Amanda Gaid's Brain

Like burgers? Like watching TV? Well, you’re in luck! America’s favorite fast food chain is taking its image into its own hands, launching an in-store TV channel poised to air movie and music previews, human interest stories and local content like high school sports updates. 

Allen Adamson, a managing partner of brand-building firm Landor Associates, says: “While they’re in line getting their hamburger, there’s no escape. The podiums where companies can tell their stories have eroded … after the Super Bowl the list gets very short very fast.”

The channels have already been tested in San Diego, L.A. and Las Vegas, and are scheduled to debut in 800 restaurants in Central and Southern California within the next few months. If successful, the project may expand nationwide.

The dining areas will have two 42- to 46-inch screens that will be visible in 70% of the dining area. Courteously, the stores will include (crowded) “quiet zones” for customers who do not wish to view. 

The programming will be scheduled in one-hour cycles consisting of 20- to 22-minute  installments, or “pods.” Each pod will have several varying segments, including:

• “The McDonald’s Achievers” profiling local high school and college athletes
• “Mighty Moms,” a focus on local moms juggling home life with careers in sports such as training or coaching
• “McDonald’s Channel Music News” covering new musical releases, acts and tours
• “Vimby,” the brainchild of reality TV mogul Mark Burnett (“The Apprentice,” “Survivor”) which will cover music, art, fashion, night life, culture and lifestyle news

Of the 8 minutes of commercials that will play every hour, only 90 seconds will feature McDonald’s advertising.

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This fall, Diet Coke will begin brandishing a limited edition can design that super-magnifies the section of the original logo where the “D” in Diet sits on top of the “k” in Coke. 

The design is the work of San Francisco-based design firm Turner Duckworth, and is part of Coke’s partnership with StyleCaster.com, a beauty and fashion-trend Web magazine which has christened the new design one of its “new looks for fall.”

Some would say it’s a bold risk, but the number-one selling diet soda in the world doesn’t seem too worried about it.

After a 23-year hiatus, the infamous Domino’s Noid is coming back for a week on the corporate Facebook page, where he (yes, he; not it) will be featured in an arcade-style game that will award a free pizza to the highest-scoring gamer every minute.

The Noid was created in 1986 by Ann Arbor advertising agency Mich, and since then has been featured in multiple advertisements, a Nintendo game, a Michael Jackson video and even an appearance on popular animated TV shows ”The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” (where he delivers a sermon on the sanctity of deliciousness and gets beaten up by mayor Adam West, respectively).

If you’re unfamiliar, take a look at this 1980’s Noid commercial and be just as endearingly annoyed as the rest of us.

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London-based music streaming service, Spotify, has finally launched in the U.S. this month after a year of licensing delays and difficulties. 

Coca-Cola has positioned itself as Spotify’s exclusive non-alcoholic beverage partner, and has offered early access invite codes to new users through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Other partners include Motorola and Chevrolet.

Linda Cronin, Coca-Cola’s integrated communications director for North America, commented on hopes that Spotify’s social media integration and mobile apps will let it “engage teens and young adults through one of their top passions.”

The partnership plans to evolve more in the future, but for now is seem through audio and display ads on Spotify that can target users based on their listening habits as well as other demographic information.

In support of vitaminwater’s “You’re Up” campaign, the company’s new bus shelter advertisements include USB cell phone chargers for people to use while they’re waiting for their bus.

The ads are currently up and basking in the high-traffic transit routes of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Boston.

The campaign, which was devised by Miami-based agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, was designed to support the idea that vitaminwater can provide a quick boost of energy during a hectic day.

In celebration of its 15th season, the makers of Comedy Central’s South Park have developed an extensive campaign pithily titled Year of the Fan. During this experiential marketing campaign, South Park producers have teamed up with the Frito-Lay division of Pepsi-Co to bring to life the show’s fondest fictional snack, Cheesy Poofs.

One-and-a-half million single-serving bags of Cheesy Poofs will be sold in Walmart retailers for $2.99 beginning in August 2011.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show’s cheesy and poofy snack, here’s a comparison of the animated package from the show and the one that will be hitting stores next month:

Not bad, huh?

If you’re a die-hard South Park fan but don’t feel like buying your own bag, you can visit Comic-Con International this year in San Diego from July 21 to 24, where you’ll find a 15,000 square foot exhibition recreating a couple of well-known “sets” from the show. The exhibition will also feature memorabilia, artwork, trivia contests, photo and tattoo booths, and a station to transform yourself into a South Parkavatar and upload it to social media sites like Facebook. And of course, free Cheesy Poofs!

(Spoiler alert: I’m pretty sure they’re just going to be Cheetos Puffs.)

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Coca-Cola and the World Wildlife Fund have teamed together to create the first-ever billboard made of plants that absorb air pollution. The 60-by-60-foot billboard in the Philippines is covered in Fukien tea plants, each of which can absorb up to 13 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

So let’s do the math… if the billboard contains 3,600 pots (made from old Coke bottles, mind you), and each pot can absorb 13 pounds of pollution, this billboard can absorb 46,800 pounds of pollution per year!

The placement of the Fukien plants will cause them to grow sideways, and a drip irrigation system will save fertilizer and water through a network of tubing, valves, pipes and emitters.

Take a look:

Take a look at this video from Tesco. After evaluating its market in South Korea, Tesco found a brilliant way to become the most popular online retailer without building more stores.

How did Tesco do it? It brought the store to the people, turning subway stations into virtual stores! Images identical to the physical store isles are posted all over the subway walls, and busy customers use their smart phones to scan QR codes on specific items while they wait for their trains. The items are then shipped directly to their homes after the online transaction.

Tesco saw a challenge, analyzed its environment, and delivered a revolutionary solution that fit perfectly into the lives of its target market. This campaign alone increased online sales 130%.

Research firm eMarketer predicts that online ad spending in 2011 will increase 20% to roughly $31 billion. These numbers haven’t been seen since around 2007, when advertisers began cutting budgets for the onset of the recession.

While television still touts 38% of total ad spend, Internet spending continues to steadily creep up every year, taking total market share from TV as well as other media like newspapers and magazines.

Display ads like Google AdWords that appear around Webpage borders are receiving a new-found burst of attention, and are expected to reach $12.3 billion in 2011. This would mark an astounding 25% increase from last year.

Online video advertising, like the commercials played before YouTube videos, is the fastest-growing online advertising segment, expected to increase 52% to $2.16 billion.

Take a look at eMarketer’s graph to get a better idea of online ad spending and how it’s changed over the years:

Either way you cut this cake, Internet advertising is on the rise, and it’s definitely here to stay!

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Burger King announced that advertising strategies will now focus more on the food, giving the iconic “King” the boot for the time being.

The company has decided to switch advertising agencies from Miami’s Crispin Porter + Bogusky to New York’s McGarryBowen, the same agency that launched Verizon’s Droid and initiated Disney’s birthday promotion to bring business during a decline in tourism.

“The King is not our brand,” said Burger King North America President Steve Wiborg. “He reasonates with a certain age deomographic and in certain media. I don’t think he has general mass market appeal.”

As for the future direction of Burger King advertisement, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Read more on MiamiHerald.com