We’ve seen plenty of examples of marketers attempting to revitalize outdoor advertising, the most recent being fashion designer Allen Solly’s vending machine billboard. Now a Mexico-based paper company has created the Scribe Billboard, a temporary home and advertisement hoarding for artists to live in while they design a commercial for the brand based on fans’ tweets.

Designed by architect Julio Gomez Trevilla, the structure is a small space that fits unobtrusively behind a large billboard located in Mexico City, and can only be accessed via a concealed door in the billboard itself. Created as a temporary lodging for the artist to reside in while creating the billboard, it features a working kitchen, bathroom and desk space. The house was occupied by artist Cecilia Beaven for ten days while she painted a mural that acts as marketing for the paper manufacturer. The finished piece is based on around 50 requests that were sent in by followers of Scribe on Twitter, and represents the infinite number of things you can do with a blank piece of paper. The following video documents – in Spanish – Beaven’s time in the Scribe Billboard:

Scribe haven’t released any details about a follow-up residency for the billboard home, but the campaign is a unique way to commission a creative advertisement, provide for the artists and involve fans using social media.

Website: www.scribebillboard.com
Contact: www.twitter.com/scribemexico

Spotted by: Murtaza Patel

We’ve already seen plenty of green-minded urban inspiration from UK-based media agency CURB over the years, but recently we came across a related effort from Mexican nonprofit VerdMX. Specifically, through a new campaign dubbed “Respira,” or “Breathe,” the company has been working with Nissan Mexicana to install numerous living vertical garden sculptures throughout the public spaces of Mexico City.

As a way to promote its environmental commitment, Nissan recently partnered with VerdMX to fund the installation of the vertical garden sculptures in Mexico City. In addition to offering an eye-catching splash of green in otherwise gray urban spaces, such gardens also help to improve air quality, absorb noise, reduce “heat island” temperatures, minimize flooding, and generally improve the quality of life for residents, VerdMX says. The video below explains the premise in more detail:

There seems to be no end to the myriad ways in which living plants can be used for the benefit of all in overbuilt urban spaces. Brands and eco-minded entrepreneurs: one to emulate in the concrete jungle near you?

Website: www.innovacionmexico.mx
Contact: info@verdmx.org

Runners can already get reward points for their exercise minutes through the Nexercise app, which gamifies physical activity. Now sportswear company Nike Mexico has introduced its own twist on this concept with the Subasta de Kilometros, which translates runners’ distances into currency in auction.

Participants must first download the Running+ app – which monitors the details of exercise, such as pace, distance and time – or buy one of the Nike+ training products, which track similar data. The Facebook app then gives users the chance to bid on the ‘Subasta de la Semana’ – the Auction of the Week – using the amount of kilometers they have tallied by using the app in the last seven days. Each auction has a suggested price tag in kilometers and a finishing date. Runners must achieve the minimum price tag to bid, and the bidder with the longest distance wins the product. Items available include Nike apparel from Nike+ equipment to footwear. The following video explains the concept in more detail:

The Subasta de Kilometros gives people an incentive to increase their exercise regime and enables them to win rewards for their training. Inspiration for other retail models?

Website: apps.facebook.com/subastadekilometros
Contact: apps.facebook.com/subastadekilometros

The rise of mobile web devices has led to a string of innovations designed to bring wifi to public places, most recently Korea’s Waffle platform, which enables businesses to offer free internet access to customers who like them on Facebook. Now Mexico-based Terra is rewarding dog walkers that ensure they clean up after their pets with free time online.

According to Creativity Online, the Poo WiFi portal, developed in conjunction with advertising agency DDB, is currently being trialled in ten parks around Mexico City. Dog walkers who scoop their pet’s poop can place the bag into a specially-designed bin, which weighs the droppings and calculates how much free time online it can be traded in for at wifi routers located around the vicinity. The higher the volume of excrement that goes in the bin, the longer park users will be able to access free internet on their mobile devices. Initially, the portals will come with a representative who will hand out bags for picking up the droppings. DDB have also created an ad to go with the campaign, which you can watch below:

The wifi scheme simultaneously provides an impetus for dog walkers to keep the parks clean as well as providing free internet access to its users, making the environments much more pleasurable to be in. Could you bring a similar scheme to your city?

Website: wifi.terra.com.br
Contact: editorial@terra.com.br

Spotted by: Judy McRae

Divorcees in the Netherlands have already had the divorce process made easier thanks to Heartbreak Hotel, which provides separate accommodation for both partners for the duration of the proceedings. Now law firm Abogados Postulantes en Sociedad in Mexico is out to prove that separation does not need to be painful with its Libera Pass divorce gift card, which customers can buy for themselves or a friend.

The company is offering the card for MXN 200 and unhappy couples can purchase the product online or at their local supermarket. According to Online News, the campaign has been launched to rid divorce of its reputation for high expense, complexity and bureaucracy. Those taking up APS’ express package will need to load the card with MXN 5,000 plus VAT in order to proceed with the divorce, with the gift card price being deducted once all the papers have been signed. The company promises only four steps to complete the process – purchasing the card, filing an application, a single visit to the family court and the receipt of the documents providing proof of the separation. The Libera Pass is transferable, meaning that acquaintances who believe their friends need help in deciding where to turn for divorce can get the ball rolling with the gift card. Once purchased, users are granted 30 days in which to make their final decision to go ahead with the service.

While some may see efforts such as the Libera Pass to speed up the divorce process as discouraging couples from working through their problems, those who have their minds made up will surely welcome the ease it provides. Could this work in your part of the world?

Website: www.liberapass.com.mx
Contact: www.liberapass.com.mx/contacto.php

Spotted by: R Steinberg

It’s not uncommon for high-end hotels to offer an array of luxury soaps and other personal cleansing items, but it seems fair to say that few offer quite the personalization and selection that Mexico’s Viceroy Riviera Maya does. In fact, a “soap concierge” at the newly renovated 41-villa luxury hotel now offers guests a choice of locally made soaps and then hand-cuts bars on the spot from their selections.

Once escorted to the villa they’ll be staying in, guests at the Viceroy Riviera Maya are visited by a staff “soap concierge” carrying large blocks of a variety of artisanal and locally made soaps along with a sharp knife, according to a HotelChatter report. With scents such as lemon, chocolate, rosemary, peach, melon, cinnamon and oatmeal, the soaps are reportedly made by local residents according to ancient Mayan traditions. The soap concierge cuts personal bars large enough for guests’ stay, but more is available for purchase in the hotel’s new gift shop.

There are at least as many ways for hotels to differentiate themselves as there are unique locations, but personal soap service is one we hadn’t seen before. Hoteliers around the globe: Like Rosewood Hotels & Resorts’ perfume room service, this is one you need to be thinking about!

Website: www.viceroyrivieramaya.com
Contact: www.viceroyrivieramaya.com/contact

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Mexico City has proven to be a resourceful place for the recycling of unwanted items. We’ve seen sneaker swaps in the past that make use of unwanted footwear and now a recent government-led barter service, Mercado de Trueque, offers fresh produce in exchange for recyclable materials.

Having started in March this year, the market will run every Sunday until the end of the year from Chapultepec Park in the country’s capital. Residents can visit the location with glass (clear, amber, green and blue), paper/cardboard, aluminum beverage cans, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and tetrapak cartons, handing them over in return for ‘green points’ that can be used to purchase local farmers’ goods at the market. Market customers can exchange up to ten kilograms of waste and must separate and clean their rubbish. Organized by the Secretaría del Medio Ambiente (Ministry of Environment), the scheme aims to demonstrate how waste products can retain their value beyond initial use; the goods on sale are purchased with money received from the waste management companies receiving the recyclable goods.

The initiative benefits both farmers and waste management companies involved in the exchange, as well as residents who get to swap their rubbish for food, while simultaneously raising awareness of the importance of recycling. One to replicate in your part of the world?

Website: www.sma.df.gob.mx
Contact: www.sma.df.gob.mx/sma/index.php?opcion=7

It’s been a few years since we’ve had occasion to mention a crowd-funded and managed soccer team, but it looks like the concept is still going strong. In Mexico’s state of Sinaloa, the Murcielagos FC soccer team reportedly goes a step further by having no coach or trainer; instead, it’s managed entirely by its fans.

Participating in the Mexican second division, the Murcielagos FC has no staff trainer or coach leading the team’s efforts, according to a report on A Bite Of. Rather, whenever there’s a key decision to be made, choices are posted for supporters to vote on. The fans can vote online or via text message on everything from game tactics and team configuration, to player selection and in-game substitutions. They can even vote to decide which players will be awarded bonuses.

Given the extent to which fans can be emotionally invested in their favorite teams, tapping that passionate enthusiasm through a crowd-managing scheme can make good sense. A similar approach, however, is not unheard-of in the corporate world. How could your brand benefit from a taste of something similar?

Website: www.murcielagosfc.com/site/murcielagos
Contact: info@murcielagosfc.com

Spotted by: Pablo Castelo

It’s been a veritable parade of location-aware apps in recent months, but one recently caught our eye that seemed a little different. Created by a Mexican company by the same name, Yumbling is a free mobile app that recommends local entertainment options based on the user’s current location and preferences.

Restaurants, bars, clubs, cafés, movies, plays, concerts and cultural events are all among the entertainment possibilities Yumbling considers, but it doesn’t recommend the same suggestions to everyone. Rather, it factors in not only the user’s location, but also what it has learned of their tastes, and reportedly even contextual factors such as the time of day. Users who download the app — which is available for iPhone, BlackBerry and Nokia devices — begin by creating a basic profile that includes some of their personal likes and dislikes. Yumbling logs this information, but also refines its understanding of the user over time based on their use of the app. Check-ins are available, as are reviews from other users, and challenges can earn users points and prizes. A digital discount card, meanwhile, is now in beta.

Between location-based capabilities and the ever-finer ability to learn consumers’ tastes, there’s virtually no limit to the recommendations that can be made across an almost unlimited number of niches — not to mention the accompanying advertising possibilities. Mobile-minded entrepreneurs: be inspired!

Website: www.yumbling.com
Contact: info@yumbling.com

Spotted by: Katharina Kieck

Panam — a Mexican sneaker company — have been producing their footwear since 1962, enjoying great popularity during the 1980s. However, as the sneaker market became filled with global brands such as Puma, Nike and Adidas, they were less widely distributed and more commonly found on street markets. Now, with retro fashion continuing to grow in popularity, Panam have seen an opportunity to revitalize the brand using a little free love.

Realizing the retro trend had hipsters out hunting for Panam trainers, the brand have taken to the most popular squares in states across Mexico to host “sneaker exchanges”. The details of each exchange are posted on their site, and Panam fans are invited to come with an old pair of trainers and exchange them for a new pair, completely free. They can choose from whatever colors are available in their size, from a range of over 15 designs. Each sneaker exchange has 250 pairs of Panams to give away, with a maximum of one pair per person. There have been four exchanges so far, and fans can vote for where the next one will take place via the brand’s Facebook page.

Today’s consumers expect sales and discounts as standard from any brand across any industry, therefore sometimes more hard-hitting methods are needed to get their attention and create excitement. Could a similar strategy build love for your brand?

Website: www.panam.com.mx
Contact: via website

Spotted by: María Elena Muñoz