Hasta La Creative!

One of major benefits of working in the ad industry is witnessing creative campaigns and innovative ideas come to fruition. Once the hard work has been completed and the hours tallied up, there’s not much to do but wait and see if the strategy pays off. When it does, the best reward is knowing that the strategy was solid, the tactics were on-target, and the execution was flawless.

In pursuit of this excellence, more posts will be dedicated to the agencies and clients that aren’t talking, but listening. Companies that realize “yesterdays” are the past, and longingly look toward tomorrow, in search of the next coup.

Enter Rachel Nasvik, a New York City designer famous for chic, custom-made handbags. In early June, 2009, Ms. Nasvik began placing 96 of her designer bags around New York City, while simultaneously kicking off a social media campaign to deliver helpful clues regarding each bag’s location. Call it a giant scavenger hunt. The clues are dispersed regularly via her Twitter page, along with follow-up content on her blog, Where The Night Takes You. The hand-printed, “Alice Bond” bags have shown up in coffee shops, the White Horse Tavern, Marlow & Sons, Prime Meats, and other hotspots in the city, along with a simple note: “please take me, I’m yours!” to those lucky enough to uncover their “secret” locations.

One simple, but brilliant idea, flawlessly executed, and thus far, effective. Combining the consumer’s desire for “free” with Twitter-to-Win clues, the campaign has generated buzz and a serious Twitter following, generating nearly a thousand faithful followers in eight days. The story has been picked up by Creativity, numerous blogs, and is receiving its fair share of Word-of-Mouth.

Just as the shoes do not make the man, the bag doesn’t make the woman. It’s her marketing strategy.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. If you would like to get in touch with Jeff, please leave a reply or follow the links: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.