I’ve been meaning to post this one for a while, but I’ve been so smashed producing the website supporting this latest Bravia promotion from Sony that I haven’t had the chance until now.

Shot at an automotive crash testing facility in Melbourne, The Conscience Organisation has shown how to make a great viral promotion that not only creates brand awareness, but also delivers measurable results. Within 72 hours of it being launched onto YouTube it had achieved over a million views. The resulting effect on the promotion has been nothing short of outstanding with Sony giving away over 25,000 PS3s (and selling just as many Bravia’s) in just 3 weeks.

WPP has just released the 2009 TGI Product Book.

The survey reports usage data for 63 countries covering 52 product categories with data drawn from a total of more than 700,000 respondents.

The free short version is pretty high level stuff, mostly just market saturation figures for FMCG’s as reported by Global TGI. It nonetheless is a handy resource to have at your disposal when you need to know which country has the highest percentage of beer consumption (answer: its Sweden at 78%).

Global digital agency Razorfish recently launched their 2009 edition of FEED, their annual study charting how technology is changing the way consumers engage with brands: http://feed.razorfish.com/

The three biggest points I took away from the survey and analysis were:

:

2009 is the year of the “fan.” According to our study, nearly 40% of consumers reported having “friended” a brand on Facebook and/or MySpace and 26% have followed a brand onTwitter. The myth of marketing-free social spaces is just that. The “dialogue” between brands and consumers is not only frequent, but also welcome.

Digital experiences not only build a brand, they can also make or break it. For those brand marketers still neglecting (or underestimating) digital, it’s as if they’ve shown up to a cocktail party in sweatpants. Invariably, consumers will choose to converse with a savvier—and hopefully more stylish—partner.

Engagement creates customers—not just through social media, but across the entire digital channel. And, more importantly, it drives returns to the bottom line. As a result, marketers will need to rethink not only how they reach potential consumers but also what type of experiences they are creating to engage them. Now “clicks” and “impressions” mean far less than conversations and brand behaviors. In our opinion, it’s about time.

The full report (and the survey data for your own anysis) is available at http://feed.razorfish.com/

Twitter is being used a lot lately to engage customers with brands, one the most effective ways I’ve seen it being used is for hosting treasure hunts.

This method seems to be an excellent way for brands that are just starting out in social media. It allows them to test the waters to see how their customers will react and most importantly how they feel about getting out from behind the one-way broadcast messaging of the past and engage with their customers in a two-way conversation.

They can also be a lot of fun, for those running them and those who choose to be a part of them.

Here are some of the best ones I’ve seen in action…

Tony Hawk’s Hidden Skateboards

Tony Hawk was the raddest skater when I was a kid (and we weren’t being ironic when we were using that word), and he’s still going at it today. He and his crew hid about sixty skateboards all over the world, sending out clues via Twitter to help his fans find them. (@TonyHawk)

Levis: iSpyLevis

This campaign started around Sydney, eventually expanding to other capital cities such as Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth – even crossing the ditch to New Zealand. The iSpyLevis crew encourage people to come out and find them and to ask “Are they Levi’s?” to complete strangers in denim in the hope of finding the person behind the @iSpyLevi and a free pair of Levis. (@IspyLevis)

BMW & Need For Speed:Shift

This one was a clever twist on the usual. As part of the launch of the Need For Speed:Shift game, gamers and BMW lovers were asked to try and find a BMW in Google Street View, then send a tweet with a screenshot of it with the hashtag #NFS to @NeedForSpeed. The part that I liked the most about this one is that by getting contestants to send their tweet to @NeedForSpeed, it generated content in a hashtag and buzz on Twitter without the contestants spamming their followers (@replies are only seen by those who follow the same people). (@NeedForSpeed)

Eminem

Slim Shady might not follow anyone on Twitter, but he gives 300,000+ people a reason to follow him as he (or more likely his entourage) sneak around hiding tickets to his concerts and tweeting their locations. Restaurants, music store, clothing stores, bars, public monuments even seemingly random people on the street are good places to hide tickets its seems. (@Eminem)

Borders & Dan Brown: “The Last Symbol”

Borders hosted a treasure hunt for fans of Dan Brown to promote the release of his book “The Lost Symbol”. Taking a leaf out of the classic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, by hiding 80 golden tickets in 80 US stores, to gave away free copies of “The Lost Symbol” signed by the author to anyone who found a ticket. Clues to the where the tickets were could be found were sent out by Borders on Twitter. (@BordersMedia)

Lily Allen

Lily’s treasure hunts are similar to Eminem’s, although Lily appears to be hiding the tickets herself rather than getting someone else to do it for her. She is far more conversational with her fans and has far more followers too. Given that a good part of her success was due to her gaining a following on MySpace before scoring a recording contract, Allen is no stranger to using social media to her advantage. (@LilyroseAllen)

Welcome to Digital Planzilla!

I’ve decided to start this blog so I can write about my thoughts and opinions on the strategies behind the best digital campaigns, websites and applications being made today.

Here’s a little about me right now:

I’m a Senior Digital Producer at Euro RSCG in Sydney, Australia. I’ve has been working non-stop in the digital space since 1996, a time when Flash was called FutureSplash and HTML was coded into stone blocks by hand.

In that time I’ve worked with many brands such as Sony, Big W, Coates Hire, FBi Radio, InterfaceFLOR, Dymocks, Austral Bricks, OzDesign, ING, Telstra Rally Australia, Live Clothing, Morningstar, eBooks, TAB Sportsbet, Fremantle Football Club, West Australian Symphony Orchestra as well as government agencies across health and education including Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the Disability Services Commission and the Curriculum Council of Western Australia.

With 13 years experience in web site design, production and management, I specialise in web strategy and user centred design. I am passionate about the accessibility and usability of information on the web whilst delivering engaging user experiences for users and businesses. When away from my keyboard, I like to hang out with my family @rebeccayik and @mrpanda99, work on our Jeep “The Colonel” and go exploring and camping in the forests and national parks outside of Sydney.

You can follow me on Twitter: @caseyg_ or add me as a contact on LinkedIn.