Creative Review - Coca-Cola's Facebook Riddles

Coca-Cola has over 40 million fans on Facebook, and has recently been playfully interacting with them on the site by posting a series of enigmatic riddles. Fans that solve the riddles are then directed to a set of charming Coke 'sitelets', that aim to "provoke small moments of happiness"...

The campaign is the brainchild of Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. The first riddle posted on Facebook was as follows:

It’s warm and sandy, right under your feet
By this crackling fire, good friends will meet.
Fun music is played, by women and men
You’ll think to yourself, “When can we do this again?”
There’s nothing more that I desire,
Than hanging out at A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .com

The riddle was accompanied by an image of a bonfire, and fans quickly worked out that the link was abeachbonfire.com.

The sitelet for this riddle uses bold graphics to simulate a virtual beach bonfire, complete with a soundtrack featuring crackling flames, breaking waves, guitar sounds and the gentle clink of Coke bottles……. Read More

Marketing, Branding is key to survival in Asia

By: Kristie Thong, Singapore

Published: 9 hours 38 min ago

BRANDING ASIA

Regional - Emerging multinational companies in Asia will need brands to survive in the future, according to a new report from the Economic Intelligence Unit.

Companies in emerging Asia have grown into large businesses rapidly without using brands, as they were at the right place at the right time, but this will not continue. As cost advantages erode and Western counterparts with honed brands intensify competition, Asian companies will need to change their business models.

Called 'Brand and deliver: Emerging Asia's new corporate imperative' the report suggested branding is not only about succeeding in local markets, but also about going global, and businesses without a strong brand identity will find it difficult to do so. Meanwhile, branding strategy is not well understood in Asia. According to brand consultants in the region, many confuse branding with advertising, and they regard brands as their reward for building a successful business.  More on:

Marketing, Branding is key to survival in Asia, ASIA PACIFIC, MARKETING, Branding Marketing, Brand reputation Marketing, Research findings Measurement Media Marketing, | Market-interactive.com

The 7 Trends that will Rock Marketing - The Bonafide Marketing Genius Strikes Again

The 7 Trends that will Rock Marketing by Graham D Brown

View more presentations from Graham Brown.

via slideshare.net

Graham Brown (author of the above presentation and founder of mobileYouth) and I share more than a few opinions in common, the primary one being this:

The era of marketing "AT" people is over. Smart marketers know this and are pursuing ever-inventive ways to market WITH people instead. That means creating experiences, not ads. Conversations, not campaigns. Meaning, not "messages."

For some marketers, this notion is unthinkable. Even terrifying. They'll be the ones posting scathing comments to this post later today ;). They'll be the ones writing articles about how print ads in newspapers are more effective than engaging with people via social media. They'll also be the ones adding words like "social media savvy" to their resumes six months from now when they realize that things just aren't going back to the way they were. Time, technology, progress...marches on.

I'm thrilled to hear that Graham is working on a book that takes a closer look at the social, cultural, and technological influences that are reshaping our industry—not to mention numerous others. Maybe if I'm super-nice to him, he'll even send me a copy—digital format, of course ;) In the meantime, I encourage you to flip through the deck embedded above and put some real thinking into the 7 trends Graham is highlighting:

Full article:  The 7 Trends that will Rock Marketing - The Bonafide Marketing Genius Strikes Again

World’s Top Ten Identity Firms « Identity Forum

by contributor Andrew Pourtov

Andrew has addressed this invitation to Identity Forum’s eighteen Contributors — but of course everyone is welcome to jump in.

We are different. We have different age, education and experience. We have grown with different cultural values. Our taste was influenced by different designers. We took part in different projects. We have the different approach. Let’s share our experience, and each choose the top-10 identity firms in the world. (I think this will provide more interesting information on each of us, than what is written in our short bio’s.) Here are my choices:

Firm	Why?
1. Chermayeff & Geismar	logo
2. Landor Associates	brand driver
3. Cato Purnell Partners	dynamic identity
4. Wolff Olins	non-standard
5. Pentagram	typography
6. Chase Design	calligraphy
7. Total Identity	design systems
8. MetaDesign	logic
9. QWER	revolution
10. Siegel+Gale	simplicity

 
Make your own choices and share them with us! (Please also explain — in a word or two; what is the firm’s greatest point of strength?)

World’s Top Ten Identity Firms « Identity Forum

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