#30dayshath

Net A Porter

House of Porter

  The Big Idea

Introducing the House of Porter: a marketing hub that celebrates and showcases fashion and encourages customers to participate in a more ‘active’ online community. However, HOP also works in conjunction with, and independently of, each existing Net-A-Porter sales, social media and mobile platform.

  Background

Exuberance, panache and glamour are at the heart of fashion. These underpin its identity and define its culture and community. New York City is a major fashion destination; a cultural melting pot where people from all backgrounds and persuasions come to reinvent themselves. Let’s take an aesthetic cue from the city’s most notable fashionistas – denizens of the underground drag ballroom subculture.

  In Harlem drag ball culture, ‘houses’ are groups of de facto families that provide emotional, moral and practical support to members of the LGBT community, usually headed by a ‘House Mother’ – often an older drag queen. Houses are named in the style of European fashion labels – such as House of Chanel – and members often adopt the name of their ‘house’ as a last name to show their allegiance. Notable groups include the House of Xtravaganza, House of Labeija and the House of Omni.

  With House of Porter, the aim is to overtly celebrate fashion, design, and creativity, develop

community and encourage sharing and loyalty – both on and offline. The platform’s presentation, tone of voice and execution should all reflect these ‘moods’, in a way that’s appropriate to each of its separate functions.

  House of Porter is part loyalty scheme, members club, social network, fundraising initiative, personal shopper, trendsetter and stylist that echoes the structure of a ball ‘house’, but has economic aims that are tied to online fashion retail.

  Functionality

As this is essentially a marketing effort, at the outset House of Porter will be free to join. Depending on its success and popularity, whether that remains the case moving forward is negotiable. In the first instance, I suggest we run a beta version for a cross section of, say 5,000 Net-A-Porter customers, to ascertain whether House of Porter or certain aspects of it, lift sales.

  Some key points about HOP:

It’s free to join – users can sign up or log in using Facebook Connect

As soon as members join the name ‘Porter’ is added to their HOP profile – which they can also align to their Facebook profile (optional)

HOP also makes consistent use of existing social media assets leveraging them to maximum effect (see Use of Existing Platforms section)

The platform is supported by peripheral digital marketing tactics designed to boost visibility across a wider spectrum (see Additional Thoughts section)

Members benefit from the following (which are explained in greater detail in the next section ‘Benefits’) :

Personalised Home Pages

Bespoke Content

Real Time Style Advice

Porter Points

Social Shopping  

Mobile Shopping

Personal Look Book

Digital Dressing Room

Virtual Shoplifting

Shopping Sounds

Boutique Takeovers

Fundraiser Events

Benefits

Personalised Home Pages

When customers join HOP they’re taken to a preference centre that enables them to define –in as much granular detail as they feel comfortable with ­– information about their favourite designers, items, lines etc. This will ensure any kind of activity takes every single aspect of their love of fashion into account. Once data is obtained, members are routinely sent offers via email, Facebook Ads and on the site itself. Offers will include exclusive ‘personal sales’ offering deep discount in time for members’ birthdays.

  Bespoke Content

A lot of shoppers take advice from editorial content – N-A-P is very good at producing that. However, as part of the ‘personalised home page’ function, using preference information members will receive customised content bulletins. This is also emailed to them at specified intervals and made ‘sharable’ – available to upload across the social media platforms each user chooses to sync their HOP account with.

In addition, users can request a print-on-demand editorial subscription (for a charge) that collates personalised tidbits – a selection of appropriate articles from the previous edition of the online magazine. This would also be available in mobile and tablet versions.

  I also think that Net-A-Porter’s ‘hero’ content and celebrity video interviews should be reserved for members. Rather than upload it to YouTube as soon as it’s available, HOP members should see it first.

  Real Time Style Advice

In an age of on-demand content, House of Porter members have the opportunity to get real time style advice from an actual person. The member site has chat functionality, connecting users (with a potential last minute fashion faux pas on their hands) with the House Mother, who’s there to give honest advice 24/7.

  Porter Points

Essentially, in order to foster brand loyalty, we introduce a reward scheme – points that customers can earn by ‘helping out’ in a number of ways. Each credit is worth US$2 and eventually the plan would be to sell points for use as gifts.

Initially, Porter Points would be given to tech savvy consumers who help iron out any bugs in the HOP platforms during beta testing. Shortly after that, we offer Points as an incentive ­– as a reward for affiliate referrals, to those that instigate social shopping and as a ‘five-finger discount’ to virtual shoplifters (see below for more info on the latter two).

  As well as on-site purchases, the aim is to enable Porter Points to be redeemed in-store – at participating retailers and designer outlets.

Social Shopping

Social Shopping functionality is big right now – not just Groupon, but across a variety of outlets. While Net-A-Porter offerings are largely high-ticket items, to appeal to the hardcore bargain hunters and diehard fashionistas, HOP could enable multiple users to buy certain items of stock en masse, giving the brand the opportunity to make specific items literally ‘go viral’ through group buying.

This mechanic is also designed to get HOP members sharing and making use of their own social media feeds. For example, members share the deal with their friends by posting details of their chosen deal to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or by email. They can also use ‘Net-A-Porter Live’ to search for like-minded individuals to join them in getting the best discount possible. However they do it, HOP needs to acknowledge the fact users would be able to corral fellow members into purchases – even rewarding the most prolific social shoppers with Porter Points.

Mobile Shopping

Net-A-Porter already has a mobile version of its website – which is fantastic. There’s a strong need to capitalise on m-commerce, as smartphones and tablet devices proliferate.

However, encouraging ‘sharing’ means empowering consumers to want to pass around proverbial notes to their friends as well as providing users with a value proposition that ensures repeat visits. That’s why I think a HOP mobile app would be a worthwhile investment.

At its simplest, the FlashBulb app would integrate with a smartphone camera, allowing users to snap a look or accessory when out and about – wherever they are. The app identifies any piece of couture, how much it sells for, where it’s available and if applicable, how much it’s available for on Net-A-Porter. The app can also scan barcodes and QR codes, enabling users to cross-reference prices from a number of fashion retailers.

By logging into Facebook Connect and Facebook Places, users can also easily share photos and tag where they were taken and have the option to upload pictures to their HOP profile and to a personal House of Porter look book (see below for more details).

Personal Look Book

Imagine if members were able to cut/paste or drag/drop pictures from their mobile devices, other websites, print catalogues, as well as sample colours, patterns and objects – items that inspire and inform their personal style. That’s the idea behind what I’m calling (for now) the FiloFash: a personal digital look book that users can post anything to, from any source, at any time. It’s essentially a cross platform collation tool. FiloFash would be fully integrated with a member’s social media accounts, meaning they’d have the opportunity to share and comment on their friends’ books. Think of it like swapping recipes. The idea would also be to develop both FiloFash tablet and mobile apps to enable members to add to their look books ‘on the go’. Using a print-on-demand service like Blurb, customers could also purchase a hard copy of their FiloFash

Digital Dressing Room

Another key feature of the House of Porter platform would be the Digital Dressing Room. Members can upload a profile picture, define their body shape using the tool (which is a feature on the hub’s website) and ‘try on’ any item of clothing from the Net-A-Porter catalogue. Members can also ‘save’ their body profile. Again, social media accounts can be synced to ensure friends have the chance to express their opinions and give advice.

Virtual Shoplifting

While we’re not literally encouraging our customers to steal, the idea of virtual shoplifting is to ensure that Net-A-Porter stays ahead of the curve, keeping pace with competitor offerings. It works like this: we get bargain hunters working for the brand. They inform HOP about rival site offerings and pricing. HOP then assigns a value to the information, at the House Mother’s discretion, on how useful the info is and rewards each user with Porter Points

Shopping Sounds

HOP doesn’t just showcase new designs, it also does the same for new recording artists. As part of the initial customising process, members specify what genres of music they prefer. This enables them to create a personal shopping soundtrack from specific affiliated labels, who could use the platform to highlight up and coming artists. N-A-P gets paid by the label, giving HOP members the chance to hear and download new music for a small fee.

Boutique Takeovers

Exclusive, personalised invitations to real world, pop-up N-A-P flash stores. House of Porter aims to create the high-end retail experience using pop up shops. These events are strictly invite-only and will take place in large member locales/fashion capitals such as London, New York, Paris, Milan and Tokyo. Members can redeem Porter Points at these events.

  Fundraising Events

Competitive drag contests are a central feature of ballroom culture, celebrating the eccentricities of high couture, alongside gender mimicry, catwalk model voguing, posturing and dancing. Those deemed successful are feted as ‘legendary’ – a label that carries significant kudos.

House of Porter presents ‘Legendary Nights’ – such as ‘Deep in Vogue’, ‘Love You in Velvet’, ‘Savage Trousers’, ‘Hoochie Mama’ and ‘Cross Dress For Less’ – cabaret event fundrais­ers. Members can spend Porter Points to attend and donate them to charity to raise a cash equivalent

Use of Existing Platforms

The main objective is to use existing social media platforms in the best way possible. This means giving them clear goals that corroborate with the House of Porter.

  Twitter should act a signpost or prompt to other content

Inform, inspire and offer immediate interaction to fans to convert them into members

  Facebook should be used as an aggregator/attractor

It should lure users to wider offerings on sales platforms, but should also have its own exclusivity to ensure repeat visits. For example, clearance stock could be sold at deep discount on a Net-A-Porter Facebook store

The wall could collate relevant content from fashion news feeds as well as showcase N-A-P editorial content in bite size form. It should push people to join House of Porter

It also needs a moderator – a role which could be split across US and UK time zones initially

  YouTube should showcase a basic content offering

The channel’s purpose and identity are pretty clear and effective now

The most popular videos are designer showcases and interviews

However, rather than swamp visitors with lots of content, there should be some degree of exclusive content reserved for House of Porter members

Facilitate social network functionality on N-A-P Live

It’s already possible to show appreciate for someone else’s purchase using a Facebook ‘Like’ button on the Live page. However, House of Porter members should be able to click on a recent purchase and discuss its merits with each buyer. By including a chat or direct message function, there’s greater chance we can encourage relative strangers to share their passion for fashion with each other

Additional Thoughts

In order to ensure that the House of Porter’s presence is acknowledged by other sites that potential members are likely to frequent, the following actions will be taken to ensure the platform’s visibility, both at launch and beyond.

Keyword Optimisation

We bid on Gilt, Rue La La and other competitors, setting aside a sizeable budget at launch and then allocating a consistent amount across the year

Banner Ads/Media Buying

Depending on budgets, we should consider an impactful set of ads designed to draw traffic back to HOP. This could be as simple as serving Google/Facebook Ads, but could also involve some reciprocal online ad placement with brands that Net-A-Porter sells, and maybe even (if it were possible) some ads on competitor sites. Search Engine API takeovers are also worth investigating

Video Seeding

Once content has been given to HOP members and is uploaded to YouTube, each film should have an additional ‘seeding plan’ around it

This could involve uploading it to different video sites, or breaking down aspects of each film and devising a series of ‘pull’ mechanics via social media platforms to drive awareness back to the central YouTube channel

Content Syndication

In a similar way to video content, we should consider a method of seeding editorial content across syndication sites once it’s in the public domain. Key to this is enabling social sharing, and featuring different platform (eg Digg, Facebook, Twitter etc) buttons on each piece of editorial

Online PR

Get the right kind of advocates writing about the new platform and we stand a good chance of influencing new members to join using authentic ‘word of mouth’ endorsement. Blogger outreach should be a core focus. By targeting key fashion bloggers, giving them unlimited access to HOP, and perhaps even setting them aside a certain amount of Porter Points, we have the opportunity to curry favour with citizen shoppers themselves

Conclusion

All things considered, the misconception here may be that the idea behind House of Porter is to simply add another platform on top of a myriad of existing platforms. However, the aim is to synchronise all online activity back to one point, exercise some exclusivity around that hub, and equip customers with a useful set of tools that helps inform their shopping choices, while enabling social interaction.

Hamburger Helper

Meat is Marvelous 

Background Ideas

Issue

There are lots of different ways to make beef more exciting – it just takes imagination

Insight

Consumers lack imagination when it comes to cooking ground beef – they fall back on traditional favourites.

Proposition

Consider what makes beef interesting, and take it from there.

  Campaign Rationale

People who eat beef love it. Consumers just want great tasting food – no messing about. Let’s reclaim ‘Meat is Murder’ for carnivores.

Print Execution

An ad that looks like a bullfighting poster – a long, skinny, dog-eared print that’s probably been plastered hastily to a telephone pole. No gory images, just a artist’s image of an aggressive bull, poised to run at a matador who’s waving long pink and yellow cape.

In place of the text usually reserved for announcing the names of each participating matador, we see the following copy, presented in a similar fashion – starting at the top with large print, cascading downwards in smaller print.

  ‘What are you doing?!

Didn’t your mom tell you not to play with your food?

Have you no respect?

Don’t treat beef badly!

Meat is Marvelous

Citadelle Maple Syrup

Sirop Quebecois

Issue

Maple syrup is seen as an American pancake/dessert topping.

Insight

Quebec is the world’s biggest producer of maple syrup.

Proposition

Celebrate Quebecois culture.

Idea

We celebrate the time-honoured tradition of maple syrup production in Quebec – showcasing it in the same way that, say, a French wine, would be. At the heart of the campaign is a loveable curmudgeon known as ‘Grandpére’ who’s generally found boiling spring thaw sap in his ‘Cabane à Sucre’. It’s his passion and dedication that’s inspired his children and grandchildren to take up the maple mantle. [The aim would be to find a real story, so we’d try and find someone has a similar one].

The hero spot is a 90 second film that introduces Grandpére and transports us to bucolic rural Quebec. The shack and its location are a world away from the urban American diners and crowded waffle houses – the typical places you’d find maple syrup. This is a slower paced world; one that has a respect for tradition, authenticity, and quality­ – the cornerstones of ‘le Sirop Quebecois’. He explains [in French] how settlers took up the tradition of tree tapping from the Algonquians, how for a time maple syrup was the primary way of sweetening food – less expensive than importing sugar cane from the West Indies.

He references how the traditions stay strong, and although production methods may now be more sophisticated, the actual way it’s collected still involves a tree, a tap, and somewhere to boil it. He laughs when referring to ‘sirop de poteau’ – commercially produced synthetic alternative; translates as ‘telephone pole syrup’ – reasoning that it’s in fact more expensive to produce than the real thing! He then expresses pride when talking about his kids and grandkids, who continue the tradition.

The wider purpose of the campaign is to align Quebec, rather than Canada, with the production of the best quality maple syrup, and to give a platform to the heritage, spirit, and character of the proud Quebecois people. Tone-wise, the spot would feel more ‘French’ than ‘Canadian’.

In addition to the 90 second spot, we’d create an online platform that explores some of the things that were shown in it – giving the audience an opportunity to find out more about Quebec. This could include: an interactive Cabane à Sucre, a digital map of Quebec highlighting the main production areas (as if they were vineyards) which includes embedded interviews with ‘modern’ Citadelle co-op producers who explain more about the process of maple syrup making. There’s also a digital tool – an app designed to help consumers determine the quality of any maple syrup they may buy/consume; explaining the colours, flavour palate and the quality they should expect from the syrup in front of them.

We could also consider an experiential campaign - a travelling cinema (Ciné Citadelle) that shows Quebecois films (as well as the 90 second spot) across America – C.R.A.Z.Y; Un Aout 32 Sur Terre; Jesus of Montreal – teaches people French, and allows them to sample different kinds of maple syrup – like a wine tasting session.

Bertolli

La Notte Bianca

Brief

Explain the broad concept in one paragraph.

Bertolli helps you maintain a healthy and balanced diet, giving you more opportunity to enjoy and celebrate what's important - family, fun and fulfilment.

Provide a broad explanation of the environment in which the story takes place.

La Notte Bianca - late night summer festival – music, lights, the potent air of an Italian city at night.

Celebratory outdoor atmosphere: music, dance, light shows, street theatre, fireworks.

The perfect environment for an extended family get together – grandparents, aunts uncles, grandchildren, parents – and al fresco dining.

What effect would you like your idea to have?

Appeal to the British 'rose-tinted' perspective of a Mediterranean retirement - and encourage target consumers to associate the Bertolli brand with an idealised way of life that they hope to have in the near future.

  Bertolli TVC Script

TELEVISION SCRIPT TEMPLATE

DESCRIPTION                    : TV – 30”

DATE                                   : 140314

IDEA TITLE                         :  La Notte Bianca

 ______________________________________________________________________

Opening shot: We see a panoramic view of an Italian olive grove in the sunlit late morning. A church bell chimes in the distance in a nearby rural town.

We hear the bell at a much closer range, as the camera shows an Old Man and Young Man in the town centre, putting up decorations in the town square for a party that will happen later that evening.

The town overlooks lush Mediterranean countryside. The olive groves are visible.

The Younger Man is dismounting a ladder, after tying some bunting to a high point in the town. The Older Man holds the ladder steady.

Once he has dismounted, they take either end of the ladder and move it to the opposite end of the square.

Close Up: The Younger Man is visibly tired from the amount of work he’s been doing and suffering from the heat of the day.

As they lean the ladder against the next building, the Younger Man gestures to the Older Man – it’s his turn to climb the ladder.

The Older Man feigns a bad back, refusing to take a turn, and gestures towards a shady sport next to a tree, where he intends to rest.

The Younger Man raises his hands in annoyance, as the Older Man turns his back and heads towards the tree.

VO: With age comes experience.

We see the Older Man take a nap under the tree, opening one eye to see how the Younger Man is faring. We hear a crash and a bang. The Older Man smiles and nods off once again.

Day turns to night. And the town fills with families, music and dancing. There’s bunting and lanterns hanging above the festivities. The camera pans on one particular family – the Older Man, the Younger Man, their wives, extended family, brothers, sisters and grandchildren.

VO:  It’s the same with Bertolli – we’ve spent 140 years perfecting how we make our olive oil, to create a spread that everyone can enjoy.

They’re dining al fresco – we see a large table full of Italian food. The camera pans the table full of salads, meats, pasta, olive oil, glasses of red wine and Bertolli spread, which we see someone liberally spreading on some thick crusty bread, before the Older Man is passed it and takes a bite.

VO: They say the older you are the more you should slow down.....

The Younger Man’s wife wants him to dance with her. But he has nodded off to sleep. She taps him gently, but he doesn’t stir. The Older Man steps in and leads her to the dance floor,

VO: ...and  enjoy the finer things in life!

As the Older Man begins to dance with her, he twirls her energetically, and as the Younger Man wakes up and sees what’s going on, the Older Man simply shrugs, with a twinkle in his eye, and dances the night away with the attractive young lady.

Background Idea

Intro

I see this campaign as the starting point for a longer-term brand narrative. While the ideas submitted are designed to be standalone ads, I’d like to introduce a traditional Italian family – The Bertollis – who would feature in these and future ad campaigns.

The idea would thus have longevity through the narrative progression of each character, each of whom would feature in different ads over the course of several years. I also see that there’d be potential in making each family member accessible via social and location-based media – essentially, make them real people that consumers can interact with, and look to for advice and conversation.

La Famiglia di Bertolli

The modern Italian family, close-knit in sentiment, but physically distanced from each other. However, they’re still able to maintain some family traditions, despite their differences. These revolve around fun, family and food.

The parents – Silvio and Cecilia – live in a rural village in the South of Italy. In their 60’s

Children – three sons and a daughter.

Eldest son – Marco, 42 - lives in a large town close to his parents. Works as an official for the municipal government. Married. Twin sons. Parents find him uptight, and often look to him for favours, and for him to use his local influence, which he finds difficult.

Middle son – Ettore, 37, an architect living in Milan, with his wife, two young daughters and a son. Loves modern design. Parents find his urban life totally at odds with what they’re used to.

Daughter – Enza, 34, a fashion designer, lives in Paris, getting married – finally – to a Frenchman – who has a daughter from a previous marriage. Career driven. Little time for much else, or so it seems. Parents are proud, but don’t really understand – or approve of her life.

Youngest son – Salvatore, 26. Lives at home with his parents. Lazy, but a playboy in his own world. Lots of friends. Works with his father tending the olive groves. Lovable, rugged and handsome. Parents put up with his errant ways in order to keep him close by.

Additional ideas

Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare

Create profiles for each character across each of these channels and have them interact with each other and consumers. Needless to say, there’s endless scope here for content and these are some very top-line ideas.

By establishing these profiles, there’s ample opportunity to leverage additional online activity, such as a Facebook ‘soap opera’ which would see the characters debate a point of contention from a TVC online, inviting consumers to join in.

Twitter could be the ideal platform to align the brand with Mediterranean cookery, The mother of the family could answer cooking dilemmas, giving tips and advice.

On YouTube, exclusive pre-broadcast ads could be shown, and an online TV show developed – a family drama involving the characters and their relationships – as well as a cookery show.

Using Foursquare, characters could leave tips in specific restaurants and supermarkets, to recommend particular dishes and menu ingredients.

On -pack AR glyphs

Each pack of Bertolli would have an AR glyph (QR code) on it, that when held up to a webcam, plays the most recent TV on the computer screen.

Print

Starbucks Via

The Five Senses

Issue

Few people know or can appreciate the difference between good coffee and great coffee

Insight

Great coffee is experienced using (Via) all five senses

Proposition

It’s more than just preference that counts

Idea

Other instant coffee brands deprive customers of the full sensory experience. Starbucks should teach a select group of customers exactly what that is – using all five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Once that’s done, the customers have to help create the ad campaign – using their responses to ‘great coffee’ as inspiration.

However, in order to draw attention to the difficulty of discerning good from great coffee, and to give other consumers the full experience in ways they wouldn’t expect, each sensory experience/aspect of the campaign will be presented to the public using the medium they least suit:

Outdoor for ‘What Great Coffee Smells Like’

Video for ‘What Great Coffee Feels Like’

Print for ‘What Great Coffee Sounds Like’

Audio for ‘What Great Coffee Looks Like’

Online  For ‘What Great Coffee Tastes Like’

Campaign promo – print collateral, to drive awareness, which will feature in Starbucks coffee houses

First line of copy – What Great Coffee is all about.

Office image – people looking stressed in their cubicles – we see six – on the phone, computer crashing, water cooler empty, printer broken – apart from the front middle man – over his cubicle is a superimposed picture of a coffee house interior – complete with comfy chair – that he sits in and drinks his Starbucks latte, oblivious to the annoyances around him.

Copy: Do you know the difference between ‘good coffee’ and great coffee’?

HTC

Please Use It Wisely.

  Issue

People lament a simpler, digital distraction-free way of life.

Insight

There’s a reason mobile phones were developed – to make communication easier

Proposition

Create a piece of content that has illustrates instances of miscommunication.

Idea

A series of short films/spots that show what mobile tech bring us in a light-hearted comedic fashion.

Logger Outreach

Short film about lumberjacks communicating with each other in the tree lined forests of the Pacific Northwest.

We are given a guided tour through the wilderness by a prominent lumberjack, who tells us more about the secret code of the woodcutter; a centuries old tradition using clandestine glyphs, passed down from father to son. This incorporates messaging through signs carved on trees, creative use of organic matter, tracks left on the forest floor, and making animal noises to inform others of impending danger.

The lumberjack then begins telling us, that actually, these days they tend to communicate by cellphone. He proudly starts showing off his HTC XXX. Then we hear loud animal noises, which the lumberjack doesn’t hear, as it’s quickly followed by chainsaw noise. Then lumberjack’s phone rings. It’s his friend telling him to watch out, as branches fall ending the film.

V/O:  Sometimes you need to make your voice heard.

HTC XXX.

Please use it wisely.

Textual Auction

V/O:  Auctioneers speak so quickly – it’s almost lyrical – and difficult to understand. We ‘tasked’ [taped up the mouths of] a group of auctioneers and ‘challenged’ [forced] them to text their audiences using the new HTC xxx. Here’s what happened...

We see the silent auctioneers texting furiously. Their audiences look on expectedly. We see different sets of fingers moving increasingly quickly, before each auctioneer makes a final, defiant ‘send’ press.

The sounds of the audience phones receiving text messages. We cut between the different auction rooms. Audience members are see reaching around, patting their pockets, looking in handbags and jacket to find their phones – which takes some time – each reading the text message – which takes yet more time, as some reach for their glasses, others hold the screen closer to their faces, and ponder what the message says. Then nothing. They all look around to see if anyone’s bidding. No one is.

Unseen until now, another auctioneer is using the same kind of phone to talk to someone – a mystery bidder. She looks hopefully at the main auctioneer, silently indicating that she’s received a phone bid.

V/O – Sometimes you need to make your voice heard.

HTC XXX.

Go Hawaii Tourism

Floral Notes

Insight

Hawaii is too far and too costly for European travelers - and it conflicts with other ‘once in a lifetime’ vacation destinations and experiences.

Proposition

It’s worth making the effort; you’ll love it when you get there.

Idea

We reach out to Europe’s top 10 independent travel bloggers, sending them a series of clues that will ultimately lead them to experience the ultimate vacation competition. The crux of the experience is that depending on the path they choose to follow (the clues will give them options) they’ll either be ‘adrift’ on a desert island for a two weeks, with only basic supplies – followed by two days of luxury, or they’ll get two weeks of luxury, after two days of being marooned.

We begin by sending each blogger a message in a bottle, outlining the challenge – survive on a desert island for two weeks to get the ultimate reward. However, alongside each message is a paper flower, which when unravelled contains the ‘real’ note – which acknowledges the other note is genuine, but that the flower note is in fact the better prize – two weeks of luxury after two days on the desert island. The note also states that if they’ve found the flower message, they should not reveal this to other players.

Once the initial notes have been read, the bloggers have 24 hours to sort their affairs, and get to a central pick up point (an airport in Europe) where they’ll meet the other bloggers and fly to Hawaii.

On arrival, they’ll be presented with leis – as is custom. There’s another note in the lei. Those that found them originally will know to look for the next clue in them (they’ll have specific leis given to them). There will also be other clues, alerting the others who didn’t find the original clue that there’s a ‘better’ prize to those that follow the flower clues. Again, they’re advised not to reveal the fact they’ve found these clues to the others – by doing so consciously, they’ll forfeit their own prize.

Arriving on the desert island, they’re presented with traditional Hawaiian dress – grass skirts. Again there’s another note in the skirts – that those who found the other notes know about. This one tells those who find it to meet by the ‘Tiki’ hut at 3 am in two days’ time, in secret, when the real prize will be revealed. They’ll also be asked to burn all the skirts, leis and flowers, so that no-one else will find them who hasn’t found them already.

Those that steal away in the night ‘disappear’ as far as the others are concerned. They’ve gone to live it up in luxury for two weeks. However, they will be able to watch what those on the island are up to, and every couple of days will be able to vote for the person they want to bring ‘ashore’ to the luxury hotel.

At the end of the two weeks, if all goes to plan, there will be just two islanders remaining. They compete for the ultimate prize – a Hawaiian house of their very own. Each will ‘find’ another message in a bottle, telling them both that they’ve won. To claim their prize, they must try to get to a specific point on the island, in 24 hours, without the other contestant knowing. If however, they take the initiative, and tell the other about the message, they’ll both be rewarded – they’ll share the prize. However, they’ll not be told to do the latter, so the final task is real test of their strength of character and ability to read between the lines.

Firefox

Taggy Browsers

Insight

Browsers prioritise paid search listings – marking them differently to promote a specific term or web service.

Proposition

Engineer the idea of ‘reward search’ – to thank users for entering a specific search term.

Idea

For one day a month, by tagging the word ‘fox’ on to their Firefox search terms, users will get access to exclusive hidden content, and can win prizes as well as tickets to live events.

The only thing is, users don’t know which day it’ll be each month, so it’s in their interest to keep tagging their search terms with ‘fox’ – if the day hasn’t happened that month – as it may benefit them.  As a hidden gem, every third day each month a handful of prizes will be given out too; but these won’t be overtly promoted; they’ll just be picked randomly and will rely on word of mouth to spread the word.