O.B. Talks to You. Yes, You.

I know. I’m talking about tampon. I didn’t necessarily choose the product before coming across the news myself; so just know that I have no personal interest in this particular product category.

I read an article about the upcoming personalized digital campaign by O.B., a tampon brand owned by Johnson & Johnson. I’m sure a lot of you saw their highly personalized campaign that went viral at the end of last year. For those who somehow missed it like I did, the story is that O.B. had a distribution issue that caused shortages in many areas, and this even lead to some of the consumers turning to eBay in order to buy the product at higher prices from other sources. After the debacle, O.B. launched an Internet campaign where women can type in their names, and shortly after, a 2~3 minute video clip of a man singing an apology song to them was generated. The kicker is, your name is actually in the video, written at the top of the music score sheet, written in rose petals, written across the sky, and even sung out loud by the actor. This is an example video for someone who typed in Sara as her name.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co6G3xq_OoY]

I figured they used a pretty sophisticated video tool that can generate those footages automatically. But when the actor actually sang the person’s name, I wondered if they pre-recorded different names prior to the campaign. Turns out, there is a sound production company, called Keen Music, that has the ability to automatically generate a natural voice on demand as well. This campaign was shared by many and shortly took off and recognized as one of the most successful personalization in marketing.

O.B. has ended the Apology campaign, but they are returning with an Endless Celebration campaign late this November, (….for the launch of O.B. Ultra absorbency tampons…. Sigh) where people can experience at least the same level, if not more, of customization within the ad. I must say, I’m almost tempted to type my name in just to have a song personally dedicated to me.

Can Slate Make a Splash?

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=des3dpKtfIM&feature=plcp]

While the media is buzzing again with iPad mini around the corner, Microsoft just announced the specifics of pricing and availability for the upcoming Windows 8 RT version of Slate. It’s a toned down version of Windows 8 that’s aimed at the tablet market. I love the idea of Windows 8 tablets, but the pricing makes me pause a little. An entry-level surface with 32GB capacity starts at $499 without the touch-sensitive keyboard cover featured in the video, while one with the cover costs $599. For $699, you can go up a capacity to 64GB with the cover included.

Now as a disclaimer, I’ve been very interested in Windows 8 tablets in general for a while. I also really like the commercial. It is not your regular “look at our product, look at it some more, and a little more,” but it has a heart-warming entertainment in it. But since the early announcement of the product, I subconsciously framed the RT Slate as a tablet since it can’t run x86 based programs, and would provide a full Windows 8 experience, and framed the pricier Windows 8 tablets as a fully functioning Windows computer in your hand. When they announced that they are going to have an RT version to have a competitive price point with the competitors, I imagined they were going to price the RT Slate lower than at $500, for the sheer purpose of market penetration.

Among countless contenders, I can only think of Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 as the ones who succeeded to take a bite out of that Apple’s market share. I am sure Windows 8 tablets are here to stay, but how fast they will make people put down the tablets they already own and pick theirs up instead will be interesting to watch.