• by Lindsey Fadner , October 17, 2002

Every week new ad campaigns and websites are launched, and it’s hard to keep up with them all. Just this week, Bank One is set to debut its first national advertising campaign, Dell Computer is giving Steven a rest, and the Singing Machine is lighting up Time Square. Here are the highlights.

Bank One will soon launch its first-ever national advertising campaign as it begins the transition from a regional to a nationally recognized brand. The campaign will debut with a series of :30 television spots scheduled to begin airing during Game One of the World Series this Saturday. According to Bank One's Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank One is currently best known in the 14 states it serves, but this campaign will let 53 million cardmembers around the country know that Bank One serves them, too. The ads, which feature actual customers rather than actors, highlight the wide range of reward and affinity cards available through partnerships with 1,200 corporate brands, institutions and non-profit organizations. New York advertising agency The Gardner-Nelson Project developed the campaign.

Steven, the popular college kid who has been the spokesman for Dell Computer Corp. over the last two years, is temporarily moving aside. This time around Dell has opted to run ads featuring a group known as the "Dell interns." In the ads, designed by Omnicom Group Inc.'s DDB agency, the computer geeks hassle various Dell staffers with questions such as, "Do they call you the Customizer?" "No. No, they don't," an obviously irritated employee responds. The original Steven campaign, developed by Lowe, featured home videos of the Steven trying to harangue parents into buying him a Dell. Three months later, Dell took its account over to DDB, which added the famous tag line "Dude, you're getting a Dell" to the mix. Steven appears at the end of at least one of the new commercials, and, according to Bob Kaufman, a Dell spokesman, the interns' appearance certainly doesn't spell the demise of the pitchman.

The American Kennel Club unleashed a television, print and online campaign "for people who love dogs almost as much as dogs love people" on Oct. 5. The estimated $1 million campaign is the first work for the kennel club from its new agency Doner in Southfield, Mich. The organization wants to tell dog owners about some of the programs it's involved with that they might not be aware of. Highlighted in the campaign are programs to help owners recover lost animals, raise money for the Canine Health Foundation and sponsor DOGNY, which placed life-sized dog statues in public spaces around New York City to raise money for groups devoted to search and rescue dogs. The print ads feature a woman sharing a peaceful moment with her dalmation, a boy cuddling a dog almost as big as he is and a man hugging a pair of pugs.

Marriott International, Inc. announced it will launch its third wave of television advertising in less than seven months to promote the Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites. Each ad delivers the "Your Marriott Awaits" tagline. The ad for Courtyard by Marriott stars football greats Steve Young (former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers) and Jerry Rice (former 49er and current wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders). Other spots will feature Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, and current head coach for the University of South Carolina, motivational speaker and former head coach for University of Notre Dame, Lou Holtz. The campaign was developed by Marriott's national agency, McCann-Erickson, New York. and will air on major network and cable stations, including ABC Monday Night Football, Saturday college football, CBS, NBC, CNN, CNBC, ESPN, Telemundo and Black Entertainment Television. Print ads as part of the campaign will also be featured in USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Traveler, Hispanic Business, and Black Enterprise.

For those who are more into hockey than football, the New Jersey Devils will recognize their fans' intensity in a new campaign, entitled “Hungry Man,” from BBDO. "Live it, Eat it, Breathe it" is the tagline for the four-spot campaign, which features serious heavy metal music composed and performed by Sherman Foote, of Big Foote Music. In the :30 spot, “Supermarket” (pictured here), a clean up of aisle seven turns into a heated face off for two store clerks. The spot ends with a slap shot goal to the cash register and a victory dance. Other spots: “Fly,” demonstrates how New Jersey Devils fans do not need a swatter to control household pests, while “Wedding” portrays a woman remaining true to her team as she’s about to take her vows, and “Big Win” shows that just because the game has ended, it doesn't mean the play-by-play is over for announcer Mike Emrick .

The Singing Machine Company, a seller of home karaoke machines, has posted a 5,000 square foot dazzling billboard display of its top three products on the exterior of Toys "R" Us in Times Square. The 165 panels in hues of neon orange, green, and blue feature three of The Singing Machine's portable home KaraokeVision machines. The billboard is specifically geared towards music and music video lovers of all ages, and illustrates a group of well-dressed chimps beltin it out into mics, crafting home videos and monkeying around with bigger-than-life Singing Machine karaoke products. The scrolling billboard advertisement can be seen in rotation throughout the day until Nov. 3.

Hyundai Motor America is set to launch its new national advertising campaign with television spots airing on national network, cable and syndicated programming. The "Win" campaign, created by The Richards Group, targets smart consumers and presents Hyundai as the right brand for people with the right perspective: those who are "winners" in life. This is the first effort for Hyundai Motor America created by The Richards Group, which took over the account last spring. The campaign kicks off with a 60-second "Anthem" TV spot, which features a mosaic of simple winning moments in the lives of Hyundai owners. Breaking at the same time will be local market TV, radio and print, as well as a full range of dealer showroom point- of-sale materials.

Also in the auto industry: Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc. has released the latest evolution of its popular "Wake up and Drive" advertising campaign for the launch of the 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander entry-level SUV. Created by Deutsch LA, the :60 and :30 commercials take viewers through a young man’s transition from confirmed bachelor to new husband to proud father, illustrating the broad range of personal issues that connect him with his vehicle. The new commercials, which debuted on October 14th in the U.S. and will break in Canada on November 18th, feature music from French-techno group Télépopmusik and are designed to take viewers on this journey through life while simultaneously showcasing Outlander's versatile features. The implicit message is that while people who drive Mitsubishi vehicles might look different and have different needs, they all have a common youthful spirit. The Outlander campaign also includes print ads that begin appearing in October in national newspapers and in enthusiast and consumer pubs.

Deutsch Inc. has also been busy working with Revlon to launch an integrated global advertising campaign on national television and in fashion books to promote their cosmetic collection and sponsorship of the new James Bond film Die Another Day. Each component of the campaign combines the color and style of the new Revlon products with the sexy, adventurous nature of Bond. Revlon spokesperson and Die Another Day co-star Halle Berry exudes a disarmingly beautiful look in each of the 30 and 15-second action packed commercials, which will roll out with the films release in markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Latin America, Italy, and Taiwan. Deutsch also collaborated with Vogue to develop a unique 10-page print campaign to run exclusively in the November issue featuring the "Looks of Bond". In addition, Revlon has created a mini sitelet on the company's website in an exclusive partnership with AOL, which will showcase everything from detailed product information and a demonstration of how to get the 007 look, to a behind-the-scenes view of the film.

Pizza Hut and The Digital Edge this fall have launched the most extensive online campaign in the company’s history in an effort to sell more pizza in spite of the national economic downturn. In the first three months of the campaign, online ads were responsible for more than 50,000 coupon downloads from the Pizza Hut site and thousands of people have taken part in the Pizza Hut Sweepstakes. Pizza Hut has experienced significant increases in sales during key periods in the week. You might say that this digital advertising/marketing campaign is “delivering” for Pizza Hut.

If you like to bike and explore new destinations, check out Alloy Interactive, which this week announced the launch of TrekTravel.com, a new site for Trek Bicycle’s most recent venture: providing luxury bicycle tours across North America and Europe. Beginning in 2003, Trek Travel will include 19 unique luxury cycling destinations, from charming covered bridges in Vermont ’s Mad River Valley to the oak-lined boulevards of stately southern Mississippi to Umbria ’s remote medieval hamlets. Alloy Interactive designed the site ’s user interface,and developed its back-end databases and applications using Microsoft .NET technologies. A custom content management system was also developed by the interactive agency, which will be used by Trek Travel sales reps in conjunction with a third-party travel inventory management system.

-- This newsletter is compiled weekly by MediaPost staff writer Lindsey Fadner. Past issues are archived at the MediaPost website. Your comments, questions and submissions are always welcome and appreciated.