KFC is bringing back their most talked about item, the Double Down Sandwich, back. Along with this Millennial focused ad, they have challenged their fanbase to hashtag the best dance move and selfie with the Double Down and submit it via Instagram, Vine, Twitter and YouTube.Source: AdAge.com
Say what you will about director Quentin Tarantino…he’s determined.
The director of Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained was furious when a script for his next project, a Western called Hateful Eight, leaked online. As a result, he sued for copyright infringement and shelved the project, but he has now gotten back to work on it.
Tarantino is now hard at work on rewriting the ending of the film and intends to begin filming on the project next winter, even though the lawsuit remains pending and parties are trying to settle the matter.
He recently took part in a live-reading of the leaked script in Los Angeles, where he informed the crowd about his rewrite process on it. Considering how well-received Django was, Hateful Eight should be quite a follow-up.
Source: Engadget
The yearly White House Easter Egg Roll has been going on for years, but this year’s event got a bit of a promotional boost, thanks to the folks at Nintendo.
The game company teamed up with First Lady Michelle Obama to promote the event yesterday, as part of a promotion for its exercise games, including Wii Sports Club and Wii Fit U, which both appear on the Wii U console. This is a tie-in with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, which promotes child fitness and fighting childhood obesity.
Oddly enough, Yoshi’s New Island, a game that revolves around the use of eggs, was not used in the promotion, even though it’s available now.
Source: Polygon
Sometimes, getting an exclusive title for a game platform is everything – just look at what Titanfall has done for the Xbox One during its first month of release.
Both Apple and Google have been striking deals with game publishers to make mobile games for their devices, providing a deal that would give them coveted marketing space in return for making them exclusive to their devices.
A report from the Wall Street Journal states that a window of exclusivity is becoming more of a common business practice with certain companies, like how popular puzzle game Cut the Rope came out for iOS first, and then Android three months later.
“The company and Apple agreed to about a three-month window of exclusivity for Apple’s App Store, in exchange for the store prominently promoting the game (…) Prominent display in an app marketplace can produce as much as a tenfold spike in daily downloads, depending on the location of associated banner ads and how long a promotion runs,” says the article.
With a $16 billion figure spent on apps last year and 70 percent revolving around games, you can bet that some developers will certainly pick up on said deals.
Source: GigaOm
Joss Whedon is a busy man these days, launching into pre-production on his much anticipated Avengers sequel, Age of Ultron. However, that isn’t stopping him from showcasing his latest work online, offered directly to customers.
After a showing at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this week, Whedon announced that his latest film, In Your Eyes, would be available to watch online for a $5 rental.
The director partnered with Kai Cole’s Bellwether Pictures for the release, which is available for viewing on this website, available in a variety of languages, including Spanish, German, Portuguese, French and Japanese.
The film stars Zoe Kazan and Michael Stahi-David, and is a boy-meets-girl tale with a spooky flavor. Some might even say it’s a little bit like the director’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer series – but with ghosts replacing the vampires, obviously.
Source: Variety
There’s no question that HBO’s Game of Thrones continues to be immensely popular going into its fourth season. However, the cable network has taken to a creative venue to let fans express its opinions – and see them put into a unique shape.
Using the hashtag #TakeTheThrone on Twitter, viewers can see their tweets get installed into a digital Iron Throne, similar to the one from the show. The promotion is the work of agency 360i, who took the letters from the tweets and rendered them into 1,000 different words, which have formed into the Iron Throne.
A 3D model of the Throne can be viewed here.
In addition, using the hashtag on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram can also get users involved in a contest, where a select few will win a trip to San Diego Comic-Con, where they’ll have an opportunity to sit on the actual Iron Throne.
Source: Creativity-Online
Even though the music scene is struggling with album sales, summer festivals, like the Coachella event that took place this past weekend, continue to be a huge draw.
Marketers will be flocking to these events all season long, and have already begun with the Coachella event. Companies like Heineken, Red Bull, Samsung, H & M, JBL and Sephora all took part in the highly successful event, part of the $1.34 billion that will be spent through sponsorships over the next few months. This marks a 4.4 percent increase from the prior year, according to a report from IEG.
“If you’re a brand you want to be associated with someone having a transformational moment in their life,” said Chad Isaaq, executive vice president of business development and partnerships for Superfly Productions. That company is known for creating some of the bigger festivals around, including the Bonnaroo event in Manchester, Tennessee.
Some companies have even gone as far as creating their own promotional events at these venues, such as the Red Bull Music Academy in New York. “There’s been increasing interest from brands to take greater ownership in the festivals and events they support,” said Chris Johns, director at brand and music strategy agency Frukt.
This isn’t a new trend, as 447 brands took part in 300 music festivals worldwide, with the number continuing to climb. “When we started nine years ago, there weren’t that many big music festivals in the U.S.,” said Matt Frampton, VP of advertising for Pitchfork Media. “Now, there are more opportunities for brands to be involved.”
Look for plenty of advertising with these events this summer.
Source: AdAge
Sony isn’t resting when it comes to enhancing its sharing options. Sharefactory lets users edit and post their own gameplay clips with a new bevy of options while Photo Mode in Infamous Second Son gives users screen capture options that used to be limited to developer level director’s cameras.
