The US Army wants to show potential recruits what it means to be "Army Strong." Just as the largest branch of the American military has pretty much stayed apace with advertising genres in the four decades since it became an all-volunteer force, the Army is now launching a reality-type branded-content TV series to relay that message in a different and thorough way.

Enlisting actor Ricky Schroder and his production company, the US Army has produced "Starting Strong," a series that follows 10 young men and women visiting Army installations such as Fort Bragg and Fort Sam Houston and finding out from soldiers about different military occupational specialties as they consider whether to join the force, according to the New York Times.

"We still have to advertise," Mark Davis, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for marketing, told the newspaper. "Everything's changing, and we can't depend on TV commercials, print and radio anymore." As the young people who are its recruiting targets increasingly "watch TV for content" and avoid commercials, he said, "we had to find a way to become content."Continue reading...

In what Yahoo hopes to be a life-altering deal, the aging internet company acquired social media site Tumblr for $1.1 billion, affectively gaining the attention of millions of users that visit Tumblr monthly (that is, if they all don't jump ship first).

Purchase rumors began to swirl last week after the company's CFO Ken Goldman spoke of Yahoo's "aging demographic" and their need to be "cool" again. With the acquisition now official, Yahoo will suddenly be knee deep in the content-consuming, uber-engaged millennials that it craves, but the question is whether Tumblr's core users will stick around for fear that Yahoo will alter the blogging site—or whether advertisers and brands can handle the rough-and-tumble world of Tumblr.

However, CEO Marissa Mayer was quick to assure users (with her first Tumblr post, of course; she also launched her own Tumblr and showed a sense of humor over the "WFH" debate) that Yahoo would "not screw it up" and had no plans to tamper with the site or its crew. Mayer's post, in the copyright-flouting spirit of Tumblr, used an image that without first getting its creator's permission.

Founder David Karp—who is slated to become Forbes' youngest billionaire—will remain at the head of the company along with his team. According to Mayer, it seems the only major plans Yahoo has for Tumblr (besides not screwing it up) are more opportunities for native advertising (aka advertorials or sponsored content, which Karp & Co. have been testing in the wake of earlier stumbles) in addition to implementing Yahoo search on Tumblr to start mining all that juicy millennial user data.Continue reading...

In its latest collaboration with BuzzFeed, GE’s Wonderground allows users to explore five US cities via virtual tours, offering up bites of interesting trivia along the way. The multi-platform game avaialble via iOS or online makes use of the media site's photo content pages in order to immerse users in an eye-opening look through science, design and industrial technology. 

The game lets users explore New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, in which fun facts like "LAX is the 3rd busiest airport in the United States,” and “the Getty Museum hires goats each spring to eat away at brush around the hills of the building,” which are featured in the L.A. video, voiced by BuzzFeed’s EVP Video, Ze Frank, with the headline, "See what others miss."Continue reading...

As Kermit the Frog taught an entire generation, “It's not easy being green.”

Clorox’s Green Works is a case study in the steep learning curve of green branding. The line of environmentally friendly housecleaning products launched in 2008 with an endorsement from the Sierra Club, which helped boost its market penetration and credibility. 

That $1.3 million contract ends in December and the brand chose Earth Day to announce a strategic marketing revamp, including a new tone of voice (embodied by its new manifesto, posted on Facebook and its website) and the removal of the Sierra Club logo from all Green Works packaging, a clear sign of the times as green cleaning products have been forced to reduce their premium prices and re-position the sell to deflect declining sales.Continue reading...

How appropriate is it that Jaguar has finally released its much anticipated branded short film Desire at the very same time that a fictional Jag representative on the hit show Mad Men is arguing for foregoing a "national ad campaign in favor of hard driving sales ads at the local dealer level?"

The Desire film is absolutely a national brand-making campaign and by no means a "hard driving" sales push of any kind. It is not meant, in the Mad Men dealer's words, "to move metal." It's too bad then that Jaguar's real-life branded film is so poorly targeted since Mad Men set the brand up with such a meatball opportunity.

For months, the auto-watching world has wondered about the Jaguar mini-film. When the music video tie-in from Jaguar music partner Lana Del Rey was released on Valentine's Day, it sucked up attention. The video has since logged over 300,000 views.

The full, quarter-hour mini movie is now here and it's hard to argue that Jaguar's Desire isn't a rather naked attempt to recreate the themes of BMW's decade-old iconic branded film series The Hire.Continue reading...

In what seems like a desperate bid for brand extension, the GEICO gecko has published a book. Yes, the fictitious, talking lizard not only convinces people to buy insurance, but his accented charm apparently works on publishers, too. 

The GEICO Gecko has "penned" a book titled You're Only Human: A Guide to Life, a 164-page, breezy, robustly illustrated, reader-friendly tome that covers topics of interest to the renowned, slimy little insurance mascot, ranging from "friending" hawks to Twitter, from tattoos to flossing.

Why you may ask? Well, the Gecko has always been one of the most reflective mascots in TV and print advertising. It's clear that there's a lot more going on in that tiny, tiny brain than mere shilling for his commercial sponsor.Continue reading...

The upcoming re-imagined Great Gatsby 3D has a slew of roaring '20s brands going along for the ride. Moet & Chandon and MAC Cosmetics are listed among the film's partners in its official "Guide to Style." As is New York's Plaza Hotel, which will "celebrate the Roaring `20s with period-inspired affairs throughout the spring," while Brooks Brothers has released a special Gatsby collection. While not listed in the film's official style guide, Prada has its own major partnership and Gatsby-inpired line. Tiffany & Co. has embraced its tie-in as well.

But one needn't be at entertainment's high-end to grab a fashion line tie-in. Clothing brand Opening Ceremony partnered with Spring Breakers to release a line based on the exploitation film: "Accessories include unicorn bandanas, mesh backpacks, lighters, cotton beach towels, 'HARMONY' friendship bracelets, and 'SPRING BREAK 4EVER BITCHES' wristbands."

It's all part of a booming product placement business that grew 11.7 percent in 2012 and promises to get bigger this year.Continue reading...

Syfy and Dodge are taking TV and gaming to new bandwidth with an exclusive dual-screen brand partnership. The branded entertainment will tie together Syfy's new series Defiance and Dodge's auto lineup.

Dodge’s Charger and Dart are featured in the television show debuting April 15 while the Dodge Challenger stars in the online video game which launched April 2 on PS3, Xbox and PCs. 

Two Dodge Chargers, with exterior modifications befitting a futuristic storyline, are the hero vehicles driven by main character Nolan (Grant Bowler), Defiance’s "law-keeper," and by the sixth episode, they become main characters in the story. "While 'Defiance' is set in the year 2046, the featured Dodge Charger stays true to its DNA,” said Tim Kuniskis, President and CEO Dodge Brand in a press release. “It has timeless performance and technological capabilities needed to survive in a futuristic world, while the Challenger video game integration allows enthusiasts to interact with the iconic muscle car in ways they might not have imagined possible."Continue reading...