Pringoooooals!

Whether you like it or not (and you better had, because you can't avoid it), the World Cup is nearly upon us. Like every other event in our calender, the advertisers are climbing all over each other to get a seat in the rollercoaster. High on emotion, consumers the world over are at their most receptive, and it makes for a great time to get your brand name out there.

Advertising heavyweights P&G stepped up to the plate in a big way when it came to the World Cup and created, with help from Sky Media, the Pringooooals app. Functionality-wise, your iphone shouts 'goooooal' when shaken, can be made to blow a whistle, or if the decisions are going against you, shows a red card.

Nothing ground breaking then. But it doesn't need to be. It free and goes down well in our online culture that not only thrives on but expects media to be free (.torrent anyone?).

So the user gets a free event relevant app to play with. What's in it for P&G? Thanks to youtube, great adverts go on to be watched over and over again. However, not every ad can be 'colour like no other' - and once its run has finished, it disappears forever. With an app, you're essentially getting a persistent campaign on iTunes, available forever, for free, spread by word of mouth, everyday use, and propagated by the World Cup - an event someone else is paying for.

The most intelligent ads you'll see this year will be the ones that make the world cup and the users work for them. Pringoooals, currently at number 2 in the commercial app charts is a definite contender.