To drive home the point that IBM has created a new breed of software with the launch of Lotus Notes 8–the integrated software allows users to work with their favorite applications in one interface–Ogilvy, New York, created a humorous viral video that introduces viewers to a farmer who has been forced to develop his own creative solution to run his farm more efficiently in a tough economy.
To unify and simplify, he took all the qualities of his favorite animals and combined them into one, a “Cock-a-Doodle Moo” named Lucky. The new breed gives the farmer the best of all animals, which has proven to be a boon to productivity. He explains that Lucky lays perfect eggs, her wool is exported to the top designers in Milan and her milk is not only delicious but its safe for the lactose intolerant.
“Lotus had not been getting a lot of press about its software development for a while, so we knew we had to create something that grabbed people’s attention. The video is meant to be something a little shocking and drive people to the website, www.creatsimplicity.com, where they can find out more about Lotus,” explained Adam Lau, creative director, Ogilvy.
At the website, visitors can select three animals and then click unify to create their own breed. Then they can share their new pet with friends and co-workers. The site was designed to offer people fun things to do and while they are clicking on different things, they are constantly being introduced to new ideas about Lotus.
“You have to engage people online. They are not just out there waiting for your product message,” Lau said.
He pointed out that the video was seeded on video sharing sites such as YouTube and Google Video as well as sites where the creative team felt business leaders visited, such as 43folders.com and gizmodo.com.
The video was shot in HD at a farm in upstate New York. Ogilvy tapped director Henry Littlechild of Outsider Productions, Santa Monica, to helm the project. “We needed something that felt real so you bought into these characters and his treatment of people was so good. He had also shot a lot of projects where there was a lot of post involved. In thinking about this project, we knew that was going to be important–to create an environment where someone like The Mill, New York, could come in and do a great job and create this animal for us.”
Lau said they wanted the animal to feel real and did not want it to look CG. “So the biggest challenge was finding the biggest number of animals and shooting them all against essentially a white screen to give The Mill enough footage to go in and create this animal,” Lau explained.
He enjoyed the challenge of creating something that makes a statement online. “It’s different than traditional advertising because you have to create something that is entertaining, that people will pass around, while finding a way to deliver a marketing message inside of that. It’s a good challenge for creatives to have.”
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More