When I wrote about the need for better direct mail campaigns, one idea I mentioned was to “create a direct mail ad that’s also a unique piece of art”.

No doubt inspired by that idea (probably not) Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners created a direct mail campaign for BMW that included a series of unique art prints, along with the typical sales material, that was mailed to perspective buyers.

To create the prints, they turned a new BMW M6 Coupe into “The M Press”, with a custom rig that would dispense ink above the M6′s tires.

The plan was simple enough: Matt Mullins, the Chief Driving Instructor of the BMW Performance Driving School, drove the car around Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Illinois, and when he drove over areas of the racetrack where pieces of paper had been taped, he would flip a switch to activate the custom ink sprayer, which inked the rear tires and allowed them to leave their mark on the paper below.

To make sure the printing process would deliver the intended results, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners worked with Classic Color out of Chicago, a digital printing shop that helped mix the inks and create the printing rig that brought the idea to life.

BMW sent the resulting series of “M Prints” to existing M owners and potential owners via a direct mail campaign, and along with the printed ad, recipients could visit a personalized website that would show them the video of how their print was made.

As with most modern campaigns, a crew was also there to create a behind the scenes video, which they then used to tell the story to a wider audience. This helped to not only increase the ROI of the original campaign, but to create a second wave of interest out of a single idea.

By taking a traditional direct mail campaign and finding a fun way to add something special, BMW and Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners were able to create an ad that’s sure to stand out from every other ad that gets delivered by the USPS.

The post BMW Makes Direct Mail Exciting Again With The M Press appeared first on The Future of Ads.

Toronto, Ontario based agency Lowe Roche found a way to spice up their direct mail campaign for Pfaff Porsche by taking a Porsche 911 and parking it in front of mansions in the Rosedale, Forest Hill and Bridle Path neighborhoods of Toronto.

Lowe Roche then took a picture of the car while it was parked in the driveway of each home, and used that picture as the focal point of a custom direct mail piece they created for each home on the fly.

In addition to the car, Lowe Roche also brought along their own photo editor, printer and runner, so they were able to create and print each piece of direct mail right there on the spot, and skip the process of organizing, labeling and mailing each flyer.

The results speak for themselves: Of the homes that received the direct mail ad, 32% booked a test drive online.

What’s surprising is not that this campaign worked. Of course a family that receives a piece of mail with a picture of their own home on the front is going to pay attention to it. And when that picture includes a hot sports car, they’re going to generate some interest.

What’s surprising is how easy the concept was to create. They made a template, they took similar photos of each home, and kept the offer simple. By eliminating as many complications as possible, they were able to create the ads at scale, and give them just enough personalization to be effective.

So considering how easy it was to create, why can’t this same concept scale to something even bigger?

With digital printing, there’s no setup required to create a direct mail piece at scale, so printing costs shouldn’t be a factor. (Sure, each ad is going to cost a little more to print than a typical direct mail ad, but not so much more that it would eliminate the ROI of a reasonably targeted campaign.)

If you wanted to mirror their technique and use an image of each recipient’s house, a technology like Google’s Street View would give you the images you’d need to customize each ad, but why limit the concept to just photos? For example, look at what Absolut was able to do with customizable printing to create a series of nearly four million bottles that were each individual and unique:

So what about using a similar process to create a direct mail ad that’s also a unique piece of art?

This process would be especially effective for companies that have good data about their direct mail recipients, and can customize it beyond just their address.

For example, it’s well known that Target has a huge amount of data on their Target Card holders, and they use that data to customize the types of offers that their customers receive.

So what if, instead of coupons, you sent customers an ad that is customized to the types of things you know they like? Think ad libs for print ads.

The goal here shouldn’t be to create an exact duplicate of the campaign that Lowe Roche created. Instead, the goal should be to get inspired by their creativity, and to think of ways to customize your own advertising to achieve the success that they created.

Just because something has always been done one way, doesn’t mean there isn’t another way that might work even better.

The post Help Save Direct Mail appeared first on The Future of Ads.

The guide aims to emphasize the exotic adventures that Land Rover owners are supposed to undertake, and includes the tools and information needed to survive in the desert:

• The cover is made with the same reflective material used by the army, and can be used to signal for help.
• The metal binding of the guide can be made into skewers, so stranded drivers can spear and cook any animals they’ve hunted.
• The 28 page guide details all of the indigenous animals and plants in the area that are safe to eat.
• The pages of the guide also include information on how to make a shelter, build a fire, and a map in case drivers wish to try and walk their way out of the desert.
• Plus, if needed, the book itself can be eaten to provide the owner with a few additional calories. The pages are made of potato-based starch paper and printed with glycerin based ink, resulting in something that’s 100% safe to eat, with relatively the same nutritional value as a cheeseburger. (Though probably not the same taste.)

The ad was created by Y&R Dubai, who described the idea as follows:

While Land Rover vehicles can take on any obstacles in the desert, it cannot be said the same of their owners. Sandstorms, deadly animals and sinkholes are just a few things they might encounter. And when they venture deep into the desert, even the most experienced drivers can quickly succumb to the harshness of the desert. This book teaches them the basics to staying alive in the Arabian Desert, hence reinforcing what Land Rover stands for in a fun and engaging way.

The campaign was so successful that all 5,000 of the original books were quickly claimed, and Land Rover decided to print an additional 70,000 copies to include as an insert in a popular print magazine.

Sounds like a winning idea to me!

The post Edible Survival Guide Helps Land Rover Owners Survive appeared first on The Future of Ads.

Ford’s ad for the new 2013 Mustang featured a tease of a model named Dalena Henriques. She only appears once in the magazine, in Ford’s ad, which is odd since most models make repeat appearances throughout the issue. However, there’s a good reason for this oddity: Dalena Henriques is a made-up model that Ford created for their swimsuit spread.

Ford was counting on readers to search for more of Dalena by firing up Google and searching for her name, since that search would more than likely end at DalenaHenriques.com, the only site that existed for this made-up model.

On the site is a collection of additional photos of the car, each with additional, partial glimpses of ‘Dalena’. The photos show off everything from the taillights, wheels and hood vents to the interior, navigation system and door handles, and each includes a pun-filled caption from Dalena as she talks about how excited she was to be featured in the ad.

By guaranteeing that all searches for Dalena Henriques would end up on a site that Ford controlled (at least for a little while until posts like this flooded Google with her name), they were able to direct and control all search results without spending a single dollar on Search Engine Marketing.

Lexus decided to go with Tori Praver, an actual swimsuit model, for their ad. For the print version, Tori’s photo was turned into a race track, with ‘curves’ that only the new 2013 Lexus GS F Sport could handle.

While the concept is novel, it’s the extensions of the ad that caught my eye.

As many bikini-filled ads often do, the Lexus campaign included a ‘making of’ video that showed off a few additional views of the car, along with extended views of Tori Praver. (To be fair, this is to be expected, given the intended audience of the issue, and the ad.)

Taking things a step further though, they also released a game for iOS devices called TORI 500, where players were challenged to “see what it’s like to race the all-new Lexus GS around Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Tori Praver”.

Unlike a print ad, which will be viewed briefly while flipping from one page to the next, a mobile game is something that guarantees extended interaction between the user and the brand, and helps to increase the exposure time of the campaign.

Finally, in addition to the game, Lexus also created an app called Super Modeled that lets you take Tori Praver and/or the Lexus GS F Sport and “place these two famous models in virtually any photo on your iPhone”.

Given the recent explosion in popularity of photo editing on the iPhone, this was a smart move by Lexus to take advantage of this trend with a simple app that’s still likely to see heavy use.

Both Ford and Lexus were smart to test out experimental extensions on a large and highly targeted placement like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Regardless of how these extensions perform, the print ads still serve their main purpose in the magazine, and any additional interaction with the campaign through these digital and mobile experiences can be viewed as icing on the cake.

The post Ford and Lexus Experiment with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition appeared first on The Future of Ads.

LEGO is testing out a new idea called the Digital Box that could forever change the way we think of product packaging.

The Digital Box is the work of Metaio, the same company that created the Virtual Mini, and it uses the same augmented reality technology to create a virtual model of the LEGO toy from inside the box that sits on top of the box when held in front of a special interactive kiosk. While this might seem like a neat trick for in-store consumers, just imagine what it could do for online shopping.

As you can see in the picture, the Digital Box is just a monitor that’s connected to a computer that’s using a Logitech webcam to capture video. Each box contains a tracking mark, and that tracking mark tells the computer exactly where to place the LEGO model in the video, but it doesn’t need to be limited to just the LEGO box, as that tracking mark could just as easily be printed out from home and viewed through your own webcam.

Now, when shopping on Amazon or any other online e-tailer, instead of just viewing a picture of the completed LEGO model on your computer, you could actually hold a virtual representation of the finished model in your hands and twist and turn it to easily examine it from all angles. Taking the concept a step further, and sticking with LEGO as an example, you can even imagine a scenario where you could watch the entire model assemble itself on the screen before your very own eyes, giving you an idea of how difficult the model will be to assemble, and how everything fits together.

What’s interesting is that this imaginary scenario is quickly becoming a reality, as LEGO will be testing the Digital Box at a few of their European stores initially, but could roll it out to each one of their stores in the next year or two if the initial test is successful. From there, it’s not hard to imagine them integrating the technology into their website so that anyone browsing through the various LEGO models could get a very detailed look at each and every one before deciding which to buy.

The Good:

• Augmented reality brings a boxed product to life and lets kids see what they’re really buying.
• Low technological requirements make this campaign accessible to almost anyone.
• Has the potential to easily expand online and drastically alter the way we shop for products through our computer.

The Bad:

• Not yet an intuitive process, so many consumers will miss the campaign entirely.

The Future:

• Augmented reality changes the way we shop for products online and brings many different static products to life.

The post LEGO Uses Augmented Reality To Make Models Come To Life appeared first on The Future of Ads.

In the spring of 2009, Vuzix will release a product that could forever change the way we think about advertising: the Wrap 920AV.

Vuzix is a leading manufacturer of video eye wear for the consumer, medical, and defense & industrial markets, and their Wrap 920AV sunglasses will be the first to feature ‘see-thru’ Quantum optics technology, allowing you to see the world around you in addition to the screen in front of you. With this new technology, as well as with their optional six degrees of freedom head tracking system and stereo camera accessories, augmented and virtual reality experiences will be possible that redefine the way we interact with information.

Since this is all very conceptual, perhaps it’s best to look at a few examples of how this new technology could be used in the world of advertising. Previously, we looked at Mini’s Augmented Reality Magazine Advertisement, and how it allowed consumers to interact with a 3D model of the Mini vehicle using existing technologies that almost every new computer owner has access to. While this was great for demonstrating proof of concept, there was still a disconnect between holding the magazine in front of a webcam and then moving the magazine around to view the Mini from different angles, and actually interacting with the Mini as if it were a physical model.

Now imagine viewing that same advertisement, but through a pair of the Vuzix glasses. By using the stereo camera attachment, each screen in the Vuzix glasses would be a live video of what was located directly in front of the glasses, and because you could see around the video screen as well, it would blend into your field of view, adding to your overall experience in a very natural way, rather than removing you from it. Thus, what you would see in front of you would appear to be the ad as if you were looking at it with your very own eyes, but you would actually be seeing a video of the ad being relayed through the cameras.

Unlike your own eyes, the cameras would be feeding through a computer, and that computer could then display a 3D model of the car into your field of view using the screens in front of you. Now though, instead of moving the magazine around to interact with the augmented reality, you could simply move your head around to view the car from different angles as if you were looking at a physical model of the car. Want to look inside or see the car from a different angle? Just move your head as if the car really existed. With almost no learning curve, it would be a very natural and intuitive thing to do.

What separates augmented reality from actual reality though would be the ability to quickly and easily change any part of the car to suit your taste. Want to see how a different set of wheels would look with your favorite color of paint? Just click, and the new wheels would instantly appear on the 3D model. Taking the idea even further into the future, now imagine that you can control the 3D model on your desk using your keyboard. Instead of just viewing the car from different angles, you can now drive it around your desk like a video game, interacting with it as if it were a real toy in front of you.

For another example, imagine a watch company that creates an augmented reality tag that can be included in its magazine ads. By simply placing that tag onto your wrist and then viewing it through the Vuzix glasses, a virtual representation of the watch would appear on your wrist. Sure, you could technically do that now by creating a paper cut out of the watch and placing that on your wrist, but with augmented reality, the watch could instantly transform into any model that the company makes. Plus, instead of just laying on your wrist like a static representation, a watch viewed through augmented reality could actually tick away like a real watch, showing the current time and giving you a very accurate idea of what the real watch would look like on your wrist.

The Possibilities Are Endless

In addition to their stereo camera accessory, their head tracking system would also allow you to move and rotate your viewing perspective forward and backward, up and down, and left and right by just moving your head in the desired direction. To see how this could change the way we think about advertising, imagine a realtor that allows you to take virtual tours of their homes from the comfort of your own home without ever leaving the couch. Or how about an auto company that lets you sit in front of your computer and view the interior of their car as if you were sitting in one on the showroom floor.

While all of the above may have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago, we’ve finally reached the point where it’s both economically and technologically feasible to create virtual and augmented reality worlds that the average person can interact with and understand. Of course, like any new technology, it’s going to need a huge amount of adoption to break into the mainstream, but considering the potential that a device like this would enable, I don’t think they’ll have a hard time convincing people to give it a try. The question is, will advertising be ready to utilize this new medium to its full potential?

The Good:

• Augmented and virtual reality is a technology that already exists.
• Video glasses will allow the average consumer to interact with this technology in a very natural way.
• Price will be affordable for most consumers.

The Bad:

• Needs a large amount of adoption to be economically feasible for advertisers.

The Future:

• Interactive ads viewed through augmented reality glasses allow consumers to interact with virtual products as if they were physical objects.

Vuzix – Wrap 920AV

Watch Image Via Caitlinator

The post Augmented Reality Will Change Advertising appeared first on The Future of Ads.

Imagine this: You’re reading through a car magazine when you come to an ad for the new MINI Cabrio. The ad directs you to a URL, and once there, asks you to place your magazine in front of a webcam. Suddenly, and before your very own eyes, a 3D model of the new Mini appears on the page, and you are literally holding it in your hands. If you move it closer to the webcam, the Mini gets bigger, if you move it farther away, the Mini gets smaller, and you can twist, turn and rotate the model to look at it from any angle that you’d like. It’s like a miniature showroom in the palm of your hands, and you’re in control.

Sounds futuristic, right?

Think again, because that’s exactly what Mini has done with their latest series of magazine ads:

The technology, called Augmented Reality, uses a specially designed ad to interact with your webcam, and once I got it working, the effect was so seamless and so amazing that I literally couldn’t put it down. The model is amazingly realistic, and it reacts exactly as you would expect it to if it were physically mounted to the page in your hands.

If you’d like to give it a try, just download and print this PDF, visit this website, and try to follow the given instructions (they’re in German). You will need to be using Internet Explorer 6 or higher on a Windows machine with somewhat stout specs, but it’s nothing that most laptops can’t handle. (If you’re a Mac/Firefox user, but you’d still like to give the technology a try, then check out this post for a similar effect.)

The Good:

• 3D model literally puts the product in consumers’ hands.
• Unexpected and unique ad builds huge amounts of word of mouth buzz.
• Cutting edge technology is far ahead of the curve, and Mini is utilizing it before most have even heard of it.

The Bad:

• Experience is limited by technology requirements.

The Future:

• 3D ads allow consumers to interact with a company’s products in a very natural way, and show far more detail than a 2D ad ever could.

The post MINI Ad Uses 3D Cabrio Model From The Future appeared first on The Future of Ads.

Blogs moved news from paper to computer, but Hewlett-Packard hopes to move blogs from computer back to paper with Tabbloid, a free service that turns your favorite feeds into a personal magazine that you can print and carry with you.

As the world’s leading seller of personal computers, as well as the world’s largest technology vendor in terms of sales, why would HP want you to start printing out your news feeds and reading them away from the computer instead of pushing you towards the purchase of a laptop or other portable device?

Simple: In addition to computers, HP is also the world’s leading seller of printers, and if they can get you to print out every blog post from every feed that you want to read, you’ll go through ink much faster than you would if you just printed the occasional document, and return to buy their highly profitable inks much faster than normal.

In addition, Tabbloid allows HP to serve as the technology and software provider for your entire digital life. You can surf the web on an HP computer, add feeds to HP’s Tabbloid, and then print those feeds on an HP printer, and never once even look to another brand for a technology solution.

Tabbloid also shows that HP has a good side, since it’s easy to setup, requires no account information, and is surprisingly void of any HP branding. Besides the favicon in the location bar and the copyright notice at the bottom of the site, you might never know that Tabbloid was created by a multi-billion dollar corporation.

The Good:

• Free, easy to use, non-branded software builds user loyalty.
• Allows HP to position themselves as a digital life provider.
• Indirect link to product boosts sales without relying on advertising.

The Bad:

• Light branding means the message is often lost.

The Future:

• Added value applications allow companies to build trust with their customers while providing a service to the larger community and increasing sales of related products.

Tabbloid

The post Tabbloid Helps HP Sell Ink appeared first on The Future of Ads.

To ‘show off’ the capabilities of the camera in the new C905, Sony Ericsson shot their entire print campaign using just the phone itself.

Sure, the ad was done in a studio setting with a tripod, perfect lighting, and an endless number of takes to get it just right, but if you want to show off the capabilities of your product, there’s no better way to do it than to put your money where your mouth is.

Even the copy is a tasteful mix of boast and geekspeak:

The photo you see on this page was shot on a mobile phone. That’s right. This mouth-watering girl was captured in her full come hither-like glory on a portable blower, the lens of which is no bigger than a five pence piece.

Of course sex sells (especially for FHM, the magazine this ad will run in), and it doesn’t hurt to have a scantily clad model hold the phone to ensure that you grab the reader’s attention and that their eyes linger on the ad for more than a few seconds, but when you need an easy way to walk your talk for anyone willing to dig a little deeper into your claims, it always helps to show the customer what you’re made of.

The Good:

• Ad itself backs up claims made within the ad.
• Attention grabber.
• Sexy ad matches the tone of the publication.

The Bad:

• Sexy ad limits use to PG13+ locations.

The Future:

• The medium of an ad backs up the message, and claims are put to the test by the ad campaign itself.

Mobile Marketing Magazine – Sony Ericsson Claims Ad Campaign First

The post Sony Ericsson Shot Their Busty Ad With A Mobile Phone appeared first on The Future of Ads.

How do you advertise for something as simple as coffee?

Easy: Just sell something else!

By turning the mundane task of picking a cup for your morning coffee into “7-Election 2008”, 7-Eleven has managed to sell not just coffee, but support for your favorite candidate as well.

Think about it: If you walked into work one day and all around you were cups with candidate’s name on them, you would probably want to go out and get a cup of your own to show support for your side.

Now take that scenario and imagine it happening in thousands of offices all across the country, and then imagine that the results are posted online for everyone to follow, and you’ve got yourself quite the promotion.

The design of the cups is also a key element of the campaign: They’re bright and simple, allowing the candidate’s name to overshadow the company logo, but that makes them conversation starters, and those conversations will more than likely include the name “7-Eleven” in them at least a few times.

In addition, posting the results of the 7-Election online allows 7-Eleven to pass along “Fun Facts”, such as:

• In the 2000 7-Election, our George W. Bush coffee cup outsold Al Gore’s cup by just 1 percentage point.
• The 2004 7-Election results tracked identically with published national election results: 51% for George W. Bush and 49% for John Kerry.
• 7-Eleven was the first convenience store to
  • Open its doors 24 hours a day
  • Serve fresh-brewed coffee to go
  • Offer a self-serve soda fountain and super-size fountain drinks
• 7-Eleven sells more fresh-brewed coffee than anything else – 1 million cups each day. That’s more than 10,000 pots of coffee an hour, every hour of every day of the year.

7-Eleven also managed to loop in USA Today, and publishes the updated tally in the paper each week. This allows 7-Eleven to do print advertising for their coffee that is not only useful and interesting to the readers, but it provides added value rather than just being a blatant ad.

By combining online, in-store, word-of-mouth and print advertising into one campaign that promotes more than just their coffee, 7-Eleven has managed to make every cup count with 7-Election 2008.

The Good:

• Simple idea is easy to understand and manage.
• Combining elements of online, in-store, word-of-mouth, and print creates multiple ways to interact with the product.
• Taps into a current hot topic for added relevance and urgency.

The Bad:

• Company must refrain from seeming too political.

The Future:

• Products become promotional tools for other causes, ideas or people, encouraging customers to buy the product as a show of support.

7-Election 2008

The post 7-Election Sells Support With Your Coffee appeared first on The Future of Ads.