Campbell Mithun and Hungry Man Productions invite their fellow Minnesotans to roll out the red carpet next week as thousands of Republicans visit their traditionally Democratic state. According to the campaign's web site, The UnConvention is a non-partisan collective of citizens who have come together to create a forum in which to promote the democratic and free exchange of ideas on important issues. But don't take …
When Opportunity Knocks, Get The Door
Burgerville's customers are hooked on the regional chain's veggie burger. When Kellogg's, which owns Gardenburger, issued a voluntary recall, Burgerville customers were bumming. But thanks to the ingenuity of Chez Gourmet, a small Oregon-based outfit that went from making 3,000 veggie patties a week to producing over ten times that amount, things in Veggie Burgerville are copacetic. According to Marketplace, Marie …
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The Army Learns How To Shop Its Brand
Given that the Bush/Cheney administration abused the military and the nation's trust by leading us into war on false pretenses, recruiting young men and women to serve in the armed services is a tough chore today. Which is why the Army is busy developing new marketing weapons. According to Adweek, the Army is spending $12 million to develop an experiential marketing campaign that deploys in malls. Unlike recruitment …
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Revolution Number 9
As someone with experience in point-of-sale advertising, I've said for years that POS can be dramatically improved. Yet, that's not all that can be upgraded—the retail interaction itself can also benefit from new thinking. According to Atlanta Journal Constitution, Coca-Cola is working on a proprietary fountain system that can dispense more than 100 beverages from a single unit. Increased choice might be considered …
Blog Me In St. Louis
Just discovered AdSaint: The St. Louis Ad, Marketing and PR blog. It's published by Walt Jaschek, the Owner & CD of Walt Now Advertising and Branding. A good resource for anyone interested in the ad scene out in the Gateway City. …
Old Man Shakes Some Salt
One Size Fits One blogger, Anjali Ramachandran, spoke to AdScam's George Parker and kept from laughing long enough to write some of it down. Here are the parts I like best: Q. Given that you've spent over 30 years in ad land, do you think the BDA's have any hidden nuggets of gold up their sleeves at all? In other words, are there any lessons to be learnt from them? A. The number one lesson is don’t sell yourself to …
Will Tweet for Greenbacks
First there was a Tweet. And thanks to it, we now have a Cherp, an agency that proposes to manage social media campaigns on Twitter. Chris Brogan, for one, "is all for nifty social media projects," but this one has him wondering. The first person to comment on his post also wonders why you'd ever outsource the brand's social media duties. Here's the agency's pitch: Anyone can tweet. Our Clients Cherp. There is a …
Daddy’s Credit Card Accepted Here
Roughly 18.3 million students will enroll in U.S. postsecondary institutions this fall, up 26% from 14.5 million a decade ago. The discretionary spending of these 18- to 30-year-old students is estimated to reach $53 billion this year, a fact which is leading several aggressive retailers to establish pop-up retail locations on college campuses. According to The Wall Street Journal, flip-flop maker Havaianas, a brand …
Blogging Gets Its Turn At The Plate
Major League Baseball is spending $65 million this fall to advertise its postseason action, according to The New York Times. When Major League Baseball was looking for a pitchman last year for the postseason, it turned to the social networking site MySpace and found that Dane Cook, the comedian and actor, had a lot of friends. This year M.L.B. and its playoff and World Series broadcast partners, Fox and TBS, decided …
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Today’s Big Number
$120 million dollars. That's how much Invesco paid for the naming rights to Denver's football stadium. Last night, appearing alongside Joe Biden, Barack Obama said, "And tomorrow night, we'll be over at Mile High Stadium..." Spoken like a true sports fan. …