What's in the Giant Locker? Nissan and Amazon partner to promote Nissan Rogue in San Francisco

 POSTED BY STEPHEN LEPITAK

Nissan and Amazon came together this week when they placed a mysterious giant locker in front of the Ferry Building in San Francisco with no explanation.

The locker was large enough to hold a Nissan Rogue inside, as well as various other prizes, which could only be accessed through special codes.

What's in the Giant Locker? Nissan and Amazon partner to promote

The public was encouraged to tweet, comment or post photos about the locker on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using the hash tag #GiantLocker, which would see them earn a code to open one of the doors. One code would open the giant door to allow the winner to gain access to the car inside.

Behind the campaign idea was TBWA\ Chiat Day LA, which last year ran another partnership between Nissan and Amazon where the Versa Note car was delivered in a large Amazon box. Pictures of the box being delivered was shared across 38 countries as people discussed what could be in the box.

How Audi Created the World's Biggest World Cup Scoreboard Guerrilla marketing worth at least $2.1 million By Robert Klara

June 27, 2014, 11:47 AM EDT

Anyone who remembers when Ikea installed living rooms inside of bus kiosks or Red Bull’s Nascar racing team set up a pit stop in the middle of Times Square knows that New York is the place for a high-impact guerrilla-marketing stunt.

But the latest contribution to this branding pantheon—Audi’s Giant LED Scoreboard in Brooklyn—shows just how high the bar of entry has been raised for brands that want that kind of street-marketing cred. In the 1980s, legendary adman Jay Conrad Levinsonexplained that guerrilla marketing worked because it was surprising, easy and inexpensive.

Well, it’s still surprising—but cheap and easy? Not in New York, yo.

First, a recap. Last week, Audi switched on the lights in its titanic installation on the Brooklyn waterfront. The “scoreboard”—which will display top World Cup results for the rest of the month—is actually a grid of shipping containers, nine rows of them stacked five high. A showroom-new Audi A8 sits inside each open-ended container. With the cars’ headlights turned on (plus a little bit of dramatic red backlighting), the containers form two massive “8” configurations that resemble a digital clock.

In a bit of (well-earned) horn tooting, Audi’s press statement proclaimed that the display “will bring the excitement of world-class soccer to NYC.”

No doubt, that is true. 

But excitement—especially here in New York—means there’s a tab to pay, and Audi has obviously dug deep for this one. The first hurdle was finding a spot with good sightlines from Manhattan and big enough to pile up 45 intermodal shipping containers. “We looked at several prominent locations when scouting for a site,” Audi of America’s marketing director Loren Angelo told Adweek, “and Greenpoint was chosen because of the level of visibility it provided the scoreboard. It can be seen along the entire East Side.”

Audi’s team loaded 28 new A8 sedans into the shipping containers, which were then hoisted into place, the top row perched 40 feet over the East River. (An aside here: Audi did not disclose the cost of this little project, but given the A8’s base price of $75,100, it committed at least $2.1 million worth of product to the effort.)

Wiring up the entire assembly mandated close to 2½ miles of cable, which connects the relay boards for each car’s LEDs to a central controller located on-site. An operator sits out there with a computer, making sure we get those scores from Brazil.

Before you get the warm fuzzies for Audi performing this feat of public service, it’s worth mentioning that this setup will culminate not in a match in South America, but one in New Jersey. On July 31, Munich’s FC Bayern will take on Club Deportivo Guadalajara in the Audi Football Summit in the Meadowlands. (Audi AG is a partial owner of FC Bayern, which probably also explains the lavish marketing outlay going on in Brooklyn.)

We haven’t seen the winner’s trophy for this tournament, but just in case the prizes haven’t been picked out yet, Audi will have 28 slightly used A8s on hand. Just a suggestion.

Volkswagen Vows Never to Lose Cargo with New Glow in the Dark Truck

The Company Used Its Own Trucks as Moving Billboards

Volkswagen has taken package-tracking to new levels.

In Brazil, the car company used glow-in-the-dark cargo covers to protect selected containers in order to promote Volksnet, its tracking system.

Phosphorescent semis took to Sao Paolo’s roads by night in an effort to catch the eye of truckers and shipping companies and deliver the message “your cargo never disappears.”

http://creativity-online.com/work/volkswagen-trucks-the-glowing-cargo/35601

Toyota Prius: The Billboards That Came From Nature And Went Back To Nature

Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney go back to nature by creating this brilliant outdoor idea for Toyota Prius.

http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad/63423/Toyota-Prius-The-Billboards-That-Came-From-Nature-And-Went-Back-To-Nature

Jaguar gives definitive style to “British Villains” with Thomas Pink partnership

By Joe McCarthy

May 5, 2014

Jaguar F-Type suspended by crane

Jaguar North America is adding more flair to its British Villains campaign by teaming up with British fashion label Thomas Pink for a pop-up shop May 9-10 at the brand’s “Villain Academy.”

Thomas Pink will style guests at the academy in the #GoodToBeBad outfits and future brand activations will follow. Introducing a signature fashion style will help launch the campaign beyond a temporary fixation so that it meshes with the brand’s identity in the long-term.

“Partnering with Thomas Pink was a natural fit for Jaguar North America as both brands share a tradition of excellence that can be seen in Jaguar’s transformed model lineup and Thomas Pink’s crafted fashions,” said Jeff Curry, brand vice president of Jaguar North America, Mahwah, NJ.

“There is an authentic brand and customer connection that comes from us both being British brands with alternative high-quality and design-oriented products,” he said.

“We look forward to delivering truly unique brand experiences to our growing customer base with this partnership.”

Some flavorJaguar and Thomas Pink activated the partnership May 2 at The London Hotel in West Hollywood, CA, where the fashion label’s shirts were featured.

Jaguar car with Thomas Pink branding

The partnership will commence in a more rounded form during the academy in Austin, TX. The academy gives guests a full day with the new F-Type Coupe on the Formula 1 track Circuit of Americas, Austin, TX (see story).

During the event, Thomas Pink will style guests in the #GoodToBeBad style and provide made-to-measure shirts. The brand will also style select Jaguar staff.

Jaguar F-Type Coupe

After the Villain Academy, national in-store activations will be hosted at multiple Thomas Pink retail locations. F-Type coupes will be on display at the stores along with various British Villains touchpoints.

Fashion and speedWhen automakers are not designing their own labels they regularly team up with high-end fashion brands to expand their lifestyle position.

For instance, British automaker Land Rover partnered with British fashion label Barbour for a 2014 autumn/winter line.

Aside from a shared heritage, both brands value design and durability, which will be reflected in the clothing line. When automakers venture into new product categories, following the lead of a trusted designer makes sense (see story).

Also, Italian menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna designed a capsule collection of active attire with Italian auto company Maserati for its yacht team.

Both brands are now selling the line on their Web sites, with Maserati touting the collection through an email blast. With this partnership, both brands are able to communicate their shared Italian history and heritage, while allowing Zegna to capitalize on Maserati’s household name (see story).

“The collaboration with Thomas Pink has many exciting consumer activations on the horizon,” Mr. Curry said.

Audi: Oh Deer! Hazard Detection Billboard

German ad agency, thjnk AG in Hamburg, created this very interesting outdoor installation by detecting in time what might later become hazardous. Hamburg tricked the eye by overlaying two headlines: From far you could only focus the blurredheadline. From close only the "hazard" hidden inside.

http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad/60807/Audi-Oh-Deer

Skoda freezes car in block of ice to launch Yeti Outdoor

Skoda freezes car in block of ice to launch Yeti Outdoor

Skoda yesterday froze a car in a block of ice in Covent Garden to mark the launch of the new Skoda Yeti Outdoor.

The stunt came on the back of research from Skoda which suggested that 80 per cent of the public crave more excitement in their lives.

Sarah Chapman, communications manager for Skoda UK, said: "These results confirm that deep down, a large number of us are dreaming of fulfilling our sense of adventure. Everyone has days where they get fed up with the monotony of the day-to-day, thinking of nothing else but the weekend when you can let your hair down and do what you want to do rather than what you have to do.”

The study of 2,000 Brits found that a third dream of escaping their current life at least once a week, while another 51 per cent feel this way at least once a month. It was also discovered that a third have ‘serious plans’ to escape their current day-to-day life.

"This feeling of needing to balance the day-to-day life and the desire for a new adventure is something we, at Skoda, can relate to. This is why we’ve launched the new Yeti and Yeti Outdoor – one perfect for city living, the other built for adventure,” Chapman added.