2009 November, 26th

Phil Butler

Sometimes a simple press release can lead to the most amazing things. A Lithuanian company, Publicum, sent us an exclusive release relating to a digital breakthrough of sorts, one which the reader will surely be enthralled with, at least visually. Publicum and their media arm Publicum Media, in collaboration with Sony Ericsson, produced a 3D visual display of some significance earlier this month.

Sony Ericsson’s new phones were the subject of what amounted to a re-brand campaign. This 3D exhibition, conducted as a “teaser” for a local audience, reveals one company at the threshold of crossing the digital divide, as you will see.

I used to refer to Lithuania in a sort of “tongue in cheek” catalyst for all things remote and mis-understood. Sometimes describing mis-typing, cryptic messages, and all things misunderstood as simply “Lithuanian”, or the equivalent of; “It’s all Greek to me.” Boy was I off-base. This campaign, performed with a visual display of intricate artistic excellence and exact precision, is appealing for so many reasons. Not the least of these can be felt when watching the YouTube video below, where people are engaged by 3D digital elements in a way which presupposes digitally created elements appearing to come alive before their eyes.

The best way to describe them is to label them as a holograms akin to Obi-Wan Kenobi being stored digitally and then viewed. Aside the visual impact, which is best seen via the video segment, this company has a great deal going for it otherwise.

Do What You Say You Do

The campaign for Sony Ericsson was well thought out on several levels, not only from the digitally inspiring impact aspect. The way real people were engaged, the venue chosen, and in general the integrating history with 21st Century technology covered the gambit of available elements for interaction. The only thing missing (which may not have been) was having a Sony Ericsson Aino rise 50,000 feet above Vilnius’ Town Hall. This is campaign is a perfect example of the “new age” digital communications Pamil Visions and others have been talking about.

Simplicity accentuated with digital technology, and targeted at an audience, in this case the people in one town. If I have to explain the significance of this? Well, some people are going to be behind the curve.

The start of a fairy tale like the “When Fairy Tales Come True” campaign should always begin in universally acceptable language. In the case of 21st Century online communication, a no nonsense an unique approach, like so:

We did a very successful campaign for Sony Ericsson’s new phone launch where we created a new advertising form. We just want to inform you .. and if you are interested, I will give you more information about this project.

Okay, a zillion dollar (or whatever) preliminary campaign for Sony is one thing, but this company has its act together in so many other areas too. We constantly suggest to companies the importance of their online identity, which always starts with their home or landing pages. Aside the logic of symbolism, a rule of practicality suggests that; “A company offering you a digital service had better reveal it on their website, one way or another.”

For Publicum Media, minimalist design garnished with an obvious creative flair, sends a powerful message even from translated Lithuanian. I linked to the site, and provide the screenshot below. Unique, unlike any other PR or communications site I have ever seen, this is how a firm should engage new clients of onlookers. Show who you are, what other kind of message is there to send?

Suggestive artisty of Publicum Media's Events landing

Striving for Perfection

Publicum is the largest PR firm in Lithuania, and from the client list and income data I could glean, on a par financially with the top firms in the US. As for their potential for digital communications and PR? In the non-traditional realm, it won’t take much for them to eclipse even the best US firms in my view. I won’t go into what they need here, but it is obvious Sony Ericsson, Paulig, VISA, Novartis, Wrigley’s, Toyota, Kalnapilis-Tauras group, Colgate-Palmolive, Henkel, and many others already know something the rest of the PR and communications world may not.

Nothing in this world is perfect mind you, but talking with human beings in the physical world via enthusiastic, cutting edge, and genuine tools gives this firm great advantages. Publicum is apparently a leader, in Europe at least, in organizing and making events rock solid.

engage cold wet people and you have it

We don’t often have the opportunity to be impressed by competitors these days. Outside the super impressive digital engagement of Weber Shandwick we discovered, Publicum exhibits a talent few have even given so much thought to. For this report, we will talk with Publicum’s founders, particularly the company’s director, Ričardas Jarmalavičius, to gain some more insight into this groundbreaking company. The face of the company, if first impressions are what people say they are, is pretty exciting for scrutinizers like us. Superb work Publicum, superb! Some fairy tales do come true.

Publicum was founded in 2001 and had grown to become Lithuania’s largest PR firm. For more information about this fascinating company, please visit their corporate website. The Publicum campaign mentioned was to promote the Sony Ericsson Satio and Aino additions to their lineup. The image (top) is a mashup of Publicum’s Director Ričardas Jarmalavičius who, believe it or not, you can email from his profile. (No need to thank me for that Ričardas.)

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About the Author

Phil Butler is editor-in-chief of Everything PR and senior partner at Pamil Visions PR. He’s a widely cited authority on beta startups, search engines and public relations issues, and he has covered tech news since 2004. Phil wrote in the past for ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, Profy, SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, AltSearchEngines. Follow Phil on Twitter or send him an email at phil [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.

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