Microsoft "Concrete Envelope"

They wanted to show software sales staff that Windows breaks down the walls in customers’ lives. So they showed them what that felt like by putting the letter in a concrete envelope, complete with a hammer to smash it open.

Agency: Y&R Auckland, New Zealand.

Oxford Fajar "Save the words"

The Oxford English Dictionary is updated every year. However sales are lagging due to the influence of the internet and online dictionaries. To stop the decline and stimulate sales, their task was to find a way to engage consumers and make the dictionary relevant again. In short, they had to make people fall in love with the joy of using the English language. The strategy was to centre the campaign on the internet - the largest cause of the dictionary's decline. They created a hub where people could discover words and interact with them in unusual and humourous ways. By using words that were archaic but mysterious, they built up a "fan-site" for words that allowed visitors to use them, share them, wear them and shop for them. This ultimately led them to purchase a dictionary. After almost a year of painstaking research, writing and re-writing, the promotion was launched via the web followed by executions in print, poster, ambient and public relations. From Singapore and Malaysia to the USA and the UK, the promotion has found fans all over the world. SaveTheWords.Org was featured extensively on talkback radio shows, on online TV shows such as CNET TV, on twitter.com, on major blogs such as lifehacker.com and even on HillaryClinton.com. To date, they have 13,839 registered adopters, over 22,000 monthly page views, and over 3 million website mentions. Ardent fans have been blogging and twittering their newfound words, and there’s even a fan website of photographs inspired by savethewords.org. Most important of all, sales of the Oxford dictionary have increased by 12.6% and they have cultivated a newfound passion for the English language and the Oxford dictionary at the very place that threatened it's existence. As the internet is the major source of the decline in dictionary purchases, it was the ideal place to begin a promotion to address this decline. Lovers of words are naturally readers of websites, blogs and online newspapers. And word lovers enjoy being able to interact with words, test their knowledge and share that experience with others - this promotion allowed all of that to occur. Silver Cannes Lions Promo Winner.

Agency: Y&R Singapore.

busuu.com "The Gomeran Whistle"

Busuu.com is a very useful website where you can learn any language online. However, the website was not very well known and did not receive many visits. The objective was to make the site known. They created a targeted way to reach the target audience: A cultural documentary focused on a very fun language where words are whistled instead of spoken. Busuu.com noticed this unknown language, getting the objective of making the web busuu.com famous. They decided to use a different format: A cultural documentary. As one can learn any language on the website, the documentary focused on a rather uncommon language, one that is only spoken in a remote island in the Canary Islands, where words are whistled instead of spoken: The Gomeran Whistle. They then designed a viral strategy to drive our audience towards the site and be out in the media, claiming a place for this language in UNESCO’s list of Cultural Heritage. - Visitors of the web increased 1500% in one week; - The documentary got 60,000 YouTube views; - With a budget of 20.000€, we got the web noticed in all the media in prime time (at news); - The web is very useful to learn languages. They only needed that people know it. With this campaign, they got that people visited the website. They actually learn languages on web. Silver Cannes Lions Direct winner.

Agency: La Despensa Madrid, Spain.

timesjobs.com "CV"

www.timejobs.com, one of the most dependable jobs portals in India, provides free job assistance to the aspiring candidates. It also offers "Magic Resume", a paid proffesional resume building service specially designed for freshers and less experienced people. Ironically, there is a huge registered user base with its free job-assistance service, but very few opt for the paid resume building service. Their task was to popularize the service among the registered user base as well as new user conversions by stressing the importance of building a perfect resume. In this downturn, a better resume is crucial as jobs are few and far between. On the basis of this core thought they decided to use the most common element of a recruitment process - A Curriculum Vitae, as a communication device and flat mailing as the communication strategy. CV of unequivocally talented international achievers from diverse fields (APJ Abdul Kalam, Barrack Obama, Stephen Hawking, Dr Manmohan Singh, Oprah Winfrey and Indra Nooyi) were mailed by post to TG with the message at the end of each CV - "Until your CV looks like this, use timejobs.com-Magic Resume". More than 90% of the existing user base targeted, registered for the service along with more than 75% new user conversions. The "Magic Resume" info space on the portal got around 1,15000 hits in a month's period. But equally important was the word of mouth publicity that the service got from sending these CV's as it was shared by the recipients with their friends, they were pinned to office boards and did the rounds in corporate circles across India.

Agency: Mudra Communications Mumbai, India.

23 Days "The Youtube Fan-Diary"

Establish the video portal YouTube beyond the YouTube community of users and increase the potential audience. Turn football fans into YouTube stars. During the 23 days of the EURO 2008 football championships, YouTube launched a fan diary on its platform. Football fans were encouraged to film their EURO 2008 experiences and upload them to YouTube. The German film director Detlev Buck used the video contributions to produce a feature-length film for the cinema. The film celebrated its opening in Berlin and Hamburg and went on general release in the cinemas in 10 German cities. Not just the world’s first user-generated film for cinema, but the longest ad ever. From online to offline right to the big screen. The promotion exceeded the technical scope of the Internet. And turned users into protagonists – and several of them into celluloid heroes. More than 2,100 people from 16 countries took part and sent in film clips. Millions visited the YouTube site. Thousands saw the film in the cinema. Coverage on TV, radio, in the press and on the Internet proliferated the message.

Agency: Kolle Rebbe Werbeagentur Hamburg, Germany.

Arabam.com "Save Mini"

Arabam.com is an auto-review website sending regular e-newsletters to its members. The objective was to gain new members, collect their e-mails and mobile numbers. The audience of an auto-review website is comprised of people who adore cars. They know the latest models, their horsepower or interior design details. The idea was put an automobile in jeopardy and it will touch the heart and soul of this audience. So they picked the Mini, a lovemark for almost any automobile-lover and hang it over the sea. They hanged a Mini down a crane (over the sea) and live-webcasted the stunt 24/7 on arabam.com site. People were invited to the site with banners stating “25.000 new members needed today. Otherwise, this Mini will come 3 meters close to water.” Visitors were asked to push the “Save Mini” button, become a member and participate in the prize draw. Men over 18 were targeted through the banner, TV and print ads. The results were remarkable; 1.187.000 people visited arabam.com in 45 days, the highest traffic ever among all auto-review websites. 661.000 people registered and left their contact information. 98% of them were new registrations. The online campaign achieved 56% visitor-to-membership conversion rate. A large and reliable customer database was built where the company regularly contacts through emailing and texting for new offers.

Agency: Rabarba Instanbyl, Turkey.

Flossie.com "Monthly Cycle adshel"

To show how new website Flossie.com truly understands women, they built special adshels that went through a monthly cycle. Yep, they created ad space that went through PMS. Starting with tampons, the adshels were filled daily with free stuff women need over the course of a month. From tampons, to chocolate, to fruit, to naughty knickers, to voodoo man-dolls, the objects reflected a woman’s ever-changing moods. Any passing female could help herself to the free Flossie-branded items.

Agency: TBWA\Whybin Auckland, New Zealand.

Flossie.com "Man Vending Machine"

To show that Flossie.com has something for every woman, they created a Man Vending Machine – the world’s first. It’s an authentic vending machine adapted to dispense real live men on a busy inner city street. Women could choose their favourite flavour of man – rich, foreign, action, classic or romantic – press the button and a genuinely single guy emerged from the machine to take her on a date. The machine also had a 'Mr Perfect' function which gave out free vibrators. Because whatever you need, it’s on us – even men.

Agency: TBWA\Whybin Auckland Australia.

Expatpetfinder.com "Dog"

As its name suggests, www.expatpetfinder.com is an online service that makes connections between people who have lost or found a pet dog or cat. To advertise the service, they produced lifesize cutouts of a dog, which we leave in places where large numbers of people pass by on foot - bus stops, shopping streets, parks, residential green areas where people walk their dogs. They even placed them on people's porches overnight. The dog's mournful eyes and expression make people stop, do a double take and absorb the simple message on the back of the cutout.

Agency: Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai, UAE.

Interior Matters "Street"

To create brand awareness in a unique way Interior Matters uses "street garbage" as brand new medium. Garbage in Dutch cities is put on the streets. People are always exited about what other people throw away. To stimulate user generated content, online customers will receive campaign stickers with each purchase. Take a picture of your old furniture with the sticker applied, upload your photo and get an extra 10% discount with your next purchase.

Agency: Breed Creative Communications Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

NTT Resonant "Social media save the earth"

The aim is to get members of "goo home", a social media, in the launch of a new service. "mixi" is the biggest and most overwhelming social networking service in Japan. People seek social media for the quantity of members, because the value of social media lies in "connecting with others". So, it is very hard for followers to attract many members in this market. They needed to give the social media a brand-new value. The new value they created is "the social media where people can improve the environment by connecting to others". According to studies, corals have effect on CO2 absorption. For every 30 new members for "goo home", one real coral will be planted in Okinawa's sea. Each planted coral will be pictured with a card printing 30 members' registered nicknames. Members can view the picture of "their coral" on "goo home". Thus, environmental action is now a direct motivation to join social media, instead of just expanding networks. Recently, consideration of the environment has risen in the Japanese. And social media have the power to improve the environment by connecting with others. So, they changed the reason for joining social media from just expanding networks to participating in environmental action. "goo home" acquired 51,360 members in just 3.5 months. This communication got publicities worth over $1,420,000. 1,712 pieces of coral have been planted in the Okinawa's sea to date, and they are contributing to the decline in CO2. As this project goes on, the planted coral will lay eggs in 2 years and will multiply naturally. Silver Promo Lions Winner.

Agency: Hakuhodo Kettle Tokyo, Japan.

Tricom "Freezing the Game"

The task was to promote Tricom's High Bandwidth Internet Service, to do this they took a couple of things into consideration. For Dominicans there are very few things more important than baseball. The game is sacred and that night the two most important national teams were playing: The Licey Tigers and the Cibao Eagles. When a Dominican doesn't go to the stadium, he follows the game either on TV, through the radio or over the Internet. That's why the stadium became the perfect place to promote Tricom's High Bandwidth. With 30 thousand spectators in the arena and more than a million people at home watching the game they decided to create a live action on the field that simulated the experience of surfing the web on a slow connection. Prior to the game they rehearsed with the players so that, upon a signal only they saw, they would freeze in a specific moment of the game, go back to playing normally and freeze again. After repeating this a couple of times a person would come out with a sign that read "Live it without the wait with Tricom's High Bandwidth". They wanted to show everyone what it was like to watch the game through an Internet connection that wasn't Tricom. The Internet Service Provider experienced a 23% growth in new subscriptions. Some bloggers published the video in their blogs and it became a viral under the title "The Quisqueya Stadium freezes up". It was also commented the next day in the newspapers, radio and sport tv shows. Gold Promo Lions Winner.

Agency: Pages BBDO Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Rooftrack.

People who are looking for a place to live in Amsterdam, were confronted in a unique way with the private sector housing. On Amsterdam Central Station billboards were transformed in a modern looking notice board. The 'notice board' existed of a large amount of little ads in the housing sector, printed on a new kind of 'statically' paper. The paper with static characteristics glued on the smooth surface of the billboard by itself. People who passed by could look at the offers and easily take their house of interest of the board. The promotion is the beginning of a new
campaign of Rooftrack.nl. A initiative of 'WoningNet'(a house corporation in Holland) and several housing corporations in the Amsterdam region.

Agency: L'eau Amstelveen, The Netherlands.

darylstock.com "Watermark"

Make www.darylstock.com every advertising and media person's stock photography site of choice. Their idea was to own an element synonymous with stock pictures - the watermark. Two weeks before the launch party watermark stickers appeared across windows of advertising and media companies. As though they were giant stock photographs. As the launch event, mirrors in the bathrooms were also branded. Soon after, as a reminder to visit the site, those who attended recieved branded pictures of themselves at the party. Cost of producing stickers & postcards USD 2,000. First month sales USD 45,000. 45% rise in visitors to site.

Agency: JWT Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

citysearch.com.au "Small"

Melbourne is famous for its laneways. Lot of restaurants ands venues are hidden from the main entertainment areas. By highlighting this using strategically placed miniature venues, it reminded people that some of the best kept secrets can be found on the "citysearch" website.

Agency: DDB Melbourne, Australia.

Oohtique.com "Sex In The City"

By tagging the city with various sexual positions, this simple guerrilla campaign for Oohtique.com – an online store that sells a range of sex toys, condoms and then some – encouraged individuals to be more spontaneous with a playful proposition: “Have Fun”.

Agency: JWT, Singapore.

MyCareer.com.au "Payslip"

The objective was to drive traffic to the MyCareer Salary Centre, a salary resource containing data such as salary ranges and trends by industry and by region. It enables people to see what others are earning and determine if they're being paid what they're worth. They created an exact replica of an unopened payslip, right down to the flimsy stock and perforated edges. It was inserted into magazines - as though it were a mistake - and distributed accordingly. They knew that most people would open it because they couldn't help themselves.

Agency: DDB Group Melbourne, Australia.

Broadband internet action "Giant folder"

This action was developed to announce that net virtua is the best option in sending and receiving large files. huge file folders, like the one on computers, were delivered to companies by gofers and messengers.

Agency: Talent São Paulo, Brazil.

net4domains.com.

To communicate that you can register all kinds of domain names at net4domains.com. being in a low margin and cluttered business category, advertising had to be low cost yet destinctive. They pasted net4domains branded stickers (with the word .com) on various existing public signs to make interesting domain names. The line at the bottom read "Register it at net4domains.com". After the campaign was released, visits to the site grew by 70%. Many of the inquiries resulted in actual registration.

Agency: Euro RSCG Delhi, India.

Idea Cemetary.

Idea Cemetary is the latest project for Getty Images in Germany.

Translation of the letter:

Dear Mr. ,

It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the death of your idea. Beloved ideas are often torn from this world far too soon, and whether these unexpected farewells are at the behest of consultants, creative directors or customers, the pain is always real.

Perhaps your grief will be easier to bear if you know that others share in it -thousands of ideas die each day. Join our large, grieving community at www.ideenfriedhof.com and commiserate with friends over the grandeur of your idea. To find peace, please use the enclosed memorial park, which will make your desktop a place of solemn reflection.

You’ll realise how good it feels to let go. Wonderful days with beautiful new ideas lie before you. Our online catalogue ‘One Life’ will show you the latest and most important visual trends and will inspire you to fresh, stunning ideas.

With best wishes for your creative future,

Horst Zsifkovits
Vice President of Sales
Central and Northern Europe

Agency: HEYE121, Germany.