All posts in Events

Corona Brings the Beach to Times Square

by Kaitlin Heimbuch on May 28, 2010 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns, Events, Guerrilla Marketing, Sponsorships with No comments

New Yorkers got a real surprise when walking through Times Square this past week. Instead of the usual overcrowded and dirty sidewalks, there was a transplanted beach right in the middle of the city’s busiest intersection! Not only was there over 30 tons of real sand, there were palm trees (not the real ones, sadly), beach chairs, volleyball nets, corn hole boards, loud music and other themed items. And of course, what Margaritaville would be complete without an ice cold Corona in your hand?

In fact, a Corona bottle was placed right in the middle of the party, towering at 30 feet tall! Too bad it is only an inflatable promo item… There were also Corona brand ambassadors – some even (semi) famous – including Real Housewife of New York City, Kelly Bensimon, mingling all over the scene. The Corona sponsored event lasts through July 31^st.

The “pop-up beach” is the biggest summer launch for Corona Extra and Corona Light. Parent company, Crown Imports, reported that media coverage has been provided by ESPN2’s “SportsNation”, local news, and online outlets in the States, Mexico and Japan. Other promotional giveaways at the party include sunscreen, bead necklaces, and key chains. But to win one of the 100 trips to Cancun, you better start looking for one of the 2,000 Corona bottles donning a promotional wrap that includes an entry code for chances to win online. Looks like summer is here early, and what better way to celebrate than with a Corona and lime? Better start drinking!

DOmedia Travels to the Big Apple for MediaPost’s Digital OOH Forum

by admin on May 17, 2010 in Digital signage, DOmedia, Events, Out-of-home advertising with No comments

Is this glass half full or half empty? Well the one in this picture happens to be wine, so if it’s mine it’s probably more than half empty. But in terms of the metaphor everyone is familiar with, I think the answer depends on who you are and what you’re doing. As members of the digital OOH (ahem… place-based video) industry, I think in 2009 it was easy to say half empty. After spending a day with the industry at the MediaPost 2010 Digital OOH Forum, I think the attitudes of the group have made an optimistic transition.

halfFull

Jack Sullivan from Starcom demanded the early attention of the conference with powerful insights from a panel of Big Buyers. Tough questions were posed throughout the day, and from what I can tell, some still need answered. These include:

Consistent Measurement – More networks are starting to get measured—which is great—but now we need to find a consistent way to compare apples to bananas to better understand the differences in the quality of impressions when we look for scale.
Consistent Formats – Sure it would be great to create a custom creative message for each unique consumer in each unique environment (and at different times), but given digital OOH is still small potatoes to most advertisers, how practical is it to do so?
Growth Plan – Given digital signage has many technical strengths and capabilities (geo addressibility, mobile integration, POS positioning, etc.), why are we still chasing traditional formats and budgets? How can we balance the need to lower barriers of entry to advertisers, while allowing the core strengths of the medium to shine through? Where do local advertisers fit in?

As the day rolled on, our own Jeff Bell revealed screenshots of DOfind, the highly anticipated enhanced version of our directory service, during the vendor showcase (which included some other cool companies, too, like interactive gaming provider MegaPhone who used the audience’s mobile phones to demo a few games in what was probably the day’s most unique presentation).

Late in the afternoon, I enjoyed the irony of Dave Weinfeld’s point about how the event missed an opportunity to integrate mobile with the digital screen. In the session before his panel, the creatives were dismantling certain example executions for “not utilizing the strengths of digital signage” (like mobile integration). People (including me) were tweeting on their phones throughout the event, but there was no tie in to the “screen” that was on the stage (except for MegaPhone; applause again guys). I guess we can all learn to improve as we better understand the capabilities of this media.

Overall it was a great show and I look forward to working with the industry in addressing these key issues for growth!

Thanks PRN for the lunch and the Starbucks card from bingo. And thanks to Bob Martin and the folks from RMG Networks for buying the beer after the show!

Find me @mattwarholic or email to matt[at]domedia.com

Eco-Friendly OOH Takes Over the Arena District

by admin on May 7, 2010 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Billboards, Branding campaigns, Events, Guerrilla Marketing, Out-of-home advertising, Technology, Trends with No comments

If you were anywhere in Columbus’ Arena District today, it would have been impossible to miss. Parked right on Nationwide Blvd in the heart of the district (and conveniently across the street from DOmedia World Headquarters) is a huge GE: ecomagination semi truck carrying a larger-than-life propeller from a wind turbine. The truck and propeller are part of ecomagination, GE’s effort to help “solve the world’s biggest environmental challenges,” according to their site. One of the program’s commitments is to engage the public through creative advertising. So they got their hands on a giant wind propeller, branded it, and are now taking it on the road as part of the “Catch the Wind Tour.”
GE: ecomagination
Aside from its sheer size, the traveling campaign is raising awareness in the mid-west by encouraging people to make a commitment of their own. Written on the side of the propeller is a simple sentence: “I’m helping to build America’s energy future.” By signing their name on the propeller, passersby join the thousands of others already committed to the cause.
ecomagination
GE wasn’t the only company taking advantage of the busy pedestrian superhighway on this gorgeous Friday. Toyota was also in attendance, complete with a wrapped plug-in hybrid car touting an amazing 100+ mpg.

And I can’t forget CD101, parked in front of the arena, handing out free ice cream (now we’re talking)! The picture below shows the Arena District is no stranger to OOH. The four large billboards continuously spotlight the biggest brands, while the main digital screen is a great resource for weather, upcoming concerts at the arena, and much more. And, of course, the reliable Miller Lite clock off to the right.

Digital Out-of-Home Unites, Shows Up for Haiti Relief Effort

by admin on January 26, 2010 in Agencies, Digital signage, Events, News, Out-of-home advertising, People, Press, Technology with No comments

Since the earthquake in Haiti, DOOH has really stepped up to the plate and proved its worth the past couple weeks. In the aftermath of a tragedy felt around the world, everyone knew something needed to be done–but what? And we all wanted to help–but how? A single, unified message had to be created and made available to the masses. Quick, effective and capable of reaching millions of people worldwide.

So when Matthew Stoudt, CEO of Outcast, rang up the presidents of Zoom Media, TargetCast Networks, CBS Outernet, PumpTopTV, Premier Retail Networks, Captivate Network, AdSpace Networks and IndoorDIRECT, it wasn’t as a competitor but as a fellow industry leader trying to take action. With combined efforts and the help of the Red Cross, the group is now running “Text ‘Haiti’ to 90999″ ads across thousands of screens in malls, grocery stores, gyms, doctors’ offices and much more. By running the message across all of the biggest digital screen networks (40,000+ screens to be exact), the donation effort will reach about 100 million Americans each month.

Originally, the Ad Council worked with the Red Cross to develop a digital image to distribute across OOH screens. From there, it was picked up and distributed through OAAA. Lamar, Clear Channel, Health Media Network and Zoom Media have all picked up these ads as well. Some of the Ad Council messages include Michelle Obama or Bill Clinton and George Bush asking for donations. Some companies, such as iDklic Digital Signage and Narrowcasting in Belgium, put together their own ads and began running them across all of their networks. RAMVISION is also running a 2-week campaign for the Disaster Emergency Committee, broadcasting across their Shopping Centre Network.

Interested in joining the effort but don’t have the time or resources to put a spot together? The Preset Group has you covered. They’ve put together PSAs for use by anyone in the digital out-of-home community. For more info, click here.

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.