A hot guy reminds you to check your breasts

Here is the Your Man Reminder app for ReThink Breast Cancer:

Since studies show women are more apt to listen to a message if a hot guy is saying it, this app features studly men showing us how to give a little TLC during breast self-examinations.

iPad 2 storytelling

Here is a app trailer for The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore:

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore iPad App Trailer from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

An unexpected beetle

Here is an augmented reality app in Canada for Volkswagen:

Passersby can download the associated app and scan Volkswagen billboards to see the animated "Juiced Up" version of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle. 

Jiggle it!

The Jello Jiggle-It app wiggles along with the music:

Using an audio analyzer to detect the beats per minute, this little jello cube will jiggle along with any song you choose.

Download it at www.jellojiggleit.com for iPhone and iPad. 

Lego augmented reality game app

I really wanted a Lego augmented reality app.  This is not what I had in mind, but it still looks pretty fun:

The Lego Life of George game comes with Legos and the associated app has several levels of building app games.  A timer ticks down as you have to replicate a Lego image from the app onto the AR mat.  Snap a pic of the Legos before time runs out to continue to the next level.

Be stupid with spreadsheets

After the dismal Diesel Island vid, Diesel makes up for it with Excellbook, part of their Be Stupid campaign.  Excellbook is a downloadable app that allows you to be on Facebook while it appears you are slaving away on a spreadsheet.  

Look: 

 

Download Excellbook.

AR day

Here are a couple of AR apps.  The first one is created by Total Immersion and they tout the "Magic Mirror" as the "first AR app for the iPad."  The "magic" element is fun but I'm more excited with the fact there is finally a decent mirror app.

And here movie-tie in app with Rio:

There has been debate whether you should invest money in AR.  Some contend it is a big waste of $..., likened to QR codes being a waste of time/money*.  [*Also if you are going to do QR, don't fail like Jet Blue].  

There is a significant front-end barrier with users downloading augmented-reality apps.  I am fascinated with AR but there is a major assumption that users are going to waste their time to listen to your brand.  While AR is pretty cool, these technologies still present a massive moat to the brand message.  AR is still in its infancy, and it may become an easier, more integrated technology in the very near future, but the fact of the matter is we are not there yet.  It will be very exciting to see how marketers use this medium to communicate while reconciling the barriers AR presents.

Test drive a print ad

First off, I really like the concept of this print ad for Volkswagen from Norway.  Really I do.  It's hard to find really good interactive print ads.  

But I think what troubles me about this print ad is when you remove one element out of the equation.  If a reader sees only the print ad that's basically a picture of a road in a magazine [and they never show the copy in this little video.  Maybe because it's all in Norwegian and I wouldn't understand anyway] is the copy compelling enough for you want to take your phone out and actually take the five minutes to download the app?  And vice versa, if you're browsing the iTunes store and you see a "driving Volkswagen car game app," and download it ... what do you do if you don't have that particular print ad?       

So essentially what was designed was an iPhone app, and there happens to be an associated print ad also.  While I do like this idea, the print ad doesn't have to be present to operate the app and I think that's what I find bothersome about the video's description of "innovative print ad"... because the print ad in itself is ancillary and not necessary to the experience.