Fair Go Bro

Virgin Mobile has chosen to use Doug Pitt as their latest celebrity endorser.
Who is Doug Pitt? Yes, that's right, he is Brad's brother. But enough about Brad.

'Unlike his famous brother, Doug's never been the star of anything. As believers in a fair go for all Virgin Mobile has decided to make things a little fairer in the Pitt family and we are also asking Aussies  to get behind Doug and show him some 'like' at FairGoBro.com.au' (http://www.campaignbrief.com/2012/07/virgin-mobile-announces-celebr.html)

Virgin have attempted to challenge the regular celebrity endorser campaigns, and give a bro a fair go. If you haven't seen the ad yet, here it is:

The video has nearly 1.4 million views on YouTube, and encourages consumers to interact with the campaign. 

In an article from campaignbrief.com, David Scribner, marketing director at Virgin Mobile explains 'With consumer engagement paramount to success, we wanted push the boundaries and develop a campaign that had social and mobile at the heart of it and is supported by a significant ATL campaign, rather than simply leading with a TVC'

Personally, I think the ad is fantastic. It creates a 'what the?' factor that gets people talking, and truly outlines Virgin's marketing objectives to give everyone a fair go. Yes celebrity endorsements have proven to be effective in many cases, however are often over done. This is still a form of celebrity endorsement, because if it wasn't for Brad, Doug would not have been selected...I think it is very clever of Virgin and I have never seen anything like it! (correct me if i'm wrong?)

Would it have been more effective to just get Brad to endorse the Virgin brand? I don't think so, but everyone can have an opinion.

Do you like the ad? Let me know what you think!

A new form of Social Networking

Svpply

A friend recently introduced me to an iphone application called 'Svpply'. It is kind of a mix between online shopping, Instagram and Facebook. The app displays a range of products from clothing to home wears along with an approximate price. Users can select 'want' and they will be shown other items they may also like. Users can also follow other users and be followed. When you follow someone, items they 'want' show up in your newsfeed and vice versa. Here are a few screen shots from the app:

The first image shows the shopping page, where users can browse items and click 'want' to anything they like. The next two images are a users profile. They have followers, are following people and currently have 12 items they 'want'. The products on the site are updated every day, with over 3000 new items being added daily, from 70,000 stores and brand. 

The products are selected by the members of Svpply, and stores can get on the site by adding an Svpply button on their website. 

Svpply is another social network, allowing communication and sharing of information. How many social networks is too many? 


Has anyone else ever used Svpply? Or bought anything from it?