Online+Ad+Critique


 * Online Ad Campaign 1: BMW Canada 1 Series M Coupe **

PART 1: BMW 1M Walls - MPowered Performance Part 1 media type="youtube" key="lEvpnKRLDO4?rel=0" height="283" width="504" align="center"

PART 2: BMW 1M Helipad - MPowered Performance Part 2 media type="youtube" key="15bQjiwzgUA?rel=0" height="283" width="504" align="center"

This online campaign was launched on YouTube. The campaign was put together by a Canadian Advertising Agency named Cundari. The first online video that was launched in this campaign was, "BMW 1M Walls - MPowered Performance Part 1", on June 8, 2011. The second online video, "BMW 1M Helipad - MPowered Performance Part 2" was launched on June 27, 2011. The agency, Cundari has had the BMW Canada account for many years and has constantly created innovative ways to advertise BMW automobiles. So when presented with a task to showcase the BMW 1Series M Coupe, Cundari didn't fall short of what was expected based on previous work put together by the agency. Cundari strategized a vision and hired a company named the Bandito Brothers to carry it out. Bandito Brothers is known as an excellent "full service media company that creates, produces, manages and distributes audio-visual content" (Bandito Brothers) which focuses on a lot of Hollywood movies and stunt driving. Together Cundari and Bandito Brothers birthed a campaign that pushed the limits of endless possibilities. ****PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL THE INFORMATION BELOW WAS GIVEN BY THE CEO OF CUNDARI, ALDO CUNDARI HIMSELF THROUGH A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW** ** **Who is their target audience?**  The target audience was BMW enthusiast, anyone who likes performance high end vehicles and those who are engaged with the automotive world. **Why a online videos rather than commercials seen on TV?** The main objective with this campaign was to "get individuals engaged in dialogue and start discussion" (Cundari). Now as for television, it is a one-way medium and there is no discussion that can be started through it, maybe through word-of-mouth but it does not start a powerful discussion as seen on the internet. Therefore, for this campaign the agency only used online videos. In addition, Cundari was given a very small budget and with that the agency wanted to put together earned media, in the sense that individuals are given the choice to watch the videos and not forced for example when watching commercials on a television. And through this, individuals that are interested are the ones that are watching the videos and passing the video along to others. **What are they trying to advance?** This campaign was not intended to be a sales pitch rather it was put together to "connect the consumer and target group emotionally" (Cundari). As mentioned, this includes BMW enthusiasts and/or those engaged with the brand or simply the automotive world. The campaign was put together to "win the hearts and souls of people and get them involved and that is the nature of what Cundari created in this campaign" (Cundari). The campaign left the audience contemplating whether or not it was real or fake. And this contemplation led to a debate. This can be seen through various articles posted on Automotive, Advertising and Marketing Blogs. Not only can the debate be seen there, but more importantly it can be seen at the source, where it was posted, on YouTube. Below you will see images of debates individuals have in the comment section for both of the videos in this campaign.

As you can see from some of the comments above that were found on YouTube either individuals were completely polarized by the campaign and loved it or the opposite by saying the videos were completely fake. And this is the exact debate that Cundari wanted to establish because without any discussion the BMW Canada brand is worse off. By creating discussion of the brand, the product is brought higher up into the individuals consciousness as they make they decisions to acquire or purchase a vehicle. Therefore, ads will reinforce what individuals believe about a certain brand. Now for everyone else, those who may not be purchasing or acquiring a BMW, Cundari was trying to build the BMW brand and let individuals know that this brand is relevant. **When did you see this campaign, and where?** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">I saw this campaign on January 14, 2012, during the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge that was hosted by the DEM Society. Aldo Cundari, the CEO and Chairman of the agency, presented this campaign to the group of students in the Marketing and Design Breakout Session during the conference. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**What techniques did they use?** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 20px;">The Cundari agency had a very small budget when putting this campaign together. So when launching the campaign they used cost-effective techniques. One of the first things that was done was a soft launch to ensure everything ran smoothly. In the soft launch the videos were put on Facebook, YouTube, friends and family distribution. As it started to spread the campaign hits and that is when the rights where bought on YouTube to run a big banner that covers the top of the page where the video ran in the actual spot. In addition, you could find expanding banners with rich media content in publications where the large audience would be. Furthermore, it was released in theatres, so when watching the advertisements before an action-packed movie, you would see these videos running. Lastly, large posters were outside in areas such as the Montreal Airport. Below is an images of the techniques that were used. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Do you believe they were effective? Why/why not?** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">This campaign was extremely effective. This campaign was only launched for BMW Canada and there was a world response to the campaign. The conversation about this campaign was so vibrant it had spread across the world and as it was spreading it was the number 1 viewed video for different countries. Furthermore, different websites in the automobile industry took the work and called it their own, even the other BMW companies in different parts of the world. Below are specific statistics for each video in the campaign that was taken off of YouTube. You can see just how effective this campaign was. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**PART 1: BMW 1M Walls - MPowered Performance Part 1** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">PART 2: BMW 1M Helipad - MPowered Performance Part 2 **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">Skittles Touch: Cat media type="youtube" key="ZGDggtskQbw?rel=0" height="283" width="504" align="center"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Online Ad Campaign 2: Skittles Touch **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">Skittles Touch: Cage Cop media type="youtube" key="Oech5Rpom2g?rel=0" height="283" width="504" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Skittles Touch: Touch Girl media type="youtube" key="oxcaMCgdkZ8?rel=0" height="283" width="504" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Skittles Touch: Hitchhiker media type="youtube" key="oG694oqcpao?rel=0" height="283" width="504" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">Skittles Touch: War Finger media type="youtube" key="ABJ32e5jUyY?rel=0" height="283" width="504" <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">BBDO Toronto an advertising agency received a lot of praise for the online campaign they created for one of Wrigley Canada's products, Skittles. This campaign released 5 online videos which involves the audience on March 28, 2011 on the skittlespage channel on YouTube. There has never been any online campaign that compares to the one that BBDO Toronto created for Skittles. As you touch the screen your finger becomes the star the online video. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Who is their target audience?** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I believe the target audience for this campaign were those who had access to the internet and had a device where you could view videos, whether it be a tablet, laptop, desktop computer or smartphone. Furthermore, I believe the target audience was further narrowed down by including those that enjoy the Skittles commercials that are seen on TV. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**What are they trying to advance?** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">I believe they are trying play on touch technology although there was no new touch technology in the campaign, just a simple touch of the screen. The advertising agency wanted to allow users to touch something they never touched before ... "touch the rainbow". With that said, they wanted to involve the users in their campaign. By involving the audience, the campaign was seen as interesting, fun and are more likely to be passed on to others. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**When did you see this campaign, and where?** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">I saw this campaign not too long after it was released when my friend had posted it on Facebook. The link had directed me straight to the source, where it was first posted on the YouTube skittlespage channel. That is when I viewed the "Touch Cat" video first and then later on viewed the others in the campaign. **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What techniques did they use? ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This advertising agency created the world's first non-touch technology, sounds crazy but its true. And magically, when you removed your finger from the skittle it knew and would tell you to put it back. The creators gave individuals a new way to interact with interactive media. Furthermore, these online videos all have the basics of an internet meme integrated into them which is probably why it was such a success. In terms of how the videos became so popular, they were first placed on the skittlespage channel on YouTube which only have the 5 touch videos uploaded to it. After that the videos were seeded over 300 blogs and then posted links on Facebook. Another technique they used was sending personalized Skittles packages to bloggers. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Do you believe they were effective? Why/why not?** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">Yes, I believe this campaign is very effective. Within two days the 5 ads cumulatively received over 1 million views on YouTube and rose to top Viral Video websites all around the world and stayed there for quite some time. For a while the videos were shared and tweeted about every few seconds. During the month it was released the YouTube channel had over 11,000 subscribers which was the most YouTube subscribers for that month in Canada. It also was the site of the day by FWA which is Favorite Website Awards, the most visited website award program in the history of the internet. In addition, the advertising agency BBDO Toronto received very prestigious awards at the Cannes Lions International Awards earning the team two Golds and and a Silver Lion for the Skittles "Touch the Rainbow" campaign. And on top of that, Dan Alvo, the Marketing Director of Wrigley Canada announced "the brand was up double digits in 2011 from a profit and market share standpoint - the highest level ever for Skittles in the marketplace" (Haynes). The Skittles market share had gone up 39% in four weeks after the campaign had been launched. Below are specific stats for each video in the campaign that was found on YouTube.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**Skittles Touch: Cat**



<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**Skittles Touch: Cage Cop**



<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**Skittles Touch: Skittles Girl**



<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**Skittles Touch: Hitchhiker**



<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**Skittles Touch: War Finger** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">



**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Works Cited ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Cundari, Aldo. "Cundari's BMW 1 Series M Coupe Campaign." Telephone interview. 31 Jan. 2012.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> Haynes, Megan. "BBDO and Wrigley Get Global Attention » Strategy." // Strategy //. Brunico Communications Ltd. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://strategyonline.ca/2012/01/24/bbdo-and-wrigley-get-global-attention/>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Wasserman, Todd. "Skittles Faux Interactive Cat Ad Goes Viral [VIDEO]." //Social Media News and Web Tips â Mashable â The Social Media Guide//. 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://mashable.com/2011/03/30/skittles-cat-video/>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">"Bandito Brothers - Company." //Bandito Brothers - Home//. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://www.banditobrothers.com/company>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">// Skittles - Touch the Rainbow (BBDO Toronto) - YouTube //. // YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. // BBDO Toronto, 22 July 2011. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dWXf-coKs>.