Visa Takes Over Madison Square Park With Giant #StartWeekending Installation
The financial services company is trying to associate its brand with weekend fun.
Contributor
Steve Hall's latest articles
Sennheiser’s #EarLove Campaign Awards New Headphones To Best ‘Ear Selfie’ or ‘Ear Hunt’ Winner
The effort seeks to engage 18- to 25-year-old music lovers via social media, contests and quirky video ads.
Agency Crowdsources ‘Selfie Speeding Signs’ To Display On Interactive Billboards
Would a billboard better get your attention if it pictured a friend, family member, or even yourself? That's the idea behind a new campaign collecting selfies to deter speeding.
Brand To Re-Create Marilyn Monroe’s Iconic Dress-Blowing Scene Then Urge Others To Share Their Own #MyMarilynMoment
The Sexy Hair hair care brand seeks examples of potentially embarrassing moments that social media fans turned to their own advantage.
Allstate #ItsGood2Be Twitter Challenge Offers Colleges $150,000 In Scholarships
Allstate, a long time sponsor of college football with its Good Hands Field Goal Nets since 2004, is, in celebration of the program’s tenth anniversary, launching a new campaign that includes new ads, PR, promotions and social and digital activations. Central to the campaign is the brand’s #ItsGood2Be Twitter Challenge. The challenge asks college students […]
Retailer Re-Invents Coupon With Stop-Motion Instagram Videos
In an effort to reach a younger audience, a department store finds an ingenious way to distribute discounts.
Stonyfield Enlists Super-Hot Hunks To Convince Women To #CheatOnGreek
The Groupe Danone-owned organic yogurt maker targets women who aren't as fond of Greek yogurt as they think they should be.
Forget The New iPhone. IKEA Introduces The Most Amazing Device Ever
In an hilariously tongue-in-cheek video, IKEA has dramatically re-introduced to a deeply digitally entrenched world something that "changes the way we live, a device so simple and intuitive using it feels almost familiar."
Jack Daniel’s Scours America’s Bars For #TalesOf Whiskey, Then Creates Multimedia Extravaganza
The whiskey brand and its agency collected, curated and produced compelling stories that originated in these alcohol-serving establishments.
WATCH: Troy-Bilt’s Leaf Blower Blows Away Wired’s Homepage, In Effort To Reach High-Tech “Yarders”
Troy-Bilt tries to introduce Wired's young tech-savvy users to a new gadget -- its leaf blower.
U.S. Open Uses Social Media To Tell The #StoryOfTheOpen On A Billboard
Think billboards are boring? Well, this one, which combines elements of event marketing with social media and online video, is anything but.
Richard Branson Asks People to Share #VirginRumors About His New Hotel
To promote his new Virgin Hotel in Chicago, Richard Branson has teamed with Jonathan Goldsmith, better known as Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World. In a video, Branson shares various rumors about the hotel such as, “I’ve heard the scented shampoo smells like Beyonce’s hair,” “The beds are so springy, they’ve had to […]
Aflac Launches #AflacSweeps With YouTube Page Takeover Game
The company is using its connection with college football's Heisman Trophy to tie the idea of speed on the playing field to speed in getting insurance claims paid.
Taco Bell Launches Country-Wide Dollar Bill Scavenger Hunt
This real-world "Everlasting Dollar" viral campaign will award 11 people with a lifetime of Taco Bell food, raising awareness of the Yum Brands brand's new Dollar Cravings menu.
That Ridiculous East Hills Mall Ad Now Has Over 2 Million Views
The Dubai Mall claims to hold the title of the world’s most visited shopping mall, having attracted more than 75 million visitors in 2013. But what about the world’s most viewed shopping mall ad? While we can’t locate hard data on that metric, we can say that East Hills Mall video that went viral last week just might […]
Mobile Firm Leverages Crowdfunding To Support Girls Who Code
Well, here’s an admirable effort. It’s not your typical marketing campaign; but, what’s really typical any more these days? When streaming has taken over broadcast TV, animated GIFs pass for ads and editorial is now advertising — anything goes, really. So, Durham-based, mobile application development firm Two Toasters, which recently made the Inc. 500 list, […]
Axe Extends #KissForPeace Effort With Crowdsourced Messages Of Peace
How powerful is a kiss? Unilever's Axe believes it can be strong enough to bring about peace, a concept explored in its latest crowdsourced campaign.
‘Water Critic’ Arthur Tweedie Hams It Up On Social Media With Expert Water Advice
The effort for PUR water filters aims to inject some fun into a terribly boring category.
Newcastle Asks Fans For Photos, Which It’ll Convert (Very Badly) Into Ads
British-brewed Newcastle Brown Ale is broke, so it's asking for help with its creative. Social media denizens are responding in droves.
Twix Leverages #TBT, Big Hair, Y2K, Dial-Up to Explain Why Twix Bites Weren’t Invented Sooner
Earlier this year, Twix launched a campaign for its Twix Bites which asked “Why didn’t we think of these years ago?” Two ads answered that question hilariously blaming the delay first on hairspray and then again on the Walkman. Working with BBDO New York, the brand has extended the campaign and is having a bit […]
Yo, Yo, Yo! This Is How You Webinar!
A business application adopts a hip-hop persona in On24's latest effort promoting its webinar services.
History Channel Launches Apps In New Effort To Reach Kids
The A&E channel is releasing two games that aim to enliven history as part of a brand extension aimed at 7- to 11-year olds.
Arm & Hammer Taps Influencers To Promote #ClumpAndSeal Cat Litter
The cute cat meme will never die. The internet has made cats more famous than, well, any human being. Just ask Grumpy Cat. Working with this incessant love for all things cats, Arm & Hammer teamed with Social Media Link and its Smiley360 product trial platform which encouraged cat owners to share their stories […]
Christina Aguilera Urges Everyone to #PassTheRedCup For World Hunger
Yum Brands has gathered together its restaurants — KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — and hooked them up with singer Christina Aguilera to come to the aid of those in hunger around the world with its annual World Hunger Relief effort. The effort, which consists of a challenge called “Pass the Red Cup,” aims […]
Dodge Dart Finds Humor In The Endless Scroll On Its YouTube Page
Actor/comedian Craig Robinson, famous for The Office and Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is making quite a name for himself in the ad world. Just a few months ago, he could be spotted fronting several very funny ads for Hay Day. Now, he, along with fellow actor/comedian Jake Johnson, is fronting a campaign for Dodge […]
TripAdvisor Turns to Customers For Some User-Generated Creative Inspiration
What better way to get your customers talking about your brand than, well, to get them talking about your brand by paying them to do so? Well, at least giving them the chance to get paid. That’s the idea behind TripAdvisor’s user-generated TV ad contest. Starting with the brand’s ongoing Don’t Just Visit campaign as […]
Honda Puts It In Social Media-Fueled Overdrive For Summer #Cheerance Campaign
Remember when car dealers used to hang banners and flags outside their dealerships that screamed, “Sale! Sale! Sale!”? Okay, so they still do that — but they’ve also learned how to make very good use of the internet. Honda, hyping its summer sales, is hosting several “Cheerance” events this week aimed to move metal and […]
#KeepItPersonal Western Digital Campaign Promises To Safeguard Private Digital Files
The marketing of hard drives and, more recently, cloud storage has largely been a snoozefest. Speeds, feeds, specs, product shots and mundane technobabble about, well, crap that really doesn’t matter. This week, Western Digital is breaking out of that mold. Working with W2O, the hard drive and cloud storage brand is out with #KeepItPersonal, which, […]
#LiveInLevis Site Highlights Hipsterific Lives Of Others… And E-Commerce
Unleashing every hipsterific Millennial stereotype and alienating everyone else who once proudly wore Levi’s, AKQA is out with the Live in Levi’s Project, a “digital platform designed to engage and activate the expansive global community of Levi’s fans around their shared experiences.” As long as they are aged roughly 20-30. Snark aside, the project is […]
Hilton Encourages Guests To Share Their #HiltonStory To Win Free Stay
On the heels of Holiday Inn celebrating people’s extraordinary journeys, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has launched the next chapter in its “Our Stage. Your Story.” campaign. When the campaign first launched earlier this year in February, the brand shared the stories its guests experienced on the Hilton stage. As the campaign enters its second chapter, […]
Bank’s ‘Automated Thanking Machine’ Shocks Customers With Heartwarming Gifts
Last December, Canada’s WestJet brought a Christmas Miracle to a planeload of its passengers. Before boarding, passengers answered questions and when they landed, they were presented with the item they wished for as a Christmas gift: everything from new underwear to a new flat screen TV. The video was viewed over 36 million times. TD […]
BMW’s #Driftmob Unleashes World’s First Vehicular Flashmob
Not all epic creative has to be focused around interactivity. Sometimes epic can just be appreciated for its epic-ness. Like this Epic Driftmob feat from BMW which marries a little Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift with the flashmob trendlet of several years ago. Mic Rodgers, a director who has worked on The Fast and the […]
Timberland Teams With Edward Norton’s CrowdRise For #TimberlandServes Volunteerism Effort
For a new campaign, footwear and apparel brand Timberland has teamed with Actor/Director Edward Norton’s fundraising platform, CrowdRise, to launch a new version of its long-running Serv-a-Palooza Challenge, a six-week sponsored volunteerism effort. The campaign encourages people to volunteer and fundraise for a cause of their choice which they can share using the #TimberlandServes hashtag. […]
Holiday Inn Celebrates Extraordinary Journey With #JourneyOn Social Campaign
Holiday Inn is out with an inspirational campaign that highlights the incredible achievements of those who have been dealt setbacks in life and of others who have taken extraordinary journeys through life. One such story introduces us to Scott Rigsby, who lost his lower legs when he was 18. He was told he would never walk […]
AT&T Beefs Up ‘It Can Wait’ Campaign With #X Hashtag Promotion
Likely, you’ve seen AT&T’s “It Can Wait” texting and driving campaign. Today, working with MRY, AT&T has relaunched its “It Can Wait” website and is giving heavy emphasis to #X, the symbol it hopes becomes the standard for telling people you are driving and can’t text right now. The site houses a #X explanatory video, […]
Bank’s ‘Gaming Wall’ At Stadium Milks World Cup Afterglow
The World Cup may be over but BBVA Compass bank, which has the naming rights to the Houston stadium that’s home to the MSL Houston Dynamo and the NWSL Houston Dash, is milking the sport’s increased popularity for all it’s worth, erecting an interactive game that lets players share their experiences via social media. Working […]
Expedia Leverages #TBT With #ThrowMeBack to Literally Throw People Back To Their Memories
Today is Throwback Thursday, the day when all of us unearth some gem from our past and share it with our friends across social media. Today is also the day when Expedia is launching its #ThrowMeBack photo contest on Instagram and Twitter. Starting today and running through September, people can post an image to Twitter […]
How Spirit Airlines Embraced Brand Hatred And Won
Spirit Airlines is a brand people love to hate. Perhaps you’ve seen one of the many tweets trashing the brand for charging fees for just about everything. Many brands offer up bland, apologetic statements when they run afoul of people’s expectations. But not Spirit Airlines. Spirit Airlines proudly stands behind its “cheap seats” approach to […]
Coffee Bean Debuts New #PurpleStrawCam Instagram Filter
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is out with a cross media campaign to tout the brand’s iced beverages, notably, the Original Ice Blended drink which promises customers they will “keep cool and summer on.” The campaign includes outdoor, radio, social, mobile, video and online media. The campaign’s video, directed by The Real McCoys, has a […]
LEARN: Lucy The Movie’s Web Site Teaches You To Speed Read Scarlett Johansson-Style
Movie websites, more than any other type of marketing site, seem to span every point of the scale between horrifically lame and ingeniously brilliant. Far over on the ingeniously brilliant end of the scale is this promotional area within the Lucy web site, the new movie starring Scarlett Johansson movie, Lucy. Lucy is written and directed […]