Here's an interesting addition to the "brands make products" trend. Audi, with help from DDB Spain is out with a mobile Android app called Start-Stop that mimics one of the features in new Audi vehicles; smart technology turns off the engine when not in use (at a stop light, etc.) and turns it back on when needed so that energy is saved.
The app monitors which apps have been running the longest in the background and sends an alert to remind the user to quit the app, thus saving valuable battery life.
It's a perfect tie in with the brand and a practical and useful product all in one.
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Can't wake up in the morning? There's an app for that. No, not your builtin, boring alarm app; an app that will play increasingly "harder" music if you don't respond to the initial soft nudges.
Created by JWT Brazil for radio station 91 Rock, the song that finally does awaken the heavy sleeper can be shared with the user's social followers.
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Way back in the day, ice cream cake maker Carvel marketed a cake called Fudgie the Whale. Just as you might assume, it was a chocolate cake shaped like a whale.
Today, the brand has resurrected Fudgie the Whale in the form on an animated spokesman. In two new Focus Brands-created commercials, Fudgie can be seen touting the brand's two for one Wednesday Sundae special and specially designed Mother's Day cakes.
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Old Spice guy, Isaiah Mustafa has whipped out his Old Spice persona and lent it to Israeli beer brand Maccabee for an ad created by Allenby Concept House. In the ad, a man's distaste for Maccabee results in Mustafa -- acting very Presidential in an oval office of sorts -- turning the situation into a national issue of epic proportion.
It's garnered 572,000 views on YouTube so it can't be all bad, right? That man's gotta work and what better gig than an overly long overseas commercial in which he can turn his towel-wearing Old Spice character into Presidential stateliness?
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A multistate bank in the US saw a 55 percent increase in the profitability of its direct marketing program, repaying its system investments in only four months. A multinational telecommunications company increased response rates by 300 to 1,000 percent, improving campaign ROI 400 percent while reducing campaign costs by 30 percent. A multinational financial services provider with more than 1,000 branches improved campaign ROI by 50 percent.
A major US insurance company achieved a 12 percent increase in revenue, a 52 percent increase in earnings, and saved more than $4 million a year. A major US telecom service provider gained an incremental $6 million in lifetime value (net present value of the profit it expects from a customer) in the first month. A global telecom provider reduced call center contacts by 25 percent without decreasing effectiveness.
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Just a step above watching water boil, Domino's has gone live with, well, Domino's Live. The brand has outfitted a Salt Lake City Comino's location with five webcams that allows people to view the pizza making process. Visitors to the site can also Like the brand's Facebook page and have their name appear live on a screen in the store...which also has a webcam on it so the entire world can see as well.
Of the work, Domino's CMO Russel Weiner said, "We at Domino's have made continued efforts to open our doors and be as welcoming as possible. This is simply the next step, and we are very excited to merge the visual tradition and spirit of the pizzeria with today's digital capabilities."
Following this pilot program, the brand may roll out the program to other stores across the nation.
With forthright honesty and humility, a new JCPenney ad acknowledges its missteps over the past year and humbly asks that people give them a second change.
The ad's voiceover says, "It's no secret. Recently, JCPenney changed. Some changes you liked, and some you didn't. But what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing: to listen to you. To hear what you need to make your life more beautiful. Come back to JCPenney. We heard you. Now, we'd love to see you."
It's not often a brand admits its mistakes but in today's social media-fueled openness, honestly facing challenging situations rather than attempting to sweep them under the carpet is the smart way to go.
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Following a litany of complaints, PepsiCo has pulled a :60 Mountain Dew commercial that social commentator Dr. Boyce Watkins dubbed, "arguably the most racist commercial in history."
The ad, indeed, carries racist overtones with a white women -- who appears to have been assaulted -- attempting to identify her assailant from a lineup of black men...and a talking goat who urges her not to spill the beans with various threats.
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You can decide whether this is a commercial announcement (no one paid us to write this) or valuable industry information (no one asked us to write this). Or maybe it's both (we contribute to the HubSpot blog). All we know is that HubSpot's INBOUND 2013 conference is taking place in Boston this summer, August 19-22 and it's most certainly an event you should attend.
Why? Because as a smart marketer or agency exec, you really need to learn about inbound marketing. What is inbound marketing? Take a gander at the chart below.
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Hook-up site ArrangementFinders, part of the Ashley Madison empire, has erected a billboard in LA with the headline, "Need a Summer Job? Date a Sugar Daddy." The copy is accompanied by an image of Bree Olsen, porn star and spokesperson for the site.
Hey, if a woman can make some coin of a rich guy and both parties consent, then why not? Via.
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