November 2000: Polaroid Develops Winning Campaign with I-Zone Promotion

As any parent can attest to, capturing the attention of young girls ages 11-17 is always a challenge. Polaroid gambled it could hold their interest online with an innovative advertising program to promote the Cambridge, MA-based company's I-Zone Instant Pocket Camera.

Dubbed "Where Will You Stick It?" the campaign, which ran from April 19 - June 25 on the theglobe.com's Happy Puppy Web site (http://www.happypuppy.com), was a "resounding success," according to Polaroid's Mary Courville, senior marketing communications manager.

"This was our first foray into online advertising," Courville said. "We wanted to create a promotion that would not only publicize the I-Zone, but help educate kids about using the camera. Happy Puppy was a perfect match for Polaroid since they reached our targeted audience."

The I-Zone Instant Pocket Camera takes pocket-sized photo stickers that approximate the dimensions of a standard postage stamp - about 1" x 1 Ľ". Users peel off the cellophane backing on the backside and stick the photos on every imaginable item -schoolbooks, lockers, computer monitors, and more. Courville said many teens even make jewelry out of them or sign letters with the photo stickers.

The customized microsite was created by theglobe.com, a New York City-based online community network. In April 1999, theglobe.com acquired Attitude Network, which publishes Happy Puppy, an interactive games information site.

Banner ads promoting the campaign were placed on the Happy Puppy contest page, a 'Top 10' page and a subscription page. The banners were designed to resemble a piece of I-Zone film and advertised that contestants could win a free I-Zone camera.

Visitors were encouraged to enter an interactive school locker hallway that utilized Shockwave. There were five separate lockers -- viewers clicked on each locker door to learn more about various aspects of the I-Zone camera:

Stick Zone - Featured a 10-second musical ditty touting the camera and provided viewers with ideas on where to stick their photos, e.g., "decorate your shoes, cell phone, skateboard, key chain or backpack…thousands of creative uses for the sticky film await you. Where will you stick it?"

Pixzone - Offered viewers an opportunity to see the four available colors of the camera - Spicy Hot Wasabi, Tasty Sorbet, Bright Breezy Blue, and Super Sleek Silver.

Britney Spears - A promotional tie-in with the Britney Spears 2000 tour, it provided links to all of her U.S. tour dates and a photo album, which included photos of her posing with the I-Zone camera and even a close-up shot of her now famous midriff and navel.

Gamezone - The coolest of the lockers, this featured a "How Fast Can You Stick It" interactive game created by theglobe.com that took viewers on a road trip and let them snap pictures of passing objects. The goal was to stick the pictures on the vehicle's dashboard as quickly as possible. Viewers had to load a new roll of film in the camera every six pictures.

Enter to Win - An I-Zone camera was given away each day and participants who registered were also eligible to win the grand prize - a Dell Dimension L550r computer. The sweepstakes entry form required first/last names, zip code, e-mail, and date of birth.

Although Polaroid declined to provide any microsite statistics, Courville said the promotion "exceeded expectations by 30 percent."

"The campaign created an instant awareness of the I-Zone camera to the teen audience we were trying to reach," she said. "The kids had fun doing a lot of interactive things with the camera and we're confident that this will translate into store sales."

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