I've been too busy this week to breath without an appointment, but I just had to share this.
In Frankfurt am Main, Germany, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the crowds were stunned, and more than a bit amused when Jung von Matt unleashed an advertising air force comprised of 200 banner-carrying, marauding house flies. To promote the Eichborn publishing house, von Matt attached banners to the house flies with a bit of wax and set them free inside the Convention Center (Messe Frankfurt) to fly about at will.
Since the beginning of the year, von Matt has worked on relaunching the corporate identity of Eichborn - a literary publisher. They came up with a new branding vocabulary, a revised logo, color palette and redesigned book covers. The needed a breakthrough launch for the new ID, and the best place for that was at the Frankfurt Book Fair. But if that was the classic location, the promotion was most decidedly not: A house fly air force. Von Matt and his team meticulously applied microscopic amounts of wax onto 200 house flies, attached an ultralight banner and set their buzzing waxworks free at the fair.
The banners were only a few centimetres across, but they played havoc with the beleaguered flies piloting skills. The extra weight kept the flies at a lower altitude and forced them to land more often. Bad for the flies, great for the promotion. The encumbered flies were forced to spend most of their flying time at eye level. Of course whenever and wherever they were forced to land, the banner was clearly visible. Naturally, in the air their zig-zagging flight paths attracted attention because of the flies' rapid movements.
I have nothing but high praise for this innovative and eye-catching launch. However, as I have often explained to my clients: What is brilliant for one client, could well be disastrous for another. For Eichborn publishers, this was brilliant. For the Four Seasons restaurant, ... Wayall... maybe not so much.
A tip of the hat and flick of the swatter to Jung von Matt.
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