America’s favorite fast food chain is taking its image into its own hands, launching an in-store TV channel poised to air movie and music previews, human interest stories and local content like high school sports updates.
Allen Adamson, a managing partner of brand-building firm Landor Associates, says: “While they’re in line getting their hamburger, there’s no escape. The podiums where companies can tell their stories have eroded … after the Super Bowl the list gets very short very fast.”
The channels have already been tested in San Diego, L.A. and Las Vegas, and are scheduled to debut in 800 restaurants in Central and Southern California within the next few months. If successful, the project may expand nationwide.
The dining areas will have two 42- to 46-inch screens that will be visible in 70% of the dining area. Customers who choose not to be exposed to the programming will be able to sit in “quiet zones” in the stores.
The programming will be scheduled in one-hour cycles consisting of 20- to 22-minute installments, or “pods.” Each pod will have several varying segments, including:
“The McDonald’s Achievers” profiling local high school and college athletes
“Mighty Moms,” a focus on local moms juggling home life with careers in sports such as training or coaching
“McDonald’s Channel Music News” covering new musical releases, acts and tours
“Vimby,” the brainchild of reality TV mogul Mark Burnett (“The Apprentice,” “Survivor”) which will cover music, art, fashion, night life, culture and lifestyle news
Of the 8 minutes of commercials that will play every hour, only 90 seconds will feature McDonald’s advertising.
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Co-founder and CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, passed away at age 56 on Wednesday due to complications of pancreatic cancer.
Tributes flowed immediately on Wednesday from technology leaders, legions of Apple fans and even President Obama. Manny Vidal, chief executive of the Vidal Partnership, praised Mr. Jobs as a “seducer,” saying: “Apple constantly surprised us with something we didn’t think we needed. Now, you can’t live without it.”
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, said, “For those of us lucky enough to get to work with Steve, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”
Although Jobs was neither a hardware engineer nor a software programmer, he considered himself a “technology leader,” finding the best and most talented in the field and encouraging and inspiring them to create. And, of course, Jobs made the final call on product design and outcome.
During Jobs’ time away from Apple, he purchased a computer graphics spinoff from George Lucas and built the visionary team that came to be known as Pixar Animation Studios. Edwin Catmull, a co-founder of Pixar said, “You need a lot more than vision — you need a stubbornness, tenacity, belief and patience to stay the course. In Steve’s case, he pushes right to the edge, to try to make the next big step forward.”
Steve Jobs will continue to be commemorated for his genius and true success: the ability to blend product design and business market innovation by integrating consumer-oriented software, microelectronic components, industrial design and new business strategies in a way that has not been matched.
Watch his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address for deeper insights into the life and accomplishments of Steve Jobs:
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Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
This week, the United States Postal Service will launch a new a campaign promoting the benefits of snail mail. The first commercial, “Hacked,” notes that snail mail isn’t subject to the viruses and insecurity that e-mail suffers. The second commercial, “Face to Face,” emphasizes the value of hand-delivered mail.
Losing a record $10 billion this fiscal year due to declining mail volume and increasing labor costs, USPS aims to slow down the migration from paper mail to digital mail. Joyce Carrier, manager of advertising and media planning, said that every 1 percent decline in volume equals $300 million in lost revenue.
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Doritos has announced a new competition for the 2012 Super Bowl: if a consumer can make a Doritos commercial that rates higher than one made by Saturday Night Live’s production team, he or she will win $1 million and a job.
Along with a hefty $1 million prize, the winner of the consumer-created spot will also win a guaranteed position to create a future commercial with “The Lonely Island,” the SNL team famous for its viral digital shorts including “I’m on a Boat,” “Like a Boss,” and “Lazy Sunday.” If SNL’s crew wins, it will donate the $1 million prize to a charity of its choice.
The contest will be judged by USA TODAY’s Ad Meter, which tests consumer ratings of Super Bowl ads in real-time.
With this contest, Doritos aims to attract younger snackers while keeping the older ones, as well as find a way to truly stand out among the ranks of advertisers who are paying a record-breaking $3.5 million for each 30-second spot for the February 5 broadcast on NBC.
Take a look at 2011′s winning consumer-created Super Bowl commercial:
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
The new “Let Us Stay With You” campaign for Ritz-Carlton will spend half of its $10 million budget on Web advertising, including social media strategies.
Vice president of marketing Clayton Ruebensaal says: “Digital is a really important place where consumers are exploring their travel options. So being part of that conversation is really important to us… People are daydreaming from their desks. That’s what we’re trying to take advantage of.”
As Ritz-Carlton’s first major advertising campaign in more than two years, “Let Us Stay With You” is aimed to remind consumers of the differences between Ritz-Carlton and its main competitors: Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental and Peninsula. Ruebensaal noted that during the recession, these four names began to blur and lose the brand recognition that had once been so clear.
Expect to see the campaign integrated into Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and a mobile web app, as well as print and digital ads.
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Continuing its theme of children’s games as bases for TV commercials, Volkswagen will use 1965′s “The Clapping Song” by Shirley Ellis in its 2012 Beetle commercials.
Like the 2010 Beetle spot featuring the “punch buggy” game, the new 2012 commercials will also be “hands-on,” showing a man in a black Beetle being greeted by high-fives, claps, fist bumps, pats and other friendly hand gestures from passersby (and even a dog!).
The ads all follow a theme of connectedness, and later this month, VW plans a “social connectivity” stunt that will involve the Times Square CNN screen, uploaded photos and people’s Facebook page walls.
While the commercials are scheduled to air this Monday, you can already find it online:
ABOUT POWERHOUSE USA
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
This fall, Diet Coke will begin brandishing a limited edition can design that super-magnifies the section of the original logo where the “D” in Diet sits on top of the “k” in Coke.
The design is the work of San Francisco-based design firm Turner Duckworth, and is part of Coke’s partnership with StyleCaster.com, a beauty and fashion-trend Web magazine.
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Check out this new Australian spot for IKEA, where consumers are waging war Braveheart-style against boring home furnishings. This spot was produced by Sydney-based agency The Monkeys from IKEA’s “Have a Gö” campaign.
ABOUT POWERHOUSE USA
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
After a 23-year hiatus, the infamous Domino’s Noid is coming back for a week on the corporate Facebook page, where he will be featured in an arcade-style game. Domino’s will award a free pizza coupon every minute to the highest-scoring gamer.
The Noid was created in 1986 by Ann Arbor advertising agency Mich, and since then has been featured in multiple advertisements, a Nintendo game, a Michael Jackson video and even an appearance on popular animated TV shows ”The Simpsons” and “Family Guy.”
He was retired in 1988 after gaining wide recognition, but can be found on the Facebook page for a short while.
For those unfamiliar, here’s a glimpse of the Noid:
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
London-based music streaming service, Spotify, has finally launched in the U.S. this month after a year of licensing delays and difficulties.
Coca-Cola has positioned itself as Spotify’s exclusive non-alcoholic beverage partner, and has offered early access invite codes to new users through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Linda Cronin, Coca-Cola’s integrated communications director for North America, commented on hopes that Spotify’s social media integration and mobile apps will let it “engage teens and young adults through one of their top passions.”
The partnership plans to evolve more in the future, but for now is seem through audio and display ads on Spotify that can target users based on their listening habits as well as other demographic information.
ABOUT POWERHOUSE USA
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
We’ve all seen the infamous Corona beach ads and owned our own Budweiser beach towel, but did you know that this marketing strategy dates back nearly half a century? Schmidt’s Beer of Philadelphia released the first ever beach beer ad in 1963. And they knew exactly what they were doing! After all, beer ads tout a good time with friends, and where better to have such a great time than the beach?
Take a look below at the magazine ad released in 1963. Cheers to great advertising!
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Burger King announced that advertising strategies will now focus more on the food, giving the iconic “King” the boot for the time being.
The company has decided to switch advertising agencies from Miami’s Crispin Porter + Bogusky to New York’s McGarryBowen, the same agency that launched Verizon’s Droid and initiated Disney’s birthday promotion to bring business during a decline in tourism.
“The King is not our brand,” said Burger King North America President Steve Wiborg. “He reasonates with a certain age deomographic and in certain media. I don’t think he has general mass market appeal.”
As for the future direction of Burger King advertisement, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Research firm eMarketer predicts that online ad spending in 2011 will increase 20% to roughly $31 billion. These numbers haven’t been seen since around 2007, when advertisers began cutting budgets for the onset of the recession.
While television still touts 38% of total ad spend, Internet spending continues to steadily creep up every year, taking total market share from TV as well as other media like newspapers and magazines.
Display ads like Google AdWords that appear around Webpage borders are receiving a new-found burst of attention, and are expected to reach $12.3 billion in 2011. This would mark an astounding 25% increase from last year.
Online video advertising, like the commercials played before YouTube videos, is the fastest-growing online advertising segment, expected to increase 52% to $2.16 billion.
Take a look at eMarketer’s graph to get a better idea of online ad spending and how it’s changed over the years.
Either way you cut this cake, Internet advertising is taking root fast and it’s definitely here to stay! Read the full article on Wall Street Journal.
ABOUT POWERHOUSE USA
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Kraft recently announced that Tang is now its 12th billion-dollar brand, alongside other powerhouse brands like Cadbury, Oscar Meyer, Maxwell House, Nabisco, Trident and more.
You may be thinking the same thing I did: “Tang? I haven’t heard that word in years.” And it’s true, since Kraft’s last American marketing endeavor was a measly $130k in 2008. But while its popularity has staved off in the United States, Tang can thank its billion-dollar status to aggressive marketing in countries like Mexico, the Philippines and South American countries like Brazil and Argentina. Global campaigns like these have caused sales to double since 2006!
One of its best marketing strategies: catering its flavors to the tastes of local markets. Mango found success in the Philippines, pineapple in the Middle East, horchata in Mexico and soursop in Brazil. These customized varieties account for 25% of sales in Tang’s developing markets.
But no matter how Tang is marketed in other parts of the world, it will always be my “kick in a glass!”
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Take a look at this video from Tesco. After evaluating its market in South Korea, Tesco found a brilliant way to become the most popular online retailer without building more stores.
How did Tesco do it? It brought the store to the people, turning subway stations into virtual stores! Images identical to the physical store isles are posted all over the subway walls, and busy customers use their smart phones to scan QR codes on specific items while they wait for their trains. The items are then shipped directly to their homes after the online transaction.
Tesco saw a challenge, analyzed its environment, and delivered a revolutionary solution that fit perfectly into the lives of its target market. This campaign alone increased online sales 130%.
This is “creative business solutions” at its finest!
ABOUT POWERHOUSE USA
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Coca-Cola and the World Wildlife Fund have teamed together to create the first-ever billboard made of plants that absorb air pollution. The 60-by-60-foot billboard in the Philippines is covered in Fukien tea plants, each of which can absorb up to 13 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
So let’s do the math… if the billboard contains 3,600 pots (made from old Coke bottles, mind you), and each pot can absorb 13 pounds of pollution, this billboard can absorb 46,800 pounds of pollution per year!
The placement of the Fukien plants will cause them to grow sideways, and a drip irrigation system will save fertilizer and water through a network of tubing, valves, pipes and emitters.
Take a look:
ABOUT POWERHOUSE USA
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
Facebook has partnered with Skype to bring live video calling to its 750 million users.
With just one click, a user can connect with another without logging into a separate platform or downloading new software. It’s so simple to use, in fact, that Facebook engineer Philip Su boasts: “If it were any easier than this one click, it would be reading your mind.”
Based on Facebook’s illustration of the upcoming new feature, I must agree with Mr. Su:
The partnership began in October 2010 with Skype adding voice calling between Facebook friends. While the two companies have thus far only added free services, Skype CEO Tony Bates has discussed launching paid services such as the ability to call any phone while on Facebook.
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
In celebration of its 15th season, the makers of Comedy Central’s South Park have developed an extensive campaign titled Year of the Fan. During this experiential marketing campaign, South Park producers have teamed up with the Frito-Lay division of Pepsi-Co to bring to life the show’s fondest fictional snack, Cheesy Poofs.
One-and-a-half million single serving bags of Cheesy Poofs will be sold in Walmart retailers for $2.99 beginning in August 2011.
For those of you unfamiliar with the show’s cheesy and poofy snack, here’s a comparison of the animated package from the show and the one that will be hitting stores next month:
South Park will also be celebrating at Comic-Con International this year in San Diego from July 21 to 24, where you’ll find a 15,000 square foot exhibition recreating a couple of well-known “sets” from the show. The exhibition will also feature memorabilia, artwork, trivia contests, photo and tattoo booths, and a station to transform yourself into a South Park avatar and upload it to social media sites like Facebook.
Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency dedicated to helping your business flourish in today’s competitive environment. Located in Orlando, Florida, the Powerhouse USA team specializes in all forms of advertising and marketing, including traditional advertising media (television, radio and print) and online marketing (social media, website development, reputation management, Google AdWords and other search engine marketing and optimization efforts). As a fee-based company, Powerhouse utilizes its various resources and contacts to provide businesses with extraordinary service and effective results.
