Vine Ventures

As a newcomer to the wonders of the new social media craze, Vine, I decided to do some research on the app and find out a bit more about it so that I could share some insight with those of you who, like me, are a bit in the dark.

Essentially, Vine allows you to create and share short looping video clips, which can only be six seconds in length. By limiting recording time to such an extent, you aren't going to be making movies with it, or even creating narrative clips; the app has been created purely for "sharing moments". According to the Vine Blog site, which can be viewed here, posts on Vine are "little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life". 

Founded by Dom Hofmann and Rus Yusupov in June 2012, Vine was acquired by Twitter in October 2012 before it even hit the market. Twitter finally launched the app where it debuted on the 24th of January 2013 as a free iOS app on the iPhone and iPod Touch. In the couple of months it has been live, Vine became the most used video-sharing application in the market and only a few weeks ago, on the 9th of April 2013 it became the number one most downloaded free app within the App Store (iOS).

Despite a minor hiccup in the initial stages of its release, which saw pornographic content being posted as part of the editor's choice, Vine is becoming recognized as a valuable social media tool. Because of its unique storytelling capabilities and the sheer amount of internet buzz it has created, advertising agencies have been quick to seize on Vine's potential. In terms of creating brand-generated content, the six-second limit on the video clips will indeed pose as a challenge, but as pointed out by Chris Chamberlain, Head of Marketing at HTK Horizon in the UK this limit may also creates great opportunity. As he says, "some of the best examples of creativity are generated when there are significant constraints in place". 

Here are a few examples of Vine clips:

Dove's Real Beauty Sketches

With its clever use of a forensics artist to show women that they are more beautiful than they think, Dove's new campaign 'Real Beauty Sketches' is taking the internet by storm. Created by Ogilvy in Brazil, this campaign idealizes Dove's incredible ability to own self-esteem. With almost 22 million views on YouTube, the video has made a lot of people question whether they view themselves less accurately than strangers. Ads like these are a refreshing departure from the many female-targeted ads that try shame women to purchase.

Power of Pinterest

I think it is fair to say that a great deal of us believe Pinterest is a tool used for wedding planning, homemaking and baking inspiration. Well, that was definitely my impression up until a few months ago when I really got exploring. I did some research, played around with the site myself and as I got to know it a bit better, not only did I realize that it was much MUCH more than a portal for broody women and bratty teenagers to feed their obsessions, but I also got speaking to some people in the industry who shared insight on how Pinterest can be useful for business. This really fascinated me and, wanting to share this interest, found an infographic which sums it up very well. 

Source: http://visual.ly/how-pinterest-can-help-your-business 

A man's world!

1920-1970s: Welcome to a world of the whitest smiles, angelic children, the cleanest kitchens and the richest husbands. Welcome to an era in advertising history that has become synonymous with the submissive “Stepford Wife” and the objectification of women. Positioned so often at the feet of their men, preparing dinner, cleaning the house, fixing drinks and painstakingly ensuring they look their best, women were portrayed as mere servants to the man’s world they were living in. Women were perceived as stupid, weak, incapable and powerless,  and this sexist ideology was only perpetuated by the advertising industry. These examples of just a few. 

Mr Leggs

Van Heusen

Kenwood

Weyenberg Massagic

Hoover 

Datacomp

Alcoa Aluminum

Lux

Bell Telephone System

Push to add drama!

This ad, which was developed by Belgian agency Duval Guillaume Modem for the cable channel TNT, set records in 2012 with over 40 million views. The short spot was filmed in an attempt to promote TNT's new season of programmes in the the town of Flanders, Belgium, where a red button was placed in a quiet square with a sign reading "push to add drama". Well, drama most definitely unfolded in a surprising scene of events, and the marketing clip became a viral video hit.