Commentary

Out to Launch

Hi-C introduces a sour-flavored drink. Fuse launches a spoof campaign. Genworth Financial recruits Agassi and Graf for its campaign debut. Welcome to highlights of ad campaigns launched recently.

Nintendo continues its "Who Are You?" campaign with new ads for GameCube and Game Boy Advance. "Interviewer," showcases Nintendo GameCube software, and features a guy in a therapist's office that appears to be living out the personalities of characters within Nintendo GameCube games. He is transformed by each game's experience and "becomes" the characters he plays. Also launched was a campaign for Game Boy Advance, entitled "Freeboy." The spot illustrates how Game Boy Advance has "freed" a generation from their gaming consoles in order for them to enjoy Nintendo games anywhere and everywhere. These spots will run during such programs as UPN's "One on One," "Rock Me Baby," and "I'm Still Alive;" WB's "Angel," "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment," and "Smallville;" ABC's "Married to the Kelly's" and "America's Funniest Home Videos;" and MTV's "ET on MTV" and "Real World." Print ads will run in ESPN Magazine, Rolling Stone, Stuff, Maxim, Spin, Blender, DC, Marvel and Transworld Surf.Leo Burnett USA created the campaign.

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Hi-C has debuted Sour Blast flavored drinks, and an ad campaign to support them. The program aims to build product awareness quickly, generate talk value, and reinforce the Hi-C brand of intense fruit taste. The campaign targets 12-to 17-year-olds. TV and print ads were created by The Geppetto Group. The TV spot features 'The Tongue,' a six-foot character that survives a series of comical vignettes capturing the intense thrill of Hi-C Sour Blast. The commercial will run on teen-oriented cable TV channels and online at teen sites such as Alloy.com, Bolt.com, TeenPeople.com, and CartoonNetwork.com. An ad in Teen People will provide a flavored temporary tattoo that tastes like Hi-C Sour Blast Green Apple, and is adhered to the magazine page so teens can sample the new drink flavor then and there. Yummy.

Goodyear's latest TV campaign looks more like a music video than a spot for tires. The spots were created by Hitchcock Fleming and Associates (HF&A) and center around a "garage band" platform. Professional percussionists play Goodyear technicians. The commercials are set in a stylized, all-white automotive garage. When one of the workers begins tapping casually with a work tool, his other colleagues join in to create a musical symphony using ordinary, around-the-shop tools and tires as their instruments. The campaign, which runs throughout the year, was created to promote Goodyear's promotional offers for consumers purchasing a set of four tires.

Fuse, the music network that actually plays music videos, launched its latest advertising and brand imaging campaign this week. The campaign, entitled "Watch Different," was developed in partnership with Amalgamated and debuted on July 19 in outdoor locations around New York City, as well as in national magazines and through a viral online campaign. The ads are a spoof of Apple's iPod ads. The creative features a series of silhouetted models, set against colorful backdrops, who suggest non-traditional and irreverent ways in which viewers can enjoy the experience of watching Fuse.

Genworth Financial is one of the first spin-offs in GE history. The name Genworth was chosen because as an insurance company, it protects "generations" of people who trust the company to help them build financial worth and achieve their dreams. The brand and integrated communications campaign was created by Klamath Communications and includes a new tag line: "Built on GE Heritage" (the tag line will dissolve away within the first two years). TV spots, featuring Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, will air on major cable channels, and the print ad campaign will run in major newspapers and business publications.

The Advertising Council and the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) launched PSAs to encourage young adults to register and vote in upcoming elections. The purpose of The Register and Vote 2004 campaign, initially launched in 1980, was to increase the number of young Americans registered and spur them to vote. Created pro bono by WestWayne, this new phase of the campaign specifically targets 18-to 24-year-olds, the largest group of non-voters in America. The TV, radio, and outdoor ads feature real-life scenarios, which highlight the potential for one person's choice to make a difference. All of the PSAs end with the tagline "Don't just take a stand, act," and supply information on how to register to vote.

In an effort to build state pride among Kansas's residents and to generate positive economic impact statewide, The Kansas Mega Gigantic Get Away Giveaway was launched. It is a sweepstakes that encourages people to travel in Kansas, take pictures, and enter to win a car or other prizes. Participants must travel at least 100 miles from their homes and they must take pictures of themselves, their family, or friends enjoying an attraction or event. Then they can submit a favorite trip photo along with an entry form either online or by mail before Sept. 10. Callahan Creek designed the campaign.

In website launches this week:

Mach18 launched a redesign of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, including all creative concepts, development, hosting, building of the consumer database, and viral marketing tools. The website provides easy to use registration and forms for potential & current customers to log their unique interests (spa, events, rooms, etc.), which is then catalogued and available for data mining for follow-up and viral marketing.

The Art Directors Club launched a new website, created by R/GA. The anchor of the site is "Spotlight," a rotating gallery of visuals selected from the ADC archives of annual award winners, Hall of Fame laureates, and Young Guns catalogs, among others accessible from the homepage. Other noteworthy sections include Hall of Fame where, over time, each ADC laureate will be profiles with a biography and work samples. All sections, including the new Education Gallery, features work across the media from TV and radio, to print and interactive.

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