Folksam insurance have created a wonderful microsite game. The Swedish provider of peace of mind has created the emometer, which rather than measuring your propensity for straightening hair and listening to the Lost Prophets, actually stands for emotional meter and measures what the people of Sweden care about by playing twenty questions with them.
It is perfectly engaging, your mind against the machine, half wanting to win, half wanting to be impressed by the site. Moreover, it is executed in a very charming way.
Perhaps most interesting is the fact that the results are aggregated and mapped out across Sweden showing the user what it is that people are thinking of in their collective consciousness (and then telling them to insure it).
A lovely Contagious post about the Brazilian Fiat Mio, a concept car built on the suggestions of regular folk, quickly reminded me of the Simpsons episode 'Oh brother, where art thou?'Homer discovers his long lost brother is an automobile tycoon. He then goes onto to entrust Homer with the responsibility of designing a car, eventually seeing him bring the company down.
Now, whilst I would buy a car on the assumption that highly educated engineers know better than I do, I think it is entirely that which makes this project appealing. For the first time, ordinary consumers have the opportunity to pitch to a highly specialised industry. The website has received over 10,000 suggestions from across the globe, because, rather than coming up with an idea for the new flavour for Vitamin Water, your idea could make it in front of top designers and engineers, potentially even into the car itself.
The Fiat Mio is still just a concept, and isn't yet widely available. However, in a world where crowd-sourcing as a strategy covers all manner of sins, and many degrees of weak engagement, Fiat have put their money where their mouth is by actually creating the Homer Simpson car.
The Arts Council have had their funding cut by a third. Post budget, there will be fewer plays, poorer prospects for new talent, an absence of funding for exhibitions. Research for books and community arts projects will struggle to find supporters. The UK Film Council is dead.
Is it then possible that the saviours of the UK arts scene could be advertisers? I am not referring to heavily branded scripts with enough product placement to sink a submarine and I don't really mean work like BMW films, using glossy directors and their ex-wives.
I am talking about using brands as platforms for newer work, for producing and creating content that in the tactile manner of social media, reaches out and touches consumers with a collective appreciation of something cultural and entertaining. Brands can provide us with the material we put our thumbs up to, and they no longer need a broadcaster to manage it. There is a lot of talk of 'curating content' but what is stopping brands for producing it?
The following example is a pertinent but flawed one. Foster's have commissioned (or at least distributed) the latest series of Alan Partridge (12 x 11 minute episodes) which is to be broadcast exclusively via Fostersfunny.co.uk. The problem as it relates to my point about the arts is that the show is a tried and tested success story with a large and loyal fanbase. Alan Partridge has not just finished his first summer in Edinburgh and is not looking for a grant to take his show to some crappy theatre in Winchester. But the site itself does help to serve my argument. Foster's Funny is an online broadcaster of new comedy, and if successful will see Foster's as synonymous with good comedy taste, as a hub for new entertainment. Something that could have a hugely positive impact on their brand image.
Clawing back towards brevity, trying times could see some symbiosis between advertising and the arts. The next Alan Partridge could come to you via your favourite brew instead of Auntie.
Nike have done another cool piece of work. Here they have taken a real piece of their company's history, one of determination, grit, innovation and hunger and mythologized it through animation. The Defiant Dozen tells the tale of Athletics West, a team who were to reinvigorate the world of US track and field.
The protagonists are converted into Watchmen-like vigilantes, doing what they need to succeed, and it is super awesome.
A youtube teaser directs you to the short animated story of the Defiant Dozen on a microsite linking to the Athletics West sportswear range. There is also the option explore the room in which the story begins with your mouse, clicking on the fixtures to explore the catalogue, learn more, and to post via facebook or twitter.
Advertising showcasing real talent, and telling a ripping yarn.
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