UK ad tech startup Captive Media, as its name implies, is looking to reach captive audiences — which may explain why it's looking to bring marketers into the loo. The Chelmsford, England-based firm made a splash last year when its urinal-mounted-and-controlled game console appeared on the British version of Dragon’s Den as the first hands-free video gaming console of its kind. That appearance prompted Ogilvy and other British companies to sign up for a trial.

It just raised $700,000 in seed funding to expand its network of interactive units to even more bars, hotels and airports. How they work brings a whole new meaning to P.O.S. — the game action is controlled by aiming left and right. An infrared beam enables simple games and quizzes to be “pee-controlled” with nothing installed on the urinal itself other than washable stickers as points of desired interaction. According to its research, the average man spends 55 seconds at a urinal – 55 golden, undivided seconds with eyes focused straight ahead — so why not onto your brand or campaign?Continue reading...

With everybody whipping through commercials on their DVRs, product placement on prime-time television is fairly prevalent these days. As Seth MacFarlane commented to the New York Times this week, we even speak in brands — "On any give day, how many times do you reference a piece of pop culture or a brand name? I bet it’s a lot more often than we think. 'I’m going across the street to Starbucks.' 'I’ll make a Xerox of it.' Our daily lives are packed with proper nouns of the corporate kind."

So it should come as no surprise that MacFarlane is a champion of brand synergy, as he's showing by leveraging his hit Fox animated series Family Guy to promote his big-screen debut as a director. Even though his R-rated movie Ted doesn't hit theaters until June 29, its foul-mouthed star has already found his way into Family Guy Online, a 3D game extension of the hit animated comedy that launched last fall.

After all, the film is directed, cowritten, and partially voiced by MacFarlane so it was a natural fit to cross-promote the film and television show. And given that Ted is cut from the same cloth as Family Guy (although it's a live-action comedy starring a CGI raunchy, talking teddy bear plus Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis) the movie/game crossover promotion was a no-brainer move for MacFarlane and Fox — and a handful of invited brand partners.Continue reading...