The Today Show’s eighth annual “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” series got a boost in viewership this year thanks in part to a new integrated campaign that leveraged the web a user-generated video contest and a mobile studio.
 

If PUMAPalooza doesn’t sound like your dad’s golf tournament then the marketing message is spot-on. Puma the German tennis shoe and athletic apparel company is launching a series of proprietary golf scramble events to shake up the game’s staid persona and get the word out about its recent entree into the golf category.
 

To promote the last installment in the Harry Potter book series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Scholastic is sending a purple double-decker (painted like a triple-decker) bus to libraries across the country. The Harry Potter Knight Bus tour based on the fictional Knight Bus from the third book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will stop at 37 libraries in 12 states over seven weeks. Fans will be invited inside where they can record their thoughts about the books in a short video diary entry.

The WE network’s cake-covered brides are back baby. And this time they’re madder—and hungrier—than ever. To recap the network generated buzz for reality show “Bridezillas” in 2005 with a find-the-cash-in-the-cake stunt (brides fought tooth and manicured nail through a 15-foot three-tiered cake for a shot at $25 000) and in 2006 by challenging women with an obstacle course and climbing wall covered in eight inches of frosting.

Paint and coatings manufacturer Valspar is hoping to create some visibility for its new consumer paint brand as a sponsor of the United States Tennis Association’s 2007 US Open.