MIDDLE EAST
DIGITAL WEEK
GADGETS RESULT
Stuff we liked this week
nPower Personal Energy Generator
A new way of powering your
Yes men
mobile gadgets, the nPower
PEG uses the kinetic energy How OgilvyOne’s dancing mechanics are showing consumers
from the holder’s/wearer’s
movements to charge
that ACDelco is about more than car batteries
connected devices. You
could just do that by sitting
there and shaking the stick
around, but that’s more
likely to scare people than
impress them, which—after
all—is the ultimate goal
of gadgets. Better to strap it to your belt and go for a morning jog.
Run 10 kilometres and you should have enough power to make the
emergency call when you collapse.
Radio controlled camper van
The VW camper van has long been a symbol of carefree,
road-tripping, tree-hugging living. Pack up your gear,
then get your stuff together and go wherever the mood
takes you. Anyone driving one of these instantly becomes
a free spirit, sticking it to The Man. So what better way
to celebrate the desk-bound, dead-eyed drone you’ve
become than whizzing a
radio controlled version
(complete with retro
controller) around the
office floor while you wait
for your latest PowerPoint
presentation to be approved?
THE REGIONAL perception of their bodies to form the letters. “We’re talking to the whole
ACDelco, says Till Hohmann, The agency had very definite Middle East operation,” Hohmann
Procrastinator desk pad (A3)
executive creative director of ideas about what it wanted from explains. “And if you look at where
When a client phones you to bleat on about ROI and ‘leveraging
Memac Ogilvy, is “the American the performers. “It was critical these parts are sold, it’s often just
synergy’, it can be tempting to let your mind wander. There are few
car battery company”. It wanted that we find a local dance crew in some small garage. It’s not an of-
greater joys in the office day than a quick doodle (not a euphe-
to be known as something more. who were a little weird and ama- fice environment. So we couldn’t
mism). And with the Procrastinator desk pad—an idea so brilliantly
So Ogilvy was charged with creat- teurish, not slick and ultra pro- really count on all these mechan-
simple it’s hard to believe people haven’t been buying them for
ing a new brand campaign. fessional,” says Mariappan. “We ics going online. However, some-
years—you get plenty of drawing space, along with
“The big idea was to create a new wanted it to be fun and real, to thing as simple as a screensaver,
some prompts for what you should be
attitude for the brand,” Hohmann make the viewer wonder whether distributed on CD, was probably
scribbling and a few brain teas-
says. “Something that can be ad- they were genuine mechanics. going to get used everywhere. And
ers. If your desk’s too cluttered
opted by everyone from manage- “We’re looking at a low-in- because it’s engaging and fresh it
to accommodate the 50-page
ment to mechanics: this whole at- volvement category, but a medi- fits with the whole campaign.”
A3 version, we recommend the
titude of ‘Yes. We can help. We do um that’s high-involvement by As for the most obvious attrac-
mousepad sized miniature.
all parts for all models of cars.’ And nature,” she continues. “So we tion of the dancing mechanics—
for this we knew that it wouldn’t had to create content that would the ability to send your friends
be enough to just come up with appeal to consumers and get obscene messages—Mariappan
BLOG WATCH
an ad. We needed an integrated them to engage with the brand. says that any brand wanting to
campaign, with that attitude as We translated the ‘Yes’ attitude be truly interactive has to be will-
One Big Construction Site
the overriding concept.” into a fun, viral activity. The ing to relinquish control. “I guess
And digital would play a central idea was to show how ACDelco typing in rude words is the first
role in the campaign. As it is in- is willing to go that extra mile thing everybody does. It’s human
creasingly doing in all the agency’s for you.” nature,” she says. But in cases
plans. “We’ve been quite open The screensaver, of course, pro- like this, she argues, all publicity
about the fact that Memac Ogilvy vides much sought-after engage- is good publicity. Even if people
was a little bit slow to take up digi- ment and interaction. People can were to type in messages promot-
tal,” Hohmann says. “But now it’s forward their messages to friends ing ACDelco’s competitors.
a major part of our offering.” or download the application to “That’s fine,” she says. “We’re
“And our approach to digital their own computers. “You get to completely open to that. Because
is a little different,” adds Preethi actually do something with it, rath- whoever puts in whatever kind of
Mariappan, creative director of er than just visiting a site, looking at message, they’re still sending it out
OgilvyOne, the agency’s digital a message and not engaging with on ACDelco branded material.”
arm. “In this region—for the most the content,” Mariappan says.
part—it tends to be compartmen- The screensaver itself is—tech-
VITALS
talised: buttons, banners, web- nically—something of a coup, ac-
The author of One Big Construction Site (onebigconstructionsite.
sites. But our approach is more cording to Mariappan. “Usually, Client: ACDelco
blogspot.com) has been doing his thing for over three years now,
communication-centred.” That you can’t interact with a screen-
Agency: OgilvyOne
and is one of the main contributors to the UAE blogosphere. The
is, it’s based on bigger ideas than saver,” she says. “As soon as you
blog mainly consists of amusing/cynical postings about the idi-
simply taking a print ad and run- move the mouse, it disappears.
Project: Digital component
osyncrasies of life in the Emirates, often with a tech slant (Etisalat
ning it as a banner online. But not this one. You can type in
of ACDelco’s branding
probably won’t be employing this guy as its poster boy). Recent
The ACDelco campaign is a your message and customise it to
campaign
postings include pointed questions about why—in a country where
good example of what Mariap- match your mood for the day. You
Launched: November 2008
homosexuality is banned—the Atlantis was happy to invite Lindsay
pan is talking about. OgilvyOne have to hit the Enter key to make
Results: 2,640 registered
Lohan and her special ‘friend’ to its launch party, what the pro-
created a screensaver application it go away. As an application, it’s
entrants to site in last
posed NTA plan to take 10,000 taxis off the road means for the al-
which allows users to type in their very innovative.”
four weeks—90 per cent
ready nightmarish cab situation in Dubai, and why ancient products
own messages. Once the message It also allowed Ogilvy to burn the
from Saudi Arabia or UAE.
don’t seem to get discounted in this country. The writing is a little
is complete, a bunch of dancers screensaver to CD and mail it out
Average time spent on site:
erratic—at its best it provokes thought and provides giggles, at its
dressed as mechanics appear on to ACDelco’s business partners,
two minutes. Shortlisted for
worst it falls very flat—but it’s one of the more entertaining blogs
the screen, ‘bust’ a few ‘moves’, many of whom were unlikely—or
MENA Cristal awards
from these shores.
then spell out your message using unable—to access it online.
www.mediaweekme.com 25 JANUARY 2009 / 27
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