Promo - March 2009 - (Page 42)

“PROMO “PROMOLAND” Is Elvis in the house? No doubt the King of Rock ’n’ Roll loved his gaudy jewels, and the women loved him all the more for wearing them. So it would be only fitting that a large, gold, bejeweled ring would be the centerpiece of a new “gift” that Facebookers can send to each other. The gift is part of a major marketing campaign that Graceland has launched to bring visitors to the former home of Elvis Presley. Elvis has two Facebook pages, one with 500,000 fans, says Scott Williams, vice president of marketing for Elvis Presley Enterprises. Clue Me In Move over Col. Mustard. There’s a new agent in town. Toymaker Hasbro is updating its Clue board game by adding a text-messaging feature. In Clue Secrets & Spies, players who use the optional feature can text a code to “spy headquarters” to release messages needed in their mission to become the ultimate spy. It’s the first time Hasbro has added text messaging to a board game. The company plans to maintain support for the feature through Dec. 31, 2011. The game, which launches this fall for $24.99, has players acting as international spies who try to infiltrate a criminal league. The agent who completes the most missions before his or her identity is uncovered wins the game. It also includes an ultraviolet secret decoder that reveals hidden missions to the players. The game is suitable for two to five players ages nine and up. —Amy Johannes Coupon Facts Even though 22% of consumers admit they are self-conscious when it comes to redeeming coupons at the grocery store, many are shrugging off the uncomfortable feeling to save money. The social networking aspect of marketing is a fairly new component in the plan to bring in fresh admirers. “It’s all about introducing new people to our brand,” he says. The ring is one of a series of gifts, or icons users can send to one another, that go live this month, including music sheets, gold records, shoes and sunglasses. But the TCB ring is the showpiece. TCB stands for Taking Care of Business, which is what Elvis called his band. Elvis’ TCB ring was one of his most famous pieces of custom jewelry. The emblem was also used in a necklace and several other items. The campaign also involves the usual suspects—print, outdoor and 30-second spots. “Elvis was a very unique combination of someone who was physically attractive, who wanted to be really successful and worked hard at what he was doing,” Williams says. —Patricia Odell • 57% of those who admitted that clipping coupons was awkward now say they don’t care as long as they save money. • 26% of consumers under age 35 said the economic downturn has reduced their inhibitions about coupon usage. • Nearly 23% who suffer financially have become less self-conscious about redeeming coupons. • About 40% of people ages 35 to 54 said they used more coupons in the last six months, compared to 36% of consumers ages 55 to 64, and 25% of those ages 65 and older. Source: ICOM Information & Communications 42 March 2009 / WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM / Promo http://WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - March 2009

Promo - March 2009 Contents Editor's Note No Lumps Sampling by Surprise Legal Check Smartphone Shoppers Taxes and Twitter New Rules of the Road Commentary In Your Face Phones and Flash Social Studies The Agency Center Resource Center Peer-to-Peer Index of Advertisers

Promo - March 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.