Commentary

Out to Launch

Every week new ad campaigns and websites are launched, and it’s hard to keep up with them all. This week alone we saw Apple debut “Switchers,” Volkswagan come out with “Surfers Wanted,” and Corona has launched a new website. Find out about these campaigns and others you may have missed in this week’s edition of Out to Launch.

“My only regret is not switching earlier." states Mark Frauenfelder in one of the many new online ads for Apple. In addition to the Internet, Apple’s largest campaign since 1998’s "Think Different," features print ads as well as eight different television spots, each highlighting the story of a different "switcher." The TV ads can be seen on major cable networks like ESPN, CNBC, Comedy Central and Fox News and will appear this week on ABC's Boston 24/7 and The Drew Carey Show, as well as NBC's ER and NBA Finals broadcasts. Print ads are in this week's issues of Time and Newsweek, and will appear this month in a number of other major magazines. As part of the campaign, Apple has also set up a special website for users interested in learning more about switching.

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A brand that recently decided to make a switch in its advertising approach is FRENCH'S MUSTARD. In an aim to bolster its marketplace dominance, the 98-year-old brand is ditching the image of Norman-Rockwell-infused tranquillity for something a little more rebellious. Their adventurous new campaign, via Euro RSCG MVBMS Partners in New York, carries the theme "Nothing cuts the mustard like French's," and is filled with smart-alecky spots that show the extraordinary lengths people might go to just to get a squirt. The latest commercial, which begins appearing next Monday, follows a young woman in a diner as she dashes up to a stranger and kisses him, so she can taste the French's Mustard smeared on his face.

It’s out with the old and in with the new (ad campaign, that is) for Kellogg’s Corn Pops as well. Kellogg previously highlighted the brand's "crave" aspects in its 13-year-old "Gotta have my Pops" campaign. But in a national TV, radio, promotional and online effort that breaks this week, Kellogg is instead emphasizing the good feelings that ensue from munching Corn Pops with the new tag: "Feel good. Go Pop," via Leo Burnett, Chicago. The first TV spot, "Dance," airs this week, while radio spots featuring teens' personal stories about their own "feel good" moments will break June 17.

Oil of Olay is no longer strictly targeting older women. Procter & Gamble Co. is launching Ohm by Olay, which aims to appeal to a younger target of women ages 18 to 35. This is the Olay brand's first entry into fragrance, backed by $30 to $40 million in TV and print advertising. Trade materials tout Ohm as combining "real skin benefit and experiential delight," and ads from Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, will break in mid-July. P&G hopes the mass-market brand will help draw women away from specialty and prestige channels.

In electronic media: T-Mobile, the wireless unit of Deutsche Telekom, announced that it has signed actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in its global advertising. Companies such as VoiceStream Wireless in the United Kingdom, Austria and the Czech Republic will be branded under the T-Mobile name later this year, the company said. Until recently, actress Jamie Lee Curtis had been the image for VoiceStream in the United States, but now Zeta-Jones will appear in T-Mobile’s worldwide advertising spots. The campaign will begin this summer in California and shortly after will air in the United Kingdom and the rest of the United States.

Inter/Media Advertising has signed on former game show host Chuck Woolery (The Dating Game, Love Connection, Wheel of Fortune) to act as company spokesperson for an estimated $10 million advertising campaign. The campaign is for A.J. Marketing Group's MyTrueCredit.com, a company that offers a package of services designed to improve a customer's credit, and spotlights the fact that 70% of all credit reports have outdated or inaccurate information on them. The program, which will include national cable, syndication and spot market buys, will launch on June 10. No other online credit management company is currently using television advertising as a sales vehicle.

I-traffic, a premier interactive advertising agency and subsidiary of AGENCY.COM Ltd., announced that it is launching another innovative campaign for British Airways, designed to support British Airways’ Wimbledon sponsorship. The campaign, called “Elevate Your Game. Fly Flat.” Is scheduled to run on key sports and news sites from Friday, June 14, through the end of the Wimbledon event, which takes place June 24-July 7, 2002.

Speaking of tennis, The World Team Tennis Pro League is serving up its first ad campaign in 10 years with a print, radio and outdoor effort starting this week. The ads, via Brand Buzz, N.Y., are customizable for each team, but all include the WTT logo and Web address as well as a quote from WTT Pro League ambassador and Sacramento team member Andre Agassi: "They're playing my kind of tennis!" The ads target non-traditional tennis fans. Creative includes lines like "Men and women fighting over love" and "Think rock concert, add tennis." Radio promos include on-air ticket giveaways and a chance to win a trip to the finals.

Volkswagen is launching a new campaign highlighting a different summer sport. Under the tagline "Surfers Wanted," the campaign, developed by Communitá, Inc., includes online marketing and a bilingual website that will extend offline marketing efforts and help drive traffic to local car dealers. At a press conference held in San Juan, the company also unveiled a special edition of the Volkswagen Golf model that has been manufactured specifically for Puerto Rico and will be given away during its Summer "Surfers Wanted" promotion. One of the most distinguishing elements of this model is that it has a built-in "roof-rack" accessory with a surfboard attached. The surfboard was manufactured by the local "designer" Werner Vega and sports a colorful design as well as the Volkswagen logo and new web address.

Lastly: Web enthusiasts looking to spend some time on the beach without leaving home (or the office) can surf Corona.com and escape to a website destination that's Miles Away From Ordinary. The website is truly an extension of the brand's image, which is illustrated in Corona's unique TV campaign. All the activities are presented in an immersive environment of sound, character animations and tightly rendered settings.

-- 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.

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