Tiny Popcorn Makes Big Impact for Video iPod Promotion

Bigger isn't always better, particularly with handheld electronics. In this case, tiny promotional popcorn buckets made a big splash in South Africa as part of a video iPod promotion. The tagline on the popcorn was, appropriately, "iPod: Movies in your Pocket." It just goes to show that, from iPods to promos, good things do come in small packages. (via The Unofficial Apple Weblog and our art department manager James)

Super Promotions for Fantastic 4

Sometimes, imagining you are a superhero is just never enough. So, when promoting the fantastic 4 movie, a marketing campaign in Brazil put four promotional mirrors in multiple movie theaters to help passersby see what they would look like if they were superheros. Seeing a cardboard cut-out of a movie poster is great and has been used for years, but nothing can impact the retention of an ad message more than interaction. There is no doubt in my mind that this promotion helped put people in the seats; if only it helped with the acting...

Shaving Success

Putting your message on a promotional mirror is an easy way to get customers to picture themselves using your product or enjoying its benefits. Braun, a manufacturer of men’s razors, put this medium to work in their latest campaign advertising a new style shaver. Once the message was on the mirror, they found a way to amplify the effects of the campaign by putting it in a spot where it was guaranteed to be seen — and used — by the target audience.

The imprinted mirrors each feature a different style of facial hair that consumers can create using the Braun style shaver. When a prospect steps up to the urinal, they have no choice but to look straight ahead at the mirror, and see what they might look like with different facial hair styles! The mirrors do a great job of communicating the fact that the product can help them achieve a new look, and they even demonstrate some possibilities right in the midst of the sales pitch.

A big part of successful advertising is creating vivid imagery that allows prospects to see themselves enjoying the benefits of your product. Braun hit the nail on the head with this gem, a unique ambient campaign that forces people to visualize the outcome of their impending purchase.

From: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/braun_style_shaver_mirror_hiroyuki_ikeuchi

Wood Works

Bosch, a manufacturer of home power tools, needed a way to promote their new lithium-ion rechargeable hand drill. Specifically, Bosch wanted to get retailers, employees, and suppliers excited about the extra-long battery life afforded by the new model. To illustrate this benefit, Bosch sent the target group a unique hands-on promotional calendar that put the new hand drill to the test.

The calendar was a 42 x 59 cm wooden board with 365 screws in it, one for each day of the year. As each day passed, recipients used the tool to drill the screw into the board and check off another day. People were soon able to see that the new Bosch hand drill had enough battery power to last the entire year. This creative promotion did an excellent job illustrating one of the main selling points of the new product.

(via DirectDaily)

Thank You For Not Smoking... Inside.

For this first post, we've decided to highlight a particularly clever promotion from Europe.In this creative marketing campaign, paper made to look like a cigarette was rolled up and placed in mailboxes all over Belgium. When unrolled, the other side of the paper had a message that warned Belgian citizens about the dangers of smoking and urged smokers to take their cigarettes outside, where they could do less damage to their roommates and loved ones. However, asking citizens to smoke outside instead of just quitting altogether makes it seem as though the Belgian company is waffling around a bit. On the other hand, the placement and the design of the ads increases the potential for the campaign's success.


Like the paper used in this campaign, there are many promotional items that your business can use that will purposely be mistaken for another item. Browse our enormous collection of stress balls which can be used for just that purpose. For example, cigarette shaped stress balls could be used for a similar campaign as the one in Belgium, or toothpaste shaped stress balls could be used as a promotional product for a dentist. With close to 600 shapes to choose from, there's bound to be a stress ball that works for your industry!