Caution: L&P's promo is awesome

Caught up with me old mate Brendan Boughen (not pictured here!) the other day.

Brendan's working for Ogilvy PR, and he told me about L&P's latest web promotion, Paeroa Tourism, which he described as a cross between Flight of the Chonchords and Borat.

He was right. This is hilarious.



The media kit was... awesome too. A typewritten cover letter from Maurice Morrison, badly photocopied fliers touting the seven wonders of Paeroa (that's two more than Thames, in your face Thames!), a bright yellow t-shirt like Colin's wearing in the pic above, and a six pack of L&P. Thanks Brendan! Good humour and bribery will get you everywhere. Check out the Facebook page.

On a slightly more serious note, it brings up two thoughts for me:

• Yes it's the age of authenticity, but you can still carry off fictional characters in an online campaign if you do it very well, and if it's very funny. (Easy as that, eh!)
• New Zealand's small towns have a great opportunity to use social media to differentiate themselves. We have some really neat, quirky towns around the place like Bulls, Taihape (where iJump clients Gravity Canyon are based) and Tirau. (By the way, those photos are from another iJump client, EyeballNZ.com). Could they (should they) do a Coos Bay? And what on earth is it with Ngaruawahia? Looks deserted every time we go through (which admittedly isn't that often).
  

Where's the best place to eat an icecream?

Nostalgia rocks

Major kudos to the ad agency that did Mainland Cheese's clever ad placement in the latest Taste Magazine.

While everyone else is trying to be new and high-tech, Mainland is playing to their strength - a nostalgic view that good things take time.

It starts with a back cover ad that's upside down, making you wonder whether this is one of those double-ended magazines. It's not, it's just upside-down, but inside is a detachable tabloid-sized newspaper (pictured) looking like one of those archival ones that has aged only somewhat gracefully:

It has recipes, but instead of writing them out in terse, action-oriented prose (the way I recommend you write web copy) they're stories. Fictional stories, with the gentle humour that us Kiwis inherited from the British and made our own. The humour that still survives in my parents' generation and in areas more than 10 kilometres from the city.

Even though I'm not a cook, and mostly a future-oriented kind of guy, this (fictional) blast from the past, from a simpler world, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. And possibly cheesy. Nice work, Mainland's agency!

Kevin Roberts

saatchi roller
Originally uploaded by loop_oh

Just listening to Kevin Roberts on the Knowledge@Wharton podcast.

Some observations:

1. Kevin's accent, like any Brit who's spent some time in NZ then lived in America, is really fun to listen to.

2. He's demonstrated the power of lovemarks by essentially branding observations that anyone could make, and using his own considerable personal charisma.

3. He's made the mistake many make, by thinking that the iPod's success is all about branding. Yet Apple doesn't fit the mould of Lovemarks, which advocates (correctly) that brands need to cede control to the customer. He says people will choose the ipod over other mp3 players because they've mastered sensuality, intimacy and mystery. Tosh. They've dominated the market because they've made it ridiculously easy to put music on your machine, and they've made it look cool. Sensuality, yes, but most of all, I don't have to think when I sync my ipod. That's what gives it initial success in the market; after that it becomes the default term for "mp3 player" ... kind of like Google, and for exactly the same reason. Usability.

That big mistake aside, it's a very interesting interview, both for its content and as a way of studying Kevin's interview style - he's an inspiring communicator. Good story about a Coke machine and a machine gun.

And - of course - some nice words about New Zealand.

Mark lives in Ikea - a win-win advertising model

Marie just told me about MarklivesinIkea.com. Mark is a comedian and filmmaker who had nowhere to stay for a week, so approached Ikea to live in their store. Innovative!

In return, he films it, and provides interesting content. Here's why I think Ikea are very smart to take this on:

* It's short-term
* It's win-win
* It's a great story
* That story will stick around, even when Mark gets to move back into his apartment
* It's funny, and as marketing guru John McEnroe said, "You cannot be serious"
* Mark's already got the production capacity, and (presumably) an audience

It's also great for Mark's personal brand. Like I said, win-win. How many other, similar opportunities are lying around near you today?

Great big idea

As seen on The Top 10 Viral Ads

The break-up

The Break-Up
Uploaded by Damon_Crepin-Burr

Friday's unfocused blog post

Okay, so I'm breaking all the rules of blogging here. This post is random links to the news I'm catching up on, because I haven't sat down and read the news properly all week.

On iTunes at the moment: "Come let us go back to God" - by Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, as featured in the Coen Bros' version of LadyKillers.

In the news:

• Very sad news for the New Zealand music industry.
• Finally Google has read my mind and added a PowerPoint-like program to their online docs suite. However it's too late for me; I've discovered, fallen in love with and bought Keynote.
  
• Speaking of Google, they are so taking over the world. The last episode of Diggnation mentioned Google 411 in the US - no money in it, but it kind of ruins it for other players. And last night at the Auckland Entrepreneurs Meetup, Ian Mitchell mentioned Google's purchase of radio and TV stations. Are they becoming... Microsoft?
  
• Congratulations to Idealog for being finalists in the MPA Magazine Awards. They got finalist for best business cover for the August 2006 cover, for best business magazine, best relaunch or launch, and Adrian Clapperton for magazine design.
  
• Congrats too to Graham Medcalf for his finalist position for best business editor at Marketing Magazine.

Now on iTunes, the Finn Brothers with "Disembodied Voices".

• While the congratulations are flowing, big ups to Clemenger BBDO for being Best in Show at the CAANZ media awards. Kind of cool to see a social marketing message winning - or is that just the cynical ad industry assuaging their guilty conscience for pushing fatty foods and alcohol onto an unsuspecting culture? Just kidding.