Last month, Vancouver-based production agency The Media Merchants used a Lamborghini Reventon as a canvas for animated images. The Reventon is Lamborghini’s priciest car, costing $1.5 million. To date, only 20 have been created and sold to the public. I know you’re shocked…

What began for Media Merchants as an in-house project morphed into a live event in Vancouver.

The Lamborghini Project first began with mapping animated images onto the car. Actually, it began once confirmation was received that the car was secured for the project. After that, the animation took two weeks to create.

The agency invited members of Vancouver’s creative, technology, design, advertising and automotive industries to attend the event.

Creative technical director Anthony Diehl and animator Stuart Langfield projection-mapped a series of real-time visuals on the Reventon’s semi-matte finish.

2011 has been an important year for mobile marketing. It was the year of app mania. It was the year that mobile marketers realized that measurement was mission critical. It was the year that mobile commerce finally meant big bucks. Per eMarketer, mobile commerce sales will reach $6.7 billion this year.

If 2011 was a year of apps, commerce and analytics, what does 2012 have in store for mobile marketing? Here are five trends that will define mobile marketing in 2012.

Your Site, App And Brand Will Be Mobile-ized

Half of all mobile phones currently sold are smartphones. By the end of 2012, we may see eight of every 10 phones sold being a smartphone.

To keep up with the growing market, mobile-optimized content becomes the standard. We will see a mass deployment of sleeker, easier to navigate mobile-optimized versions, making it easier for consumers to purchase, search, consume videos and play games on mobile devices.

Brands will also move rapidly to deploy “tablet-specific” applications that better utilize the form. In 2012, app mania will be as much about tablet apps as 2011 has been about smartphone apps.

More Attention – and Dollars – Shift To Mobile

In 2012, being relevant in mobile will be more important than ever. Consider that one-third of all of Facebook’s site traffic stems from mobile devices and over half of Pandora’s and Twitter’s traffic also comes from mobile. A recent eMarketer CMO survey revealed that more than 80% of all CMOs are prioritizing digital — and specifically, mobile — as two areas of focus for 2012 and moving forward.

The growth in mobile use and the greater allocation of marketing spend in this sector means that the measurement of mobile marketing efforts will be more prevalent than ever.

You Will Buy More Stuff Via Mobile (and Social)

According to new research from comScore, 38% of smartphone owners have used their phone to make a purchase at least once. While digital content purchases like music, ebooks and TV episodes were the most popular items bought in September, clothing, accessories and event tickets were also purchased. There’s a place in the mobile commerce sphere for retailers across all verticals.

eBay effectively doubled its mobile commerce revenues from 2010 to 2011, and now has approximately $5 billion in revenue that stems, in some form, from m-commerce. eBay has identified mobile commerce as the future of the company, which is why it acquired GSI and Magento.

Other well-known retailers, including Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penney and countless others are building out their mobile commerce efforts.  These brands realize that their future is intimately tied to dominating commerce in mobile and social channels.

App Mania Continues — But More Meaningful Ones

The number of branded apps that are “failures” is skyrocketing. In 2011, brands created apps just for the sake of creating apps, without necessarily understanding how to bring added value to their customers. As a result, the apps were abandoned by both consumers and the brands themselves. Marketers have learned their lesson.

In 2012, branded apps will be more about loyalty and commerce and less about awareness and engagement. They will deliver value. They may provide special deals or coupons or exclusive content, but they will be stickier and more meaningful.

Marksmanship Marketing: Segmentation, Targeting And Optimization

Segmentation and targeting is already at the top of digital marketers’ wish lists for 2012. According to a recent survey by eMarketer, 81% of respondents said they are prioritizing spend in digital analytics to better segment, target and optimize experiences for their customers.

However, the vast majority of mobile sites and apps deal with purely anonymous behavior. It’s not surprising, then, that the next level of marketing maturity — segmentation, targeting and optimization — is virtually unknown in the mobile channel.

Industry players, including Webtrends, provides marketers with the capabilities to take all of the data from their mobile channel and create profiles with it, much like traditional Web data today.

These insights allow marketers to create personal level profiles for mobile users, tracking attributes and insights into mobile customer behaviors both within the mobile channel and in relation to a brand’s other digital properties. It will also mean more personalization in terms of advertising and content, and exciting new possibilities with geolocation.

For more articles, visit www.mediapost.com.

Digital media consumption is rising, yet more research shows that traditional TV usage continues to grow.

According to eMarketer, in 2011, the average adult consumer is spending 10 more minutes each day watching television. Now at 4 hours and 34 minutes each day, this includes live TV, recorded TV or DVD.

Digital media consumption has grown as well. Internet usage is now up 7.7% to two hours and 47 minutes — the next-largest category.

Mobile phone usage is sharply up — 30% to 65 minutes, versus just 44 minutes a day for print magazines and newspapers. Adults are spending less time than last year with radio and print publications.

But eMarketer says print and newspapers still command more of the advertising dollars than mobile or other Internet platforms. Next to TV and the Internet, newspapers have the next-biggest share of advertising dollars at 15.0% — against a share of time usage at 4.0%. Magazines are at 9.7% of advertising dollars, but only 2.8% share of time spent.

When it comes to looking at share of time versus share of advertising dollars, television is still the king in both categories, at 42.5% of share of time and 42.2% share of advertising dollars. The Internet is next, at 25.9% time share and 21.9% of advertising share.

Radio lands at 64 minutes of daily usage. That comes to a 10.9% advertising share and 14.6% time share. Overall, adults’ total time spent with media per day comes to to 11 hours and 33 minutes.

Mobile has the biggest disparity in the other direction: 10.9% share of time and 0.9% share of advertising dollars.

By Tanya Irwin, Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Heineken is launching the latest phase in its campaign to encourage the responsible consumption of its brands.

The new theme, “Sunrise belongs to moderate drinkers,” is a part of the “Open Your World” global campaign, which celebrates and encourages aspirational behaviors among adult consumers.

The Amsterdam-based beer company chose to launch this program during the holiday season (a time when parties are common) to maximize the message’s impact.

The initiative is running on Heineken’s YouTube channel, Facebook fan page, and Heineken.com as well as broadcast. The program was developed by Publicis International and AKQA.

Stinky dogs, singing cats, and a splitting headache. Is it the crazy season or is it just another Pizza Friday?

It’s even better in person. Come join us on any given Friday for a slice of pie and some fresh updates. Call Dave Evans at 214-635-2220 or email Dave at devans@numantra.com to let us know you’ll be joining us.

The top 10 spots of 2012, gifts that Bing, and a tiny printer top the pizza on this week’s Pizza Friday.

It’s even better in person. Come join us on any given Friday for a slice of pie and some fresh updates. Call Dave Evans at 214-635-2220 or email Dave at devans@numantra.com to let us know you’ll be joining us.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Google has been quietly adding new ad placements in some of its most popular search destinations throughout the fall: maps. Spend time walking around New York’s Fifth Avenue, Chicago’s Magnificent Mile or San Francisco’s Union Square and it’s easy to see the growing dependence on Google maps, especially as people stop abruptly in front of you to consider the search results on their smartphones.

But what’s relatively new in the Google Maps app is sponsored ads that appear automatically among all the little red pins indicating your search results. Say you’re looking for a restaurant in the area you’re in. Google will show you a map with a bunch of little red pins indicating your choices. One restaurant, however, automatically has its brand poking out in a flag with a subtle little “Sponsored Link” written underneath.  It’s a pretty powerful way to literally stay above the fray. And because the little red pins don’t indicate anything other than location, it’s a great way to pop your brand out from the pack and inspire that first click

Another way Google has increased ad inventory is by adding an ad unit to the pop-up bubble in Google Places and Maps via the browser. This is a great way for folks with special deals — say, on Cyber Monday — to insert those at the point at which someone is considering visiting a brick-and-mortar location.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com.

Samsung Mobile mocks the hipsters and “artists” who spend their hours and days lining up for the latest iPhone in a new ad campaign, asserting they could already have the “Next Big Thing,” if they’d just broaden their horizons.

A new television commercial airing over the Thanksgiving holiday shows people lined up outside technology boutiques (the words “Apple” and “iPhone” are never mentioned, but they are clearly understood) around the country. In the line, they discuss the rumors and expectations of the latest device they’re waiting for. “Nine hours down and we’re almost in the door,” says one. “This is going be an event. We’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives,” says another.

As the hipsters peruse the rumor mill (“Blogs are saying the battery looks sketchy”), they spy someone using a Samsung Galaxy S II. Amazed by its capabilities, thinness and screen size, they display smartphone envy (one asks “Is this what adultery feels like?”)  “The next big thing is already here,” reads onscreen text. After realizing the phone they’re waiting for isn’t as advanced as the Galaxy S II, they rationalize waiting by saying the phone they’re waiting for has a cool “retro” vibe.

With increased overall competition in the smartphone market (not just from Apple) and the high-pressure holiday season, Samsung Mobile is focusing more on the user experience rather than the technical aspects of the Galaxy S II.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com.

Golfing in the rain, robot invasion, and instructions for returning home for the holidays. A little something for everyone in this week’s Pizza Friday.

It’s even better in person. Come join us on any given Friday for a slice of pie and some fresh updates. Call Dave Evans at 214-635-2220 or email Dave at devans@numantra.com to let us know you’ll be joining us.

Google racism, wave your terrible towel all over the world, drive around in your snowglobe and then grab a slice of pizza pie. You know what day it is.

It’s even better in person. Come join us on any given Friday for a slice of pie and some fresh updates. Call Dave Evans at 214-635-2220 or email Dave at devans@numantra.com to let us know you’ll be joining us.