Brands

Solid state drives (SDDs) are currently on a trajectory to overtake the use of hard disk drives (HDDs) in laptops in the very near future. SDDs, which predominantly rely on NAND-based flash memory, are already coming stock on some laptops like Apple’s MacBook Air. And, as even novice technophiles know, as Apple goes, so goes the world.

Leaps in flash memory technology mean a whole new laptop SSD market, of which Samsung is trying to tap into. The issue, of course, is that computer drives aren’t exactly very “sexy” looking devices. So, Samsung called upon director Sam Bailey and the folks at The Viral Factory to create the “SSD Angels,” a rag-tag group of nerds who travel around Europe and harass people in public.

In this first episode, the SSD Angels prey on the insecurities of Europeans going through relationship problems with their computers. In a refurbished ambulance, the team convinces 42 people to replace their current hard drives with Samsung 830 SSDs. And, wonder upon wonder, computers installed with the new drives go a lot faster. Yes, with SSDs, simple web-browsing and boot-up time seem miraculously quicker than HDDs. But, a word to the wise, if you’re actually running multiple programs simultaneously, stick with HDDs (at least for now).

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As you may know by now, Arby’s, minus any review, went ahead and handed its creative business to Crispin Porter + Bogusky. This ends a rather brief relationship with BBDO, which picked up the business for the fast-food chain just 15 months ago and put out ads such as this. Here’s a note we received from sources that BBDO NY CEO/president John Osborn sent to staff following the news of the loss:

“I received a call yesterday informing us that Arby’s is being moved to Crispin without a review.

We were awarded the Arby’s business in December 2010.  Since then, the brand has enjoyed five consecutive quarters of sales increases, and ended 2011 with its highest sales increase in 10 years!

We created work around a tagline, “Good Mood Food,” which achieved 60% awareness in just ten months and became even more recognizable than other competitors with higher spending.

What’s more, we made the sales register ring.

Which is why I am absolutely confident we will be back in the food service business…

In the meantime, keep your heads high.  We hope Arby’s can continue to show business growth.  And let’s do everything in our power to ensure a smooth transition.

We’ll bounce back.  This I know.

Ozzy”

Two weeks after reportedly cutting its agency review down to two finalists, Mullen and incumbent Publicis & Hal Riney, U.S. Cellular has chosen the former as its winner. As a result, Mullen will handle brand strategy, creative development and performance analytics across all traditional, digital and emerging media channels for the wireless brand’s advertising account.

Regarding the decision, David Kimbell, VP of marketing for U.S. Cellular, says in a statement, “Mullen impressed us with the breadth and originality of its strategic thinking. We have bold ambitions for the U.S. Cellular brand, and in Mullen we have an agency partner with a proven ability to creatively express the unique qualities of challenger brands and make them stand out in the marketplace.”

No word on when first work from Mullen for U.S. Cellular will break just yet.

Before you watch the above video, unplug your headphones from your iDevice (you can listen to “Rolling in the Deep” again later) and plug them into your computer. Now, take part in a sensory experiment Sony is calling the “Binaural Sound Experience,” which I assume sounds much better on actual headphones than it does on earbuds.

The Binaural Sound Experience (or the “BSE” as it will be known from here on) matches “3-Dimensional” sounds with the photography of Andrew Scriven, Sony World Photography Award winner. Sony introduces the experience in the above minute-long video, which gives viewers (and listeners) a first-person perspective of a rock-star warmup, ending with taking the stage at London’s famous O2 Academy Brixton.

For those wondering how Sony created the BSE and to see how exactly binaural sound is created, watch the “making of” video after the jump.

Less than a year after nabbing digital duties for Dorel Industries’ Cannondale brand, New York digital shop Firstborn has been tapped to handle more digital work for the former company’s bike roster, specifically that of Mongoose. A review for the 37-year-old bicycle brand’s digital business kicked off back in September 2011 and included multiple agencies according to the parties involved. Firstborn’s assignment now as Mongoose’s digital partner includes strategy and website experience. Initial work from FB for the brand is expected to break online this spring. Along with Mongoose and Cannondale, other Dorel bicycle units include GT and Schwinn.

Who can forget that Skittles spec work from last year that featured an amorous couple, um, celebrating their nuptials? Well, the directing team behind said effort, Cousins, is up to more hijinks with a new spec piece for Reese’s Pieces called “Love Child,” which also featured VFX work from The Mill. Suffice it to say that we’ll never look at Reese’s peanut butter cups the same way again. You can find out more about this project here.

While we’re on the Arnold-related tip, guess it’s worth mentioning that the agency has been selected as creative agency of record for Carbonite, which we know from its numerous live ads on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show but bills itself as a provider of online backup solutions for consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. Tom Murray, SVP, marketing for the seven-year-old Carbonite, says in a statement, “We’ve been really impressed with Arnold’s understanding of our business and, of course, we’re drawn to their legacy of success creating iconic campaigns that have generated great results for brands.”

As you’d expect, Arnold will be responsible for strategy, the usual digital, TV, print and radio advertising as well as web design for Carbonite, which we assume is run by a bunch of Star Wars fans. We’ve been told Arnold is Carbonite’s first creative agency and there wasn’t a formal review.

Following a Facebook poll that apparently found the new tagline “Finding you the perfect place is all we do” a good thing, Hotels.com has unveiled its new logo. It’s all part of a complete redesign for the brand, which will see its animated spokes-thing Smart veer from claymation to CGI, a launch of a new website and more. Look for it in Q2. Hmm, not sure what to think with his 3D-ish branding, but feel free to weigh in. Here’s the old logo below.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over a year since Ted Williams, the homeless man with the “golden voice,” captured the collective heart of the internet. It’s also nice to see that CP+B and Kraft are still getting some mileage off of the Macaroni and Cheese spokesperson, including Williams in a Valentine’s Day social media campaign aptly titled “The Golden Voice of Love.” With Barry White and Issac Hayes both in the grave, could Williams ascend to the throne as America’s new voice of romance?

“The Golden Voice of Love” is basically the same exact thing as W+K’s award-winning “Responses” campaign for Old Spice. Tweets featuring the #voiceoflove hashtag will be eligible for a reading by Williams through Feb. 14, which will then be posted to Kraft Mac and Cheese’s YouTube page. The main distinction between “The Golden Voice of Love” and “Responses” is the former’s charitable twist. For each tweet featuring the #voiceoflove hashtag, Kraft will donate 100 boxes of Mac and Cheese (up to 100,000 total) to Feeding America, an organization that Williams says is “very near and dear to my heart.”

So, if Isaiah Mustafa ignored your tweets during “Responses,” here’s your second chance to get your social media witticisms read aloud by an Internet celebrity. And, this time around, your tweet is supporting a good cause. Learn more about Feeding America here.

The CP+B-aided reinvention of Domino’s continues as the pizza chain is heralding the launch of its new Facebook platform called Think Oven, which serves as both a suggestion box (or “Idea Box” as they’re calling it) and an outlet for Domino’s to dish out projects for its consumer base to take part in.

First up to bat on the Think Oven project list? New uniforms. Yes, it appears that Domino’s is looking to update the ol’ blue and red-based outfits and is looking for your best ideas. The two best visual and written submissions will each win a cool $500, so why not channel your inner Project Runway designer. If you need a prettier explanation of what Think Oven is, see visual presentation above. Deadline for the uniform project, by the way, is March 4. In conjunction with the Facebook launch, Domino’s has also rolled out a new TV spot that tells the tale of how the brand’s new Parmesan Bread Bites came to be. Hint: The product idea wasn’t hatched at corporate HQ. Check it after the jump.

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