Pool Worldwide's Google Shoot View

It's our last e-news of the year and while the team breathes a sign of relief ad land is in overdrive. Not only have they the chock full infiltration of holiday season messaging to contend with, the worthy creators of said messaging are doubled over pitching, responding to briefs and in crazy attempts to deliver before end of year deadlines. We extend our sympathies to you all.

Big stories are still breaking. Today the media are expounding upon the virtues, or lack thereof, of an ad agency-developed game that crosses Grand Theft Auto with Google Search Streetview to disturbing ends. Executive creatives at the Dutch agency Pool Worldwide clearly sat down and decided that such a stunt would be acceptable.

Google Shoot View allows players to virtually shoot up any street they wish with graphic representation of the building or area being annialated. Google is quick to disassociate and has terminated the agency's access to the Google Earth service. The website containing the game has been pulled down although a trailer remains on YouTube.

High level branded content in the digital space is the modern mantra but - in seeking consumer pin down and ever higher levels of engagement with ever more message saturated demographics - the slope is slippery and it's a murky moral world. Is this integrated engagement gone mad?

Our home page poll of the week asks a simple yes or no question: Did Pool Worldwide step over the line?

For those interested in a little light summer reading, if you haven't already, try Brandwashing by Martin Lindstrom. On a recent trip to Australia Lindstrom explained the social experiment which strategically placed brands around one suburban house watched by 30 hidden cameras. The aim was to see how much more powerful recommendations were from trustworthy sources like family and friends.

Astonishingly within the three month testing window, the assessments revealed a single message in the house reached over 30,000 people by ripple effect. Sales of brands that were placed into the social experiment rose on average by 1000 percent. 

The ramifications of the study for advertisers and the analytics developed to track it are the light reading components referenced in the opener.

We'll be back in January putting finishing touches to the BRAVE Issue, our first of the year featuring the Power 20 and the Illustrators Australia Awards.

Best wishes and happy holidays to you all,

Sonia