Brilliant Advertising: Motivational Nike Bench

Effective and inspiring, Nike's seat-less benches speak to their target market at the perfect time and place. With the Nike Logo and "Run" printed on the back, these benches are motivating runners to #Makeitcount, as part of Nike's campaign for 2012. A compelling reminder to invest in Nike as a preferred training partner. Source: The Cool Hunter

The Thank You Economy: How Business Must Adapt to Social Media

Gary Vaynerchuk aka 'the king of social media' has over 900,000 Twitter followers. Had you ever heard of him before today? I'm going to guess probably not. But if you have 8 minutes to spare today and would like to own the topic on 'how brands can get the most out of their social media strategy' then you should watch this, because in Gary's words "marketing is about to get really f***ing hard"

Will.i.am and Budweiser Bring Back Vinyl with Latest Ad

Bringing the past back into the future, the Budweiser brand and Black Eyed Peas frontman, Will.i.am, have joined beats and flavours to create a unique vinyl ad. 

Budweiser launched Will.i.am's new song "Great Times" by pressing it into a vinyl magazine advertisement that can be played on any turntable. The ad was created to promote Budweiser's partnership with Will.i.am in Brazil. Source: ADWEEK

When Brands Highjack the News

I really do appreciate it when a brand jumps at the opportunity to be a part of a breaking news story. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it is usually has  fantastic results for brand awareness at a fraction of the cost. However in order for it to be successful it requires quick-turnaround and lightning creativity. 

Think about the decision to sponsor the Chilean miners with Oakley sunglasses as they made their ascent into the face of the world's media. It is estimated that  Oakley garnered $41 million in television alone from this opportunistic stunt.

Nandos together with its agency Black River FC is notoriously known for being right on queue when it comes to commenting on controversial current affairs and ruffling a few feathers in the process as their ads almost always go viral. You can check out examples of their genius on 2oceansvibe.

So when a fishing trawler recently ran aground on the prime property of Clifton beach in South Africa and my Facebook news feed filled up with the attention-grabbing image, there was one company preparing to get a slice of the action, Butlers pizza. The delivery-only franchise thought it would show the Japanese visitors some hospitality by sending a delivery team, dressed in their characteristic butler uniforms, to deliver pizzas right up to the ship's starboard. And the media were there too to capture it. Brilliant. Source: 2oceansvibe.

Heineken Tackles Social Media

Seen the iconic red star pop up on your Facebook news feed lately? It all forms part of Heineken, the maker of one of the most valuable global brands, social media strategy to build brand awareness with a younger generation of consumers. As Europe's age graphs take a dive, Heineken has been looking at the upswing in emerging economies. To target this group Heineken recently launched an advertising partnership with Google for worldwide digital campaigns on YouTube and mobile phones. (Mobile internet being the dominant form of internet access in developing countries). Read More on Heineken's strategy at INSEAD.

A recently launched campaign in South Africa involves Heineken, the worldwide sponsor of the UEFA Champion's League, challenging football fans to a virtual shootout through an innovative Facebook app. The winner each week will be treated to a VIP experience at the Heineken Star Final, where they can watch a live screening of the UEFA Champion's League Final Munich 2012 in comfort and style. Source: Ideate

Amex Launches SMS-interactive Billboard

If you enjoyed the post on the world's first interactive growing billboard for Bronx shoes, you might be interested to see what Amex is doing to interact with its customers through the previously one-way communication tool - the billboard. Placed in main London terminal train stations, the billboards invite passerbys by to send an SMS with their name to the "London's Inside Tip Generator" and in response a personalised message will appear on the billboard offering tips about activities in London. With London 2012 Olympic visitors on their way to London very soon, this is set up to be an effective tool, offering a useful service to travelers and enabling Amex to engage with its customers and deliver the brand's message of offering excellent service, including its access to extensive insider travel information and exclusive deals. Source: BrandRepublic