When I opened up my latest New York magazine I bumped into a few ads for the Inventing Anna Netflix series. They were all good. Nice headlines touting how much money she spent at a hotel or on dinner. Then to my surprise, I landed on the ad That gave me her credit card.
It’s not a cheap flimsy card. It’s made of the hard plastic just like the real thing. Even has a chip image, secret code and to top it off her SIGNATURE!!
I would compare it to getting the McLovin HAWAII drivers license, when it used to come on the real life DVD.
Marketing Genius. Immediately I put the card on my Facebook post, then made a fun story on IG using music from the movie (Google Me). And now I’m writing this blog post. So just from my end many extra impressions of FREE advertising. One of my followers even said they’d go watch the series after reading my post.
If you can’t read the fine print it says: This card is no longer the property of Anna Delvey. Use of this card by anyone other than the issuer is strongly encouraged.
Very well done magazine ad. I carry my card in my wallet. Will be fun to try and use it at the next dinner I go to. If you haven’t seen Inventing Anna yet, it’s a really fun show, over the top dramatics and awesome music that matches the show spot on!
The series is on Netflix. If you saw the show what did you think of it? What do you think of the marketing campaign with the free credit card? Let us know in the comments section
What the World looks like Today (Thursday May 14, 2020)
With all the blurred days blending into a very unfamiliar brain-zone, Feels like we are living in William Gibson’s newest book Agency. Where the space time continuum and the Tomorrow’s Today is Yesterday theme fits right in to my world right now. I cant quite time travel backwards or forwards like the book. But I can observe and think future forward.
The last post was already a month ago, which feels like a month ago or 8-10 days ago, once again the blurring of days into other days can throw me off a bit. At that time, the main themes were the rising of TikTok, Zoom and Opportunity.
From Observance, reading, talking to people and intuition. Lets see where May 14th 2020 takes us:
Tune Squad Jersey Front
Tune Squad Jersey Back
Nostalgia: People want to feel safe. By going back in time and visiting things they loved when the world was “Normal” helps them cope. Some examples: People watching movies from their teens and 20’s. The Buying and selling of Star Wars, 70’s and 80’s Sitcom and Pokemon merchandise is hot now. Tie-Dye has been IN and will continue as a big fashion trend, think of the freedom vibe in the 70’s, there was war, but there were also hippies and lots of Tie Dye which is a safe, fun vibe. And the TD masks that will be created will be stellar. Of course one of a kind, which is still a very HOT trend, not going anywhere.
And Michael Jordan’s the Last Dance brings back the 1990’s to a TON of the sports and entertainment starved population of the world. Stock X, who sells sneakers like stocks, had their site crash during one of TheLast Dance episodes. And Jordan sneaker prices continue to climb. Jordan’s Rookie card was selling for 7K about 5 years ago, Sold for 12K the week of May 4, 2020.
I didn’t even catch on that I was already doing the Nostalgia trend on Fridays I was watching a different Old school Basketball movie each week. The reason at the time, it was making me feel, well.. warm, comfortable and SAFE. I watched He Got Game, Above the Rim, even Rebound helped me cope. Nostalgia and things that we liked when we were young will continue to bring relief and a feeling of safety, a trend that isn’t going anywhere soon.
How can you take advantage of it? Use some key entertainers from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s in your advertising. Do some Trivia games on your social media that cater to any of these years. Bring Back the Drive-In movie or take it further and do a drive In RAVE or Drive up Virtual Concert. Churches can use a low frequency FM stations and broadcast the sermon to the cars in the parking lot. There is so much we can do Me, I’m gonna try and sell some Beanie Babies!
Aloha Shirts: Yet another revival of a revival. Wowza! This ties into the Nostalgia theme, yet goes a bit further. After the daily press conference in Hawaii, the game show: Who’s Line is it anyway? comes on my TV. So, I end up watching a bit of the 2019-2020 season and both Drew Carey and Ryan Stiles have been wearing Aloha shirts. They look slightly out of place since they are the corporate versions. I’d rather see them in some vintage looks. Adam Sandler has a new movie coming out soon The Wrong Missy, they are wearing the corporate, vintage and loud shirts in it. And watch for the 70’s Trucker Hat in the trailer/movie on Netflix. That might or might not take off.
BTW-Pro Tip: Tori Richard has been GIVING away free masks daily. If you go to their website. A pop up appears 1-2x a day. Sign up with your info and they send you 4 free masks. With a nice print on the outside and another pretty cool print on the inside. Plus you receive a $25 Coupon and free delivery on your next purchase. Not sure how long this will last, check their site out and see. There are also masks for sale, but look for the pop-up that appears mysteriously almost daily.
High Quality-Low Priced Clothing: There’s going to be more clothes available than people to buy and wear them. Look to Macy’s, TJ Maxx, Kohl’s, and Ross first. They will have inventory from Spring they should have sold 2 months ago. Even though, many have been selling on line, the things that have been delivered to the stores have been sitting for 2 months. There are gonna be some MASSIVE DEALS on high quality clothing. Look to Nordstorm, Saks and Bloomingdale’s next. However, a lot may just sit and turn into material for masks since unemployment is so high.
Pro Tip: I don’t know how true this is, saw it on Footlocker New Zealand. But they say they will be releasing some HEAT from a few weeks ago. That means you may be able to score some retro Jordan’s at COST! Just need to time your store visit correctly and wear a mask.
Click and Mortar: 70% of customers use the internet before making a purchase, researching, pricing, comparing or buying. There’s stores in New York that use their store as an advertising venue more than a place to buy things. The RealReal is a good example of this. Order on line pick up in store. Stores using wi-fi and Geo tracking to give you deals while in store or when you get home. The click and mortar is basically a blend of the on line and on site experience. This is supposed to be what’s happening now or near future. But because of all that’s happened, AMAZON just may be the only CLICKS store you need. I’m a shopper, thus I like to wander stores and browse, touch, feel, try things on. Yet, after all that’s happened, I doubt even I will be doing that in the near future. Could be in another 10, maybe even 5 years. There won’t be much more Mortar to go to. I am hoping that is not the case, Yet AMAZON has pretty much everything and It tends to be cheaper. One Company will rule the world. AMAZON or Alibaba or maybe some underdog from Russia. My main bet would be on AMAZON. They already own more than you think: IMBD, Twitch, Whole Foods Audible, Zappos, Shopbop and a few more!
Specialized One of a Kind Boutique’s may be best equipped to be Click and Mortar. And stay in business both on-line and in a physical store.
Physical Retail stores were having trouble before all of this (Barney’s-RIP) Now, who knows what may become of a traditional on-site store. At this very moment, I’m thinking a lot more CLICKS than mortars.
Look Good Inside: All of this Zooming and sitting around the house will help the accouterments, lighting and beauty brands. People want to look good in their zoom meeting. Look for special skin preparations, light specifically made for Zoom meetings and possibly home improvements. But you can easily change your room to a stylish apartment on the upper East Side by using your iPhone to screen shot a great apartment background. I don’t even bother with a made for Zoom Virtual Background. I just find pix in my camera or take a simple screen shot from the internet and interchange them dependent upon which meeting I am in. And I’d buy something to get rid of some wrinkles on screen or even a stand for my phone so my head doesn’t look so big. Hey, how bout a green screen, so that your real background doesn’t seep through the virtual background. I bet we see home style Green Screens for sale very, very soon.
Anyone ready for a DIY haircut done by a Robot. Perfect, Precision, Cut and Color to your liking in the comfort of your own home. But, you’ll miss out on some juicy gossip. Who knows maybe the 2nd gen version will come with gossip audio? Could happen! Actually will happen..who knows, maybe it already exists!
Ok, that should do it for May 14, 2020. I know I forgot something, but as you and I know, too much writing usually doesn’t get read. People want instant gratification and instant knowledge. Next blog, promise, we will do 5 easy to read headlines with 2 sentence in each.
I leave you with this video for today. It’s keeping with the stay positive vibe, but you may need to do a bit of home work. Hope it helps you navigate Tomorrow’s Today is Yesterday.
Swipe a slice of bread with your credit card and instantly donate $ to people in need. Swipe the ropes on wrists, immediately give to the disadvantaged. This interactive billboard is entitled the Social Swipe. It’s a dual screen electronic billboard that has a credit card reader in the middle. As your card runs through the slot, the video syncs and slices a piece of bread or cuts off the ropes on wrists.
The Social Swipe is produced by the relief organization-Misereor, with help from stripe.com, a mobile payment provider. Each swipe on the animated billboard delivers an instant 2Euro donation to those in need. It’s an extremely engaging interactive and fun way to donate.
When donators receive their CC statements, it gives the user the option to turn the one-time donation into a monthly one. Increasing the funds to further fight against poverty and injustice in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. These billboards are presently located in various International Airports.
Check out the video below and see how fun it can be to donate. Or if you see one of these around the world, give it a swipe for me and let us know if it’s as fun as it looks!
What else could we do with this or something similar?
Swipe your card to slice a piece of juicy steak. Increase sales for Omaha Steaks.
Cut through some carrots. Join the Fruit and Veggie gift box of the month club. Portions of the proceeds go to the Food Bank and you get the healthy foods each month.
Slice quick and fast on the coconut, add some sound as it cracks open. Gives you a case of Coconut milk and another case sent to those in need.
Push your card through the middle of the billboard, swipe it on the moving arrow with numbers on it. Whichever number you get. Take it to the Department store and get 10, 20 or even 50% off your next purchase.
Have all sorts of hamburgers, fries, shakes, etc floating around the screen. Swipe at the correct moment to receive a coupon good for your favorite fast food treat.
Chop up some noisy notes to purchase more credits on your Amazon or iTunes account, right before you jump on the plane.
Easy one: Change all those self serve Walmart swipers to something fun like this and more people would use them. And would enjoy the sometimes very confusing and frustrating self-check-out activity.
Have water in the background, float your card through the fish and coral to donate to local fishery’s and aquariums. Like fishing for funds.
Put some kiosks at the beach. Swipe your card, instantly donate to skin cancer centers and just as fast receive a sample size of SPF 60, when the transaction is complete.
Use it as fun ATM. Each day you slice through a fortune cookie. Everyday, the cookie cracks open and gives you a brand new fortune. The bank also earns a fortune from the many increased transactions.
The ideas and usages are endless. What would/could you do with this technology. Let me know in the comments section.
Today I’m going to be completely lazy and just copy and paste a blog posting from Alec Banks of HypeBeast.com – who got the information from Techcrunch. I’m doing it because we had so much fun tracking the newest iPhone, I dont want you to miss out on the early hype on the new iPad 3. I have lots of commercials to write tonight at my regular job But don’t want you to miss out on the early hype on the iPad 3! Hope we get some even better news about it over the next few weeks. Basically, it says that the new iPad will have awesome graphics! Here is the excerpt from Alec Banks of hypebeast.com:
Just as the Consumer Electronics Show was winding down in Las Vegas, Bloomberg has three people claiming they have intimate details about the Apple iPad 3. Among the “unconfirmed,” yet tangible rumors, is that it went into production this month with a launch coming in March. It will have a quad-core CPU (as opposed to the dual-core A5 found in iPad 2) as well as a “high-def” screen. The new display is capable of greater resolution than the current version, with more pixels on its screen than some high-definition televisions. The introduction of the new iPad will be Apple’s first major hardware release since the death of company co-founder Steve Jobs in October.
I’m over in NYC this week and whenever I come here I totally dig seeing the advertising and marketing that’s happening here in person. It’s so much more fun and interesting for me to see it in person, then through a blog or on a website. It also brings you a totally non-biased report on who’s doing the best and coolest stuff in town!
Here’s a sampling of What’s Hot Now in Advertising and Marketing in NYC! As witnessed live by advertisinginhawaii.com
1. Times Square Billboards: Oh, I can stand for hours and look at the billboards and snap pictures of them. Back in the Day-The real looking smoke rings that came from the Marlboro man was really good and so was the Chock Full O’ Nuts Coffee Billboard. Now-a-days T-Squre feels like it’s on mega steroids, with Hollywoodesque art happening everywhere. Some of the billboards basically show crisp, clean snippets of TV shows that are clearer than the TV I watch at my house! I saw a :60-:90 billboard snippet of some fun reality show where the ladies were partying and having a great time ala’ NYE, then they got in a cat fight. I’m not quite sure of the show, but it was really fun to watch on the Mega-Mega-Mega-Tron. And I really like the girl with the blue lips as seen at the top of this post, she really stands out from the clutter and clatter of the rest of the Billboards. I would say the color palette does if for them. And the boldness of the vision of the art director.
Bloomingdale's makes you an instant Celebrity!
2.Bloomingdale’s Window Display: OH the FUN that I had here! Basically I walked along from window to window, pressed the star button next to the window, it took a picture of me, then within seconds, my picture appeared above the window! It was so much fun, I did it at all 3 windows! I felt like a star right in the center of the universe (BTW: that’s what I call the area around Bloomingdale’s in NYC). And what I liked is your/my picture stayed on there for three slots, thus, it gave me lots of time to take a picture of it. Everyone down there was having a great time! So much fun, I busted out the Bloomie’s card and bought a couple of things. 15% discount on purchases with a Bloomingdale’s card all day long and lots of things were already 40-50% off. Here’s the picture of me in the window display at Bloomingdale’s-December 2011-Mid Town NYC.
Me in the Window Display at Bloomingdale's Mid-Town Dec NYC
3. In Cab Advertising: As you know, I totally love QR codes and lately I’ve been looking for the best practices on how to use them well. When I arrived in NYC, I got in the cab and a TV screen came on that told us about some Celebrity Gossip, sports scores, then a really cool ad came on to win Sunglasses. What I liked about the ad is the lady in the spot, told us at the beginning of the spot, “Get Ready to scan the QR code to win a pair of Sunglasses” this gave the rider plenty of time to locate their QR code on their phone and by the end of the :30 seconds you would be ready to scan it to win. I scanned it and it took me to their site and told and sold me on their sunglasses and they had a really easy to fill out form to win the prizes-especially wise when using a smart-phone. Congrats!
4.DESIGUAL Stores NYC: A Couple of years ago I noticed how fun and exciting this store seemed to be from the mix of dark lighting and bright colors inside the store. Now their marketing is proving their vibe to be true and in synch with their brand’s funness. In their store in Soho, These guys actually had a real red carpet outside on the side-walk, then as I walked in I was treated with bright balloons and thumping yet not overly banging house music and a free red bull! How fun is that! They made me feel special and gave me a bit of caffeine to wake up from my non sleep I usually get when I vacation over here in the big city. Note: the only thing that did NOT match up with the marketing was the people working there. They could care less about giving me a drink or a balloon or even asking me if I needed any help. So, You guessed it, I bought nothing. Two years ago I bought my first pair of what I would call expensive jeans ($220), at that time they were nice to me and the jeans were really nice and different, fun and exciting like their marketing. But mainly they were attentive and helped me with my needs. Little did they know, I was back to do some shopping, but nope, not if you’re not going to be friendly forget it! Double Note: at Union Square I saw a shirt I was for sure going to buy-I actually still want it. But I asked the lady at the counter a simple question of “do you have any more of these?” she snapped and shouted “NO” so once again, no sale. I do still want the shirt. But I just can’t buy from employees that suck! I forget her Kiosk name, but do hope she reads this blog sometime. Triple Note to lady: It was a Black and grey and blue plaid shirt with buttons with X’s on them. Back to DESIGUAL, here’s a picture of what they had going on this past weekend in Soho in NYC. Their marketing was good, just not their sales people or sales training.
Well, a few weeks ago I was thinking what would be a great way to make a QR code look cooler? Mobi has some that are colorful, Macy’s put a Star around theirs, But these guys at Blippar have taken the concept to a whole new level. I received this tip from springwise.com then went to Google-Ize the word blippar and I found us this awesome video.
The video has some slow portions, but I’d advise staying patient through it until you at least see the Omega watch portion. What happens here is he puts the phone on a print ad for Omega and within seconds the man in the video has placed 3 or 4 different Omega watches on to his own wrist! Not real watches, but virtual watches and they do look like they are on his wrist. Blippar is Pretty happening. Congrats on the cool concept to all the folks who work over at blippar. I can’t wait until you get Nike as a client and I can wear all the Jordans I could ever imagine! I wont have to buy another pair of shoes ever again. I’ll be able to virtually wear whatever I want-whenever I want. Too cool!
On Saturday I went to another Pacific New Media Class. The class was entitled: “How to Use Social Media to Build your Professional and Personal Brand” taught by “Neenz” Faleafine. Neenz was the social media director for Governor Abercrombie, now works at Oceanit, and is the chief evangelist for Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop Website.
I personally think many of you would enjoy taking her class in the Spring, thus I won’t tell you everything I learned, but I will tell you a few pretty cool things:
1. the Hottest, Newest social media site is called Chime.In. It’s where all the cutting edge Techies are going to last week and this week. And did you know that there are over 500 Social Media sites in existence!!! OMG! But Facebook still rules with over 800 Million people on it! So, for marketing purposes, if you only choose one SM avenue, I would still advise using and getting good at FB.
2. Check out contxts.com. At this site you can set up your own electronic SMS business card. First just go there. Then after you are set yours up, you just take a new friends phone, put 50500 in the “To:” section then in the text section write your name. Then within 6 seconds, an electronic business card pops on to their smartphone screen. in plain English”text your name to 50500″. I love it, it’s almost as fun as QR codes, but I’m still pretty attached to those!
3. Set up Google Alerts for your name at Google.com\alerts, purchase your own domain name with your real name, check knowem.com to see how many you can still get using your own name, tag all your photos, tag your content relevent to your brand and as we learned before…Create Content because as Dan Z said “Content is King” and @NEENZrecommends that when you create content make sure it conveys what you want your personal brand to be, spell correclty and be specific!
I just got home from work a little while ago, so I need to go now, time to relax a bit before the new day starts. If you need some free ideas for any type of promotion or marketing campaign you are working on, feel free to email me anytime at scott.mackenzie@coxradio.com or give me a call at 275-1106. Take care and have a Great Mega Halloween Weekend!
As you know, I love QR codes and have been having fun with them for a few months now. These guys in Germany are really having fun with them. check out the vid or visit their website to check out these brand new QR Cookies. Thanks to springwise.com for the tip!
The news is all over the place, about an hour or so ago it was announced that Apple’s next phone will just be an upgraded iPhone4 and will be called an iPhone4S. I bet they saw the same video we showed here on advertising in Hawaii that had the iPhone 5 with the removable floating keyboard Ala’ CSI computers and the videos you could watch in mid-air. After watching that, if the phone I was about to release didn’t do some cool things like that, I suspect I’d just release an up grade too. And get to work on the real iPhone 5 that will hopefully blow our minds.
Bummer thought, lots of expectations for today’s big announcement. But, if you don’t have a flip camera or don’t like to carry two things around with you, the new phone has a much better camera and video action. Here are some of the highlights of the upgrades:
8 Mega-Pixel camera-up from 5 Mega-Pixels
Takes pictures in 1.1 seconds. the Droid Bionic takes 3.7 seconds.
Better video quality in High Def at 1080p
and a couple other things that don’t much excite me since my iPhone 3GS stays on its charge for a long time and I don’t usually listen to music on it, still listen on my computer.
Here they are: 8 hours of talk time and 40 hours to listen to music
Well, what do you think? Maybe I’ll try to snag a cheap iPhone4, at least my camera will be better. But overall, not a fun day in the electronic smart phone world. Some guy on some blog said it probably best: “Dont give me a letter, I want an Integer” then I’m excited. Pretty sure he was on the Los Angeles Times blog, some pretty good comments on there!
Advertising In Hawaii 