Brand reinvention: Nintendo is about to lurch out of the tomb once more with Wii U GamePad

Nintendo is doing its own zombie act: coming back from the dead with the new Wii U, writes Arthur Goldstuck (@art2gee) Are you prepared for the Zombie apocalypse? It’s a concept that has long been viral on the Internet, inspiring numerous guidebooks on how to prepare for both the day and night of the living dead. You can even explore a version of Google Maps adapted to show the level of likely zombie infestation across the globe, and highlighting... Read More

Brand Journeys: MWeb – not quite ‘just like that’

by Herman Manson (@marklives) For many people MWEB is still the big black box, which it launched in 1997, the same year the business was established by MIH Limited (a Naspers company). The big black box, in case you don’t get it, was a box, and black, and offered wary South Africans everything they needed to connect to the Internet via dial-up modem, with the payoff line “Just like that” (I still hear the finger snap in the background). The... Read More

Hit a home run online

What are the key ingredients to online marketing success? We explore some case studies. The Internet as a medium might be fairly young, but it isn’t a new medium for most marketers. Countless brands locally and globally are integrating the Web into their marketing strategies with great success, and those who haven’t will face increasing pressure to do so. Taking your brand online requires patience. It involves testing, measuring, refining,... Read More

SA gamers punk’d by new broadband provider

The truth is out – the debate that has been raging across the South African gaming community (see below) about who are better gamers – boys or girls – was in fact a marketing campaign planted by new IS broadband provider PLuGG. PLuGG targeted the gaming community as a core niche in its customer base. It planted posts on gaming forums and blogs, and even put out YouTube videos supporting one side or the other, with the help of agency... Read More

Buy the game, get the cheat codes in the ad promoting it

For the launch of the new Star Wars Force Unleashed game at Look & Listen, agency Mick & Nick found a clever way of reinforcing the retailers positioning. The brand has always been “for the fans”, and this time, it was computer game fans who benefited. “We created a visually intriguing print ad which gives away the game’s cheat codes to get players to the next level,” says Nick Liatos, Creative Director, Mick &... Read More