Commentary

Baby, Light My Doors

Going up? Shoppers at two CHICAGO-AREA malls couldn't help but notice a unique elevator door ad campaign for the Zippo Multi-Purpose Lighter during the 2005 holiday season. The ads two-part ads were placed on the inside of elevator doors, with the Zippo Multi-Purpose Lighter on the left door and a flame-shaped steak on a grill on the right door. The image became a complete ad only when the doors shut. Talk about an ad that closes in on consumers.

It was Blattner Brunner, a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based creative shop, that came up with this innovative way to marry the Zippo creative with the ideal ad location. "The campaign's layout is essentially two-part," explains Jay Giesen, creative director. "It's as if product and use come together at the ad's middles."

With ad placement estimated at $8,000 per mall, Joel Ulrich, Blattner Brunner's senior media strategist, says the placement is "a considerably less efficient buy than, say, a highway billboard." Still, he notes, "Factor in the length of exposure, the proximity to point-of-purchase, the novelty, and the fit with creative, and we see this as a terrific opportunity for Zippo, and will strongly consider expanding it in 2006."

The ads launched in mid-November and ran through December. The estimated amount of mall traffic for the month of December was 3.3 million.

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