Out To Launch

Every week brings a myriad of ad campaign and website launches and it's nearly impossible to keep up with them all. If you missed a few, here are some the major launches of the week that was, and the week that will be.

Now that the streetballers are gone, Nike has to do something new, and this summer they're launching a campaign designed to inspire creativity and self-expression in sport through play. Their site tells the story. Nike Play print ads are to appear in the likes of Maxim, Rolling Stone and SI for Women, featuring "tongue-in-cheek" descriptions of games like "Tag" and "Knockout," framed by colorful, close-up images of new Nike products that are tailor-made for playing. On television, viewers will see what would happen if grown-ups never stopped playing "Tag." In a busy downtown setting, a man who is caught off-guard suddenly is tagged from behind, and quickly the once-bustling street is deserted as everyone else runs for cover. He's It ... and he can't get on with his day until he transfers his It-ness to someone else. A second ad, called "ShadeRunning," follows a young woman as she creates a unique running regimen, which is dictated by an almost fanatical desire to run only in the shade. Additional television ads may be added as the summer progresses. In addition, out-of-home ads (billboards, bus shelters, transit walls) featuring Nike Play products are running in Los Angeles and New York, and will stay up through the summer.

All that ball got you thirsty? FruitWorks, Pepsi-Cola's line of juice drinks, has hooked up with MTV for a second year, as MTV and FruitWorks are launching MTV/FruitWorks Consumer Electronics Sweepstakes. The new promotion -- running late-June through September -- offers one lucky grand prizewinner and three guests an invitation to MTV's New Year's Eve party in New York City. The grand prize winner also receives a full line of newly launched MTV-branded music electronics manufactured by Refac Consumer Products, Inc., including a portable CD player, beach radio, clock radio and much more -- all of which are available for purchase at select retail stores. Twenty first-prize party packs, consisting of MTV CD players and FruitWorks prizes, are also being given away.

Still in the soft drink aisle, Coca-Cola will be launching an interactive campaign on the Viasat digital television platform in Sweden and Denmark. Viasat's digital TV platform has over 400,000 subscribers and is the largest digital television platform in the Nordic region. Viasat began marketing the opportunity recently, and Coca-Cola is the first brand advertiser to devise a media strategy to be implemented on the platform. The Coca-Cola campaign will start up in August and will utilize several interactive features only available to viewers in Viasat's digital households.

For those who prefer an adult beverage, Agency.com's EU Applied Concepts Lab has licensed its first commercial product, called eText Message Trivia, which uses a proprietary technology that was developed at Agency.com's New York and London offices, and will be used to promote Heineken beer. EText Message Trivia is a mobile phone-based trivia game that's meant to entertain pub-goers while delivering a Heineken message. The game uses text message (SMS) technology to allow patrons to play pub trivia and potentially win free pints of Heineken beer. Agency.com claims that this is the first game of its kind, dubbed by the Applied Concepts Lab as eContextual Mobility. The promotion will be available in pubs throughout the United Kingdom from June 18 through July 13.

Warner Bros. Pictures is launching a comprehensive multi-million dollar promotional campaign in support of their July 4th release, "Cats & Dogs." The campaign utilizes advertising tie-ins and sponsored promotional opportunities both within and outside of the AOL Time Warner corporate family. The promotional partners participating in the "Cats & Dogs" campaign include retail giant PetSmart, Kodak, leading cable companies Cartoon Network, Turner Networks and Animal Planet, television network The WB, children's television programming leader Kids' WB!, Entertainment Weekly, the Newspaper Association of America, Six Flags theme parks and Snap-It.

Staying at the movies, MovieTickets.com has re-designed its website, enhancing its look and feel. The re-launched site provides moviegoers with the ability to purchase tickets with greater ease, as well as access local movie show time information, trailers and reviews. The site also includes enhanced personalization for My MovieTickets. As members of My MovieTickets, consumers have expanded capabilities in customizing their ticket buying experience. In addition, MovieTickets.com is now offering at home ticket printing for many theater complexes and is rolling out this service nationally.

Newsweek.MSNBC.com is launching a new weekly feature called "Weekend Guide.", which will highlight the latest news in entertainment, living, shopping and more. MSNBC.com and Newsweek correspondents will review new movies, music and television shows and offer advice on shopping, home improvement, travel and family entertainment. "Weekend Guide" is updated every Thursday night.

This month Wherehouse Music is launching its "Mr. W All-Access V.I.P. Pass" program, which rewards customers for their loyalty with an array of valuable prizes and exclusive deals. The "All-Access V.I.P. Pass" is a free stamp card, distributed to shoppers at all Wherehouse Music stores. Customers receive a stamp every time they spend $9.99 or more. After 12 stamps, they receive a $20 gift card good for anything in the store. The chain plans to distribute more than 2,500,000 cards during the 12-week summer promotion, which ends September 10th. What makes this loyalty program unique is that shoppers are rewarded for every stamp along the way. Each time they make a purchase of $9.99 or more, they get a prize, ranging from "Virtual Pets" to discounts on hip clothing brands to free food products to magazine mini-subscriptions. Wherehouse Music's list of promotional partners includes Vans, Big Dogs Sportswear, Coca-Cola, Chupa Chups lollipops, Church's Chicken, Eruptor Entertainment, The Source hip-hop magazine, AMF Bowling, Verizon Wireless and Iota.

Duracell is launching its North America television advertising campaign for new DURACELL COPPERTOP batteries, the first broadcast ad in four years for the battery brand. The first television spots appear this week and will air in North America during a variety of primetime, daytime, late night, syndicated, cable and Hispanic programs. The 15-second "Bees" spot demonstrates that new DURACELL COPPERTOP batteries, like highly productive honeybees, work hard. In the spot, several bees, after harvesting pollen, return to their hive to find hundreds of other bees hard at work. The camera then reveals that each bee is powered by a DURACELL COPPERTOP battery attached to its back.

Yahoo! Inc., and ONE Media, a cross-media company, launched of their new "Designer Ads" campaign. Unveiled in conjunction with the Design & Culture event in Miami Beach (June 25-27), the ad campaign features some of today's most influential designers including: Michael Graves, Philippe Starck, Paul Frank, Karim Rashid, Erik Adigard, and Romero Britto. The designers of the campaign worked to create unique ads using the new L-Rec (large rectangle) and super banner ad units. The one-of-a-kind ads drive consumers directly to ONE Media and ONE Magazine, and are running through July on the Yahoo! network. The ads are also running on Yahoo! en espanol and Yahoo! Brazil.

BigDates.com has set a July 1 launch date for its new online service aimed at anyone with an agenda. The site aims to provide a free web-based service giving users the means to keep track of all important dates and appointments. Members will have the aid of Dottie, a virtual personal assistant, and can log in and categorize their appointments and dates, such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc. The company has affiliations with Amazon.com, Disney, Brooke Brothers and others, which supply gift recommendations for users of the service. The site will also sell greeting cards.

The National Geographic Channel and New York Times Television have announced that their new weekly, hour-long news magazine show "Science Times," will debut Tuesday, June 26 at 9 p.m. ET. Each episode of "Science Times" will include up to three different stories examining how new discoveries in science, medicine and technology will affect people's lives, and will follow scientists at work as they reveal the latest discoveries. A total of 26 episodes of "Science Times" will be produced as part of the two-year agreement between the National Geographic Channel and New York Times Television.

- Out to Launch is compiled weekly by MediaPost Staff Writer Adam Bernard. He may be reached at adambernard@mediapost.com (click above) or at 203-222-0330 ext. 319

Next story loading loading..