Month: October 2017

Free Taco Day from Taco Bell’s Steal a Base, Steal a Taco promotion

The 2017 MLB World Series got under way at last evening at Dodgers Stadium with the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Houston Astros. It turned out to be the hottest game ever played in the World Series with 103 degrees at the start of the game. It also was the shortest game played since 1992 which only took 2 hours, 28. Chris Taylor of the Dodgers hit a home run on the first pitch by Dallas Keuchel’s first pitch which went well over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead. Dodgers won the game 3-1 with a lot of help from their ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw who had 11 strikeouts which certainly helped speed things along.

Once again Taco Bell is running their “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” campaign, like that they did last year. Taco Bell is offering free tacos to all if a player steals a base in any World Series game this year. Here’s how the promotion works: If a player steals a base in either Game 1 or Game 2, Taco Bell will be dishing out a free Doritos Locos Taco to each customer at participating locations from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

There were no stolen based in Game 1 last night, so we didn’t see a repeat from the first inning of Game 1 of the 2016 World Series where the Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor scored free tacos for all after he stole second base against the Chicago Cubs. So we’ll be watching tonight to see if Game 2 comes through for all those Taco Bell lovers. If not Taco Bell is still offering the promotion for Game 3 through Game 7. Any stolen base in the latter games Taco Bell will be doing the giveaway on Nov. 7 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Customers are limited to one Locos Taco while supplies last, a $1.69 value.

With tickets last night going for over $1,200, most fans would have liked the game to have been longer. But with the heat, most players were glad it was short. It’s been 29 years since the Dodgers won their sixth world championship in franchise history. Though they’ve made 11 trips to the postseason since 1988 and advanced to the National League Championship Series five times, the Dodgers hadn’t made it back to the World Series until this year. They had the best standing in the whole league with 104 wins beating out 102 from the Indians and 101 from the Astros. This World Series should be fun with it being the first since 1970 with two 100-plus win teams.

This is the Astros’ first pennant as an American League team. They switched over from the National League in time for the 2013 season. So they are going for their first World Series title in franchise history. Last season the Cubs broke that longest drought in the league’s history with 108 years. They did so against the Cleveland Indians, who haven’t won it all since 1948. So this maybe the Astros will make some new history this this year. Tonight will give us a good clue.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Slide into a Grand Sweepstakes encourages download’s of their new NewsSlide app

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently launched a new app that allows it’s readers to experience the news through a new digital communications medium the company has developed called PG NewsSlide. The company executives believe this new technology will reinvent the business model for newspapers. They claim that NewsSlide will take the daily newspaper audience beyond what is possible with the print edition by providing a deeper, more immersive relationship that includes text, video, animation, photographs and interactive elements including charts, graphs and maps.

The platform runs on both iPhone or Android mobile devices including tablets and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes or Google Play Store. The app is described as a platform that delivers a visually powerful, immersive experience. NewsSlide goes beyond words and pictures. It’s a completely reimagined multimedia experience delivering award-winning coverage of Pittsburgh sports and news with a depth and breadth second to none.

To encourage their readers to download the app and give it a try the Post-Gazette launched a sweepstakes called the “Slide Into a Grand” Sweepstakes. The sweepstakes is awarding one person a week $1,000 for a total of 6 weeks. Entrants must first download the Post-Gazette NewsSlide app to their personal mobile device. Once they have the app they need to navigate to the sweepstakes entry form within the app to register for the sweepstakes by filling out and submitting the required fields to gain an entry into the sweepstakes. They also need to be a resident of Pennsylvania to be eligible.

Like the print newspaper that arrives each morning, an electronic edition of NewsSlide will be sent each morning by 5 a.m. to users’ tablets, and mobile devices. “The future for the newspaper industry is digital,” said Allan Block, chairman of Toledo, Ohio-based Block Communications, which owns the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That doesn’t mean we won’t continue to print for a while. But digital is the future. NewsSlide is an attempt to break out of the current business model and create a new business model for the future.”

NewsSlide is also expected to be a game-changer for advertisers. Allan Block stated that it would “engage users at a new level.” He described NewsSlide as ”a sales platform to facilitate e-commerce,” adding “We envision a brick-and-mortar business will utilize NewsSlide to improve the e-commerce experience. An ad in this medium can lead customers to a seamless transition to an e-commerce transaction.”

We’ve been working with one of the Post-Gazette’s agencies, Garrison Hughes, who is based in Pittsburgh. They sent us the sweepstakes entries for the first week which was almost 400 people who downloaded the app and entered. The first winner of $1,000 has been notified who is Joseph Schmotze from Pittsburgh. We have five more lucky winners of $1,000 each to still award.

The new Heads and Tails app from Petco awards $25 gift cards and helps pets in need

Just this week we added a new dog to our family so I thought it was appropriate to write about this promotion so that I could share the news with you. Molly is a 2 1/2 year old golden retriever who has lots of energy. She’s been adjusting to her new home this week and getting to know our other dog, Izzie, as well as our cat, Echo.

Here is the photo of her and my husband, Kevin, that I just uploaded to the new Heads and Tails app that Petco recently launched. This new app allows pet parents to have a chance at winning a Petco gift card while Petco also makes a donation to help animals in need. People are invited to download the free app to their mobile device, take a selfie with their pet and then upload it to a specific photo category in the app. Each photo that receives 100 likes in a month will win a $25 gift card from Petco with Petco also giving an additional $25 to the Petco Foundation.

The Heads & Tails app displays all approved selfie submissions in its timeline and users can also share their published selfie via Facebook and Twitter, and soon Instagram. So if anyone wants to download the app, please like Molly’s photo. I included it in the new pet category.

The app runs on a calendar month and a new round begins on the first day of each month and ends on the day of that month. Participants are only allowed to win one prize per month over all the categories.

“We know the internet can’t get enough of pet selfies,” says Brock Weatherup, executive vice president of strategic innovation and digital experience at Petco. “We’re thrilled to continue building the connection between people and animals through technology,” he says in a release.

We are still missing our last dog, Shadow, a male golden retriever who was 13 when we lost him this past March. But we were lucky to find Molly who already has won our hearts. She was with a woman who was breeding her with her male poodle and they had a couple of golden doodle pup litters together. Molly will be seeing our vet next week so we can schedule her to be spayed. No more puppies for her.

BREAK THROUGH: Legal Strategies for Dynamic Businesses – The 39th Annual ANA/BAA Marketing Law Conference

We’ll be heading back to Chicago again next month to attend the 39th Annual ANA/BAA Marketing Law Conference which is taking place this year November 13-15 at the Downtown Chicago Marriott. I think this will be my 10th year that I’ve attended this conference and it always provides me with new and updated information as well as a great networking event. It is known as the top conference in marketing, advertising, and privacy law. This year’s conference is titled “BREAK THROUGH: Legal Strategies for Dynamic Businesses”.

The program features another full agenda spanning key topic areas such as digital and social media, internet privacy, self-regulation and class action suits. Some of the cutting-edge topics will be how to measure the efficiency of social media advertising, data security, native advertising, sweepstakes, fantasy sports, virtual reality and  influencer marketing. The FCC has recently released more information in their endorsement guidelines and is cracking down on some influencers who have not properly followed these. So I’m sure that will be a topic of discussion. Thomas Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection will be a keynote speaker during lunch on Tuesday.

There will be 130 total speakers and over 65 sessions, breakouts and round tables . Some of the legal speakers will be from brands like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Oculus, Snap, BuzzFeed, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Sony, and P&G. Of course it also includes some great networking and two large cocktail parties.

Last year’s conference again broke the attendance record with over 750 attendees and with over 200 major brands present. I summarized last year’s conference with this post. The conference started the day after the presidential election. So there was quite a bit of discussion about the outcome during the breaks and cocktail receptions. Donald Trump had spoken out against the new privacy rules the FCC had imposed along with some changes to the advertising tax laws that are on the table. So we’ll see what, if anything, has changed in those areas since he took office.

Ed Kabak, SVP, ANA and Chief Legal Officer, BAA, kicked off the first official day of the conference last year and he is again heading up this year’s conference. He had stated that “Ours is an industry of rapid evolution. Since we deal with best practices and the state of the art in Marketing and Advertising Law and Digital Media; IP and Privacy, FTC, State A.G. and state-regulation, Lanham Act, Class Actions, and other areas, this forum is invaluable for marketers to move responsibly forward.” When I spoke to Ed recently he was very happy with the number of attendees that had already registered for this year’s conference and he’s anticipating breaking another attendance record.

One of the highlights of the conference will again come from Linda Goldstein, a Partner and Head of the Advertising, Marketing and Media practice at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP in New York who will deliver her annual industry review on Sweepstakes, Contests, Privacy, Digital and Social Media. Last year Pokemon Go was a bit hit at the time, so Linda entertained us throughout her talk with videos of a new, imaginary app her team created called PizzaMon Go!

Then on the final day Ron Urbach, Chairman/Davis & Gilbert LLP, will be back again to give another highly entertaining presentation. This year it is titled “The Current and Future History of Advertising, Media and Production Companies in an Ever-Shifting Legal Compliance Landscape”. Last year Ron ended his talk with a video that asked people on the street “If you were a hashtag, what would you be?” Ron’s was #WhatIDoForClients.

If you’re interested in attending you can register here. I’ll be at the Marriott from Michigan Ave. Mon. Nov. 13 till Thurs., Nov. 16  so please say hello if you’re there. This year I am staying an extra day since I now have a daughter, Alex, that lives in a Chicago suburb. She and I will get a chance to see each other and have dinner and do some shopping and sightseeing. So I will definitely have time go next door for my annual visit to Nordstrom’s shoe dept!