Duncan Macleod is the online journalist behind Duncan’s TV Ad Land, a web log featuring television, print, political and interactive campaigns. Duncan is a consultant and educator living in Australia. In his spare time he continues his research into the connections between generational change, popular culture and emerging expressions of faith.
You may also find articles by Duncan at TalentZoo.com.
Posts Tagged ‘International’
Some empirical evidence of the efficacy of job matching in urban labor markets.: An article … International Advances in Economic Research
Saturday, January 30th, 2010Product Description
This digital document is an article from International Advances in Economic Research, published by Atlantic Economic Society on May 1, 2009. The length of the article is 6038 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Some empirical evidence of the e… More >>
International Long Tails
Thursday, January 14th, 2010I’ve been hunting down online TV advertisements since September 2003. Duncan’s TV Ad Land was initially a response to requests for copies of the viral advertisements that were being used in my work on generational change and popular culture. Starting as a rank outsider I ventured my way into the world of advertising, discovering how to write the credits for creative agencies, film and post production companies, sound and music, and media placement.
As a blogger in my fifth year I’m discovering something about the Long Tail effect. Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, first published his thesis on “The Long Tail” in 2004. He says that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.
The most popular stories on Duncan’s TV Ad Land each demonstrate global campaigns that continue their effect long after the first release.
EDS Cat Herding
View Spot
It was the EDS Cat Herding ad from the 2000 Super Bowl that hooked me into the world of advertising. There was something reassuring about the story of cat herders going out of their way to bring every last feline into town. Being a native of New Zealand and a resident of Australia, I had never seen the Super Bowl or heard of EDS when I first saw the ad in 2003. I wondered if there were other gems like this to be found and enjoyed as art. Despite the fact that EDS and Fallon have parted ways and the ad has been dropped from the EDS site, the ad continues to capture the imagination of people around the world, along with others in the series directed by John O’Hagan.
Sprite Liquid Freedom
View Spot
Coca Cola has been inspiring the musical imaginations of viewers with “Liquid Freedom”, a spot filmed in Thailand and released in March 2005. A group of young adults plays basketball on a sweltering hot day, plunging through what appears to be a concrete court into a swimming pool.
Almost three years later, it’s the soundtrack that continues to excite viewers. Human Worldwide, New York, commissioned two musicians to write two tracks: Benjamin Pacheco and Hugh Wilson. Wilson’s version, “Falling Away”, had people looking for more. The track turned up on social network Limewire incorrectly attributed to New Zealand band Evermore. In 2007 Coca Cola released the Wilson track on its web sites in the Netherlands and Germany, making the music available for user-generation video competitions.
Super Nipples
View Spot
I get a lot of visits to my post on the Super Nipples ad, released by Parfetti in Italy in 2003 to promote Air Action Vigorsol. The ad features a partygoing beachgoer whose nipples are elongated by chewing on a ‘blast of fresh air’. Italian responses ranged from disbelief and disgust to fascination. The campaign moved on to other European populations to promote another Perfetti product, Frisk, with similar reactions. Australians discovered the campaign in 2006 when the super nipples launched Mentos Ice.
Every time the campaign hits the news or is listed as one of the worst five ads of the year, a certain section of the population must seek the ad out again. And of course young gum chewing males concerned about their breath have a good chance of finding the campaign while searching online for nipples!
Dove Pro Age
View Spot
Released in February 2007, the Dove’s Pro Age television advertising campaign featured four women in their fifties and sixties from Chicago, London and Berlin posing nude, “too old to be in an anti-aging ad”. The spot did not make it to air except for the human interest section of current affairs programs.
The campaign continues its popularity online. I’ll never forget the reaction to this campaign. Hits on my site rose so quickly that my web host cancelled my contract, leading to duncans.tv being offline for almost two weeks while I arranged another host.
There may be something in the concerns about Dove sexualising women. I suspect that most of the visitors to my story on the campaign have come after searching for ‘nude women’. However I’m still seeing comments from women who are inspired by the campaign to feel positive about their bodies.
Long Tail Media Placement
It surprises me when I discover potentially classic campaigns that have been limited to a narrow band of television spots. In some cases it’s because contracts with actors did not provide for reimbursement for online placement. But I’m seeing more campaigns with “long tails” as collaboration grows between clients, creatives, producers, planners and online journalists.