RadioShack Innovation Lab Cuts Through Advertising Clutter
RadioShack’s Innovation Lab campaign (more here), with banner ads that invite geeky do-it-yourselfers to collaborate on robotic and electronics projects, is reaching some influential skeptics that are committed to ignoring advertising. At the No Revolution blog, a site dedicated to “Clear-minded postings about the oft over-hyped advertising convergence,” tells how he became engaged in the program:
“They’re asking people to upload project ideas and fostering community. Nicely done. I found this by clicking an ad banner (e-gad!) on boingboing — the gadget site — because my good friend and UXD expert Mike Brooks sent me a video link. So, there you have it. Social interaction leads to spontaneous discovery leads to brand renewal for an ‘old’ retail brand. There’s hope for this whole ‘Net’ thing after all.”
My colleague Lester Lee sums it up well:
“This is a sick campaign. You’re talking about a guy who belongs to a techie/savvy demographic who probably never clicks on ads (out of principle) that likes a campaign so much he blogs about it.
“This is probably the only way Radio Shack will ever reach this demographic through marketing — not through banners (they have AdBlock), not through TV (he’s got DVR), and hell not even through movie theater advertising (hello, BitTorrent).”
