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.