a car with creamy filling and icing on top
If you could drive any car in the world, what would you drive? How about a car with icing on top?
Little Debbie, the sweetest girl on the internet, is looking to give away one million cupcakes. Rather than take the easy way out by sending a truckload to our agency, they've decided to drive a bunch of Little Debbie cars around the U.S. in a cupcake share-a-thon. It's like the Plaid Nation tour, but with cupcakes on board. Yummy.
Labels: plaidsummertour, streetteams, stunts, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
1 comments
Thursday, April 23, 2009
hose down the competition
Want to spray your message all over the streets without making a big enviro-mess? Check out what media company Curb is doing. Street ads produced with stencils and salt water.
It turns out that salt water evaporates really slowly, so ads can hang on the sidewalk for a couple of hours in the sun. Now you can bring the beach to the streets of anywhere.
Labels: ads, green, outdoor, streetart, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
bus on bus action
The Teva Center has one of the coolest educational/promotional vehicles I've ever seen. This puts the bookmobile to shame. Don't you want to know what's inside?
Labels: automotive, creativeinspiration, green, nonprofit, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:01 AM
0 comments
Thursday, March 19, 2009
free std's
Here's a cool way to promote safe sex. Show how easy it is to get STD's.
Labels: outdoor, streetteams, stunts
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:07 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
san fran: those flash mobs are messy.
San Fransisco is looking to crack down on flash mobs - because cleaning up after them is becoming costly.
Something to keep in mind if you're a brand, and you're planning to have all of your friends descend on Mission Street with mashed potatoes. Or shaving cream. Or whatever.
Labels: creativeinspiration, outdoor, streetart, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:58 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
flash mobs for fun and profit
Nothing could possibly be more fun than a spontaneous dance party. This one was produced as a promotion for T-Mobile, but that doesn't mean that you can't start your own, wherever you are at this very moment.
Labels: mobile, streetteams, stunts
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:45 AM
1 comments
projectable bike paths
Somebody has dreamed up a projectable bike lane. So there's a lane of safety wherever you ride. Of course, we need this for runners, too. But what about marketers? This could be an awesome tool for street teams - on bikes or on foot. Messages displayed on streets ahead of, or behind their senders.
This is not a product that's available today - but certainly all they need is some sweet startup money from you to make it happen. What are you waiting for? Ideas are ready.
Labels: streetteams, technology
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
0 comments
Thursday, January 15, 2009
what happens when you think outloud
If I had a thought bubble following me around, it would undoubtedly get me into some really embarrassing situations. HBO created a similar scene by placing actors with real thought bubbles over their heads.
One hundred and fifty actors displayed their "innermost thoughts, desires and secrets" on the streets of Los Angeles, Philadelphia Chicago and NYC. If they were asked about their thoughts, they'd hand out a flyer promoting the url for Big Love, a new show on HBO.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
1 comments
Monday, January 12, 2009
tasty catch of the day
Want to raise awareness about the type of crap people-beasts are leaving all over the beaches of North America? Why not package it up and show them? That's what the Surfrider Foundation did.
Actual trash, packaged all nicely, and placed conveniently into the local farmer's market. From UnderConsideration.
Labels: ads, nonprofit, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:02 AM
4 comments
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
making positive change with positive shopping
Carrotmob is a new group that's organizing consumers to shop strategically. They're organizing flash shopping mobs to spend their money at a retailer who agrees to spend a percentage of the day's sales on energy improvements to their business.
You can watch a video about the concept on CarrotMob's site. They started in San Francisco, and now have chapters in Kansas City, Bristol England and New York. What started as an experiment is delivering long lines of passionate customers to retail, while making effective energy change neighborhood by neighborhood.
Labels: green, marketing, newyork, retail, streetteams, stunts
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
attack of the giant pinatas
What if every city had giant party pinatas filled with candy, dancing in the streets? Why not? Maybe our new president could make that happen.
In the meantime, there's the Carnival Cruise Lines promotion, featuring a ginormous pinata filled with 8000 pounds of sugary delicious goodness. About a week ago, they produced the world's largest beach balls, and now they're cracking open the world's largest pinata, all over the streets of Philadelphia.
(We should send these to countries in need of aid. Giant food pinatas, filled with essentials like Mary Janes, Milk Duds and Pixie Stix. We'll air drop them, like pinata bombs.)
Here's some behind the scenes footage of the Philly pinata being built. Sounds like a giant party, which I guess is the point.
Labels: hospitality, streetteams, stunts, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM
3 comments
Thursday, October 30, 2008
dance in the streets tomorrow in nyc
During Friday's Village Halloween Parage in NYC, hundreds (thousands?) of people will be re-creating that famous scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
They've already got a float and a marching band. They've even invited Matthew Broderick. All they need is you. Want in on the fun? Just email projectbueller@gmail.com for all of the details. From SwissMiss.
Labels: newyork, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
chucky takes manhattan
This sounds like a typical brainstorm at our agency. "Let's get a bunch of little people, dress them up like Chucky, and let them loose across NYC with knifes."
Well some agency actually got the opportunity to implement such a plan. How else would you celebrate Child’s Play, the 20th Birthday Edition DVD? The video is equally cute.
Labels: newyork, streetteams, stunts
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM
0 comments
Thursday, June 12, 2008
pixel dogs make the best pets
Totally genius concept illustrating the level of detail that you could be getting from a Leica D-Lux 3 digital camera. (Suggested copy edit for their headline: See More Detail. Right??)
They should sell the pixel dogs. Wouldn't you want one? A cute little puppy that doesn't poop, or whine, or chew on furniture?
Labels: ads, photography, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
2 comments
Monday, June 02, 2008
let us take your brand on a social media tour
We're about to embark on our second annual Plaid Summer Tour.
What's it all about? A fun, summertime road trip that greets brands, marketing geeks, internet workers and creative people in markets from Vancouver to Vegas. We'll be visiting brands, having Tweet-ups, and broadcasting every minute over the internets.
This year, we're opening the tour up to sponsors. Anything from banners and ad placement, product placement, or even a title sponsor - where the tour is as much about your brand as it is about ours.
PlaidNation will include features on two of the world's best blogs (BrandFlakes and Make the Logo Bigger), live video (van cams!), video recaps on YouTube, daily vidcast, Twitter stream from the van, photostream on Flickr, and a live GPS/Google map that lets viewers check the van's location minute by minute.
It's a rolling celebration of creativity, ideas and social media. And just a little bit of Plaid love. With bloggers on board. See the action begin to unfold at the tour's dashboard, PlaidNation.com.
Interested in becoming a tour sponsor? Or maybe your brand is on the route and you'd like us to stop by? Give me a shout at darryl (AT) thinkplaid (DOT) com.
Just want to watch the tour? Check in on the dashboard, become a fan of Plaid on Facebook, and follow Plaid on Twitter. You're all set. See you on the west coast.
Labels: adindustry, plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion, social media, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:19 AM
0 comments
Thursday, May 01, 2008
jetpacks just totally rock.
Not just for cool blogs. Some dude actually got to ride a jetpack, for a promotional stunt for the new movie, Iron Man.
Dude. The coolest stuff really does happen in Austin, Texas.
Labels: film, streetteams, stunts
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:15 AM
0 comments
Thursday, April 17, 2008
giant shoes bring together east coast and west coast. all is well.
Part art project, part street-team, part promotional stunt. This Adidas promo rocks. (Stupid Flash site won't let you link directly. Click on "superstar.")
Two giant (no really - GIANT) adidas shoes get painted by street artists. One on the west coast (the left shoe), one on the east coast (the right shoe). They meet in Venice Beach, and live happily ever after.
Only one thing leaves me uncomfortable. Why does the east coast shoe have to travel to California? Was the left shoe too lazy to meet halfway? Couldn't the giant shoe meet-up take place in Chicago? Over deep-dish pizza?
From mmcgreevy, via Twitter.
Labels: fashion, outdoor, sports marketing, streetart, streetteams, stunts, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
simple = better.
No stunning photography. No gorgeous models. No design. Just a simple message. Absolutely love this street campaign for Zyrtec.
Labels: ads, copywriting, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM
3 comments
Friday, March 21, 2008
Plaid tour '08. We need sponsors!
It's official. We're doing another Plaid road tour. Last year had us traversing down the east coast into the deep south. This year, we're headed WEST.
The Plaid tour kicks off on July 21, in VANCOUVER. We head south, and make stops in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and ends in LAS VEGAS. Vancouver to Vegas, with California in-between.
Here's the tentative schedule:
Monday, July 21: Vancouver
Tuesday, July 22: Seattle
Wednesday, July 23: Portland
Thursday, July 24: driving day
Friday, July 25: San Francisco
Monday, July 28: San Francisco
Tuesday, July 29: driving day
Wednesday, July 30: Los Angeles
Thursday, July 31: San Diego
Friday, July 31: Las Vegas
All along the way, we'll be visiting brands and other agencies, and sharing our love of the latest social media tools. (If you're on the route, and want us to stop by, let us know!)
We need sponsors! We'd love a hotel sponsor, and/or cash sponsors to help cover at least some of the ridiculous expenses. (You have no idea how much it takes to feed a Plaid van with fuel, and a Plaid staff with food.)
So - if you're working with a brand that could benefit from an audience of over 250,000 blog readers, would love the social media coverage on our blogs, our dashboards, our videos, Twitters and more - let us know. You're welcome to reach out to me directly at darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com, for more details.
Just four months to go!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion, social media, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:11 PM
3 comments
Friday, February 29, 2008
visual pollution or killer street team tool?
Oh, the fun we could have with projectors in our pockets. So many possibilities.
Labels: art, outdoor, streetteams, technology
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
you've been deputized.
File this under "wish I thought of it."
Introducing the design police. A full set of templates that you can print on sticker paper on your own printer, and then walk around town like a design sheriff. Fun stickers that allow you to call attention to bad design.
I so want to harvest this idea and create a different set of stickers. One that includes 3rd eyes, scars, bullet holes, Frankenstein plugs and blood drip. I could enhance outdoor advertising all day long. So much fun.
What do Design Police uniforms look like? I bet they're hot.
Labels: adindustry, design, outdoor, streetart, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:15 AM
2 comments
Monday, January 14, 2008
pimples you can put on your friend's picture
Clearasil in Germany is running a really fun and icky promotion. They've produced ads with special stickers that allow the reader to place pimples on any picture in the magazine. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
When other readers see the pimple, they can re-use the sticker (gross), and see details about Clearasil on the back side of the sticker. Oh, how I could use a giant box of those pimply stickers.
Labels: ads, streetart, streetteams, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:11 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
dead people talking to people in nyc
To promote Paranormal State, A&E is running a billboard on Prince and Mulberry streets that uses ultrasonic sound to broadcast audio to very specific locations. Pedestrians directly in line of sight of the speakers (seen as the little black boxes in the image above) can hear the 'voices' that are broadcast. People steps away hear nothing.
We blogged on this technology years ago, when we first read about it in Wired. It's awesome to see the tech actually used. Soooo many possibilities.
UPDATE:
Ashley points out the technology is from Holosonics, and they've also done campaigns for Target and Court TV. Cool.
Labels: outdoor, streetteams, technology, television
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:42 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 10, 2007
obama's mighty marketing
Check out this post detailing some Obama marketing techniques. From fundraising tactics, innovative list building, and the world's largest phone bank, this is a marketing team that's spot on. There's not a brand that couldn't learn something here.
Sooo many impressive tactics - but my fave is getting people while they're at an event to call four friends. Think about that...you're at an event - so you're already pre-disposed to the brand. Because all of the people around you are doing it, you're more likely to participate in something you wouldn't normally do. Because you're at an exciting event, you have a speaking point to begin discussions with your friends. Brilliant.
The same technique could work for most non-profit live events, and even some consumer brands. Why are we learning marketing from a politician?
Thanks Eliza!
Labels: marketing, mobile, politics, streetteams, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
1 comments
Friday, December 07, 2007
canada to lock people in a snowglobe
Next week in NYC, Canada will be dropping a big-ass snow globe into Bryant Park. They'll lock models inside, who will pretend to be completely comfortable and enjoying the splendorous winter scene inside.
They'll also have out-of-globe experiences - like 'take your picture with a Mountie.' Oh, the fun that will ensue. The effort is to promote Canadian tourism.
Labels: holiday, newyork, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM
3 comments
Monday, December 03, 2007
need attention? try severed limbs.
To call attention to the DVD release of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, agency New Message dropped severed limbs holding the DVD in front of movie theaters. No word on where the limbs came from. My guess is interns.
Labels: film, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
coffee. everywhere you need it.
Guerilla Communication just completed a tasty promotion for Coffees of Hawaii. In an effort to target athletes, their families and friends, they set up a floating espresso bar on the IronMan swimming course. People could swim up to the bar (during training week) and sample the deliciousness. While being informed that you could get Coffee of Hawaii brought to you wherever you live - whenever you want, thanks to the world wide webs. Mmmmmmm.
Labels: outdoor, sports marketing, streetteams, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:15 AM
0 comments
Monday, September 24, 2007
dummies make great models
Alternative agency Tribeca created a fun promotion for Wrangler in France. They outfitted a bunch of dummies in Wrangler apparel, and put them everywhere.
In the US, we'd just steal the clothes off of the dummies. Because we're like that. It would be cool to see a city over-run by dummies. Then again...
Labels: fashion, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:19 AM
0 comments
Thursday, September 13, 2007
a lesson for every consumer promotion
Church of the Customer posts the photo above, and asks "what's wrong?" (And the answer isn't the grey sky, or a lack of a healthy crowd.)
There's a lesson here for every branding person who's ever produced a consumer promotion.
Think about how consumers save, share and remember. If I was attending this event, how would I likely remember it? How would I share it with my buddy across the country? My cell phone camera, of course.
And so, here's what's wrong: There's nothing to tell you that this festival is in Austin, Texas. Nothing about the band name. No url to visit. Someone enjoying this experience snapped a cell phone photo to share with friends - and opportunities were lost.
What about your next promotion? Or billboard? Or event? Can users gain anything from a cell phone pic that's been posted to Facebook?
Awesome advice.
Labels: branding, marketing, mobile, outdoor, streetteams, viral, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
Thursday, August 16, 2007
...and the sky rained coffee.
This is from the dream of a few Plaid employees, I'm sure. Wake up, and it's raining coffee. Coffees of Hawaii just "airdropped" a bunch of coffee with parachutes to busy neighborhoods and tourist spots, to promote their new coffee home delivery service.
Sweet idea. But where's the video? When Microsoft did this a year ago, they issued a video "documenting" the effort. I still like the concept, as a great way to create buzz within a local community.
And, if they needed to REALLY drop these from a plane, they could have called on Rob and Ryan from our agency. Rob and Ryan have experience with this sort of thing. Although I'm pretty sure their instructors wouldn't have allowed for a load of coffee and parachutes on board. But it never hurts to ask.
Labels: ads, outdoor, streetteams, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
0 comments
Friday, August 10, 2007
hello, lloyd.
Soooo wish that I was on this project. Or invited to this party.
Stella's agency recreated the bar scene from the Shining, complete with Lloyd, pictured above. They invited people into the bar, in conjunction with Stella Screen's airing of the film. The promotion is meant to tie to Stella's global brand strategy "fanatical about film".
Lucky attendees also got a key code to enter Stella's Gold Room. Nice.
Labels: beverage, film, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:18 AM
0 comments
Monday, August 06, 2007
street artist rocks manhattan bridge
Check out this this amazing street art installation on the Manhattan Bridge this weekend. Good thing this didn't happen in Boston.
Labels: newyork, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:04 AM
0 comments
Monday, July 30, 2007
kameraflage: cool idea for street teams
Sarah Logie and Connor Dickie, have developed a technology called Kameraflage, that works by using colors that are invisible to the human eye, but easily picked up by the cameras' silicon chips.
What a sweet idea for street teams. Think magic t-shirts. "Take my picture and get a secret." Imagine street teams that prompt users to take pictures of them, so that they can see a special url, and win a free sample/prize. A cool tool to build excitement, but also gets your brand 'saved' on the user's digital camera - so they can share with their friends, visit your site while at home, etc. From Gizmodo.
Labels: fashion, photography, streetteams, technology
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:22 AM
0 comments
Friday, July 20, 2007
this week at Plaid (on tour version):
Here's what happened this week at the world's most Plaid design and branding firm:
This week's post is dedicated to the Plaid tour. If you haven't already read, we're in the midst of a three week tour from NYC to Dallas, visiting clients, prospects, and interesting things along the way. Here are some of the highlights:
Kicked off in NYC, and met with Sony Music. Loaded the van with promos. And a fresh new project! Left for Long Island.
Stopped by Iron Horse Bikes, and discussed the design of two new websites. And saw their new 2008 bikes. (Which include some plaid graphics!)
Drove to Rhode Island, where we met with Foster Grant - specifically the Brand Manager for two of their coolest brands, Anarchy and Angel.
We also met the crew at Leedom, and shared some sweet Plaid-style branding ideas. Because we're nice like that.
Then we sped to New Hampshire. (Giuli was driving, I believe.) We made a surprise visit to Segway, and ended up chatting with their Direct Marketing Manager. Really cool people. And DAMN, I really want one of those Segways.
While feeling all geeky, we introduced ourselves to MobileRobots. Possibly the smartest people in all of New Hampshire. They've built and engineered some amazing robots, and produced some intense software apps to make them do whatever you need. We were unsuccessful in talking them into a robot race with the Plaid van.
Thursday we had a busy day in Massachusetts, with visits to Digitas, Etonic, and Digital Influence Group. Really great to meet other creative people, while on the road. And many bloggers, to boot.
Friday was a great close to our first week, where we met the infamous Joseph Jaffe. I felt like I was meeting David Bowie. Here's a blogger/podcaster/indie businessman/thought leader that I've been following forever. Meeting him in real space (not that there's anything wrong with Second Life) was a blast. Check out his post about the Plaid van.
Of course, you can follow the entire tour as it happens on the PlaidNation tour dashboard. Enjoy the blog, twitter, Flickr, and YouTube feeds. We even have a live webcam and GPS to tell you where the van is at.
It's hard to sum up a Plaid week with one photo - but I think that Soooper 8, pictured above pretty much does it. Sooper.
Labels: plaidsummertour, streetteams, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:40 PM
2 comments
Monday, July 16, 2007
and....we're off!
Don't forget that the Plaid BrandAid tour starts this morning. Be sure to waste several productive hours checking our tour dashboard, watching the webcam, reading the blogs, and watching YouTube.
We'll have tons of worthless and slightly entertaining media for you, over the next 21 days. That's if we don't all get arrested in Arkansas. (It could happen.)
Labels: branding, plaid, plaidsummertour, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:22 AM
2 comments
Thursday, July 12, 2007
put coldsores on ads for fun
Yesterday, we posted about how artist Steve Lambert turns street ads into street art. Now, we've got something even better.
Printable cold sores. Put them on your favorite subway ads. Or on the CEO's painting, in your corporate lobby. Blistericious.
Labels: adindustry, outdoor, streetart, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:29 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
turn annoying street ads into art
Steve Lambert has a great instructables post on how to turn a wall of annoying ads into art. In broad daylight. Nice.
Labels: art, newyork, streetart, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
0 comments
Friday, June 15, 2007
plaid not the only summer tour
Because we're an agency, we of course believe that the sun orbits around our very being, and that everything we do is original and filled with awesomeness. So naturally, as we're about to embark on the Plaid BrandAid 2007 Summer Tour, we believe that it's the only tour in all of the land.
Turns out other people are hitting the highways too. Just got an email from Jay, who's about to tour the country with a ton of fat. Really. It's one part of their overall campaign "to inspire, motivate and educate men, women, young adults, teens, children and families about the latest and greatest tips, tricks, tools and "thinking" for weight loss, exercise and wellness."
Like Plaid, MyPetFat is also looking for tour sponsors. Although I'd be willing to guess that their burrito and Slurpee budget isn't as big as ours.
Regardless, looks like there's going to be a lot of fun on the roads this summer!
Labels: adindustry, smallagency, streetteams, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:21 AM
0 comments
Friday, June 08, 2007
plaid tour gets real. now seeking sponsors.
We're officially doing it. The first ever road tour by an agency. With a tour van. And agency employees. And lots of energy drinks. The tour will kick off on July 16, and end (in Atlanta, we think) on August 4.
Anyway - we're looking for sponsors to help ease the pain of financial costs, or to make life more enjoyable for those on the road.
Have a brand that wouldn't mind being seen on our 2400 mile trek across the U.S? Or on the tour's internet dashboard? Or on the tour blog? Or the tour Twitter? Or included on the YouTube videos?
Anyway - you can learn more at PlaidNation - which for now, is something better than a PowerPoint deck about sponsorship. Eventually, this site will become the dashboard for everything related to BrandAid 2007.
Stay off the roads. Lock your doors. Plaid is coming.
Labels: adindustry, plaid, streetteams, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:11 AM
0 comments
Monday, June 04, 2007
text my shirt for a special message
Reactee has invented a shirt that people can text. Sort of. Buy the shirt, and you get a special code (and a shirt with instructions) that people can text. They'll get a special message from you. And of course, with the power of the internet, you can change that message to whatever you want. Whenever you want.
This would be cool for street teams, who have loads of models taking over a neighborhood. What a fun way to find out what's happening. And with texting, people can communicate with each other, without talking to each other. And, I guess that's a good thing. From NOTCOT
Labels: creativeinspiration, fashion, hacks, outdoor, streetteams, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
0 comments
Monday, May 21, 2007
unethical outdoor placement
Woops. How not to do outdoor placement. Audi tells the city they're going to make a film. They get film permits, and begin placing "props" around the city. Only there's no film. The "props" are apparently just illegal outdoor ads.
There are brands that can pull off illegal guerilla tactics. (Obey comes to mind) And there are brands that should take the responsible route. Audi belongs in the responsible category.
Labels: branding, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
delta hitting the streets
While commuting home the other night, Justus saw the super cool Delta car, above. He snapped the photo with his cell phone. When he should have been paying attention to the road. That's how designers roll.
Anyway, Delta seems to be on a new kick to promote themselves in more innovative ways. They've even started a Twitter voice. And they've got a Nintendo DS download station at JFK. And iPod seat connectors. Delta might be starting to rock. Thanks Justus!
Labels: newyork, outdoor, streetteams, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:08 AM
0 comments
Thursday, April 05, 2007
desk sleepers coming to a city near you
To promote its new No More Allnighters campaign, FedEx Kinko's has produced a microsite that ties to the tv spots.
Even more fun - they've planted actors in key cities to sleep on desks. The pic above is an example of what they've setup in Atlanta, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago.
Next week - they're coming to New York. Oh, the poor, poor actors who will have to pretend to sleep in some public space like Times Square. What happens if you pour soda on him? Or poke him with a stick? Just wondering.
Labels: ads, newyork, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
Monday, March 26, 2007
advertising battle in france
Sony PS3 sets up a huge launch party in front of the Eiffel Tower. They're looking to make lots of hoopla. Or whatever they call hoopla in France. And what should float by? How about a big, giant barge that Xbox rented for the event - complete with a huge lit billboard, proclaiming "Xbox 360 loves you."
Labels: adindustry, gaming, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
Thursday, March 15, 2007
don't mess with texas
Just a reminder you can't mess with Texas. Sometimes, I feel like it's my job to spread that word. Promoters hired by Zune were arrested by Austin police as they were pasting up posters around town, during SXSW.
Good thing this didn't happen in Boston - they might have blown up the guerilla marketers.
Labels: adindustry, outdoor, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
boston city council: we want in on the party
The Boston City Council is holding a hearing today to discuss guerilla marketing. They're suggesting that there be a notification process regarding campaigns, so that they don't get caught off guard.
Says City Council President Maureen Feeney:
“Our agenda is not to ban these types of marketing activities. We don’t want to violate First Amendment rights. We understand that this is an innovative new technique, but what we do want is to understand how we can engage and involve these marketing agencies to apprise the city of what’s going on.”
They also have said that they can keep a secret - and that marketers won't have to worry about campaigns leaking from their department.
On paper, this sounds like a good idea. Why not keep them informed? But in reality, this would never work.
Marketer: "We'd like to paste oversized posters onto the sides of buildings"
City Council: "Uh, no."
Real guerilla campaigns come in two flavors: legal, and illegal. The legal campaigns are pretty easy. Negotiating for some otherwise unused outdoor space, for a unique installation. MINI has done this often. Because property owners are typically involved, there's no hoopla, and no need for a City Council meeting.
Illegal campaigns on the other hand, are graffiti style - and involve installing art or installations onto public places without permission. There's no scenario where the Boston City Council will (or could) give blessing to these campaigns.
And meanwhile, the police are still blowing things up like crazy.
Labels: adindustry, outdoor, politics, streetart, streetteams
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:29 AM
3 comments
Thursday, February 01, 2007
boston terror scare: gimme a break.
No doubt you've been bombarded by the sensationalist media reports on how one agency's street campaign blew up - almost literally, in Boston. A full on terror panic was set in motion, all because of some LED lights.
I'm going to side with the agency on this one. Boston overreacted. Big time.
LED graffiti has been around for at least a year now. All over the internet. The pieces displayed on the sensationalist news broadcasts clearly looked like LED street art. Clearly. And now that we ALL know that, it's irresponsible for the news media to label them "hoax bomb devices." They aren't. They never were.
Certainly, the police must take every precaution in this day and age. And the person who first reported the devices to the police was right to do so - as not everyone can be up on the latest graffiti tactics.
But couldn't a quick inspection by police have identified these devices? Was there nobody on the Boston police force familiar with street art? Or with an understaning of what real explosive devices look like? Our agency is in a very small city - and our police department has a graffiti task force. They know more about street art than anyone in our agency.
I SWEAR that when I first read the story, as it was developing yesterday, the first thought on my mind was - LED Throwies.
I say hooray for the agency that tried something different. I'm really sorry it turned into such a fiasco. Really sorry. I sincerely hope they come out of this ok.
The "devices" were apparently in nine other cities? Why no "panic" in these cities? Ten minutes of investigation by officials could have prevented a huge fiasco. Shame on the Boston officials who blew this up.
SLIGHT UPDATE:
Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Bomb
Labels: adindustry, outdoor, pop culture, streetart, streetteams, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:12 AM
2 comments
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
diy sticker campaigns
Wallspankers, a quarterly street art publication is stickerlicious. How Design points to this pdf piece that you can download, enjoy, and if you're so inclined, print the artwork out onto decal sheets. Right from your own home.
I've had a fascination and appreciation for sticker art since the punk rock skateboarding days. And there are some awesome artists represented in Wallspankers.
This is also a great promotional idea for any brands that can benefit from street cred, or unique yute marketing. We produced a street team site many months ago for band 30 Seconds to Mars. Fans used it to make their own street team tools, including stickers (can't find the link now, or it's no longer live, sorry). The site was a huge success.
What can you be supplying your fans to help them sell your brand?
Labels: art, creativeinspiration, streetart, streetteams, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 AM
0 comments
