Spain emerged victorious on the 2010 World Cup field, but the winner in branded music is Coca-Cola's World Cup anthem. K'Naan's Wavin’ Flag has achieved #1 status around the world and is poised to live on as a catchy earworm that proves the power of sonic branding. Find out more about Coca-Cola's campaign after the jump.Continue reading...

Brandchannel's Abe Sauer might not be convinced by Old Spice's "Be a Man, Man" campaign, but it's not stopping the brand, which just rolled out a :15 spot featuring Isaiah Mustafa in a rowboat (and double 'stache). Read Abe's case against the award-winning campaign from a brand perspective, and join our debate to share your thoughts.

In October 1993, a television ad with the tag line "got milk?" first appeared. It was part of a campaign to increase milk consumption by making the drink appear "cool."

Previous ads conveyed the nutritional value of milk — but this and subsequent ads demonstrated that milk was the perfect sidekick to cookies, chocolate cake, and other "junk food." As the campaign matured, a series of "milk mustache" ads also appeared, showing celebrities and VIPs sporting an upper lip adorned by the white stuff.

Well, sometimes in the branding world, the more things change the more they stay the same. Not only is "got milk?" and the ubiquitous celebrity milk mustache campaign still around, it's spreading beyond ads to social media and the public, via a national tour that's traveling to 75 U.S. cities through September.Continue reading...

Fresh from winning the Association of Independent Commercial Producers' commercial of the year nod for The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, Old Spice brings back Isaiah Mustafa for its latest spot in the campaign. Click here for a "making of" look at its award-winning Super Bowl spot, and watch AICP CEO Matt Miller (and NBC's Matt Lauer) gush after the jump.Continue reading...

Levi's is following up its award-winning Go Forth campaign, above, with a campaign shot in Braddock, a cash-strapped town in Pennyslvania that made headlines last year.

Instead of models, the ads—slated to premiere, per the punning moniker, on July 4th—will show local residents and include the words “Braddock, Pa.” The town will also be featured in a Levi-sponsored hourlong show to run online and on the IFC and Sundance cable networks in the U.S.

“We wanted to engage consumers in a conversation about real work,” Doug Sweeny, Levi’s U.S. VP of brand marketing, tells the New York Times. “The apparel category can be about posing, about being somebody you’re not ... you always feel your true, authentic self when you put on a pair of Levi’s jeans.”

In keeping with that theme, Levi Strauss is donating more than a million dollars to renovate Braddock's community center and boost local farming.

Watch the Go Forth spot which kicked off the series after the jump.Continue reading...

It's the first day of summer and thoughts turn to vacations, beaches... and of course, ice cream. And it doesn't get much better than earning a free ice cream just for smiling. Swing by a "Share Happy" ice cream vending machine this summer and it will attempt to engage you with visual tricks, and then encourage you to give it your most winning smile. When your smile is big enough according to the "smile-o-meter," the machine takes a photo, asks for your permission to upload it onto Facebook, and then rewards you with your choice of a free ice cream.

The vending machine is the brainchild of SapientNitro, a consumer experience company who developed "Share Happy" for Unilever, the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer. As the promotion notes on its Facebook page, "You know the brand as FRIGO, LANGNESE, ESKIMO, ALGIDA, WALL'S, OLA etc., depending on where you come from. In short: The heart brand is the world's favourite ice cream."Continue reading...

Brandchannel has rated brands' ambush marketing campaigns to tap into World Cup fever. Now, it's time to look at marketing efforts from FIFA's 2010 brand partners.

When it comes to official sponsors, FIFA is being more selective this year. This World Cup claims just six top-level brand partners, a steep drop from 15 in 2006.

The total value of its 2010 sponsorships reportedly tops $1.2 billion, with brands like Adidas and Visa forking over $350 million each and Sony ponying up $305 million for the honor. Meanwhile, Coca Cola says this is the brand's largest campaign ever.

This goal of this World Cup's crop of commercials? Outdo the 2006 Adidas ad, a true fan favorite. It captured the World Cup spirit, star power, humor, and futbol skills. It was everything a World Cup ad should be.

Here's how this year's ads from FIFA's official brand partners stack up, graded from 1-10:

ADIDAS: Star Wars - Adidas has the daunting challenge of outdoing its prior "Legends" ad, a hit at the 2006 Cup. Not only was it a fan favorite, it was measurably successful; Adidas saw a sales increase of 30% during the 2006 event. Its entry this cycle? A mash-up of the iconic Star Wars cantina scene and modern pop culture (with cameos including British soccer god David Beckham) is generating huge buzz. But after the neat-o stunt nature of the spot wears off, it's apparent that it's a bit of a missed opportunity.Continue reading...

Esurance is moving from the cartoon to the real world.

Starting today, its animated commercials featuring a perky go-getter named Erin are being replaced with human actors. Erin, whose "agent" guises ranged from Bollywood babe to Lara Croft-like adventurer, is now relegated to background mascot status on wall posters, desktops and computer screens in the spots' fictional Esurance corporate HQ.

The online insurer explains to the New York Times' Stuart Elliott that it's dumping Erin (in a manner of speaking) to woo other women (namely, female consumers), along with less digitally-savvy older consumers and the "married or partnered."

The spots also introduce a new tagline: “People when you want them. Technology when you don’t."Continue reading...