Ford and MTV in Bond link-up

Ford and MTV have linked up to create a Bond-themed episode of the MTV reality show 'MADE'. The programme called ‘MTV MADE: Bond Girl Special’ is a joint venture which promotes the appearance of the all-new Ka model in the forthcoming Bond film ‘Quantum of Solace’. In the programme a Bond fan will be transformed into a Bond girl through taking evasive driving lessons, learning combat techniques and taking professional acting and voice coaching lessons. The programme, made in part with Mindshare, will be broadcast in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain with later transmission dates scheduled for the Nordics, Turkey and Latin America. “MTV is renowned for producing fun and entertaining programmes, so we were delighted to work with them to promote the exciting launch of the all-new Ford Ka, and its partnership with the new James Bond film and its Bond girl Olga Kurylenko,” said Joanne Sheehan, marketing manager for Ford of Europe.

Ford launches glamorous campaign

Ford of Europe has teamed up with Condé Nast’s women’s title, Glamour, to launch the new Ford Ka model.

The campaign features Bond lady Olga Kurylenko, who drives the Ka in the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

The venture, brokered for Ford by WPP agency Mindshare, includes 12 Bond-girl-themed advertorial pages in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Dutch editions of Glamour. All activity will also be replicated on Glamour’s online site www.Glamour.com and will go live this week.

Joanne Sheehan, Ford of Europe marketing manager, said: "Glamour is renowned for producing innovative promotions, so we were delighted to work with them to promote the exciting launch of the all-new Ford Ka, and its partnership with the new James Bond film and its leading Bond lady Olga Kurylenko."

Toyota sets up home

Toyota is touring Germany with an innovative campaign for its new iQ designed to introduce consumers to the new super compact vehicle in a relaxed setting. The motor brand is setting up a series of “pop-up” venues in key locations across the country offering not only the chance to experience the new iQ but also free wi-fi and a drink allowing them to demonstrate the ambience of the brand.

Dubbed “Johns appartement” the venues appeared in Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Stuttgart, staying open seven days a week from mid morning through to late in the evening when they also hosted events such as wine tastings, readings and fashion shoots

Consumers could also take part in a daily lottery with the chance to win prizes such as a coffee machine or vouchers for the cinema. The venues were kitted out in “friendly co-operation” with kit from Panasonic, Whirlpool, Nescafe, Volvic and BoConcept.

Each pop-up apartment is being promoted with two weeks of local activity before the venue opens for around four weeks.

Awareness of the new venues is being raised via a wide range of media including local press, social media sites, banner advertising, outdoor with QR code links to take consumers to a mobile portal, radio as well as flyers distributed by promotional teams.

Trend of the Month - Perkonomics

While endlessly fantasizing about The Next Big Thing in the wondrous world of consumerism can be inspiring, execution beats everything. Which is why an easy-to-apply micro-trend like the rising importance of perks and benefits should be on your radar this month and beyond.

Download report HERE

The Tiguan Q&A

I like the interface of the website launched in Japan by Volkswagen to promote its new Tiguan model. The car is at the center of the stage, while all around you find questions (and answers) about its characteristics. This is definitely not the usual way to present a car, it requires a bit of effort from the user and therefore more engagement.

Of course this choice has also a negative side as it might result annoying to the less intuitive and patient users. I would have rather chosen this path for a car with a younger audience (eg. Smart).

Volvo's Rush

On October 4th 2008, the Volvo Ocean Race will start off again in Alicante, Spain. Volvo, head sponsor of the global sailing event, just launched RUSH, a cool interactive film game to promote the event - and offcourse some of their Ocean Race car models.

RENAULT INAUGURATES 'RENAULT LIVE' AT TWITTER.COM

Renault on the 2008 Paris Motor Show has launched 'Renault Live', its instant messaging space on the social networking website Twitter.com. Renault_Live will publish short messages (known as 'tweets', and restricted to 140 characters in length) to relay news from the show, announce the publication of new content available exclusively on Renault's websites (the Renault brand's space on Dailymotion, renault.com, renault.fr, etc.) and keep 'Renault Live' subscribers up to

speed with what is happening on the Renault stand in real time.

This original tool is part of the trend known as 'brandstreaming' which facilitates contact between brands and internet users away from official websites. Renault's Twitter site can be found at http://twitter.com/Renault_Live (or via cell phones: m.twitter.com/renault_live)

Twitter is an on-line social networking and micro-blogging tool which permits users to keep their personal networks informed about what they are up to. It is possible to send and receive updates via the web, instant messaging or digital messaging. The special feature of these updates, known as 'tweets', is their brevity (maximum length: 140 characters) which means that Twitter sites can be updated quickly and at any time.

TWITTER stats (September 2008)

Total users: 2.9 million (source: Twitdir.com)

Total active users: 200,000/week

Total messages: 3 million/day

Renault's Twitter site: http://twitter.com/Renault_Live

Twitter's slogan: "What are you doing?"

Twitter was founded in San Francisco, California, in July 2006.