The Future of Ads

Hidden ASCII Art Generates Buzz For Dante’s Inferno

When the team behind the Dante’s Inferno video game hid ASCII art in the source code of many popular websites and then waited for that art to get discovered, they were taking a huge risk, but sometimes big rewards can only come to those that are willing to take equally big risks.

Continue reading...

Carl’s Jr. Uses YouTube Stars For Online Video Success

One of my advertising rules of thumb is this: Content that works well online is not the same as content that works well on television. To see why, let’s look at Carl’s Jr.’s latest ad campaign for their Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger.

Continue reading...

GE Plugs Into The Smart Grid With Augmented Reality

GE’s Smart Grid - Augmented Reality campaign is a fantastic example of how augmented reality can be used to engage viewers and encourage them to interact directly with the message.

Continue reading...

Smart Favicon Games Promote The Fortwo

Banner ads are definitely not the future of ads, but once you start to think outside the banner, you often don’t have to go far to come up with a good idea. For Jung von Matt, they only needed to go as far as the favicon before coming up with a fantastic campaign for Smart fortwo.

Continue reading...

Gum Elections Let People Vote For Your Brand

Forget blind taste tests and compensated focus groups; if you want to know what people really think of your product, just put out posters with you and your main competitor on them and see where the gum lands.

Continue reading...

Magpie Tries To Make Twitter An Ad Network, Fails

Magpie calls itself the “Ad Network for Twitter”, and has definitely caused quite a stir in the last few days as Twitter users debate the value of filling their tweet stream with ads in exchange for a few dollars on the side. But is this 'in the stream' advertising the future, or will users revolt against an ad network that treads on their sacred ground?

Continue reading...