New form of in-game advertising

When I was watching the 2013 Slaughter of disliked rival Oklahoma Cotton Bowl, I saw a type of ad layout I had never seen before.

I hope this is an anomaly and not a trend.  Other wise, American sporting events will not be the same.

Sau Paulo says no thanks to billboards

In 2006, the mayor of São Paulo mayor banned the use of outdoor advertising, including billboards and transit. Initially, the business community was alarmed, and worried that there would be millions in lost revenue and tens of thousands of lost jobs. But a 2011 study showed that 70 percent of the city’s residents find the ban to be beneficial. The ban…

Via Populous

More pictures on tirafoto's flickr.

über-cool Chiquita Banana stickers

Many design, marketing and advertising blogs have already covered the redesign of the famous Chiquita Banana stickers. However, I saw them for the first time only recently.

These are a good marketing idea because

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A non-profit agency doing non-profit work

In this economy running a non-profit is difficult. Soliciting donors while balancing high stress on a shoestring budget is not fun. On top of that, most non-profits are most lacking in marketing and IT help.

This is why Serve Marketing + Advertising, a non-profit agency, is so remarkable.

One of their recent campaigns, Close The Gap, targets salary disparities between men and women while another campaign was for the American Diabetes Association.

Here in Texas, two agencies come to mind when thinking about social causes. Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing in Austin is known for positive social change and IS7 in Dallas focuses on interactive work for non-profits.

Red Bull street marketing

While brilliant on Red Bull's part, I think that this would be more ideal for a NASCAR marketing move as it introduces the northeastern US and urban dwelling crowd to a mostly rural and Southern-based NASCAR product.

Via Bized.

Would this make you take the stairs?

"...in Stockholm’s Odenplan subway station, the staircase has been retrofitted to resemble giant piano keys, which produce real sound, to encourage commuters to climb the stairs rather than ride the escalator. According to this video — which seems to be part of a Volkswagen marketing initiative, though it’s unclear — it’s been a raging success."

Via Freakonomics.

Beer Ad in back of Taxi

ZhuJiang beer has a really clever ad placed on the windows of taxi cabs. I agree with the original blog post author in that the brand gets lost as the window rolls down. The message of "it's ok to drink as long as you get a taxi" may be hard to understand too.

Via Little Red Book.

A Trillion Dollar Ad Campaign

In Zimbabwe, the hyperinflation of the currency has gotten so bad that foreign currencies are being accepted in to circulation.

TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris has created this unusual outdoor campaign for The Zimbabwean, a newspaper produced by a group of exiled Zimbabwean journalists. The Zimbabwean is sold in the UK, South Africa and Zimbabwe but when entering the latter is charged an import duty of 55 per cent, making it unaffordable to the average Zimbabwean

Via Creative Review UK

What is Viagra all about?

New Viagra commercial premiered last night during NBC Nightly News, although I saw it later on Jimmy Kimmel. It caught my attention for a couple of reasons: one, it showed several guys singing Viva Viagra to the tune of Viva Las Vegas, and two, it showed several guys singing about Viagra to each other!

Not only did this strike me as weird, because I doubt any man would ever openly admit to using Viagra, let alone sing about it with his friends. I guess perhaps that's the point, the ad is supposed to make men feel less embarrassed and inhibited about taking Viagra.

However, AIDS Healthcare Foundation attacked Pfizer for supposedly promoting Viagra for recreational use and contributing to an increase in STDs. They suggest that Pfizer is using the success of the Vegas campaign ("What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas") to promote Viagra.

Personally, I don’t think Pfizer is guilty of anything else but using the same old strategy to sell Viagra. When are they going to come up with something more original than showing men being happy again after reuniting with their erections?

An Ad Stopped Me In My Tracks.

And today, I literally STEPPED ON AN AD.

GEICO is also taking it to the streets of Austin by scattering flyers. While students at UT are chasing an IKEA living room they are running over ads, ads that I noticed, but does anyone else?

In an age of new media why are companies still using less innovative tactics? Hasn’t it been decided that flyers and direct mail are not effective, especially for companies as established as GEICO car insurance? Consumers remember the commercials, less can be more.

Just as there is an innate desire to belong there is also an innate desire to throw flyers on the ground. Should I even mention the environmental concerns? Probably not.

Will it continue in spite of smarter, emerging tactics or will we soon read about “Death of the Flyer?”