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When a new technology comes along, or in this case, a new video effect, the first use cases are rarely contextually appropriate.
It must have just got easier to build 3D composite videos, because they’re being churned out faster than auto-tuned hip-hop songs as many creative minds are overwhelmed by the razzle-dazzle of their spot actors invoking Hogwartsish incantations of product features out of thin air. Examples are piling up and running back-to-back in some instances.
Before we look at who’s getting it right, let’s look at a few examples that didn’t quite…
Finance Canada
The Canadian Government tries to metaphorically represent their new website experience with citizens plucking grant options from the clouds, but the message – the benefits – are lost among the gimmicky visuals.
Ford
Ford goes through a similar experience, as the car buyer is building her Escape in her mind’s eye by shoving animated features one-by-one in to the SUV.
SyFy
SyFy’s recent brand announcement is more of the classic high-budget blue-screen big-CG style, but the partygoers are tossing around magic items with abandon. Each one, more awkwardly than the last.
Blackberry
Blackberry attempts to demonstrate that you can control your whole world in your Curve. The representation of the mobile digital experience though is cringe-worthy though, as the actor, as with all of these examples, just isn’t quite sure where to focus her eyes.
So, who’s doing it right?
HP
HP’s “personal” celebrity stories commercials are instantly recognizable – yes, they have star power, but it’s the execution that works so well with this creative platform. Perhaps the best decision here was to cut off their heads. Not only does it invite the viewer to try to figure out who the celebrity is, but the celebrity doesn’t have to worry about looking silly and unfocused as they stare at their waving and empty hands. These ads have earned big viewcounts on YouTube, has boast lots of user-generated videos and parodies, further proving the success of the concept. These commercials could be about anyone, and HP has seized this opportunity, expanding the platform on YouTube with the “You On You” contest (which I wrote about it on Threeminds).
Apple
iPhone ads demonstrate the apps, sell the benefits and dazzle you with the product, not computer graphics of metaphors of potential behaviours that you could maybe have at some point.
You might think using the iPhone ads as a best practice example is a cop-out – the fingers are demonstrating the product itself, you say, not flicking around post-production 3D objects… and to this I say…
“Precisely.”
If you’re hunting for the ultimate on-demand and live coverage online, this is a good place to start.
StartupMeme lists the many Google initiatives for the games, including Gadgets, One-box search, Maps visualizations and the (arguably) revolutionary dedicated YouTube channel.
Lenovo’s has sponsored a skinned TVTonic app that allows you to subscribe to full-length events, viewable on- and off-line.
CBC explains events with simple animations. You can learn water polo by clicking on the link at the bottom right here>
The BBC leverages Microsoft Live Search Maps to surface blog and twitter coverage via a geographical visualization.
The New York Times shows us the historical (and current) medal counts for all of the modern games.
The Gorillaz’ Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett adapt and animate a classical Chinese novel to promote BBC coverage.
Follow on your Blackberry with these apps.
Going to Beijing? Here’s an interesting targeted Travel App.
Zumobi has a simple app – no video, but general coverage, including photos and blogs. If you have an iPhone, let me know what you think of this…
Wow, Flickr had a great opportunity to capitalize on all the great photos from the event… but finding the good photos is tough. Most searches return almost an equal number of protest and political images as mediocre shots of the games.
Pramati has built an interesting Guess-the-Podium app for Sun. It’s a good idea, but tough to guess many events – that is, I could have an educated guess on a World Cup or March Madness app, but I’m not sure who to pick for 60kg Men’s Freestyle Wrestling. Will it be He Qin, Yandro Quintana or Mavlet Batirov who take the gold?
With so many to follow, I haven’t had a chance to sift through these massive lists. (If you have any highlights of great athlete bloggers or entries, let me know.)
This story exploded across the web, and gains strength still via social networks.
Meh. Kodak’s final olympiad as an Olympic sponsor passes on a weak note online.
One wonders at the missed (?) opportunities for the official sites to host and stream on-demand content. And for revenue streams? Sponsorships, subscriptions and fee-driven access. How about a deal with iTunes?
Finally, a 
Web conferences have become host to the new wave of viral tools and technologies that are enhancing community and business meetings. Carlson Marketing calls this next-gen conference style ‘Meetings 2.0.’ As a worldwide enabler of business meetings, Carlson has added mobile tools and social networking to their meetings and events offerings, which expands the experience from just ‘During’ to include ‘Before’ and ‘After.’
