Leah Chandler joined us in August as the new Account Director on the Missouri Tourism account. Leah moved to St. Louis from Indianapolis and brings with her extensive experience in the tourism field. Leah worked on the Indiana Tourism Account for 5 years prior to joining Hoffman Lewis.
Mark Bateman joined us in July as our Interactive Art Director. He was a Senior Interactive Designer at Rodgers Townsend before joining H|L and has over ten years experience in interactive design.
Coffee with cream? Diet Dr. Pepper? Soy Chai Latte? What’s your morning drink of choice? This year, we set out to find out everything we could about what St. Louisans drink in the morning.
Following several focus groups and an in-depth look into market data, we discovered that although St. Louisans love McDonald’s delicious food (especially for breakfast), they don’t often think of McDonald’s for beverage-only visits. This wasn’t too surprising considering convenience stores (the #1 morning drink stop in the market) greatly outnumber fast food restaurants in St. Louis. So naturally, our 2008 strategy for McDonald’s St. Louis and Metro East included establishing McDonald’s as a beverage destination.
With this in mind, we created WakeTheHeckUp.com, a flash-based microsite developed to build on our traditional TV, radio and outdoor advertising concepts. Press releases were sent out from the “National Research Center for People in Need of Pick-Me-Up Drinks” urging customers to visit the site for their free diagnosis. Following a quick Scantron questionnaire, the Drink-erator 3000 helps customers find their ultimate pick-me-up drink, culminating in a printable coupon good for their favorite beverage at McDonald’s. Tens of thousands of customers have visited the site and downloaded coupons, including visitors logging in from a dozen foreign countries. Visit WakeTheHeckUp.com to quench your thirst.
The Task: To generate interest in a typically low-interest category: Yellow Pages.
The Plan: Windstream Yellow Pages consumers in key markets compete to get their own dog on the cover of their town’s next Windstream Yellow Pages Companion Directory.
We know people love their pets, but the enthusiasm surrounding the Windstream Yellow Pages Cover Dog Search exceeds all expectations. Thanks to people’s love of their own four-legged companions, the Windstream Yellow Pages Cover Dog Search is entering its second year with great success in all four markets. The viral nature and engaging execution of this online promotion even made the Windstream Yellow Pages Cover Dog Search an award-winner at the 2008 Yellow Pages Association National Industry Excellence Conference held in Las Vegas.
