All posts in Trends

KFC: Kindess From the Colonel?

by DOmedia on March 31, 2009 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns, Events, People, Trends with No comments

KFC’s Colonel Sanders has temporarily left the world of fried chicken to instead fill in potholes. Following the recent trend of cause-marketing, the company is now helping local governments by fixing their streets. In return, KFC can market their “Fresh Tastes Best” campaign by stamping “Re-freshed by KFC” on the freshly laid pavement.

The current economic landscape provides the perfect opportunity for corporations to stand out by connecting with local communities in a meaningful, helpful way. According to Advertising Age, this trend of cause-marketing appears to be growing. For example, Charmin provided a public restroom in Times Square for the third holiday season in a row. Along the same lines, Starbucks donated about 400,000 hours of community service towards the rebuilding effort in New Orleans. And the shoe company Toms donates a pair of shoes to a child in a developing country every time a pair of their shoes is purchased.

Hopefully we’ll soon see many more marketing efforts like the one from KFC–which began in hometown Louisville, KY, and will seek out four more cities before returning to the life of chicken and mashed potatoes.

Go Big or Go Home

by DOmedia on March 23, 2009 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns, Events, News, Technology, Trends with No comments

Carnival Cruise Line has done it again. In the most recent phase of their newest marketing campaign–taglined “Fun for All, and All for Fun”–the company has introduced six massive, interactive aquariums around the country. The computer-animated aquariums will appear in vacant storefronts in Baltimore, Dallas, L.A., New York, Washington D.C., and Houston through the end of April.

Designed to interact with passersby, the fish and plant life react to motion as people walk past. Using their cell phones, pedestrians can go a step further by creating personalized fish by making various sounds into their phones and using the keypad to swim the fish around the aquarium. The fish even change in size and shape when consumers lead them to food! And don’t worry about having to leave your newly-made friend. Pedestrians can retrieve their fish by coming back later and using the same cell phone.

The interactive aquariums are only one part of Carnival’s impressive marketing campaign the past six months. They kicked it off in a huge way when they broke their first Guinness World Record. In downtown Dallas in late October, they dropped the world’s largest volleyballs, measuring 36 feet in diameter, into a crowd of 2,500+ people! Then in November, they broke yet another record in Philadelphia with the world’s largest pinata. The pinata, which rose over three stories, was filled with 2 tons of candy! Talk about a sweet tooth . . .

DOmedia Joins the Wonderful World of Social Media!

by DOmedia on February 26, 2009 in DOmedia, Miscellaneous, People, Trends with No comments

Now you can become a part of the DOmedia family by joining our Facebook group! Here you can find upcoming events, contact info, important links, and recent news (to name a few).

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=47174161854

Prefer Tweets? You can also receive updates and information even faster by following us on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/domedia

We’ll see you there!

Most Recent Mobile Billboard Comes in a Much Smaller, Furrier Package

by DOmedia on February 19, 2009 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Billboards, Branding campaigns, Events, Trends with No comments

For many, last weekend marked the most romantic day of the year’€”Valentine’s Day. For others, however, the weekend of Friday the 13th held a day surrounded by superstition and fear’€”F.E.A.R. 2 to be exact.

‘€œF.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin,’€ the newest computer game from Warner Bros. with a horror theme, launched its new London promotion on Friday the 13th using the very symbol for bad luck’€”black cats. While most people avoid black cats crossing their paths, it was nearly impossible in the streets of London on the day known for its superstition. The little feline billboards were dressed in miniature clothing adorned with advertising for the game and then set loose to wreak havoc through the city. And according to Charlene Allen, a Warner Bros. spokesperson, Brits actually seek out signs of bad luck on Friday the 13th, making the promotion that much more effective.

The ‘€œF.E.A.R.’€ kitty clothes were being sold through Warner Bros. for fashionable cats across the country, but have unfortunately sold out.

T-Mobile Takes Over Train Station With Spontaneous Dance

by DOmedia on January 28, 2009 in Advertising, Agencies, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns, Events, People, Technology, Trends with No comments

Nothing else can put a smile on your face quite like a mob flash dance made of several hundred strangers when you’re least expecting it. On January 15th, London’s Liverpool Street Station was transformed into a massive dance floor thanks to T-Mobile.

The tagline, ‘€œLife’s for Sharing,’€ is exactly how you feel after watching the YouTube video that was shot with hidden cameras. What begins with a handful of people quickly molds into an entire train station gettin’ down (grandmas and mohawk rockers alike) to the upbeat music blaring overhead. Intrigued onlookers’€”no doubt questioning their sanity’€”filmed the whole event via cell phones to later share with family and friends.

Kudos to T-Mobile, and agency Saatchi & Saatchi, for giving us something to laugh at and talk about . . . which was probably the point. I also love that they thought outside the silos (is it online . . . guerrilla . . . out of home?) and instead focused on building a connection between the experience and the brand, using all the relevant tools at their disposal.

Although many people are criticizing T-Mobile and Saatchi & Saatchi for using regurgitated material, I say anything that brings huge numbers of people together in a way that makes us all feel good just by watching it is a success. After all, the very message here is that T-Mobile makes it possible for you to share any meaningful moment with the people that matter most.