Nearly six months ago Sprite ran the Truth Hunters campaign. I blogged about it in February, when it received a fair bit of flack from the Gen Y Marketing Podcast boys and possibly lead to this article about not trusting your advertising agency with digital media by Julian Cole. Well six months later The Long Tail kicks in. Boing Boing ran an article on it a couple of days ago with one of the videos spiking in hits. And while buzz around this campaign increased significantly, Sprite didn't respond in any way. Imagine if they released another video. Or updated the website. Or ran another contest. Social Media doesn't have a short term option....

The Grr campaign has been launched. I have no idea what its about but I like it although it does remind me of Sprite's Truth Hunter campaign. On one hand, the promotion is far better. They've been using Hamish and Andy by asking contestants to do things that make you go "Grr" for $1,000. One contestant had to get home wearing just his underwear. Another had to listen to the same song for two hours. I've also seen some clever print ads. On the other hand, I'm failing to see the brand tie in. There is a small Optus logo on the website but I'm really not seeing the connection. Perhaps its a shampaign with more to come soon...

Or is it? In what was set to be a very creative campaign Sprite's Thirst For Truth was launched a month ago. Appearing as a cross between the Chaser's War On Everything and Hamish and Andy, Truth Hunters AJ and Nicos aim these three minute videos at 16 to 24 year olds in an attempt to uncover "unspoken, brutal honest truths". The campaign has your usual vitals; a Facebook page, YouTube channel, blog and more but it seems the campaign hasn't quite received the attention they wanted. A contest asking for user submissions of people videoing their own Truths didn't receive a single entry. Promotions were run through billboards, bus sides and a cinema spot, yet $500 and a free trip to Sydney went unnoticed. Even after a month, I only heard about this campaign through someone at Naked Communications. It raises the question, does new media require old media? Can you successfully market a campaign digitally without a traditional launch? Perhaps in two years things will be different but at least here in Australia and now in the present a thirty second spot would have benefited this campaign greatly....