brand-e

By Simon Fuller. Soul search. With so many games out there, one could easily believe that branded entertainment’s all about fun. But it can have a dark side too. When British breakbeat DJ Adam Freeland looked to promote his anti-consumerism hit We Want Your Soul a few years back, he teamed up with his friends at digital marketing outfit Kerb, who came up with a spoof website with a simple, if scary, premise – it offered to evaluate your soul.

By Sally Ratcliffe. Pole position. Volvo has teamed up with Sweden’s SimBin Studios to offer a free video racing game. Players can get behind the wheels of six different Volvo models, including the new S60 Concept and the C30, which is competing in this year’s Swedish Touring Car Championship.
Before setting off for the grid, virtual drivers are invited to ‘walk round’ 3D versions of the car where they will be able to look inside, and assess steering and visibility. When they finally decide to hop in, they will be able to test out the models on the tracks of the Gothenburg Eco Drive Arena, and on the Chayaka track near Kiev.

By Simon Fuller. Screen goo. UK confectioner Cadbury turned to a cult online cartoon to spearhead its advertising in the run-up to Easter. The Goovies campaign, which ran from January to April this year, featured episodes of Weebl & Bob, the off-the-wall cartoon originally launched in 2002 by animators Jonti Picking and Chris Vick. Nine episodes of the show were created with Cadbury’s Creme Egg at centre stage.

By Simon Fuller. Film fun. Selling a TV that boasts cinematic visuals? Better make sure the online advertising is nothing short of cinematic itself, then.
That’s what Philips did in getting web-production outfit Stink Digital and digital agency Tribal DDB to work on the interactive website for their Cinema 21:9 TV, at the heart of which is a two-minute, 19 second-film called Carousel, which shows off just what 21:9 vision can do.

By Sherief Younis. Feel-good footwear. Shoe brand Kickers, together with digital agency Holler, is creating a series of animated videos for its MySpace page and for syndication across the Net.
The content, Random Bandits, will be produced in the style of Channel 4 show Modern Toss, with Kickers branding and shoes featured in the animations. As well as the MySpace microsite, the online campaign uses social-networking sites such as Bebo and Twitter to support the series, with additional Kickers promos running on NME.com and FHM.com.