Tag: East London

Happy Holiday Videos 2013

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a great holiday season. Now for a great start to 2014! 🙂

Taking off from my last post, here are a series of holiday action videos created by agencies around the world in their lead up to Christmas 2013…

Christmas Chocolate Coin Factory by W+K London

Wieden+Kennedy London turned their Hanbury Street office window into a Christmas installation. Passers-by who inserted a 1 pound coin into Dan & Dave’s Chocolate Coin Factory activated the machine on display which then dispensed a special gold Belgian chocolate coin at the other end. All the money collected from this coin factory was donated towards building a new playground for Millfields Community School in Hackney, East London.

Disrupted Christmas by Holler

Holler an agency from Sydney created a live interactive installation that gave the general public a chance to disrupt the agency as it worked throughout the day. Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) units were hacked and hooked up to the Internet via IP cameras. Then key members of the agency were connected to the EMS units, and the Internet via a live stream. The public could then watch the agency staff online and instantaneously zapp them at will with the click of a button.

For each disruption the agency donated $1 to The Factory, a local community centre with a long history of supporting socially and economically disadvantaged local residents.

Happy Holidays by Victor & Spoils

Crowdsourcing agency Victor & Spoils for its holiday card transformed the Dove Body Evolution model into Santa Claus.

The More the Merrier by Publicis Groupe

The Publicis Groupe was back again with another Maurice LĂ©vy YouTube video. This time however they worked with DigitasLBi to create a video that used the viewers webcam and facial recognition to count how many people were actually watching the video together. Then based on the number of viewers the video changed…

The Epic Christmas Split by Delov Digital

Delov Digital from Hungry used Chuck Norris to top Jean-Claude Van Damme’s epic Volvo split with the help of some serious digital enhancement.

Red Stripe Musical Extravaganza

Red Stripe, a Jamaican lager brand, transforms an ordinary-looking East London corner shop into a singing, dancing musical extravaganza. Products across the shop turn into instruments that burst into a melody when a customer selects a Red Stripe. Noodle pots become maracas. Bottles turn into trumpets. Cans become xylophones.

To capture the surprise, 10 hidden cameras record customer reactions as the shop “comes alive.”

The shop becomes the media

This is not a poster on a wall. It is the environment itself performing. The moment of selection triggers the show. The shelf becomes the stage.

That shift matters because it makes the brand moment inseparable from the act of buying. It is shopper marketing that feels like entertainment, not persuasion.

The trigger is the product choice

The smartest part is the mechanic. Nothing happens until the customer chooses the product. That makes the experience feel personalised, even though it is engineered.

It also makes the story instantly explainable. “When you pick up a Red Stripe, the shop turns into a band.”

Why hidden cameras make the idea travel

The in-store performance is powerful, but it is local. The video is what scales it. Real reactions signal authenticity, and the format becomes shareable proof that the stunt actually happens.

What to steal

  • Make the point-of-sale moment the trigger, not the end of the journey.
  • Convert ordinary objects into a surprising behaviour, so the setting becomes memorable.
  • Capture genuine reactions, then let the video do the distribution work.

A few fast answers before you act

What happens in the Red Stripe Musical Extravaganza?

An East London corner shop turns into a musical performance. Shop items become instruments that play when a customer selects a Red Stripe.

What turns into instruments?

Noodle pots become maracas. Bottles become trumpets. Cans become xylophones.

How is it captured?

Ten hidden cameras record customer reactions.

What is the core mechanic that makes it work?

The product selection triggers the performance, so the “brand moment” happens at the exact point of purchase.