Cherryflava

Where's Wally migrates to Google Earth

In Canada, they call that dude who insists on getting lost in crowds that we refer to as Wally, Waldo.

Waldo sounds like someone who might carry concealed weapons and have a handbook of torture techniques tucked into is pants, so Wally is perhaps a bit less frightening for kids.

All the same, as part of a school project, Melanie Coles, a young web designer and artist, has set out to stimulate an intriguing  game. She has hidden a huge painting of Waldo on a rooftop somewhere in Vancouver, in hopes that it will appear on Google Earth. [via]

Needless to say she got an A for the project..and a considerable amount of international media exposure.
Fairy tales and children's characters are certainly 'flava of the month' for marketers right now.

More:
Where on earth is Waldo blog

Like a hole in the head

Copy: Feel inspired. Biblioteq - Creative Books.

Two of our favourite Cape Town brands, Biblioteq and FoxP2 have briefly formed a union and produced a creative advertising lovechild, so beautiful, it's now causing a bit of a stir around the world.

These ads were originally produced as posters and given away at this year's Design Indaba, but we were so preoccupied with contracting a serious stomach bug that we missed them and only recently found them playing hopscotch and making faces at the other children on an American blog.

We love the old 1960's text book graphic look of these ads. Smashing stuff.

[via here and here]

Big Brother ad campaign makes Aussies feel threatened, for a change

Apart from when they play South African sports teams, Australians don't often feel to threatened. Even the seedy parts of their big cities have new-born lambs bounding happily in the streets, nibbling quietly on lush trailer park lawns.

So you can imagine their surprise when bus spots start sending out invited Bluetooth stalker messages to public transport users to promote the new series of Big Brother on Australian TV.

The campaign installed Blue-tooth transmitters in over 20 high-traffic bus shelters around town. The transmitters automatically sent two anonymous messages to any Bluetooth enabled phones in the area.

The first message was tailored specifically for the local location, with something along the lines of “I'm watching u. Ur at the (customized current location)”. The second message is received 30-40 seconds later with the big reveal, saying “Big Brother is back. 7 PM weeknights on TEN”.

Clearly there are no laws against spamming via Bluetooth in Australia [then again, are there such laws here?], but a strong concept all the same if you're not irritating people.

[via here and here]

The Audi R6 - perfect if you're energetic

We've never been very big Audi fans. But maybe it's the new R8 or a recent upgrade in the way they produce their ads, but Audi is now marginally edging out Hummer as the mode of transport we'd choose to destroy the planet with.

Great ad for the new R6 here though - sure it'll soon be seen on our screens too. [via]

Plus: Check out the mini-site here.

Hot hub for creatives hits Cape Town CBD

Small, affordable, hub-type work spaces are all the rage in more developed economies. The need for  similar office space for creative companies has long been a need in Cape Town - and now, there is one.

Taking over the old BBDO offices at 210 Long Street [almost directly over the road from the new Cape to Cuba] a new creative suite complex is making its debut.
The main idea: A creative hub focusing on the creative industries of Cape Town, to share space, inspiration, knowledge and services.

According to the owner, offices range from 10m2 (nice space for 2 desks) to 50m2 (nice for 10-12 desks) The units can be joined as your needs grow and we have space for expansion. The floor rate is R150-00 per square meter this includes the use of 230m2 of facilities.

It's a crying shame we're just about to move into the ex-Head Quarters of Adult World in Claremont, otherwise this may have been exactly what we were looking for in a new working space. [thanks Sascha]

Africa still loves the VW Citi Golf

South Africa is one of the only countries in the world where VW Citi Golf's are still sold. The reason, as this holiday snap shows, is that there's clearly still big love for the old thing.

Hopefully that back window has got a bit of reinforcement, otherwise these happy road trippers are about to have a wild life experience they'll never forget.

If we were on the VW marketing team, we'd use this pic as a print ad.

Crime scene evidence posted up on city street polls

Some people will tel you that the whole of Joburg should be regarded as a crime scene, but for the month of May, on Jan Smuts Avenue and Katherine Street in Johannesburg, the 'evidence' is out on public display.

Sequential evidence bags containing a blood-and-mucus soiled mallet, rope and stiletto on street poles are being used to promote Musica’s CSI TV Series Box Sets.

Done by The Jupiter Drawing Room (Cape Town) for Musica, it's nice to see an agency pushing the creative ambient envelope in South Africa and doing something with a real WTF-factor in a generally bland 'lightbox' dominated space.

[thanks Nadia]

More pics after the jump...

Green Point Stadium, Cape Town - what it will look like

The brand new Green Point Stadium, which will hopefully be ready for a couple of games  as part of the FIFA 2010 World Cup, is still very much a giant construction site. But artists have imagined it finished and Coda has found a video, which gives a fairly good idea of what it will look like.

We have to agree with his opinion that from the air it looks a bit like a big toilet, but then don't most sport stadiums?
It's just a pity that there aren't a bank of wind turbines and solar panels on the roof to power those flood lights when Eskom is throwing a tantrum.

More: Green Point Stadium - Coda

Rock Port, Missouri - the world's first entirely wind-powered city - Clean Technica

So you wanna run hey...well...

China is a country we don't often cover here on Cherryflava, but here's an award-winning mobile advertising concept which makes sense and is something that could quite easily work here in South Africa too.

The Nike Zoom campaign, devised by media agency MindShare China, won Campaign of the Year recently at the Venice Festival of Media. The campaign ran in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Bluetooth technology was used in special “information shelters”, offering a chance to win a pair of Zoom’s by running between the shelter and the closest Nike shop.

Standard billboards with Nike ads were specially equipped in each city to emit a Bluetooth signal aimed at nearby mobile phones. When people approached the billboard, they received short-range signals on their activated mobiles to start a “virtual stopwatch.” Then they received a message to run to the nearest designated Nike store as fast as they could, where a second Bluetooth signal stopped the stopwatch and recorded their time. Every day, for the length of the promotion, the store gave away one different pair of running shoes for the fastest athlete. [Source: CScout]

Apart from sending out annoying messages, it's comforting to know that your cellphone can easily be turned into a high-tech training tool by Bluetooth technology. Can just imagine the route to shop in the busy mall on a Saturday morning.

The most shocking British ad awards 2007

There's loads of advertising, which is daft and most people just ignore, but every now and again an ad will pop up that everybody all of a sudden does notice and have a lot to say about how shocking it is.....which is strange because we thought everybody was so busy trying to avoid commercial messages.

Anyhow - Sky News have put together a collection of the most complained about ads in the UK in 2007 [thanks Kate].
This heart foundation message is quiet distasteful (something about the colour of her swim cap must have frightened people) and rightly received 122 complaints from the general public.
The ASA in the UK disagreed...and the happy couple are still teasing the British public with their uncontrollable laughter and warm sunshine.

It's not as bad as this nasty piece of work for Trident chewing gum however.

Wonder what the South African top 10 most complained about ads looks like?

More to read: 'Frightening' Smokes Ad Tops Complaints - Sky News

Holes in space and time

Looking from afar as if somebody has escaped reality by ripping a hole right through it, there's something 'show stoppable' about these guerrilla street posters meant to promote HP photo paper.

Each black hole was made of paper and strategically placed around the city to fool people into thinking the background was actually a fake backdrop. In reality, the only fake thing was the hole printed on HP paper. [via]

Actually the way the rip has been made, it's more likely that something from the outside smashed its way in.

The travellers guide to Global fashion trends '08

If, for whatever reason, you are heading to Helsinki pretty soon and feel that it is necessary for you to blend in with the trendy set rather than sticking out like a rancid pair of skants from Mr Price - then a keen understanding of the local fashion trends of the city you are visiting is always a good idea.

For example, did you know that in Montreal Canada:

Thrift stores are a gold mine. The only problem is that you have to sift through tons of crap and get your hands covered with old-people particles before you find the good stuff. Luckily no one from Montreal between the ages of 18 and 28 has a real job, so they have tons of time to waste finding vintage mink coats, veiled hats, granny cardigans, high-waisted pants, and old leather boots.

While in New Zealand:

The look is very much Crusaders rugby jumper mix-up with various items of Chanel and leopard print leggings with sweat bands and Converse trainers. Mmmmm, sexy dot com.

All of this invaluable global fashion insight comes courtesy of Vice magazine and is the perfect armchair travel companion for the style voyeur.

No listing for what's going down in South Africa, but then again banana leaves never went out of fashion, so no need to look twice over here.

See:

Vice Magazine Global Trend Report 2008

Vice Magazine Global Trend Report 2007

[via PSFK]

The (near) future of the car: The new Mercedes Benz S-Class

The new Mercedes Benz S-class has all the future trends soon to be seen in your next car - all packed into a giant hunk of metal that you can buy now. [See Top Gear video]

[via]

The evolution of drinks

Gone are the days when you would buy a 'smart drink' off the back of a bakkie outside The Playground comfortable in the knowledge that you were drinking the country's most innovative form of liquid refreshment.
Competition in the global drinks market is tough and it's survival of the cutting-edge right now.

Activate is a new functional beverage that just launched in Southern California. The drink’s vitamins and herbs are stored as powder in a chamber inside the cap. When you twist the cap clockwise, a small plastic blade cuts the seal in the chamber. Simultaneously, a small armature opens the chamber allowing the ingredients to drop into the water below.

Vitamins and other healthful ingredients deteriorate sitting in water. Storing the ingredients separate inside the cap keeps them fresh until the moment they’re released, for maximum potency. [video demonstration here] [thanks Jamie]

With more and more bars now stocking non-alcoholic beers, it makes sense that there would be an exploding market demand for 'virgin' wine as well.

According to Springwise:

First Blush varietal grape juices of Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay are alcohol-free and entirely suitable for kids [and probably people who prefer to say away from alcohol], with no added sugar or preservatives. Like wine, however, they're also full of polyphenol antioxidants. Launched last May, the drinks are available in upscale grocers such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats, along with delis and restaurants in select states nationwide. Retail pricing is about USD 4 [R32] for each 16-ounce bottle.

That brandy and coke mix that they brought out a couple of years back now looks positively old-school.

More:
Activate Drinks
First Blush

Grand Theft Auto IV promises big things

Having just completed our rookie mission through Call of Duty 4 on the XBox, we're nothing more than casual gamers at the best of times. But the lure of crime and fast driving promised by these giant billboards in LA and New York may just inspire us to toss the Wii idea and rather pop a Desert Eagle cap in some innocent bystanders ass.

But then it dawned on us that video games require electricity, so we'll have to settle for red wine and a candle light game of chess instead.

[via]

Vernon Koekemoer Vodacom ad: Marketing blitz or bust

Local Facebook lovechild Vernon Koekemoer stars in the latest Vodacom TV ad. You can catch exactly 2 seconds of the trance party uber-master strutting his stuff in the cellphone shop featured during the commercial. [video link]

As far as TV production goes - we're seriously impressed that the suits at Vodacom had time to spot the marketing opportunity and cast 'The Koek' in their ad in little over a month and a half since the beginning of his reign of viral hype started at the beginning of March.
With animated meerkats and guys in leopard print thongs positioning the brand right from the beginning, this has to be a great scoop for the Vodacom brand, and probably cost them far less than if they had to gotten Riaan Cruywagen in the mix.

[In case you were wondering, much like Cliff Jennings from Idols, Vernon Koekemoer is a manufactured 'experimental' viral character created by Bryan Theunissen and Damian Armstrong.]

For us however, our favourite TV right now has to be the Nokia N82 storytelling masterpiece. The music, the images, the feel of the thing is very 're-playable on a loop'. [video link]

Perhaps we'll change our minds when the full Sony Bravia ad get released in May, but until then...the bar is here.

Google billboard reflects the 'simple lines' of their offices

How would you go about advertising Google's video service?

Well. surprisingly Google themselves settled on billboards...with a twist. Check out the Google Video billboards that were posted in Berlin, Germany. [via]

Now, while you're still marveling at the boundless creativity that seem to be ever present at every turn of a Google corridor...have a look at their new Zurich offices...and wonder about its source no more....

See the rest of the gallery over at Valleywag.

Now go kick the bin over in your neighbours cubicle in frustration and retreat to your designated 'pause area' for a mug of steaming instant coffee and a cigarette on a cold, wind-swept balcony for reflection on where you went wrong.

Sneaker vending machines: Cause you gotta have it right this instant

Look - in South Africa vending machines don't get more exciting than the stock-standard Coke and Simba chip versions, so the idea that you can buy designer takkies from a box in the street, makes us literally want to attempt to do cartwheels in the parking lot.

According to Springwise, Onitsuka Tiger, the Japanese sports brand, launched a sneaker vending machine on Carnaby Street, London last week.
Clearly branded Japanese sneakers are very cheap in in the UK and most Britons have roughly the same shoes size and shape for this kind of shopping to work.

Don't expect one of these to pop up in South Africa any time soon. Before you know it, the box will be relocated to Zimbabwe where the police will mount rocket propelled grenades onto the side of their new white sneakers and call that riot control.

In other related retail news, in Japan for a limited time only you can find the Sneaker Lover Pop-up Shop, featuring ranges from brands like Champion, New Balance, and G-SHOCK.

With retail rates as high as what they are in even the big city centres of South Africa, it's rather surprising that we don't see more of these things popping up all over the place. Maybe it's a matter of watch this space...

More:
Sneaker vending machine - Springwise
Sneaker love pop up shop - Jean Snow

Local winemaker offers their premium white for whatever you'd like to pay for it

Taken from the file which also contains the recent Radiohead example [where the band released their latest album online at whatever price fans were willing to pay for it], local wine producers BLANKbottle have just released their first premium white blend without a price.

Huh - wine with no price...no way. Imagine walking into Wine Concepts and picking up a fine bottle of a wooded blend of Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Viognier and when you go to pay the cashier stares at you blankly waiting for your offer of a price. Sounds special.....

....but that's not exactly how it works just yet.

Instead of setting its price the winemaker, Pieter Walser, decided to let his loyal clients decide. "Initially, I sent out 20 cases of “Moment of Silence” without payment or price, leaving it up to them to pay me what they thought its worth!", says Pieter Pricing suggestions reached up to R70, and most were prepared to pay around R50/bottle. As BLANKbottle™ was created to over-deliver on quality; I set the final price at R40.

 

As with his previous wines, “Moment of Silence” comes fully labeled and packaged according to BLANKbottle's high standards, but leaves you in the dark about the cultivar and year of vintage. To uncover the lineage of “Moment of Silence” or any of his other wines, you need to go to his website where you will find the full story behind your BLANKbottle.

Alas, it seems that the initial 'pay what you like' offer was for loyal repeat buyers only, but perhaps if you prove yourself to be a die hard fan now, you may get first dibs on the action the next time Mr Walser is looking for price point volunteers.

We personally however, still have to be convinced that any form of wine marketing works better than making your tongue walk a wine route in person. If you love it, and you gotta have it, you'll pay whatever to get it.

Website: BLANKbottle

Sony's new Foam party

Sony's latest Bravia ad installment has launched exclusively online ahead of it's 1 May debut on TV. After 'Balls', 'Paint', 'Bunnies' and 'Pyramids' - it's now 'Foam' which is being use to promote Sony's new line of digital cameras and camcorders. [video here]

Once again the online buzz precedes the mere thought of the ad's flighting here in South Africa, so it has to be big money well spent for Sony.

[thanks Scott]