Most people cherish good memories of childhood and it is best phase in one’s life when mind is full of wonder. But realities are different for some troubled families where the children are ill treated and abused. Childhood is simply denied to these children and they grow up as individuals with deep scars. CAF onlus is a NGO which was founded in Italy way back in 1979 for the children who face ill-treatment and abuse and it works to restore the childhood and all little joys of it for these children. Their print-ad on the eve of 30th anniversary of the organization is extremely poignant and probably depicts the difficult job they do by simply persisting.

The print advertisement shows a girl with a balloon made of stone. The frozen expression on the little girl’s face and the stone balloon depict the burden and pain these abused children carry. An organisation like CAF simply lightens their burdens and brings back the simple. They  heal them and make them connect to the joys and wonders of the childhood thus lightening the weight of that balloon to make it soar.

The campaign by Grey Milan is very thoughtful and creates awareness about grim reality of child abuse and how CAF works positively with children.

Via Inspiration Room Daily

If watching TV on the armchair disregarding your doc’s advices about sedentary lifestyles were not enough, Toshiba has created the Space Chair ad campaign in which it sent a chair, rather an armchair to the space and back in order to promote its latest TV and Laptop models.

Both Laptops and TVs are used from the armchair and the experience of the customer is central to the success of the products. Thus, Toshiba 2010 REGZA SV LCD TV was promoted through the Space Chair campaign and it follows the journey of an ordinary room chair to space. They used GPS and cameras to follow and film the journey of the space. The idea was to communicate the viewer’s experience of watching the Toshiba’s first TV with LED backlight and local dimming.

It seems to indicate that the experience would be akin to travelling in space and back to earth. It reached a height of 98,268 feet above sea level and it took 83 minutes to reach space and 24 minutes to fall back. It came under the purview of FAA and followed all the regulations and thus the rig had to be under 4 pounds. A truly innovative way to advertise I must say. Better than watching boring models delivering equally boring punch lines.

Via: Engadget

Blame it on the propagandized paranoia over the supposedly pandemic level of Influenza A (H1N1), otherwise known as swine flu. Parents’ fears may be sending them to the grocery store to stock on Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies that boasts in its advertising such immunity-boosting powers of its cereal product.

It seems that some companies are cashing in on the swine flu paranoia, apart from Big Pharma and vaccine manufacturers. After all, fear is the biggest market. According to Kelly Brownell, director of the Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, “This one belongs in the hall of fame. By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity.”

The dubious claim is written in bold typeface and says: “Now helps support your child’s IMMUNITY.” ‘But the company says the cereal line has been in the works since before the swine flu scare ramped up.’ Critics have been attacking this immunity-boosting claim from Kellogg’s, the US’ largest cereal maker, saying that it sends an easily misinterpreted message beyond nutritious cereals by claiming immunity boost.

As one nutrition professor says, “The idea that eating Cocoa Krispies will keep a kid from getting swine flu, or from catching a cold, doesn’t make sense. Yes, these nutrients are involved in immunity, but I can’t think of a nutrient that isn’t involved in the immune system.”

According to Dennis Herrera, San Francisco’s city attorney, “I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young children.” San Francisco had sent a letter to Kellogg’s and to the Food and Drug Administration asking the company to prove its claim.

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Via USA TODAY

From McCann Kenya comes a visually-compelling and direct message to stop human trafficking, especially of children. The public awareness campaign through transit ads serve to spread the message quickly, and with a visual connect that is readily comprehensible, action-inducing, agitating, and graphic as any visual communication should be.

The transit ad campaign is the brainchild of Creative Director and Copywriter Inam Kazimi and Art Director Martin Mwangi, and advertiser IOM. The public awareness ad calls on people to act against human trafficking posthaste by phoning in the discovery of victims as well as the perpetrators of the transnational crime. The toll free hotlines are an integral part of the ad’s copy.

The ad directly and succinctly captures the reality of human trafficking and human smuggling where people/victims are clandestinely transported around inside the baggage compartments of buses. This is one of the modus operandi of the crime. By disclosing the ethod and reporting the crime through the hotlines, these human victims are let off the bus and freed from the devastating consequences of the crime.

Operationally defined, ‘human trafficking is the practice of people being tricked, lured, coerced or otherwise removed from their home or country, and then compelled to work with no or low payment or on terms which are highly exploitative. The practice is considered to be trade or commerce in people, which has many features of slavery, and which is illegal in most countries. The victims of human trafficking can be used in a variety of situations, including prostitution, forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage) and other forms of involuntary servitude. The sale of babies and children for adoption or other purposes is also considered to be trafficking in those children.’

Via COLORIBUS

Nikon has launched an innovative twitter campaign to promote Nikon D5000 by asking users to upload their videos for Nikon Film Festival contest ‘A day through your lens’ under. The campaign was kick started by Aston Kutcher by simply tweeting and posting link to his short video shot during his recent visit to Africa with wife Demi Moore. A short twitter message that said, “Check out my short film documenting a recent trip to Africa.  Let me know what you think” started the whole campaign.

Nikon is not just using popular microblogging service for promotion it is also restricting content in twitter style – the video has to be less than 140secs in length.  What better ways to promote a cell with camera than making people shoot videos for contest where winner has a chance to win $100,000? Nikon has indeed cashing on the wide reach of Twitter and Twitter too will cash on the extra traffic generated due to this contest. Nikon is enlisting other celebrities to endorse the campaign too and thus reachout their huge Twitter fan following.

Times they are truly changing for the advertising world!

Via Brandweek

History is for remembering, learning lessons and celebrating rare triumphant moments. Fall of Berlin Wall was one such historic happening which people all over the globe remember and celebrate. The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has inspired many advertising campaigns. Microsoft Windows has hit the nail with its “Break Down the Walls” campaign targeted at its own software sales staff. It concealed a letter of invitation to sales promotion inside concrete which had to be broken with hammer. Sales employees could also win a trip to Berlin by joining sales promotion. The idea was to inspire them to break down walls and build up sales.

DHL’s good old print campaign shows a young East German in 1989 unpacking a hammer and picture shows the glimpse of Berlin Wall still standing through his window. The intelligent tag line said, “Before you even think you need it.”

Becks Beer, Australia is also celebrating the fall of Berlin wall and has come up with great campaign remembering the days of history of Berlin Wall, its fall and contemporary merged Berlin. It has also lined up special anniversary tour of Beck’s Berlin Sessions that will help Australians discover best German DJs and Berlin club culture.

When you are the daughter of a celebrity couple, then limelight follows you wherever you go and if you happen to be a 17-year old hottie like Georgia Jagger, then it is only obvious that ad firms would just line up behind you hoping you would sign the dotted line. Well, Georgia just did and did so for the all too well-known Versace. With already having done an ad campaign for Hudson Jeans a couple of months ago, it only seems all too natural that shedding off those pair of jeans for a pair of Versace was all too easy for this bright and already famous teen icon.

Versace have signed her up to be the face that takes them forward and the move already paid off huge with her landing up on the cover of British Vogue. Jagger has just been photographed for the ad campaign by Mario Testino and the sublimely sexy result should have many grabbing the latest Vogue issue. While few have raised eyebrows about a 17-year old being portrayed in the way that she has been, both Versace and Georgia will be happy as controversy, if any, only creates more cash! So guess she is staying with Jeans ads till she turns 18…

Luxist

Two months ago, Google CEO, Eric Shmidt said in an interview that the worst of the recession was over and that Google would come back to buy companies as before. Yesterday this statement was confirmed.

The Mountain View giant announced it will buy AdMob, a company specializing in the sale of ads on mobile platforms, including iPhone and Android.

Omar Hamoui, CEO and founder of AdMob, said that so far the area of mobile advertising was treated as secondary in relation to others and that the company’s purchase by Google changes the landscape. Hamoui also states that the business has a debt of gratitude to Apple for it to have created the iPhone, and through it, solving several problems in the area.

Since Susan Wojcicki and Vic Gundotra, authors of the post announcing the purchase on the official Google blog, they state that everyone has to gain from the agreement. For website owners, it means better products and more effective tools for monetizing content. For advertisers, ads more relevant and more comprehensive, and the possibility of more interesting formats. And for users, ads that will show more useful information.

Shareholders of both companies approved the transaction whose value is U.S. $ 750 million.

Via: AdMob.

Nokia wants to promote its new X6 phone and new music content sharing features and Rihanna is ready to launch her new R rated album. So it is a partnership deal between Nokia, Rihanna and Universal Music Group International. Rihanna music will go across to her fans on the new Nokia X6 phone which has awesome music features. Rihanna exclusive concert will also be streamed live to all the Nokia users.

The new digital communication technology is triggering an interesting paradigm shift in marketing and advertising.  In the past we have seen U2 sign similar deal with a leading mobile company and now Rihanna is set to do the same.  She will be the celebrity face for promoting new Nokia phone and her new album will be the music content for promoting Nokia Comes with Music features of the new phone. Her album being R rated and her concert being private and exclusive this will help her to get wide publicity too. This partnership will dole out incentives to all her fans to win free tickets to her concert and access to her new songs and videos on their Nokia handsets.

It is a win-win situation for both Nokia and Rihanna and only time will tell which got sold out more – Nokia X6 or Rihanna’s new album.

Via Techshout

Google launched today a new product that will improve the search for a retail site. The company said that the Google Commerce Search will help consumers find the products they want (something that definitely interested retailers).

The system will allow a faster search process, more relevant and easier to use than those currently available at retail sites, according to Nitin Mangtani, product manager of Google’s enterprise search. Other interesting features are the integration with Google Analytics and excellent spelling corrector that Google already use on its site.

It will be a test to see if Google can make real money, besides its profits on the search industry for the consumer (Google.com). The funny thing is, that if Google succeeds in this enterprise search space, this will only be one more argument for those who speak that the company only understands about search related things.

The online retailers have to pay at least $ 50 thousand a year to have the tool available. The tool allows the customer to customize the interface of research and create promotions to highlight items that appear at the top of the results.

The new service is to try to deal and compete with other sites like Shopping.com and Shopzilla.com.

Via: Fast Company.