Promotions

Cap’n Crunch just launched its retro packaging, using original type and design, as well as old-skool collectible trading cards on the back. more

One of the great things about going on vacation is it gives me a chance to look at marketing from the eye of a relaxed consumer, and listen to what other consumers—namely my kids—think about campaigns they see.

During our week in Maine, our eyes were looking skyward when we saw a small plane pulling a banner advertising the $3.99 ham and eggs breakfast special at Rosa Linda’s in Saco, ME.

My seven-year-old son was curious about the ROI of this marketing effort. Or more specifically, he wanted to know (a) what it cost to have a plane fly your message over the beach every single day, (b) why this restaurant wanted people to know what their breakfasts cost, when we always seemed to be closer to lunchtime when the banner flew over, and (c) why did people eat ham for breakfast? more

Playwright A.R. Gurney inadvertently gave marketers an object lesson in the power of social media – not with one of his plays (“A Cheever Evening”; “The Dining Room”, the Pulitzer-nominated “Love Letters”, among others) but rather with a letter to the New York Times which ran earlier this week.

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Strange things keep happening at the Texas Rangers ballpark, where in July a fan fell from the upper deck trying to grab a foul ball, instead splattering five really unlucky spectators down below. (They’re all fine, by the way). This time, it was a pre-game promotion that went wrong. more

Here’s an article from the New York Times that is going to make consumers stop and think for a second. The ratings and review both e-commerce merchants and consumers rely on so much may be a fake.

According to the article, the Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday that California-based marketing and P.R. firm Reverb Communications had settled charges that it engaged in deceptive advertising by having its employees write and post positive reviews of clients’ games in the Apple iTunes Store, without disclosing that they were being paid to do so.

Here’s the complaint filed with the FTC.

And here’s what Tracie Snitker, the founder and VP-communications of Reverb Communications, had to tell the Times about the settlement:

Ms. Snitker declined to be interviewed, but in a statement she said that in discussions with the trade commission, “it became apparent that we would never agree on the facts of the situation.”

“Rather than continuing to spend time and money arguing, and laying off employees to fight what we believed was a frivolous matter, we settled this case and ended the discussion,” she said. Ms. Snitker said that the settlement did not involve any admission of lawbreaking.

Well, the facts seem straight-forward to me. The P.R. firm posted reviews about their clients’ video games without disclosing their relationship with the client.

Surely you’ve noticed the increase in state lotteries popping up, upping the ante with sports and entertainment tie-ins and bigger and bigger prize pools. Seems like another example of forward-thinking revenue generation, right? more