Event Marketer

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.

Bravo TV has launched Top Chef: The Tour a grassroots mobile experience that has many of the contestants from the reality show out on cooking demos and meet-and-greets with fans around the country. The tour launched in late June with stops will draw to a close in New York City in early October.

To get consumers psyched about its Summer Rocks Festival Tour Dell recently blanketed popular recreational spots across the country with a giant beach towel. Made up of individual soft bamboo material towels the 35-by-60-foot giant towel was reminiscent of a checkerboard with hundreds of colors.

For three Saturdays in August the Big Apple is temporarily blocking taxis and cars from one if its busiest city streets and is instead welcoming pedestrians to stroll walk bike and run the nearly seven-mile route. The city’s Summer Streets program runs along Park Avenue from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street on August 9 16 and 23 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and includes city and brand-sponsored rest areas that feature demonstrations artistic performances fitness classes watering stations and bike rental and repair facilities.

To create buzz for its Sync technology offered in Ford Lincoln and Mercury vehicles Ford is connecting with consumers in 28 cities at state fairs festivals and other family events through next month. The tour is broken up into several challenges to target consumers of all ages and teach them about the product. The Sync challenges include Sync That Tune the Sync Tech Challenge and Sync Count Challenge.