Online+Ad+Critique

__ CCT356 Online Ad Critique __

 * EVONY - The (De)Evolution of an Ad Campaign**

If you visited a video game related website or forum in 2009 you would have probably been exposed to one of these ads for Evony. A free-to-play web based game where players create a city and defend it against other players online. This particular ad campaign, which began with an innocent enough image of a medieval knight, slowly started to change and as the ads continued they began to feature women in suggestive poses with an increasing amount of skin showing. Eventually the ads were just pictures of women with no clothes on and the logo for the game. It's evident that the campaign was targeted towards men aged 18 - 35, due to the nature of the messaging and imagery. The final ad shown here says absolutely nothing about the game or website that it's trying to promote. All it's meant for is to get people to click on the ads regardless of whether or not the click will create a lead or if the quality of the lead is any good. In that sense this campaign is absolutely a failure. People who click on the banners are not going to be looking for a top down civilization simulation game, they're going to be looking for something else entirely. The amount of clicks the new ads generated may have been higher than the clicks of the first ad, but the conversion percentage of clicks would be much lower.
 * [[image:http://images.lazygamer.net/2009/08/Evony1.jpg width="145" height="150" align="center"]] || [[image:http://images.lazygamer.net/2009/08/Evony21.jpg width="194" height="150"]] || [[image:http://images.lazygamer.net/2009/08/evony-ad-31.jpg width="150" height="150"]] || [[image:http://images.lazygamer.net/2009/08/Evony5.jpg width="196" height="151"]] || [[image:http://images.lazygamer.net/2009/08/newevonyad.png width="178" height="147"]] ||

On the other hand, there is something to be said about bad publicity. "Any press is good press", or so they say. While Evony may have became infamous for pandering to the lowest common denominator, it's hard to argue with the amount of publicity these ads generated for the game, however negative it may have been. The ads have been discussed on major gaming blogs like Kotaku, Tech Crunch, and Destructoid (who's article title "new meaning to booby-trap" is quite clever!). So while the ads themselves may not create many conversions from clicks, they certainly got talked about and sometimes that's all you could ask for in an online ad campaign.

At the end of the day this is an example of online marketing gone wrong. The company behind the ads figured that "sex sells" and completely ignored the fact that their product has nothing to do with that whole message or lifestyle. While an argument could be made for the first three ads, the last two (and especially the final one) go too far past suggestive and begin to be disingenuous and misrepresent the product they are trying to promote.

** References **
Mannion, Gavon. "A History of Evony Ads – The Insanity Continues [Updated-Again] | Lazygamer .:: Console and PC Gaming News ::. | General News." //Lazygamer .:: Console Gaming News ::. // 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. <[]>.  Thompson, Michael. "Evony: Investigating the Game Everyone Loves to Hate." //Ars Technica //. 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. .

Bear 71
Video - [] Bear 71 Website - [|http://bear71.nfb.ca/#/bear71]



Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, Bear 71 is an interactive, multi-user documentary that follows in the footsteps of a female grizzly bear in Banff National Park. It was designed by Jam3, a digital design agency based in Toronto. The experience features videos of the bear captured on film by the director, Jeremy Mendes, as well as using the national park camera's that are setup with the park to monitor wildlife. Users can connect to the site to experience the world of Bear 71 in a number of ways, including GPS tracking as well as connecting with a webcam to interact with other users. The concept for Bear 71 takes digital convergence to a whole new level - combining the world of bears, squirrels and cougars at Banff National Park, with the digital world of cell phones and computers. It makes for a very fascinating experience where you're able to explore the park, and get a glimpse into not only just the lives of the wildlife, but how closely humans and animals have to coexist in a place like Banff.

In an online world where people are used to seeing the same ideas used over and over again Bear 71 is a refreshing example of what can be done in the internet age. It also shows that quality original content, stuff that people haven't seen before, can generate a lot of buzz without any paid media. According to [|Digital Buzz] the Bear 71 website was receiving upwards of 30,000 hits per day without any sort of advertising for the site. To coincide with the documentary experience, Bear71 also has a tumblr and twitter account, where fans can continue to learn more about Bear71 and Banff National Park. The additional social media around the experience really adds to the whole dynamic in creating something that is new and exciting.

While Bear 71 may not be an advertising campaign in the typical sense, it does quite subtly create a strong message for Banff National Park, as well as promoting wildlife preservation and awareness. The close proximity of humans and animals is strongly felt throughout the documentary, with bears, deer, rabbits and people all sharing the same paths, scenic vistas and rubbing trees. By the end of the 20 minute experience you can't help but feel for the animals in the park, and the struggles that they deal with in living alongside humans. “Everyone I've talked to who’s experienced it is at the same time kind of in awe and sad and somewhat creeped out--I think that’s good,” says Bear 71 co-creator Leanne Allison. “For me, it’s a success if people want to shut down their computers and go crawl under a tree for a while.” Advertising at it's core is a call to action, whether it be to get someone to walk into a store and buy that new shiny toy, or inspire someone to make change or become involved in an issue, the core concepts are the same. And it's in this sense that Bear 71 becomes a very successful campaign for wildlife preservation and awareness. By living through the footsteps of Bear 71 and seeing how she had to try and navigate in a world filled with trails, roads and railways, we become connected and involved with the issue and are 

References
 "Bear 71 | Sundance Film Festival." Sundance Institute. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. . Dionne, Zach. "Sundance Hit Bear 71 | Co.Create: Creativity Culture Commerce." Mon, 02/06/2012 | Co.Create: Creativity Culture Commerce. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. . Hepburn, Aden. "Bear 71: A Real World Multi-User Experience | Digital Buzz Blog." Digital Buzz Blog | Digital Campaigns, Online Marketing, Social & More. 28 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. . <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">