As media owner stunts go, Clear Channel Outdoor's decision to send an ice cream van to Haymarket Brand Media, home of Marketing, and dish out free Flake 99s was - although welcome - somewhat odd.
The promotion was to highlight Clear Channel's ‘dynamic' digital LED screens and its forthcoming dedicated in-bar network of HD digital poster sites, called Socialite. Quite how 70s retro ice creams, aerated to the recipe of Hilda Margaret Thatcher, relate to the cutting edge of digital outdoor technology, I'm still not clear but the van managed to attract enough punters to be judged a success.
Without wishing to appear ungrateful, one of the most apparent and immediate signs that the media market is screwed (other than half-empty restaurants) is the cutbacks in promotional spend. Although sometimes they are so lavish and over-the-top to almost appear vulgar, I wonder when - or if - we'll see the days of foreign junkets for product launches again.
