Samsung (in collaboration with Telus) and Fido launched street marketing events last week that caught the attention of passersby and media. At the beginning of the week Fido placed two 30-foot-tall white figures called "Fidolls" at opposite ends of the city to promote Fido Sessions, a quarterly series of art and culture events sponsored by the phone service provider. The two inflatable figures shaped like paper doll cutouts have texting instructions written across them and are being moved together to meet at the Burroughes Building on Wednesday for the first Fido Session. Other Fidolls have appeared around the city in the form of chalk art and tree hangers.
"The Fidolls campaign allows us to do something different from our current brand identity, so that we can surprise people but still stay close to what Fido is all about: connecting people to one another," Sébastien Moïse, marketing manager for Fido in Ontario, said in a statement. Coverage of the campaign can be found here and here.
Following the launch of the Samsung Instinct with Bell two weeks ago (our coverage of the launch party is here), Espresso Brand Infiltration held a public cell phone-flinging contest at a College Park parking lot last Tuesday to promote the phone's launch with Telus. The event, promoted on Twitter and blogs, allowed people to fire their old cell phones toward a blue target using a slingshot. If they hit the target, they won a Samsung Instinct. The event drew more than 200 participants, and Telus donated the old phones to its recycling program.
