This is where Volvo stepped onto the scene and prepared the terrain for a new campaign which captures the uniqueness of Scandinavia combined with a new reinterpretation of the trio’s first hit song titled ‘Leave The World Behind’ by the young Swedish singer Lune through a new music video shot by the Sweden-based Adam Berg. As parts of the music video were teased earlier this month, many fans were led to believe that this was a teaser for a new documentary, when in fact it was a promotional push which serves as the leading theme for the Volvo’s upcoming launch of the new XC60 crossover SUV featured throughout the video and print ads along with all of the Swedish House Mafia members: Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Steve Angello.

Although the brand admits on its Facebook page that most of scenes were filmed in Norway, the video isn’t exactly 100% Swedish, but it definitely feels Scandinavian as it beautifully captured the essence of a relaxing life which conccurs with the possibilities XC60 has to offer to hip, young customers.

According to Per Carleö, Marketing Manager at Volvo Cars, the car manufacturer has found a very natural connection between the trio’s decision to take a next step in their lives and to leave the busy life behind with the brand’s idea behind the new car model:

I think the biggest joy in this project has been people’s wholehearted enthusiasm, all the way from the members of Swedish House Mafia and their team, to the top management of Volvo Cars. I think we found a great connection in our joint Scandinavian roots and have built the whole project around this.

The collaboration with Volvo is the second in line of Swedish brands to be featured as the trio has worked with Absolut Vodka over a year ago in order to promote the Absolut Greyhound drink, a campaign which was a big success.

The brand used the information gathered and launched Project Openminded, with a mission to encourage people to be more open-minded in their social lives. The campaign started with its first webisode on the 16th of May, entitled “Man Dance”, featuring a window cleaner breaking clichés inspired by the survey in which “good times mean dancing”, and the fact that men are much more shy when it comes to hitting the dancefloor.

This is only the first in a series of webisodes, aimed at showing how to overcome social challenges. Anne Brøndsted Nielsen, International Marketing Manager for Somersby at Carlsberg Group commented that Somersby is all about sharing memorable moments with good friends:

That’s why we have looked into how open-minded young Danes are in different social situations. For instance their dance habits, how good they are at mingling, and how often they invite people they don’t know to parties.

Setting out to change the situation and encourage people to be more social, Nielsen stated that the brand wants to encourage people to be more open-minded in their social lives, for example at pre-parties or on chill out occasions, adding that “it’s all about what you’re bringing to the party”.

Can this campaign influence consumers to be more open-minded? Check out more info about Somersby’s and Epinion’s research here, or read more stories about Somersby, here.

It is the new, personalized ”Share a Coke” campaign, launched across Europe this month. The basic concept is that the most popular names of each of the markets can be found on Coca Cola’s labels;  the ‘chosen’ names are the ones that are commonly frequented thus placed in order to trigger specific emotions in consumers.

As part of the campaign, the brand will also be launching ”Share A Coke” vending machines, whit which consumers can personalize their very own Coca-Cola or Coca-Cola can or bottle. A Facebook application is also included, allowing users to create a personalized virtual Coke and share it with their friends across social networks.

The campaign first started in Australia back in 2011 focusing on the idea of bringing consumers closer together and sharing a good time over a Coca-Cola. It proved to be very successful, increasing sales by 4 percent; Thus the revived strategy now aims at reaching 32 countries, combining country-specific television ads with online media.

Caroline Cater, operational marketing director for Coca-Cola Enterprise believes that the campaign will help capture the nation’s imagination and will help to drive volume and value growth for retailers:

We’re issuing the invite for people to connect and as part of that we want the public to have fun finding the names of their friends and loved ones on our products, and taking the time to Share a Coke with them.

If you are interested in the campaign’s effectiveness, check the research results of its social media impact and target group reach. Also, take a closer look how the mass personalized campaign was conducted.

Namely, the brand and the agency have partnered with video rental stores across Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro and they have redesigned DVD discs of some of the most recent Hollywood blockbusters by using thermal ink. Now, this is the part where physics kicks in: as the DVDs get hotter during playback, they react with the ink only to reveal a new disc design and smell which, naturally, promote Domino’s Pizza with the following message:

Did you enjoy the movie? The next one will be even better with a hot and delicious Domino’s Pizza.

But why would anyone still rent DVDs when there are a number of streaming services available, right? Well, according to ArtPlan’s art director Diogo Barbosa, high speed broadband internet connection is still unavailable for majority of Brazilians and services like Netflix and iTunes are relatively new, so there is still a great number of DVD rental stores available in the cities’ neighborhoods.

If Domino’s would have created a similar campaign in the US, let’s say, about 10 years ago it would definitely have resonated throughout the entire country as a ingenious use of technology with feedback echoes from other agencies in the form of ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’ But, everything has its time and place and it is never late to do brilliant work while the world still grasps onto the last few decades of the transitioning period from analog to digital.

Artplan surely played it smart and took the advantage of an existing and proven, ‘physical’ technology, but this kind of campaigning would probably not have as much as impact in other countries which follow digital trends and have greater internet accessibility. Nevertheless, the agency’s work seems to be spot on for the market which is intended and this is what a brand expects from an agency – great results. Check out the video below:

Featuring aircraft imagery and ‘American’ typography, the design is made to stand out on shelves next to English competitors and make the product more attractive to a contemporary audience, encouraging the world to embrace an innovative style of gin; Sandstrom president Jack Peterson commented that the bottle and label are designed to strikingly differentiate the brand from the pack in an American way:

Up until now, gin has been a spirit closely associated with the English—London dry gin. Aviation is creating the new American Gin experience, downplaying juniper and adding other adventurous botanicals for a more balanced flavor.

Thomas  Mooney, CEO and co-­owner of House Spirits Distillery added that as the popularity of Aviation American Gin continued to grow, they needed a bottle that could speak for itself and tell the story of the brand:

We believe this eye-­catching new design will continue to further position Aviation as a contemporary American craft spirit while also celebrating the distinctive nature of the gin itself.

The ‘American Gin’ is an exciting mixture of flavors such as cardamom, lavender, Indian sarsaparilla, coriander, anise, and dried sweet orange peel, and was named by the classic cocktail (The Aviation) originating from the early 20th century.

Check out more stories about packaging design, here.

The idea behind this video is that the guy needs to convince his girlfriend that they need to buy red plastic stadium seats for their home in order to win tickets for the finals. The catch? His girlfriend must not know about the tickets. An avalanche of funny excuses was unleashed, check it out:

Even though this video bears a strong emotional message, I can’t help but notice that couples present are most probably actors, but it’s still a good and creative video that can be easily associated with Heineken’s creative interventions.

If you’ve ever wanted to see how is it to live a “Barbie” life, now there is a chance to get it. At the Dreamhouse, you can ‘try on’ clothes from Barbie’s closet and get dolled up at the makeup station. Visitors can also interact with the different animations and interactive games like baking cupcakes in Barbie’s kitchen, listening to “Barbie Talk” at touchscreen monitors or happy tunes from the big pink piano.

Christoph Rahofer of marketing company EMS which obtained the rights to the attraction from US manufacturer Mattel, described the uniqueness of the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience:

It provides a completely new insight into the living interior and lifestyle of the most famous doll in the world

If you are interested in booking the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience for private and birthday parties – yes, it is possible. But first be sure to take a closer look at installation located in Berlin, which according to NBCNews was greeted with protests earlier today:

Images: Toy News

Bill Gates foretold the success that digital would create as the fastest growing segment of the online entertainment industry. Gates said it, Google listened then Google announced yesterday it will launch a paid streaming music service – All Access music for $9.99 after a 30-day free trial – in direct competition with Pandora and Spotify and others from the retail and the social networking worlds.

The new app is designed to work on smartphones, tablets and browsers, virtually any mobile platform, and will allow users to search for music – search being Google’s sweet-spot so you’d expect that they’d get that part of the service right, But there’s more! Users will also be able to customize selections from different music and performer genres, and stream playlists or listen to curated streams. It’s been reported that Google has already made licensing agreements with Sony, Universal and Warner Music Groups

Does this new service move Google closer to – or even ahead of – Apple in this burgeoning category? Apple pioneered on-line music sales via iTunes and it’s been rumored that they are looking to create their own subscription service. So, not only are Pandora and Spotify, who are pushing to expand their own audiences, but social networking brands like Facebook and retailers à la Amazon, are all competing for streaming music customers.

Is this wild, wild musical West open to all? Given the accelerating growth of mobile platforms, it seems a no-brainer as regards customer engagement, what with entertainment and mobile technology and business so inextricably connected? Perhaps more so for the Apples and the Googles and the Amazons of the group, who are looking for emotional engagement to fill out their brand loyalty equations and attendant profit streams to fit their mobile product lines.

Can they all succeed? Production and financial wherewithal is never enough to guarantee absolute success. You need an engaging brand within the category from which streaming music will flow. Organic design, optimized search, and same-day delivery does not make one into a leader in streaming music.

Like the legendary music that streamed from Orpheus’ golden lyre, with his power to raise the spirits of Jason and the Argonauts, for streaming music brands, the ability to not only raise spirits, but brand engagement, loyalty, usage, and – as this is the business of entertainment – means profits.

The humor of the spots is not necessarily ill-placed, but so much aggravation has occurred due to FedEx’s delivery restrictions that it may be questionable for FedEx to poke fun now. On the other hand, the spots may be beneficial for FedEx because they depict the brand’s lovable ability to make fun of itself. One thing is for certain, this is a long overdue development that every FedEx customer is celebrating.

Thought the first one was funny? Ridiculous, maybe? Well, check out spot number two: