• by Adam Bernard , May 18, 2001

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.

Miller Lite drinkers will soon get a chance to star in their very own Miller Lite commercial series. The "Miller Lite Lens," is a new Miller Lite reality TV program that will visit bars in five Texas markets throughout June and July. "The Lens" film crews will visit popular bars and clubs in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Rio Grande Valley areas and will conduct screen tests for Miller Lite drinkers 25 and older. In each market, selected consumers will appear in a television spot, with one consumer in each market being selected to star in the series of final spots. For the final series of spots, the "Miller Lite Lens" crew will follow the winning consumer and his or her friends for a night on the town. A series of four 30-second television commercials will be created from the footage filmed that night. There will be a separate consumer featured in each of the five markets.

In other beverage news, Luminant Worldwide Corporation, a provider of technology-enabled business solutions, has completed two projects, both online promotions, in an ongoing client relationship with Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper Rocks! is a summer music promotion targeted to reach 18-to-24- year-olds that has Dr Pepper partnering with Rollingstone.com from May through July to offer visitors a chance to win prizes, concert tickets of any musical genre and free MP3 downloads. Luminant managed and directed the project that was built by Rollingstone.com. The second promotion is a partnership between Dr Pepper and the Latin GRAMMY Awards. Titled Suena y Gana con Dr Pepper (Dream and Win with Dr Pepper). The summer promotion offers consumers the opportunity to mail in entry forms or use a special game piece access code and toll-free number, to determine if they've won prizes including a trip to the Latin GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles.

DASANI bottled water, on Monday, May 21, will introduce four new television spots showcasing the classic funk bands Earth, Wind & Fire, The Gap Band, The Commodores and the old school rap group, Sugar Hill Gang, each performing a popular hit song from the late '70s and early '80s. The DASANI "Treat Yourself Well. Everyday" campaign is based on the premise that every great hero deserves a theme song. In each :30 second spot, both DASANI and the main characters are the heroes of the ads. Theme music follows the lead characters wherever they go and helps to project their vitality and natural radiance. As the story unfolds, viewers see that a live band -- in full concert attire is actually playing this "theme" music.

Hachette Filipacchi Magazines has announced a collaboration with Alloy Online, Inc., a leading teen-focused media and direct marketing company, to develop editorial content and technology for ELLEgirl.com, a global style magazine for 21st century teens. Combining the strengths of the latest extension of the fashion magazine and the teen interactive space, ELLEgirl.com will launch the first international online destination for fashion and beauty targeted to teens. The site builds on the global success of ELLE, and is designed to complement the soon-to-be introduced ELLE Girl magazine.

Keeping the theme of teens in mind, beginning this summer, Icon Transglobal Corp., in cooperation with ix:Medialab, will begin a marketing campaign aimed at positioning TVX7.com as the premier entertainment choice for teens, and progressive adults. At the center of the campaign is a 944 Porsche Sponsorship Stock Car, which one person will win sometime next year. As a way to cross promote with other businesses, TVX7 is looking for sponsors to outfit the car with enhancements, and in exchange for the enhancement, the sponsor will get their logo on the car, and will be included in marketing and press materials.

All-star shortstops Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox, and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, are paired in new commercials from Fleet's advertising agency Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos that launch this week. The campaign consists of three :30 TV spots, and one :60 spot, touting FleetBoston Financial Corp.'s online offerings: Fleet HomeLink with Quick & Reilly for personal banking and investing, and Fleet OfficeLink for small business banking. The ads will run throughout Fleet's retail footprint in the Northeast and will be supported by out-of-home advertising in the New York and New Jersey markets.

Next up to the plate is Fox Sports Net Bay Area. The cable home of the Oakland A's has partnered with Volvo Cars of North America for the "Volvo Grand Slam Inning." For the rest of the baseball season, A's fans will have an opportunity to drive home a brand new $24,000 Volvo S40. During each A's game telecast on Fox Sports Net Bay Area from May 16 through September 30, one fan will get a chance to win a Volvo S40 if the A's hit a grand slam in the 5th inning of the game. If the A's do not hit a grand slam, the contestant will win two tickets to an A's game. The fan will be selected in a random drawing before each game and announced before the 5th inning of the game.

Staying with sports, Inter/Media Advertising has partnered with Pre-Paid Legal Services and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton for the national rollout of a multi-million-dollar short-form ad campaign designed to boost marketing of business opportunities presented by Pre-Paid Legal Services. The direct response campaign features 30, 60 and 120-second commercials airing on national cable networks and in broadcast syndication. They were created by Inter/Media and produced by the company's production arm, Inter/Image.

7-Eleven, Inc. and AT&T have teamed with the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance to remind Americans about the true meaning of Memorial Day. The campaign, Calling America's Heroes, starts on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, at 7 a.m., when up to 5,600 participating 7-Eleven stores across the country will distribute free AT&T phone cards, each with up to 15-minutes of domestic calling, valued at about $2 million. The prepaid cards will be provided to the first 100 veterans, active military personnel and/or immediate family members of military service personnel who request them at participating 7-Eleven stores, with no purchase necessary. Complimentary educational literature about Memorial Day will be available in the stores through the holiday. Select stores will feature local war heroes, visits from elected officials, and area celebrities to help spread the word about the Calling America's Heroes campaign.

CMP Media's Electronics Group has launched iApplianceWeb, a comprehensive website dedicated to the emergence of networked and mobile information devices. iApplianceWeb (http://www.iapplianceweb.com) will deliver in-depth features, news and industry commentary on the technologies, companies and applications leading this growing market. iApplianceWeb is the newest community of the EDTN Network and is produced in partnership with Appliance-Lab of Austin, TX.

The business of broadband, multiservice networking is simplified in a new multi-media advertising campaign launching from ADC Telecommunications this week. The multi-million-dollar effort targets communications service providers with a strategic combination of media to heighten the ADC brand profile nationally, while simultaneously driving messaging directly to individual high potential customer markets. The ad campaign follows the company's recent realignment of key operations, and the streamlining of its sales and marketing process to strengthen its focus on customer satisfaction and growth. It was created by national marketing communications agency Campbell Mithun.

- Compiled by MediaPost staff writer Adam Bernard. He may be reached at Adambernard@mediapost.com or 203-222-0330 ext. 319