Today, Apple officially released the iPhone 4, the first major redesign of the iPhone and the iOS since the iPhone 3G. And, since Street Attack’s office is just over a football field away from Apple’s largest Apple Store, we saw it all go down.

The Customers
There were lots of them. In front of the store was two neatly organized and folding lines – one for reserved purchases and one for the brave folk. A handful had been there since the day before. While there was on average around 50 people constantly in the reserved line, the I’ll-try-to-buy-it-now line escaped well past the human-coralle and extended 400ft – all the way past our offices at the line’s peak. Nearly every customer in line was fiddling with his or her outdated iPhone 3G, waiting for the glorious upgrade.

Apple
Apple has mastered the art of the anticipated release. This was by far the most organized Apple release event to date – everything from the tidy lines to the employees passing out free SmartWater and snacks made very clear the forethought Apple had put into the Boston release. On this hot summer day, a few employees even offered sunscreen to the patiently waiting customers. Most impressive of all, even 4 hours after the doors had opened, customers were still lining up and Apple was – surprisingly – still providing devices. We estimate that Apple had several hundred devices in stock.

Everyone Else
Aside from the confused onlookers and Street Attack interns, there were a few more important attendees at the iPhone release: the street teams. Just as the Apple devices and operating systems have sparked independent product and software companies, the Apple release events now provide a forum for experiential promotion. In Boston, an iPhone case company handed out cupcakes with their logo, and walked around displaying their technology. The idea is genius: this company was able to create hundreds of impressions to an extremely defined consumer base. Every person in that line could use an iPhone 4 case (and a cupcake too!).

Clearly, the Apple phenomenon is spreading further than ever. Further down the street, yes. But it’s also paving new avenues for promotion – and that’s a whole lot more important.

Grab your broom sticks and let’s go for a ride!

Tomorrow night Red Bull will be hosting the Red Bull Witch Hunt, a broom stick (ehh bike) ride from Boston to Salem. Hope to see you all there with your tricked out Nimbus 2000… or your Huffy. Unsure about participating? Check out the teaser below.

Last week Street Attack executed a magnificent experiential marketing program in Chicago’s Union Station on behalf of Keurig, the leader in single cup coffee.

The 10X20’ and 14 foot tall footprint included two auxiliary sampling units and two display cases. Totaling 40 brewers, this massive complimentary coffee station brightened the morning commutes of more than 4,000 consumers each day! Commuters were able to choose a coffee or tea flavor and try the Keurig brewers themselves for the perfect cup of coffee in under one minute.

Of course this feat was not single handed. Street Attack was brought on board by Keurig’s Boston-based advertising agency, BrandContent, who is responsible for the vision and concept of the campaign as a whole.

Along with the sampling event, we took over Union Station with a Station Domination media buy and wrapped a red line car on the El Train, among other advertising placements. Check out the ad campaign which juxtaposes Keurig, the perfect cup of coffee, with the less than perfect commute.

A special thanks also goes out to Turtle Transit who constructed the set-up and helped see the vision through nuts and bolts.

The Keurig ‘Perfect Commute’ Sampling Booth is on the road and is stopping in the Seattle ferry terminals in Bainbridge on 10/28-10/30.

Adding to our list of Music clients this summer is the George Wein’s Folk Festival 50 (formerly known as the Newport Folk Festival). This is Street Attack’s first year working with the festival and we hope to be a long time partner for years to come

This weekend we’ll be enjoying the fruits our labor as we pack up and head down to experience the festival first hand. With a line-up of artist that include, Pete Seeger (oldie but goodie), Joan Baez, The Decemberists, and Ben Kweller, this year’s festival is sure to not only entertain, but help bring some new music to the ears of veteran folk fans.

Don’t have plans for this weekend? Check out the festival details on the website for a complete line-up and ticket info: Folk Fest Info

Last week much of the Street Attack Account Team disappeared to Hartford, CT to unveil our Senior Simulator to the press. Street Attack teamed up with Strawberry Frog and DKC to execute a one day press event for Liberty Mutual.

Strawberry Frog, a NYC-based creative agency, designed and developed an online game for Liberty Mutual, simulating the challenges seniors may be facing. The game was available on-site for press members and their teams to test.

To bring the aging experience to the next level, Street Attack worked with medical consultants to design an aging simulation suit that allowed users to experience physical ailments commonly experienced by seniors. As if simulating the effect of vision impairments, arthritis to major joints, and physical fatigue caused by extra weight wasn’t enough of an experience, we had each press member drive a car while suited. With the help of In Control Driving, courses were set up on-site for test drives. In Control’s professional instructors lead each suited driver through a course to further demonstrate slowed reaction times and mobility changes.

Dr. Victoria Rosebrook of the Macklin Intergenerational Institute, confirmed that the suit was an accurate representation of what seniors may face as they age. Members of the press responded well to the experience with emotions ranging from surprise to dismay to frustration.

To try out the game and particpate in the senior experience click HERE

See what the media had to say about the experience:
WTNH.com
WFSB.com
Boston.com

VitaminWater recently launched a low calorie version of itself called VitaminWater 10. This new beverage has exploded on the scene with a large scale media program including an extensive print and TV AD buy.

On Tuesday April 28 it was good to see VitaminWater return to their roots and execute a street level marketing event in Copley Square.

Claiming to have “cracked the code” on a good tasting low calorie beverage, VitaminWater 10 invited you to their city gym to crack a locker code. One lucky winner with the right locker combination would win $10,000. Those who didn’t win were still in the running for a year supply of VitaminWater 10.

Participants could grab locker codes throughout the week leading up to the event in their Boston Metro newspaper, or they could get one onsite from a VitaminWater ambassador.

On March 6th the Street Attack crew visited the Sketchbook Project art exhibit at Laconia Gallery. Here we were able to sift through 2,000 moleskin notebooks filled with artist’s drawings, sketches, and prose.

Artist from across the country were given a notebook and the title “Everyone We Know.” Each artist interpreted the phrase filled up a single notebook and sent it out for display.
Check out the video below to flip through one of our personal favorites from the pile.

Thanks to everybody who stopped by the Birdhead booth this past weekend. We had a great time at this year’s Bazaar Bizarre and were happy to have met so many great new friends. Props to the dude who was ripping it on the Theremin. Also, thanks to those who had the opportunity to use our Photobooth.