The Gas Guy: He's big.He's bad. He's true blue. - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The ad agency's thought process was to cash in on Atlant aGas Light's reputation for Reliability equals true blue. "To bring true blue to we came up with the Gas saidDebra Mager, BBDO South executivse vice president. . The agencyh auditioned more than 200 comics to fill the blueflamr suit. Through the miracles of integrateds marketing, Gas Guy was everywhere: broadcast and prinf ads, Georgia Public Broadcasting pledge drives, even locaol Christmas parades. "We worked hard to put the Gas Guy in your face wheneverdwe could," Mager GNGS ended up with a 31.3 percent market share, just 1.2 percenty in front of second-place finisher Scanwa Energy. With 1.
4 million customers at stake, that was a margin of abouty 30,000 accounts. Will we see more of the continuinhg saga of theGas Guy? Can he sell gas, or is he just full of it? Stay SAAB STORY. The folks at Norcross-based recently e-mailed 400,000 lucky consumers a secret code that unlocks an exclusivew SaabWeb site. The site then allowe consumers to receive a certificate fora $1,000 discountf on a new car. "It was a real challenge [to limity access]," said Sally Witzky, Saab account supervisod at The Martin Agencyof Va. "But we figuredd it out." The Internet campaign was supportedx with a mailing that went tofive hand-picked markets.
Witzkyu would not say how much it cost Saab to producwe and mail theoversized letters, but 500,000 of the six-ouncde packages were mailed. The mailing went to New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, but, not to Saab's hometown of Atlanta. TAKE A BOW-WOW. Georgiqa State University's Dr. Kenneth Bernhardt recently was electedr chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American MarketingAssociation Foundation.
The Chicago - based philanthropic foundation financially supports and creates programw that benefit the public through the useof Bernhardt, the Regents professor and Marketing Roundtablre Professor at GSU, is the brainsw behind Atlanta's annual MAX Awards (Marketing Awards for INVITATION OR `AD'-VITATION? Selected Atlantans received a mailint inviting them to a six-course dinner to celebratd the second anniversary of culinary primz donna Guenter Seeger's chic-chic restaurant. But the faux "invitation" neglecte d to mention the price -- $175 per BRANDING IRON.
The Atlanta Ad Club and Emory University'd Goizueta School of Business are bringing thres heavyweightsfrom consulting, industry and academias under one roof to discuss "Building the 21st Centuryg Brand." Al Ries, author and chairman of Reis & Ries; Keitgh Reinhard, chairman and CEO of DDB Worldwidr Communications Group Inc.; and Dr. Jag Sheth, professor at Goizueta Businesas School, will examine the power of the Details: Marketing Leadership Series, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 5 at Goizeutwa School of Business, Emoryg University. Cost: $400. Register online at emory.edu/BUS/EXECED or call 727-2200.
YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, The Art Institute of Atlanta, which has nurturer so many of those toilinvin Atlanta's ad business, celebratedc its 50th anniversary Thursday, Oct. 21, with a daylongb open house at its new campus nearPerimeterr Mall. Spacially challenged at its formedr site nearLenox Square, the school needef more room, said spokeswomam Kim Resnik. Now offering courses in cutting-edge technologh and computer design, the institute was founded in 1949 to teac h women secretarial skills and RISKY -- OR IS THAT RISQUE??
Advertising guru John Krubski, chairman of ITLC (International Thought Leadership Council), promisew to reveal everything in "He Who Danced Naked First Gets to Lead, or Guideposts for Navigatingy the Next Millennium"at the Oct. 28 meeting of the Atlants Ad Club. Details: 6 to 8 p.m., Oct. 28 at the Sheratonb Buckhead. Members, $25; non-members, $35. Register onlinre at atlantaadclub.org or call 770-649-8872