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Dec 01 2008

Entries Tagged as 'Commercials'

Ford Mustang 2010 Competition

November 8th, 2008 : Commercials · Experience · Marketing · Social Media · Strategy · Viral Videos · WoM

Scott Monty, my former crayon colleague, is now head of Social Media at Ford.  They have a gem of a site about the Ford Mustang. One of my favorite videos was Father’s Day.  Gotta admit, I shed a tear :-).  Great piece.

Loved the approach for introducing the 2010 Mustang.  Besides the leaks of images and info and other approaches, Ford did the following here:

1. They setup as this tribute site to the Mustang

2. Their passionate Mustang fans submitted stories and videos

3. they ran a competition with a phenomenal prize - the 2010 Mustang

4. The public voted for the winner

5. They had a written and a video section so ludites and technos could enter

6. The stories and videos are entertaining, funny, touching.

7. They can be easily shared

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Red…Bull, Red…Bull, RedBull and a great Father-Son Experience

October 21st, 2008 : Commercials · Experience · Marketing

How would you like to have 20,000 fans screaming your product’s name multiple times, supported by your name plastered all over the stadium and on the players shirts and on the T-Shirts handed out at the game, and having your name on every media channel reporting on the game?  Sounds like a sponsor’s dream opportunity.

That is exactly what happened on Saturday night at the NY RedBulls soccer game at Giants Stadium as the one side of the Stadium screamed out:  RED…. and the other side of the stadium responded …BULLS!.

Red….. Bulls   Red…… Bulls   Red…….. Bulls and on and on it went.

“This is fun Dad” said my 7 year old between screams of  “BULLS!”.  “I think we are shouting louder than the other side.  Red…. BULLS!  Red… BULLS!”

Me: (After the umpteenth BULLS! in my ear): “I get it - you don’t have to shout.”

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New Subway Ads in NYC

October 21st, 2008 : Commercials · Experience

The New York MTA is looking at new advertising opportunities to generate revenue to close the budget shortfall in the next year.  They are trying a few pilot programs with the subway, the latest being to wrap the interior and exterior surfaces of the Times Square Shuttle between Grand Central and Times Square.

A second approach supported by billboards, involves wrapping the turnstiles completely or Ads on the turnstiles like this Ad for the NavyforMoms.com:

While I have seen a few comments about enough messages being out there and that the commute is one with enough “noise”, I for one do not have a problem receiving or choosing to ignore one way advertising that keeps the price of commuting down.  Additionally, it actually changes the experience a bit as you are stepping into a message that wraps you entirely especially when the doors close - and it is somewhat unusual for now.   Similar programs are being tried in other cities.

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Ads and Movie Trailers on TV

September 25th, 2008 : Commercials · Marketing · ROI

I like movies.  I like golf.  I like entertainment.  And I like the marketing.  What with the Ryder Cup and a bunch of shows starting up, the TV has been on in our house a lot more in recent days.  And as I watched the new shows and the inevitable “commercial breaks” came by, I noticed I did not disengage as quickly when a movie trailer was shown as I did when an ad was aired.  Hmmm??

As movies are an interest of mine, I understood my waiting to see what was coming.  As I started to think about it, I was a little stunned.  I knew it was a trailer because it was screened in wide screen - with the black space at the top and bottom of the screen.  So as a person who likes movies, I was primed and I took the bait. Well the trailer ended and you know what? The very next ad was shown in wide screen as well and and I stayed engaged until I realised it was not a movie trailer and it was definitely not a product I had the remotest interest in.

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It takes a 9 year old - Tiger Woods and Tag Heuer

May 29th, 2008 : Commercials · Life · Marketing

Maybe my mind does not think this way - but my 9 year old son got it after seeing this photo on a TAG HEUER billboard countless times. He looked at it as we drove past and laughing asked me: “Is that how Tiger now spells his name?”

I am sure that he is in the target market!

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Great Products get good Word-of-Mouth

March 4th, 2008 : Commercials · Marketing · WoM

A number of years ago my wife and I received a number of Calphalon non-stick pots and pans. We used some extensively and they were showing quite a bit of wear and tear. So much so that the non-stick coating was disappearing. Remembering that they came with a lifetime warranty, I went online to check the warranty.

I packed them up, dropped a note in the box and shipped them off to the Calphalon Warranty Department - about 8 YEARS AFTER THEY WERE BOUGHT.

Calphalon Warranty Replacement - No Questions Asked

The day before I was going to check in for a status update, I came home to a large box with replacements and no questions asked. It is nice to find a great product and a company that stands behind it. Thanks Calphalon. You know I am now a walking commercial for you!

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South African Billboard - Save Energy Visual from Eskom

November 13th, 2007 : Commercials · Marketing · Social Media

Eskom Billboard

Not sure if this was a green based effort or one which was due to neccessity - South Africa has apparently being having a number of power outages ion certain areas and this was set up as a subtle message. Pretty effective - considering it is now global via the web and WoM. How effective was it in SA where a huge segment of the population do not have web access and may not have seen the billboards?

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10 Million Pound “Ad is fundamentally a celebration of community”

November 13th, 2007 : Agency · Commercials

I am a sucker for these ads! BUT 10 MILLION POUNDS? Guiness’s Tipping Point by AMV BBDO is a £10m spot, has 6,000 dominoes and then connects with just about everyhting else in the Argentinian village. “The ad is fundamentally a celebration of community,” said Paul Cornell, the marketing manager for Guinness at Diageo GB.

Hat tip to Adland
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