From foreheads to headboards, SnoreStop nasal spray is once again aiming for new heights in guerrilla marketing. SnoreStop—which made headlines throughout the world in 2005 when it sponsored forehead advertiser Andrew Fisher—is devising another way to get its message212;t—this one in your bedroom (if you're game, that is). Anxious to reach snorers and their long-suffering spouses, SnoreStop's parent company, Green Pharmaceuticals, is seeking couples willing to permit SnoreStop ads within and just outside of their home bedrooms in exchange for cash prizes, a new bedroom or a second honeymoon vacation package. The ads will be in three forms: SnoreStop posters placed on bedroom walls; promotional flags secured just outside of bedrooms; and rooftop banners affixed just above bedrooms. While the copy of the ads is still being finalized, the message will be consistent with SnoreStop's overriding "Save Your Marriage" ad campaign. Recognizing the limits of bedroom advertising, SnoreStop will supplement the campaign by sending real-life couples out into the public wearing branded pajamas reading: "Our bedroom is sponsored by SnoreStop. Save your marriage the way we saved ours!" "We want to link this new campaign with our ultimate users/beneficiaries (couples), tie it with the specific location of its use (bedroom, pajamas, house) and make it more real, more personal and therefore more engaging to the general public," said Christian de Rivel, exec VP-sales and marketing at Green Pharmaceuticals. Whatever gets advertisers through the night, it's all right. —Matthew Schwartz
There was at least one interactive agency executive queuing up in advance at New York's Apple store on Fifth Avenue, vying to be one of the first to get his hands on the much anticipated iPhone by camping out well ahead of time. Gene Lewis, partner and director of Web site development for Digital Pulp, was number 51 in line, ready and eager to claim the hot commodity when it officially went on sale on Friday, June 29, at 6 p.m. Lewis was actually tapped by ABC News Online to report the proceedings in a blog from his spot at the front lines. "I'm surrounded by a diverse group of people," Lewis wrote. "Geeks, freaks and contrary to popular opinion, even some chics." Lewis' Reporters Notebook included details about the people waiting in line—from 13-year-old Heinz from Union, N.J., a veteran of line-squatting, having queued up for both the Xbox360 and Playstation3, to a guy named Daniel, eighth in line, who runs his own blog and "has been cruising the line, telling everyone that he's arranged for various sponsors to bring us goodies in the morning—wireless Bluetooth picture frames and `iPhone starter kits' were mentioned as possibilities." Lewis added: "I'll believe it when I see it." —Carol Krol
The grueling process of hunting down coupons in newspapers, cutting them out and finding a magnet to stick the coupon to the refrigerator is now an annoyance of the past. Life is about to become a little more simple, thanks to MagneCote. This lightweight magnetic sheet from Magnetic Attractions can be printed and cut like paper to advertise anything, anywhere (magnetic, that is). "An advertisement in a magazine can be detached and reattached to the refrigerator," said John Dowling, Magnetic Attractions' general manager. Data show that the average consumer goes to the refrigerator 20 times a day, making a magnetic advertisement more cost-effective, Dowling said. From coupons on the refrigerator to appointment reminders on the medicine cabinet, messages can be advertised in unexpected places. "There are lots of ways for products to get into the hands of the consumer, but [MagneCote] opens up new avenues for distribution," Dowling said. —Moira Lawler