Coca-Cola has launched Dilli Dil Se marketing campaign with the help of interactive touch screen kiosks.

Developed and conceived by digital agency C3CUBE Multimedia for Coca-Cola India, the kiosk network is part of an integrated marketing programme to leverage sponsorship of the Delhi Daredevils during the DLF IPL 2009.

Touch screen kiosks are generally seen at airports, stations, banks and museums primarily aimed at facilitating customer transactions, information or ticketing.

However, this is the first time a kiosk network has been created solely for the purpose of promoting a sporting event and providing entertainment in a safe, fun-filled environment.

The self service kiosks turned out to be a major success as over 20,000 users between the ages of 13-30 logged onto the Dilli Dil Se kiosks network to cheer and celebrate the Delhi Daredevils steady climb to the top of the league tables and into the semi-finals at the DLF IPL 2009.

 The modern kiosk network integrated a large 19 inch letterbox touchscreen interface and a 32 inch LCD TV and provided dynamic content such as a promotion, a private social network, video mail, games, a juke box, Bluetooth downloads, SMS tweets, ads, 3d virtual tours, videos, team player game cards and much much more.

“This is a first-of-its-kind entertainment kiosk network” says Raja Choudhury, who has been building award-winning kiosks, websites, videos and TV programs in the US, UK and Indian markets since 1993.

“We believe such a network that integrates Web 2.0, flash games, a social network, Bluetooth, video mail, SMS and music over a 2 Mbps broadband connection, has not been deployed so far. Coca-Cola India believed in our vision and we were able to make this possible during the IPL.”

The new marketing strategy attracted key partners to the experiment by Coca-Cola India and C3CUBE during the DFL IPL event.

Company giants such as McDonald’s, Nirulas, DFL DT Malls, Kwality Group, Zenga Moblile Apps, Pind Baluchis, INOX cinemas, Vikings Game Zone, Airtel Broadband and Waves were just some of the key partners involved.

Mansoor Siddiqi, Director – Integrated Marketing Communications at Coca-Cola India said that “The Dilli Dil Se kiosk network was a fresh initiative in the marketing of a brand asset. It enabled local Delhi Daredevils fans to cheer their team on, in an involving and fun manner, and achieved engagement metrics beyond our expectations.”

Air New Zealand

The edgy marketing campaign due to depart on 13th October 2009 will see the flight depart from Los Angeles and arrive in Auckland, New Zealand attempting to attract American singles to visit New Zealand. However, it is open to other travellers as well. Round Trip ticket prices start at $780 (USD).

“New Zealand is often positioned as a thrill seeker, adventure destination, but it’s also very romantic too,” said Sarah Miller-Reeves, PR and sponsorship executive for the Americas at Air New Zealand. “This allows us to present the romantic nature of New Zealand… really engaging a wider cross section of American consumers.”

To engage the attention of potential single travellers to the flight, Air New Zealand created an online community using Ning, www.thematchmakingflight.com The online community has been designed for people to sign up, create profiles, interact with one another and pose flight-related questions to a moderator.

Once the consumer has booked their flight, additional features on the network are unlocked, such as the ability to become acquainted with the flight crew and send Facebook gifts to fellow passengers.

Once on-board, the flight will feature romantic movies, speed dating, and other matchmaking games to encourage interaction between those on-board.

There will also be a pre and post flight parties in Los Angeles and Auckland.

“Air New Zealand is always looking for fun ways to improve our customers’ experience, and we love the thought of playing matchmaker to help them find a mate in New Zealand or in the air,” said Roger Poulton, Air New Zealand’s vice president – the Americas. “If your dating profile says you enjoy fine wine and long walks on the beach, then New Zealand is your perfect place for romance. And let’s not forget our charming Kiwi accents—what more could an American want?”

Through its marketing campaign, Air New Zealand are playing with the idea that the cities are on opposite sides of the world and have different climates by incorporating the idea of ‘opposites attract’ into its messaging.

The airline company are also taking full advantage of social networking sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr, and video site 12 seconds to boost the advertisement of the campaign.

Miller-Reeves said the airline, which is working on this campaign with its AOR, CRT/tanaka, will likely work with its usual partner organizations like Tourism New Zealand and the New Zealand Wine Growers to further promote the flight.

The matchmaking flight is one of many edgy marketing campaigns by Air New Zealand. Previous campaigns have included, the ‘Pink Flight’ for LGBT travellers and the ‘Cranial Billboard’ campaign in October.

“We definitely try to be more edgy and kind of push a little bit and really think outside the box,” Miller-Reeves said.

The Social Media and Marketing survey conducted by McCann Erickson found that 86 per cent of marketing experts thought that social media is more than just a one hit wonder.

Despite this postive feedback, 65.6 per cent of marketers say they don’t know how to use social marketing sites to advertise and promote their business.

At present, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the most popular social networking sitesfor marketers, with 72.8 per cent, 42.4 per cent and 40.2 per cent having a presence on them respectively.

Many offices have revealed that IT departments have blocked access to sites like Twitter or Facebook-effectively stopping marketers monitoring how to fit their brand in with the ever expanding social trend.

Currently over half of UK businessess using social media sites use them to raise their profile or PR, followed by 48 per cent for networking and 30 per cent for advertising.

Joanna Randall, Head of PR at McCann Erickson, Bristol, said, “This study highlights that some of the UK’s major businesses are ignoring social media channels — but they do so at their peril.

“Word of mouth is now more powerful than ever — opinions can be shared with a global audience at the click of a button.

“We all have the ability to influence, both positively and negatively, and therefore as marketing professionals we should be considering how best to harness the power of social media.”

The ‘Goo on the Loose’ campaign, developed by agency, CMW, has seen direct mailing ’security strongboxes’ sent to hardcore Goo fans who talk about the chocolaty brand on social networking sites.

The box contains Twisted bars, with an empty Twisted wrapper and a hole at the bottom of the box, were one of the chocolate bars has escaped.

The recipient of the box is then challenged to become an agent for Cadbury’s Intelligence Agency and track down the missing chocolate bar.

Online ads have been designed to direct potential agents to the site.

Visitors to the dedicated website www.cremeeggtwisted.com are able to sign up as agents and are tasked to track down the missing chocolate bars.

To aid agents in their search, CMW have mashed together Google Maps and Twitter to provide clues and targets which have been ear-marked for a ‘gooing’.

Visitors also have the chance to win a  £20,000 luxury trip to Morocco and for the top ten agents, a cash prize of up to £20,000.

Agents must sign up on the Creme Egg Twisted website before the 7th June.

Titled ‘See the World. Visit London,’ the campaign will be released during the handover on August 24th, revealing a fresh global identity.

Created by Saffron, the statement is set to promote London as the number one city destination as well as an Olympic host city.

Visit London’s marketing director, Martine Ainsworth-Wells said, “So many city and country brands with their brush-stroked suns and rah rah cheerfulness, whether appropriate or not, fall for me-too conventions.

“London’s name says it all.”

Martine believes that a city’s branding and marketing should reflect its personality, but at the same time be timeless, as countries’ tourism budgets are constantly being reviewed.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport are currently reviewing the government’s decision to cut the tourist boards funding by 18 per cent, leaving Visit Britain to put its review of its identity on hold.

“London’s branding, like the city, is clean, and classical, vintage and modern,” says Ainsworth-Wells. “Its simplicity buys its longevity and flexibility.”

Martine believes that Paris’ logo with the Eiffel tower image is out-dated and not moving with the times.

Visit London is constantly finding new ways to adapt its identity, occasionally dropping the word, ‘Visit’ from its campaigns, such as the production of umbrellas wearing the line, ‘London. It rains more in Rome.’

Visit London are battling against a 1 per cent slip in visitor levels, as well as a major decline in consumer spending, this year. The body aim to boost consumer spending through the use of headline-grabbing fares from low-cost airlines, and improved rail links to the Continent, which has already seen British breaks increase in popularity.

Rivals around the globe are already revamping their identity, including Los Angeles tourist board, LA Inc, who are promoting their state as the perfect city destination for film fans. Hong Kong Tourism Board are also on the ball, turning to their website, and Facebook to boost their image.

Competition is also rife within the UK, with other cities across the nation winning bids for future sporting events, such as Liverpool, joint European Capital of Culture, and Glasgow who will host the Commonwealth Games in 2014. York , are currently promoting its status as European Tourism City of the Year.

The campaign to refresh London’s identity, will need to be stronger than ever in order to generate the expected £2.1bn boost in tourism revenue during the next 10 years.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) claim that every week around 39 pubs are closing down in the UK, while at the same time the government is believed to be planning to increase the tax on beer.

The fall of UK pubs comes during the struggle to make ends meet during the current recession, with consumers spending less in the pubs and more in the supermarkets, purchasing cheaper alcohol in bulk.

This fall has led the BBPA to run the Axe the Beer Campaign, specifically targeting chancellor Alistair Darling’s plans to raise the Budget on April 22nd.

So far, the campaign has seen over 200 MP’s sign a parliamentary motion to scrap the increase in tax.

Wychwood brewery, on the eve of Cask Ale week, launched a protest against Parliament, projecting one of their famous Hobgoblin characters on Big Ben in London.

The Hobgoblin character was posed in the style of Lord Kitchener, in the famous WW1 recruitment poster, accompanied by the phrase, “British beer needs you!”

Stephen Oliver, managing director of Marston’s Beer Company, which owns Wychwood, said, “Cask Beer is one of a few British treasures left. Crafted using British grown ingredients, for thousands of years, it is truly part of our heritage and something we vigilantly need to protect.”

Cask Ale week is a celebration of Britian’s national drink with over 6,000 pubs nationwide, running events to keep the British tradition alive.

Mark Hastings, BBPA director of communications, said, “Beer is our national drink.

“The Government should support national champions, but our Chancellor continues to load punitive tax increases on beer.

“Last year alone he put up tax on a pint by an eye-watering 18 per cent.

“Now he plans to put it up again in the Budget on April 22. The British people don’t want it. It’s time to say enough is enough and stop any further tax increase in this year’s Budget.”

Wychwood Beer are encouraging people to jump on board the campaign by mimicking the Hobgoblin pose and uploading it on their Facebook homepage, ‘British Beer Needs You.’

National Heart Forum contacted Ofcom after the body monitored reports that Domino’s sponsorship of the Sky One TV show appeared to be avoiding the HFSS restrictions by simply not showing the pizza product in the programme credits. The HFSS regulations were drawn up in 2005 and even at this point a concern was raised that brand advertising and sponsorship was a potential loophole to the regulations put in place in regards to advertising. 

The NHF claimed that the sponsorship credits “show everything to promote pizzas except the finished product: from the preparation and packaging to the anticipated delivery of a dial-up pizza” and that the company was “failing to observe the spirit as well as the letter of the rules”. The Simpsons is broadcast between 7 pm and 9 pm in “peak viewing hours for children”, according to NHF.

Ofcom examined the four episodes of the Sky show broadcast on 30 January transmitted back to back and found the total 16 sponsorship credits consisted of “a loose narrative” showing two men watching TV, ordering a pizza and representations of a pizza being made and despatched. The closing frame of each credit contained the words “Domino’s Delivery Service” and the order telephone number.

The findings have been argued and have said that these credits do not breach the rules, also adding that the audience of The Simpsons is not exclusively children and that adults actually comprise 72% of a typical shows audience. 

Ofcom investigated the claims of the simpsons actually being viewed by a higher percentage of adults and stated that in the first quarter of 2008 the actual audience under 16 for The Simpsons was 81 per cent higher that the average expected for a multi-channel audience and so advertising in or around the programme was subject to the rules on HFSS products.

Domino’s ended its sponsorship of the programme ‘The Simpsons’ at the end of last year.