New ways of communication open new ways of travel

My grandfather used to travel around the country with no specific destination. He just wanted to see a region so he got on a train, got off at a village and started to ask around: Good morning sir, do you know any place to stay in this village? What is the specialty in this region? Do you know a good place to eat around here? What is worth seeing here?

This was in the 60’s in Hungary. My grandfather had the best times while traveling and he also had the best stories. So does Andrew Nelson, who, according to his article that appeared in National Geographic Traveler, visited Miami by taking advice from only locals. However, his ways of communicating to locals was different. It was word of mouth, but this time – digital. While grandpa took the advice of the first stranger he met on the street, Nelson trusted the first tweet that he received on his Twitter account where he announced he wanted advice for this special holiday of his. Hungry for a good sandwich or hungry for some local music? Just tweet your desire and Ping, ping! You get the best recommendation from your local followers. Twitter revitalized the way of being a tourist for him and it served as his very own digital Lonely Planet for the day; an alternative one. Many of us kind of hate to be the touristy tourists, we want to have adventures and we want to do “as the Romans do in Rome”. What better way than taking the advice of your local tweet-friends who make a sport of recommending the best places?

After hanging out in Miami for a couple of days following local tweets, Nelson put down his Blackberry and choose the old fashioned way and invited his digital advisors for a drink at a bar that was recommended to him on Twitter. Summing up his trip he said, “It's a happy table of 11 Miamians and one out-of-towner who have decided that Twitter is where it's @.”

Testing for a Better Quality of Life?

In the past few years, genetic testing has become a bit of a commodity. These tests can potentially prevent diseases and provide doctors with detailed information in case of a threat to the body. It's a genius idea- the ability to assess the genetic make-up of an individual. For research purposes, this is a huge breakthrough in the medical field but should it really be available for the average consumer? Should these tests be covered by insurance? Many professionals think so and more and more are jumping in the genetic testing bandwagon.

The market for these tests is still the relatively wealthy but as the health industry creates more hype around this phenomenon the more “average” people consider it. Although there are no dangers to the test itself, is the idea of the testing dangerous? Are we all just too interested in having the perfect health, the perfect life, the perfect child?

These genetic tests are not only used for preventative health but sometimes when considering procreation in an attempt to avoid a child with a tendency to certain illnesses. I see the point here- why would you want to make a baby with someone if the chances of the baby having down’s syndrome are 90%? Ok, it’s a preventative measure but does this go against nature?

I see these tests as a danger to society in general and as only feeding hypochondriacs and the pharmaceutical-obsessed world that is increasing at a rapid pace. Of course in certain situations I see genetic testing as a great alternative to using the trial and error method. For instance, if someone is suffering from intense symptoms and their doctor can't figure out the problem, the test could prove very useful. The tests are sometimes used to see if a person receiving an organ would be likely to reject it- also a useful situation. For every day people that struggle with feeling perfect? Not necessary.

The genetic testing companies are now focusing on their ability to provide guidance when choosing medication for psychological disorders including depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. There is a current “pharmaceutical challenge” ailing psychiatrists all over the world as they are finding it difficult to know which drug to prescribe to which patient. The companies are claiming that with a genetic test a psychiatrist is more likely to understand which medication would work for your brain. Again, these "depressed" people may only find that the genetic test gives them even more disconcerting information. Many tested have found problems in their body they didn't even know about previously. Couldn't this lead to anxiety? The Mayo Clinic recently posted an article concerning genetic testing creating more anxiety for people that think they may have cancer. Is someone facing bad or maybe life-threatening health problems in a position to handle even more bad news from a genetic test?

Why are we, as humans chasing a perfect life? Why are we all obsessed with feeling good all the time? Should we accept life and take its twists and turns without trying to “fix” ourselves constantly? It seems that these concerns and efforts are creating even more anxiety and potentially leading to more health problems. Has anyone ever considered that it's better not to know? Ignorance is, in fact, bliss.

Genetic Testing is a very avant garde idea but does it represent our desire to live forever in perfect contentment? I think we should contemplate why we feel the need for these tests. My suggestion is that we should all accept our fate, our lives and the situation we were given when placed on this earth.

World Cup Gets Social

The rise of Social Media influenced both our personal and corporate lives, daily routines and the way we watch the World Cup in 2010. The great brands integrate social channels in their communication and come up with great strategies building their concept for this worldwide event. It’s somehow paradox though, that while on the corporate side the brands use Social Media during the World Cup to reach their target groups but some main players of the sport event are banned from it.

Teams from Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Holland, Germany, Argentina and England are forbidden to use social services such as Twitter. Marcelo Bielsa, the coach of Chile even banned all social networking and non-social Internet use during the evening. There are some exceptions like Kaka, who could use twitter to connect with their fans which was impossible during the last world cup in 2006, as Twitter didn’t exist.

Another interesting aspect of Social Media is to see how the digital evolution really took place through the example of the World Cup’s history. In 2002, the World Cup in Korea and Japan was the first to use the Internet by creating websites for teams and tournaments.

By the next World Cup in 2006 Myspace was the ruling social site especially in the US, with Adidas creating a Myspace site featuring video and exclusive content. Meanwhile Coca Cola published a blog to track two unofficial World Cup mascots. In Hungary, the dominating social platform, iwiw.hu (still number one in 2010) set off its World Cup bet game on the network. Nike and Google launched “the first social network for football fans worldwide,” Joga.com.
This year, although neither Nike or Pepsi are official sponsors of the worldcup, Nike’s "Write the Future" video broke the record for the biggest audience in the first week of a campaign with 7.8 million views, and Pepsi’s "Oh Africa" spent seven weeks on the Viral Chart.

The number one in using social media this year was Budweiser, always a big sponsor for all serious sporting events. The massive campaign placed 32 fans from all 32 World Cup countries under one roof in South Africa. Users voted for the fan from their country to show their support and also influence the actions of the house members. Bud’s YouTube channel is the 4th most watched since the beginning of the World Cup. The reality show style campaign on YouTube is a first. Bud United also includes a popular iPhone app and a profile pic designer on Facebook.

Nike’s first World Cup ad launched on Facebook and has dominated Social Media as neither an official sponsor nor a partner of the games. The video launched on May 20th has over 14 million views on YouTube and is getting picked up on blogs as the best use of media during the games by any brand.

Pepsi’s “Oh Africa” features athlete super stars Messi, Kaka, Drogba, Lampard, Henry, and singer/songwriter Akon. Their Facebook Page is nicely integrated, while the YouTube channel is thriving with millions of views from fans in love with Pepsi athletes. Pepsi Max Football Hero is impressive.

Coke is showcasing viral football videos on YouTube and their official partnership allows fans to listen to music, submit celebrations and win video awards. Coke created multiple widgets and a new microsite in addition to a custom YouTube channel for Powerade. These user-generated videos have millions of views. Despite this wild success, we question the minimal integration with Facebook and Twitter.


VISA has built a YouTube-based campaign encouraging fans to submit a video shouting “Goal!”. This popular cheer has inspired fans of all nations to submit a variety of impressive imitations. As an incentive to watch the videos throughout its site, VISA has placed “golden cards” among the submissions. When clicked on, the fan has a chance to win a trip to South Africa or $100 VISA cards. The more the user watches the videos, the more likely they are to see the cards.

Adidas is putting all their focus on soccer’s grandest stage. Fans can win Adidas prizes by recruiting other fans, voting on which players will perform the best, and simply visiting the custom Facebook tab which houses a slick Flash app.

Sony mounted a creative campaign where users can film themselves doing the wave. Each submission is then added to Sony’s website which features an endless World Cup wave. They called in NBA superstar Steve Nash to promote the effort. The website features Facebook’s new “Like” button and the Facebook app boasts over 23k monthly users. Campaign integration with Twitter and Facebook Page leaves room for improvement.


The video game giant is utilizing social media to pump up sales during the World Cup. The brand encourages fan interaction on Twitter and has amassed a strong following on Facebook. EA Sports has also partnered with Coca-Cola on select ads. EA’s YouTube videos rank 3rd most viewed in the UK and its channel is the 32nd most subscribed to of all-time. EA also partnered with Playfish to roll out its first Facebook game - FIFA Superstars.

The British oil company is not wasting this rare chance to connect with football fans. Castrol activated Facebook and Twitter accounts to interact with fans by providing an in-depth means to monitor player performance. Fans are able to choose their favorite teams and players to follow. Castrol has also created an iPhone app that supports its campaign with player, team, and opponent predictors. A dedicated microsite was also created for this campaign and the World Cup.

An official sponsor of the England National team, the British brewery has created this campaign to give fans a chance to talk their beloved side while winning free Carlsberg to drink during the World Cup. The official website links directly to the campaign’s YouTube channel. This campaign features all three major platforms, but Carlsberg could have benefited from more frequent fan interaction on Twitter by identifying and reaching out to English futbol influencers.

UK based brand, Continental held a YouTube contest for fans to tell them what lengths they would go to be at the World Cup. Fan interaction continued on Facebook with a game called ContiTireKick where users shoot on goal for entry into a sweepstakes for Cup tickets.

McDonald’s, an official sponsor, had a great campaign to send fans to the World Cup with VIP tickets on a dedicated website. However, the only social media that coincides with the website is an unbranded, dedicated YouTube channel.

During the World Cup not only the companies but fans are very active as shown the internet traffic. Twitter’s tweet record hit during the Japan-Cameroon game on June 14th with 2,940 tweets per second. Many of those who were tweeting about the vuvuzelas and the bad calls by referees may have been at work, according to Cisco’s ScanSafe SaaS Web security service, as corporate web traffic was up 27 percent globally during World Cup matches taking place during working hours.

The content-delivery network, Akamai said that on average, World Cup-related traffic has been driving close to 1Terabit/second of traffic.

The wide range of social campaigns and digital activities around this event show us how digital media changed the way we communicate in just a couple of years. It will be stunningly interesting to compare the next World Cup’s, or the Eurocup’s digital communication to the actual event. The fast technical evolution might create new levels of interactivity and the shifts between social platforms in addition to new social sites could change the marketing-mix and accentuate new channels.

Our Take

Welcome to the Avantgarde Group blog! We are the leading business communications (Public Relations & Public Affairs) consultancy in Hungary and aim to serve our clients by providing the most up-to-date, cutting-edge and avantgarde communication solutions to their business challenges. In line with our efforts, this blog will provide information on topics from around the globe that we deem to be in line with an avantgarde mentality.

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