09.06.14

This Week...Streetview unpaid bills, make them visible, boyracer Done Deal ad, first live TV ad

Streetview unpaid billsJC Decaux

Make Them Visible New York City Rescue Mission

Boyracer Done deal adRoad Safety Authority & Mayo Co. Council

The Street Graffiti Cleaner AppCIF

First live TV adSam Smith, Universal, Channel 4 & Google Play

Street view unpaid billsJC Decaux

Great sales idea from JC Decaux in Belgium, as a way of getting in front of clients, to tell them all about their digital offerings and latest technologies.

As everyone knows, JCDecaux billboards are visible on the streets. But they’re also visible on the streets of… Google Street View. All these billboards have been left in place for years and years. Which means all these brands got years and years of free media space. So JC Decaux decided to use this as a powerful B2B tool!

JCDecaux sent 53 of Belgium’s biggest advertisers a framed picture of their campaign on Google Street view. They attached a letter and a detailed invoice to inform them that their billboard had been visible on Google Street View for years and years. Of course they weren’t going to let them pay this amount. The only thing they asked in return was to free up some of their time to listen to the sales team.

Clever idea!

Make Them VisibleNew York City Rescue Mission

This social experiment tested if New Yorkers had become blind to the homeless who are forced to live on the streets. What if those we walk past every day were family members – siblings, spouses, and relatives – all dressed to appear homeless? The ones we claim to care about the most? Would you even notice them?

The experiment by New York City Rescue Mission features footage of unsuspecting people walking by their dressed up relatives.

Boyracer Done Deal adRoad Safety Authority & Mayo Co. Council

A controversial online road safety campaign forced thousands of drivers to listen to a chilling safety message, just in time for the June BH weekend which is the worst weekend for fatalities on Ireland's roads.

An ad for a 2003 Subaru WRX Impreza on the ‘buy and sell’ website DoneDeal tricked potential buyers to call a phone number for more information, only to be forced instead to listen to a road safety announcement.

The 'boy-racer' car was advertised online for the bargain price of €3,000 and over 5,000 motorists rang the phone number to speak to a seller called John Murphy.However, when they rang the number they heard a message from a boy-racer driver who had killed a six-year-old girl as a result of his reckless driving.

“John here. Sorry I can’t answer the call,” the message said. If you’re calling about the car, yes I still have it for sale. I have it about six months. It’s quick, so quick I didn’t even see her. She was only six years old for God’s sake,” it continued. Make me an offer and take it away. I can’t stand looking at it anymore. Just don’t drive like I did.”

Despite the obvious hoax, 167 callers still left their personal details.

CIF is helping to clean up the streets of Romania with their new app that allows you to take photos of Graffiti on any street, which is then automatically geo-tagged and sent to an active street cleaning team that respond with CIF’s cleaning power. A nice fun little piece form the guys at MRM Romania.

The Street Graffiti Cleaner AppCIF

First live TV adSam Smith, Universal, Channel 4 & Google Play

Britain's first live TV advert was broadcast on Channel 4 last week which saw Sam Smith promote Google Play with a live performance at Camden Roundhouse. Millions tuned in to see him perform his number one single Stay With Me during an ad break on last week’s Alan Carr's Chatty Man, despite not appearing on the show.The performance lasted three and a half minutes and came from his sold out gig at the London venue.

It was made possible by a collaboration between the label and Universal Music’s Globe division, as well as ad agency Mediacom, creative agency The Outift, Channel 4 and Google Play.

Google Play branding was visible on screen throughout the ad making viewers aware that the gig would be available to download via the Google Play Store – where the entire performance would be streamed live.

Google UK’s Stephen Rosenthal said: "Through Google Play Music, we're looking to shake up the way music lovers connect with the bands and tracks they love. What better way to show our ambition than lay on this UK first with Sam Smith, one of the hottest acts on the planet today.”