Marketing and all things related

Times have changed. Gasoline is suddenly a coveted affinity reward and sweepstakes prize. This seems strange since gas smells bad, and is flammable, but hey—gas keeps the economy rolling (with the exception of GM.) So to take advantage of gas notoriety, Shell Oil is sponsoring a “million dollar giveaway” sweepstakes, in which six winners receive free gas for life. There are lesser prizes naturally, but think of free gas for life as the ultimate dowry. If you haven’t already heard, expect to see 15 and 30 seconds commercials spots, radio, online at Yahoo! and print with Car and Driver magazine. “We know this is an extremely relevant promotion for consumers because we tested a variety of innovative concepts, and winning a lifetime supply of gasoline was by far the most compelling,” said Karen Wildman, brand and communications manager for Shell. Maybe winners should be selected from a drag race runoff—naw.

Everybody and their dog wants a piece of Disney’s upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie. (That is everybody who is not already wed to Cars or Superman Returns.) We can’t really understand the connection between Volvo and the movie, but... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb is a sucker for logo coffee mugs. We have an impressive collection of consumer, b2b, and academic models to choose from, and we delight in rotating through the collection. We’re partial to Denison University this week, but hey,... Continue Reading

You know you’ve had a long day, when you crack open a cold one, and your beer can speaks to you. But maybe you should listen to what that can of beer has to say. You see, your can of beer... Continue Reading

Somewhere, there is a place where dreams come true, and Uncle Walt (rest his soul,) wants you to believe that place is Disney World. And beginning this fall, Disney is about to make dreams come true with their Year of... Continue Reading

Until today, we were not familiar with AbeBooks, a well-know international bookseller based in beautiful Victoria, BC. But a colleague at Know More Media sent us this link to their wonderfully witty 10th anniversary celebration. The celebration offers a list... Continue Reading

Back in elementary school, we could not wait to join the summer reading program at the library. There was always some nifty chart where you could add a gold star for every book you read. At the end there was... Continue Reading

Once again, Marketing Blurb is perplexed by a confusing sweepstakes promotion. This time, the sponsor is Morton Salt. We all know and love the Morton Salt girl, who has been around since 1914. The premise of the sweepstakes is simple... Continue Reading

Now don’t get us wrong, Marketing Blurb loves ice cream as much as the next pundit. But we are baffled by the Baskin-Robbins Find the Pink Spoon promotion. The ice cream maker is partnering with Best Western, Orbits, and Budget... Continue Reading

Beginning next week, Dodge is sponsoring a promotion road trip for three teams of college students. Each team boards a new Dodge Caliber in the college town and rides to Miami to promote the vehicle and raise money for charity.... Continue Reading

It used to be that fast food restaurants and junk food manufacturers loved to jump about movie tie-in promotions. But concern about childhood obesity is opening the doors for other advertisers to consider movie tie-in deals. Marketing Blurb already alerted... Continue Reading

Back in March, Marketing Blurb told you at the Volvo Trucks promotion tied to Disney’s upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We didn’t really understand the connection, and we continued to be perplexed by Volvo cars jumping onto the same... Continue Reading

Most of country has experienced a mild Spring this year. But yesterday and today in the Ohio Valley, the weather was plain hot. So our thoughts turned to an ice cream cone. But lo—we had no cones! Fortunately, Ben and... Continue Reading

While Superman is saving the world this summer, Marketing Blurb will be spending another day at the keyboard saving consumers from marketing. But Superman’s task is certainly more exciting that ours, so we will tell you that Pepsi is sponsoring... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb hates to sound self-righteous, but we believe that Pop-Tarts sponsoring the American Idols Live Tour is a promo marriage made in heaven. We believe this because those consumers likely to eat Pop-Tarts are the same people with the IQ necessary to watch... Continue Reading

Sometimes we feel tired and weary, sick of trying and racked with pain. But fortunately, we discovered how to escape, and the secred it Nestle’s PowerBar Pria. Yes, the bar is targeted to women, but we figure if we eat... Continue Reading

We knew this had to happen. Popular dry cat food marketer Meow Mix is creating a reality TV show for cats. Here’s the deal. Ten felines, called cat-testants, will be selected from shelters across the country, and sent to New... Continue Reading

Cruising through the news online tonight, we discovered the familiar blue box logo for Nationwide, and their popular Life Comes at You Fast campaign. This particular online ad features a burst of themed photos surrounding life events like marriage and... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb likes Tequila as much as the next pundit. But we are distressed to hear about a Jose Cuervo promotion to launch their new flavored premium tequilas. First, real men don’t drink flavored tequila—but that is not our beef.... Continue Reading

Marketing Blurb doesn’t frequent Denny’s restaurants, and we’re always confusing them with Big Boy, which we avoid as well. But if we did order any Denny’s American Dinner Classic entrée this summer, we would receive a coupon for a free... Continue Reading