New Company Creates Experiential Advertising

Location Based Branding was formed to create Experiential Advertising programs that allow the audience to enter into and interact with a marketing message.

In 1991, David Polinchock used virtual reality to create Experiential Advertising programs for clients ranging from Avis to Cutty Sark. He was a featured speaker on creating experiences that allow the consumer to enter and interact with a marketing message at conferences both in the US and abroad. Always ahead of the curve, in 1994 he created a promotional experience for the American Hotel & Motel Association that showed guests checking into the hotel of the future via their wireless PDA, without having to go to the front desk at all -- two years before Palm introduced their first product. Later, he worked on creative concepts for companies who wanted to use themed entertainment experiences as a brand building tool.

Having started his career as a performer for Walt Disney World, Mr. Polinchock has almost 20 years of experience in event marketing and strategic ideation. He began his work in new media in 1991, with his first company, CyberEvent Group (CEG). CEG produced a variety of promotional programs, including the award winning Cutty Sark Virtual Voyage tour and grand opening events for Blockbuster stores. CEG also won a MARCOM Award for Best Trade Show Exhibit with the Immersive Animation Theatre for Cabletron Systems and also produced a number of events for the NY New Media Association, including the first 2 Super Cybersuds and their first venture capital conference, Venture Downtown. In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor at the NYU School of Continuing & Professional Studies Marketing and Management Institute, developing courses on Experiential Branding and ‘oneline brand experiences.

Mark Romeo, while the Director of Strategic Planning for Nabisco, coordinated dozens of events and created and managed the 1994 Beach Boys Summer tour for Nabisco. The 36-city tour included displays in stores, concert tickets for key accounts, etc., and resulted in a sales increase of 36%. He also produced the first multimillion dollar promotion - "Live the Life of a Rock Star," with the winner announced on New Years Eve on MTV. In addition, Mark led advertising, promotion, and public relations initiatives at Western Union, increasing sales 335% during this assignment and doubling the organic growth rate without marketing support. Mr. Romeo helped found and expand the strategic services department of Agency.com where he was the Director of Strategic Services. As the Senior Strategist on Colgate Palmolive, Mr. Romeo built that business into one of Agency.coms largest clients within four months. He also managed the acquisition and strategic engagement for Coca-Cola and Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield. In addition, he created seminar and event initiatives for thought leaders in the e-commerce community; supported new business development in client acquisition for Food Television Network, HEB grocery e-commerce, Time-Warner Entertainment, General Motors and all consumer packaged goods/consumer product account acquisition initiatives. He was also responsible for the creation of scalable revenue products for Strategic Services department. Products created include: "The Filter" interactive magazine, industry roundtable forums, competitive index model(CIM‘) and development of internal M&A practice.

Today, partners Polinchock and Romeo are using Location Based Branding, Inc., to continue their ahead-of-the-curve work to bridge the online and offline worlds by creating ‘Oneline Creative Strategies for Brand Experiences. "Were very excited about the possibilities," said Polinchock, Principal for Creative Strategies. "Given the explosive growth of the Experience Economy concept, we feel that we are well positioned to help brands create opportunities for their target audience to enter and interact with their brand messages."

Adds Romeo, Principal for Brand Development, "Thanks to the Internet, more and more products run the risk of becoming commodities. The ability to create a sense of difference through a series of experiences, delivered online and offline, will drive brand management in the future."

LBB also provides strategic planning and ideation to Internet economy companies. "One of our strongest skill sets is in the area of strategic planning and helping companies create a defendable value proposition," said Romeo. He adds "There are many dot-coms out there that are looking for additional funding, but they do not have the right brand identity. We are working with companies to re-focus their core brand and create a defendable value proposition. That could open up the possibilities of additional funding."

One of their recent assignments was working for Renegade Marketing to create a strategic plan for their client, IBM/WebSphere, to reach the start-up community. "Despite all that we hear about the failing of the start-up industry, venture funding continues to remain high," said Polinchock. "The key to the program was creating ways for IBM to show relevance to the start-up community. The program will allow them to do that in a very unique and appropriate way. It will also bring in a great number of partnerships and other opportunities for IBM."

According to Polinchock, "Were getting hit with 3,000+ marketing images every day, and companies really need some very distinct points of difference. Creating the right experiences will help them to do that." Romeo adds, "The key today is creating experiences that move from online to offline and back. Our 360? view creates that ‘Oneline experience that we believe is missing. A key part of our 360? view includes the employee side of the business as well. We ask the right questions of our clients, including – are all of their touch points telling the same story and creating the same experience? Is their most valuable customer touch point (their employees) doing their best work for you?"

In addition to their ‘Oneline approach, Location Based Branding is also pioneering a number of unique approaches to their work. One example is their use of architects in the online experience. "Many companies have developed wonderful experiences in the brick & mortar world, using architects and designers to create the linear experience that tells the story. Were starting to bring those same architects into our Internet work, to allow that same storytelling process to unfold in the online world as well," said Polinchock.

Location Based Branding, Inc., is also developing several in-house projects, combining both online and offline experiences. "Weve created concepts for various clients that we feel should be developed further on our own. This includes a re-launch of our web portal for out-of-home entertainment, gottahavefun.com and the World Premiere Café, the first, marketing driven, ‘eatertainment experience. Said Polinchock, "The World Premiere Café is a unique, immersive experience that will foster brand understanding with the consumer. It will be a permanent facility in major markets both in the United States and selected cities overseas and these locations will act as a "road house" for our sponsors, allowing them to have a complete ‘eatertainment experience without the costs and expense of owning a permanent facility." Another project that were very excited about is the Road 2 Success, an interactive TV show showcasing the start-up industry. According to Romeo, "Road 2 Success is an exciting program that opens up the entire start-up process, in a way that combines all of the true drama of that experience with interactive audience opportunities. It will combine event marketing, an online experience and even potentially an on-going TV presence, into one exciting program."

Location Based Branding was founded in 1997 and has worked with a wide range of clients since its beginning. Concept work includes ‘eatertainment design work for Sports Illustrated, Baywatch and the WWF, in addition to work for amusement.com, an online portal for the out-of-home entertainment market. Location Based Branding can be contacted at 973-655-9818 or online at www.lbbinc.com.
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Location Based Branding, Inc.
Oneline Creative Strategies for Brand Experiences
"Tell Me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand!" Confucius