Following yesterday’s claim as the most depressing day of the year, and in the midst of the current global economic gloom, come some rays of sunshine and excitement with today’s inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America. His now familiar campaign tag line ‘Yes We Can has become a symbol to America and the world of positivity and change and he’s not the only one talking positively. It seems that more brands are promoting a positive message and outlook with new campaign communications.

Pepsi have launched a new series of smiling logos taking a positive play on words as part of their new campaign. To celebrate today’s inauguration Pepsi have also created a social site calling Americans to use their voice to bring about change at www.refresheverything.com.

Brand rival Coca-Cola, who is synonymous with positivity, is set to launch a new campaign, ‘Open Happiness’,  next year. This will replace the successful ‘Coke Side of Life’.

However Coca-Cola and Pepsi aren’t the only brands selling posivity and change these days. Here are some others:

Calvin Klein’s CK - “We are one”
Dunkin’ Donuts - “You kin do it!”
IKEA - “Embrace change”
Macy’s - “Believe”
OfficeMax - “Life is beautiful. Work can be too”

Source: Adage.com

Unless you’re lucky enough to work in the city and can pop out shopping for lunch, work generally restricts you to the pandemonium of the weekend. For many, it may be that the only window shopping you do is when you’re out for the night and walk by a shop. So how can retailers combat this?

The folks over at Ralph Lauren have taken the issue seriously and come up with a strong two-fold strategy to capture even the late night window shopper. Ralph Lauren are now giving shoppers the ability to buy any item they see, immediately. This is thanks to RL’s new interactive window display in their New York store. All you need to do is download a QR code to your phone from the RL website and then you can use it to scan any of the QR codes on the RL store touchscreen. Essentially your phone is transformed into a barcode-type reader and you will be redirected to the item on their website where you can buy it immediately.

To further enhance the scope of this new feature, QR codes are to be implemented in all RL print ads as well. This ad was spotted in the latest issue of Esquire:

This October, Esquire magazine celebrates its 75th anniversary. To mark this auspicious occasion they’re doing something a little bit special – the issue will be delivered in refrigerated vans and feature an animated cover! A 10inch squared display will flash the theme “The 21st Century Begins Now” with a collage of illuminated images. The inside cover will feature a second 10inch squared display on a two-page spread advertising the new Ford Flex SUV. This ad will utilise shifting colours to illustrate the car in motion at night.

The technology for these displays uses micro-capsules of ink that are controlled by an electric charge. Currently the images are only black and white (or four shades of grey) and colour is added by a sheet of transparent, tinted plastic.

The company behind this wonder is eInk.

If you can play Tetris with building lights…

… then why can’t you pour a pint of Guinness!?

The new Guinness ‘Light Show’ commercial by Irish International is out now.

“Speak and be heard,” is the new philosophy at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, who asked residents to speak their mind about the local health care… literally!

Users are prompted to leave a voice mail directly via their computer or, if there is no microphone attached, they can call a free phone number and record their message in real time! Top this with an interactive ‘solar system’ mechanism for searching and listening to other voice messages, and we think you’ve got a great alternative to petitions and standard user generated content. Perhaps the way of the future?

You can check out recorded messages at powerofthehumanvoice.com or leave your own here.

It ‘s been revealed this week that an agreement has been reached for O2 to secure the naming rights of The Point music venue in Dublin. In a reported  80 multi-million euro deal, O2 looks set to be able to provide its 1.6 million customers with first option on tickets to around 150 live events each year. This is the first deal of its kind to be negotiated in Ireland with Live Nation – one of the biggest live entertainment promoters in the world.

Mike Adamson, of Live Nation Ireland, has commented that the whole redevelopment of the site has hinged on this kind of high profile sponsorship. Without it, he said there was simply no possibility that the expansion and improvement would have happened.

Certainly from where we sit, it looks like the venue will be extremely impressive. The question is, will anyone ever refer to it as anything other then The Point?

Are you a well respected and award winning ATL copy director / copywriter? Do you passionately believe that the future of advertising is digitally driven?

If this sounds like you, we have a dream role with your name on it! Cybercom is looking to appoint “an ideas person” who will be uniquely positioned within the agency to play a major role in our idea generation process. We want to create Ireland’s best media neutral ideas for a digital world.

Let’s start the ball rolling today. Simply send your portfolio to info@cybercom.ie or call Rob Reid on + 353-1-6681529

We’re also looking for a Search Marketing Manager – the full spec is here.

Amnesty International is launching a hard-hitting ad campaign, featuring an animated character being given electric shocks, to highlight human rights abuses in China in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.

The 40-second ad, one of four that will be released online ahead of this summer’s Olympiad, shows an animated character receiving shocks from a Taser-like baton by Chinese security officials for holding a placard about human rights.

“Amnesty is not against the Games but we want people to know what else is happening in China – including the silencing of critics and peaceful protesters – and to join our campaign for urgent human rights reform,” said Tim Hancock, UK campaigns director.

Amnesty has set up a website which enables people to send campaigning letters and emails, share content and start their own blog. The organisation is also releasing a booklet to accompany the film called “The two faces of the Beijing Olympics”.

Our thanks to the Guardian for the information.

Our congratulations to Prosperity Recruitment, who accepted two prestigious prizes at Thursday night’s ERA (Excellence in Recruitment Advertising) Awards in the Westin Hotel. Not only did they pick up the top award for the Sales and Marketing category, they also scooped the Grand Prix Award for best recruitment advertisement of 2007/2008.

Online advertising spending is set to overtake TV spending in the U.K. next year, according to a report by the Internet Advertising Bureau.

The economic slowdown is partly responsible for the continued internet advertising boom, said Guy Phillipson, CEO of the IAB in the U.K. “Online budgets are pretty much ring-fenced. Marketers can see exactly where their money is going, and it’s the last medium to have budgets cut,” Mr. Phillipson said. “Given a choice between traditional and online media, you’d maintain your online spend.”

A 38% hike in internet advertising spending brought total online budgets up to $5.6 billion in 2007. Growth is expected to continue above 30% for 2008 and remain strong in 2009, with the result that the internet will overtake TV’s $8 billion revenues next year.

Although internet growth is inevitably slowing down, it is still stronger than expected: In just three years, online advertising spending in the U.K. has increased by $4 billion. The U.K. media advertising sector as a whole grew much more slowly, with 4.3% growth in 2007 to reach $36.8 billion.

The report, compiled in partnership with Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the World Advertising Research Centre, shows that online advertising currently accounts for 16% of media spending.

Mr. Phillipson said that growth of the internet as an advertising medium has been driven by “cheap technology and the fantastic broadband infrastructure in the U.K. Around 50% of us use wireless, and a PC plus two laptops is not uncommon in most British homes. More and more marketers are taking advantage of the technology and using rich media and video online to build their brands.”

The biggest spenders online are recruitment advertising (25.7% share of the internet ad market), automotive (11.9%), technology (10.4%) and finance (10%). Advertisers in some of these categories spend up to 25% of their overall marketing budgets online.

This information was sourced at AdAge.com