Watch The Digital Campaign on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Co.Create points to a great piece of interactive journalism from PBS, which reveals how both the Romney and Obama campaigns are using digitally collected data (sometimes called "big data") to focus their mobilization and persuasion campaign efforts. There are interesting learnings here for brands as the political objectives of mobilization and persuasion have direct correlations to marketing campaigns.

PBS takes the story a step beyond the video (shown above) by developing an interactive element to their report. Targeting the Electorate allows users to "find out how [political] campaigns may be targeting [them]" by answering a few simple questions about themselves. The result (see mine below) is a custom report indicating how they are likely being targeting by the campaigns of the presidential candidates.

Thanks to mobile, the line separating digital and print is continuing to blur. Entertainment Weekly recently included smartphone technology in 1,000 special versions of its October 5 print edition. The technology supports "one-of-a-kind" digital ads for the CW network's new action shows The Arrow and Emily Owens, M.D. Video clips of the shows followed by relevant, real-time tweets are displayed to readers, adding a novel level of variability to once static print magazines. 

The smartphone hardware powering these ads runs on Android. It also has an LED screen, a live USB port, boasts 3G connectivity, a camera and full QWERTY keyboard. Hacks on the device have let curious techies take blurry photos (the device has no camera lens) and even make phone calls. 

This execution not only shows the possibilities for 2D ads moving forward, but also demonstrates the infiltration of smartphone technology into the mainstream. Expect to see advertisers applying this method of connectivity to out-of-home ad spaces such as bus shelters, posters and signs. Print and out-of-home ads will also become tailored to the context in which they are read. These placements have the potential to know where viewers are on the map, the weather there, whether or not they're on-the-go, the time of day, elevation and more. 

As smartphone prices continue to drop, we'll likely begin to see an increase in sophistication of these connected print ads. One day, your next magazine purchase could be your next mobile phone purchase too.  

via Mashable

Heineken recently created an interactive advertisement to coincide with the release of 'Skyfall,' the latest James Bond film. After connecting their Facebook accounts, participants are submerged into this personalized version of the secret agent's story. It begins with a man in search of a beer at a train station, who soon meets James Bond and Bond Girl Bérénice Marlohe. Marlohe then guides participants through a series of tasks with the goal of cracking a code to open a locked case. 

The entertaining, interactive video has hints of humor and nods to past James Bond films, making it an interesting execution for fans of various degrees. The experience is also easily shareable to Facebook and Twitter. Most importantly, the user challenge is intuitive and easy to fulfill. This is key, as many fans who engage with the ad don't necessarily want to read lengthy instructions on how to do so. 

As fans of James Bond movies continue to struggle with this particular product placement, it will be interesting to find out how immersive stories like this will impact their perceptions moving forward. 

via EntertainmentWise

There's one job in the world that everyone can agree is the hardest - being a mom. Proctor & Gamble, purveyors of pretty much everything and sponsors of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, sought to honor the women around the world who dedicate their lives to fostering champions in the short film below.

Obviously this spot is geared towards the mothers of athletes, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say that these kinds of moments ring true for any mother regardless of race, income, or location. The feel-goody nature of the ad almost seems like a bygone practice with the burgeoning scene of brands switching to brash, snarky content. It may not elicit the laughs that we're used to seeing from companies these days, but for such a large conglomerate who is present in almost every product involved in daily life, the emotional route is still the high road.

On Saturday, Red Bull founder Chaleo Yoovidhya died of natural causes in his home country of Thailand. As the world’s 250th richest man, Chaleo held a 49% stake in Red Bull as well as countless other financial pursuits such as a hospital and a winery. His determination and knowledge was called upon by political parties and his business acumen from being a self made man was nationally famous. He was an innovative and perceptive marketer, building his brand from a small knock-off energy drink into a lifestyle product that sold over 4.6 billion cans last year. There's a lot than can be learned from numbers like that, but what really shines in such a great man's history is not his recent success, but how he made it there in the first place.

It all started in the 1962 when Chaleo, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, created an energy drink prototype called Krathing Daeng, or Red Bull in English. The drink was modeled after a similar Japanese product called Lipovitan-D, but instead of heading to the rich and wealthy city epicenters to market his product, Chaleo went into the countryside. By using bicyclists and locals who distributed samples to truck drivers and other low wage workers, he was able to get the drink into the people's hands who would champion it. The effect was tremendous. By starting in an environment that wasn't over-saturated, he was able to create brand loyalists with little to no advertising cost. These kinds of tactics are popular in emerging brands today, but in the 197...