Debuting Monday, March 21, AdWeek will introduce a new magazine called Other Advertising which will cover non-traditionl advertising categories it defines as mass transit, sports stadiums, in-store, product placement, cinemas, elevators, cell phones, guerrilla marketing. Content will include business news, case studies, profiles and guest editorials.
Editorial Director Adam Remsen said, "Other Advertising's purpose is to help media buyers make the best decisions by bringing new advertising media to their attention, highlight the companies doing the best work and act as a central hub where ideas and pertinent issues are discussed and investigated."
Other Advertising will be packaged with 30,000 hand-delivered copies of Adweek, Mediaweek and Brandweek reaching media buyers, corporate brand marketers and advertising agency executives.
Perhaps the strangest beer promotions to date, Heineken Europe has launched the Heineken European Life Long Observatory or H.E.L.L.O. The site consists of an interplanetary mission complete with launch sequences, confusing geek speak and videos of futuristic brewing methods. The site, launched sometime in February, is counting down to arrival - currently 16 days away. Take a look.
In a new report called NEXT, Starcom Mediavest has put forth 11 prognostications regarding the future of consumer contact. In the report, Starcom highlights the following:
- Clients will produce more customized TV creative specifically for the broadband space.
- Blogs will become more mainstream and citizen-generated.
- Agencies will push programming development.
- The number of networks that target Hispanics on digital cable will grow five-fold over the next 10 years.
- Gaming will move into "connected space" and make digitally distributed gaming content more mainstream.
- The next hot category will be shopping magazines-for women, men, the home and babies.
- Advertising overload threatens radio
- Mobile marketing will push to create a dialogue with self-selected hand raisers, as opposed to recreating online ad serving models.
Here is a PDF
overview of the findings.
If life as an Eskimo causes a woman to fantasize she's tongue kissing a hunk - but in reality is tongue kissing her dog - while watching MTV in her igloo all in the name of promoting MTV's Spring Break 2005 in Cancun, well, we guess we'll go along with it.
Perhaps to offer its female member more than simply pictures and vitals of men on the prowl, Match.com has launched the online magazine Happen Magazine, an advice filled excuse to grow its membership base and "extend its brand." As proof this is a site most women might want to steer clear of, one of the featured articles is entitled "Dating Tips From reality TV."
Rick Bruner sent us a link to a British commercial for the Mazda 6 station wagon. For parents, it's an all too familiar situation. A delightful ride in the country in ruined by the incessant bickering between the kids in the back seat. In this commercial, Mazda has the solution in the form of a spring loaded, fold down rear seat.
A grass roots campaign that grew out of discussions amongst small retailers facing larger chains such as WalMart yielded an advertising campaign to support local businesses. The campaign, developed by Boulder Colorado based Boulder Book Store owner David Bolduc and others, is funded by an alliance of local businesses who have an interest in co-existing with larger chain stores. The campaign has appeared in Boulder, Raleigh and now Louisville. Beginning late last year, the Loiusville campaign carries the headline, "Keep Louisville Weird."
The ad appears on billboards and on busses.
The campaign hopes to stave off community homogenization. Whether campaigns such as this will win out over consumer's desire for the lowest possible price is unclear. Quite clear, though, is the dehumanization of local culture and the increasing inability to think in un-homogenize ways.
While the idea is over two years old, all those eBay ads selling forehead space, pregnant belly space and cleavage have motivated "hipchewy" to sell his/her dog as ad space. The dog, Peanut, is a Wiener dog and the ad claims Peanut will wear branded clothing anywhere its owner takes her. Starting bid is $1,500. Hello, GoldenPalace?
On the heels of the recent launch of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and the recent shutdown of the Viral and Buzz Marketing Association's Soflow Network, Asa Bailey, UK-based viral advertising practitioner, has launched the Viral Advertising Association.
The Association's mission is "to promote viral advertising to the wider marketing industry. Through working with other individuals and organisations to provide a better understanding of how viral advertising works, and to demonstrate why it should be a part of every modern media plan."
The association hopes to provide support and research to marketers and advertisers interesting in viral advertising. The Association's founder, Asa Bailey, is also founder of the Viral Awards and was behind the Ogilvy & Mather domain name highjacking.
Writing on his weblog (see, everyone has one now), KFOG DJ Big Rick Stuart explains how he peered out his window Saturday morning and got a peek at a photo shoot in progress for the 2006 Range Rover Sport. Check out his observations and see a bigger picture of the shoot here.
