Since I have been working together with the London-based interactive agency Hyper Happen on a number of projects, and been loosely involved as an advisor on this one, I’ve got an exclusive preview of Nokia’s new ground-breaking piece of marketing.

In the passenger, Nokia shows a new way for users to control video on the web. To support its push to be part of the growing in-car communications market, Nokia has released a super cool site which has been developed to take interactive video to the next level.


The story:

A mysterious woman is in need of your services. She needs to reach three addresses in Paris in a short amount of time.  It is going to take all your driving talents to get her to her destinations.

‘The Passenger’ experience sets the viewer in the murky ‘film noir’ world of night time Paris. The video is superb, fun and coupled with great interaction.

 
Along the way, you have to utilise the functions of the Nokia Multimedia Car Kit CK-20W in order to reach the destination and get the pay-off of the final scene. And if you drive the wrong way, you’ll find yourself insulted by the the rude Femme Fatal in your back seat. Who reminds me of Meryl Streep in the Devil wears Prada..

 
Background:

The driving footage was shot with a car-mounted camera in all the streets of the iIle de St. Louis over 3 nights in November 2006, with additional scenes filmed at the Tour Eiffel, the Arc de Triomphe and the Heliport de Paris.

Daniel Goodall, Digital Marketing Manager for Enhancement Products at Nokia says that “The Passenger’ mixes video and gameplay in a way that we don’t think has happened before. All the driving is real video, real streets and fully controlled by the user”. I find it really a creative way of promoting a mobile GPS device since it puts you in the right context immediately and is fun at the same time.

‘The Passenger’ concept has been developed in conjunction with digital strategy agency Hyper Happen, working with Fuel Industries & Karbon Arc on the game engine build and video production.This is actually the phone I have been waiting for since I all the time find myself renting a Garmin GPS every time I travel to California. With this kit, it’s just plug and play

Nokia – you know how to reach me…;)

Technorati Tags: Advertising, CK-20W, Fuel Industries, GPS, Hyper Happen, Karbon Arc, Nokia, Paris, Mobile , The Passenger

Piper Jaffray summed up China’s 2005 Mobile Market Share, revealing these takeaways:

• SMS still remains a major revenue contributor
• KongZhong, Hurray! and Tom Online dominate WAP and are best positioned for the transition to 3G
• KongZhong and Tom Online are the most diversified players

Subscribe to Safa’s excellent China reports here & here.

Visa USA has entered into the world of video-game advertising with a PC game based on the CBS hit “CSI” that hits stores today. Although the Visa brand is also incorporated into signage and other background elements of the game, the really smart thing is the way Visa actually became a central part of the plot: In one of the five criminal cases that make up the game, “CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder,” Visa’s fraud-monitoring capabilities take center stage when a suspicious charge on a victim’s credit card triggers an investigation by the forensic-sciences team.

I think that is really a smart way of incorporating a brand into the story. The idea came from game publisher Ubisoft who worked together with Visas media buying agecny OMD to build the script. Another interesting aspect of it is what Jon Raj, VP-advertising and emerging media platforms, Visa USA said, that Visa is actively seeking out the emerging media where consumers are spending an increasing amount of time. “Our consumers are shifting their habits,” he said. “Just throwing out a TV or radio spot doesn’t work anymore. We need to look at new ways,” citing platforms such as cellphones, interactive TV, digital-video recorders and in-game integrations.

Hey big media guys, did you hear “TV or radio spots dosen’t work anymore”…It is good to see that such a “serious” brand like Visa, dares to think outside the box and look for smarter advertising solutions.

Tags: Visa Tags: In-Game Advertising Tags: Games Tags: Advertising Tags: Ads Tags: CBS Tags: CSI Tags: OMD Tags: Ubisoft Tags: TV Tags: Emerging Media Tags: Media

Here’s a great story from about mobile phones and film-making from South Africa:

South African director Ayran Kaganof, created the world’s first feature film shot entirely on cell phones. Equipped with eight cell phones, $160,000 Kaganof made SMS Sugar Man over 11 days! The movie tells the story of a pimp and two high-class prostitutes moving around Johannesburg on Christmas Eve.

The film will have its premiere in May will be screened on traditional cinema as well as in a truly innovative fashion – beamed to cell phones in three-minute episodes over a month.

Another amazing thing is that while a Hollywood picture usually cost around $40-$50 million (and easily exceeds $100 million) SMS Sugar Man only costed $160,000 to produce…

Could this be the future of film-making?

More on the story here

Related posts: Me in New Media Age,  Call For Action! Create Your Own Maxthon Video!, Today I Become the Offical Anyfilms Blogger For Samsung Mobile, TooDou – Video & Podcast Sharing From China,

New Media Age (19.01.06) published a piece on Samsung Anyfilms project, mentiones me and my role in this exciting project. The article is for subcribers only, but here is what it said:

Samsung promotes short-film initiative via blogs and Yahoo!

Samsung has launched an online campaign to promote its multi-million-pound AnyFilms short films for mobile and Internet initiative, using blogging, messageboard marketing and search marketing. The company has also secured Yahoo! as its global media partner to promote the AnyFilms project. The online campaign has been developed by Hyper Happen, a joint venture between creative agency Fallon and strategic planning consultancy Naked Communications, to seed interest in AnyFilms ahead of any future above-the-line marketing activity.

AnyFilms, launched in December, is designed to position Samsung as a leading brand in mobile entertainment. The site features short films that can be viewed on mobiles or online, by Hollywood directors Joel Murray, Alex Merkin and Mark Dippe. A separate interactive film enables users to tailor the way they understand the content by providing 11,000 different ways to view the film.

The initiative has been developed by Hyper Happen alongside New York agencies MFP, First Look and Burger King Subservient Chicken creator Barbican Group, plus Tokyo agency Drill.

Hyper Happen has tied up with Israeli A-list blogger Netanel Jacobssen to kick-start the online campaign. The agency views such bloggers as key to effective blog marketing, enabling trusted links to spread.

“Blog marketing can go horribly wrong, so it’s crucial to work with bloggers who are linked in and trusted by all the A-list bloggers,” said Hyper Happen partner Brad Fairhead.

Messageboard marketing has been used to stimulate conversation and debate of the AnyFilms initiative. The Yahoo! media deal goes beyond straightforward banner promotion to include editorial coverage of AnyFilms throughout the site.

Finally, a search marketing campaign covers keywords such as ‘cool content’ and ‘mobile movies’.

“Samsung has taken a big leap with this campaign,” said Fairhead. “It could have just gone with a normal banner campaign. What we’re doing is risky as it could have fallen flat.”

Well, I don’t know about the ” A-list blogger” part, however, it is alway nice to get recognition for what you do.

Mastworld – Ringtone Masala

Ethnic-themed ringtones are becoming big business. Masttones.com just came out with the first ever ethnic market trends for ringtones. Surprisingly, the top selling ringtones were from Punjabi Bhangra songs and Bollywood films. Four of the top five downloaded ringtones were from albums released by labels with no connection to Bollywood, and three of the top five were Punjabi Bhangra songs. Due to its popularity as dance or party music, Bhangra is often called the hip-hop of South Asia. Now, that is Masala for my ears!

Related posts: Today I Become the Offical Anyfilms Blogger For Samsung Mobile, TooDou – Video & Podcast Sharing From China, Douban – A Chinese Book, Music and Movie Recommendation Thing

Technorati Tags: Ringtones, Masttones, Ethic, Punjabi Bahangra, Bollywood, Music, Mobile, Entertainment

Today I offically become the “Anyfilms blogger“, on behalf of Samsung Mobile for the Anyfilms.net project through my cooperation with Hyper Happen on Yahoo 360. On the Anyfilms blog on Yahoo 360, I will discuss the cross over between cell phones and movie technology, and the future of movie making in general. Check it out for yourself, come join me in the discussion and let me know what you think.

Technorati Tags: Anyfilms.net, Anyfilms, Samsung , Samsung Moblie, Movies, Films, Mobile, Cell phones, Gadgets, Blogs, Yahoo, Yahoo 360, Hyper Happen, Media, Blogging