FEBRUARY 2001 Playing Right into Their Hands Banana Republic, San Francisco, became the first retailer to use Streetbeam, a service from New York City-based outdoor advertising company TDI that enables marketers to transmit information such as store locations and gift ideas from outdoor phone kiosks to Palm Pilot PDAs. Consumers point their hand-held devices at any one of 100 Banana Republic ads located around Manhattan and receive the address and phone number of the nearest store, gift ideas, information on a "You Shop We Drop" delivery program and the chain's frequent-shopper card, and a "Beam to a Friend" feature that lets consumers share items with other Palm Pilot users. More info: 212-975-1077 or tdiwordwide.com.
Stack `Em and Rack `Em Point-of-purchase marketers with surplus merchandise on their hands may perk up over the new "Stack Rack" from Display Technologies, College Point, NY. The device enables retailers to boost inventory and sales by cross-merchandising surplus with contemporary products. For example, a marketer could display bottled water in the produce section to target consumers who want a single-serve drink with a meal from the salad bar. The racks can be assembled vertically as upright floorstands or horizontally as a floor seller. More info: 718-321-3100 or display-technologies.com.
Start Your Engines Kick-start that ho-hum corporate Web site with Engines, 15- to 30-second promotional commercials that tell a company's story using Macromedia Flash technology, logos, original graphics, music, and audio tracks. Not wanting to stick potential viewers with the World Wide Wait so often associated with graphics-heavy Web sites, maker FutureEngine, Inc., Studio City, CA, produces the spots using low bandwidths significantly smaller than AVI or MPEG formats. Set-up requires no more than a link from a company's Web site. Engine spots have been used by such big-name advertisers as McDonald's, AT&T, Disney, Honda, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. (for last fall's Battlefield Earth). More info: 818-992-7999 or FutureEngine.com.
Ad Hoc P.R. TechMarcom, Inc., Westford, MA, has a new Marcom Outsource service that enables cost-conscious and time-strapped technology companies to outsource project assignments to senior p.r. and marketing practitioners at costs the company claims are greatly reduced from traditional models. Outsource offers services on a project or hourly basis and does not require large retainers or long-term contracts. A network of graphic artists, tech writers, ad agencies, direct-mail marketers, researchers, and venture capital/investment firms are available on an a la carte basis. (Marcom acts as project manager.) Clients can be billed directly by outside vendors, avoiding agency markups. More info: 978-502-1055 or techmarcom.com.
Make This Perfectly Clear Clear Focus Imaging, Santa Rosa, CA, has developed EntreVue point-of-entry posters for that initial point of customer contact: the front door. EntreVue signs can be placed on glass doors and windows of fast-food restaurants, service-station food marts, video stores, convenience stores, supermarkets, or other retail establishments without blocking the view inside. The product costs about one-tenth the price of conventional perforated signage (according to Clear Focus) and is available in sizes up to 23 inches by 33 inches. Minimum production order is 5,000. More info: 707-544-7990 or clearfocus.com.
Sign Language Mark Bric Display Corp., Prince George, VA, introduced showcase sign-holder frames that can accommodate multiple insert panels or graphics for menu boards, directional signs, and aisle markers. The plastic frames can be ordered in any size and set up with more than four sections, with top-loading or side-loading inserts for each section. Burger King has used more than 10,000 three-section frames. More info: 804-862-4655 or markbric.com.
