Blog Post 4

Time and place is everything and even more important in the advertising industry is innovative ideas at the right time in the right place. Duracell, of Procter & Gamble, did just this in the wake of tragedy from Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. Duracell provided charging battery stations in Lower Manhattan via charging trucks, to aid people who lost electricity at home and needed a place to juice up their electronics. (Neff, 2012) This act not only was great advertising and publicity, but also an act of service to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

(Neff, 2012)
http://adage.com/article/news/duracell-brings-charging-stations-battery-park/238078/

This act of service is a follow up of strong advertising the company did in areas that were predicted to be hit by Hurricane Sandy, so people could stock up on Duracell products. If people came did not stock up on Duracell products before the storm, people in need could come to the station and grab batteries to take home to put in flashlights and other such items.

Duracell also has brought publicity to its new product that was launched earlier this year called “Duracell Powermats” which charge devices wirelessly. At the moment, the product has only been used in Starbucks locations. During the disaster of Hurricane Sandy, people are flocking outside of Starbucks in Boston and New York to recharge their devices via the Powermats. (Strange, 2012) Below is the ad campaign for the Powermat featuring Jay-Z. 

Mr. Sakdinan, a spokesman for Duracell, said from a marketing perspective, “That this is what the brand is about—empowering people through devices; connecting their families.” (Neff, 2012) The brand has positioned itself to be more than a product and show how love and concern for loved ones has a connection with the brand. Through the disaster of Hurricane Sandy, Procter & Gamble and Duracell have taken advantage greatly of not only promoting their new Powermats, but also creating awareness of the brand through helping people during a time of need. 

References: 

Duracell Powermat (2012, July 25). The NEW Duracell Powermat Featuring Jay-Z [Video file].

          Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80OkY3HFrMM

Neff, Jack. (2012, October 31). Duracell Brings Charging Stations to Battery Park after Hurricane 

         Sandy. Ad Age. Retrieved from: http://adage.com/article/news/duracell-brings-charging-
         stations battery-park/238078/

Strange, Adario. (2012, October 31) Duracell and Starbucks test wireless charging stations in
         Boston. DVice. Retrieved from: http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/duracell-and-st.php

Blog Post 3

In class, we have been discussing advertising in video gaming as well as getting the consumer as engaged with the advertisement as possible. In a video game, the consumer is transformed into the player, so when exposed to an advertisement, he or she is engaging with the ad via the game. In a video I found on YouTube, the hassle of finding a parking spot comes to life with a popular classic arcade game, pinball. Through Ogilvy Paris, Ford advertised in the city by creating a pinball game out of parking a car into a parking space. Ogilvy attached a pinball score board above an available parking spot with the two cars as the bumpers, which light up and replicate a pinball machine, noises and all!

After many attempts by people to fit into the spot, one man is rewarded with his "new record" as worst driver and wins a brand new Ford Focus. The Ford Focus has special features of active park assist technology, therefore the interactive advertisement is perfect for those people who struggle with parallel parking every day. (Nudd, 2012)

Not only does the game exemplify the park assist technology features of the Ford Focus perfectly as an advertisement, the ad also makes parking fun. Any engaging advertisement that is fun for viewers to participate in are for the most part very successful.

While this advertisement is a rare kind of interactive advertising, I believe that this is the way advertising will move into the future. Agencies will be striving for this on every single product that is applicable to this kind of advertising. People remember the experience they have while playing a virtual pinball game and it will stick in their minds as an advertisement over any other traditional media advertisement.

References 

Nudd, Tim. (2012, April 30). Ad of the Day: Ford. Ad Week. Retrieved from

          http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-ford-139942

Ogilvy Paris. (2012, April 18). The Parisian Pinball Park. Retrieved on October 3, 2012 from  
       
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAM_HLj1QOo