Communal Marketing Videos

Over the past few months, we've had the pleasure of working with Adam Brown and the folks over at The Coca-Cola Company on a pretty special program called "Expedition 206." The premise? Bold, lofty, ambitious and truly global: Coca-Cola does business in over 200 countries (and I stand corrected, but no other brand in the world can make that same claim), so why not bring this to life in a truly unique way that authentically dials into the spirit of Coca-Cola and its brand anthem, "Open Happiness." On January 1st, 2010, 3 Coca-Cola Ambassadors will visit 206 countries over the next 365 calendar days, covering 150,000+ miles in the process. Their mission? To seek out, discover and celebrate the epitome of "happiness" as it presents itself across different people, places and cultures. Their trip will also "conveniently" coincide with the following headline events: the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Canada, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. Coca-Cola Expedition 206 - Project Introduction Video from Expedition 206 on Vimeo. The program itself is decidedly "social". In fact, crayon's role thus far has been to advise and guide the program on all things "social media" i.e. any and all facets of the journey that foster connections and communication between peers, participants, hosts, visitors and the brand itself. It is a mash-up in the sense that you'll see a litany of platforms, tools and vehicles used to activate the program - from twitter to facebook; from crowdsourcing to consumer generated content; from meet-ups to blogging, podcasting and "vlogging". As of this week, 9 finalists were shortlisted and divided into 3 teams of 3 prospective ambassadors. Now it's up to the public; their fans and community; and you (if you're so inclined) to vote for the elite 3. The finalists are as diverse as the countries they'll be visiting. Here's the list: Dave Zwolenski, 27, an amateur film producer from Sydney, Australia Josephine Rosetzsky, 27, from Copenhagen, Denmark Sam Li, 21, born in Shanghai, China and now a student in Vancouver, Canada Antonio Santiago, 24, a university student from Mexico City, Mexico Kelly Ferris, 22, a university student in Brussels, Belgium Tony Martin, 29, who grew up in the U.S. and now teaches kindergarten in Munich, Germany Greer Cornish, 26, a digital media producer from Sydney, Australia Brendan Madden, 31, living in Beijing, China and originally from the U.S. Erin Guler, 28, whose parents are from Turkey and is currently a writer in Toronto, Canada It's been a blast so far to work on this program. It's the kind of commitment-based marketing (a year of your life no less!) that flies in the face of fleeting 30-second spots and I for one, can't wait to see what 2010 holds in store for the eventual Ambassadors, to follow their exploits and share in their experiences. I know I sound like an old man when I say this, but I only wish I was younger and able to participate myself in this once in a lifetime adventure. Do check it out, share it with your networks and community, cast a vote or two for your favorites and continue to follow this journey as it unfolds... On Twitter On Facebook The Expedition hub Additional links/information: Press release here SMPR here Disclosure reminder: The Coca-Cola Company is a crayon client

As many of you know, crayon has been working with Panasonic for some time now on an initiative called "Living in HD." The premise is simple: High Definition changes everything! And if you have an HD TV you'll testify to this. In fact, if you watched the finale of America's Got Talent last night in High Definition, you'll have especially loved the confetti at the end showering the winner of the show, chicken catcher Kevin Skinner! Panasonic's vision for Living in High Definition is not solely about technology. In fact it's the human element that really brings this technology offering to life. So much so that they built a community called Living in HD or LiHD for short and supercharged this community with a collection of families that were given a suite of HD products to demonstrate first hand the transformative power of HD. Anyone is invited and eligible to join the LiHD community to connect with other HD enthusiasts and exchange tools, trick, tips and tutorials with one another. If you haven't done so, feel free to follow this link.  However, the purpose of this post is to talk specifically to a very special subset of this group, the "content creators" AKA Bloggers, Video bloggers, Photographers, Podcasters. Pretty much anyone that reads this blog if you think about it. So put "Living in HD" together with "Content Creators" and what do you get? Enter LiHD Insiders! We're looking for our third "LiHD insider" to join Steve Garfield and Stacy Debroff. You may recall that Steve and Stacy attended CES as Panasonic's guests in January.  And if you become our third LiHD Insider, you'll win a very special content-creator suite, including: Panasonic 50" Plasma TV - TH-50PZ850U Panasonic Digital Camera - DMC-GH1 Panasonic Digital Camera - DMC-ZS3 Panasonic Camcorder - HDC-TM20S Panasonic Laptop - CF-F8 Blu-Ray HiTB - SC-BT300 You'll also get a Lumix G1 camera to give away to your community as an incentive to join LiHD Here are the details in more depth: Who is eligible to become a LiHD Insider? Any content creator who - by joining - agrees to upload unique content (seen only on the LiHD community) at least twice a month, participates in the forums and is a part of LiHD special events (live webinars and podcasts) once a quarter. As an LiHD Insider, your opinions and experiences will also help shape future generations of HD products. A LiHD Insider will also get the opportunity to see new technology before it hits the stores and spend some time with Greg Harper, our LiHD Answerman. Program Dates The contest phase started Monday August 31th and ends on Friday October 9th. Judging will be done in two phases. From October 12 to October 15th, the LiHD Insider committee will narrow down the applicants to a pool of 10 finalists. These finalists will then be presented to the community for voting from October 19th to October 23rd, with a winner being declared on or about October 28th. The Details: Any entrant to the LiHD Insider Contest must already be a member in good standing of LiHD, which means they have joined and completely filled out their profile.  Entering for a chance to become an LiHD Insider is easy! Go to http://www.livinginhd.com/lihdinsider Fill out the registration form Upload a video answering the following questions Why do you believe you should win this customized suite? How would this suite allow you to do something you currently cannot do? How would it make you better? How would you get your community to join and be involved in LivinginHD.com? Tag your entry with “LiHDInsider” If you still have questions, take a look at Steve's video:

  Panasonic has been keeping crayon very busy with an amazing initiative called, "Living in High Definition". It's a community project that really demonstrates the fact marketing is a commitment...not a campaign. Have a listen and enjoy. Audio comments to +1 206 203-3255 Direct download here iTunes subscription here If you want to find out more and join the community, visit www.livinginhd.com Also for the remainder of May, Panasonic is giving away 30 camera/camcorders in 30 days. If you want to win one, just register for the program. My thanks to Panasonic CMO, Bob Greenberg, VP of Brand Strategy, Tom Murano, Panasonic LiHD Family John & Eileen Calandro (Happy Birthday, Eileen!), LiHD Family and host of the LiHD podcast, Laura Pollak, LiHD community leader and crayonista, Kate Dickman and LiHD Answerman, Greg Harper for joining us today.

  Panasonic has been keeping crayon very busy with an amazing initiative called, Living in High Definition . It s a community project that really demonstrates the fact marketing is a commitment...not a campaign. Have a listen and enjoy. Audio comments to +1 206 203-3255 Direct download here iTunes subscription here If you want to find out more and join the community, visit www.livinginhd.com Also for the remainder of May, Panasonic is giving away 30 camera/camcorders in 30 days. If you want to win one, just register for the program. My thanks to Panasonic CMO, Bob Greenberg, VP of Brand Strategy, Tom Murano, Panasonic LiHD Family John & Eileen Calandro (Happy Birthday, Eileen!), LiHD Family and host of the LiHD podcast, Laura Pollak, LiHD community leader and crayonista, Kate Dickman and LiHD Answerman, Greg Harper for joining us today.

  Panasonic has been keeping crayon very busy with an amazing initiative called, Living in High Definition . It's a community project that really demonstrates the fact marketing is a commitment...not a campaign. Have a listen and enjoy. Audio comments to +1 206 203-3255 Direct download here iTunes subscription here If you want to find out more and join the community, visit www.livinginhd.com Also for the remainder of May, Panasonic is giving away 30 camera/camcorders in 30 days. If you want to win one, just register for the program. My thanks to Panasonic CMO, Bob Greenberg, VP of Brand Strategy, Tom Murano, Panasonic LiHD Family John & Eileen Calandro (Happy Birthday, Eileen!), LiHD Family and host of the LiHD podcast, Laura Pollak, LiHD community leader and crayonista, Kate Dickman and LiHD Answerman, Greg Harper for joining us today.

This is a little backwards, because I still want to spend some time over the next couple of weeks outlining the single most signficant project we've worked on at crayon, namely Panasonic's Living in High Definition community and commitment. We've had the pleasure and privilege to work with Panasonic North America on a truly landmark effort - actively demonstrating that Living in High Definition changes everything. And what better way to bring this to life than through a High Definition video show, presented by one of the real stars of the program, Laura Pollack, a mom and a community member. The LiHD Podcast is a bi-monthly snapshot of the best of what the community has to offer. It's a showcase which operates on three levels: Internal i.e. within the community - motivation for members; a showcase of recognition External i.e. outside the community - a portal or window into the community; a source of promotion and membership acqusition Both - a source or resource filled with tips, tools, tricks, how-to's and inspiration Making this podcast happen are the fine folks over at For Your Imagination (FYI) So take a look, subscribe to the show and while you're at it, join the LiHD Community. Living in HD Podcast, Episode 1 from Living In HD on Vimeo.