Happy Monday, my friends! Here is a look at a few clever media executions that has us thinking, well, mostly about food.
Panera Bread Turns Up The Heat
We know that advertising is more effective when sight, sound and motion are all used. So Panera Bread raised the stakes on a few boring ‘ol billboards by bringing a two dimensional cup of soup to life.
Using extensions and a smoke machine, billboards in Chicago, Green Bay, Detroit, Nashville, Kansas City and Cleveland wooed chilly residents into a cozy meal. Now if they could only pipe in smell.
Subscription Box by Arby’s
I’ll admit that, once upon a time, I had a mild addiction to subscriptions. I have enough sample sized face washes and toners to survive an apocalypse to prove it. But never did I consider the one subscription I couldn’t live without was from Arby’s.
The roast beef retailer announced a subscription box of Arby’s swag last month and to the surprise of many, it sold out in under an hour. Fans gobbled up the limited inventory, fawning over all of the seasonal/themed gear that they didn’t know they needed in their lives.
What delights me about this stunt is that they’ve really focused on surprising and delighting their existing customers by deepening the relationship and affinity. In addition, they’ve turned this army of supporters into walking billboards and insta-promoters. Well played.
Rising Tides Float all… Pizzas?
Instead of a spendy spot in the Super Bowl, Domino’s Pizza launched it’s Points for Pies program, where for 12-weeks users can earn rewards for eating pizza, which they can then redeem for (more) free pizza. And points are earned not just for eating Domino’s pizza, but pizza from anywhere, including their own homes.
So what’s the catch, you ask? I suppose it depends on how you feel about data collection by advertisers. Eater calls it a “clever data grab from America’s most tech-savvy chain”, explaining that through its mobile app, online orders and other sources, this stunt is the latest in its efforts to map out hyper-local demographics and stamp out the competition through low prices and reliable delivery.
Machiavellian or not, who can resist pizza? Correction, free pizza. Not I.
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