?

I know you have some opinions…

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.

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Come on…

So what do you think went wrong?

Shalabh Pandey (@shalabhpandey)

Thumbnail: beautiful depiction of Twitter overcapacity by Mykl Roventine