Taking brands to great places
Whether it’s a CMO devising ways to drive sales volume, an agency creative-type conceptualizing the next new platform, or a grad student cranking out a fictional holistic plan, marketers are continually looking to take their brands to innovative places. A cursory observation of the latest marketplace action illustrates just about a little of everything.
A no-brainer winner this summer was the Simpsons/7-Eleven deal while the EA SPORTS/Diet Pepsi “Call Your Play” program for Madden is one of the stronger brand partnerships in the video game world. A clever tie-in with Balls of Fury created a custom Nintendo Wii game while just about anything associated with Hot Import Nights feels authentic as the property has successfully leveraged a niche lifestyle surrounding the car scene.
Even something as simple as a smart media buy through contextually-relevant advertising has impressed me as HP, tripadvisor & Continental Airlines among others have infiltrated the LinkedIn community before the entire world catches on.
And I have to give a plug to one of the better reinventions of an exhausted paradigm. AT&T has turned the old-fashioned radio station “win your own concert” contest into a seamless demo of their technology through an interactive Dave Matthews Band promotion.
That’s just scratching the surface of what’s out there now and what the future will bring. While it is always a challenge to take brands to new places, it will always be the best way to guarantee the right consumer connection – something all of the above concepts are realizing.
Feel free to share other examples you’ve seen and I’ll keep sharing mine.
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