The Silent Song Contest
People are known to let loose and sing like crazy in their cars. So for the launch of the new Renault Clio, Belgian ad agency, Boondoggle turned this curious human behavior into a Facebook game.
A series of online videos were posted on Facebook that had various Clio drivers singing...the only catch being the sound had been removed. To participate, players had to lip read and guess the correct song as quickly as possible. The player with the most correct guesses at the end of the promotion won the Clio!
Navarro Correas “Wine Art Project”
Argentinian wine brand Navarro Correas created a 13x8.2 meters structure in Bogota, Colombia that consisted of 1000 acrylic cells and an automated robotic mechanism that filled each cell with 6 different shades of wine.
People could activate the robotic mechanism by sending a text message with the acrylic cell number they wanted filled. At the end 1000 text messages recreated Van Gogh's self portrait. A masterpiece created with Navarro Correas own masterpiece wines...
Give-A-Toy Store
One of the things that all people do during the holidays, besides real shopping, is window shopping. Storefront window displays therefore have a stronger significance during the holiday season. Keeping that in mind eBay has developed a way to make this experience from a passive experience to an interactive and engaging one.
Give-A-Toy Store is a 3D Christmas window installations that has QR code tagged toys evoking passerby's sensitive and giving side. Scanning the QR codes from inside the eBay app, allows passerby's to instantly donate that toy on the spot, with the window lighting up and rewarding them for the donation.
The window installation is currently available at Toys for Tots in New York (at 35th and Broadway) and San Francisco (at 117 Post St). People who can't get there, can get the experience online.
Additionally customers can also customize their own toys on eBay’s Facebook page. For each toy created, eBay will donate $1 (up to $50,000).
Catch The Swedish Light
Summer is usually somewhat of a slow period for Ikea in Belgium and Ikea wanted to change that. Instead of traditional advertising with Ikea's summer offers, they created an interactive YouTube game where the audience, by viewing 48 different ads, was challenged to catch the Swedish light. As one can't do 'frame-by-frame' on YouTube, people had to pause the spot in the exact right moment when the light hit a product. In that unique frame, a yellow code would appear in the top right corner. The first person to validate the code on the summer microsite, would win the product instantly.
Toyota Scion “Microsoft Surface Experience”
Auto Shows are known for innovative implementations of "todays" cutting edge technologies. In fact I experienced some of the cutting edge technologies first hand at the 2011 International Motor Show in Frankfurt.
If you are headed to any of the upcoming Auto Shows late this year or in 2012, chances are you'll get to play with the "Scion Surface Experience" showcasing Toyota's new all electric brand of cars on the latest Microsoft Surface tables.
Toyota's agency, Juxt Interactive has created the "Scion Surface Experience" to enable exploration of the brand's product, racing and cultural affiliations in an unexpected way. A deck of eight "collectible" cards have been created that when placed on the surface reveal photos, video content, regional sales info, and localized events.
When the cards are flipped over, they trigger a piece of a song (e.g. beats, bass or vocals). Placing all eight cards on the Surface at the same time plays the full song and gives guests a chance to remix the song in their own way, reinforcing the self-expression that is core to the Scion brand. Guests can also take their cards home and use them to download digital content related to the Auto Show experience.
Mickey Mouse brings Disney magic to NYC
Happy Birthday, Mickey Mouse! Walt Disney's beloved icon turned 83 this month and Disney Parks celebrated at the Disney Store in Times Square with an augmented reality installation.
Disney is also using a Twitter hashtag #DisneyMemories to track the experiences at Times Square and the campaign.
This augmented reality installation seems to be trending with brands wanting to do live events, as National Geographic and Lynx have also used the same style of augmented reality to engage with their audience.
Santa Tags
Brands generally use QR codes to direct consumers to websites. But this holiday season, J.C. Penney is taking a different approach.
As seen in the below video...J.C. Penney shoppers receive a "Santa Tag" sticker with each purchase this holiday season. These tags contain individualized QR codes that can be scanned with any QR code reader to record a personalized voice message! Gift recipients can, in turn, scan the codes to hear the recorded voice message when they open their gifts.
If there was a J.C. Penney around where I live, I would have definitely shopped there this season. 
Slide to Unlock
AlmapBBDO Brazil has developed a very unique and innovative iAd for the new Brazilian Audi magazine app. The ad seen in the video below appeared in various publications on the iPad and used a nice play on Apple's "Slide to Unlock" feature to engage the users.
Users who saw the ad instantly recognized the swipe gesture used to unlock Apple devices. So after racing their finger around the track, they were rewarded with a free download of the first Audi Magazine copy from the app store.
Before I could publish this post I came across another "Slide to Unlock" iAd! It seems this iOS feature is becoming a popular creative feature for iAds. In the below example, Amnesty International has created an iAd in Sweden's largest newspaper, DN, where readers were presented with an image of a prison cell and prisoner inside. "Slide to Unlock" was used to open the prison cell and reveal a strong call to action to join Amnesty International as an activist.
ASICS “Run With Ryan Hall”
ASICS aims to become the number one brand for sports enthusiast in America. While being one of the sponsors at this years ING New York City Marathon, they developed a 60-foot video wall to bring up the level of physical interaction with their brand.
With the help of their agency Vitro the interactive wall was installed at the Columbus Circle subway station. The messaging displayed on the video wall challenged passersby to race against Ryan Hall, U.S marathon runner…
Another great example of a video wall installation is the Adobe Creative Suite CS3 launch at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square, New York.
National Geographic “Live Augmented Reality”
Appshaker recently launched a large scale way of immersing people in some of the most amazing scenes from National Geographic's extensive archive. Using augmented reality they placed people right inside the content, and allowed them to immerse themselves in different scenes such as leopards, astronaut, dolphin, storms and dinosaurs.
The reaction to this was huge. Tens of thousands of people interacted with the National Geographic brand while it toured Hungary and thousands shared pictures and videos on Facebook.
Sometime last year Lynx had also done a similar activity with their Fallen Angels in London's Victoria station...
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