Innovative Ad Campaign

Coca Cola's  "Share a Coke" campaign has been one of the most successful and innovative ads that I can recall. The Share a Coke campaign was started when the company realized that they needed to appeal to a younger market. So, they decided to swap their Coke logo with today's popular names, and boy did it work!

It wasn't long before the Share a Coke campaign went viral and was visible in just about every social media outlet imaginable. There were commercials, standard billboards, digital billboards, kiosks, radio ads and even the media took notice and caught the Share a Coke buzz. There has also been apparel branded after this campaign.

By swapping out their logos and adding a personal touch to their cans and bottles, Coke took not only their existing market segment by storm, but also reached a totally new market segment that they would may not have otherwise been able to reach. 

Initially, it was 150 popular Australian names that were chosen to be placed on Coke cans and bottles. Australian names were chosen because according to a survey conducted by Coke, half of Australia's teen and young adult population had never tasted a Coke. This was their opportunity, as Coke stated to reconnect with Australia. Coke's marketing campaign proved to be brilliantly successful! Shortly thereafter Coca Cola received tons of request to add more names to their cans and bottles. The company turned to social media once more to have people vote on 50 additional names that would later appear on Coke cans, bottles and apparel.

Due to this widely successful campaign, Coca Cola experienced an 870% increase in Facebook traffic alone! According to Coca Cola's stats, there was also a 12,020,000 earned media impressions, 76,000 virtual Coke cans were shared, 378,000 custom Coke cans were printed, 5% more people were drinking Coke and within 3 months the young adult consumption increased by 7% and the list goes on.

I was so enthused by Coke's ad campaign, that I even purchased a custom Coke to share!

Trello Technology

A technology that I decided to share is called Trello; Trello is a project management application that covers multiple facets. It is a tool that can be utilized on a small scale by the average consumer to create a basic grocery list among other things. The amazing part is Trello can also be used in more of a sophisticated manner by enabling colleagues to stay on track when working collaboratively to complete a project. Best of all, Trello is compatible with multiple devices and is considered to be user friendly because of it's easy to understand three-tier information system of Boards, Lists and Cards. 


The Trello board is a list of lists, filled with cards, thats used by you and your team. In terms of the boards, they are very much similar to the ones found on Pinterest, except they are exclusive only to those that you invite. Trello does not only work in real-time, but is also touted as being "real-fast". Because of this feature, if you are a member of a particular board, whenever changes are made or added, you will be notified immediately.  The notifications come via the Trello platform, but also a host of other systems chosen by the user and if multiple devices are chosen, they will all stay in sync.

The number of users that can contribute to one board is unlimited. Assignments can also be delegated via a Trello board. Trello allows it's users to communicate by adding notes, files, checklists, due dates and even emojis! On a side note, I really like the fact that one can give their boards themed backgrounds in various shades and colors. It is wonderful how something this small can break down the monotony of printed words on a plain white background. Trello has a basic level which is free, however like many other applications, users have the ability to upgrade to Trello Gold or Trello Business Class for a nominal monthly fee.

Girl Scout Cookie Finder Twitter App Campaign

Lately, with it being Girl Scouts season, I have been trying to figure out where I can find boxes of cookies to purchase. I went on Google one day and searched "how to find Girl Scout cookies near me" and discovered that there is a mobile app called Girl Scout Cookie Finder that features all of the cookies and gives the time, date, and location of all cookie booth sales in the country. Since Girl Scout cookies only go on sale once a year for a short period of time, this app allows customers to never miss an opportunity to purchase their favorite cookies and also improves sales for Girl Scouts.

This app is available for iOS and Android powered phones and is free to use. Girl Scouts used Twitter to market their Cookie Finder app by posting a tweet about their delicious cookies with a direct link to download the app (example shown below). In their post, they used the Twitter "App Card" which basically gives viewers a visual of what the app looks like and what they can do on it. The "App Card" also allows people to directly access the app right from the tweet itself. The goal of their campaign was to drive app downloads and increase sales since customers were able to locate where to purchase cookies.

According to the information in Google Play (where you download Android phone apps), the Android version of Girl Scout Cookie Finder has been downloaded 100,000-500,00 times. I could not find information regarding amount of downloads for the iOS app, but I'm assuming it is around the same, if not greater, amount of downloads. It was also found that, due to the Twitter campaign, there was 19,500+ downloads of the app directly from the twitter "App Card."

MOBILE iOS APP

MOBILE ANDROID APP 

New Technology - Smart Grid for Smart LED Streetlights

ComEd had developed a smart streetlight program using LED technology for greater energy efficiency and visibility. The wireless smart meter is a two-way communication handled remotely for monitoring and controlling the streetlights. Smart LED streetlights combine high efficiency LED luminaires with wireless communication capabilities, potentially offering significant benefits to both utilities and their customers that elect to use them. 

The pilot was deployed in Maywood back in  2015. ComEd offered a program to all municipalities to install Smart LED streetlights for better understanding of the Smart Grid technology, reduction of there streetlight operating cost, improvement of the lamp outage detection, feature functionality such as: dimming, flashing and billing based on metered usage.

The Smart- Ready LED streetlights are bright white lights that enhance safety and security that have opened the door to more benefits on ComEd's smart grid wireless network. The technology allows notifications to be sent to ComEd for repair of a lamp at the specific location. Now, with having this technology the repair time is shorten and a crew is dispatched immediately with the proper materials for maintenance.

By having the smart grid technology has also give communities the ability to install water metering technology that would assist in monitoring of water usage rates on an on-demand basis, money-saving and environmental benefits.

Innovative AD campaign.

There are dozens of ad campaigns out there that grab my attention, however, most of the time I find that the ads are not clever enough to grab and keep my interest.  I have found that the best ad campaigns come in the form of product placement.  Have you ever been watching your favorite television show or music video and all of a sudden you see a Wheat Thins box or Ciroc vodka, this is product placement at its finest.  A company that is notorious for taking advantage of product placement is Pepsi and Coco-Cola, Pepsi Cola has long since used celebrity endorsements to push their products.  Some of these placements are more noticeable such as when you saw Britney Spears pop out of a Pepsi truck and perform.  Other placements are a little more subtle so you may miss them, which in my personal opinion makes them all the more brilliant. For example in the hit tv show Friends, there is a scene where Ross is having a heated conversation with his sister whilst holding a Coca-Cola can, here are some more examples that you might have missed:

The idea behind product placement according to Priceonomics analysis is that it's easier to sell a viewer on the value of a product if they're emotionally invested in the storyline in which it's presented, rather than a viewer who's watching an ad totally out of context.  I find that this sort of advertisement works a little better on persuading my interest, I'm one of those naturally skeptical people and I instantly shut down my receptors when I hear a sales pitch.  However, if you can find away to grab my interest without me being consciously aware then you've got yourself a sale.

Best use of technology - Nowait Mobile App

Imagine you were watching TV all comfortable at home and you got really hungry, so you decided to go out to dinner. All you kept thinking about on your drive to the restaurant was what you were going to eat so that once you sat down you could order right away. You finally arrive at the restaurant, all excited to finally eat, and you find out that there is an hour wait. You're extremely bummed because, had you known there was a wait, you could have stayed home on the couch for awhile longer and watched TV while you waited, but there was no way for you to know until you got to the restaurant. 

Well, now there is! The new mobile app, "Nowait," provides individuals with the most current wait times of local restaurants and allows them to join the wait list through their mobile phone, in the comfort of their own home (or wherever else they may be)! The Nowait mobile app was founded by Robb Myer and created by a technology company called Nowait Inc.

The Nowait app began as a text message waitlist system and has developed to bring solutions to restaurant management and has saved the valuable time of millions of users. This app is available for iOS and Android mobile phones and recently partnered with Yelp to connect consumers to Nowait's restaurant partners. 

Restaurants who partner with the Nowait app are offered: waitlist and reservation management, seating availability on the Nowait Guest app and Yelp, smart quoting, custom floor map and server sections, private verified guest feedback, and an online analytics suite. Individuals who download and use the Nowait app are able to discover new restaurants and decide where they want to eat from a selection of thousands of restaurants, join the waitlist from their phone, get notified when their table is ready, and rate their experience after dining. This is truly an amazing use of technology and helps both restaurant guests and restaurant management through the use of a mobile phone web application. 

Visit nowait.com for more information

Best Use of Existing Technology - Recently - Brittany Fanale

We all take photos constantly with our phones. They have replaced the traditional camera that we used to carry around to snap photographs. As technology for cameras have evolved, our methods of viewing photos have also changed. Originally photos had to be printed to be enjoyed, there was no scrolling through a digital photo album or sharing photographs instantly via media messaging.

Recently is an app downloaded directly to your phone and, uses the existing technology of the printing press combined this with your digital photograph library within your phone. It takes fifty photos from the past month and creates a high end quality magazine of your photographs. You are able to manipulate which photographs you want included as well as the layout of each page allowing you to highlight experiences and memories month to month in your life.

This app bridges the gap between taking photographs and printing photographs. We all have hundreds of not yet printed photographs we would like to keep and share with others but find it hard to do when you are scrolling endlessly looking for that one photograph. Now you can capture and share the moments monthly in a convenient way. The app also allows you to order duplicate copies to share with others and keeps a history of all your past orders in case a copy is lost and needs to be replaced. This is the best use of the original technology of the printing press pairing it with the digital photo technology on our mobile devices.