I was with a friend last night discussing the advantages of interactive marketing. There are far too many to name, but I think the ability to be creative is one of the most compelling reasons, followed by the opportunity for viral messaging (peer to peer). One problem some people have is finding trustworthy partners who can produce top quality material. It’s true that the really good people are always busy working on other projects. The key is to engage them ahead of time and not expect a finished product overnight.

I hope to give more insight in future posts, but I wanted to share a great campaign my friend created while working at his former advertising agency. His task was to introduce the Philips Bodygroom shaver to the American market.

His campaign won a ton of creative awards, including:
The One Show Interactive: Gold Award (2007)
Clio Interactive: Gold (2007)
Art Directors Club: Distinctive Merit (2007)
Webby Awards: Webby Award & People’s Voice (2007)
Cannes Cyber Lions: Gold (2006)
The FWA: Site of the Year (2006)
The FWA: Site of the Month (2006)
The FWA: Site of the Day (2006)
Design Interact: Site of the Week (2006)
Advertising Age: Digital Campaign of the Year (2006)

Check it out when you have a chance:
http://shaveeverywhere.com/

And if you want to get in touch with my friend for your interactive marketing needs, let me know. He now works for a highly creative firm that can help make a big impact on your marketing.

Ever find yourself at a gas station looking for directions?  When I was younger, my family pulled into a gas station in the Bronx, New York looking for directions out of the Bronx.  My dad asked the station clerk for directions, and she replied, “fill up your tank and I can help you.”  My dad filled up the tank and went back for the instructions, to which the woman replied “sorry, no hablo English.”

Soon, you won’t have to rely on the gas station service clerks for directions.  According to a CNN article and the Gilbarco Veeder-Root website, Google has formed a partnership with gas station pump maker Gilbarco Veeder-Root, which just introduced their Applause Media System.  Gilbarco’s pumps will now include an Internet connection displaying Google’s mapping service on a small screen.

At first, pumpers will be asked to find their location by scrolling through many popular categories, including hotels, restaurants and hospitals selected by the gas station’s owner.  Once a destination is selected, the pump will print out directions.

This is another way Google is becoming involved in the search business.  Some of the other non-traditional search engine searching you can do include:

• Dialing 1-800-GOOG-411 for free phone number services.
• Texting “GOOGL” along with a business and city, and Google will send you the address and phone number.
• Searching using a Blackberry or other handheld device - Google.mobi

Someone asked me what I thought the % of people who would use the Google pump maps vs. in-car GPS systems.  That got me thinking, why doesn’t Google develop an inexpensive Google Maps branded GPS system?  Better yet, why not develop an in-car computer system to allow motorists to connect to the Internet using Google’s technologies?

Each year before the holidays, domain investors wonder whether the coming season will mark a breakthrough for interactive marketing campaigns. As online media continues to grow and thrive, we continue to wonder why companies still devote so much advertising spend on traditional media (print/tv) when statistics seem to indicate that people are spending more time online than reading the newspaper.

Will this be the year companies devote the appropriate advertising spend for online activities? Rick wonders aloud whether companies will finally “get it” and convert some of their traditional print and television advertising dollars into online spends. My gut says this won’t be the year, but I think things are beginning to change. Interactive marketing is fun, less inhibited, and better able to engage the viewer… I digress, but more on that in a future post!

From Rick’s Blog:

“So will THIS be the online Christmas many have always expected? Will the same sorry folks be marched out to tell you not to spend online? How dangerous it is? Marched out like a political attack machine because they know their days are numbered? These people who are funded by those with most to lose. Is this the year they get it? Can they figure out that Google is approaching $800/share for a reason? That they are the fastest growing, most valuable company in the world for a reason? Can they figure out that the newspapers are not only going down in circulation but in readerehip as well?? Same with other mediums. And talk about “Stickyness”…….Imagine how many MINUTES someone used to read a newspaper or magazine and how many minutes they read now?”

Read the rest of this post here.