B-to-C Events

Last Saturday Bloom grocery stores attempted to break the Guinness World Record for most couples kissing simultaneously. The brand distributed invitations encouraging football fans to lock lips with their neighbors during a half-time event at Furman University’s Paladin Stadium in Greenville SC which seats 16 000. The existing record was set in Tuzla Bosnia-Herzegovina on Sept. 1 2007 when 6 980 couples kissed on the lips at the same time for at least 10 seconds.

Pentel in August will engage in its largest college marketing effort to date. Teams of brand ambassadors will hit 37 college campuses this fall with samples to generate word-of-mouth for the brand with a back-to-school contest that plays up the smooth writing qualities of its Pentel Hyper G pen.

Restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday is saying goodbye to its old image and ushering in a new one by turning the demolition of its last restaurant into a live consumer event. On Tuesday Aug. 5 at 3:00 p.m. EST the chain’s last remaining old-style eatery was blown up in a live Internet broadcast at rubytuesday.com. The event was part of the It’s a Brand New Tuesday campaign which is designed to kick start the chain’s brand makeover from bar and grill-style food and décor to fresh simple and modern American fare.

SINCE LAUNCHING ITS MY CIRCLE CAMPAIGN  in 2006 Alltel  Wireless has executed nine My Circle-themed consumer sweepstakes programs and has given away more than $1 million in prize packages. The brand’s eighth contest—the My Circle Pick & Roll Challenge—kicked off earlier this year. To enter consumers logged on to social networking website fanu.com to play weekly pick ’em games. Savvy basketball fans earned points for their hoops smarts.

One thing hoteliers all agree on: Consumers’ needs are changing. They want rooms flush with outlets that cater to their tech gadgets they want top-notch in-room entertainment and they want premium creature comforts such as high-end pillows sheets and beds. To meet the needs of a more demanding traveler many hotel brands are revitalizing—rolling out new programs and forging new partnerships to enhance the guest experience. But strangely very few venture outside of their own parking lots to get consumers buzzing.