All posts in Alternative advertising

Westin redefines “transportation”

by DOmedia on August 21, 2007 in Advertising, Agencies, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns with No comments

What do rain forests, Icelandic waters and tropical fish all have in common? They are all part of a multi-city, multi-execution, completely transformative $30-million branding campaign for Westin. As a continuation of the upscale hotel chain’s This is how it should feel campaign, agency-of-record Deutsch NY created mini-escapes for weary 9-to-5-ers, transporting them, even momentarily, from their daily routine to a more restorative environment.

The execution, which is heavily focused on out-of-home elements, launched in subways, airports, train stations and highways in major US cities. The ambitious effort includes more than 270 pieces of creative across 2,750 placements nationwide.

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Wite-Out all wrong

by DOmedia on August 16, 2007 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns with No comments

I ran across this recent NYC out-of-home execution for BIC’s Wite-Out product and I have to admit the first thing that came to mind was an old, politically incorrect joke:

How can you tell a blond has been using your computer?
There’s Wite-Out all over the screen.

(I’ll go ahead and apologize now to all my fair-headed friends. I didn’t make the joke up, just helped its circulation…)

I suppose there must be someone out there that actually still uses the stuff (as they pound away on their typewriters, listening to 8-tracks and watching groovy movies on their beta players….), but I can’t say I even remember the last time I needed it. So there’s part of me that really can’t blame creative agency G2 Promotional Marketing for the tired, un-creative campaign for a soon-to-be-obsolete product. Could you imagine coming in to work and finding out you have to sell Wite-Out to a digital society? I think they call that agency hell.
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What’s wrong with a little extra cash??

by DOmedia on August 13, 2007 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns with No comments

I ran across a really interesting article today in The Capital Times, a Madison, WI publication, profiling the city’s partnership with Adams Outdoor Advertising to promote full-wraps of up to 15 of its metro buses. While bus wraps aren’t exactly “news” in and of themselves, the arguments against them really caught my attention.

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Homer Simpson, Marketing Genius?

by DOmedia on August 6, 2007 in Alternative advertising with No comments

Maybe I’m a bit predisposed to focus on anything remotely related to advertising (studied it in college, spent my entire career in the biz in some way, shape or form), but I had to laugh when I caught a recent Simpsons rerun (“My Fair Laddy”). While the main story line was Lisa’s science project to make Willie (the school gardener) into a proper gentleman (a la My Fair Lady, Pygmalion, etc.), Homer’s grassroots marketing campaign was center stage in the subplot. Continue reading →

Vespa Offers Free Parking in NYC

by DOmedia on July 25, 2007 in Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns with No comments

I ran across this promotion recently which really captured my attention. Apparently Piaggio Group USA (importers of the iconic scooters you see zipping around town) partnered with select Edison ParkFast garages in the Big Apple to offer free parking to riders of these little eco-sound vehicles for a limited time (you didn’t think “free” was going to last forever, did you?). They took 2 standard size parking spots and converted them into 12 branded scooter-size slots. The creative execution backs the company’s initiative to encourage city officials to expand the amount of scooter-dedicated parking. Of course, the visible branding doesn’t hurt either.