PSFK Author:
Allison Mooney

Screens are everywhere—in bars, taxis, movie theaters, living rooms, city streets, in your hand, in front of you right now—and it’s making media increasingly fragmented. Yesterday we talked about how the ad business is being affected by this proliferation of media channels. “We have a story we want to tell, and we use different media channels and different touch points to tell it. We have to rely on the consumer to pull the story together,” said Robert Rasmussen.

However, the mark of a good campaign is not just narrative cohesion between these channels, but truly connecting them in an interactive, engaging way. A new campaign from AT&T taking a big step towards this.

To help promote new quick messaging phones, AT&T has launched AT&T Text Jumbli. Kind of like a digital version of Boggle, players text in words they can make out of letters floating around the screen. The massive multiplayer casual game can be played across multiple platforms–a Facebook app, TVs at thousands of bars and restaurants, movie screens during previews, and even on a billboard in Times Square—and everyone sees the same screen. They are giving away hundreds of Pantech Slate phones to top scorers.

As we (especially advertisers) lament the lack of our shared screen–the TV–perhaps we can look forward to more to collective, shared, engaging experiences like these. Experiences that can happen from anywhere, whether you’re in the middle of New York City or a basement in Duluth.

Check out the AT&T Text Jumbli Facebook page to play
(note: you need to become a fan in order to get yer prizes)

Storytelling is a powerful thing. Ever since our parents read us bedtime stories, we’ve depended on narratives to help us interpret the world around us–and to escape it.

Stories engage us and, as our attention fragments, that is precisely what advertisers are trying to do. Enter the commercial-as- miniseries. The concept has really taken root in Asia–just search youtube for “SK Telecom” or “LG Telecom” and you’ll get tons of hits from South Korea. The following three commercials illustrate this phenomenon, telling the story of a family separated between the North and the South:

Now we’re going to see more of these story-driven ads in the U.S. thanks to a new studio called Dandelion, which officially launched yesterday. Formed by Epoch Films and Kirt Gunn Associates, the company is “dedicated to creating programming and entertainment sponsored by brands.” It’s almost a return to the “brought-to-you-by” model of early television where content was king, and advertisers just paid the bills. Almost. They do work for brands after all, so what they create is essentially branded serial content, but at a higher quality. Actual professional writers, directors and producers are at the helm, rather than marketing interns with a Flip video camera.

Brands today need to be transparent, accessible, human. This is what consumers relate to. These commercials aim to tap into these same ideals by bringing brands to life and appealing to our emotions. If they succeed, will we soon be TiVoing commercials and skipping the shows?

Dandelion

Want to be Kanye West (and who doesn’t, really)? Dial 1-877-BeKanye and choose from the following options:

• Press 1 to begin the registration process to become a groupie
• Press 2 to join Kanye’s absolutely fabulous entourage
• Press 3 for the absolute summertime cocktail
• Press 4 for the BeKanye tablet, which “unleashes the superstar within” and “turns you into Kanye West for a few hours or the rest of your life” (more at www.bekanyenow.com)
• Press 5 to be directly connected to Kanye West’s cell phone

This is a pretty smart mobile database campaign, as each option prompts you to enter your cell phone number (and we’re sure a healthy number of Kanye fans will oblige).

The ad, which has caused many subway riders to scratch their heads, is actually from Absolut. The idea is that you can Be Kanye in “an Absolut World.” The connection is not obvious though, like most viral advertising. So do people hate ads that much that brands need to disguise their messages in a Kanye West wrapper? Maybe. But will they be more angry when they discover the big bad brand behind it?

Everyone appreciates a good laugh, and can nod to the joker, even if it’s some “26-year-old hipster ad twat.” But it’s a dangerous game-humor is subjective, and people hate playing the fool–especially if they’ve been on hold for Kanye all day, dangit!

www.bekanyenow.com