Notorious Beam Team

I spotted this on PSFK and thought it might be useful for some of Beam's whisky brands.

"At Future Trends 08, Spike TV presented research that they released earlier this year. The research has obviously been created to help sell advertising but for anyone out there who is making products, services or communications for men in America, it might provide some useful data points. Luckily, you readers don’t have to make it to Miami. Simply download the PDF here and a summary is on this page here."

The legends over at Trusted Places put on a fantastic Day of the Dead party at Chilango off Fleet Street in London. To read more about it visit either watch the video below or click on this link to their blog.







Thanks to Walid, Sokratis and Niamh for organising such a great event. We can't wait to get involved again.

Trawling through Technorati, I found this great pictoral review on Flash Eccentric of the Hornitos sponsored Day of the Dead party in New York...

"Firstly, nobody can beat Heidi Klum’s costume. Next, I can’t beat everyone else. I promise - next year, I’ll put more thought and effort into my Halloween costume. Refinery29 snapped some awesome costumes which the “it” people in NYC were dressed in, at the Hornitos Tequila sponsored Day of the Dead-themed party."

Here are some of the pictures.











And here's the commentary from Refinery 29's blog...

"With Halloween falling on the Friday before the election this year, there was a double-dose of pent-up energy for the holiday. And there was no better way to relieve it than at the Hornitos Tequila sponsored Day of the Dead-themed party. The fete was held at a huge warehouse-like space on Cortland Alley and hosted by Earnest Sewn's Carlos Quirarte, Matt Creed, Matt Kleigman, and Taavo Somer of Freeman's fame. Somer described the decorations as "like the set of ¡Three Amigos! during Día de los Muertos as seen through a tribal pink mescaline dew." With Hornipolitans in hand, guests rocked out to performances by local favorites Lissie Trullie and The Virgins. Party attendees of the night included Mary Kate Olsen, Nate Lowman, Theodora Richards, Harley Viera Newton, Leo Fitzpatrick, and Rogan, who was dressed as a giant Jesus roaming around on stilts.

Our Style Director, Piera Gelardi, was judging the midnight costume competition, along with Scott Campbell, Waris, and Julie Gilhart, but didn't hear her name called. Our absentee vote named Gia Bahm—dressed as this iconic Annie Leibovitz photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono—the winner. Side note: Our friend Shelly lost her wallet that night. Ay carumba! But it was returned to her yesterday by the bartender Juan who found and returned three wallets that night. What a guy!"

Looks like a great event. And as an aside, these are some of the best event photographs I have seen for ages. Top work from snapper Olivia Jade Horner.

Part of the current Hornitos marketing plan in the US is the Hortnitos Electric Garden. I just found this video on NBC5 Street Team's blog and thought it was worth posting.


Hornitos': Midnight in the Garden of Agave from Jen Knoedl on Vimeo.

Teachers aspires to become the most relevant and accessible Scotch whisky for men aged 30 + by appealing to their need for ‘manspace’, a place where they can escape the pressures of the modern world, find inspiration and allow them to become an authority on subjects of their choice.

Teacher’s helps men identify this space under the ‘Create your space’ platform, developed in 2007, and evolved in April this year with the launch of the ‘Win an Airstream travel trailer’ or ‘1 of 250 Mountain bikes’ on-pack promotion. This was supported by a Press campaign and a uniquely illustrative website designed to challenge the ‘dusty’ brand perception and encourage interaction via an online quiz. The promotion finished last month with over 18,000 applications which gave an impressive 12% redemption rate





September launched phase 2 of the campaign with an offer to ‘Win a Classic Car plus an Expert Mate to help you look after it for 1 year’ OR ‘1 of 250 fully equip toolkits’ for runners up. The Classic Car promotion runs until the end of March next year.




For more information on the promotion visit the website www.teacherswhisky.com/space

Major national event – Sourz Zing City launch

The Sourz Zing City tour hit the road last month taking over four major UK cities - Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol. Zing City, brought to you by Sourz, fused together music from top UK DJs with cutting-edge light shows, stylish performances and new Sourz long drink serves.




Headlining the events were super-hip Streetlife DJs and club maestros, Jon Carter and Justin Robertson. Über cool performance troupe, Cirque Bijou, made up the mix with a spectacular show. Performances included brand new acts including a rare aerial routine, courtesy of female acrobat, Avital Giles.




Zing City was created to celebrate the trend for cross-entertainment clubbing and served-up a multi-sensory, interactive experience. This vibrant blend of entertainment was supported by the ‘mixzing’ of Sourz where partygoers experienced Sourz as a modern long drink with new serves that include: Sourz Apple and cranberry; Sourz Cherry and cola and Sourz Blackcurrant and lemonade.

The campaign was also supported by Radio, PR and online with a facebook fan page, Itchy city takeovers and an engaging and contemporary website. The Sourz zing city tour also featured in Campaign magazine this month!

To view more photos from the event, click here

I've not got a lot to say about this. Except for the fact that I love the photograph. I found it on Londonist but it was taken by Only Because Mushroom Told Me To.

As part of a campaign which is expanding Pepsi's advertising well beyond TV, design is central to getting the brand talked about.
A new Pepsi can series features several designers who each interpret the original idea. J Kaczmarek of NY designed and illustrated this packaging and the sheer beauty of the product is generating interest worldwide.

Well done for winning the IPA Effectiveness Grand Prix 2008.

Designer bottles are all the rage. Now Malibu are on the case.

"LaMJC curated the Malibu Pop & Street Art Series. The liquor bottle comes with designs made by Delta, So_Me and James Jarvis. Limited to 100 individually numbered bottles of each design, the set will be exclusively available at colette. As of December 1rst they will be on display."

From High Snobeity

Ikea's "Let's make the everyday a little better" idea has made a sensational comeback in Moscow. I'm probably overstating this a bit. The last time we reported on Ikea was in August 2006!

Here's a quick recap of the work they were doing in New York...





And the work in Sweden was just as cute... possibly even more so...





And now they have rolled out the same idea in Russia. I love it. And I am guessing it must have been a nightmare to get the Russian authorities to approve it!





For the full set of Flickr photos click here. It's great to see. The one time I used the Moscow underground I got incredibly lost and decided not to use it again. The resulting taxi ride resulted in me and Anne getting kidnapped! For more background have a look at this. It's great to see something that isn't intrusive.

What if Ikea were to invest in the London Underground. They could be in charge of the Hammersmith and City Line's design... could be fun. And it would fit with the private finance initiative. What do you think Borris?

Discovered on PSFK.

When I was at university I had what I thought was a brainwave... and it turns out that people are doing it already. Ho hum. Pretty cool though.



From PSFK.

"PSFK friend Gino Reyes shot this video during his morning commute on NYC’s B subway line. This sort of underground animation has been seen in other parts of the world - most notably Asia - but usually as part of advertising campaigns. This one doesn’t seem to carry any particular message - as far as we can tell, it’s just there to entertain subway riders as they gaze longingly out their car windows. We don’t know who is behind these - if you have any idea, please let us know!"

You can always rely on Johnnie Walker Blue to do things properly. So true to form, they have absolutely nailed this. It could barely be more luxurious. Great idea.

From Luxist

"Some special books come with online access codes bringing additional insight into the topic, a beautiful handmade bookmark or an original signature of the author but the 'By Appointment Only' diary from Johnnie Walker Blue Label is more than just a place to log your writings -- it is a doorway to exclusive events and services. Included in this expensive holiday package are tickets to the Monaco Grand Prix 2009 and Johnnie Walker Golf Championships, a bespoke blending experience with a Johnnie Walker Master Blender creating your very own whisky, and access to a premiere concierge service offering more Johnnie Walker experiences at your fingertips.

The leather bound diary, of which there are only three, is priced at an impressive £95,000 and comes from luxury stationer Aspinal of London. There are an additional twenty diaries available for £2,000 with access to the services and events above as well -- the difference in price I am sure accounts for less luxurious accommodations or some other discrepancy in experience but nonetheless would make a spectacular gift."

Good for getting talked about.

Interesting water. It's designed to improve your mental health.

"Sleeplessness. Anxiety. Feeling low. Stress...

Many people believe these feelings are caused by "today's busy life." But in reality it's more likely your brain has lowered levels of the neurotransmitter Serotonin.

Ring a bell? You've heard of Serotonin but you're not sure what it is- right?

Well, you're going to hear a lot more about Serotonin in the next few months, thanks to Sero2, the unique new serotonic water developed here in New Zealand.

The neurotransmitter Serotonin is created by your body especially for your brain with just one purpose- to make you feel good! So low serotonin levels mean low mood levels. And low mood levels can mean anxiety, stress, irritability, food cravings and more."

Neat idea. It completely fits in with the ideas in Brain Rules. Maybe they should do some form of collaboration.

Sero2.

From Brand Republic

"LONDON - Pepsi has kicked off a mobile campaign where consumers can get content for their mobile phones by taking a picture of a "quick response" code on its cans and bottles.

Britvic and PepsiCo plan to put the QR codes on 400 million cans and bottles.

Consumers can take a picture of the code with their mobile phone camera, which will automatically redirect them to a WAP site. Here, they will receive entertainment, or a kick, on their mobile phone.
ADVERTISEMENT

The prizes include advice from life coach Rusty Champion, Pro Evolution Soccer and Project Gotham racing games, ringtones and wallpapers. Frequent visitors will be rewarded for their loyalty with exclusive content.

The QR codes will feature on all Pepsi brands, which include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max.

Ahmed Abdel-Karim, the marketing manager for Pepsi UK, said: "Pepsi is using QR codes to connect with, and engage, consumers in a new and exciting way wherever they are."

QR codes have been used by advertisers in Japan for a number of years."

There are 4 key aspects that I find interesting about this.

1. As far as I can see it is the biggest use in the UK of this media/technology. Let's see if it opens the floodgates.

2. The Japanese have been using these codes for ages and it is completely ingrained into their way of life.

3. There's still a barrier to QR codes working. I tired to install the software on my BlackBerry and my Nokia but couldn't get either to work. Maybe I am being an idiot. But either way it needs to work better from a usability point of view.

4. I am really excited about the potential of using QR codes from an alcoholic drinks perspective. It could provide a brilliant way of providing connoisseurship information in on-trade environments.