ProtoType Experience

Prototype, a Xbox360 game coming out this month, turned to Sponge Alternative Marketing Agency in Brussells to create a simple, interactive microsite to give people a preview of the game. Using Facebook Connect, the site pulls information and photos from your Facebook account and injects them in the game preview. My favorite part is that they render the information so it appears that it actually was intended to be a part of the preview, as opposed to being sloppily slapped in there. That photo above is from my Facebook album, but I can tell you that that is not what it actually looks like. It gives a personal feel to the experience, without being overwhelming. Some may find it a tad creepy, but I find it subtle and interesting. At the end, you answer two questions in order to be eligible to win an Xbox360. I don't know if sharing this link will help or hurt my chances at winning. You'll see what I mean by that after you check it out - which you should.

Everybody Should be Encouraged to Slow Down

I just checked out Heineken's Know the Signs website. It is a humorous website where you spot the signs of over-drinking. Crazy, obnoxious dancing; bawling about your ex; getting a little grabby with the opposite sex; etc. It's a nice microsite, but it also asks for your birth date since you are supposed to be 21+ to enter.

Here's my question: This website may be created by a beer brand, but should it be "restricted" to 21+?

I know people can lie about their birth date and enter anyway. But, people under 21 do drink and are more likely to binge drink. Shouldn't they be encouraged to learn more about drinking in moderation or not at all rather than be told this site "isn't for them?" No one wants to encourage underage drinking, but I think it's ignorant to ignore the fact that it happens.

Thoughts?

Join the Battle to Fight Breast Cancer

In a few minutes, I'm off to the Join the Battle launch party at Nick & Eddie's (anyone reading this should head over--free apps and drink specials!). Join the Battle is a breast cancer awareness effort from Campbell Mithun to drive advocacy and education in Minnesota.

The first thing you'll notice about the site is the amazing art direction, evident of the campaign's young target. I heard rumors about posters being for sale, and I would definitely buy one. It's incredibly simple, powerful, and unexpected.

I do wish there was more interaction on the site--a game or at least an easy way to forward certain facts to your friends ("Did you know exercising helps prevent breast cancer?" type of thing). But the budget for this was nonexistant. The site's purpose is to educate a new, younger demographic about ways to prevent breast cancer and put them in a proactive position to fight against it. Achieved? Yes.

So please visit the site, forward it to the young women in your life, and consider buying a shirt. The striking graphics and small text will finally give the gentlemen an excuse to stare at your chest.

Old music with fresh ears

The latest trend here is a very old one: Classical music

Paul Potts' opera song "Nessun Dorma" was downloaded in record numbers and his album was an absolute chart breaker. Celebrated techno DJs recompose orchestra pieces and mix them with electronic beats. Young Berlin hipsters flock to the coolest clubs in the city to listen to live performances of Händel and Haydn.

The question is: Is this just another see-and-be-seen fad that will soon be replaced by something new? Or will those events create curiosity and a desire for more among classical newbies? And will the existing opera houses, orchestras and smaller venues be smart enough (and willing) to open up to those not-yet-experts.

The Berlin State Opera set a good example with their recent "Staatsoper for everybody" event. To start off the fall season, they installed giant video screens and a stage on the central square in front of the prestigious opera house and star conductor Daniel Bahrenboim and his ensemble performed two shows for free. The open-air opera and concert were a huge success - in fact, the traffic on the neighboring boulevard had to be blocked because 45.000 people came to listen.

Live music is great because you can see and hear and then really appreciate the artists’ passion and skills. It's those wow-this-is-awesome-I-wish-I-could-do-that-moments that make the difference between i-pod and stage. And this is exactly why I think this Cello Challenge website for the Berlin Philharmonic is a hit, too. It's like guitar hero with a bow.

In a playful, yet addictive way it illustrates the fascination of classical music (and interactive). It shows me that I can be there when this guy produces tunes with his bow and strings that I can’t even master with a simple mouse. So, it would be very kind of you if you could participate in the raffle at the end of your personal cello show and then send your free tickets to me, please.

Back When the Internet Was Crap: Google 2001

Libby existed, barely. Other Yaybies did not. Sadly, no page on the entire Internet knew what Yaybia was. Google's blast from the past to celebrate their 10th birthday is only available for a few more weeks, so Google your favorite cultural phenomena while you still can!

My picks: 9/11, Barack Obama, Miley Cyrus, the company you work for...seriously, don't try this unless you have at least an hour to kill, because it's addicting.

Oh yeah, and Gov. Sarah Palin? She had been mayor of Wasilla for five years at this point, but Google didn't give two shits. Interesting.

The Flavors of the World

Coke Light: Europe's Diet Coke

Want to find the best gastronomic experience for you? Take a simple 3 question quiz on this beautiful site for Coke Light and it will tell you which restaurant they've surveyed would offer you the best experience. There are only a few restaurants per continent (there are, after all, only 64 possible combinations of answers), and this looks to be an in-progress project for Gringo, but I still loved playing around on it. I don't get the direct connection to Coke Light, but I don't care. I love it anyway. And as I've said before, I <3 microsites.

Red + Butterfly + Star = Eastern Oriental Express in Thailand. Looks like I'm on my way to Thailand!

I <3 MicroSites

In my readings and research today I have stumbled upon a fun little time-waster/educational microsite from the UK-based utilities company, National Grid. My favorite part of the site is where you get to "adopt" a polar bear and improve its well-being by answering questions about the environment and what activities are worse for our fragile ecosystem. I have spent an, I'm sorry to say, large amount of time feeding my bear, Bubbles, fish and making her run around for exercise. This site is called Floe.

Save the Walls 3M Command Strips

3M just came out with a new microsite called Save the Walls for its Command Strips. I'm a bit surprised that 3M went as far as this, but I think it's a fun use of video and improv. The sketches towards the end are my favorite. Go check it out! Also, a co-worker of mine also used to do stand up with the Abercrombie lookin' dude in Minneapolis!

The art of shaving, kissing and microsites

I wish there would have been microsites back when I was middle school. I could have just forwarded this link to Simon, aka. the Tongue Twister. And to Stephan, the Throat Digger. Oh, and to Chris, the Wet Whirl.

To beard or not to beard, that is the question

BBDO created a fairly entertaining and educating page for Gillette. A middle-aged guy and a couple of attractive ladies offer lessons in love to men in need. The message is that a clean-shaven face is the first step on the path to the perfect kiss. Guys who prefer a little stubble can only learn how to shake hands in about 500 ways. Maybe my early experiences would have been more pleasant after some virtual tutoring for the above mentioned boys. In their particular case, however, the benefit for Gillette would have been rather marginal. They hardly had any facial hair yet, apart from eyebrows.

To be precise, the microsite is for the Gillette Fusion safety razor. Fusion seems rather appropriate, considering the viral videos that two of Gillette's competitors have released way earlier. An advergame and related trailer from JWT Paris for Wilkinson stars a baby and his daddy fighting for mommy's kisses. When the dad finally figures out that the toddler's competitive edge is his soft skin he simply shaves. Now the son has to come up with new ways to get his mother's attention and rival his father.

Would you kiss this guy?

A Phillips microsite with hilarious videos (in the "body" part, warning NSFW) features a grown-up fratboy, who talks and sings about the change in his life after he started using the Bodygroom razor. The creative campaign increased the razor's sale beyond expectations and earned Tribal DDB New York tons of awards. Props to Phillips for having enough balls to run the racy site!

As a girl, I might not be able to compare the actual product benefits of the different razors in questions. However, I still know about shaving: My legs are much longer and generally less hairy than most male faces. And as the shaving results on some boy's cheeks and chins show as well, the right tool is not enough. It also takes talent for smooth skin. The same is true for a smoth kiss by the way. Luckily for us girls (and for Simon, Chris and Stephan) both skills can be learned.

Converse: you are twisted.

But we love you.

Converse has a pretty sweet page that leads into their website. You should all check it out. I know it'll be a hit with all of the ladies.

CLICK HERE!

I hope you enjoyed it as much I did.

Peace out.

VitaminWater + Sex and the City: The <3 Continues

Over here at Yaybia, we SEO with the best of them. Googling phrases we've blogged about to see where we show up in the rankings is pretty much a daily occurrence. So imagine my surprise when I typed in "vitamin water sex and the city" this afternoon and saw not just Yaybia (#6, woohoo!) but a new sponsored microsite from VitaminWater's domain.

I was initially ecstatic as the classic blank and magenta loaded and I was greeted with the four familiar faces I've been missing since 2004. But once I started clicking around, disappointment set in. The all-Flash site offers a chance to enter to win tickets to the Sex and the City movie premiere in New York. A "friends with benefits" section is currently listed as Coming Soon. Other links took me to wallpaper and movie photo galleries, the trailer, the VitaminWater MySpace page, and the official SATC movie site. Yawn! Where's the exclusive content? Where's the "forward to a friend" advergame? What's the sense in going live with this site if the presumably most important section, "friends with benefits," isn't even up yet?

Maybe VitaminWater realized that anyone who Googled that particular search string was getting directed to the comments of just a few smart bloggers and thought they'd better start directing that traffic to themselves. We'll stay tuned.