Developed by the University of Auckland, players can choose an avatar which they must guide through seven ‘provinces’ related to problems they may come across while experiencing mental health issues. For instance, the Volcano Province contains tasks which can help teens deal with disruptive emotions, while on another level users have to fight GNATS (Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts). Each level takes around 30 minutes to complete and it is recommended that players attempt one or two provinces each week. SPARX, which stands for Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-factor thoughts, has already been tested among 187 young people with varying symptoms of depression, with the results appearing in the British Medical Journal. According to PsychCentral, one group was given typical treatment while the other played the game. Both groups experienced an average reduced anxiety of around one-third and remission rates were actually higher in the group given the game. Gameplay from SPARX is demonstrated in the video below:

Depression can be a difficult subject to broach, especially when it comes to teenagers, but the developers have found a way to integrate therapy into a form already popular with the younger demographic. Medical professionals: could this programme form part of your treatment?

More at: http://www.springwise.com/health_wellbeing/virtual-roleplaying-game-helps-teenagers-deal-depression/

Need we say more? The KittyCat Hijack app from Canadian cat food brand Temptations will have your favorite websites swarming with felines within minutes.

To activate the app, go to the brand’s Facebook Page and then add the app to your bookmarks bar. (The creators made this simple by putting the app in the form of a cat food bag.) After that, you can let the cats loose on your favorite websites.

More at: http://mashable.com/2012/04/30/kittycat-hijack/

More at: http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/04/30/kraft-sends-personal-thank-you-to-thousands-of-facebook-fans/

More fab campaigns including Mccain’s aromatic bus stop and a billboard war between Audi and BMW here.

Forever21 Times Square Billboard from space150 on Vimeo.

Lovely bit of experiential marketing > A DRAMATIC SURPRISE ON A QUIET SQUARE by turnerbenelux via @lakey @ysekand

CHIPOTLE REPURPOSES THEIR BILLBOARD ADS INTO REUSABLE LUNCH BAGS

This Earth Day, April 22, Chipotle Mexican Grill will reward eco-friendly customers with a free menu item when they purchase a limited edition Chipotle branded repurposed billboard bag between now and April 14.

In keeping with Chipotle’s commitment to finding more sustainable solutions, the lunch bags are made from recycled billboards sourced directly from Chipotle’s outdoor advertisements to create a ultra-durable, one-of-a-kind product. Each lunch bag purchased through April 14 will include an eco-friendly card with a unique barcode that a customer can redeem for a free menu item on Earth Day. The cards are printed on tree-free stone paper that is made from limestone salvaged from construction sites and quarry waste.

Sales from the lunch bags will go to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which funds initiatives that support sustainable agriculture, family farming, and culinary education.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2012/03/chipotle-billboard-lunch-bags.html#ixzz1qVsUGrfL

Sitting through stuffy lectures with a monotonous teacher is a student’s worst nightmare. But Pinterest may be changing that. Yes, Pinterest, the site where people pin their favorite pictures on boards to share with the world.

With Pinterest gaining traction by the day, it’s becoming a valuable tool for educators. Not only are teacherssharing tipsand using the site to grabideas for lessons, it’s being used as a teaching tool too.

Pinterest is helping inspire students, increase student participation, and helping them tell stories.

For example, University of Minnesota adjunct instructor Leslie Plesseris usingPinterest in her basic media graphics class. Though her students are not graded for their use of Pinterest specifically, they are required to use it with their activity being factored into their participation grade.

“I am looking at their design work and comparing it to what they ‘like’ on Pinterest to see where they are drawing their inspiration from and it helps me to understand their personal design aesthetic, which I can then use in determining their project grades and in any advice I give on their work,” Plesser told theDaily Dotvia email.

The students are interacting with each other on the site as well, as they follow each other and often repin items their peers have found.

More at: http://mashable.com/2012/03/22/teachers-using-pinterest/

More at: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/9342-peugeot-uses-pinterest-to-launch-puzzle-competition

Peugeot Panama has launched a Pinterest-based competition that asks people to complete puzzles by repinning images of its cars.

Last week the brand created several boards depicting different models with pieces missing.

People can search for and find these pieces, pin them on their own boards and share it with Peugeot. The first five people to complete their boards win prizes.

Though a visit to the brand’sPinterest pageleaves you somewhat confused at first, since several boards have been used as placeholders – separating the cars into different price brackets.

One such board is titled ‘Starting at 35,000us’ and is toally blank, with no content pinned. It’s an interesting way to use the space, but isn’t immediately obvious.

On the bottom row (on our screens at least, see below) – the first four board titles are used to explain the contest, with another placeholder then showing the ‘contest boards’.

People are asked to click any board to find out where to look, which is explained as follows:

This is a 5 piece puzzle of a Peugeot 3008, as you can see there are 4 pieces missing. Look for them in our website (peugeot.com.pa) or in our Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1797346790), pin them in your own board and share it with us. The first 5 people to complete their boards win!”

Using boards as placeholders is certainly one of the most creative uses of Pinterest we’ve seen so far, but sadly it’s overshadowed by the fact that the puzzle itself isn’t very clear.

It’s difficult to work out how you’re supposed to get involved, and even the brand itself has had to step in to inform a participant that the goalposts had been changed:

Hi Julia!, thank you for participating in the Peugeot Puzzle Contest, sadly as you may know, Pinterest changed our layout so we were forced to adapt the contest again. Please feel free to leave your board and start pinning again. Best Luck!”

That said, Peugeot Panama uses a conversational tone in its outreach above and is trying something new - so should be applauded for doing so.

However, it might transpire that a simpler competition, with mechanics that are easier to understand, might be more successful in driving participation in the long run.

The ever-present coffee chain is expanding its dominant position on the market by offering a range of beer and wine to its customers, alongside a wider choice of savoury nibbles such as flatbreads and cheese plates.

The move is intended to draw in a larger proportion of evening customers looking to relax after work.

Starbucks is currently testing the initiative at a series of select stores in Spain and the US, where Burger King is already experimenting with the sale of in-store alcohol.

There are no plans as yet to bring alcohol to UK shops, although it may be on the cards if schemes in other countries are successful.

More at: http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/starbucks-to-sell-wine#image-rotator-1

24 January 2012 - 5:30pm | by Staff Writer | 0 comments

Man City asks supporters to spot themselves and Mario Balotelli in its 360 degree ‘Fan Cam’

Manchester City Football Club is asking fans who were present at Sunday’s blockbuster clash with Spurs to tag themselves in its new 360 degree ‘Fan Cam’ from the game.

The The five billion pixel photograph captures every single supporter who was inside the Etihad Stadium to see City’s dramatic 3-2 victory.

As well as inviting fans to spot themselves, the club is running a Where’s Wally style competition by hiding virtual avatars of four of City’s star players around the stadium.

As you can see in the video above, Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri were all recorded in front of a green screen then digitally rendered into the online visual.

The lucky fans who are able to spot the hiding players will receive an interactive message asking them to enter a competition to win a signed shirt and personalised video message from the player, which will then be uploaded on to the winner’s Facebook page.

More at: http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2012/01/24/man-city-asks-supporters-spot-themselves-and-balotelli-its-360-degree-fan-cam