Levi's Asia Pacific is offering us another weird digital experience. Metal Denim Passion is the destination website to discover the new Levi's Copper collection.

Unfortunately, despite the promising premise, the site hasn't much to offer. It takes a long time to load and what you get is a slow motion/kind of enhanced version of the TV spot. I'm the first one who says that every campaign should have a digital part too, but in this case the result is disappointing and the Web part looks more like a waste than a good supportive idea.

From Japan, a new chapter in the Axe saga. It's now time for the Axe Full Moon Party, with a sexy Thunderbird look-alike trying to seduce the girls on the beach.

Once again, given the language gap, I'm not able to tell you much about the campaign... As usual, it would be great if someone who speaks Japanese could leave a comment to explain what is going on. The whole thing looks quite weird and different, therefore it's very appealing for us curious interactive marketers.

I like the fact that this campaign doesn't present an ideal beauty, showing beautiful models and a sexy boy. Instead, you have puppets whose sex appeal is of course granted by the fragrance.

Onitsuka Tiger made them OF Japan, Adidas made them FOR Japan. There is a subtle difference in the copy (and maybe even in the concepts) of the two footwear brands presenting their collections to the Asian and International market.

It makes me smile a bit the idea that the second comer, Adidas, celebrates its originality with a campaign that, in my opinion, is not very original. However, if we pass over this "detail", we can get some food for thought (aka inspiration) out of the Japanese Celebrate Originality website.

This is the first time I hear about an online marketing action by Crocs, the footwear brand everybody has been talking about in the last two years or so. The Crocs Photo Community is an idea coming from Japan, where they've launched a website to collect and showcase photos of the Crocs.

The initiative is dubbed "My Crocs Contest" and, at first sight, it doesn't look very original (visitors are invited to submit photos of themselves and their Crocs, or just of their Crocs). But I like the design of the page, this is why I post about it :-)

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders, Taito has invaded Yahoo! Japan for one day (on April 1st). The page was extremely well done, and fortunately is still available here.

From a media point of view, I like the "domination" of a portal's homepage for a day. No doubt it might result quite intrusive, but I think it offers great opportunities of creating something really outstanding and engaging. The goal must be to create an experience for the user, not just a bigger, enhanced version of a banner. And this, of course, takes time to develop, and definitely a different approach to online advertising.

via Imprint TALK.

It looks like there is a new chapter to discover in the passionate neverending story of Axe in Japan. On the website I couldn't find much interactivity, but the video experience is definitely new and quite catchy. The Axe "collection" is presented to a guy walking on the street, depending on the fragrance you decide to spray on him, you will meet different kind of girls attracted by that specific essence.

I like the chaotic editing, but the whole site is terribly heavy (takes some time to load and demands too much work from the CPU) and this doesn't help the browsing/brand experience.

From Japan, by Wieden + Kennedy Tokio, the latest Nike ad for Nike+. Ideal for runners looking for inspiration in spring.

I know from experience how difficult it is to always come up with new visual ideas to present a denim collection. Levi's did an interesting job with its latest Cut to reveal you website developed to present female Spring Summer Collection.

The innovative navigation system allows you to see the denim from four different points of view (front/back/left/right), plus you can see the fitting on the model while she walks. You can move around the screen using either the mouse or the keyboard and access a special area to zoom into the product details.

If you're looking for a new job, and you can speak Japanese, you should definitely have a look at the 100 Cheer Girl project launched by Soft Bank Human Capital in Japan. The idea is quite simple, 100 girls share with you tips to to succeed in your career. The interface in Flash is bright and amusing, while the videos are weird and quite sexy... well, the sex sells idea applies also to recruitment companies...

A mobile phone that can keep track of the calories you burn when you do sports is original (and weird). What is even more weird is the mini-site Casio has launched to support his cutting edge W61CA model.

In this lovely advergame you are a "piggy trainer". You have to help a young Miss Piggy finding a boyfriend. She has to run and loose weight with your support. Can you make it? Don't worry if everything is in Japanese, you can find your way through the game.

via The FWA.

To celebrate its 100th anniversary Converse has launched in Japan a "Thank you" project, to thanks its loyal customers and to involve them in a collaborative project to further promote its famous shoe model.

But let's go into the details of the campaign, thanks to David's post on Culture Buzz... Basically Converse asks the users to become their advertising agency, and to carry out a series of actions to promote the brand. The better (and the more) they promote Converse, the more points they earn, points that can later be exchanged with products.

As it usually happens when I post about Japanese websites, I have no idea of the reason why they did it, I guess just for self-promotion, considering that the only brand name on the site is the one of the agency (Bascule, the same that did Axe Busters some time ago).

Is it an advergame? Probably... For sure it's a weird visual experience about baseball, with a good art direction and remarkable usability, a characteristic that makes it quite easy to find the way around and play.

In Japan Lupin is still alive and kicky as in the Seventies. I've just discovered this site www.lupin-steal.com that I don't understand as it's in Japanese (once again it would be great if Shingo or someone else could explain me/us what the site is about :-) but I still found great, not only because it reminded me of the hours spent watching Japanese cartoons in the Tv when I was young(er).

I clicked all around, enjoying the bits and pieces of the cartoon I used to love and discovering a page with a game...

Axe Busters made in Japan

Silicon Commander

Sharp Aquos funky experience

Unravel Tiger's secret

Levi's, music is inspiration

The Levi's Truth Booth

Where is was your 360?

New advergame for Pepsi

The new Beetle, simply unforgettable

BMW: cut & paste your dream car

Yoga interactive posters

Nike Zoooooooms the building

The Burst Bubble billboard

Lost in translation aka the decline of Hollywood stars in Japanese ads

Yahoo! goes hard gay

Nike Football: the vending machine

The Economist brain

Chip&Go Tv spot

HP blogs with the National Geographic Channel

LG revamps its outdoor ads

BBC World: the news is moving

Are looking for more cool interactive ideas? Check the archives