Microsite

Reclaim the Kitchen.

Brikk, the Stockholm based directing team of Björn Johansson, Josef Andersson and Samuel Fastpack have created a web based long form video ad to support Wolf Ranges “Reclaim the Kitchen” microsite. The two and a half minute online spot brings to light some interesting facts about eating habits and how they have changed in the last 100 years. The goal, is to get people to cook at home, and hopefully identify with the Wolf brand. Produced with Seattle based animation studio The Academy, the video takes on a slightly Wes Anderson inspired look, blended with nice stop motion and live action footage, all done with an extremely high production value.

One of the things I like about both the video and the microsite is the limited amount of branding shoved in your face. In the video, you see Wolf at the end. On the microsite it is subtle and reduced as you scroll through the content really only making a solid presence at the end of the page. Instead both components focus more on the problem, solution, and healthy living rather than selling you a product. I really hope this is an advertising trend that catches on and sticks around. It’s been gaining ground for sometime, and I am seeing more of it than ever before.

Client: Wolf Ranges
Agency: The Richards Group
Agency Producer: David Rucker
Creative Director: Brian Linder
Copywriter: Dave Longfield
Production: The Academy
Director: Brikk
Executive Producer: Mike Holm
Producer: Craig Stevens
Music: Breed-Music
Mix/Sound: Lucky Post

The Instagram Ikea Catalog.

here is an interesting use of Instagram in terms of advertising without feeling quite so much like an ad or an online catalog.

Ikea Russia created an “Instagram Catalog Website” for a 34 piece designer collection of products. The Instagram account used the tagging feature to promote items and encouraged followers to share images and videos of their own Ikea PS 2014 products using the same hash tags. The campaign snagged over 15,000 followers in less than a week. With the “Instagram Catalog Website” functioning much like a microsite, the cross linking feature allowed each product to build out it’s own Instagram microsite for each product. The social sharing users generate with their own photos tagged with the product’s Instagram name allowed the campaign to go viral.

Oh and the cost was marginal for Ikea Russia.

Give Your Date a Chicken Corsage.

This ad campaign for KFC launched about a month ago and plays off of the current high school prom season. “Chicken Corsage”, a #HowDoYouKFC campaign features a YouTube video that encourages fans to visit the Chicken Corsage site, kfc.com/corsage, where they can make their special order through Nanz and Kraft Florists for $20. The gift giver can then take the corsage voucher to any KFC for their choice of Chicken Corsage that is guaranteed to make their date’s mouth water and eyes light up.

The video has a distinctive Wes Anderson quality to it from the quirky storyline, to character interaction and framing of the shots. The microsite is a simple single page with the video and a call to action. Currently the YouTube video alone has over 800,000 unique page views which fairly telling about how effective this campaign has been in attracting eyeballs to the KFC screens.

The Art of Packing, by Louis Vuitton.

I pride myself on the ability to pack a suitcase for a trip in the most space efficient way. I also pride myself on the ability to pack the minimum amount of items needed for a trip. Case in point, when I went to South Africa for 14 days, I packed a small duffel bag for the trip. Seriously, I put 14 days worth of stuff into what was basically a gym bag.

This morning when I was going through RSS feeds, emails, and other sources of information, I came across a link to the Louis Vuitton micro site “The Art of Packing“. While I will probably never own a Louis Vuitton suitcase, the site was worth a visit.

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This Flash based interactive site showcases 3 of Louis Vuitton’s luxury suitcases, Alzer, Pégase and Keepall. (please note that none of these bags are large. If you are the kind of person that packs your entire closet for a weekend trip, you can move on.) The micro site shows potential customers how to pack in the most efficient way allowing you to get the most out of the space, with a less wrinkly results. In addition to space saving tips, the site actually shows you how to pack your clothes in the best way. Yes there is an art to it.