Have a great weekend everybody!

If you were in the airport and saw one of these funky technological people advising you about safety, would you be more inclined to listen?

Based on the consumer insight that couples book their getaways together, sitting next to each in front of the computer, Scandinavian Airlines used two different QR codes, to be scanned by both people, forming a video that only makes sense when the two phones are placed next to each other. By playing this video, users were given a unique code to be input on the Scandinavian Airlines website, which gave them a two-for-one deal on using air miles. Most importantly, during the campaign week – every available ticket was sold out and at the same time, busy couples took the time to plan some quality time together. Everyone wins!

Couple Up to Buckle Up from T&J on Vimeo.

Well done Mini. You get today’s “Bounce-back” award!

So if you’re in the market for some Lorem Ipsum, don’t forget to dolor sit amet first!

To see it in the flesh, take a look here: http://www.mini.co.za/special_offers/

(Have a good weekend!)

What this does so well, is show us the parallels between people. When you can see that people in Sweden (or anywhere) worry about both petty and important things, just like you do – it makes it much easier to make a personal connection with them. And in terms of a marketing initiative, this does a great job of increasing interest in Sweden as a destination, not just because of the personal parallels people are drawing with each other, but because of the information about Sweden (it’s culture, it’s countryside etc.) that the people tweeting as @Sweden are sharing.

The website for this initiative, Curators of Sweden, also gives an interesting jumping-off point. As much as people are talking about brands becoming publishers (and they are), many social media campaigns are about curation. Curation is really about finding the right content and sharing it with the right people. Much like a museum curator sources specific items for a museum that will appeal to a specific audience, online curation is very similar. Sites like Tumblr are a great example of this, where people are curating content without necessarily realising it. They collect images that they enjoy, filtering out those that don’t appeal to them, or that don’t fit the theme of their blog. As we become inundated with more and more information (and this will only increase in the future) it is becoming a necessary life skill to be able to filter and assimilate information as quickly as possible.

For great South African examples of online curation, look no further than www.missmoss.co.za - she does a great job of collecting desirable images, products, music and art. But be warned, her website could end up taking a lot of your free time.

This also begs the question – if we were to run a South Africa Twitter account, like Sweden, what kinds of things would we say? How would we represent ourselves? To take a look what Sweden is doing – search for @Sweden on Twitter or take a look at this website for more information.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jay Jays is asking you to remember yours and possibly get up and close and personal with your computer screen in this interactive YouTube Ad. One of the first to come out of South Africa, you can see it here in all its glory. This is definitely building on the Skittles Ads, such as this one below:

It’s great to see South African campaigns starting to use YouTube creatively and hopefully we’ll see a lot more of these ads in the future. For a great example of the possibilities available with YouTube, take a look at this YouTube channel from Desperados. (You have to watch it on the YouTube page for it to work).

http://www.youtube.com/user/desperados

Speaking to Moneyweb, Zyda Rylands, Woolworths Manager of Food said, “We are, for example, the only group that sells only free range eggs. This is slightly more expensive. It is therefore not possible to compare Woolworths’ eggs with those in the rest of the market.” She also went on to say that Woolworths products are not directly comparable with products from other stores, which in some cases is quite true – they produce higher quality goods.

Unfortunately, this is somewhat of a missed opportunity for Woolworths. Consumers are expecting higher levels of transparency every day and this level of paranoia doesn’t hurt Woolworths hugely (people know that Woolworths charge a premium for their products), but there’s nothing wrong with Woolworths making their prices known.  The prices are readily available on Woolworths’ website, which shows us that they aren’t hiding their prices. Why then, would they be afraid of having their prices shown next to other retailers?

If Woolworths is ‘The Difference’, they should be happy to be transparent about their pricing. As we mentioned in our Trendscape 2012 video, real luxury will be a trend this year, and Woolworths is the retailer that provides that for the South African market. There is also the perception amongst consumers that paying a little more for an item gives it prestige. Being open, honest and transparent is a great way to ensure that people respond positively to your brand, and Woolworths has nothing to hide. They have a premium product and a premium price, this is not news.

With the advent of social media and the media-savviness of consumers, brands are becoming something that is less owned and more curated by the owner of a brand. Brands live and die in the mouths and minds of your consumers. Whereas previously brands were owned exclusively by the companies that gave birth to them, brands are now very much owned by their consumers.  This makes it very difficult to control the marketing mix, but infinitely more valuable. A recommendation from a real person because of a real brand experience is infinitely more believable than from a brand.

Brands are like people. Do you prefer people who are suspicious, closed and defensive or people who are open, honest and inclusive?

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Actor
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Jim Rash & Nat Faxon, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
Peter Straughan & Bridget O’Connor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy