Dunkin Donuts has jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. The chain that “America runs on” started running its mouth on the social networking site on October 24 and now has 1281 followers.

So far, “tweets” concern updates from the “DD Mothership,” responses to followers’ questions, the Dunkin take on the news (i.e. “What election? Results are already in: DD beat SBUX.”) and a picture of the day.

Dunkin Donuts executives say special offers will be posted to the feed occasionally, but that the main purpose of joining Twitter was to give DD fans some recognition and allow them to interact more with the brand.

As Dunkin continues its aggressive campaign against Starbucks, Twittering should prove a boon to the brand. Starbucks, with its house music and cafe feel, has long been establishing itself as a lifestyle choice for fans. Dunkin, on the other hand, makes a good cup of coffee, but is not the sort of place you go for a personal connection. Showing that it has a human side (albeit one that calls itself Dunkin Dave and hides behind a coffee cup icon) should help consumers feel a little better connected with the DD experience.

Follow the company’s Twitter feed here.

On the day that Macrovision announced it was selling TV Guide’s to OpenGate for $1, TV Guide was nice enough to give me a call and assure me that, for now, it was “business as usual” at the magazine.

Just to prove it, they sent out a press release on the same day, declaring that the magazine would be giving away free downloads of the 30 Rock Season 3 premiere. All 3 million+ copies of the October 27th issue of TV Guide – which hits newsstands on Thursday, October 23rd - will contain a download code. Readers will be able to get the download right away - a whole week before the show premieres on NBC.

I think this promotion is savvy on many levels:

1) It’s a show of strength: the magazine is still promoting itself, as ever. On top of that, it’s showing that TV Guide can still be Web-connected, even though the sale separated it from its Web site.
2) The online/download stuff reaches out to a younger audience — a plus for nearly any magazine.
3) With the wave that Tina Fey and 30 Rock are riding — thanks to recent Emmy wins and Fey’s SNL appearances as Sarah Palin — there aren’t too many better promotional buddies on TV right now (except for maybe the actual Palin, but since she has yet to win an Emmy, maybe not).

As Fall settles in over New York, our thoughts are turning to harvests, Thanksgiving and all the wonderful tastes of the season — and Ocean Spray is getting all it can out of the cranberry’s best time of year.

The juice maker, which, for the last few years has been running a successful TV campaign set in a cranberry bog, has brought the bog to New York for some face-time with consumers. Earlier this week, Ocean Spray unveiled “The Big Apple Bog” — its traveling cranberry marsh — at New York’s Rockefeller Center. Staffed by actual cranberry farmers and surrounded by cranberry farming equipment, the bog is designed to educate consumers and celebrate the berry harvest season. Of course, it’s also getting the Ocean Spray brand a lot of free press.

Bog visitors will receive free samples of Ocean Spray products, recipe brochures, and may even sneak a peek at the actors who play the hapless cranberry farmers on the commercials; they’ll be making special appearances at each stop.

The bog moves next to LA’s Kodak theater, followed by a stop in Boston.

Today is the bog’s last day at Rockefeller Center, so if you’re in the area, bring your hip-high rubber boots and check it out.

The November issue of Conde Nast’s Glamour has a new ploy to drive newsstand sales: the third dimension!

The women’s magazine has printed some pages in its fashion spread (and some of its ads) in 3D and is encouraging its usually-chic readers to wear boxy, cardboard, multi-colored glasses for the full effect. A small circle on the front cover advertises the gimmick.

My first thought on this was that is seemed…odd, and not really in line with the image-conscious brand. Glamour, in my mind, has no room for kitsch.

On the other hand, as the blog Jezebel points out, “It’s interactive in an old-fashioned, Cracker-Jack way; it’s something you can only do in print, not on the web; and it makes fashion fun.”

The “only in print” bit really got me. With all the dire predictions about the state of print media, people need to be reminded of how special the medium is and how good it is at creating unique experiences for readers — even when they are a little silly.

…but only if you act quickly.

Today only, Southwest Airlines is offering discounted “Ding!” fares on flights out of of San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

The deal — running from 9 AM to 9 PM today — is in celebration of Southwest’s one-year anniversary of its return to SFO. Southwest served the airport consistently from 1982 to 2001, but was off the roster at SFO until August 26, 2007, when it started running 18 daily flights out of the Bay Area.

“Ding!” fares are only available to Southwest customers who download the “Ding!” widget from the company’s site (linked). The tool delivers special rates to users’ desktops — and is a very clever way for the airline to embed itself into a consumer’s everyday life.

When I was younger, the end of August signified back-to-school shopping. I got my kicks buying school supplies. I loved it. I’d go to the store with my parents, list-in-hand, and excitedly rush around putting sparkly notebooks and colored pencils into the cart.

However, with the slumping economy, kids and parents may feel a pinch come the first day of school. I recently read this article on MediaPost, noting that a study from the NPD Group found that consumers say they’re planning on spending less during back-to-school shopping. The stores being affected most are clothing and shoe stores.

The percentage of people shopping at discount stores dropped from 84% to 81% and those going to apparel store dropped from 20% to 16%. Additionally, only 22% will visit shoe stores, going down from 27% last year. In total, 35% of those surveyed said they would spend less this year than last. Only 25% made the same statement a year ago.

All that being said, some retailers, like Kohl’s, are finding new ways to reach teens and tweens. The company launched a campaign this month using Stardolls.com. The site allows kids to create their own avatars and dress them in virtual Kohl’s clothing. They can buy the clothing using Stardollars, which they acquire by signing up for a monthly membership (around $5-$6). According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, Kohl’s hopes online interaction will lead to in-store sales. The avatar trend has also been utilized by K-Swiss, Eberjey and Sears.

As a quasi-hip and slightly tech-savvy Gen-Y-er, truthfully, while writing this post I said to myself, “What is with kids today spending real money on a virtual pair of shoes?” But then again, I’m sure my mother questioned my reasoning for wanting a pair of L.A. Gear sneakers that lit up with each step.

Yesterday, while reading about a promotion Dockers is doing, I saw a familiar company name: Livemercial. Being that I recently covered the online ad firm’s acquisition of RecruiTV, I was interested to see what the company was up to.

The Levi Strauss-owned brand had launched a user-generated video contest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The contest prompted viewers to create and submit their own “livemercials” for Dockers brand pants. Viewers can watch the Mixercast-powered videos and vote for their favorite on NBC’s site. Wait. Mixercast? What about Livemercial?

The company, which has its own streaming video platform, actually has nothing to do with the promotion. And thus, it filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against NBC Universal, Levi Strauss, Draftfcb and Mixercast. Since then, the contest has been dubbed the “Make Your Own Dockers Commercial Contest.”

According to Online Media Daily, a Livemercial lawyer said the company may be willing to settle out of court. Time will tell whether this case will ever actually make it in front of a judge. Regardless, the winning entry of the video contest will air on June 13 on the Tonight Show.

I just finished up a special feature on promotional marketing — I got such a great response when I asked folks for examples. So many interesting promotions out there! It’ll run in next week’s issue of DMNews so check it out online or in print. I contacted Nowell Upham, EVP of promotional marketing at The Marketing Arm, for some insight into trends. I asked: Are marketers doing more of certain types of promotions? His response: “There’s more experimentation and the use of smaller initiatives threaded together or layered on top of each other. Marketers are giving consumers the option to navigate the brand experience in a horizontal or vertical manner.” You’ll see more of his comments in next week’s issue…