When I moved BlogCampaigning from Wordpress over to Squarespace last week, I set up a personal portfolio site at the same time.
I'll continue to post here on BlogCampaigning, but plan on keeping ParkerMason.net updated with career and project experience.
Have a look and let me know what you think.
I’m a big fan of Instagram these days (I post there more often than Facebook, and even used it to find a photographer for some family portraits) but haven’t been impressed with with way brands are using it (Nike and a few other sports brands aside).
However, Smirnoff New Zealand made excellent use of the photo-sharing service throughout December with their #PurePotential campaign.
The gist of the idea was that Smirnoff NZ asked users to take a picture of the ingredients in their fridge, tagging the photo @SmirnoffNZ and #PurePotential and that the brand would give them a recipe for a vodka-based drink they could make with the ingredients. These recipes came in the form of high-quality videos, perfectly sized and paced for Instagram.
As far as I can tell, they responded to almost every single one of the fridge images that Kiwis uploaded (including this one of my very bare fridge).
It worked well by taking advantage of that fact that user’s are used to giving their followers an intimate look at their lives using photos on Instagram.
It wasn’t just a social campaign, either. They had out of home ads (billboards, bus shelters, wild postings) throughout Auckland (and, I presume, New Zealand) related to the campaign, driving to Instagram and pushing the "Pure Potential" message.
PS: I’ve been impressed with a lot of the advertising work I’ve seen from New Zealand since I moved to Auckland a few months ago, and I’ll try and share more of it when I can.
Since I've been in New Zealand, I've been working with my colleagues at DDB on a really neat campaign for Steinlager Pure: a sponsorship program for William Trubridge as he attempts to break his own world record by free-diving to 102m. This is an incredible feat, as William attempts it without weights or oxygen, and has to hold his breath the entire time while also making it back to the surface. Check out Steinlager.com and scroll down to check out different information about what William's body goes through as he does this dive. There are also audio messages of support from Kiwis and fans around the world, added to the website via neat mobile integration.
The actual dive took place on December 3rd at 8am New Zealand time, and you can watch the recap video below (a video that was amazingly put together just a few hours after the dive):
Last week, I had to good fortune to attend the Communications Agencies Association of New Zealand's Effectiveness awards. The "Effies," as their called, are Kiwi equivalent of the Canadian Cassie awards. It was a great way to be exposed to some of the awesome advertising happening here, and I've included some of my highlights below. SKY TV/ Game of Thrones: Bring Down The King
I might be a bit biased because it was my DDB New Zealand colleagues* who came up with this idea, and because I love Game of Thrones, but it was great to see this spot that lets Kiwis bring down a statue of Joffrey by tweeting about him win a gold at the Effies.
*I moved to New Zealand, in case you missed that.
Maritime New Zealand - Saving Lives Like They Did in the 80s
I heard somewhere that there is no where in New Zealand that is farther than 150km from the coast, and Auckland also apparently has the highest number of yachts per capita in the world so it makes sense that water safety is a big deal. The video below from Maritime New Zealand is a playful look at why you need to be wearing a life jacket for it to be effective.
Tui Beer: Catch a Million
I have no idea what cricket is about (and pretty much think of it as this) but I think everyone can still appreciate some of the great catches, even when they come from the crowd. Tui Beer capitalized on this by holding a promotion that promised a share of $1,000,000 to anyone in the crowd who caught a ball from the game with one hand. Check out the video below to see how this took off.
Bonus fact that I learned about cricket: They only change balls every 50 overs (which takes about 3 hours or so), so that the way the ball spins and bounces changes quite a bit throughout a game. Compare this to American Baseball, where I think they change up the ball almost every pitch to keep it consistent.
There were a lot of other great pieces of work at the awards, but those were my favourite. The full Effies results are here.
-Parker
If you've been following me on Twitter, you might have noticed that I've left Toronto, and have made the move south to join the DDB New Zealand team as a Digital Strategist.
Saying goodbye to my colleagues at Tribal Worldwide Toronto/DDB Canada wasn't easy, but staying within the DDB network and transferring down to DDB New Zealand was a great opportunity.
I've only been here for a week, but so far my early impressions of the DDB team here and the city of Auckland are that both are fantastic.
If you're ever in New Zealand, look me up and say hello.
To everyone I worked with back in Canada, please keep in touch (LinkedIn or Twitter). I hope our paths cross again soon.
-Parker
PS: They love coffee in New Zealand, and the DDB office is no exception:
Even after all these years I've been in advertising, it's still exciting to see an idea go from research, through to strategy and a finished execution. That's why it's great to see the creative that my colleagues at DDB developed to promote SONY's line of High-Resolution audio products:
As part of the campaign, we're working with music bloggers across Canada to share content and give reviews about these products. Check Ride the Tempo if you want to try and win a pair of these great SONY headphones now.
Otherwise, learn more about SONY's High-Resolution audio products at store.sony.ca/sound-evolved
A few months ago, Heather and I went to Costa Rica (same place we went a few years ago). Here are some pictures from that trip:
It was a pretty great trip.
While Heather and I were on the island of Maui over the Christmas holidays, we did an amazing hike through Haleakala crater. The following are a few photos from the hike (click through on each one for a larger version).
I'd highly recommend this hike to anyone visiting Maui who wants an experience outside of the usual beach and surf scene. The scenery is unlike anything else you'll see on the island, and it really gets you away from the crowds. Make sure to pack warm clothes and lots of water and food. We did the 18.5 km hike in a little bit over four hours, but you might want to plan on taking a bit more time than that. The National Parks Service has a great page of information and maps for the area here.
Check out a few of my other blog posts about Hawaii:
The Garden Isle and The Valley Isle
I really like Instagram, so I'm excited to see that they've made it easy for users to embed photos from the site on other sites. It will be interesting to see what this does to spread Instagram photos and engagement across the web. Here are a few of my own favorite Instagram photos (follow me! Like elsewhere on the web, I'm ParkerNow on Instagram:
Almost a year ago, I hurt my back playing soccer. It got a bit better, but never 100%. I saw a chiropractor and had acupuncture, but I was still spending part of the day at work laying on the floor. At the same time, I started reading about how bad sitting was for your back (and health in general) and decided that a standing desk would be the way to go. I got the idea for using cheap IKEA parts from this post on I am not a programmer. It turns out that the LACK table was the perfect height for me without the need for an extra shelf. An Anti-Fatigue Mat rounded out the set-up.
I don't spend the entire day standing, but rather alternate between standing or sitting depending what I'm doing. I also try and go for walks around the office (or around the block, if the weather permits) as often as possible.
My back has been feeling pretty good these days, and while I can't attribute all of the recovery to the desk (stretches and strengthening exercises definitely played a party), I'm sure it helped.
If you like movies, you'll probably have fun with the new website that DDB Canada (the place I work) developed for the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. To prove that you're already a fan of Jewish movies, DDB created a website that analyzes everyone who was involved with the movie (from writers to actors and producers) and gives it a score (or gentile percentile) for how Jewish it is.
Check it out for yourself at J-Dar.ca (and then check out some of the great movies that are playing on the Toronto Jewish Film Festival website)
A few weeks ago, I saw a Tweet asking users to submit questions they'd like to ask Kim Stanley Robinson in an upcoming interview. He's one of my favorite authors (he wrote the Mars trilogy, one of my favorite series of books), and he always has a lot of intelligent things to say about the future of humanity and the role science will play. It's a great interview, and I've embedded it below. My question, "On which planet, asteroid or community from your novels would you most want to live?" is near the end. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Kim Stanley Robinson's first reaction to the question is "Oh, my lord..." The rest of his answer actually surprised me, but I'll let you listen for yourself (around the 33min mark in the video).
You can also check out the interview on the Mendel's Pod website. Thanks to Theral Timpson for using my question!
The following post originally appeared on the DDB Canada blog as part of the Radar 10am One Thing series of posts.
The internet connects billions of people to each other every day. It allows us to talk to people around the world, instantly. It lets us share and create art. It can help us learn. It helps people who might not otherwise have a voice be heard.
Unfortunately, some of the world's governments want more control over the internet as we use it today. They want to be able to censor it, spy on it or otherwise manipulate it, and they are often supported by organizations that don't have the public's best interest in mind.
Enter the #FreeAndOpen campaign from Google. With a real-time map displaying the names and locations of those who have pledged their support and a video to put a face to some of these people, the company whose informal corporate motto was once famously "Don't be evil" is really trying to do some good. 3 million people have already added their names to the map online.
Visit Google.com/TakeAction to learn more about what's at stake and pledge your support at FreeAndOpenWeb.com.
This is an important issue that goes far beyond the advertising industry and our work at Tribal DDB. We urge you take a moment to consider how a free and open internet has benefitted you, and how it can do so much more for the entire world.
The One Thing is a result of the daily 10am meetings held in the DDB Canada offices, where our digital teams meet to discuss new online trends, tools and technologies. Today's One Thing was written by Tribal DDB Toronto Social Media Strategist, Parker Mason.
For an archive of the 10am links, visit our Delicious account and Pinterest board.
Follow Radar on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RadarDDB
I'm a pretty big fan of Instagram these days, so I'm pretty excited that they've introduced both web profiles (check out mine at Instagram.com/ParkerNow) and badges, like the one below:
For both myself and a lot of my friends, Instagram is pushing Twitter and Facebook aside as a way to see what my friends are up to and sharing. I'm not saying it will replace either, or that it will last forever, but it's fun for now.
The following post appeared originally on the the DDB Canada blog as part of the Radar DDB 10am series of blog posts and emails I contribute to at work.
A few months ago, Pepsi launched a global campaign, “Live For Now,” by redoing Pepsi.com to feature a waterfall of branded content and fan comments about the beverage. It was a unique way to embrace social media while not relying too heavily on third-party networks. More recently, Pepsi also partnered with Twitter.
On Tuesday night, we started to see what that partnership was capable of as Pepsi delivered on that “Live For Now” promise by streaming a Nicki Minaj concert on any Tweet with #NickiMinajNow hashtag. As the go-to site for what’s happening now, we think Twitter was a perfect channel for Pepsi and this campaign. It’s also a great reminder that the world still loves a super-star endorsement deal.
Check out an archived version of the concert or just take a look at some of the tens of thousands of Tweets from users talking about it.
If you liked that, you might be interested in knowing that Nicki Minaj also wrote a song for Adidas just for the “All Originals” video.
We also wrote about Pepsi’s year-long partnership with Twitter here.
Good news, everyone! Tribal DDB is going to be hiring a number of Community Moderator/Writers for a five-week contract starting in mid-September. These positions will be for a high-profile, national campaign. It won't be an easy job, but it'll definitely be interesting. The official job posting from the DDB website is as follows:
Tribal DDB is looking for 4 English writers with a passion for social media for an intense, 5 week contract on a high profile national campaign, beginning in mid-September through to late October. This role involves constant and ongoing interaction with our client's target audience from adorers to detractors around a sensitive and polarizing topic. Common sense or street smarts are mandatory.
As a high-energy creative, you have a solid understanding of advertising, are an active participant in social networks and have a history in community management and moderation. Strong writing skills are a must and a writing sample is required along with your resume.
RESPONSIBILITIES: You will be responsible for responding to consumer questions with engaged, quality written responses on a social media website in Tribal DDB's Toronto office. Primarily, this will include assessment, triage, moderation and creative responses to consumer questions. Developing answers to these questions will require navigating detailed product information.
QUALIFICATIONS: - 1-2 years experience is required - Passion for social media and marketing/advertising - Strong written communication ability (grammar, formatting, creativity, spelling) - Ability to follow a process - General understanding of agency process and capabilities - Bilingualism a plus - Proof reading/copy-editing ability a plus
Interested candidates please send resume and cover letter to hr.toronto@ddbcanada.com.
We appreciate all expressed interest in this position, however, only the candidates selected for interview will be contacted.
If you're a regular reader of BlogCampaigning, you might have noticed that we often slow down our posts during the summer months. Normally it's because I'm outside enjoying the great weather, but this year it was because I was working on an amazing project for McDonald's Canada called "Our Food. Your Questions." You might have seen this video that was part of the campaign:
Or you might have just seen the site, McDonalds.ca/YourQuestions:
Or you might have just seen some of the great answers that my team of writers wrote in response to the thousands and thousands of questions that Canadians asked about food at McDonald's Canada:
No matter how you saw it, I hope it gave you new appreciation for the food that McDonald's Canada serves. I also hope that all of the hard work by an incredibly talented Tribal DDB team was able to shine through.
-Parker
Ever since I took a class called "Cyberculture" while attending Griffith University* in Australia, I've been fascinated by internet lore and the stories of how the web was built. One of these stories that I recently came across was about "Eternal September." It comes from the thinking that when the internet was mostly restricted to university students, websites were flooded every September with new users that hadn't yet learned netiquette. Over the course of this first month, their upperclassmen taught them how to behave online. The result was what were probably pretty well-run little communities.
In 1993 the web became more accessible to the masses with AOL and Compuserve, with new users not yet savvy in the rules of online behaviour arriving year-round. Thus, September 1993 was dubbed the "Eternal September."
If you're super into this type of thing, it looks like there is a little program that you can download here that will calculate the current day of September, 1993 that we're at (looks like it's day 4242 of Eternal September).
-Parker
Heather and I went to Costa Rica for my 30th birthday last week. Here are some photos:
I used my GoPro camera (more here and here) for the first shot, but the rest were all taken on my iPhone 4s, using either the regular camera, Instagram, Camera+ or Diptic to put the images together.
It was a pretty sweet trip.
-Parker
Almost every weekday, digital and social media teams at DDB Canada gather at 10am to discuss new online trends, tools and technologies. The half-hour meetings involve various team members discussing the merits of a particular site or video, and how it fits into greater online trends.
For me, the meetings are a great opportunity to get insight from my colleagues into what's happening online, and it definitely exposes me to things I might not have noticed or found otherwise. They are a highlight of my week and one of the cool things about working at DDB Canada.
To see what we've discussed, check out the DDB Canada blog or follow Radar DDB on Twitter. If you're interested in getting a daily email from us with the 10am One Thing (and a weekly wrap-up!), leave a comment her or send me an email.
-Parker