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GREAT! Agency Retained As Exclusive Marketing Agent for the 400 MPH Rocket Car at Air Shows

June 1, 2011 – Atlanta, GA USA – Would you like your marketing campaign to take-off like a rocket in 2012?

Smoke-n-Thunder Jet Shows (Braack Motorsports, Inc.) has retained Atlanta-based GREAT! agency as the exclusive marketing agent for integrated marketing sponsorship packages for Braack’s 400 mph Rocket Car performances at 20 Air Shows in 2012.

Rocket Car Creates Three-Stories of Smoke

More than 7 million Air Show enthusiasts annually experience the Rocket Car accelerating its more than 10,000 horse power J34 jet engine (from a T-2A Buckeye military aircraft) to a crowd-pleasing 400 mph (without leaving the ground) – in just nine seconds – racing (and often beating) an aircraft (that has a heads start).

Then, a 14′ double-ringed military-style Rocket Car parachute deploys – producing up to 14g’s of negative force to the pilot – brings the Rocket Car to an abrupt stop to cheering crowds. The Rocket Car 2012 sponsorship opportunity is unique: the Rocket Car is the only land performer at the 20 Air Shows it performs in annually.

Air Show attendance continues to soar above other national sporting events with 10-12 million spectators attending Air Shows in the United States annually: shows that are often free.

Braack Motorsports President and Rocket Car Pilot Bill Braack (retired Air Force 20-year C-130 and C-141 Air Force and Air Force Reserve Veteran) works the revved-up crowd – prior to each Rocket Car versus aircraft race – from his Rocket Car cockpit commanding all eyes on the Rocket Car as he slowly drives the Air Show flight line, generating:

  • a roar of multiple near-sonic boom thunder-claps;
  • three-story billowing clouds of smoke; and
  • 30′ shooting flames from the Rocket Car’s afterburner.

Rocket Car and Aircraft Race at an Air Show

“America loves the thrill of racing meets Air Shows. And I’m thrilled that GREAT! is the exclusive marketing agent for the Rocket Car performances at Air Shows across America,” says Braack. “We seek A-List brands – and their agencies – brands that can benefit from sponsoring the 2012 Rocket Car tour at 20 Air Shows to reach more than 7 million engaged fans,” said Braack.

In contrast, USA Today estimated that all annual NASCAR races combined in 2010 would be 3.6 million: that’s 1 million less than in 2003. NASCAR race attendance is nearly half the estimated annual attend of a 20-market annual Rocket Car Air Show tour. And, unlike NASCAR with 40+ cars on the track at one time; all eyes (and ears) are exclusively devoted to the Rocket Car. [The attendance for the entire National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) season attendance equals about two Rocket Car Air Shows, according to Braack.]

“The sky’s the limit for creating and marketing efficient on-brand; adrenaline pumping experiential; integrated entertainment sponsorship packages leveraging the Rocket Car at U.S. Air Shows,” said GREAT! CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dan Smigrod. “There are many terrific opportunities – such as product sales, sampling, lead generation and social media on steroids – that the Rocket Car can help sponsors activate and engage consumers; while firing-up marketing plans at near super-sonic speed in support the brand’s distribution channels such as – retailers, grocery stores and drug stores. With hundreds of Air Shows annually in North America, the title sponsor can pick and choose Air Show markets strategically.”

Rocket Car Excelerates to 400 MPH in Nine Seconds

“We also include VIP money-can’t-buy-experiences. For example, Sponsor’s VIP guests get to flag-start the race between the Rocket Car and an aircraft racing just 100 feet above the  Rocket Car. It’s a heart-pounding experience as the Rocket Car accelerates to 400 mph and an aircraft with 180 mph head start – rockets past the VIP just yards from their whirling green flags to signal the start of the race,” said Smigrod.

“Flag starting the race on the runway starting line is an over-the-top, unique, thrilling and exciting experience to offer a VIP client guest or winner of an internal sales contest. With 20 Air Shows annually, 120 VIPs get to flag-start a race and 360 guests annually experience the adrenaline rush just feet from the flag-starter. Plus, new in 2012, thousands of VIPs will get to experience the Air Show from the Sponsor’s Rocket Car chalet,” said Braack.

With 6,500 pounds of 3:1 thrust-to-weight ratio at 4.5 g’s, the Rocket Car accelerates faster than any jet in an Air Show; including U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jets. If the 2,250 lb. Rocket Car was stood on its tail, it has enough raw-power thrust to take-off like a rocket, according to Braack.

Integrated sponsorship marketing opportunities to activate and engage audiences experiences during the typical three-day, eight-hour-per-day experience include:

  • Social Media
  • Experiential
  • Sampling
  • Lead Generation
  • Product Selling
  • Publicity
  • VIP Experience
  • Military Activation
  • Pro-Social

Specific Rocket Car marketing legs include:

  • Exclusive performer re-branding naming rights
  • Sampling; couponing (and product selling)
  • VIP Chalet shaded seating on-the-flight-line
  • One-on-one experiences with the Rocket Car Pilot
  • VIP flag-start the race (and accompany the flag-starter)
  • VIP fly-alongs on media/rehearsal day
  • Trade and consumer TV/print/radio media interviews (fly-alongs for media on media day to film the Rocket Car from the air)
  • Pro-Social (at Sponsor’s option: Air Shows at military bases only)
  • Air Show enthusiasts photos and videos of the Rocket Car for their Facebook, YouTube and flickr accounts
  • Social media engagement with Rocket Car Pilot Bill Braack
  • Media interviews with Rocket Car Pilot Bill Braack
  • Retailer, drug store and grocery marketing extension opportunities
  • Media buy integration opportunities
  • Unique contest and sweepstakes prizing opportunities
  • Internal and external sales incentive (with money-can’t-buy VIP experiences)
  • Eco-green/sustainability integration – the Rocket Car can run on biodiesel B20 fuel (20 percent recycled cooking oil) [when/where available]
  • Rocket Car-Cams – video showing the Sponsor’s branding: including inside the 14′ parachute
  • Public Address (PA) announcements during the Rocket Car Air show performance, in particular, and through-out the day
  • Official Air Show program
  • Official Air Show map
  • Official Air Show poster
  • Official Air Show advertising
  • Official Air Show Welcome Party for Performers (and their guests) – and other private events

“Rocket Car Pilot Bill Braack is the ultimate media-savvy spokesperson: well spoken; articulate; a 20-year (retired) airman veteran that can integrate client ‘talking points’ into his media interviews,” says Smigrod. “The Discovery Channel Daily Planet six-minute (11/1/10) segment is an excellent example of Bill and his Rocket Car generating TV coverage.”

In 2012, local market TV coverage – and newspaper and social media coverage – will leverage all Sponsor branding, including the:

The Discovery Channel Daily Planet Segment with Rocket Car Pilot Bill Braack Racing an Aircraft

“Between our decades of Air Show and military expertise – and the nearly 25 years of GREAT! agency entertainment marketing experience – our combined teamwork creates a win-win-win opportunity for brands – and their agencies – with the Rocket Car (presently doing business as the Smoke-N-Thunder Jet Car Shows) and Air Shows across North America,” says Braack.

The International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) estimates that 10 to 12 million people annually attend one or more of the 325-350 Air Shows in the U.S. and Canada. ICAS reports a 20 percent spectator growth trend during the 2008 and 2009 Air Show seasons and that this trend is forecasted to continue in annual Air Shows in the next couple of years.

The Rocket Car typically participates in the larger Air Shows – often at military bases – that are frequented by:

“After more than 4,000 performances since 1980, the Rocket Car has a 100 percent safety record,” says Braack. “Plus, since current safety procedures have been put in place, no spectators fatalities have happened at a North American Air Show since 1960: an enviable safety-record for any business.”

For Rocket Car sponsorship opportunities – including an exclusive Rocket Car “buy out” for the 2012 Air Show season – please contact GREAT! CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dan Smigrod:

For the 2011 Rocket Car performance tour schedule, please visit the Smoke-N-Thinder Jet Car Shows official website: www.smoke-n-thunder.com/ The 2012 Rocket Car performance tour schedule will be determined in conjunction with the 2012 title sponsor of the Rocket Car.

Short URL For This Story

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Video: Six Jets Flying in Tight Formation – flying just fee above the runway — race the Rocket Car at 350 mph in this :45 video shot at the Oregon International Air Show on Friday, August 19, 2011.

http://www.vimeo.com/28642645

Video: PencilCam video of the Rocket Car at NAS Patuxent River, MD [Rocket Car racing the airplane starts at 3:40 into the video]

YouTube Preview Image

Video: Rocket Car at JBLM Air Expo 2010

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Dan Smigrod - June 1, 2011 at 7:33 am

Categories: Entertainment Marketing, Ideation, Rocket Car   Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Summer TOUR WRIST: Seamlessly Shoot, Upload, View, Search and Share 360-Degree Spherical Virtual Tour Photos and Videos via Searchable Map of the World; Facebook; Twitter; and Email – Free!

April 27, 2011 Atlanta, GA USA – I have seen the future. It arrives this summer.

Using your Apple iPhone, you will be able to easily – and seamlessly – shoot, upload, view, search and share 360-degree immersive, spherical virtual tour photos (and in the near future videos) from your summer vacation via a a searchable map of the world; and then also share your images via Facebook, Twitter and email.

Did I mention Free? You will be able to shoot, upload, view, search and share your virtual tours for free?

Wait. It gets better.

When you plan your summer vacation, you can (already) “teleport in” to 18,600+ virtual tour images from around the globe shot by thousands of professional photographers. These pros likely paid $3,000 or more for the gear and software to shoot, upload, view, search and share their images with you.

Going from $3,000 to free – to share 360-degree spherical virtual tour photos – and going from $3,000 to a one-time purchase of an $80 add-on lens for your iPhone to shoot 360-degree virtual tour video is (way-cool) disruptive innovation.

Soon, millions of iPhone owners will be visually mapping the world with their GeoTagged-images – one 360-degree spherical virtual tour photo and video at a time – so that they can tour remotely virtually any place in the world to help them decide on their travel destination. Virtual tour images will include: hotels and resorts; restaurants; attractions; points of interest; arts and entertainment; retail shopping; and more.

And, while you probably have viewed 360-degree panoramic virtual tour images before – on a hotel website or for the sale of real estate – the next generation of virtual tour viewing is magical when combined with:

Wait. It gets better.

Now imagine that all app developers, software developers – and even camera manufacturers – have the ability to create a seamless shoot, upload, host, view, search and share 360-degree  spherical virtual tour experience for you. Starting in June 2011, this will be possible because of an announcement made today by GREAT! client, Tour Wrist.

Video: How to TOUR WRIST (90 Seconds)

As a GREAT! IDEAologist in the television, entertainment and travel spaces – I constantly looks at emerging technologies in other spaces that can be mashed up and leveraged in ways that the inventor may not have ever imagined in behalf of GREAT! clients. If Prometheus was alive today, he would tell you that – the announcement today (4/27/11) by Tour Wrist – is as significant to television, entertainment, travel and real estate marketers as the day Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals.

So, even if your eyes glaze over at the thought of reading this geeky media release (below) about – API meets imaging apps meets camera hardware meets hosting platform – get some Visineand read on: it’s like experiencing the early days of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – and recognizing the power of these then emerging media, communications and community technologies.

Was your company – or client – late to leverage the web, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube?  This time you have a “heads up” that the future of User Generated Content (UGC) meets location-based marketing arrives the summer of 2011. (And, you’re invited to the party!)

The free Tour Wrist API is the “secret sauce” that will make easy and seamless shooting, uploading, searching and sharing 360-degree spherical virtual tour photos and videos possible for millions of us rather than for thousands of professional photographers. Tour Wrist CEO and Founder Charles Armstrong told me, “The Tour Wrist AmaTour API will  truly democratize panoramic photography – enabling virtually anyone with a smartphone to create and share 360-degree images for free.”

“We anticipate great uses of the Tour Wrist AmaTour API will be mashups that we haven’t even imagined; just as developers built amazing apps for the Twitter API,” says Armstrong. “Our vision is to create the very best virtual tour authoring experience by enabling pano developers and manufacturers to do what they do best while leveraging our robust hosting, searching and sharing infrastructure.”

So, as Tour Wrist says in its promotional video says … Go anywhere: Without Going Anywhere. Tour Cities. Tour Homes. Tour Hotels. Tour Cars. Tour Cafes. Tour Shops. Tour Wrist.

Will your cable TV channel; hotel or resort; entertainment and attraction; real estate firm; or restaurant – or other placed-based business – leverage this Prometheus moment for first-movers advance; or wait for your competitors to light the path for leveraging disruptive innovation in your space?

PostScript

TOUR WRIST CEO & Founder Charles Armstrong is one of 12 Digital Summit 2011 (TechMedia) digerati invited to speak during the Demo Showcase session to an audience of 700 digital, online, new media marketers, web strategists and entrepreneurs. Digital Summit is Monday, May 16th and Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, GA USA $50 conference registration fee discount off of the $245 registration with the TOUR WRIST Digital Summit 2011 Promo Code: DEMOFRIEND at www.digitalsummit.com. TOUR WRIST will also be featured in the Digital Summit Demo Showcase during the two-day conference. [Look for GREAT! CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dan Smigrod at the TOUR WRIST booth in the Digital Summit Demo Showcase.] “We feel the Demo companies selected for Digital Summit represent some of the most exciting rising stars in the internet space,” said Eric Gregg, Executive Director of TechMedia, the producer of the conference. “We’re thrilled to be able to have [Digital Summit 2011] attendees interact with each of them.” #dsum11

PostScript (5/19/11)

PostScript

____________________________________

TOUR WRIST 360-Degree Panoramic Virtual Tour Hosting Company To Make Its TOUR WRIST AmaTour API Available in June 2011

Silicon Valley, CA – April 27, 2011 – TOUR WRIST®, a mobile and web-based virtual tour hosting company, will make its Application Programming Interface (API) available in June 2011.

Tour Wrist

The powerful API will enable panoramic image apps, software, and even some hardware to upload and host images on the TOUR WRIST platform, free of charge.

TOUR WRIST – already the destination for 18,000 virtual tour images since the platform launched in September 2010 – will enable consumers to easily shoot, upload, host, search, view and share 360-degree virtual tours using third-party smartphone apps, desktop software, and panoramic cameras.

“We anticipate third-party panoramic photography developers will also leverage affordable smartphone accessories to allow 360-degree video uploads in the near future,” says TOUR WRIST CEO and Founder Charles Armstrong. “We’re embracing developers and manufacturers that specialize in 360-degree imaging to offer consumers a seamless shoot and share virtual tour experience.”

TOUR WRIST will soon contact the growing list of 360-degree panoramic app developers and panoramic camera equipment manufacturers; a list that includes:

Scan This QR Code to Download the Free TOUR WRIST iPhone App • Text SCAN to 43588 to get a Free Scanner App

App Developers

  1. 360 Panorama (Occipital)
  2. Bubbli (Bubbli Co)
  3. AutoStitch Panorama (Cloudburst Research)
  4. Pano (Debacle Software)
  5. PanoLab and PanoLab Pro (Originate Labs)
  6. PanoMinute (Denis Martin)
  7. Panorama (Airshed)
  8. Panorama Free (Free the Apps!)
  9. Panorama Mosaicker (Intpel)
  10. Panoramatic 360 (Andrea Esposito)
  11. Video to Panorama (Haiqun Deng)

Software Developers

  1. AutoPano Pro (Kolor)
  2. Hugin (Open Source)
  3. Photosynth (Microsoft Corp.)
  4. PTgui (New House Internet Services B.V.)

Hardware Manufacturers

  1. 0-360 Panoramic Optic lens accessory (0-360.com)
  2. Giroptic 360 Degree Camera (Giroptic) – 360-degree panoramic video camera
  3. GoPano Micro (EyeSee360) – 360-degree iPhone 4 video accessory
  4. Sony iSweep–Enabled Cameras (Sony) — consumer cameras (Watch Sony TX7 Cyber-shot Camera ‘Taylor Swift’ Commercial Video) (View Sony Cyber-Shot Digital Camera with iSweep in Amazon Store)
  5. Pano Pro MkII one-shot lens (Pano Pro USA)

“Developers and manufacturers will be able to focus on their core competencies; including image capture; stitching; and processing from computers; smartphones; and other devices, Says Armstrong. “TOUR WRIST will then pick up where they leave off, providing a seamless consumer experience that extends to uploading; hosting; searching; viewing; and sharing the resulting images through our best–in–class virtual tour platform.

Tour Wrist on an iPad

“While TOUR WRIST’s Panoguide photographer online site has 5,700 registered pros and semi-pros,” releasing the TOUR WRIST AmaTour® API will truly democratize panoramic photography – enabling virtually anyone with a smartphone to create and share 360-degree images for free.

“Businesses – such as travel and tourism destinations (hotels, bed and breakfasts), restaurants, and real estate professionals – will embrace digital panoramic image solutions that enable them to shoot, share and promote their business at little or no cost. Until recently, shooting and sharing panoramic images often required $3,000 or more in camera gear and software, plus hosting – not to mention an expertise in using them all.”

Plus, with its free–to–paid “freemium” pricing model, TOUR WRIST will offer enhanced tour hosting with services that include:

  1. Links to companies’ branding/marketing documents
  2. No watermarks
  3. Turn–key micro–sites
  4. Premium image tagging options
  5. Premium geo-location options
  6. No banner advertising
  7. Featured in industry specific sales categories (e.g. Real Estate for Sale)

“For businesses that require professional virtual tour shoots, TOUR WRIST offers a world–wide, professional ‘pano’ photographer community,” says industry veteran and Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Handley.

“We anticipate great uses of the TOUR WRIST AmaTour API will be mashups that we haven’t even imagined; just as developers built amazing apps for the Twitter API,” says Armstrong. “Our vision is to create the very best virtual tour authoring experience by enabling pano developers and manufacturers to do what they do best while leveraging our robust hosting, searching and sharing infrastructure.”

“By enabling consumers to have a seamless shoot and share experience from their choice of multiple apps, programs, and cameras, TOUR WRIST will continue to be the new ‘go to’ critical mass repository for geo-searching, viewing and sharing virtual tours — just as YouTube is for video,” said Chief Strategy Officer Tony Miller. “Plus, when appropriate, tours will be syndicated to our other private label apps, supporting individual businesses such as real estate brokers.” Notably, TOUR WRIST is currently the only RE/MAX® Approved Supplier for virtual tours.

Developers and manufacturers who would like to be notified as soon as the free TOUR WRIST AmaTour API is available, can email their contact info to: API@TourWrist.com.

About TOUR WRIST

Spark Mobile, LLC has been doing business as TOUR WRIST since September 2010. The free TOUR WRIST viewing app (for iDevices) is available from the Apple iTunes App Store and has been downloaded over 150,000 times since its launch. The highly acclaimed TOUR WRIST app allows user to control what they see. On iDevices, it appears as a window to each space. So, for example, pointing upward may reveal the ceiling within a room and looking down, the floor.

TOUR WRIST was among the Apple Picks for Great Free Apps, Hot Apps, and New and Noteworthy for much of April 2011 in the iTunes App Store. Also in April, TOUR WRIST was among the Top 10 Free Entertainment iPad Apps in the App Store. The current version of the TOUR WRIST app is rated 4.5 stars from 275+ reviews; and four-stars among all versions of the app from 730+ reviewers. A mobile–optimized web app for Android devices is also being developed.

The TOUR WRIST company (private) is headquartered in Tampa, FL with satellite offices around the country. TOUR WRIST® and AmaTour® are registered trademarks of Spark Mobile, LLC. For more information about TOUR WRIST, please visit:

# # # 20110427-1 # # # #

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1 comment - What do you think?  Posted by Dan Smigrod - April 27, 2011 at 6:41 am

Categories: Entertainment Marketing, Ideation, Tour Wrist, Travel   Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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