shake it, baby

Last week the Khaki King, Dockers, launched the latest manifestation of their recent digital strategy: a shakeable iPhone ad to be launched within free iPhone games, including iBaseketball, iBowl and iGolf. The ad features Seattle street dancer, Dufon, who busts a move in some khakis, of course, when the phone is shaken. The ad utilizes the phone's accelerometer, or the movement-detecting technology that lets users change the orientation of the iPhone from portrait to landscape.

According to The Washington Post:

"[the ad] is similar to applications released by Gap and Target for the holidays. The Gap app allowed people to mix-and-match outfits with the swipe of a finger, while Target allowed you to search for gifts by shaking a virtual snow globe. The big difference is that the Dockers ad will appear in a free game that a user might want to download anyway, whereas Gap and Target were asking users to download their standalone apps."

In other words, the Docker's ad is the first push marketing (versus permission marketing) shakeable ad on the iPhone. At least they're entertaining us, right?

Patti Sircus Bender, Director of Brand Marketing at Dockers elaborates: "with the introduction of the iPhone and other technologies, it became clear to us that we need to talk to our target when and where he's open to our message...he's in gaming mode and in the mood to be entertained." Rightfully so, Dockers hopes to get back on the radar of 30-39 year old men by tapping into the evermore tech-savvy inclinations of this market.

Using Dufon wasn't a bad idea either - Dockers had found itself synonymous with sweater vests and hush puppies. In an effort to rebirth the cool, casual Bay area associations the brand once had, Dockers is now back to its original name Dockers San Francisco, while also adding edgier styles to its collection of traditionally conservative, pleated khakis.