***DISCLAIMER: Let me just say, before I get into the actual post, that I love Sherlock Holmes. And mysteries requiring deductive reasoning. And witty banter. And steampunk. But most of all, I LUURRRVE Robert Downey Jr. So beware of fangirlishness popping up in this post.***

We at Nostrum have been fiddling around with augmented reality stuff for a while now, and as part of that, I’ve been researching film promotions. Now, as I warned above, I was already excited for Guy Ritchie’s upcoming reboot of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and the delightfully lugubrious Mark Strong. So when Robert (Nostrum’s Robert, not Iron Man Robert) asked me to check out a promotional game for the film, I was happy to oblige and immediately hopped over to 221b.sh. I landed on a nicely designed page depicting a nice darkly luminous Dickensian-looking London…and a ridiculously long load time. The long load time, combined with the huge “Facebook Connect” button, led me to believe that the game was going to be some lame Facebook game where you get two choices: 1. run away or 2. “fight.” And by fight, they mean hit a button and get a message that says “you just fought and won 20 gold coins!”

I was therefore quite pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a real, participatory game. It’s kind of like the scavenger hunt games that were set up leading up to The Dark Knight, and apparently, for Iron Man 2 (why didn’t I hear about that one??), except the evidence is all in one place. You get assigned a case by Scotland Yard and then put together the evidence to solve it. And here’s the kicker–you need two people to play (ideally). One plays as Holmes and the other plays as Watson, and they each get different evidence and have to consult in order to solve the mystery. Of course, you can play both ends yourself if you’re like me and don’t feel like waiting for somebody else to figure it out. It has all the usual stuff, like automatic status updates and so forth to spread the word, but it’s not a Facebook game.

The mechanics of the game itself are well-done, except that they load too slowly. You watch a video from Scotland Yard or a victim setting up the mystery, and then you read police reports, newspaper clippings, mysterious letters, and so forth, to piece together what’s going on. Then you do some more creative things like chasing down burglars, breaking into buildings, exploring hideouts, and interrogating witnesses. It incorporates strategy games, timed games, hidden object games, and logic games all in one, which is what makes it more fun (and way more participatory) than your average Facebook game. Plus it hints at the premise underlying the plot of the film without giving anything away or relying on teasers like Sherlock Holmes wallpaper or AIM icons (which nobody cares about). In short, it’s fun, it’s intriguing, and it’s well-done.

And it’s ongoing until the film comes out on Christmas Day. There’s a new chapter every Monday. Ok, Holmes, now go find your Watson and get sleuthing.

Alright, I think I managed to avoid too much fangirl blather. What do you say?

Last week I stumbled across a headline that I only expected to see about pending litigation. The headline prominently featured Google and major players in the recording industry. As I gave it a glace I came to learn about a strange/ intriguing website that debuted last week, Vevo. Vevo is a joint venture between major recording companies and Google using the same Ad supported philosophy as Hulu.

Vevo has been called everything from the enemy of good, to the savior of traditional media or at least the music industry. While Vevo is undeniably controversial (a google blog search will amply show this), the site is really a non player at this point. Vevo still has technical issues (in its first week) which bog it down for what the site will be. The site also doesn’t boast nearly the content it will in the coming months.

My personal (Mike) take on the site is critics and supporters are jumping the gun. The site has a glut of cool features, and a ton of potential. However Vevo doesn’t have an identity because its still too new.  It looks like the site will reach a very commendable $25 CPM this week but will that price have staying power?

Its too soon to tell.

Over all I think the site has a ton of potential but is still just over halfway there. If this is the final product its a 50/50 shot for success. If Vevo continually improves and adds features…things could get musical. … (really cheesy I know)

I just ran across this video and it made me very excited and not in a typical advertising manner.  I didn’t think about potential donation capabilities that could rain in from a viral hit or massive success attributed to the marketing team because they nailed the strategic objectives of the campaign; I  got happy because someone on their Executive Team had the forethought to know that this was a positive move for their company and had enough trust in the staff  to believe that this could work and went with it. I could only imagine the back and forth that went on between legal and each department around what they couldn’t do because of X,Y and Z.  But kudos to the Executive and his/her team who green lit this for it truly shows how when passion and company’s culture are on the same page good things can emerge.  And only when every level of a company is engaged and participates in a manner that they are comfortable with does something like this take off.  From the Facilities Department to the Rehabilitation Team to the Executive Suite at Providence Health Services in Oregon, nostrum salutes you and your 2Million viewed (and counting) viral smash….

I remember the first time I walked into a friends house with a computer hooked up to the TV. It was an Apple 1, it was the first time I had seen a computer in the pixelated glory of full color. That was in 1990 just a few years later my grandma scored the mother load “web TV”. This box brought lighting quick 56k dial-up internet complete with 40 mb of hard drive space straight to the TV (circa 1996). Then for some unknown reason it simply went off the market, and the age of the desktop/laptop was ushered in. Now its starting to look like Tech is a lot like fashion and movies; the old gets a little update and comes back as a ‘new’ thing.

In my opinion that’s exactly what we are looking at in the near future with a new offering by yahoo called connected TV. You may have missed the quite application wars going on between cable and satellite providers, but its been quietly brewing as Cable and Satellite try to avoid becoming the next newspaper. Connected TV is Yahoo’s solution to the infighting and my hunch says its going to win.

5 reasons I think connected TV will succeed!

Reason 1: Connected TV works without cable, even dinosaurs like me can get it.

Reason 2: Its open! All of the other major players are terriffed to open TV applications or widgets up to the general public!

Reason 3: It has hardware support! look at the brands providing hardware that is compatible

Reason 4: Its quick! early complaints about the other services is that they are all slow. Even Fios is getting compliants from users

Reason 5: Its universal! which means providers wont get another feather in their cap to control you with.

The great news for advertisers is that this can create a whole new era of permission marketing! Jello will be able to provide recipes on the screen, Chipotle could allow a consumer to order dinner from the TV, Department stores could tell consumers about flash sales… the list could go on and on!  This adds both value and increases brand awareness for consumers/fans.

Who do you think will win?

Other Players

Verizon FIOS Widget Bazaar; AT&T U-verse applications ;  DirecTV apps