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In one of the most unusual twists in charitable history, the Kony 2012 video rocked the world as the single most viral video of all time ("virality" measured by the fastest video to reach 100 million views, which Kony did in an astonishing six days).

So what made this so viral? Like Gangnam Style, there are many speculations, but the biggest key is its ability to tell a story that resonates. There were a number of powerful (and very simple) storytelling elements at work here: the tale of an unequivocally "evil" antagonist, the quick and aggressive theatrical cuts, the added resonance of using a white child as a metaphor for individual impact, the constant references to Facebook (where most people were viewing the video) and the value of spreading an idea, the incessant calls to action to share the video and take action to "finish the story". Most of all, it was simply entertaining.

The story was powerful enough to sweep you up, and forward enough to draw you into action - particularly since "action" was just a share away. Facebook news feeds became flooded with shares, and you could tell that this was an unusual case of activism simply by the unlikely people who were reposting. This was all magnified by the very specific deadline that gave viewers a sense of urgency in getting involved (and early-adopters a sense of pride on being involved early).

I don't even watch this show, but this awesome ad is pretty close to convincing me otherwise. The powers that be at Walking Dead decided to set up an installation in Union Station (Toronto, Canada) that counts down the days until the show is back on the air by hacking off a zombie finger each day.

The installation was supplemented with hired zombie actors who creepily freaked out passers-by (and, of course, take photos with them). You can watch a video of the installation in action here.

In my mind, this is about leveraging why people love zombie movies to begin with: when you tell a story about a human who becomes a monster, it feels close enough to home that it makes "monsters" relevant. This ad installation takes this a step further and introduces you to those zombies as you're going about your day, while giving you a taste of the production value and sense of creepy satisfaction you will get from watching the show.

The Marionette

Simply put, hospital beds are not designed for the morbidly obese. The result? Potential asphyxiation when laying supine, dangerous transfers from one bed to another, patients sliding down beds, and inaccessible areas of the body due to fat getting in the way.

Our solution taps into a centuries-old intuitive design that has stood the test of time: marionettes. Our plan is to create a system that makes it easy to affix load-bearing titanium wires to any hospital bed, which can be spatially manipulated by simple, intuitive, marionette-like controls to open the patient's airways and access difficult-to-reach parts of the body (with minimal training).

The comfortable, secure leather straps serve a duel purpose by also recording the patient's vital signs. A mountaineering-style hookup system allows the medical team to connect the Marionette strings to any hospital bed, making this system adaptable to current hospital demands and facilitating our ability to quickly roll out into hospitals across the country.

Who knew that bamboo was grown in Alabama?

This was the public reception that we most want to overcome. We want to dispel the notion that bamboo should only be associated with pandas and tropical climates with a campaign that leverages surprise and pride of place. At its core, our exhibit is a "black box" pop-up shop in New York City featuring both museum-style bamboo artifacts and more traditional bamboo consumer items. It is an awe-inspiring showcase of the incredible (and surprising) versatility of bamboo, as well as a vehicle for educating our audience on the remarkable truth: that all of the bamboo came from America.

To leverage that surprise, our marketing campaign directly leverages these brand promises of pride-of-place and surprise with a guerrilla teaser campaign, whereby we will "plant" bamboo trees in the most unlikely of places in New York City: in the sidewalk, in the subway, near landmarks, etc… The idea is to use that contrast to help people fundamentally rethink their perception of bamboo, while driving them to the pop-up shop and the website for the grand reveal.