Out to Launch
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
An Ad Agency produces a TV show. The Discovery Channel walks with Cavemen. Bassett Furniture debuts a new campaign. Those are just a few of the campaigns launched this week. Read on for more details.
  • An Ad Agency produces a TV show. The Discovery Channel walks with Cavemen. Bassett Furniture debuts a new campaign. Those are just a few of the campaigns launched this week. Read on for more details.

    NY, LA and D.C. are about to see Cavemen in a whole new way. The Discovery Channel hits the streets, literally, with an alternative marketing, print, broadcast, OOH and online campaign to promote its latest special, Walking With Cavemen, debuting this Sunday. Thirty actors made up in full caveman garb, including prosthetic nose, brow, teeth and hair will roam the streets of New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. for four days (June 12-15) to hand out marketing information about the program. The cavemen actors will ride the subway at rush hour, stroll through Times Square at lunchtime and sunbathe on California beaches. The "cavemen" will not speak beyond friendly grunting. Interference, Inc. created the street campaign. Other elements of the campaign include a video billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, a :30 spot on "Macy's Vision" video billboard in New York and cinema trailers in the top 25 U.S. markets. The online aspect of this campaign will use Unicast's Full-Screen Superstitial technology, allowing viewers to watch a TV-like trailer on the web. i-traffic, a division of agency.com, created the online ads. Print ads, created in-house, will appear in People, Sports Illustrated, Time, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN, New Yorker, Rolling Stone USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Seattle Times and Boston Globe to name a few.

    Nextel Communications launched a TV campaign this month to support Nationwide Direct Connect, a coast-to-coast digital walkie-talkie service. Three spots use humor along with a documentary style to discuss theories about how Nextel makes its nationwide instant walkie-talkie work. The campaign, created by Mullen has viewers believing they are watching real documentaries. The spots suggest unlikely ideas as a giant radio tower and homing pigeons to explain Nextel's technology. One spot, "Radio Tower," opens with a construction official reflecting on a great achievement. Next they show a giant radio antenna, which was "built to make coast-to-coast walkie talkies possible... I mean, the tower is over 400,000 feet tall," says the engineer who built it. The ad ends with a voiceover saying "Nah, that's not how we did it." The campaign will run during cable and network sports programs, such as NHL, PGA, NASCAR, Major League Baseball and on The Discovery Channel, VH1 and MSNBC.

    Panasonic Computer Solutions Company (PCSC) launched a print campaign this month for its Toughbook brand of notebook and handheld PCs. Sigma Group developed the 26 print ads in conjunction with PCSC targeting 12 vertical markets, including telecommunications/broadband cable, energy, utilities, federal government, field service, fire/EMS, and law enforcement. The campaign kicks off Panasonic's 2003 push behind its expanded product line, including the new Toughbook CF-18, a notebook PC/tablet PC with integrated access to WAN, LAN and GPS. The campaign also highlights Panasonic's new 2.4 lb. CF-T1 notebook PC, a slim, portable PC with long-lasting power. The ads will be in several vertical industry trade publications such as American Police Beat, Government Technology, Federal Computer Week, Claims magazine, Insurance and Technology, Healthcare Informatics, VarBusiness, and CRN. The campaign will run until March 2004.

    Adams Golf will debut their Redline Titanium Drivers and Fairway Woods on network TV in June and July using golfers Tom Watson, Larry Nelson, Bruce Lietske and Allan Doyle in their ads. Two :30 spots feature the four professional golfers (The Redline Driver ad features Tom Watson and the Redline Fairway Wood ad features all four men) and two :15 spots showcase the clubs only. The advertising contains the tagline "Take every shot to the Redline limit," and uses revving engines and on screen graphics to highlight the clubs' features. The spots will air June 6-26 on NBC and July 12-13 on CBS during Champions Tour events on each network. The campaign also includes print advertising in Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Sports Illustrated that began running earlier this year. Temerlin McClain created the campaign.

    Bassett Furniture began a nationwide TV branding campaign last week, showing a personalized approach to solving home decorating projects. The campaign was developed by Frederick/Swanston, and aims to differentiate Bassett Furniture Direct retail stores from other furniture retailers. The campaign consists of two ads, both playing on consumers' emotions. In the first ad, a couple find out they have been approved for adoption. The husband and wife take the child's drawing of a dream room and fulfill it at Bassett Furniture Direct. In the other spot, a young couple find out that the husband's parents are giving them their old living room furniture. Instead, the couple decline the offer and creates a new stylish living room at Bassett Furniture Direct.

    Ad agency Two by Four Advertising has produced a TV show called Rodeo High, which began airing on The Outdoor Channel last month. The agency teamed up with The National High School Rodeo Association and in developing the program utilizing the tagline "It's A Whole New Rodeo." The show is described as MTV meets CMT meets high school rodeo. The show features an hour of rodeo action, behind the scenes features, and western-oriented entertainment. The advertising campaign will include TV, print, radio, and online ads. The show will run until September 27th. 20X by Wrangler, a sponsor of the telecast, will conduct their second annual celebrity search at the National High School Finals Rodeo, with the winners being featured in future 20X advertising campaigns and future broadcasts.

    Evergreen Investments launched a nationwide campaign this week called "More Demanding," which stresses the approach and dedication to quality asset management Evergreen has deployed since 1932. The campaign consists of television, outdoor, and print ads, which will communicate the firm's commitment to "providing clients with investments that stand the test of time." Mullen in Winston-Salem, N.C., designed the ads.

    The Advertising Council and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation have launched a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign to encourage Americans to support the creation of a memorial for Dr. King on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The PSAs feature actress Halle Berry and Today's Al Roker. The campaign, consisting of TV, radio, newspaper and online ads, was created pro bono by Saatchi & Saatchi. The ads encourage audiences to "Help Keep the Dream Alive," by calling 1-888-4THE-DREAM to learn how they can support the development of the memorial.

    This week's website launches include:

    Deep Focus and THINKFilm have launched SpellBoundMovie.com to coincide with the theatrical release of the Oscar-nominated documentary Spellbound. Spellbound presents the intense, humorous, real-life experience of the National Spelling Bee as illustrated by the stories of eight young spellers who compete for the top prize. The official website for the film features information about the film, the cast and crew, critical acclaim, and information about the National Spelling Bee, airing on ESPN. Another feature of the website is the Spellbound Hangman Challenge. If players can win 5 games of Hangman in a row, they can have their name listed on a nationwide record board. Users can also email the Spellbound Hangman Challenge to their friends, choosing their own words for the game.

    Touted as the oldest continuing free speech forum in the country, The City Club of Cleveland launched a new website. The site features a new design, archived video of City Club speakers, e-commerce capabilities, including online reservations and many upgraded features for members and visitors. Future additions to the site include the digitization and availability via the Internet of more than 50 years of City Club speeches on audio and video. Optiem designed and developed the site.