北京赛车pk10: Pixon camera-phone
Brand: Samsung
Agency: Lean Mean Fighting Machine
Blimey. Mobile phone campaign sites have come on in leaps and bounds recently. Once upon a time, all you needed was a 3D handset floating in the middle of a screen, a few glowing hotspots and it was job done. Thankfully, things have moved on.
The Photographic Adventures of Nick Turpin (apart from having one of the longest URLs in history) is tasked with shifting Samsung's eight mega-pixel Pixon phone. The aim is to show off its high-res images and prove it can compete with proper cameras for snapping when you're out and about.
It does this with an interesting take on the 'choose your own adventure' idea. It works like this: the photographer takes a photo, you click on the bit of the photo you like, and after two hours the most clicked bit becomes the subject of the next shot. Turpin then has until the next day to get the shot taken and uploaded.
Now I doubt Samsung imagined the subject matter for one of the first shots would be a milkman's arse (oh, the joys of letting the public decide), but the inspired idea to send the photographer to Montcuq - roughly translated as My Arse - in the south-west of France, more than makes up for it.
So does it work? Well, first things first: the idea is great fun. The sheer bravery of allowing punters such freedom of choice deserves a hearty slap on the back.
These things work best when people know they have real control - not just a decision between A or B - but it takes a brave brand to allow this to happen. It also works well as a means to demonstrate the phone's capabilities.
The photos are good, and using a proper snapper adds authenticity. But I'm less keen on the site design. The typography makes it difficult to get what's going on and the layout doesn't really work. Also, why can't we see the images full-screen?
There's also a broader point to be made here about digital. If you want people to do something, the reward must far outweigh the interaction. The internet is littered with brand sites expecting you to upload a photo or make a video for the digital equivalent of a book token. I'm sorry, but fame isn't enough.
The fact is, when a brand gets you to do something, it's indebted to you. And the repayment needs to be big, exciting and preferably have cherries on top. The Samsung campaign asks very little of me, but it still doesn't give me enough back to get me really excited or to get me to return. To be honest, I want to be on that journey, not Turpin. For a little click on my part, it feels like someone else has all the fun.
Perhaps the site could have asked more of me? Could we have voted on props to make the photographer's life even harder? Could all the photos live on somewhere outside the website? Or perhaps I could have had the chance to go along with Turpin, too?
In the end, though, it doesn't matter. This is very much an experimental idea that, despite its failings, has real merit. In a world where people are rapidly going back to tried and trusted methods - it's vital that we keep innovating to find new and interesting ways of connecting with people.
We are in an industry where most of the rules have yet to be written. And in my opinion, if you're not innovating, you are making websites with spinning phones.
Adam Cleaver is joint creative director and founding partner of Collective. Clients include Honda, learndirect, BBC and Sega. Before launching Collective, Cleaver was head of copy and creative lead on Nike at AKQA. "If ever there was a time when digital could lead the way for brands, it's now, as we head into the mother of all recessions."