Commentary

Creativity Unleashed This Week

Once in a great while, when the weight of the work world lightens up and lifts off my desk and I'm able to achieve a brief respite from days full of projects, debates and discussions, I get a moment to actually surf the Web from the eyes of the consumer (albeit a consumer who pays an inordinate amount of attention to advertising). After I check out my favorite music and movie sites (http://www.pearljam.com and http://www.aintitcool.com, of course), I peek around and see what's going on. This week in my travels I came across two examples of creative which I found to be very interesting and unique--so why not share them with you!

The first was rather mainstream and reflective of my position in the demographic targeting pool. The "Interview with Ari" creative for the 3rd season of "Entourage" (http://www.hbo.com/entourage/ariinterview/) was fun and takes advantage of the singular strength of the show; the characters. If you visit the site, you get the chance to "interview" with Ari Gold and interact with one of the funniest characters on television today.

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The interview idea was great--but while I found it fun, I felt it delivered slightly less than my expectations. For a show with such a rabid fan base and from a company as progressive as HBO, the interview should be crisper. I expected more video shot exclusively for the Web, inviting multiple interactions with the unit--but I was rewarded with a short, sometimes choppy "video" in a flash environment, which stuttered repeatedly during the first few days it was live, but was much better after the premiere of the new season, when they obviously took care of the server issues. I was hooked initially from the way you fill out an interview form---I loved the wit of the responses you got from Ari, but I wanted more. I was hoping for a truly interactive unit with multiple outcomes and more of the same kind of humor. It's possible that the idea was ahead of its time, but I hope not. The concept of interacting with the characters is great, but I've had more of an experience playing with the Googly Minotaur in my instant messenger box (if you know what that is, then I'm impressed). Overall I gave it a 3 out of 5; strong in concept but leaving something to be desired in execution. I hope Season 4 takes the concept a bit further.

On the other side of the coin, I came across the Web site for Neuter Your Bunny. While this site is obviously created to hype a product (the new OxyRide batteries from Panasonic), I loved that it was humorous and tried to capture the viewer's attention with a tangentially related message rather than hitting them over the head.

The site pretends to be a public service message on ways to curb the rampant growth in the bunny population, with such messages as "altered rabbits make better companions" or "neutered males are calmer and less prone to destruction." Tongue-in-cheek, this site was great and it brings attention to Oxyride which could be an otherwise dull discussion (no one wants to read about the features and new technology behind a battery). The joke of course, which assumes slightly higher-than-average consumer intelligence, is that Panasonic is taking a subtle shot directly at the Energizer Bunny. While not everyone will get it, I love the leap of faith in the audience, and I think this creative message has legs. I can see the wild postings and the other ads already! I give it 4 out of 5, because the creativity is there--but I am hoping Panasonic extends this into other forms of media.

The bottom line is that there are lots of creative elements at play right now, and you should always be on the lookout to identify new and interesting ideas. Now I'm off to check out the mysterious "iDont.com," which I keep seeing everywhere in San Francisco and New York (turns out it's from SanDisk and not a bad campaign, actually, though probably not enough to make a dent in the sales of the cultural icon we call the iPod).

Have fun!

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