We often talk in great detail about social media and best practices, but it’s not often we see companies embracing social media with engaging campaigns. And when we do, it’s definitely worth sharing.

Chobani Yogurt’s campaign using real-life customers from the social-sphere caught my eye a few months ago. Now Audi has taken a safe driving pledge, combined it with a sweepstakes and added the social media component to boot.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

The nose knows

Some of my fondest childhood memories were the aromas that wafted through our house. Whether it was the honeysuckle bushes in our backyard, my parents’ home cooking or the burning firewood, certain smells transport me to a simpler time.

Today paper manufacturers are recapturing our nostalgia with scratch and sniff advertisements. The concept isn’t new; in fact, children’s books and perfume companies have long engaged our schnozes as a means of tugging at our heartstrings. But it would appear, scratching and sniffing is making a comeback in a big way.

During a recent presentation by Lester Litograph, I was privy to one of their latest magazine offerings boasting the mountain air scent of a rock-climbing ad. I admit I was taken aback and never would’ve thought to smell the paper! So the next time you’re thumbing through an issue of your favorite publication, let your nose be your guide! It doesn’t come cheap, but it definitely adds to the sensory experience, which is priceless in advertising.

For more information on this and other innovative advertising, we encourage you to contact our team!

Playboy is one of the most recognizable brands in existence. The sales from their magazine and radio station alone are staggering to say the least. Now add to that a Las Vegas nightclub and you’ve solidified success.

With the launch of this social media campaign, featured here on Simply Zesty, Playboy has taken interactive to the next level indeed. Smart, savvy and still controversial, Playboy is positioned as a leader in the industry (and with over 13 million views worldwide, this campaign is no exception;-)

To continue this week’s discussion about controversial ads – here are a few more for your viewing pleasure (or pain)…

This ad was recently pulled by the Milk Board due to it’s controversial nature (that’s right guys, PMS jokes still aren’t funny…)

This ad from Google stages an “email intervention”… AOL fans, it’s officially over.

Got comments?

Gap, like most retailers in the midst of our great recession, held tight to its marketing dollars.  Now, with the worst behind us and the economy picking up steam, Gap is looking to shift its marketing strategy to lure new customers.  In this MarketWatch article by Andria Cheng, we examine their past pitfalls and new strategy as they position themselves for a Q2 comeback.

I am a huge fan of the Gap, always have been…  In fact, when I was in Europe and lost my luggage, Gap basically saved my life!  So it pained me, when they had The Gap Mishap, to address what I saw as a major flaw in their communication strategy.  However, I commend Gap on this effort and am interested to see if focusing on acquisition will pay off.

It seems they have all the pieces of the puzzle, target marketing, social media and budget allocation, in place.  They’ve also diversified their brand, not only into different price-point retailers but different apparel offerings as well (athletic-wear, footwear, etc.) All in all, I see a promising future for the Gap. I just hope they’ll continue with a slew of new commercial messages featuring brightly-colored tweens, dancing around in their latest styles!

What do you think… Can Gap make a comeback?

If you’re Koleston Naturals Hair color, it’s done by placing a billboard where the changes in the sun level will change the hair color on the billboard:

The image above is a time lapsed series of a billboard in Beirut, Lebanon from 2007. The billboard captures the image, and hair, of a beautiful woman, designed to show the beauty of natural hair color that Koleston Naturals provides. I personally love the simplicity and creativity of the ad – using natural light and natural changes to capture the Blondes, Redheads and Brunettes of the world. What I also appreciated was the fact that they let the nature and the picture speak for themselves. They didn’t need to tell you that Koleston hair color was all natural, made to be gentle on the hair and protect it’s natural beauty…they didn’t have to. The billboards told the story without the words. The only thing I see as problematic is that if you were to just pass by the billboard (unless you planned on hanging around for a few hours), you would only ever see one color. And if you only saw it at night…it wouldn’t seem as impressive. With that said, this is still one of the most impressive pieces of creative marketing I have seen in awhile.

Have you seen other ads that are capitalizing on nature? Share!

Traditional searches for companies/services/etc in the big heavy yellowbook are gone. I think the last time I event used the “real” yellowbook was 1998 and yellow book knows this. So, rather than attempt to revive the book, they took themselves online and created a new ad campaign.

The ad campaign for yellowbook online is extremely well done, and I have to applaud them for creating something that not only got the point across but were able to create a series of clever ads that we all can relate to. For those who haven’t seen a new yellowbook commercial, all of their ads are similar – something happens and leaves the protagonist looking for a solution using yellowbook online. This is my favorite:

How does this ad help you? There are 3 main pieces of the ad that make it (and can make you) more effective:

1. It sets you up from the very beginning. The first time I saw this ad, I was intrigued within the first few second because they told me I should be. I knew that something was going to happen, but because I didn’t really know what a “yellowbook moment” was, the surprise wasn’t ruined, it left me wanting to find out more.
2. It is honest, direct, simple and unbelievably clever. While I doubt many of us have had our dog eat a canary at the vet, we have all had moments where we feel like that guy does. It pulls at our human instincts of embarrassment/fear/worry/shock and tells us that they can help when we need it. They are there for us in every way.
3. It doesn’t have corny music, doesn’t draw on too long and doesn’t treat us like we’re stupid. Too many commercials are aiming for “pretty” or “creative” instead of being simple and to the point.

What did you think of their commercials? What can you learn from their style?

After the recently horrible commercials and ad campaigns from pretty much every banking institution, I was pleasantly surprised the other night when I watched this commercial:

Clever. Well done. Point taken. And from a bank I had never heard of.

So I decided to do a little research, and not only did I find a few other great commercials like this one (check out the boy and his truck), I also found the answers to my questions. Their website was simple, easy to understand and explained who they were, their story and what they offer in plain and simple English. They are an online bank that offers basically all the same services as a traditional bank without the brick and mortar facilities.

What I didn’t see was how else they were marketing their bank. And this is problematic. Even great ideas can not succeed without the right marketing strategies, and for an online bank to not be utilizing social media strategies…well, I was shocked.

So what did I expect? I expected an online bank to have a facebook page, a blog and a twitter account. I expected them to be promoted on the homepage. And I expected them to be active, involved and communicating. If they are trying to change the way that people see banks, and are bringing everything into more simple and concise terms, they could do nothing but benefit from social media channels.

What do you think?

1. Not only is this ad gorgeously done, but it became a part of pop culture, different than what all the other alcohol companies were doing.
2. It is an ultra premium brand using an ultra premium artist.
3. Was it successful? I would say so, Absolut was just sold to Pernod Ricard for $8.3 billion.