MiC regularly invites Canada’s media gurus to survey the mediascape and share the things they find most interesting and noteworthy. Today, Travis St.Denis, media supervisor at Mediaedge:cia and one of MiC‘s 2009 ‘Next Media Stars,’ shares his top picks from the media landscape today.
Trailers get interactive
Trailers are the cornerstones of the video game and movie business, time-honoured tools for generating buzz and getting eyeballs to theatres. But the movie-trailer game is changing and there are several new and exciting tools being used by studios to draw people away from their cozy home theatres to the big screen. The Avatar movie trailer and Resident Evil: The Darkside‘s ‘Experience the Darkside’ game trailer are examples of the innovation in this category right now, taking what was once a passive viewing activity and engaging the audience in the action.
Crowdsourcing goes big
In Rod Walker’s 2008 book, Buying In, he applauds Pabst Blue Ribbon as a below-the-line success story in which loyal, deeply engaged consumers help maintain a brand’s vibrancy without traditional above-the-line advertising. Despite this consumer commitment, Pabst Blue Ribbon saw tough times in 2009 and is now for sale. But two advertising agencies – New York-based The Ad Store and Hollywood-based Forza Migliozzi – have launched an ambitious strategy to put the brewery in public hands (literally): crowdsourcing. The agencies set up a website, BuyaBeerCompany.com, urging people to pledge $5 toward the purchase of the brewery, a price only to be paid once the goal of raising $300,000 is met. The tally is currently at $281,000. While it remains to be seen how a crowdsourced company might operate, the notion of a social-media-created company is something to keep an eye on.
ecoDrivers unite!
Nike may have set the precedent for an integrated product, lifestyle, community and technology with their running products, vehicle manufacturer has taken the approach with its environmental responsibility program, eco:Drive. The program is based on an application – downloaded from the Fiat site and uploaded into a Fiat car via USB – that allows Fiat drivers to track their driving habits in detail and see how they affect a vehicle’s fuel efficiency via an accompanying software program. The program even includes an online community, ecoVille, where visitors from around the world are encouraged to interact with other Fiat drivers and share their smart driving tips. The effort gained Fiat a Cyber Grand Prix at Cannes this year.
