The LG Ally and Iron Man 2: A Marvelous Advertising Match

There has been a great deal of hype in regards to the soon-to-be released LG Ally. A great deal of this hype comes not from the specs for the phone but from its advertising campaign. LG has worked with Marvel Studios to tie in the release of both the Iron Man 2 movie with the LG Ally. One of the primary mission statements in LG’s current advertising blitzkrieg is that the newest LG smartphone will be the kind of technology that technological super-genius and superhero Tony Stark himself would use.
When LG partnered up with Marvel Studio to market Iron Man 2 they began promoting their new Android powered phone the LG Ally. The people at LG designed the first exclusive augmented reality app for the Android operating system. This app is considered by some to be the perfect merger of the two advertising concepts. The augmented reality app overlays a screen similar to the one seen in Tony Stark’s HUD screen viewing scenes throughout Iron Man 2. It mimics the realism of that technological display and gives the impression that the world is being viewed through the Iron Man HUD screen. 
At the site there are a number of locations and features to check out. The ability to enter a sweepstakes, view movie content, download the app and further Iron Man 2 content.
The advertising merger didn’t stop there. Recently LG released a minisite for the LG Ally that features unique Iron Man 2 content. It primarily focuses on advertising the smartphone, however, and allows some knowledge of it to be released to the general public to wet their appetites and garner further consumer interest. There is a sweepstakes available where individuals that enter might win what is touted as the ultimate Iron Man 2 package. This package includes two free tickets to a U.S. Marvel Studio movie premiere, A free LG Ally with included one year service contract at no cost, a fifty-five inch LG Infinia LED HDTV, and an LG Network Blue-Ray home theater system.
Beyond the chance to win such a fabulous prize the advertising doesn’t stop with the sweepstakes. There is also an online game where interested parties can play exciting movie-themed activities.
The LG Ally is a touchscreen handset that also features a full sliding version of the QWERTY keyboard. With the combination of apps and built-in technology their claims that it is something that even Tony Stark would use are not necessarily off the mark.
There is a commercial set to tout the newest LG smartphone. Those individuals that choose to buy certain LG phone will get acquire an augmented reality enabled Iron Man 2 comic book with their selected handset. The currently known headsets that will be releasing this comic book alongside it as a promotional tool are the LG Ally, the LG Chocolate, and the LG enV Touch mobile phones. The comic book will provide interesting movie related information as well as texting codes that can be entered to receive all manner of free movie related content. With each masterful decision LG has drawn the superhero and their smartphone technology together to impress upon the public the technological superiority of the device.
Further advertising of note will include an event held in New York on May 11, 2010 that is considered to be something incredibly interesting for both gadget gurus and movie fans alike. This event will have a wide variety of augmented reality based experiences while giving the attendees a solid hands-on look at what the LG Ally is all about. The event will also feature three of the futuristic concept phones from LG’s "Design the Future" challenge.
This is an interesting contrast to the method that Droid is using to advertise their phone of late. It has been noted that Motorola has gone out of its way to show its Droid phone as being a specifically masculine phone. They have released highly robotic adds or advertisements that are chock full of machismo. The comparison between such an advertisement pattern with what LG has done is quite interesting. Both companies seem to focus on the technological aspects and futuristic look. The only difference is that LG seems to be focusing more on pop culture references while Droid seems to be geared toward futuristic and masculine pursuits outside of immediate pop-culture. Each approach has its merit. While LG will no doubt receive a great deal of boosted hype around their product for several months Droid will maintain their consistent masculine approach long after the Iron Man fervor has died back.
LG compares well in advertisement with the Droid but what really sets it apart is its technology. The advertisements roll well with the technology of the LG Ally. Using the augmented reality apps as well as the other available apps allow for the device to be trumpeted as a revolutionary smartphone.
The continuing idea that even a technologically based superhero would use the LG Ally makes its features and apps seem that much more intriguing. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to text. The 3.2 inch touchscreen allows for solid visual capacity without any sort of stretch blur that cheaper designed smartphones can sometimes have. The fact that the android 2.1 operating system version involved with this smartphone is completely stock is quite amazing as well. This means that all apps designed specifically for Android 2.1 will be available to the LG Ally. At present there are over thirty thousand such apps on the Android Marketplace.
LG’s current advertising concepts and attempts makes the Ally seem like the smartphone of the future. Every single television commercial, retailer discount, store based promotion, and online forum that banner ads for the combination of Iron Man 2 and the LG Ally appear in cause an ever increasing level of desire for both the sequel to Iron Man and the only smartphone in the world that is considered to be cool enough to warrant being used by the man behind the armor.