Hasta La Creative!

Folkoperan, an opera house in Stockholm, is currently presenting God Disguised (Förklädd gud), a lyrical suite composed in 1940 by Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson to lyrics by Hjalmar Gullberg. The production features EU citizens who helped promote the show by holding signs about their performance and offering free tickets to passers-by. This is what happened: […]

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How many great songs have been composed about food? In Louisiana and Texas, every other song is about food. I’m not complaining—I eat it up. While food is a universal theme, it’s not easy for a brand to come up with the kind of tune that hooks listeners. Chili’s managed to do it two decades […]

The post Are You Ready To Sing for Your Ribs? appeared first on AdPulp.

RPA and Honda have conjured up some terrific animated videos to help promote three worthy causes this holiday season. The videos feature favorite nostalgic toys such as Gumby and Pokey and Skeletor and He-Man singing their renditions of familiar or newly created holiday tunes. Each video has a charity associated with it. The video that […]

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Once upon a time, I lived in Chicago and I spent some time freelancing for Frankel. Bud Frankel was a pioneer in sales promotion, and I thought it was pretty cool to see him walking the halls as Chairman of the firm he founded, led and eventually sold. The sales price in 2000 was estimated […]

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One may need to employ mutant superpowers to take down the two X-Tra servings of bacon on the new Western X-Tra Bacon Cheeseburger and X-Tra Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit from Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.

The brands’ promotional tie-in with 20th Century Fox’s release of X-Men: Days of Future Past kicked off today with the premiere of “Mystique”.

Additional spots from creative agency 72andSunny starring two more X-Men characters will be revealed in April.

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are also inviting fans to unleash their inner mutants and participate in the “X-Men Digital Makeover”. By submitting a photo while eating or drinking a Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s product on Instagram using the hashtag #EatLikeYouMeanIt, fans get the chance to receive a photo mutant makeover.

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With smartphones and the Internet, technology has taken off, and people now use it to run their daily lives. Of course, more importantly, people in business have harnessed smartphone apps to run day-to-day operations and get ahead against the competition. With this in mind, here are seven mobile apps every advertising agency should pitch to its clients.

DoubleDutch: The best mobile event app in the marketplace right now. With it you can organize an event and make things easier on attendees and hosts. Whether hosting a small and formal corporate convention, large or small, a business can make the most of it by using DoubleDutch. In reality, old and antiquated ways are going out the door, and a new entrepreneur must understand that by using the right apps such as DoubleDutch. Remember, as a marketing agency, it is important to talk this one up as it will help an individual achieve greatness.

Google Analytics: A small or large business must track website visitors. Otherwise, it is impossible to know which advertising campaigns work and which fail the organization. To get started, one would simply need to download and install this application and then enter their user information. Luckily, this is a free and powerful app that will allow a person to read, in detail, the traffic of his or her site.

CardMunch: For the busy salesperson, it is important to have an app which enables them to save business card information. Gone are the days of stuffing them in pockets and taking them home to a large Rolodex. Now, people will want to use and access this information quickly and without any issue. Luckily, with CardMunch, a person can take a quick picture of a business card and even add the individual on their LinkedIn profile with one click. This is, without a doubt, the best app to save and retain business card information.

Dropbox: Most people already have this program and use it religiously. Simply put, when trying to save files and edit them across the world, a person should use Dropbox. One can use this on their laptop, home computer, tablet or smartphone. Since it is so easy to manage on multiple platforms, a user will have no trouble with this app wherever he or she is.

Evernote: Again, it is pertinent to remain organized while turning a marketing campaign. With Evernote, one can do this without hesitation. To get started, a user would need to download the app, sign up for an account and then start entering information.

TripIT: Often, a traveling salesperson will need to make quick changes to his or her flight or hotel booking. With TripIT, one can access this information easily and without any problems. With this, one can see their reservations and make small changes as needed.

Cisco WebEx: When looking for a comprehensive video chat solution, one should look to Cisco WebEx. With this, people from all over the world can hop on their devices and hold a Web conference. This is a cheap and efficient way for people across the world to work on a project together. Simply put, when looking for the best chat solution, one should download this great app.

With these seven apps, a marketing person can help his or her customers run the best organization and increase productivity.

This is a guest post.

The post Seven Mobile Apps Every Advertising Agency Should Pitch To Their Clients appeared first on AdPulp.

Heads up SFO. A small city of people are flying in for Dreamforce, the annual user conference put on by Salesforce.com in San Francisco this week.

According to reports, some of the Dreamforce badge wearers will be seeking information on how to incorporate social media marketing and social selling into their practice. Others may be looking for a good party to attend. I hear Green Day is performing at a VIP function. How punk rock is that?

According to USA TODAY’s preview piece on the conference, L’Oreal began using new marketing and analysis tools Salesforce rolled out this year.

The software helps automate the process of discovering the interests of existing customers, then deciding which promotions to send to their social media accounts, via text or video ads.

L’Oreal brand managers used it to sign up thousands of hair salon owners in the U.S., who in turn used it to create thousands of Facebook pages that were peppered with social media ads for shampoos and conditioners.

I am a huge fan of discovering the interests of existing customers. That’s the fuel on which marketing runs. But I will admit to getting hung up a bit with the idea that software will effectively automate the process. I’m not saying software does not work in this capacity, or that this particular software as a service is not needed. Rather, I want to question which sales and marketing processes can and should be automated, and which work best when done manually.

I know this much, an email does not equal a phone call and a phone call does not equal a face-to-face meeting. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter, and possibly include said thoughts in an upcoming feature article.

The post Social Gets Some Big Time Face Time @Dreamforce 2013 appeared first on AdPulp.

An American icon is vanishing. Thankfully, a Japanese car company with the help of RPA in Santa Monica, is doing something about it.

Starting at 10 a.m. Pacific time today, Honda will use its Twitter page to conduct an auction hosted by celebrity film critic Leonard Maltin. Proceeds from the auction will benefit Project Drive-In, Honda’s community service campaign to help a handful of drive-in movie theaters make the expensive transition to digital projection.

To participate in today’s auction, bidders can Tweet the title of the item, the bid price and apply the hash tag #DriveInAuction. The highest bid at the close of the auction wins. The auction concludes at 2 p.m. PT.

Alicia Jones, Manager of Honda & Acura Social Marketing says the use of Vine and Twitter to showcase the auction items makes sense because, “We want to leverage a medium where people are already talking about #SaveTheDriveIn.”

Here’s the problem: digital projectors can cost $85,000 plus installation, which most of the remaining 368 American drive-ins cannot afford. Sadly, failure to convert to digital will cause most of these drive-ins to cease operations. Which, as American car drivers and movie lovers we know to be wrong.

To contribute to this cause, visit the campaign’s IndieGoGo page. So far, $35,000 has been raised via this channel, which is $65,000 short of the goal.

Previously on AdPulp: Honda Makes Itself Useful, Launches Perfect Public Service-Like Campaign

The post Whatever Car You Drive, Get Behind Honda’s Effort To Save Drive-In Movie Theaters appeared first on AdPulp.

Companies rarely go the extra mile to include small items as a bonus gift with their orders because they see it as an additional expense that takes away from the profit margin but, on the contrary, it can be just as effective spending money on these items as it would if you were to diverge that money toward promotion and marketing.

There is always extra room in the box to include a few fun items that will reinforce your brand (besides the product); the following are six different attention grabbing items that will add an extra layer of branding for each product you ship.

1. Stickers

A beautifully designed, unique sticker can become a great addition to the shipping because it gives the recipient a fun little way to show their love for your brand on any surface they decide to have it placed.

Just take a look at Apple and their inclusion of stickers; you can find them all over the place including cars and even on Windows PC’s, ironically.

Stickers are inexpensive to order which makes them a nice addition, for your business, to throw in with the box.

2. Pens

Customized pens are another branding option that can really make an impact for your business.

Just think about the fact that anyone in an office, school environment, or around the home will need a writing utensil at one point of the day; now imagine that every time they reached for the pen it had your brand name on it.

Pens would go perfect if you include documentation with your products especially when customers need to take notes during usage, for example. Look around your desk and see how many branded pens you possess – now imagine it was the desk of your customers.

3. Lanyards

What do you have in your pockets?

Keys, of course.

Lanyards help to prevent losing keys because it’s difficult to miss a foot long attachment; they also work really well for those constantly using their keys which allows them to keep them around their neck so they never forget.

Other uses for lanyards could be holding USB sticks, badges, or holding tools.

Add in some value for your customers by including a branded lanyard with your higher-end orders and you’ll get customers having your name around their neck throughout the work day – that should keep your business on their mind, that’s for sure!

4. Mouse Pads

Computers are everywhere and despite a growing market for tablets and smartphones the desktop computer will remain a staple in businesses and at home; with it, as you can already guess, is an opportunity to keep your brand front-and-center … mouse pads.

Companies dealing in technology can leverage their choice in industry to promote their brand by including customized mouse pads with orders. There is a likely chance that an individual will switch out an old, used pad for the one you’ve included which provides a constant reminder whenever they sit down for work or entertainment.

Include the logo, byline, and URL on the pad and you won’t need to worry if they forget your business next time they’re in the market for what you have to offer because you’re leveraging persistent branding.

5. Coffee Mugs

Caffeine and work are symbiotic for much of the work force and the go-to piece of equipment is the coffee mug (unless someone swiped it for the day in which there will be plenty of yelling around the office).

Including coffee mugs may come at a higher price but what better way to keep your brand around a business than having it sit right next to where people work?

Even if the customer has no need for the mug it will eventually make its way to an individual elsewhere in the office or around the house else if it reaches a thrift store you still benefit from it having a use some time or another.

6. Flash Drives

Everyone loves additional storage for their files and media especially if they can take it with them which is why a branded USB drive would fit right in with just about any business.

You could even go the extra mile and load the USB drive with product documentation, a thank you letter, pictures from the office of all those involved, or even a coupon for the next purchase.

You could even use it for guerilla marketing strategies, too, by dropping them off in popular locations and wait for them to be found, plugged in, and begin sharing your marketing message.

USB drives are getting cheaper and cheaper. Throw on your logo and URL and your brand will find its way all over the place.

This is a guest post

The post 6 Alternative Ways to Put Your Brand in the Hands of Customers appeared first on AdPulp.

Once upon a time sales promotions were made from cardboard. They were flat, two-dimensional and lacked engagement. In short, promotions were boring. Thankfully, the promotions industry has outgrown its awkward years.

Thanks to an influx of technology and the social interaction that it facilitates, sales promotions are now smart, connected, participatory events with multi-media campaign support. For example, Frito-Lay recently crowd-sourced new product development via a consumer-generated content promotion called “Do Us A Flavor.”

Note how the old meets the new in this promotion. A “submit your favorite recipe” contest with a one million dollars prize is old as the hills. The pun headline too. What’s new is the amplification through social media, the social voting mechanism and the “15 seconds of fame” granted to, or forced upon, the winner.

One of the primary obstacles in promotional marketing is people tend to believe they will not win. I think a focus on the winner helps break down objections a bit. Knowing that the winner of Lay’s recent contest is a librarian from Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin, helps others see themselves in her $1 million richer-shoes.

If only they had thought of “Cheesy Garlic Bread flavored potato chips” first!

Previously on AdPulp: Promotions Continue To Mutate Into Consumer Generated Social Motions | Location-Based Promo Makes Perfect Sense For Big City Daily

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