Category Archives: Mobile Marketing

AT&T Asks Some Adorable Kids: “Who Gives You the Best Hugs?”

AT&T has hit a digital home run with the release of a Mother’s Day video that has a suit-clad gentleman asking kids in a classroom who gives the biggest hugs.  The unanimous answer, of course, is that mommies give the best ones.  After one girl says that her mom is a “really good snuggler”, another piping in that her mom “hugs her really tight” and an adorable little boy demonstrating his mother’s hugs with accompanying noise effects, the ad ends with “it’s not complicated, Happy Mother’s Day to the best mom ever.”

The video is part of a series of BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated” campaign for the phone company, according to an article on Ad Age.

You can personalize the card to your own mom at the link below and at the end of the video.  The clip will be up through Mother’s Day in case you want to add a digital component to your card giving this year or you just plain forgot to get out to the store in time to mail one.  You can send this digital card to mom through social media including Facebook or via email.

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

https://attmothersday.com/

The “Young Love is Sort of Perfect” Ad for Coca-Cola Is Indeed Perfect

Coca-Cola’s newest digital advertising effort has provided a perfect antidote to what oftentimes seems like a world of teens and children growing up way too fast.  The below YouTube video titled “Young Love is Sort of Perfect”  shows two clean cut teenagers falling in love while riding the attractions and spending the day at a Six Flags amusement park.  Cokes in hand, the two innocently spend time together with nary a kiss or peck given, but with romance definitely in the air. Examples of the boy accidentally brushing his hand against his date’s hand, the girl drawing a simple heart on the palm of the boy’s hand and her gently placing her head on the boy’s shoulder as the sun sets are all examples shown in the video of a sweet time that need not necessarily gone by.

This is all part of Coca-Cola’s attempts to run its first all-digital campaign targeting teens and mobile, according to an article in last week’s AdWeek.  While we love this ad, we won’t comment on the otherwise controversial topic of whether children and teens should be drinking sugared sodas in the first place.  Consumers will certainly speak to that issue.  But as to this particular piece of advertising, credit must be given where it is due.

Justin Bieber Promotes a Debit Card for Teens Through Social Media Push

It seemingly goes without saying that when Justin Bieber backs anything for kids or teens, it usually winds up being a huge hit.  That’s why SpendSmart Payment Company that offers a prepaid debit card for teens signed Bieber, 19, to represent its brand through a series of videos scheduled to hit Bieber’s YouTube channel, Facebook page and Twitter feeds.

Bieber earned $55 million in 2012 and will discuss financial planning and literacy in future SpendSmart videos called “Real Talk,” according to an article earlier this week in The New York Times.  This partnership with SpendSmart will yield Bieber $3.75 million for a 14-month contract, potential monthly royalties tied to the growth of active SpendSmart cards and stock options to buy up to two million shares of SpendSmart stock.

The SpendSmart formula is quite intelligent for wary parents.  The card has a MasterCard logo and parents are alerted via text message and a smartphone app as soon as a purchase is made.  Parents can preemptively block purchases from websites and lock down the card if they see any purchases they find objectionable, according to the Times piece.

Bieber urges teenaged fans and followers to have a financial talk with their folks.  He also reminisces about the days when his family did not have alot of money, and how he had to save to get the things he wanted and make a budget.

Most interestingly, SpendSmart chose to use Bieber and focus on a social media rather than traditional advertising strategy.  By linking it with Bieber’s extensive fan base of over two million YouTube followers, approximately 52 million Facebook “likes” and around 37 million Twitter followers, SpendSmart may have just made its most intelligent financial move yet.

How Cash May No Longer Be King at Fast Food Restaurants Across the Pond

Despite the proliferation of dollar offerings at various fast food restaurants, another trend that may be coming to a franchise near you is the advent of the mobile wallet technology.  Kentucky Fried Chicken in the United Kingdom is following the lead of McDonald’s and Starbucks and has launched a smartphone feature that allows users to order and buy food before arriving at the location. The smart technology will be unveiled at first in just 10 UK KFC locations.

The process works as follows: a customer earlier in the day orders and pays for their meal on their smartphone.  Once arriving at the location, the user checks in on their mobile device to let the establishment know they are “in house.”  The customer then goes to a dedicated “fast track” line to pick up their food without waiting in a general queue.

If the UK trial is successful, the plan is to expand the program across the U.K. and into the U.S.   The KFC “Fast Track” app is available for iPhone users and a web app is available for all connected devices.

Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks last year began replacing its payments systems in its 7,000 U.S. stores with mobile payment services called the Square Wallet.

http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/mobile-technology-making-fast-food-even/

Taco Bell Uses Fans and Social Media to Make a Rock Concert “Mockumentary” at SXSW

In one of the most interesting brands and social media concepts to come out of the South by Southwest (SXSW )conference in Austin, Taco Bell sponsored a conference by the band Passion Pit last night and streamed the event live to an audience nationwide, according to an article on FoodBeast.com.

The frenzied fan fun, however, did not stop there.  Passion Pit aficionados utilized ”a camera switching app on Feedthebeat.com that gave fans several roaming and stationary cameras to sift through, along with displaying a slew of Tweets, Twitpics, Instagrams and Vine videos from fans at the show hash-tagging #feedthebeat,” according to the piece.  The fan chosen images will then be coupled with live video footage of the concert and woven into what director Sam Jones calls an “experiential fan-made rockumentary.”  The rockumentary is slated for release in Summer 2013.

Taco Bell’s Feed the Beat program gives artists on the rise $500 in Taco Bell gift cards and opportunities to appear in advertising campaigns and brand sponsored events.

Yo quiero Taco Bell!

The Gucci Horsebit Loafer May Be Turning 60 Years Old, But Its Marketing Campaign is Fresh and Youthful

Gucci has launched a multimedia campaign involving email, web, social media and in-store marketing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Italian fashion house’s iconic horsebit loafer, according to an article on yesterday’s Luxury Daily.   The company is also unveiling a Facebook app that tells more about the collection, provides a link to a YouTube video (shown below) of various pairs of feet wearing the loafer in a panoply of colors while dancing to a 50s style rock and roll song, and a style quiz that asks the app user “what kind of loafer are you?”  In addition, a section of the app called “In Their Shoes” shows how prominent fashion bloggers wear the signature loafer.

Hardware was added to the Gucci loafer in 1953.  This multimedia strategy is being used to introduce the entire horsebit loafer collection to a younger audience.  The updated collection ranges in price from $495-$840 for women  and from $495-$1650 for the mens’ styles.

So while the original collection is firmly entrenched in its middle age and nearing elderly status, the social media strategy to promote the updated collection is decidedly fresh and youthful.  Congratulazioni Gucci!

El Plato Supremo: A Super Bowl Sunday Ad Featuring Rudd and Rogen for Samsung on YouTube

In what is an internet rife with Super Bowl Sunday XLVII ads “leaked” through social media sites, the best we’ve seen today is one featuring Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd for Samsung on Fast Company where the comedic duo is not allowed to even mention the words “Super Bowl Sunday,” “49ers” or “Ravens.”  This so-called Super Bowl teaser is a one-minute version of a two minute piece directed by Jon Favreau set for release this week during the fourth quarter of El Plato Supremo.  Check out the below clip and you’ll see what we mean.

We don’t doubt why Samsung would seek to get all of the pre and post Super Bowl buzz off its commercials it can get, whether it be through traditional or social media. A two minute ad set to run this Sunday during the big game can cost up to $15.2 million, according to an article on yesterday’s Mashable.

Samsung a Big Twitter Winner at 2013 CES

Korean electronics giant Samsung was the most talked about brand on Twitter during the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show show last week in Las Vegas, according to an article on Mashable.  Other brands that scored highly in terms of discussion on the social media site included Sony, Panasonic, Lenovo and LG.

In the product arena, 4K “Ultra HD” TVs, smartphones and tablets were tweeted about the most.  In the celebrity realm, LL Cool J, Snooki and Ludicris were tweeting heavily from the conference and Alicia Keys’ performance at the Monster Cable event generated alot of activity on Twitter.

Imagine Ordering Your Pizza With the Push of a Magnet?

A Middle Eastern branch of TBWARAAD advertising agency came up with an campaign for Dubai-based Red Tomato Pizza that allows one to order a pie with the touch of a finger, according to an article on Ad Age.com.  The VIP Fridge magnet was offered to the pizza chain’s most loyal fans with their typical, favorite orders preset to the device.  One simply pushes the button to activate an order.  If one wants to switch it up from a pepperoni to a quattro formaggi, you can switch your preferences through your smartphone, lap or desktop computer.

Red Tomato’s Dubai location website states that due to “overwhelming demand” for the refrigerator magnet across the UAE, loyal customers will have to wait six to eight weeks for the device as they are currently out of stock.  It will only be offered up to those within the location’s delivery area.

And in case you were wondering, VIP stands for Very Important Pizza in this instance.

A Chain of Reno Area Diners Winning Big At Social Media

When you think of a restaurant using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or the like (the real like, not the Facebook “like”), one thinks of a fast food chain brand such as McDonald’s or even a fast casual restaurant like Panera Bread using such digital platforms.  That’s why we were surprised to learn from an article in The New York Times that the Squeeze In diner with four locations around the greater Reno, Nev. area has a staff of three generating social media outreach and traffic, a website and a dedicated mobile app that even has special app-only deals that can be shown to restaurant waitstaff for discounts.

Other notable social media strategies that the Squeeze Inn management has employed are fastidious use of Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.  The diner chain has 6,800 “likes” on Facebook and its clever YouTube videos posted by employees have been viewed over 42,000 times.  Waitstaff have been instructed to take group pictures when a smartphone is seen on a table as a means to facilitate Instagram and Facebook photos that the management hopes will be posted directly by guests and then linked to by Squeeze In in its Flickr photo stream.  Even a producer from the Food Network’s Throwdown With Bobby Flay reached out and booked Squeeze In on a episode based on its social media presence.

Of course, the social media success would be of little consequence if the food wasn’t good, said Misty Young, 50, the company president.  But with a YouTube parody video like Omma Lette shown below, we could see many a customer wanting to Squeeze In to get some breakfast or lunch at this creative little diner.

 http://www.squeezein.com/