Play smarter

Smart cars are great for making our carbon footprint smaller, zipping into tight spaces, and playing games of 'pong'. You read right. This campaign by BBDO engaged visitors to play games of pong, or 'Smart eBall', with the new Damier vehicles. It's a very cool (and very fun) way of showing the control and acceleration of the smart car, both for those who were game enough to play and for those who chose to watch.

A little village goes global

Have you heard of the tiny Swiss village of Obermutten? Here's a brief rundown of this sleepy town: it has less than 100 residents, a hotel, a barn, a church… and a Facebook page with higher engagement rates than the pages of Lady Gaga and Coca Cola. Yes, you read it right. Their campaign was simple: just become a fan of their Facebook page and they'll print out your profile picture and pin it to their town noticeboard. But with nearly 14,000 fans, these pictures have spread to the barn door and other areas of the village, as the mayor will not back down on his charming promise.

Dancify Yourself

Choose a tune, challenge a friend and boogie on down. These three notions have been what the popular XBox Kinect games are all about. However, when promoting the new Dance Central game, these three elements were transferred brilliantly into a smartphone app – making use of a smartphone's camera, the app's 'dancify' technology and social media – to spread the word and hype up the latest Kinect game.

Try before you buy – packaged toys

Here's a novel idea for when you're on the fence about buying a product. Often the ability to see the actual item and how it works can make or break your purchase decision, but packaging prevents this. Bandai have released a way for children and adults alike to view their toys without taking them out of their box… with a little help of a certain reality augmentation app.

The radio station that has sports covered

One of China's top sports radio stations, Beijing Sports Radio, came up with this succinct print campaign. The station wanted to raise awareness of their live sporting event coverage, but as there are many different languages spoken in Beijing, their ads needed to easily illustrate their message. Using the universal symbol for talking, this campaign hit the nail on the head.

Samsung takes a bite out of Apple

The Super Bowl – the sporting event where the advertisements are almost as anticipated as the game itself. Though the ads sometimes fall flat, the price of being in the limelight for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl is always insane. This year it would have costed you $3.5 million, the highest price in history. Though Samsung's ad for its' Galaxy Note was fun, vibrant and attention grabbing, the 90-second spot entitled 'Thing Called Love' mocked Apple and consumers of Apple products, gaining a bit of controversy.

Farewell, Kodak

Kodak has been having a hard time. With the bulk of their income coming in from film products and cameras, intense competition of the digital variety have seen Kodak unable to keep up. To remember them we're remembering a great advertising campaign they did back in 2005, with the simple tag line 'More Shots, More Chances".