French crazy 3-D ads inspire to travel more

You're walking down the street and you see a giant 3-D mouth singing opera. Maybe you see an enormous, realistic rugby player taking a shower. Perhaps a gigantic Marilyn Monroe dress blowing in the breeze grabs your attention on your way to a bus stop that plays disco music if you touch the weird medallion-adorned hairy chest of a swarthy dude.

Well, if you're in France and you encounter any of these scenarios, you've probably come across the latest outdoor campaign from SNCF French Railways and agency TBWA\Paris. These crazy larger-than-life ads aim to inspire people to travel to places they are passionate about. 

If you are not in France and you see these things, you may want to seek therapy.

How to make the real Italian coffee with a moka pot

I've fallen in love with Italy ages ago and have been there ages ago as well as already previously explored how Italians drink coffee and why there's not Starbucks in Italy. However, this time I wanted to explore more about moka express pots.

When it comes to coffee, there are hundreds of different machines and ways to brew at home, yet I still use a machine first introduced 80 years ago. I've seen this pot in real Italian houses, hence, I've purchased this myself as well as bought it as a gift to my coffee lovers friends.

It’s estimated that 9/10 of Italian households own this device and it’s also very popular throughout the rest of Europe and Latin America. The craftsmanship and design is simple, efficient and affordable. I’m talking about the Bialetti Moka Express.

More Cool Ads :)

I've watched some pretty cool ads recently and decided to share!

VW Jetta (Humour appeal + pets)

September ads

Decided to post here some nice ads I've seen in the last couple of weeks.
Obviously tried to gather as much international creativity as possible - this time its the time of Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, UK and Brazil!


Norway

Coca-Cola Happiness Table

This time they move to Italy, Naples to be precise, where an ordinary delivery truck transforms into a happiness table in a small square. This happiness table is run by famous chef Simone Rugiati who is asking people to eat together more often, as families are doing it less and less due to the fast tempo the modern world has.

I just hope that this time this 'happines' table is not fake as well and all these people were not just hired for an awesome video. I hope they really did it. But after London fake machines I imagine that this is fake as well. But the video and the concept are awesome :) Enjoy!

Coca-Cola launched a new app on Facebook for this occasion where you can invite your friends to come over for a meal with three different foodie ambassadors to choose from to deliver your invitation. Moreover, you can find great recipes, and read amazing facts on the benefits of sharing mealtimes.

First Real Time Facebook Cover

I've posted recently pretty cool stuff that Johnnie Walker (brand) did with the Facebook Cover
 but this is just twice as cool!

A digital agency based in Bratislava, Slovakia, called Zaraguza Digital has been experimenting with its Facebook cover photo feature and a webcam.

After a few tweaks its regular Facebook homepage image has became a real-time Facebook cover displaying what is happening in its offices moment by moment.


A nice idea sure we will see a few more of these as brands look to make their pages more attractive and sticky to fans.

The agency has created a YouTube video running through the experiment, which has already created a splash for the Eastern European agency.

Success in digital China

With more than 500 million Chinese internet users and five million new users coming online each month, the significance of China’s internet as a primary marketing channel cannot be underestimated.

However, many multinationals in China still spend less than 10% of their total ad budgets online. But since digital in China represents a huge mass-market opportunity for brands to engage with Chinese consumers, it is worth investing in it.

This post will cover the ‘smart engagement’ from Mercedes Benz with online Chinese consumers.

Mercedes Benz faced a challenge selling its Smart car. Several campaigns had resulted in high awareness and customer inquiries but did not covert into sales. The time between the initial interest and actual purchase was too long. The inherent nature of a ‘small’ car has limited appeal to the Chinese consumer, and coupled with Smart’s premium price tag, people wavered in their final decision.

China - challenges and opportunities

Some more challenges and opportunities that are coming up in China regarding people and their social changes. This articles also includes a section what all these gives to marketing people and how some brands are using this opportunities to create their own benefits.

Consumer power

Over the past decade a significant shift in personal values has been tracked. Chinese population is moving away from traditional people-oriented values toward more power-oriented values.

Drilling down even deeper, the most significant trend is seen in China's consumer segmentations, with a rise in the 'Achiever' type, which is characterised by a focus on ambition, wealth, status and power. This means that personal value related to the traditionalist and Survivor mind-sets decline in importance and we see an increased desire to display personal achievement through ownership of luxury and status products.

Eight years ago, only 9% of TV units bought in China were modern sets, such as flat screen, projection, plasma, and LCD or LED models. That had leapt to 99% by 2011. Likewise, units sold of multi-door and side-by-side refrigerators have jumped from 5% to 40%.

Trends and challenges in China

China is massive. It is roughly the size of the US but with a population more than four times larger. It consists of 22 provinces, has eight official languages, a population of 1.3 billion people and 25 cities with a population of more than three million. Diverse in terms of economics development, culture and living conditions, to say China is a complex market is something of an understatement.

 

Traditionally, global companies looked to China only as a source of cheap labour and a centre of production for their goods, which would then be exported to other countries for sale. But the scenario is now changing. Global companies are turning their eyes toward China as a new market opportunity, whose population is becoming wealthier and already enlarging its spending on consumer goods.

It is time to stop calling China an emerging market - it has emerged.

From a marketing communications perspective, the complexity of China - and how to effectively target Chinese consumers, from Shanghai to Datong - is one of the biggest challenges of the industry.

This post covers some trends and challenges that await marketers in China.

Why Starbucks is not present in Italy?

When Starbucks was asked why they didn't have stores in Italy the answer was, "Italians aren't used to waiting more than 30 seconds for a cappuccino." This is true, but the better answer is more complicated than that. In Starbucks' nations an Italian coffee bar is a novelty. It's not truly part of American, or British or Swiss culture. It's a foreign concept, like a Thai restaurant. In Italy the coffee bar is daily life and always has been. The coffee bar is for everybody.

But it's true, Starbucks is not an Italian bar. The departure point was Italian but the end result is purely American. Even though they use Italian words to describe their coffees what is served is unmistakably American, from the taste of the coffee itself to the consistency of the foam of steamed milk. And the size is important. It must be small. When it's small you taste the coffee. It must be of a temperature that's ready to drink—Italians won't stand there and stir their cup cool with a narrow plastic stick for ten minutes. Even a caffe latte is small—little more than twice the amount of milk of a cappuccino. The Starbucks item called a "venti" does not exist and Italians can't help but chuckle when they see it.

What’s the World’s Most Beautiful Country? competition by Pinterest

The world has fallen in love with Pinterest, the social network with beautiful images at its core. Now Pinterest users get to decide where they most love in the world.

A crowdsourced project created by travel site First Choice — living in an interactive HTML5 infographic — is asking globally-minded Pinterest users which country is the world’s most beautiful. First Choice hopes the competition will awaken a desire for travel among users.

You can vote on Twitter or Pinterest for your favorite country, and share the reason behind your choice.

When you explore the graphic, you can see the pins submitted for other countries and learn why others voted for them as most beautiful.

An added perk to participation: a chance to win a DSLR camera.



Conflict of Pinterest was created by First Choice - The Home of All Inclusive

Digital advertising and marketing in the Argentine way

Argentina is rich in natural resources, has an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Most relevantly, Argentina is known for its highly literate and educated population. However, over the last ten years, the country has suffered from economic problems that (particularly in the year 2000) lead investors to become sceptical of the government's ability to pay debts and maintain its goal of keeping the peso on par with the U.S. dollar. The economic situation worsened in 2001, causing massive bank withdrawals reminiscent of the Great Depression. Unfortunately, this promoted even further decline in consumer and investor confidence. In January of 2002, the peso's peg to the dollar was lifted and the currency was floated by the Argentine government. The exchange rate plunged, but by mid-year, the economy had finally stabilized. From that point on, growth has been steady, supported by a revival in domestic demand, solid exports, and favourable external conditions.

Currently Argentina is considered an emerging market by the FTSE Global Equity Index, and is one of the G-20 major economies.

Online opportunities