Innovation Spotlight: “Projectella”

The thing I love the most about living in NYC is the surprise of running into something very cool and unexpected with regular frequency. The city seems to be the testing ground for tomorrow’s new media innovations.

Until not that long ago, about the only way you could deliver brand messages to consumers outside the home was on a billboard or a bus shelter. Just like everything else, this has clearly changed. Last week, I had the unexpected pleasure of running into what looked like a science fiction scene straight out of Ridley’s Scott’s classic movie, Blade Runner.

On that rainy evening, I came face-to-face with four figures walking abreast identically clad in blue rain slickers holding large, white dome-shaped umbrellas. What made this sight so extraordinary was the front canopies of the umbrellas were lit up like a movie screen with projected photographs promoting a public service message for the Red Cross of New York. I had encountered the first-ever, world debut of the “Projectella.”

Upon closer inspection of the futuristic-looking Projectella, one could see the ingenious tiny projector mounted on the handle of the tricked out bumbershoot. This new promotional medium was so cool to behold, it literally stopped pedestrians dead in their tracks. How many experiential marketing professionals can make that type of claim?

The Projectella is the brainchild of JP Freeley, inventor and President of BlueBlastMedia http://www.BlueBlastMedia.com in partnership with National Media Services (www.nationalmediaservicesinc.com). To see a video of Projectellas on the streets of NYC, visit: http://vimeo.com/channels/blueblastmedia#3981816  

You can see more of JP’s innovative media ideas at: http://www.nationalmediaservicesinc.com/examples/programs/