It's no secret that vehicles are an excellent medium for advertising, as evidenced by all the carvertising initiatives we've seen in recent years. Now targeting small business owners, Ford has kicked off an effort of its own to help turn its Transit Connect trucks into billboards on wheels.

Inspired by a site Ford launched last November to help consumers customize their cars, the new effort aims to bring similar capabilities to those in the commercial realm. Specifically, Ford's new online program lets owners of the business-focused Transit Connect truck create their own custom graphic wraps. Users can tap an online library of shapes, lettering and colors that can be manipulated in a number of ways; they also can upload their own images and incorporate them into the design. Nine different graphic sizes are available, all made of 3M vinyl and installed by the Ford dealer or a specially trained installer. Costs range from about USD 100 for a small panel logo to USD 3,500 for a full vehicle wrap.

Indeed, whether it's individual consumers or small business owners, anything that makes it easier to spend wisely could only be a good thing. One to try out on your own Transit Connect—or, to help emulate for other small trucks, vans and delivery vehicles...? (Related: Marketplace for consumers willing to wrap their cars in ads for cash — Sticky car art with a crowdsourcing twist — Web simulator for 'trying on' real tattoos.)

Website: www.fordtransitconnectgraphics.com
Contact: support@fordtransitconnectgraphics.com

Spotted by: Judy McRae

We've seen laundromats pop up at music festivals, serving as a kind of brand butler for festival-goers with dirty duds. Not until recently, however, had we heard of a pop-up laundromat used to facilitate generosity as well.

Sure enough, though, starting next Thursday, cleaning-products maker Method will be touring the streets of New York with its “Wash Smart, Give Smart” truck to encourage people to donate clothing. Through a partnership with Goodwill, San Francisco-based Method has equipped a glass-walled truck with a mobile laundry room that will be used to wash donated clothes. Consumers need only drop off their new or gently used items, and the mobile laundry team will take care of washing and drying them before delivering them to New York Goodwill locations to be resold. The truck will visit a different spot on each of the effort's three days, operating there between 10 am and 6 pm. Passers-by will be encouraged to spontaneously donate an item of clothing off their bodies as well; the first 200 people who donate each day will receive a free 25-load bottle of Method laundry detergent. As part of Method's new “laundry smarts” campaign, there will also be a photo station, samples, games and prizes, plus a few special guest appearances.

What's better than a brand butler that helps consumers get their clothes clean? One that helps them do good as well. Brand helps consumers, consumers help charity, consumers feel good about themselves—and the brand. It's a veritable love-fest, the likes of which will surely please legions of generosity-minded consumers. How could *your* brand emulate something like this...?

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

Those for whom the transparency bell has already tolled know that openness can reveal new routes to market triumph. Aiming to put that premise into practice for public speakers, SpeakerRate is a site that enables ratings and feedback for those on the professorial side of the podium.

SpeakerRate is a community site for event organizers, attendees and speakers that's intended to help event organizers find the best speakers available for the events they're organizing. Event attendees can provide constructive feedback for the speakers they've heard—including both delivery and content—as well as track the talks they've attended and research upcoming talks. Event speakers, meanwhile, can get constructive feedback directly from attendees and find out how they can improve their content and delivery for next time. They can also establish a SpeakerRating, which will help them earn future speaking opportunities. Organizers, in turn, can research and choose the best options for their next event. Developed by Pointless Corp., a sandbox at Virginia-based Viget Labs, the SpeakerRate API is also available for noncommercial use by outside developers.

Technically oriented talks currently dominate the rankings at SpeakerRate, but there's no reason the model couldn't be applied to talks of any other kind as well. One to partner with or emulate on a niche or localized basis?

Website: www.speakerrate.com
Contact: yowhatup@pointlesscorp.com

Spotted by: Lyuba Stevasarova

As the tryvertising train makes its way around the globe, we've seen sample stores pop up in diverse regions of the planet. Tokyo, Shanghai, San Diego and Barcelona are all among the locales we've already covered, and now a new entrant is adding São Paulo to that list.

Due to launch next month, Clube Amostra Grátis—“Free Sample Club,” loosely translated—will offer consumers an assortment of new products to take home and try before they become available on the shelves. Consumers must first register online and pay a yearly fee of BRL 50. That, in turn, entitles them to visit the store and take home up to five different products each month. Members fill out online surveys about the products they choose, and can also participate in additional activities, including in-store tests, that earn them extra points good towards additional benefits.

Anyone still doubt the power-packed combination of free love for consumers with trial-based feedback for manufacturers? We didn't think so. Onward, tryvertising train! ;-)

Website: www.clubeamostragratis.com.br
Contact: contato@clubeamostragratis.com.br

It's a rare product today that doesn't come with a barcode. Much the way 94wines lets buyers personalize its QR-enabled bottles with their own digital content, so Stickybits lets anyone scan any product barcode and append their own music, text, photos or video content.

Where 94wines provides a QR code with each bottle it sells—enabling buyers to link the content they wish to the bottles they purchase—Stickybits lets consumers add digital content to any barcode out there. Users need only download the free Stickybits app—it's available for both Android and iPhone—scan a barcode, and attach content. When the geo-tagged barcode is scanned again by someone else, they'll see whatever was attached to it along with who else has scanned it along the way. Users can even be notified when a barcode is scanned, gets new attachments or changes location. Also available from Stickybits, meanwhile, are barcode stickers that can be attached to anything—similar, in many ways, to what Tikitag did with RFID—as well as downloadable, printable barcodes that can be glued, ironed, printed, tattooed or otherwise stuck onto anything in the real world. Stickers are priced starting at USD 9.95 for a pack of 20. Thanks to a partnership with Zazzle, Stickybits also offers birthday cards, business cards, mugs and shirts with unique, content-enabled barcodes printed on them.

Stickybits distributed 12,000 packs of its stickers last month at SXSWi, according to media reports, so there are almost certainly consumer products with content-enriched barcodes circulating in the wild by now. The digital graffiti possibilities are undeniable, but so are the marketing opportunities. In some ways, it's like the early days of the web all over again—who will be first to charge brands for the right to post the first content on their own brands' barcodes, as TechCrunch points out...? And which brands will be first to start enhancing their barcodes with compelling content? (Related: More decorative, designer barcodes — Google window decals link online & off for retailers.)

Website: www.stickybits.com
Contact: help@stickybits.com

Spotted by: Jim Stewart