Scented Banner Advertising!

I just came across what I think is a truly ingenious and very unique marketing campaign for a perfume in Brazil:

SCENTED BANNER NATURA KAIAK from Black Mamba on Vimeo.

I am not sure if anyone has seen this before, but I really wanted to share it with everyone!

Whilst to most of us banner ads are annoying and intrusive, this shows that when done right they can achieve a really high click through rate and turn into sales. At the beginning of the semester I was of the view that nobody ever clicked on banner ads, and that they could be damaging for brand image...but my perceptions are slowly changing. I really applaud the creativity and wittiness of this campaign – it just goes to show how if you think outside the square banner ads can truly stand out and be valuable for a company. Whilst the strategy used in this case is obviously not sustainable in the long term, it is a great way to generate buzz and get people talking!

The value of a forum

I have been together with my boyfriend for about three years and in that time he has had about 3 different cars! For each car he has bought, he has joined a new ‘car’ forum for that specific brand and even car model! I’m not really a car person, so I couldn’t understand what exactly he could spend hours doing on a car forum when I have never joined one in my life!


But...it got me to thinking about the value that forums can have for a business. Forums provide an incredible amount of value by creating an online community. Users of the brand don’t even have to be members, but you can go online and read what other people have to say, ask questions and get answers. Some forums have incredibly large numbers of followers (hundreds of thousands) – and the one ‘link’ that unites them all is the fact that they have all purchased a particular brand!

The main value adding aspect of a forum is that it creates an online brand community where all these users can come together. I often don’t even realise it, but when ‘googling’ random questions I often end up in a forum, reading about what other people have to say. To me they seem like a portal into a world of people who are able to share information and communicate with a common denominator, and I feel that they add a lot of a value to a brand. More so, brands can actually see what their target markets are talking about and what is relevant to them – like a mirror into their brand community – what could be better??