Good article in MediaWeek about the use of web for delivering promotional ideas. I think this is going to explode. Promotion agencies should invest in digital knowledge and/or partnerships.

I wish I had the web when I was a client at Miller in the mid-90’s. We did this crazy program called the MGD Blind Date. It was series of secret concerts held once or twice a year where winners of radio contests across the country were flown into a city, put on a bus, taken to an unannounced venue and then tightly packed in front of a dark stage. Suspense would build and then the lights would come on and David Bowie would be standing there singing Fame. (We had some good bands like the Cure and RHCP and the Foo Fighters and some now embarrassing bands like Bush.) It was a successful program and gave Miller a leg up in the critical on-premise. Anyway, the key to this idea was speculation. Who is the band? We wanted rumors to run wild in bars across the country. In order to make sure that happened, we had to spend $10MM in media including radio advertising. It worked, but it was a sizable gamble and eventually Miller couldn’t bear the risk (although it was one of the longest running programs in beer history).

ANYWAY, my point of this story is that if I were to do the MGD Blind Date today, I would unapologetically use the web to propagate the rumors and substantially reduce the cost of this program. I hope that begins to happen and marketers start taking more chances and make the world a bit more fun.