Avatar Promotion Gets Kids Back-to-School In Style

Since it's back-to-school week for most all students in the Northeastern part of the country I've been writing about back-to-school promotions on my blog, Donna's Promo Talk. This one in particular I thought I'd share with you here.

Taubman Malls has become the first user of an "Auto Photo Technology" developed by a company called Oddcast which turns any digital photo into a talking avatar. Taubman has created a Find Your Go microsite that's targeted specifically to students to help them "Find Your Go, Get Schooled in Style". On the homepage they have an "Intro to Avataring" (This is the first time I've seen the word used as a verb, so we may be on to a new addition to the Web 2.0 language). Anyhow, visitors to the microsite are invited to upload a photo...avatar it...style it...then record a message. Once their Avatar is complete they can then email it to parents and friends and also publish it to their MySpace page. It's really pretty cool.

So, I went to the Avatar Yourself page and created one myself using one of their default Avatars. I customized it a bit first changing the hair color, background and clothing. Then you can record your own voice message, type a message for the computer to speak or pick one of the prerecorded messages. I picked the message that humorlessly tells parents this isn't really me, but why I need this back-to-school stuff to succeed in school. I then emailed it to myself and here's the link if you want to check me out. They also have a bunch of download designs available such as MySpace Skins, badges and wallpapers.

Now the key objective is for the kids to create their wish list and get their parents to view it. Speaking of parents, they also have a section For Parents to "get the back-to-school 411 for you and your kids". It gives parental guidance on what's the trendiest back-to-school items and offers both parents and the students a chance to voice their opinions by voting on featured products. It can inform them to what's on sale at which mall and also gives them an intro into "Avataring". So, all in all this is a pretty cool promotion and website.

"Students, particularly teens, like to be heard and this talking avatar and trend poll are two ways for them to voice their thoughts," says David Goldberg, Taubman Vice President, Marketing and Sponsorship.

To launch the avatar program, many of Taubman's shopping centers will host in-mall events that feature Pixman -- people equipped with LED screens suspended over their heads via a backpack-like device. The head-turning Pixman will walk among shoppers educating them about the avatar program, directing traffic to center court. There, teams will hand out FindYourGo lip balm and show visitors how to create their own avatars onsite from the center's avatar kiosk or from home.

"Taubman is ahead of the curve. This deployment is a perfect example of digital and nontraditional coming together for an innovative and inspiring campaign that empowers and entertains shoppers," says Adi Sideman, CEO of Oddcast. "The students are going to think it's cool and the parents will be wowed.  It's the perfect viral marketing mix."

Unfortunately we don't have any Taubman shopping centers in the Rochester area. Maybe Eastview Mall should take notice to this promotion to attract more kids and teens.  Anyhow, the avatars will be available online through October, so be sure to check it out.