Ad News

Dodge- The brand hides three Journey crossovers across America. You find one, you keep it

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-dodge-134706

In an effort to "jump off" the band wagon and shy way from digital advertising, Dodge has launched a campaign to focus on branding through the great outdoors. Their ad agency, Weiden + Kennedy, has introduced a contest where 3 Dodge journey crossovers are hidden somewhere in US and through clues, consumers have to actually go out and search for the car. The best part? You get to keep it if you find it. In essence, they are taking a stand against the internet, even in TV spot, they mention "people don't make a list of websites they want to see before they die." Therefore, this new campaign focuses on this "search engine for the real world," where a focus on going outdoors and experience real life is emphasized. Ironically enough, they don't completely rule out the internet as this whole campaign is carried by YouTube, where videos and a 24/7 camera feed will be made available with clues. Overall, it seems like it will become a successful campaign as it is relatively cheap to promote.

Questions
1. In terms of this specific Dodge campaign, do you think it'll be successful? Does it stay true to their brand? Can you see any potential problems?
1. In our current technology-driven world, is it really possible to escape digital/internet advertising?
2. Do you think social media (FB, twitter, YT, etc) can be harmful to brands? Also, do you think restrictions should be placed on how much info these social media websites can gather from us?

------------------

StumbleUpon Helps Coordinate a Marriage Proposal


http://mashable.com/2011/09/07/stumbleupon-marriage-proposal/

StumbleUpon for the first time ever, has helped coordinate a marriage proposal for couple Marquita Arguello and Tylrel Hartman. This popular website is known for their help in searching and recommending random, but interest-focused web content to over a billion users. Both Arguello and Hartman don't own TVs, so they spend most of their time on the computer, and especially Stumble Upon. Hartman set the entire thing up as he emailed the website asking for their help. He never imagined they would answer and help him set up the entire thing. StumbleUpon rigged Arguello's account so that it would recommend his proposal at the exact time he expected. Although there were some technical difficulties that set back the proposal, eventually a series of Harman holding signs leading up to the question appeared. Not only does this prove the accessibility of major branded websites, it foreshadows the amount of involvement that social media will have on our lives. All in all, it was successful as Arguello was shocked and did accept!

1. Do you think StumbleUpon made the right choice in helping with the marriage proposal? Was it surprising for a website like this to actually respond?
2. Did StumbleUpon open the floodgates for advertisers to hone in on this kind of venture? Potential harm with this kind of power for advertisers?
3. Do you think social media holds too much power in our lives? Will it get worse in the future?