What do Google TV ads mean for advertising?

Earlier today I saw the video below about Google TV ads, a new service that "makes it easy for anyone to buy and measure national cable television advertising." As illustrated in the video by Slate ad critic, Seth Stevenson, people to upload their own ad to the site and then buy air time on various networks. The ad is then played on TV. Of course, a person's budget will depend on the amount of air time one can buy and the time slot, but this definitely is an interesting idea. While I do not see this service significantly undermining ad agencies or media buyers, it adds previously unavailable access to media buying on a national scale for any interested party. While I see this as a potential positive, I question some of the ramifications. If anyone can upload any video and just buy the time, will the service end up as an outlet for someone like a hate group to advertise their agenda? Is there any way of monitoring the videos being uploaded? Should there be?

Yes, Football=Love in the new Puma campaign

As is fairly apparent from some earlier posts, I'm a sucker for soccer ad campaigns. I'm also a huge fan of everything done by Droga5. I still think their bike version of Guitar Hero, "Bike Hero," was one of the more brilliant pieces of alt advertising I'd seen. I'm a huge fan of the integrated campaign they created for the Unicef Tap Water Project and I still have fun playing on the Puma Lift website. So, it probably won't come as a shock that I love Droga5's latest Puma campaign, Love=Football campaign.

This year Valentine's Day falls on a soccer game day. So as part of the Love=Football campaign, Droga5 and Puma decided to help you send Valentine's Day wishes to the one you love. After all, they know where your heart will really be.


The brilliance of the campaign lies in the ridiculous, yet true to the soccer culture, idea of a bunch of tough guys singing what could be a fight song together. However, the traditional British soccer "hooligans" (there's an Italian soccer fan version as well if you want some variety) are actually singing a cheesy love song by Savage Garden to express their love. It's a perfect parody.

For those of you less familiar with the culture, here's a scene from the movie, Green Street Hooligans (a personal favorite movie), that illustrates the idea.
Definitely impressive work by Droga5 for Puma yet again

Update: For those Rugby fans out there, Droga5 and Puma have followed up the soccer "hardchorus" with a rugby theme. In honor of the Six Nations Cup, Puma introduces the Chabal bear, clearly the perfect Valentine's Day gift. After all, love also equals rugby :)

ParkShark: A practical app for city drivers

It seems like every day tons of new apps show up. Some are fun. Some are cool, but very few offer a tangible, practical benefit. ParkShark is one of the few.

I've lived in a number of cities where finding a parking spot is next to impossible. Driving into downtown Boston or really anywhere in Boston/Cambridge and finding a parking space is one of the most frustrating experiences a person can have. Washington D.C. was hardly better. I remember one weekend day during the winter I needed to go into my office in downtown D.C. and naively decided to drive. After two hours of circling the Farragut Square and Logan Circle areas looking for any parking spot, I gave up and drove home. Even now, in Minneapolis, finding a parking spot can be a challenge.

What I like about ParkShark is that it attempts to offer a solution. According to Creativity-Online's write-up, "independent software developers Peter Cetinski and Dimitriy Frenkel hope to temper your road rage—and help the environment too, with ParkShark, an app that promises to land you a parking spot, as soon as you need it. And it works anywhere in the world, not just Manhattan." The purpose of this app is to "optimize the use of limited parking resources, reduce pollution, reduce congestion and eliminate the frustration that comes with searching for a parking space." I'm not sure about anyone else, but that sounds like a dream come true to me.

Currently, ParkShark is only available for the iPhone. However, there are plans to develop Android and Blackberry versions.

Happy New Year

I know it's a few days late, but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year by posting a reel by one of my favorite digital agencies, North Kingdom. I find their work inspiring (I already wrote about their awesome advergame, Teamgeist, for Adidas). I hope you enjoy this reel as much as I do. I can't wait to see what comes next from these guys!

North Kingdom Showreel 2009 from Designchapel on Vimeo.

Facebook Connect expands the Interactive Experience

In the last few days, I've noticed an emerging trend in promotional websites - the use of Facebook Connect to expand the user experience. This is part of the emerging trend of Social Context which involves more contextual content, media and ads based off social profiles. Here are some impressive examples I have seen in the last week or so:

The Flash Forward Experience allows viewers to become a part of Mosaic (the fictional site from the TV show in which people can connect about what they saw during the "blackout"). Using information from your profile, your location, your friends, etc. the site creates your vision during the "blackout." Viewers also have the option to become members of the Facebook fan page. Overall, the site seems like a great way to actively involve its audience in the TV show.

The Prototype Experience uses Facebook Connect for the new blockbuster game by Activision: Prototype. One aspect that makes this site more interesting than the Flash Forward site is that one does not have to log into Facebook Connect in order to interact with it. Viewers have the ability to read the story, view artwork, watch non-targeted trailers and pre-order the game independently from Facebook Connect. Facebook Connect is used primarily for the "Prototype Experience" - a short teaser trailer which uses your own social information in Facebook from your profile picture, your profile information, and photos from your friends. It's definitely worth trying it out for yourself. Here's an interesting post on the development of the site.

Welcome to Fight Club pulls your info from Facebook and turns you into a different person (in other words, you get to see yourself living the movie - pretty awesome idea). As a fan of the original movie, this site automatically appealed to me. I like the idea of being directly involved in the movie. Welcome to Fight Club was created to advertise the 11/17/09 release of 10th Anniversary Edition of Fight Club on Blu-ray disc.

I want to be part of Teamgeist

It's already fairly apparent from earlier posts that I love soccer. I also openly admit I love almost all of Adidas' soccer campaigns. So, it is not exactly a shock that I instantly fell in love with the latest advergame for Adidas.

The game which also serves as a graphic novel is called: Teamgeist. (Teamgeist is the name given the ball used at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.) Teamgeist invites players to partake in the story of German football team Die Manschafft's jersey. In the intro to the game, Die Manshafft is stripped of its identity. From that point forward, it is the player's goal to help the team recapture its three World Cup stars, thereby reclaiming Die Manshafft's identity. Here's the intro in German (you can watch it in English here):


In general, I'm not a huge gamer (sure, I liked the Oregon Trail and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, but I never really moved past that) so I wasn't sure if I would find Teamgeist engaging or easy to navigate. It manages to be both without being so simple that someone who is a gamer would become easily bored. The graphics and videos are stunning and the story is compelling.

The site also features an interactive graphic novel with an augmented reality component. In addition, the campaign includes a blog with all the making of the videos as well as a twitter account.

This new Adidas campaign was created by North Kingdom and is in partnership with the German Football Federation.

Social Media and Human Rights

Here's the presentation I gave at the Unsummit in Minneapolis this October. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Social Media and Human Rights

View more documents from judyabel.

And here's the video from the presentation in case you are interested in learning more about the New Tactics in Human Rights program.