Virgin Media have done a fair few features with Usain Bolt in tow, but this new ad omits the comedic element in favour of something far more intense and personal to the athlete – delving into the psyche of one of the most exceptional men on the planet. Given the run-up to Rio (pun intended?), this change in tone is to be expected, but makes for a professionally well executed and exciting video that has a kaleidoscope of different shots – placing Bolt not simply on the track, but also in the club, or on the street like ‘one-of-us’.
It’s a vibrant, punchy, run-of-the-mill sports-based ad, but here given extra significance due to its timing and star-studded nature.
As parents everywhere will attest, the most frequent and difficult question to answer is without doubt ‘why?’. From an early age people want to know the cause or driving force of everything and it’s often the hardest question to answer.
It’s certainly a challenge when trying to identify how artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms drive uplift. We know the uplift is there, it’s clear to see from quarterly results that entertainment campaigns on average see 151% uplift, retail 135% and technology 96%. But where it becomes more difficult is in establishing the individual factors which have produced this uplift.
Each time an impression is about to be served information is pulled from trillions of data points which are stored in a Data Management Platform. This data can be broken out into factors such as gender, age, household income, operating system, device manufacturer, device models, battery life, how a device is charged, weather, home location, office location, location habits (how often does someone travel and where to for example), which apps are downloaded, which sites are visited, which time of day promotes the most interactions etc. The list goes on.
A huge amount of data is processed to determine how likely a user is to interact with any given ad at any given time. AI makes it possible to take all the data available to technology providers and transform it into actionable insights which allow campaigns to be served to the users who are most likely to engage with a piece of content at that moment in time.
Read the full article on understanding AI Uplift here.
Sometimes you have to look outside of the English speaking world to see fantastic creatives and funny adverts – wonderfully shot and entirely on message. Ocedel, the Japanese lighting company, has done exactly that with their ‘Firefly’ advert, a nice little ditty that combines beautifully gentle shots, earnest messaging and (if you’ll pardon the pun) dark humor.
The ad has been, a few months after its release, started to garner recognition for its fantastic premise and execution – showing that the Western advertising world is capable of responding to and praising creative endeavors on the other side of the world. It’ll be exciting to see what form of synthesis this will produce going forward.
“‘AI is the new mobile’ is a phrase we might as well start getting used to hearing,” says Mel Exon, outgoing managing director of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, in a column today for Campaign. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai recently spoke about moving from a mobile-first to an AI-first world. As a marketer, are you ready for this technological shift? Take our quiz below to find out.
Stock images have a bad reputation these days – being seen largely as vacuous, cringeworthily set up photos reserved for corporate presentations and meme creation. Adobe Stock, it seems, is doing something to remedy this problem with the launch of the new service, essentially a comprehensive collection of images suitable for all kinds of graphic designers.
Reproducing Rembrandt’s lost work has a form of purity to it, and to aspire so highly is surely to Adobe’s credit. It takes incredible creative skill to succeed to recreate such a piece, and for that Ankur Patar must be applauded. See the advert here:
Advertising, particularly since the advent of digital, is a fast-paced industry, changing and adapting to new technologies, innovative brands and dramatically transformed consumer behavior.
Last week The Drum turned to an industry great through the power of artificial intelligence.A man who passed away in 1999, and sought to bring back his wealth of insight into an industry which has changed beyond all recognition in the last 17 years.
Often billed as ‘The Father of Modern Advertising’ David Ogilvy founded Ogilvy & Mather in 1949, based on the principle that the key to successful advertising is not to be loud, or patronising, but instead to respect and gather information about the consumer. The famous adage ‘the customer is not a moron, she’s your wife’ stems from these ideas.
Ogilvy didn’t just pioneer great campaigns during these years, he practically wrote the advertising rulebook. Ogilvy On Advertising became a must-read in the industry, pushing principles of creativity, research, discipline, and, fundamentally, delivering results for clients. This mixture of different ideas is perhaps best summarised in this quote:
‘When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.’
All of these things have become central to our modern approach to the advertising world. But amidst all of the ad tech, the real-time bidding and questions of viewability, it is easy to forget Ogilvy’s mantras. Now moreso than ever, it’s the consumer that needs to be placed right at the heart of the advertising world. With all the new facilities and means of connecting with people, it is important not to bombard audiences with every ad under the sun but to instead sit back and think, just as Ogilvy did over 60 years ago – how do you respect your consumer, find relevant information, and target them accordingly.
Artificial Intelligence is already affecting consumers in ways that would probably not have even occurred to Ogilvy. For example, Twitter has recently acquired AI startup Magic Pony to help oversee their push in social media video, meaning that users on the site are provided not only with content they want, but content they may not have realised they wanted. Artificial Intelligence has also directed, edited and produced a new music video for Saatchi & Saatchi; analysing what video watchers enjoy and creating content that reflects this. IBM Watson, the pioneer of the Ogilvy scheme, is also intended to use AI to let consumers offer them real-time feedback, creating a (literal) dialogue with audiences.
It’s impossible to know exactly what Ogilvy would have made of the modern advertising world, but it’s fair to say he’d stick to his guns – let creativity and consumer information run hand in hand, delivering proper results and maintaining quality standards. His posthumous appearance at Cannes Lions is sure to remind us this.
LoopMe are pleased to announce that LoopMe’s SDK now supports 360o video advertising on android and iOS.
Following the success of the 360o Robinson Crusoe campaign, run on mobile web, LoopMe have built the functionality into their SDK, ensuring brands can reach their consumers with engaging, immersive video experiences whether they are browsing in-app or on mobile web.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z06xp5nhI2Q
The ability to deliver 360o video advertising on android & iOS, in app and on mobile web significantly enhances the reach brands can achieve with their 360o video content, opening up the whole of LoopMe’s video inventory to 360o video – a total of 1.5 billion unique users worldwide.
“With newer formats…scale can be a concern, but LoopMe were able to build the creative in such a way that allowed us to target and reach our core audience without restriction. We were also able to deliver that asset to other media owners to further increase the scale.”
Alice Bartlett, Digital Account Director, Target Digital
The SDK, which is the lightest available on the market, is easy to integrate, and allows publishers to easily host the most engaging video format available on the market.
360o video uses the device’s gyroscope functionality to allow users to immerse themselves within video content, driving deep engagement and brand affinity. Whether it’s exploring back stage at a concert, the dugout at a football match or taking in the view from Everest, this exciting format delivers outstanding brand experiences.
The format requires a video file created specifically for a 360o video advertising experience.
The video is recorded using a special camera and ‘wrapped’ in a sphere. This means users explore the video from the inside, allowing them to view every angle, rather than viewing from one fixed point.
When a device shows a 360o creative it zooms in to show 1/10 of the image, allowing users to explore the other 9/10 using the gyroscope.
To learn more about 360o video campaigns or LoopMe’s SDK, email contact@loopme.com
The Euros are a ripe opportunity for brands to promote positive images alongside their latest products. Throw in a few of the greatest footballers of a generation and you’re onto a winner.
Nike have had energetic and uplifting advertising for a number of years now, with creatives that have spoken to people across the globe, and undoubtedly this trend will continue in Rio in 6 weeks time. For now, check out the latest advert here:
Mobile video platform LoopMe and ad agency Target Media have teamed up to create an immersive 360 degree mobile video experience to promote the launch of Robinson Crusoe, the new animated film from StudioCanal.
The campaign makes full use of the mobile device’s gyroscope functionality to create a 360 degree video environment that users can explore, turning their screens to intuitively reveal more content.
LoopMe’s technology is the only full-screen 360 degree solution delivering global scale, and the company has worked closely with StudioCanal to ensure the video is served to targeted audience who are likely to engage with the innovative format.
“360 degree video is a very exciting opportunity for us, especially when working closely with our animation partners nWave on titles such as Robinson Crusoe, to create exciting and engaging content to be used in advertising,” said Jamie McHale, digital marketing manager of StudioCanal UK.
“As consumers become more familiar with the experience with Facebook and YouTube rolling it out and as animators and film production improves, we look forward to bringing even more immersive experiences from the big screen to the smaller screen.”
Here at LoopMe we love a good bit of meta in our advertising. Inventive, original and fun, Johnsonville have really brought home the bacon with this one – after all, meta is an anagram of meat.
We’ll stop with the word play before you get frustrated with us – check out the fantastic series of ads from here:
