All posts in Alternative advertising

Morphing Advertising and Faces All at Once

by Kaitlin Heimbuch on April 27, 2010 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Digital signage, Out-of-home advertising, Technology, Trends with No comments

Once again, Inwindow Outdoor proves successful at combining advertising and advanced technology to create a buzz-worthy campaign. DailyDOOH and TechNews Daily did a great job of highlighting the advertising efforts marking the release of the hit movie, Avatar. Inwindow Outdoor created a 60’ by 10’ structure that includes three ‘morphing stations’ and one large-scale video wall framed with vinyl and branded in Avatar themes. The display, located at The Grove in Los Angeles, attracts audience members to the screen, recognizes facial features and then transforms their face into a famous, blue Avatar creature, the Na’vi. After their transformation is complete, users can type their email address on the interactive touch screen to obtain a video of their morph, as well as information about where to pick up the Avatar Blue-ray disc.

This technology offers a glimpse of what advertisers are pushing these days: interactive out-of-home media executions. The technology, called ‘augmented reality,’ adds virtual imagery to the environment as the audience sees it. A notable example is the yellow ‘first down’ line in football games on TV. In this case, the Na’vi cat-eyed, blue face staring back at users is augmented reality. Other technologies gaining popularity in the OOH advertising world include holograms and nearby motion generated sights and sounds. According to Lance Porter of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communications, “Technology has finally caught up with what marketers have dreamed about since the Internet went commercial in 1995. [Technology] has moved so quickly now that so many things are possible.”

This isn’t the first digital out-of-home campaign Inwindow Outdoor has created. Similar campaigns for Sprint Mobile, The CW’s The Vampire Diaries, and the popular children’s movie, Coraline, were featured in big cities across the United States. The Avatar advertising experience (also delivered by FOX Studios, Zenith Media and Blue Bite) is on display for a month, beginning April 16^th.

Out-of-Home, Holiday Style

by admin on December 21, 2009 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Events, Guerrilla Marketing, Out-of-home advertising with No comments

It’s that time of year again for snowflakes, candy canes, mistletoe and–of course–holiday ads. And nobody does them better than the out-of-home industry. Take a look at some of this year’s unique and eye-catching campaigns.

Here is a great example done for London’s Heathrow Airport. Following their slogan, “Making every journey better,” the world’s largest sprig of mistletoe was hung in Terminal 5, perfectly placed for a quick kiss between reconnecting loved ones.

This OOH campaign for Gap combined a very noticeable plaid wrapped bus and the peppiest street team I’ve ever seen (especially at 5:30 am). Made up of 12 professional dancers and drummers–all sporting the Gap plaid–the street team began in New York City’s Times Square, spreading holiday cheer as they flipped, shouted and threw giveaways into the crowd. Then they hopped back on their bus and headed to the next city on the tour.

The flash mob may be overdone, but who can ignore a couple hundred dancing elves that appear out of nowhere? Brought to us by OfficeMax, the holiday sensation Elf Yourself made its presence known this year with hundreds of elves and a choreographed dance that took place in New York’s Union Square. When the dance was finished, the elves ran off, yelling out, “Elf yourself” as they went.

Image Provided by MediaWeek

To launch its annual holiday campaign, Coca Cola worked with Eye to dominate the Belfast International Airport using digital screens and traditional formats.

Captain Morgan Goes for a Touchdown

by admin on December 16, 2009 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Events, Guerrilla Marketing, Out-of-home advertising, Sponsorships with No comments

Well, you can’t blame the Captain for trying.

According to Media Life, Captain Morgan came up with a plan to get NFL players to pose in the iconic Captain’s stance (knee up, hand on knee, other hand on hip… assuming you’re short a sword) after scoring a touchdown. In return? The rum company would donate $10,000 to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund for each player who struck a pose during regular season, $25,000 during playoffs and $100,000 during the Super Bowl. Not a bad deal considering 30-second TV spots can cost millions and still don’t generate buzz like many guerrilla advertising stunts do.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek got a little too eager and decided to pull out the move in a game against Dallas nearly a week before the campaign was supposed to kick off. Although the cameras caught it all and Captain Morgan still got its moment in the end zone, the NFL jumped on it almost immediately in an attempt to safeguard existing agreements and sponsorships. So even though there will be no more celebrating with the Captain during game time, it was still a great plan and even succeeded in creating the buzz it set out to.

Big News for Small to Mid-Size Sellers of Alternative, Traditional & Digital Out-of-Home Media!

by admin on October 22, 2009 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, DOmedia, News, Out-of-home advertising with No comments

Well the news is out… DOmedia has officially launched two new tools for media sellers of alternative, traditional & digital out-of-home media. Introducing DOinventory and DOimprove, the most recent additions to our comprehensive tool set. DOinventory helps media providers manage their available media listings, ensuring that everyone who markets, sells or schedules within their organization has up-to-date and accurate information. DOimprove is a suite of services designed to provide critical resources needed to help small and mid-size sellers compete.

To find out more about DOinventory & DOimprove, click here.

Talk about your morning cup of coffee…

by admin on September 18, 2009 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Out-of-home advertising, Street furniture with No comments

Once again, McDonald’s has found another creative and attention-grabbing way of showcasing their coffee. This time the stunt took place in three Canadian cities for two weeks as a way to encourage people to stop in for a free cup of coffee. Whether driving, walking or looking on from a local building, the ad was impossible to miss. Suspended 50 feet in the air was a giant coffee pot pouring a stream of coffee into a 7 ft tall cup (complete with the new cup design, of course).

(Image courtesy of Media Life Magazine)

Like I said, this isn’t the first time McDonald’s has put their coffee in the spotlight using an amazing and larger-than-life stunt. Earlier in NYC’s Times Square, the fast food chain raised an installation on the side of a building that included a giant spigot pouring hot coffee into a massive McDonald’s cup below. It’s no wonder McDonald’s did well in the OBIE Awards. They’ve done an incredible job of creating campaigns that are truly memorable and really stick with people.