The hot new favorite among the kids in my neighbourhood. At Rs. 1 and a card game inside, (yes they do have a few gems-like pieces too) its selling like hot cakes. Nope, it doesn’t carry the manufacturer’s details nor any kind of statutory details. At a time when I’m reading ‘Brand Child’, a bible for marketing to kids, I’m struck by how this fly-by-night phoney chocolate company has got it right. Though it does come across as the fake ‘Gems’ from the house of cadbury’s, the reason why kids buy this is so different. Its the card game inside that the kids buy. And they can play the game only if they have the complete collection. In fact, for those at the bottom of the pyramid, this is an affordable indulgence. More like a satchet of Nescafe or Pond’s.

Releasing in a website near you.

Produced by Absolut Vodka, I’m here is a 30-minute love story about the relationship between two robots living in L.A. Its a love story about two robots living in contemporary Los Angeles. The sad-eyed robot librarian Sheldon (Andrew Garfield) leads a lonely and methodical life, until he one day meets Francesca, a creative and free-spirited female robot (played by Sienna Guillory). Robot romance develops and the story, apparently, is just as beautiful as it is unpredictable.

The film can only be viewed at certain times online and operates just as a cinema with a limited amount of tickets every day. 230,000 people viewed on it’s first weekend so it’s doing better than a lot of offline movies.

Love the way Absolut is leveraging popular media without making it smack of a commercial message. They’ve left creativity undiluted, as it should be in an Absolut world..

Great example of brand endorsement in the twitter world.

Online casino 888.com signed on Shane Warne as its endorser in 2008. Warne has been named the captain of the 888.com Australian Poker Team, and is also slated to participate in several poker tournament event.

The rakish, bad boy of Australian cricket who has always been quite a gambler on field fits perfectly into the world of  online gambling. And to the ardent Warne fan, it is some kind of loose justice for Warne who never got to be the Australian cricket captain.

The most interesting part is how well 888.com is leveraging its association with Warne on twitter. Right from his username-‘warne888’, the link to the 888 website, prominent logo on his profile pic to exclusive offers for his ‘followers’ (47,000 + fans).

I’m a Warne ‘follower’ and I clicked the link.

For 25 beautiful doodle art, check out http://bit.ly/9CEn5c