Do you know how to easily get stickers off of something? Or how to use a drill bit on a stripped screw? Or how to create compelling, six-second videos?
Author: Parker Mason
Radar DDB 10am One Thing: Dogs Driving Cars
Cute animals and cool technology are always a win on the internet, and that’s why we love the latest campaign from SPCA Auckland. To drive awareness of all the great animals available for adoption at their locations, SPCA partnered with the auto manufacturer MINI to put a few clever dogs in the driver’s seat.
The end result is a very shareable video that shows just how smart and well behaved these dogs are. A simple Facebook Tab on the SPCA Auckland page provides more videos about how the dogs were trained and how the car was rigged to be more suitable for four-legged drivers. The tab also has profiles of a few of the dogs available for adoptions, as well as a link for international visitors to locate an SPCA location a little closer to home.
Radar DDB 10am One Thing: #FreeAndOpen
The internet connects billions of people to each other every day. It allows us to talk to people around the world, instantly. It lets us share and create art. It can help us learn. It helps people who might not otherwise have a voice be heard.
Unfortunately, some of the world’s governments want more control over the internet as we use it today. They want to be able to censor it, spy on it or otherwise manipulate it, and they are often supported by organizations that don’t have the public’s best interest in mind.
Radar DDB 10am One Thing: Super Great Toilet Keeper
What do TOTO, manufacturer of high-end toilets, and toto, an organization that sells sports lotteries, have in common (besides their namesake)?
Apparently, an interest in the environment. The two Japanese companies have teamed up for an initiative called TOTO x toto, aimed at telling consumers more about their respective green or environmental efforts.
Radar DDB 10am One Thing: Instagram Menu
While it’s always great to see what big brands are doing with new social media networks, sometimes the most interesting innovation comes from smaller players.
One great example of this is Comodo, a New York restaurant that is using photos from their customers to help create an “Instagram menu”: Diners are encouraged both to use their mobile devices to browse the #ComodoMenu hashtag on Instagram to help them decide which meal they want and to upload their own photos and reviews.
Radar DDB 10am One Thing: Acoustic Barcodes
From gesture-technology televisions to new ways of bringing paper to life, we love the trend of trying to better integrate the physical world with the digital realm, and that’s why we like the idea of acoustic bar codes.
Developed by a team from Carnegie Mellon University, this system uses barcodes made of ridges that you can run your finger nail, pen or phone across to create a unique audio signature. Special software on a mobile device or computer can then analyze this sound, which could then be used to perform a function.
Radar DDB 10am One Thing: The New New MySpace
From the giddy heights of being the most-visited social network in the world to the rock bottom of being mocked for irrelevance, the last decade has been a quite a ride for MySpace. By announcing a “new” MySpace this week, the social network site is showing the world their ride isn’t over yet. The announcement, in the form of a video, highlights the look and functionality of the new site.
What we like about the new features (besides a fresh, clean look) is “Affinity.” This measurement appears to be a cross between a discovery engine and fan counter, and shows how similar one profile is to another across a variety of metrics. Depending on how it works, it could be a great new tool for people to find new things (or people) they like. This type of serendipitous discovery was part of the appeal of the original MySpace, so it’s nice to see that this is still very much part of the new one.
Radar 10am One Thing: Bacon Barter
On September 10th, comedian Josh Sankey set out on a mission to drive from New York to Los Angeles with no cash and no credit cards – just a trailer full of “Butcher Thick Cut Bacon” from Oscar Mayer.
It’s only a few days into his journey, and he’s already amassed a few thousand Twitter followers thanks to his incredibly active presence on the service. Not content to rely on one social media channel, the campaign is also using Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and a dedicated website to share stores of Josh’s bacon journey across America.
Radar DDB 10am One Thing – Pepsi’s #LiveForNow
A few months ago, Pepsi launched a global campaign, “Live For Now,” by redoing Pepsi.com to feature a waterfall of branded content and fan comments about the beverage. It was a unique way to embrace social media while not relying too heavily on third-party networks. More recently, Pepsi also partnered with Twitter.
On Tuesday night, we started to see what that partnership was capable of as Pepsi delivered on that “Live For Now” promise by streaming a Nicki Minaj concert on any Tweet with #NickiMinajNow hashtag. As the go-to site for what’s happening now, we think Twitter was a perfect channel for Pepsi and this campaign. It’s also a great reminder that the world still loves a super-star endorsement deal.
Radar DDB 10am One Thing: The Beckham Surprise
Photo booths have been a staple of experiential marketing for years, and they’ve only become more interesting with the improvements in digital photography and social sharing. The latest attempt by Adidas goes beyond this by adding a visit from David Beckham to the mix. The soccer superstar surprised fans by joining them as they were trying on the new British Olympic gear by Adidas in a photo booth setting.
Beckham wasn’t the only star of the video, however. What made this such a success was the raw emotion from the people featured in the video (wearing Adidas, of course), from excitement and surprise and more. No doubt the brand was trying to capture the passion that viewers of the Olympics will feel when they watch their country’s athletes this summer.
