The ultimate goal in creating an advertisement is for the consumer to react to it. I believe advertising has always been an interactive industry, where you are creating something that will hopefully connect with the public. However, with the eruption of social media and skyrocketing usage of internet on mobile phones, interactive advertising has created a whole new ballgame for itself. This new virtual world has unleashed outlets for advertisers that were never seen as possibilities before. Now you can advertise directly on a cell phone, cater your advertisements to select Facebook profiles and even have a QR code in a magazine or poster. It’s almost unbelievable how far advertising can go. Which brings me to this question—How far is too far?

While researching current trends, I stumbled upon an article discussing a brand new interactive billboard in Times Square for the clothing store Forever 21. It was created by Space 150, an advertising agency in Minneapolis. This billboard shoots live video of Times Square in New York City and then a “model” comes onto the screen, takes a photo of the people watching and then shows the Polaroid. It’s easier to understand if you take just a minute and watch this video:

http://vimeo.com/12855619

Crazy, huh? To some this might seem cutting-edge and cool, but to others it may come off as an invasion of privacy or even creepy. Personally, I think this is very interesting and another way to reach out to the consumer and maybe even bring new customers into Forever 21. I find it fascinating that billboards now have these capabilities and it makes me wonder if this billboard is the way of the future. At the rate technology is advancing, I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long to find out.

I know this because Foursquare told me so.

If you’re not already familiar with Foursquare, it’s a location-based mobile service that is this year’s Twitter (a social utility so hot, everyone in business is talking about it, but so new that no one knows if it’s a good idea to spend money on it).

[If you're a restaurant, bar or other local attraction, it's probably a good fit.  If you're not... maybe not so much.]

While I’ve been watching blog posts, news articles and client questions fly through my inbox about Foursquare lately (as well as Gowalla and other similar services), I haven’t seen too many marketing or advertising applications of the service that really caught my attention.  However, the campaign that the Chicago Tourism Board recently launched is the exception.

What the Chicago Foursquare campaign has going for it is that it goes beyond couponing and discounts, or even the gaming mechanism of “badges,” “stickers” or “mayorship” to create a memorable, personally-significant experience of the brand.

I don’t know about you, but Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was one of my favorite movies as a teen.  Invite me to Chicago to recreate some of the scenes from that movie, and you’ve effectively captured my curiosity.

Give me a (digital) memento of the trip, and you’ve created a connection between your brand and one of my fondest youthful memories.

Make outstandingly clever use of a social utility I’m already using, and you’ve inspired my confidence, as a traveler and consumer, that you’re going to make solid recommendations the next time I visit your destination.

Offer a free trip to people who can make the best case for why they should win a trip to recreate a scene from the movie, and see if that doesn’t spur conversation.  (90 likes and 463 comments on a single Facebook status update.)

Eventually, efforts like this will help to build a community of enthusiasts who share the story of their exceptional experience with others in the form of word of mouth advertising.

While Chicago Blackhawk fans are celebrating their big win this week, I think the Explore Chicago should be celebrating this campaign as a big win as well.  When it comes to building brand enthusion through the 5 Cs, this one really hit the goal.

A client came to Doe-Anderson recently and said, “We need a website up and running in three weeks.” 

Our response was, “I’m sorry, did you say ‘three weeks?’”  Holy cow!  We’re not talking about using a turnkey template from Intuit or TemplateMonster.   We’re talking about original design.

The client operates in the public eye and announced the website would be live by a certain date.  So the deadline was real. 

As we all know, client cooperation is essential when it comes to getting work finished in a timely manner.  So, step one was to outline a schedule that showed completion dates for the various phases:

• Site map and architecture
• Copy
• Design
• Programming

 Writing the copy occurred concurrently with design.  Our site map called for limited copy, meaning the designers could simply use “greeking” for content.

Basically, we gave the design team a week.  With efficiency they produced a simple design with flair.  It was quickly approved by the client.  At this point, the programmer could get to work.  She needed approximately three full days to complete and test her work.

As she began programming, copy was still being scrutinized and reworked.  This was not a problem because one of the key components of the website was to make it content managed.  This would allow us to insert and revise copy, without the use of a programmer.  In this case, we utilized WordPress, the most commonly used content-management platform.  Another which we have used successfully is Umbraco.

The advantage of using a content-managed system, such as WordPress or Umbraco, is efficiency.  The cost is less.  And it’s takes less time to make changes to copy.

When it was all said and done, we were able to launch an original website within three weeks that included six tabs, numerous pages of content, an image gallery with more than 20 illustrations and two videos.  The promise to the public was upheld. 

Image by Jordan Brock via Flickr

http://sammyawards.com/

And, just for fun, follow us on Twitter if you aren’t already doing so.

Twitter: DoeAnderson

With gas prices soaring, that might not seem that newsworthy, except for one thing:  he lives 16 miles away from the office, in Charlestown, Indiana.

David has been chronicling his journey to fitness at his personal website, www.fatguy.org since November 2007 when he began trying to change to a healthier lifestyle.   Since he began cycling late last year, he’s lost 53 pounds.

No word as yet as to whether or not he’s secured the domain “fitguy.org” for when he reaches his goal weight.

During 2008, Doe-Anderson collected more ADDYs at the local, regional and national level than at any time during our last eight years (36 in total), including 33 awards at the local ADDYs (as well as Best of Show and two Best of Category awards), 2 awards at the Regional level for America’s Native Spirit web site and for Knob Creek Small Batch Direct Mail, and the NATIONAL SILVER ADDY.

Doe-Anderson made a concerted effort over the last three years to focus on the quality of our creative product, which has made us a reliable favorite both at the award shows and on the new business front.

Kevin Price and Jay Price attended the Atlanta award show on behalf of the agency and picked up our latest hardware.

Credits: Kevin Price, Designer; Jay Davis, Copywriter; Zezza Network, Programming; John Dunivant, Illustrator; David Bonner, Chief Creative Officer

Click here to view the embedded video.

As you can see, those “Interactivillians” are a hard-workin’, fun-lovin’ group that really embrace the whole “web 2.0″ thing.

And now the goods:

• Senior Flash/Interface Developer
• Web/Interface Developer
• Application Developer
• Social Media Manager

To apply for any of the above positions, please send your cover letter and resume to the Doe-Anderson HR Department at hrdoeanderson@doeanderson.com.