Consumers with limited time, plus the rapid emergence and popularity of mobile apps equals a new class of service-oriented “brand butlers,” according to consumer insights firm trendwatching.com.

The folks at trendwatching.com define brand butlers as brand-building efforts that assist consumers in making the most of their lives, as opposed to the traditional branding model of selling them a lifestyle or identity.

A splitting of hairs? Maybe. But it’s a good and timely read when you consider the proliferation of iPhone apps.

Here are some quick examples (from the article) of how major companies have implemented this idea of becoming a brand butler:

• MasterCard’s ATM Hunter iPhone app allows users to find their nearest ATMs.
• Domino’s Pizza Tracker allows customers to follow the progress of their pizza order from preparation through to delivery via a web interface.
• Beck’s Gig Finder app helps users find local music gigs.
• IKEA’s Covoiturage allows the furniture giant’s French customers to arrange car-sharing to and from their stores.

So, what do we think of these brand butlers? Simply cool tactics or an emerging new approach to branding as trendwatching.com suggests?

It’s risky. It’s not for every brand. And it’s inevitable.

This past Monday, more than 30 women showed up at the Netherlands-Denmark match wearing orange mini-dresses emblazoned with the name of a Dutch brewery – earning them a red card from World Cup officials who acted to quash what they called ambush marketing.

The women went to the Netherlands-Denmark game dressed as Danish supporters. But, in the 25th minute of the match, they stripped off their red-and-white gear to reveal the bright orange dresses.

Much PR for the Dutch brewer ensued. Much derision and outrage from FIFA as well. The latter, of course, is because this kind of ambush levers the spectacle of World Cup to garner huge awareness without paying hefty sponsorship fees.

Ambush marketing isn’t merely a tactic for niche and challenger brands either. One classic example occurred at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, when the iconic Nike brand covered the city in ads, benefiting from the focus on the city for the Olympics. The official sponsor that year? Adidas.

Ambush marketing is a source of frustration for the governing bodies like FIFA, and of course for the companies who pay the millions in sponsorship fees associated with legitimate marketing rights.

Me? I enjoy a bit of mischief.

How do you make people think twice about driving drunk when they don’t think it’s a big deal? You put a price on the consequences. Literally.

$73,000 Bar Tab is an in-bar initiative the racks up the real costs of drinking and driving onto the actual bills of unsuspecting customers in two of Brazil’s most popular bars. The unorthodox tactic yielded an 80% increase in the number of cabs called from those locations (an equally unorthodox metric!). Plus, its nearing a quarter of a million hits on YouTube is helping spread the message further afield.

A big idea from Ogilvy Brazil and one that, unlike so many responsible-use campaigns, eschews TV ads in favour of an in-bar tactic. Bars, of course, being the ultimate point of connection in this category.

Lovely work.

A bit of World Cup humour.

A new book by David Kirkpatrick called The Facebook Effect landed in stores last week. I haven’t read it (yet) but the New York Times, in its review, excerpted a paragraph that caught my attention:

“Members of Facebook’s radical transparency camp, Zuckerberg included, believe more visibility makes us better people. Some claim, for example, that because of Facebook, young people today have a harder time cheating on their boyfriends or girlfriends. They also say that more transparency should make for a more tolerant society in which people eventually accept that everybody sometimes does bad or embarrassing things.”

So, what does everyone think? Will social media exposure make us better people?

In a Telegraph article on Monday, English footballer Alan Ball had this to say about teamwork:

“When I was preparing for the World Cup, Alf Ramsey came over to me and asked if I had a dog. I had, and he asked if I threw it a ball or a stick. I knew he was trying to get something out of me so I said ‘a ball’. And then he said does he bring it back to you? ‘Yes, and sometimes he brings it right to my feet.’ ‘That’s what I want you to do for Bobby Charlton,’ Alf said. ‘I want you and Nobby Stiles to bring the ball to his feet.’ He wanted the pair of us to sacrifice ourselves for the team.”

It’s an anecdotal lesson he was laying out for England on the ego-slaying required of its midfielders if they want to win the Cup. But there’s also a lesson here for Marketers and their Agencies. An obvious one, perhaps, but not one that’s easily learned . . . we’d all prefer to be Wayne Rooney!

Late last week we launched a Facebook application to support Budweiser’s Official FIFA World Cup sponsorship. It’s a global app, for a global brand. For Grip, it’s a win on the world stage. It’s our World Cup.

To say that Show Your True Colours was an exercise in teamwork would be an understatement. What began as an idea for an iPhone app from Jeff and Anton got tipped down the line by Colin and Matt who saw it more feasibly as a Facebook property; they, along with Adam, performed a bit of juggling that would see it take on legs beyond Facebook; a square pass to Jason Pearl gave the idea its “look” and what followed was a considerable bit of give and go from our development team: Thomas, Meg, Heung, Richard and Ben H. A spectacular show of collaboration, none of which would have been possible without the coaching efforts of my partner Bob G, Jacki and Shane.

To say that we’re proud of this work? Also an understatement.

Credits:
Art Direction: Jason Pearl, Anton Ratinsky, Colin Craig
Writer: Matt Rogers, Jeff Collins
Flash: Heung Lee
IA: Richard Brenkley
Producer: Thomas Degez/Meg Norton
Tech Direction: Ben Huxley, Jacoub Bondre
Account: Adam Luck, Shane Holmes, Jacki Powell
Developers: Ean Bowman, Dylan Dempsey, Tony Valderrama, Matthew Peckham
Conceptual Development: Jeff Collins, Anton Ratinsky, Adam Luck, Colin Craig, Matt Rogers, Bob Goulart

The English language is a work in progress. Words exist today that didn’t exist a hundred years ago: “Google,” “celebutante” and, the more obvious, “bahookie.” Others have fallen away: “Anon,” “Fie” and, “Yoicks” come readily to mind.

At the same time, some words are misused often enough over time that they change meaning in everyday usage. A perfect example of this is “awesome.”

Today, the word “awesome” is taken to mean something that is really good or sensational. What it really describes, if we are faithful to Oxford, is that which inspires awe – a feeling of reverential respect, mixed with fear.

Awesome storms. Awesome dragons. Awesome ex-spouses . . . You get the idea.

Language evolves. This I am not disputing. But I do wonder whether “awesome” hasn’t lost some of its awesomeness? And I wonder if we care?

Here’s a chart. Nothing new about charts, per se. But this one’s great at laying out the many and recurring steps that are in play when brands embark on a social media strategy.

What I love about this chart is that it looks so awfully busy and congested – just like the social media landscape itself.

Before you wade in, take a long hard look at this and ask yourself some key questions to bolster success:

1. Who’s going to own and shepherd this organic and ongoing commitment
for your brand?

2. Are you properly resourced (the right people, enough time, etc.) to engage
and respond to consumers in a timely (ideally real-time) fashion?

3. Are you ready to give up control?

You may not have heard of Banksy before yesterday, but his fame is legend in street culture around the world and it’s growing fast thanks to a new film, which screened at Hot Docs in Toronto last week. Rumour (and a few tagged building sides) suggests he’s also been roaming the streets of Toronto in person.

Banksy is a stencil artist. He creates his work on the street. Like graffiti, but different. Some would say he is a vandal. (One of the measures of his work is how long it lasts before it’s painted over or buffed away by authorities.)

He is more than an artist though. His work is ironic, offering anarchic narratives – he has something to say and the message is as clear as any advertising campaign.

In Banksy’s own words:

“The people who truly deface our neighbourhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message in your face from every available surface, and you’re never allowed to answer back. Well they started the fight and the wall is the weapon of choice to hit them back . . .”

Philosophically, there are shades of Gossage. Practically, he’s an underground phenomenon who may just be well on his way to becoming a part of the very establishment he eschews.

Anyone seen the film yet?

Want to compose a piece of music? Want the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra to play your composition? Click here.

“Sounds of Hamburg” is an amazing (though sluggish to load) project that truly engages music lovers and, arguably, potential tourists. Using live-cam motion tracking, the experience employs web cams, broadcasting live from various parts of the city, to compose classical music in real time.

You select different zones on the picture. Add different instruments to your zones. Every time someone or something passes that zone a sample plays (laid down by the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, no less).

Two brands – the city and its orchestra – merged into one wonderful, innovative and highly addictive experiment.

Enjoy.

p.s. Kudos to agency Jung von Matt/Alster for their brilliance.