Last Thursday, something bigger than words can describe started here at Firehouse. It’s an initiative born out of Mark’s belief that big ideas can make a difference, and that the power of prayer is, well, powerful – and can be life changing.

Anna Basso is a 16-year-old girl who lives in Dallas and whose family also lives next door to Mark – they have been neighbors for 10 years. She’s been battling Stage 4 Ewing’s Sarcoma (a rare type of bone cancer) since November 2009 and has a tough fight ahead.

Anna has become an inspiration to us all, and while she is getting terrific medical care, it’s going to take more than that to help her win this fight.

To encourage Anna in her battle against cancer, the agency set a lofty goal of getting one million prayers for her. It all comes together at http://www.1millionprayers.com, where friends, family and even strangers are pledging to pray for Anna and sending their collective goodwill her way.

Please join us in supporting this amazing young woman, day in and day out. A special time has been set aside every day to pray – 12:12 p.m. This time is a direct reference to Romans 12:12 – Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Anna can really feel the strength of each individual behind her.

Pledge to pray for Anna on the website (1millionprayers.com), and help us spread the word via Facebook and Twitter (#1million4anna).

This news clip does a great job of telling the story of the 1 Million 4 Anna project, with footage from a party we hosted for Anna on April 22.

With the economy officially in a recession, an increasing amount of storefronts are going dark in malls and shopping centers across the U.S. A couple of upstart outdoor companies are capitalizing on this opportunity for both advertisers and property owners by creating engaging street level advertising that crosses into the world of digital.

Companies such as Inwindow and WindowGain are offering interactive digital experiences for pedestrians with 3D video clings, pedestrian triggered audio, holograms on the street and Bluetooth that can ping customers with coupons or sweepstakes offers.

These new outdoor companies negotiate a lease fee with property owners for the use of their storefront while it is vacant. This is a win for both the landlords and advertisers. Property owners can earn a little extra rent and advertisers get memorable outdoor impressions for a discounted cost.

Audience Data Capture is a great program from Pearl Media to provide advertisers with detailed metrics on who is interacting with storefront ads. They are even using face recognition technology to count how many people stop to view the ad, for how long, and whether they are male or female. Which means video ads can be served by gender!

In the interactive displays below the dog barks at you as you walk past. Check out more video examples here.

This type of advertising can also be used for event marketing and PR by creating Flash Stores. This is an opportunity for advertisers that do not have a retail presence, which allows consumers to interact with their brand. This is an unexpected format to initiate trial among a new consumer base. In my opinion, it is the outdoor equivalent to a radio remote.

Storefront advertising is an alternative outdoor option that I would definitely recommend in future branding campaigns. It is unexpected which draws attention in the cluttered outdoor media landscape that most consumers try to escape. If paired with engaging, value added content for your target, I think the media value would over-index.

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