See it here: pomegranatephone.com
Ok, I'm gonna spoil it. Not that you actually thought the next smart phone would include such features as a coffee brewer and a harmonica. The real surprise is what they're really selling. (spoiler alert) It's a clever awareness campaign for the Province of Nova Scotia.
There has been lots of discussion online about the effectiveness of this campaign, and there are many haters (there always are). Many of whom can't fathom the campaign's 300k price tag. I think they're just bitter cuz they were all fooled.
Personally, I think this is amazing work and a bold move by both the province and their agency. Case in point, I found the link to the site yesterday on Kevin Rose's Twitter (twice!). Like it or not, if someone as influential as the founder of Digg is tweeting it, you know you've got something. Kevin's got over 71,000 followers on Twitter alone. That's at least 71,000 people that could potentially have been exposed to the brand instantaniously, many of whom would likely have never heard of Nova Scotia. Also, try Googling it. Look at how many are discussing it. Good or bad, it's pretty impressive.
If the site was not up to the highest standards, it wouldn't have gotten anyone's attention. To catch the eye, and engage someone like Kevin Rose and all the other blogs that are talking about it, it had to look like as good or better than any Smartphone site out there (Apple, Nokia, Blackberry, Motorola, etc). That, in my mind, justifies the price of this work.
This is an amazing effort by the folks at by Bristol Group, Egg Films, Hatch, and Breathe Media.
Kudos to all.
I will further honour this spot by actually going to Nova Scotia. See you next Wednesday.
