Ah, summer. Time for Canadians to emerge from hibernation and enjoy the great outdoors. But, with everyone unchained from TVs and computers, how are you going to reach them? Smart marketers are getting outside, too.
There are a lot of stellar summer promos out there, but these two are truly a cut above.
KFC commands you to Picnic Now!
KFC Canada wants you to picnic as much as you can this summer – and they’re hoping you’ll be bringing the bucket along when you do.
Not only is the QSR tying all of its national summer ads (P-O-P, TV, radio) to that universal symbol of picnicking delights – the red and white gingham blanket – street teams have also been showing up at festivals and busy intersections in the GTA, where they initiate a ‘picnic interuptus’ by carrying placards and chanting ‘Picnic Now, Picnic Now!’
While health code restrictions prevent KFC from handing out free food, the event team is handing out vouchers for free ribs, as well as frisbees. KFC Canada’s director of marketing, Michael Grazer, estimates that within the first few weeks about 15,000 people had already been exposed to the picnic interuptus. The chicken chain worked with Y&R’s Toronto office on the campaign, which launched May 9.
TAG! You’re it
Led by Hunt Mistress Trish Stratus (of WWE fame), a team of ‘renegade bounty hunter women’ is on the loose across Canada. They’re on a mission to capture good-smellin’ boys all summer long and promote Gillette’s new body spray, TAG. While small teams of two or three have been on the prowl nation-wide for the past couple of months, the next concentrated effort of the promo, by Toronto’s Mosaic Group, will take place around Calgary during Stampede Week in early July.
The huntresses will distribute sticky ‘tags’ to women to stick on guys they find most attractive. The one who gets the most tags is entered to win a trip to the TAG Lodge (location: top secret) in September. Meanwhile, the huntresses snap pictures of various prey throughout the night. Photos are uploaded to an online ‘trophy room’ at www.consideryourselfwarned.com, where girls can vote for the hottest guys and guys can check to see if they made the cut. The site has been getting tens of thousands of hits weekly.
