Red Bull’s Latest Campaign Goes Retro With Pac-Man Partnership

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Red Bull and Bandai Namco launched a joint Pac-Man campaign on Thursday that is fueled by nostalgia and caffeine. The partnership includes limited-edition cans, branded mazes and other collaborations designed for cross-promotion.

From now until May 1, 2019, consumers can buy specially-marked Pac-Man cans of Red Bull. Fans can then “pop to unlock” one of three Red Bull-themed mazes inside the Pac-Man mobile game. The codes are hidden under the pop tab of the cans, with three codes to collect in all.

Unlocking the Red Bull Pac-Man levels also teaches our yellow friend a new trick for the first time in 40 years. After eating Red Bull cans, Pac-Man can shoot lightning at the ghosts, allowing players to defeat them from a distance for the first time in franchise history. Cherries have been replaced with Red Bull letters on each branded level.

“After nearly 40 consecutive years of chasing ghosts, even Pac-Man sometimes needs a Red Bull,” said Toshihiko Naoe, director of mobile at Bandai Namco Entertainment America in a press release.

Red Bull created a dedicated micro-site that features a digital Pac-Man soundboard. For a limited time, visitors can mix and play with all the iconic sound effects from the game, from ghosts to sirens and the 8-bit melody fans will recognize instantly.

The Red Bull Air Force—a dedicated team of skydivers—created a YouTube video to commemorate the partnership called “Real-Life Pac-Man Goes Skydiving.” Professional skydiver Jon Devore, dressed as Pac-Man, plummets through the air and is pursued by “ghosts.” One by one he defeats them by pulling their shoots before pulling his own, landing safely to chomp another day.

Both Pac-Man and Red Bull made their debuts in the 1980s. Aside from that, the brands did not indicate a particular reason for this partnership—other than it was fun, of course.

Pandora’s New VP Of Brand Marketing Discusses Latest Campaign

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Pandora launched a new campaign called “Sound On” that connects with holiday travelers along each point of their journey. The slogan was chosen as a kind of battle cry, declaring that sound—whether that be music or podcasts—can help make a stressful situation better.

“Sound On” will be featured in high-traffic airports, buses and railroad stations across the country as well as a 250 foot LED billboard at the Oculus transportation hub in NYC. “Sound On” features approximately 1,200 different iterations, developed to coincide with specific travel moments and destinations. Signs are strategically placed to coincide with a particular travel experience such as waiting at baggage claim or dealing with a canceled flight. For example, one sign says,” Lost Luggage? Grin and bear BLARE it.”

“We wanted to make sure that we’re reaching and engaging users in a way that feels very specific to that exact moment that they’re in,” Pandora’s newly appointed VP of brand marketing and communications Brad Minor told AList.

“We took a very focused approach on how we tell a macro story about holiday travel, but then made every single touch point feel like it was very personalized for that moment.”

Users will experience different playlist suggestions depending on where they are located when they open the app. A traveler in Nashville, for example, would find country Christmas music while someone landing in Oakland would be greeted with hip-hop.

Pandora is, by nature, a personalized experience, but it lives exclusively in a digital environment. Rather than meet consumers on its home turf, the in-house creative team devised a campaign that focuses on a common human experience.

“We looked at the landscape and what our competitors are doing across the board,” Lauren Nagel, VP and executive creative director for Pandora. “So many [competitors] are focused on content but we wanted to focus on context.”

Nagel led Pandora’s in-house team on the project and once hired, Minor stepped in to help oversee its launch.

“I think what I really love about the approach that we have here is that we don’t view the creative team as our internal agency,” said Minor. “It’s not an agency-client relationship, it’s a true partnership in every since of the word.”

“Lauren and I, even this short time have an unnaturally warm and friendly relationship and we view both sides of the equation and understand that we are successful together and that we need to figure out these challenges quickly in real-time, we need to be able to iterate on the fly.”

Considering the rising popularity of podcasts—and brands marketing on/with them—Nagel explained that “Sound On,” rather than “Music On” was a more inclusive choice of slogan.

When you have over 71 million listeners, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to a marketing strategy. Nagel and Minor explained that Pandora avoided the “creepiness factor” by telling a universal holiday travel story while gearing messages toward specific moments.

Minor joined Pandora just two weeks ago, but he’s excited about the future of the brand. The key, he says, will be to resonate with consumers in a unique way. Chances are very good that “Sound On” will become the rallying cry of many a future Pandora campaign.

“We’re really focused on changing the conversation to less about the content we have but the context in which you’re receiving that content and how we’re delivering it,” said Minor.

“If you think about this notion of ‘life is better with sound on,’ it literally opens up endless opportunities for us to build campaigns around that. It could be seasonal, a cultural moment in the news, key events like Grammys, etc—all those moments are really fertile ground for us to build campaigns and creative to support and show how those moments are made better with sound on.”

MTV, Ad Council Launch Female-Focused IGTV Series For National STEM Day

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MTV, Facebook and The Ad Council have launched a weekly video series on IGTV that encourages girls to pursue their interests in STEM.

A new, five-part series called #wcwSTEM (Women Crush Wednesday STEM) debuted on IGTV Wednesday just in time for National STEM Day on November 8. MTV’s weekly program stars Holland Roden (Teen Wolf) as she interviews five female role models in science, technology, engineering and math.

MTV’s cause marketing initiative was created exclusively for Instagram through a Facebook Anthology partnership. The IGTV show will be promoted through donated support from Facebook. #wcwSTEM coincides with The Ad Council’s She Can STEM campaign, which began in September.

The first episode features sound engineer and music producer Alana Da Fonseca as she talks about her role in the music industry. Subsequent episodes will have Roden interviewing Crystal Lee, an environmental civic engineer, Dr. Dijanna Figueroa, a marine biologist and teacher, Amber Hardin, a model and effects designer at Nickelodeon and Diana Trujillo, Robotics Surface Mission Lead for NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission.

#wcwSTEM was produced by an entirely female production crew. It will run on MTV’s IGTV channel throughout November and December.

MTV is no stranger to cause marketing, partnering with Rock the Vote since 1990. When students staged a nationwide walkout to protest school shootouts, MTV turned its broadcast off for 17 minutes to show support.

The Viacom network is appealing to its 12-34-year-old audience with a message of support, especially among young girls. This is especially pertinent on Instagram, where the appearance of perfection is central to its users. Girls may fear that looking like a model is more important than their STEM-related passions—so MTV is assuring them that being smart is cool, too.

MTV is among several brands testing the long-form, vertical video waters of IGTV and female empowerment is definitely on the schedule.

Stella Artois made its debut in September with “The Art of Living,” a series that highlights five artisans—two of which are female—who share their definitions of a life well-lived. Gillette partnered with female directors the same month for an IGTV campaign called “Her Shot” and Mercedes-Benz used the platform to tell its story of how Bertha Benz and the first road trip.

Netflix Gives Frank Underwood A Gravestone And Obituary In South Carolina Town

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The final season of House of Cards debuted Friday with its main character, President Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) dead and buried. Frank may be gone, but Netflix honored the fictional president with a “real” gravestone and obituary in his hometown of Gaffney, South Carolina.

In September, Netflix teased House of Cards Season Six with Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) addressing Francis while standing over his grave. The marker reads, “Francis J. Underwood 1959-2017, 46th President of the United States.”

Fans of House of Cards can visit the graves of Francis “Frank” Underwood and his father, Calvin Underwood at the Oakland Cemetery in Gaffney, South Carolina. The gravestones, positioned as not to disturb the rest of the cemetery, will remain there for “at least a couple months,” according to Gaffney’s Mayor Jolly.

An obituary for the 46th President of the United States was printed in the Gaffney Ledger, adding to the authenticity. Local retailer Bookshelf Florist and Gifts has been charged with placing white tulips at the grave site every two to three days.

Since the first season, House of Cards Underwood’s fictional link to the real town of Gaffney has yielded an uptick in tourism for the area. A peach-shaped water tower called the Peachoid was a focal plot point in the show’s first season, and fans can view the real-life landmark off I-85.

Netflix has used South Carolina to market previous seasons, as well. In 2016, a campaign office was established in Greenville. Timed with the 2016 US Presidential election, Netflix created a series of campaign ads for Frank Underwood under the hashtag #FU2016. Fans could sport badges for the fictional candidate on Facebook, adding a much-appreciated tone of parody to an otherwise stressful election battle.

Underwood’s character was removed from House of Cards amid sexual allegations against its actor, Kevin Spacey. Netflix continued the show for a final season with Underwood’s wife, Claire assuming the role of US President.

Brands Celebrate #StrangerThingsDay With Events, Exclusives

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Netflix has declared November 6 to be the first annual “Stranger Things Day,” maintaining audience awareness as they wait patiently for Season Three. This new internet holiday inspired brands and fans alike to honor the hit show with exclusive offers, events and of course, plenty of memes.

The third season of Stranger Things won’t debut until sometime in 2019 but Netflix isn’t waiting around to keep its fans engaged. The network announced that November 6 will henceforth be known as Stranger Things Day—a time to binge watch the show, share memes, dress in costumes and naturally, eat Eggo waffles with your friends.

For the uninitiated, November 6, 1983 was the night Will Byers disappeared on the show, triggering a series of events that turned the town of Hawkins well, upside down.

Netflix announced the inaugural holiday with messages from the show’s young cast and an invitation to send them memes.

Universal Orlando Resort invited fans to search for Will inside an exclusive Stranger Things haunted house. In honor of Stranger Things Day, Universal opened its Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) for one last engagement. This marks the first time that any HHH attraction has been open to park visitors during the day.

The event is open to any valid ticket or annual pass holder from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on November 6. Guests assume the roles of Mike, Dustin and Lucas as they help Eleven rescue their friend Will from the clutches of the Demogorgon. Visitors can also partake in select refreshments at Benny’s Burger Tent and other locations in Universal Orlando.

Target timed an exclusive collector’s edition release of Stranger Things Season Two on Blu-ray and 4K to coincide with Stranger Things Day. The series is packaged to look like a rented VHS tape from Hawkins Video, down to worn “stickers” that encourage customers to rewind the tape. Target offered a similar packaging scheme for Season One last year.

Other licensed merchandise is displayed on Target’s website with a reminder to mention them on social media for #StrangerThingsDay.

Eggo is one brand that has benefited significantly from its association with Stranger Things. In Season One, viewers watched as Eleven adopted them as her favorite food and by Season Two, the brand became an official partner. In October 2017, the brand was mentioned over 41,000 times on Twitter alone, with a spike on October 27, the premiere date of Stranger Things Season Two. Mentions for both Eggo and Stranger Things on Twitter earned the waffle brand approximately $201,801 in earned media value.

With so much talk of Eleven on Stranger Things Day, Kellog’s classic breakfast brand was wise to chime in:

Other brands joined the conversation through special offers and giveaways. Funko launched a giveaway for eleven Stranger Things items, while Hot Topic and Loungefly reminded followers of their Stranger Things merchandise.

Sony Turns Experiential Pop-Up Into Social Content With Weekly Show

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Sony continues its “Lost in Music” campaign with a pop-up experience in SoHo. The temporary installation invites guests to create music out of their own heartbeat, view weekly online shows, attend private concerts and try Sony products. The experience culminates in two nights of live performances at Sony Hall, which will take place on February 7 and 10.

“Lost in Music” will debut an interactive song creation experience that yields different results for each visitor. As guests explore the installation and interact with technology, it observes their body language and translates it into a musical track. The song is then matched to the rhythm of the guest’s heartbeat to create a personalized track for download.

Intimate concerts will be hosted each week that feature artists from Sony Music. The first artist to be announced is rapper A$AP Ferg, who played Sony’s Lost in Music event at SXSW 2017.

The branded pop-up space will also host weekly “Lost in Music” shows which will be streamed on the campaign’s website. Weekly shows will include artist interviews and concerts with Sony Music artists, as well as news around music and technology.

Sony hopes to engage wider global audiences with its weekly shows, delivering a message that “technology and music, when combined, can deliver the unique experience.”

Consumers can visit the installation at 201 Mulberry St. in NYC from November 15 to February 10. It will be free and open to the public from Thursday to Sunday, 12:00-10:00 p.m.

“Lost in Music” was designed to create deep consumer connections with music through the use of technology, according to Midori Tomita, Sony Corporation’s vice president in charge of brand communication. The campaign debuted in January 2017 with a virtual reality music video by The Chainsmokers, Vanic and Lost Kings. The VR experience debuted at SXSW and later became available on PSVR. For the second “Lost in Music” installment in January 2018, Sony teamed up with Khalid for another VR music video and SXSW experience. The SoHo pop-up and weekly series take this campaign in a different direction, allowing Sony to engage consumers in person but also online with evergreen content.

This brand message echoes that of The Sony Music Experience this spring—a marketing mission statement the brand calls kando. This Japanese term refers to emotional involvement that explains Sony’s recent push for experiential.

Sony was not immediately available for comment.

Aldi Spoofs Coca-Cola Ad With #SaveKevin Holiday Campaign

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Supermarket chain Aldi launched a new holiday campaign in the UK that parodies a famous Coca-Cola ad. The spot stars Kevin the Carrott, a well-known character that features in Aldi’s irreverent holiday advertising campaigns.

When Kevin the Carrot’s jaunt through town goes horribly wrong, Aldi leaves its mascot hanging in a precarious spot with a hashtag to invite conversation.

The holiday spot begins like Coca-Cola’s classic “Holidays are Coming” ads—a semi truck, covered in lights, enters a darkened town before revealing that Kevin the Carrot, Aldi’s mascot, is driving. He waves at a curious little girl, then steers the truck onto a dangerous turn.

A small avalanche causes Kevin to swerve, causing the trailer to hang precariously over a cliff. As his cargo slides dangerously toward the edge, the teaser ends in a literal ‘cliffhanger’ with the hashtag #SaveKevin.

The spot has garnered quite a bit of engagement on social media, with nearly half a million views, over 11,000 shares and over 4,500 comments on Facebook alone.

Kevin starred in Aldi’s 2017 campaign, finding love among a holiday feast. The 12-part campaign ended with a picture of Kevin with his new wife, Katie, and three unnamed carrot children. Give last year’s lengthy campaign, and the early start for this year’s ad, viewers can expect this story to extend well into the season.

Some consumers have quickly become invested in Kevin’s fate, calling for his salvation on behalf of the family.

Kevin’s animated, child-like appearance has regulators concerned about his activity, too. One of Aldi’s 2017 holiday ads was pulled by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for concerns about promoting alcohol to children.

Other users expressed disappointment that Aldi’s 2018 Coca-Cola spoof wasn’t the real thing.

Coca-Cola’s original ad has become so iconic that it was used in another recent parody. Green Peace launched a campaign during the 2017 holidays that depicts a bedazzled truck delivering holiday joy and along with it, a whole lot of plastic waste.

Either the ad worked or the company was already aware of its shortcomings, because Coca-Cola announced a plastic recycling initiative in January.

Bethesda Shares ‘Fallout 76’ Lore With Retro-Inspired Audio Series

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Bethesda released a series of monster-themed audio dramas on Wednesday that immerses players into the world of Fallout 76. Creatures that hail from West Virginia lore are included, of course, like the Mothman and Flatwoods Monster.

“Tales from the West Virginia Hills” is presented in the style of a 1950s radio serial. Each of the five episodes tells the story of dangerous encounters with monsters in the area, as told by a dramatic narrator. The stories are even “sponsored” by fictional brands from Fallout lore such as “Sugar Bombs—the breakfast cereal with explosive great taste and 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of sugar!”

Five episodes were released on Halloween, using the game’s monsters as a way to engage players already in the mood for a fright. According to Bethesda, all of these monsters can be found in Fallout 76, but “Tales from the West Virginia Hills” was created as a stand-alone bonus for fans.

“The world of Fallout 76 is steeped in mystery,” said Bethesda, “but when you’re not trying to discover what happened to everyone after the bombs dropped, you might find yourself asking a different question: ‘What’s that figure, lurking in the dark?’ The answer probably isn’t as friendly as you might like. The ‘Tales from the West Virginia Hills’ holotape series is here to give you an idea of what to look out for if you hope to survive.”

For the uninitiated, holotapes aka holodisks are small cartridges found throughout the Fallout video game franchise. These collectible items reveal information about the game world or even interactive games. Tales from the West Virginia Hills is therefore presented as something you might find while exploring the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 76.

The six episodes include Curse of the Wendigo, Sideshow Snallygaster, The Mothman Cometh!, The Beast of Grafton and The Strange Encounter in Flatwoods.

Anticipation for Fallout 76 has steadily mounted since its announcement in May. Fans were so excited that one tweet from Bethesda garnered $210,000 in earned media.

Other marketing for the game has included a team-up with the West Virginia Department of Tourism to encourage pre-nuclear war exploration. In addition to seeing locations that were recreated inside Fallout 76, fans can travel around the state in search of Vault Boy—the Fallout mascot—and take a picture with him on social media to win prizes.

PlayStation Discusses PS4 Pro ‘Details’ Campaign, Authenticity Strategy

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PlayStation recently launched a new campaign called “Details” that uses humor to draw attention to 4K graphics on the PS4 Pro. As with previous ads for the console, PlayStation wanted to elicit an emotional response and target a very specific gaming demographic.

“Details” consists of three spots, each tied into PlayStation’s ongoing “Greatness Awaits” campaign. In each live-action scenario, characters stop what they’re doing to appreciate details in the world around them.

The newest spot, “Vampire Hunter,” is a humorous take on battling monsters. In the middle of a fierce life and death battle, one vampire interrupts his own attack to admire his victim’s watch. His blood-sucking colleague is not amused.

For PlayStation VP of marketing Mary Yee and her team, this campaign was a challenge to resonate with gamers on a personal level but in a humorous way—almost like an inside joke.

“We’ve heard from gamers that they get so excited about the blades of grass they see or the reflection of the background in someone’s eyeball,” Yee told AList. “We brought that insight into [‘Details’].”

In the first “Details” spot entitled “Armor,” two knights are waging battle when one of them strikes up a conversation about the detailed armor his opponent is wearing. The third and final spot, “Foxhole,” will show a group of soldiers who get distracted by the beauty of their commanding officer’s eyes.

Yee explained that when she and her team are developing a campaign, they always try to identify the “gamer truth.” In other words, they identify something very particular that gamers can relate to—in this case, it was the appreciation for tiny details in a game.

“When we find [the gamer truth] and it’s right, it always feel authentic and simple. We find that that’s the most motivating for the team,” said Yee. “I work with a team of really passionate marketers and gamers so when they see it and it’s a truth that they love, they will also go into the details to make sure everything looks right in the commercial. They’re doing it for the fans and they’re doing it for themselves, too.”

Entry-level gamers aren’t discouraged from purchasing a PS4 Pro by any means, but they aren’t the target demographic for “Details.” Instead, PlayStation wanted to appeal to existing gamers that immerse themselves into video game worlds.

“The challenge with [PS4] Pro is that we have to really think about what this [target] gamer wants,” explained Yee. “[The Pro demographic] is someone that is already very engaged and [we have to figure out] what they care about in order for us to demonstrate what the power of the Pro does and get them to buy. Then, we think about the content. What’s the content that really showcases [what the gamer cares about] and how do we wrap that into the campaign?”

“Details” showcases gameplay from three upcoming PlayStation exclusive games: Marvel’s Spider-Man, Days Gone and Ghost of Tsushima. The overall tone of the campaign was designed to match PlayStation’s “Opera” series of spots released last year for PS4Pro.

“When an ad is funny, we know that this target can relate to it, so it’s authentic to them,” said Yee. “It’s also authentic to the brand. We hope it elicits excitement about the games they can play and [inspire a Pro purchase].”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include additional details for the “Vampire Hunter” spot.

Collaboration Propels Land Rover’s Recent Marketing Campaigns

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Jaguar Land Rover has entered into a number of unique partnerships recently, showing the brand’s interest in collaboration, and ranging from a James Bond experiential event in Austria to a line of menswear and finally a Hans Zimmer-scored short film.

In April the car brand announced partnership with 007 Elements, an immersive event taking visitors into the world of James Bond at a Alpine mountaintop location. Visitors were also shown Jaguar cars from many of the Bond films and the newest Jaguar Land Rover technology.

More recently, Land Rover entered into a five-year partnership with Clarks to offer “terrain appropriate” shoes, marking the first time that Land Rover has partnered with a shoe or clothing line.

Dubbed “Life. Limitless,” the Clarks/Land Rover collaboration includes three designs to start—CLR.51N for city wear, CLR53.N for rugged terrains and the CLR52.N, designed for versatility across a variety of landscapes. Ten shoe collections will be released in total, debuted as Spring and Fall Collections over the next five years.

While the museum highlights Jaguar Land Rover’s film heritage and shoes reflects the brand’s image of ruggedness, another recent campaign taps into the idea of creating emotional memories while driving the car itself.

To evoke the feeling of inspiration and adventure, Land Rover sent film composer Hans Zimmer on a drive through the California mountains and had him score the experience.

“Scoring the Drive” highlights the full-sized 2019 Land Rover in a series of spots, Zimmer—who has scored films like Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean and Inception—talks about how he gets inspiration for his music. He drives along the Angeles Crest Highway, a scenic mountain road in Southern California, taking photos and video footage as he goes.

“Everything I do, I always have music in my head,” says Zimmer in a voiceover. “So, I score everything—the curves, the landscape, the smell . . . I order my world into some sense of harmony.”

Viewers are then transported to Zimmer’s studio, where he writes music to accompany his driving experience. The ad’s music swells into a crescendo of strings, piano and percussion akin to the epic soundtrack of a feature film. Zimmer’s score is intercut with images of the scenic drive, along with not-so-coincidental shots between the composer’s fine-tuned equipment and the Land Rover’s interior controls.

“Music should signal to you that you are allowed to have emotion,” says Zimmer, a statement that perfectly sums up the message behind Land Rover’s campaign.