Innovative: WPP Annual Report

What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you are told to read a detailed report? If you are like most people(including myself), you put it off or find other things to preoccupy yourself with. What if you found out that you didn't have to read the whole thing? That you could watch and listen as well:

The 2009 WPP Digital Annual report takes home today's innovative badge. Here's why: the thought behind the process of putting that report clearly appreciates the time and attention span of its readers. WPP is a leading communications service group that offers services in Advertising, Media, PR, Branding, Healthcare, and Digital (among others). What does that mean to investors? They want to know that this organization is good at what it does. My verdict is that it must be if it can come up with a creative way to sell itself. The report gets an innovative badge instead of a digital one because it combines interactivity, design and multimedia to create a report that is actually fun to read.

ambient + press coverage = awareness & purchase

I'm fond of ambient media, anything that steps out of the ordinary and leaves a memorable impression gets brownie points in my book. In addition to making people pause, look & think it also draws attention from the press.

The campaign for Christina Aguilera's new perfume launch in Tel Aviv is an exceptional example. The campaign sought out to build awareness and promote purchase. According to this trendsetting blog, it was executed with a budget of $353,000 that incorporated TV, magazine & "guerrilla marketing." The guerrilla marketing aspect is what strikes my fancy. Given that the tagline of the campaign is ""Sometimes, its all you need to wear" I especially like the strategic positioning of the product: on hangers! What message does this send? That the product is literally all you need to wear, or that it can be worn with what you must wear in public. On a deeper level, the use of hangers elicts the idea of getting ready to head out, a time when perfume is used by most.

Pictures of the hangers & samples of the perfume placed around Tel Aviv:




The result of this campaign makes me think of the future of advertising. As a neutral observer of the media battle, my two cents are: one medium is not the solution. Digital marketers sing about the interactive nature of the medium and how user engagement is more apparent on that landscape. However, the campaign above offers a form of engagement that breaks out of the box screen. There's no doubt that digital marketing is growing and will possibly take the lead in the current economic climate (and it will probably be a well respected discipline after "the recession"). Ultimately, I'm concerned about the creative & effective ways in which brands communicate with people and vice versa. Online, offline & both.

The video is worth a watch!