Co-Creation Festival From Tennents Lager

Tennents have come up with a great way of staging a festival... set up a web 2.0 website and let the fans decide how to spend the £150,000 of cash.

Here's a lift from their about page...

"Revolutionise Scotland’s live music scene – artists, locations, venues, ticket prices: you decide.

The Tennent's Mutual is transforming Scotland’s live music landscape by switching influence from the hands of the industry, into the heart of the music community.

By encouraging music lovers to invest its annual music budget, The Tennent’s Mutual is empowering Scotland’s gigging enthusiasts to own and control a new music agenda: for music fans, by music fans.

We’re putting our money where our mouth is: Tennent’s have donated a start-up fund of £150k for 2008, with a view to enabling you to devise and programme a series of live shows in Scotland in October / November this year. And the process starts right now!

All ticket income generated from The Tennent’s Mutual shows 2008 will be reinvested to increase next year’s budget for the project. This ensuing sum will be further fortified by an annual donation from Tennent’s Lager’s music budget. As for how said money is spent – that’s up to you.

The Tennent's Mutual is electrifying the live music landscape. Its scope is vast. And it's in your hands.

Use the left-hand menu bar for the lowdown on getting involved, plus lots more info on The Tennent's Mutual."

What a fresh idea for a festival.

Heineken Keg - Age Checker

How boring it is having to use LPA/LDA pages on booze sites that make you input your date of birth. I know it has to be done but it's never done very creatively.

Heineken have bucked this trend by using the format below which means you only have to click 3 times to get into the site. Easy. And smart too.

Have a look at the image below or better still visit their site.

McDonald's - Open all night

I found this on I believe in advertising and thought it was very clever. Nice sizzle.

BAR.08

BAR Show 08 maintained its legendary status demonstrating luxury drinks brands, premium beers, essential new ingredients and other specialist bar services. This year, the Show offered a more focused approach to the different sectors within premium hospitality by introducing BAR Build and BAR Menu to run alongside the traditional BAR Show. Here are some of the highlights...

Although Beam did not have a stand at the show this year, Hornitos was represented at La Embaja da de Tequila, where Tomas Estes, Julio Bermejo and Phil Bayly hosted a tequila class featuring virtual tours, videos and tutored tastings.


The demo bar harnessed the skills and creativity of bartenders from across the globe. People gathered at the action packed arena to discover unique ways to spice up their cocktail offering.


Inflatable Red Bull dome used to promote Red Bull Cola


Frangelico took a new approach to sampling with their Frangelico ice cream, a refreshing change.


The Vedett stand was in fact a camper van. People were invited inside to relax and enjoy an ice cold bottle of Vedett. As a takeaway Vedett were producing personalised bottles. People queued to have their photograph taken in the Vedett booth which was then printed onto the bottle label and transferred onto the back of the bottle. A nice idea.


http://www.barshow.co.uk/

Berocca's Blogger Relief Pack is a great idea...

so long as I get one!



"Blogging can be stressful. We live in a world where millions of people
read and demand new content from websites every day.

The Blogger Relief Pack comes to the rescue of those tired minds. Be part of the Blogger Relief campaign to rescue those we rely on to feed our insatiable hunger for the weird wide web.

If you’ve got a blog, fill in your details and you could receive a Blogger Relief Pack from Berocca. Keep on blogging and we’ll feature some of the best blogs we see on this page in the coming weeks."

It's a great mechanic and a very well targeted initiative. Seth and co would be proud.

Visit Berocca's site here.

A novel vending machine...

Article sourced from this week's Contagious Newsletter.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Now this may sound like a slightly unlikely scenario, but just in case you ever find yourself with $20k in loose change burning a hole in your pocket, then we suggest you get yourself over to Shibuya Station in Tokyo, where Smart has set up a giant vehicle vending machine...

Ok, so this doesn't actually dispense cars, but it does pop-out small canisters containing brochures for the cars along with sheets of stickers showing the various colour options. Also, as we would expect for the highly connected Japanese market, the literature directs users to the Smart website, playsmart.jp, not via a written URL, but via a QR code, which when photographed with a mobile phone camera, links through to the digital portal.

Once on the website, visitors can then 'play smart' - an addictive application which allows you create your own smart car with a variety of funky paint jobs and graphics, before racing it around a series of 3D circuits. As you progress through the levels, your interactivity is rewarded with more customisable options for your car.

Once you are satisfied with your level of 'pimp', you can then submit your design along with a user name and in doing so, add your creation to the colourful swarm of Smart Cars on the home page. However (and this is where it gets really good), to finish things off, you can then print out a colour net of your vehicle, to construct a proper miniature 3D model!

Smart has clearly identified its audience with this delightful integrated assault on the Japanese market. The vending machine and use of QR codes pander nicely to the desire for instant gratification, whilst the online gaming function will no-doubt be welcomed with tech-savvy, Japanese arms. Round this off with an cute, low-fi way to turn your digital design into a real-world reward and we'd say it's a winner!

www.playsmart.jp

In an emergency

I saw this on the tube after the alcohol ban came into effect. Very cool piece of guerilla marketing!

Moonshine Media Private view sponsored by Hornitos

Click here to view presentation...

| View | Upload your own

Urban Winery

From Springwise:

"When we first covered San Francisco-based Crushpad back in 2005, the idea of a winery in an urban centre was surprising. Crushpad has since blossomed, and now a like-minded contender on the opposite end of the nation is picking up on the notion and combining it with a wine bar.

Due to open this fall, City Winery will combine a wine bar and event space with a fully operational winery in the heart of Soho, New York City. The private-label winery—apparently the city's first—will let consumers choose their favourite grape, consult with City Winery's master winemaker and then crush, ferment, bottle and label their own bottles of wine. The company will have the capacity to make about 300 barrels of wine in its first year, and 200 of those will be dedicated to a limited set of members, who will have access to City Winery's state-of-the-art equipment and professional team. Grape varietals will be sourced from vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington State, New York, Chile and Argentina under strict temperature control, and customers will be able to work with City Winery's specialists in person or online to customize their barrel, participating as much or as little as they like in the process. Membership is available on three levels, beginning at USD 5,000 annually plus the cost of grapes, barrels and labelling for about 250 bottles of wine. Wine classes are also included, as is the opportunity to trade bottles with other members; wine sales, however, are prohibited. About a third of City Winery's barrels have already been sold, according to its site.

City Winery's venue side, meanwhile, features a flexible space that can accommodate up to 200 people seated or 400 standing, with an in-house stage and sound system. A full catering kitchen is onsite to serve the venue's multiple dining and tasting rooms, while the wine bar will have more than 50 wines available by the glass each night. Through City Winery's VinoFile membership program, customers can track their wine consumption and get related suggestions from the on-site sommeliers and winemakers. A special cheese bar from Greenwich Village-based Murray's Cheese, meanwhile, will be manned by a full-time expert to create the appropriate wine pairings from a selection of over 30 cheeses. City Winery also plans to create unique pairings of private concerts with such delicacies as wine and chocolates, mushrooms or truffles, port or scotch.

Frequent Springwise readers will undoubtedly notice the way City Winery's efforts tap into the customer-made and still made here trends, while offering consumers some much-sought-after status skills to boot. Will City Winery follow in Crushpad's footsteps and relax its rule prohibiting wine commerce among its customers? We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, one to watch!"

Veuve Cliquot Riva Partnership

From NotCot:


"Classic Italian yacht maker, Riva, (yes, the ones that you can stick a Lamborghini engine in) teams up with Veuve Clicquot in their latest beautiful design collaboration, that makes me dream of living the dolce vita lifestyle, and has me desperately yearning to hop a plane back to Italy to relax on Lago di Como.

They have launched La Grande Dame by Riva Collection which includes three products in mahogany, chrome and leather - the Cruise Collection, Cruiser Bag, and ice bucket ~ the Cruise Collection contains 4 bottles of La Grande Dame 98, 2 magnums of La Grande Dame 88, 6 champagne flutes Riedel and 6 water tumblers, plates, table mats and cutlery ~ the Cruiser Bag contains a bottle of La Grande Dame 98 and two champagne flutes. Full photo spread to help you fantasize about the Riva/Veuve Clicquot lifestyle on the next page… as well as some background on the incredible story of Riva… and i found some amazing original sketches of the various Riva boats over the last 40 years worth taking a peek at!

p.s.
no, i’m not condoning drinking and boating ~ have a designated driver?

And on a side note ~ for those of you unfamiliar with Riva… to be honest it was vaguely familiar with it, and upon a call to my dad, i’ve suddenly spent the last few hours flashing back to the 70’s hearing his tales about Riva’s in their prime, family friend, Gino Gervasoni, who was partner to Carlo Riva since 1950 and took over in 1971, how the owner of some of the hottest Singapore nightclubs now used to be the main Riva rep for all of asia… so, surprisingly, i must say, one of the awesome perks to running this site, is getting a chance to find out more of the secrets in my parent’s pasts!

As for Riva - the story dates back to 1842 Lago di Como (see the full story at the bottom of the post) ~ It stays in the family generation after generation ~ they start mass producing in the 50’s as waterskiiing begins to take off ~ and it really becomes seen as the Ferrarri/Lamborghini of the sea in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s when they capture the attention of the film world (yes that’s Brigitte Bardot in ‘68 in the bottom left of the top image) ~ in the 70’s they introduce Fiberglass production ~ in 1969 Carlo Riva sells the yard to the American company Whittaker ~ and Gino Gervasoni, his partner since 1950 takes his place ~ in 1991, Rolls Royce takes control of the company and Gervasoni (married to Carlo Riva’s sister) steps down, ending the family legacy with the company ~ and in 2000 Italian Yacht powerhouse, Ferretti, takes over and continues to run Riva today. Going through the history in pictures is a fascinating quick study on the history and evolution of the luxury/speed boat industry, and the images and stories of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s seem like such a romantic, nostalgic, fun era to have missed out on!







1) Cruise Collection: a “made to measure” piece and costs $80,000 - comes with 4 bottles of La Grande Dame 98, 2 magnums of La Grande Dame 88, 6 champagne flutes Riedel and 6 water tumblers, plates, table mats and cutlery.


2) Cruiser Bag: Limited Edition piece (only 300 pieces available) - includes a bottle of La Grande Dame 98 and two champagne flutes. Available from July and costs $425

From a design standpoint, i can’t not share some of the gorgeous sketches of Riva’s boats as well!



I love this “myth” of Riva:

The Riva myth starts on the banks of Lake Como, in Laglio, in 1842. One Spring day a fisherman arrives from Sarnico, a village on Lake Iseo in the province of Bergamo. Stunned by how the young Pietro Riva, born in Laglio on 12 March 1822, is repairing his boat that has been damaged by a load of bricks, the visitor proposes he go to Sarnico to repair two boats that have been damaged by the Oglio River bursting its banks and throwing them against the rocks on the river bed. Covering the seventy miles that separate the two lakes marks Pietro’s emancipation and the birth of Riva’s history.

Pietro’s skill is noticed once again in a wooden hut on the River Oglio and his ability as carpenter finds an environment willing to offer him boats both to repair and build. The first commission he receives is for a “fishing boat and Comacine type rowing boat”, probably a streamline “inglesina” for one, two and three rowers. The young Riva is able to set himself up and, ten years later, marry Lucrezia Taroni. They have five children: Angelo, Francesco, Ernesto, Erminia and Luigi.

Ernesto is sent to Laglio to learn the trade and on returning to Sarnico joins his father as a skilled carpenter. He senses engines are the future and proposes they build larger models. A new yard is needed, built on the other side of the bridge over the River Oglio: it is the so-called “tesone”, due to the particular type of roof. Business increases rapidly.

In 1881 Ernesto Riva marries Carolina Malighetti, with whom he has six children: Francesco, Angelo, Serafino, Mauro, Anna and Pierina. In the meantime Ernesto is commissioned to make the first motorboat. Success encourages him to build one of his own. He proposes the first tourist trips on the lake with this boat that he calls Sarnico. In particular the trip to Montisola, the largest lake-island in Europe, includes a visit to the shipyard at lunchtime. Mrs. Riva’s kitchen turns into a restaurant that honours the local gastronomic tradition and livens up holidays in particular."

Another great example of Veuve Cliquot's PR/Blogging design programme. As ever a very well matched partnership that adds to their premium image and gets Veuve talked about.

akdoV raeB naissuR

From Adverteyes


"Lowe Bull in South Africa, created a "propaganda" poster for Russian Bear Vodka that was placed on the walls facing bathroom mirrors in pubs and clubs. At first glance, the writing appeared to be in Cyrillic Alphabet (probably meaning nothing), but when looked at through the mirror, the letters reversed to read in plain English: Real "Men Don't Drink and Drive." A nice sort of a mirror game, that can surprise somebody when first seen, probably making him think he drank too much ;-)

Simple and effective creative method, for a social interest message."

Neat way to amplify a simple creative message. Not sure what comes next thought. There's only so much mirror writing you can do?



Thanks to Thesoni for the image.

Hennessey VSOP x Devilock Palm Boy

From Freshness Mag

"French lux cognac label Hennessy, along with DEVILOCK, will launch a temporary concept store in the capital city of Taiwan on the first week of July. By amalgamating luxury concepts and urban styles, both labels will offer a commemorative products - a limited edition PALMBOY figure with every purchase of Hennessy V.S.O.P. cognac. This offer will start this Friday, June 13th till July 1st at all participating Hennessy retailers in Taiwan. In addition, each buyer will have the chance to participate the VIP party/grand opening of Hennessy x DEVILOCK Taipei City Concept Store in July. More information to come in the near future."







Reminds me a lot of the "Fast" that CP+B created for VW Golf GTI fans in the States. They landed up selling for $800 on Ebay. I wonder whether Hennessy will have the same success? Or whether people will be as baffled as I am about how much they are cheapening their brand.



It goes to show that objects of sociablity, or ooze, as Hugh Macleod would call them, do get picked up and talked about.

Diva Bar- Boston, Massachusetts

Check out this cool bar in the US article sourced from:

http://www.thememagazine.co.uk/

It’s enough to make most other projects look creativelybland. Covered entirely in cell-like, bulbous LED panels,Diva Lounge in Boston (Massachusetts, not Lincolnshire) hasbeen constructed to evoke a surreal, cloud-like experience.The other-worldly design, by Studio Luz Architects in Boston,continues with bathroom pods, the kind not seen since Sketch, in a tactile ‘goose bump’ finish.More down-to-earth elements serve as a foil to all this modernity, with worm-eaten, disease-killed wood used as the bar itself, as well as an underlit veneer elsewhere, creating an intriguing porous skin on surfaces.Originally, the aim had been for LED panels that would change colour slowly and subtly, but this proved too expensive, so the colours are fixed and grouped according to where customers will sit.Nevertheless, it’s innovative to see lighting forming the basisfor an entire design rather than simply augmenting more conventional stylings, and represents a complete transformation for the former retail space that presented a challenge by being so long and thin (90ft by 14ft). The bar’s owners have refused to say how much it has cost.

Grey Goose Summer Cockatils

From Luxist:

"Grey Goose, the super-premium vodka blended and bottled in the celebrated Cognac region of Western France, has come up with some suitably chic new summer cocktails for refreshing oneself in high style. Grey Goose Master Mixologist Nick Matoune foraged at local greenmarkets and farm stands for fresh ingredients including fruits, herbs and berries for his latest concoctions: The L'Orange Carlyle Cocktail, Le Citron Kirby, La Poire Goldenrod, Pink Cadillac, and Heather 81. "I use freshly made, freshly squeezed, freshly picked ingredients for most of my drinks, which is not as complicated as it sounds," Matoune tells Luxist - a philosophy we espouse ourselves. "These drinks are crisp and refreshing and highlight the natural bounty of summer. The simplicity of the ingredients belies the layers of complexity inherent in their subtle, natural flavors." See the gallery for photos and recipes and get ready for some seriously mouthwatering mixology."

Bacardi Mojito

From Luxist:

"We could hardly be called big fans of pre-mixed drinks, so we were not overly enthusiastic when a bottle of Bacardi's new "ready to serve" Classic Mojito cocktail first arrived. Its atypical clean design and high-quality ingredients - Bacardi Superior rum, the kind they've been making since 1862, and natural mint and lime flavorings - softened us a little, however, so in the spirit of journalistic inquiry we decided to give it a try.

We love Mojitos but if you've every tried making 'em for 12 or more ravenously thirsty guests -- as we have on more than one occasion, exhausting the local supply of mint, limes and patience in the process - you'll realize the appeal of such a product if done properly, and we were pleasantly surprised by this one.

We think the late, great Kingsley Amis would approve, especially as he advocated expediency in matters of dispensing drinks to several people at once. Take heed of the following however: crushed ice is essential as is fresh mint and lime for the sake of verisimilitude. A quarter of a lime and a sprig of mint per drink should do it, a fraction of what the handmade version calls for, and there's no need to get muddled."

Veuve Sponsors Polo in NYC

From Luxist:

"On Saturday, renowned French champagne house Veuve Clicquot staged the first polo match in Manhattan in 70 years. The match, between two North American Polo League (NAPL) teams - Ralph Lauren's Black Watch, captained by Polo model Nacho Figueras, and Asprey's Skeeterville, captained by Will Johnston - was played on Governor's Island, the 172-acre former Army base on Manhattan's southern tip. New York is often cited as the birthplace of American polo c.1876, and Army officers played the sport on Governor's Island until just before the onset of World War II in 1941. Black Watch bested Asprey 10 - 6 in the inaugural match of the Veuve Cliquot Manhattan Polo Classic. Veuve Clicquot has long supported polo in Europe, and since last year other parts of the U.S. as well, such as the Greenwich Polo Club in Connecticut."

Prince Charles Visits Laphroaig

From Luxist:

"Yesterday Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, paid a visit to the home of his favorite Scotch whisky, the Laphroaig distillery on Islay. Laphroaig, established in 1815, is one of the richest, smokiest single malts and one of the very best Scotches ever produced. It holds a Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales, which he confirmed while there, and bears his heraldic three-feather badge on its label. The kilt-clad Charles and Camilla - who are known as by their local title, the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, while traveling in Scotland - toured the distillery, learned about (and leant a hand in) its production and nosed whiskies of different ages. The Prince also signed two barrels of maturing spirit and an ultra-rare 40-year-old bottle of Laphroaig, one of only a handful left in the world, all to be auctioned off for charity. The 40-year-old was worth about $5,000 before he applied the royal signature. The proceeds from the auctions will go to the charities of Charles' choice."

7 Deadly Sins Glasses

Holy hell as Scott would say. This is awesome!

Hamilton Design have created these brilliant 7 Deadly Sins themed glasses. I can barely express how badly I want a set. Druel...


Pride


Sloth


Wrath


Envy


Gluttony


Greed


Lust

If anyone is listening... can I have a set please?!

Via Boing Boing

Martini serves up UK on-trade campaign

4 June 2008 | Source: just-drinks.com editorial team

Martini is launching its first UK on-trade campaign in 15 years offering fruit juice-based serves for its three existing variants as well as launching a new addition to its stable.

The £2million marketing campaign, which kicks off 4 June, is fronted by Natalie Imbruglia to launch the new rosé Martini Rosato variant.

The new serves will be promoted as long drinks and pitchers across bars and restaurants nationwide, and include Martini Rosato with pomegranate juice, Martini Bianco and Martini Extra Dry with apple juice and Martini Rosso with cranberry juice.

The campaign will also include on-trade activation in over 2,000 premium venues including All Bar One, Browns restaurant, Ha Ha, Pitcher & Piano and Slug & Lettuce from 10 June.

Liam Newton, Martini's director of marketing said: "Martini is no longer about lemonade, it's about long drinks and pitchers mixed with refreshing fruit juices that we believe will truly reinvigorate Martini's on trade performance.

"Not only are the fruit juice mixes on trend, but the new Britvic pomegranate juice makes offering the serve practical, even for lower throughput venues."

Interesting Commentary on the UK Gordon's Gin Campaign

From Where's the Sausage:

"A great column by Professor Mark Ritson in Marketing last week, taking about the importance of authenticity. Had me nodding my head vigorously from start to end. Here's why:

Consumers have always wanted authenticity: Mark says:

"Consumers want brands burned with the mark of their founders, not artificially engineered by their agencies. They want to know who made the brand, where and why".

Great quote. It sums up pretty well the whole idea behind this blog and my belief about brands based on substance, not spin. Most of the brands blogged about here are "burned with the mark of their founders" (e.g. innocent, Apple, Gu, Method, Harley Davidson. Aston Martin).

Consumers are smart: you can't invent authenticity. You either have it or you don't. And trying to invent it may work at first, but you're likely to get found out. As Mark says, "Most consumers are a lot smarter and more genuine than the marketers who target them."

"Beware the tenuous celebrity link up: Another campaign I've struggled with is Gordon's Gin using chef Gordon Ramsay in its ads. The main reason seems to be that he shares the name Gordon with the brand (and he's demanding of quality, loves Gordon's gin etc.). The problem is that this bloke also endorses loads of other products. And Mark suggests they should have done more with the story of the real Gordon, Alexander Gordon, who created the brand over 200 years ago."

Live Honda Ad

Wow!

Honda Live Advert Sky Dive Difficult is worth doing
by unitedgoals

Li

Strategically great. Executionally brilliant. Honda advertising goes from stregth to stregth.

Good old power of dreams!

What a great way of making a small media budget go a long way... not that Honda have got small budget!

via Three Minds at Organic.