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...

Jack Myers, CEO of Jack Myers Media Business Report, opened the Social TV Summit in New York on Thursday by noting that there has been, and will be, more technological evolution taking place in the next decade than all the new technology that has emerged since the Industrial Revolution.

“The artistry of how to use it is the next phase as we shift from an embrace of hardware to response and use," he said. "It’s no longer about change, but stability. Companies and brands are stability agents — taking chaos and translating it into stability rather than just information, and the method for this is panning through technology.”

The opening panel took a look at an industry-first, the social novella, as crafted by Mondelez’s Trident brand, Telemundo NBC and Starcom MediaVest, a collaboration that resulted in the web series, Secreteando. Composed of ten interactive online episodes, including v-blogs segments, extended scenes, broadcast promos and a one-hour on-demand version of the series, it iterates storytelling to digital and social through use of the second screen.Continue reading...

In an interesting spin on product placement, the Target x Neiman Marcus Holiday24 cllection is being promoted on Sunday night's episode of Revenge on ABC (Twitter hashtag: #GiftofRevenge).  The episode is arranged in five vignettes, Target notes, adding that, "The episode will air with limited commercial breaks, as fans will be treated to a show-within-a-show complete with its own plot full of twists and turns."

Deutsche Telekom's Cannes Lions-winning film project called "Move On," described as "a road movie like no other, because it is inspired by film fans from all over Europe" has made its big screen debut, premiering last night in Berlin. The branded entertainment project, which started unfolding online in May as part of its "Life is for Sharing" banner, was directed by Asger Leth and features actor Mads Mikkelsen (who starred in Casino Royale, The Three Musketeers, Monsters vs. Aliens and Clash of the Titans) on a secret mission in eight episodes, each taking place in a different European country and incorporating fans. Samsung and Volkswagen also supported the project, which you can check out at move-on-film.com.

Uncle Drew (Cleveland Caveliers' breakout star Kyrie Irving) and Wes (Minnesota Timberwolves' star Kevin Love) are back and on a mission: to go out and get the old team back together. The players and spectators at a Los Angeles basketball court had no idea what was about to happen and were told that they would be filmed for some "basketball B-roll footage" for a local TV station. The resulting video, a mix of product placement and branded entertainment, was uploaded by Pepsi MAX on Oct. 30 and already has more than 1.5 million views. 

The LA crowd is in disbelief when these two old-timers give it a go in the court, and reveal how much better they really are. It's quite a spectacle, the second in the series so far, and a definite win for Pepsi MAX — although surely they can't keep fooling locals with NBA All-Stars in disguise much longer. The PepsiCo-owned brand released the first "Uncle Drew" video with Irving earlier this year, which was then turned into a 30-second commercial that ran during the NBA finals last season. More details in the ESPN interview and behind-the-scenes clips below.Continue reading...

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney aren't the only ones who want the votes of women this fall: Chevrolet is also pursuing women for the new Malibu, and so the brand has enlisted designer Isaac Mizrahi to get some fashion-forward attention for a vehicle that hasn't been known for being on the cutting edge of couture.

Mizrahi has designed a preppy collection (in patriotic colors of red, white and blue) of Chevy Malibu-inspired clothing, Malibu Style. It's exclusively being sold on the LivingSocial deals website, with its six pieces ranging from a bright blue totebag to an oversized watch, at prices ranging from $78 to $298.

The New York-based Mizrahi has colllaborated in the past with the likes of Target and QVC, but this collaboration aims at getting women to take a closer look at a nameplate that otherwise might not get their attention.Continue reading...

Ford has taken some arrows as the auto industry's social-media-marketing leader, most notably around a staged press conference in Sept. 2011 that was pushed out on social media. But for the most part, the automaker's social aggressiveness has helped it conquer new territory. Becoming an acknowledged trailblazer in the arena also has helped Ford sidestep potential problems that can attend companies if they get too far out on social-media limbs.

"Ford being well-respected ... in the social space, has given us an added level of credibility and it has given us a legion of fans who actually act as our eyes and ears and who can flag stuff for us," Scott Monty, Ford's director of social media, told Business Insider. People are "looking out for our best interests and will say, you know, 'You guys might want to take a look at this.'" Including, evidently, the company's CEO.Continue reading...

Ford sales inched ahead in September largely due to two increasingly important sub-brands: the 2013 Ford Escape, and EcoBoost engines.

Both Escape and EcoBoost rose with a bullet during the month, with sales of the newly overhauled, iconic utility vehicle rising by nearly 15 percent over last year's sales of an earlier generation of the nameplate. It was the best-ever September for Escape.

And about 90 percent of Escapes sold came equipped with an EcoBoost engine, the Ford technology that allows a turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder engine to yield the same power — with improved mileage — of a six-cylinder of yore. In addition to traditional marketing, Ford is promoting the 2013 Escape with a branded entertainment project: "Escape My Life," a web series now rolling out on the models' YouTube channel.Continue reading...