• by John Gaffney , July 8, 2003

Smile For The Camera: There's been a fair amount of press over the past week over Polaroid's search for a new agency. All of that's great news, and the camera manufacturer will certainly need a smart, compelling ad campaign to get it out of bankruptcy and into the digital age. But if you ask me, Polaroid has done a great job of taking its products to the target audience up to this point, and they've used minimal dollars to do it. In fact, after Polaroid signs with an agency, said agency may want to consider what Polaroid has already done. For its I-Zone camera, aimed at the teen instant picture user, it used a grassroots on-site concert tour where kids used cameras to create huge picture boards. For the recent introduction for its One instant camera, it launched sponsored birthday parties for toddlers in key markets. That's using publicity to its maximum advantage. In today's media landscape, I believe you need to take the product to the people. Big TV campaigns are great, and maybe Avril Lavigne could get teens to buy more Polaroid products if she endorsed them. But Polaroid deserves credit for doing a lot for its products, with limited resources.

Go Spike: Now that Spike TV and Spike Lee have settled their lawsuit you have to wonder how much Viacom is behind schedule and thrown off its momentum with repositioning its channel. I thought the people behind Spike deserved a lot of credit for going ahead with the "New TNN" rebranding. Now, in my opinion, they need to wait at least until after the summer to switch gears again.

At The Buzzer: I think The American Association of Advertising Agencies decision to hold a New York Advertising Week next September is way overdue.