creative new ways to advertise

There are many ways to make a brand stand out. You can create a very flashy ad that grabs people's attention from being so showy or you can make your ad be shocking. People will remember both. Another way is to get creative when trying to show off your new ad. Bounty paper towels made a big show of their product when they left props on a street corner. They had two props, one was a giant coffee cup that had spilled and another was a Popsicle that someone had dropped. These were definitely seen as big messes to the public and were memorable. Some people even took photographs by them. These are very interesting and memorable ways to catch the public's eye, by making your product more real to the consumer. There was a Redbull drop here on campus a few weeks ago that definitely got my attention. They left a big wooden crate full of the different Redbull flavors that had just come out on the market. The crate seemed to have been dropped by a plan because it had a little parachute tangled in a tree next to the box. There were tons of students around it grabbing a the new free flavors. After I tasted  the new flavor it grew on me and I bought one after class. This is how you grab your audiences attention in a new fascinating way.

Toblerone, so nutty

For our Toblerone advertisement, we thought about the idea of what a couple other companies did to create buzz on their project. Mountain Dew tried to have their consumers be involved in the choosing of the new flavor, Mountain Dew Red. We made the idea of having the campaign be on different social media sites. We would use Twitter, Facebook and a separate website specifically for the Toblerone Almond product. We would have the audience/consumers make their own bar to be produced on Christmas day. The idea would be one person would choose a one flavor for their bar and send a request to their friends on Facebook to finish the bar by adding another flavor. The website would have you take a picture of your face and your friend's face; half of your face and your friend's face would be placed together to show the joining of your flavors. The flavors would be made to seem very affluent and exotic because of the target audience that Toblerone has. There would be a voting poll to see which bar was the favorite among consumers. Whichever won would be placed in a Toblerone box with the Almond product and given away somewhere in San Francisco for free on Christmas day in a giant present. This would inspire people to buy the Toblerone Almond because of so much buzz about the give away and others wanting to try the flavor the audience chose. Our catch phrase was "things are better in two," to show that there are two people creating one flavor and you are receiving two bars in one package.

TV: interruptive ads

I don't think television creates as much interruptive television as it used to. Now we have options to fast forward through commercials but it does get in the way. Its interesting how advertisers found a way to get inside the American minds through intimates settings. They can creep into your living room and sell you their pitch and there is nothing you can do. This goes for the Internet too. Except with the Internet there is no escape. They have found ways around the muting the ad and doesn't allow you to skip it unless you pay a premium. Interruptive advertising is also moving to billboards, when you are stuck in traffic there is no way to get away from them. Radio can have a captive audience too with their endless commercials that take up more time than the music or talk. All advertisers have captive audiences because they have crept into all forms of our lives; TV, radio, billboards, Internet, etc. TV is not the only elephant in our room. The more we become dependent on electronics the more the advertisers will move into our lives and occupy our times.

"Everybody Poops" with the iPod dock toilet roll!

In my group we decided on the iPod dock toilet roll product because we saw it applying to a busy mom that is buying a gag gift, with actual real world application, for a young individual. Let's face it, as said in the popular children's book "Everybody Poops". And its not always subtle. This product helps for either poop-shy or those who are a little noisy in the oval office. For our advertisement, this product would give inspiration to poop. We incorporated very fun, inspirational songs to go with the different modes of advertising.


Less Conversation
SFX: Elvis - A Little Less Conversation slowly fades in. Music cuts quickly during toilet flush.

Announcer: (Mr. Moviephone Deep Voice)
Claim your porcelain throne,
Be the King of your Bathroom,
with the Toilet Roll iPod Docking Station.

SFX: Song cuts back in to guitar solo.

Putting ____ back into the conversation - typewriter ad

For this project, my group and I were given the audience of affluent middle-aged people who use technology daily and the quickness of it. In order to include the typewriter into their daily routine we had to remind them that everyone needs time to slow down. We wanted them to remember seeing their grandparents using the typewriter to write letters and the the thought of family. Our campaign would have three ads which would be on magazines, TV, and print ads. The magazine ads would be featured in Sunset, Forbes, and Time. The TV ads would be seen on channels like the news, Travel channel, history, food network, and TVland. The print ads would be seen in airports and subway stations.

The magazine ad would be a photo of a letter to a kid, who is in college, coming out of a typewriter on a modern desk that also holds a smartphone, a flatscreen TV would be in the background of the photo, slightly blurred. There would also be a calendar to show the time period and a digital clock on the desk. This ad would be about "putting thought back into the conversation".

The TV ad would start in a timeless figure sitting in a cafe with a typewriter. People would be blurred around this figure, either a man or a woman, because they are so preoccupied with getting things done fast. People would be having loud, stressful conversations on their phones. Others would be wearing giant headphones while on a laptop completely removed from the world around them. The sounds would all begin to dim and you would only hear the typewriter keys being hit with the ending "ding".
"Putting care back into the conversation".

The print ads would be a bird's eye view of a old wooden desk with a typewriter and a stack of letters to loved ones. There would be a coffee on the table and a pair of glasses and fountain pen. These would create nostalgia of a simpler time. The items on the table would not specifically point out an obvious gender to avoid stereotypes. There would also be stamps near the stack of letters to also bring back nostalgia for a time when getting a letter was the most exciting time. "Putting love back into the conversation".

Nostalgia...Good or Bad

The advantages of nostalgia marketing are that it reminds people of a different time in their life; whether that would be childhood or just a happier time. These instances in their lives can make these people want to buy this product because of what it meant in their life. For instance, someone might buy the new VW Beetle because it reminds them of their childhood when their parents drove around in them. The reason superhero movies are good revenue is because many people want to share their childhood experiences with the younger generation. Heroes like Superman, Spiderman, Hulk and many more continue to live in the minds of people because they are constantly revived through the media. The nostalgia marketing strategy can increase sales and revenue of a product. Everyone likes to relive their past, that's the reason for photos; to remember the past. A product might remind someone of a loved one that isn't around anymore. Nostalgia is usually seen in a positive way which is why it is advertised to sell products. The remembering the past makes people feel younger and their is an added familiarity to the product.

The disadvantages of nostalgia marketing are that it can invoke negative feelings toward the product or alienate a group of people because they don't understand the reference. These can also make the product less accessible. The negative nostalgia will make the sales of the product decrease rapidly. Once example is the movie Speed Racer that was released in 2008. This movie was a huge flop because it was upgraded too much and didn't attract the old Speed Racer fan base that it had as a television show in the 60's. The fans didn't see the Speed Racer from their childhood and weren't reminded of the positive times that they had as kids.

Some of these strategies might not be successful because they overreach an upgrade like in Speed Racer. They changed too much of it to be accessible to its previous audience. There needs to be subtle advances in a product from a different generation or the product will fail. Pokemon has not failed because of the upgrades being small from just adding a few more creatures to the world in which to battle or capture. The goal of the game is still the same which is to upgrade your creatures until you are the best in the game. There are different challenges but it is essentially the same because the changes are  mainly switching up the challengers. The visual effect also gets better each time there is a new release but they were not changed as drastically as Speed Racer which did not attract it's previous audience from the '60s.

New Speed Racer

Old Speed Racer

Jeep Cheeroke - extending the quality of life

For the Jeep project my group and I decided on a humorous way to introduce the Jeep Cherokee to people between the ages of 50-70. We decided to use someone from their past that they could recognize, Chevy Chase. He would introduce the car and be seen driving it around through mountainous areas and beaches. He would be seen working the inside of the car with ease and using the simple GPS. Since more people this age are seen as still acting young at heart it wouldn't just be an older person driving home from work in their new car. This generation is still exploring the world and taking risks, obviously not the same risks as 18-25 year olds but still getting out. The car would be comfortable enough for this older generation but it is also tough enough to be able to stand any adventure around the corner. Chevy Chase would be saying some of his one liners and making everything in the car seem simple. There would also be a large focus on the gear shifter to show how easy it is since in the Cherokee it is just a switch that you turn. Chevy would be seen parked on the beach with his car and a policeman coming up to him telling him he can't park here since it is illegal. Chevy would then act like an old person saying things like, "where am i?" or "I'm sorry I didn't know. I'm frail in my old age and don't remember things that well". He would use some excuse about him being old to get out of tickets in his Jeep Cherokee. At the end of the commercial the slogan for the Cherokee would be "It's never been so simple to live the Jeep life".

Harley Davidson - A community under brand

1. Yes, I believe that brand communities result in greater involvement with the brand. My step-dad used to own a Harley and every time he passed another owner they had this all knowing nod. The Harley community is wide spread across the world. There are movies made with two Harley riders driving from the bottom of South America to Alaska. The brand is more than its name. Its starting to become a way of life. Many Harley owners get together just to ride their bikes for 2 hours. Its a way to bond with others and also get away from life and be free. Even when bikers are not riding, they are wearing Harley gear that sets them apart from other people.

2. Yes, The Posse Ride enhances the meaning of the brand. A reason for this is the Oath the riders must take. This brings them together as a group of bikers. They solidify friendships through storytelling of different events with their Harley's. The Posse Ride brings strangers with a common shared interest together as friends. The Harley groups is just a large group of friends believing freedom that Harley provides.

3. Harley could be more involved, as in making it easier for the bikers to meet. They could make use of social media to connect more bikers that would, ultimately, join the large rides. If the company became too involved it would definitely dilute the progress that they have made. The rides wouldn't seem freeing and wouldn't be as enjoyable because a large company would be overseeing a lot of it. It should be largely up to the bikers because they need to be free to make the decisions of the rides or else the brand's meaning would fall apart with company interference.

4. Harley could increase involvement by making it easier for bikers to meet each other because many bikers may not know about the Posse Ride. The ones who don't are missing out in a chance to share stories and connect with others. Harley needs to make sure to expand the news about the Posse Ride but not so much that people outside the brand know about it. It should be a Harley exclusive group in order to preserve the community.

Tide Ad...Day in the Life of....Emma

A young, stay at home mom named Emma who has two boys named Jacob, 5 years old, and Jeremy, 7 years old; begins her morning by waking up at 6:30 AM by her internal clock. She begins her day by making her Folgers coffee for her and her husband, Max, before he heads off to work. She wakes her children up and begins making them breakfast composed of Cheerios and milk. As they are eating their breakfast, she makes their bagged lunches of Jiff Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks, and sliced apples. She and her boys dress in Target brand or Eddy Bower brand clothes. She drives her boys to their public school in her Hybrid Honda SUV. When she returns home, she takes their dog, Buddy, the Golden Retriever for a morning walk. She takes a quick shower with her BB green products. After she gets out, she begins on her large load of laundry with her green Tide detergent. She shoves the load into her GE brand washers and dryers that use less water. After she finishes laundry, Emma watches her Telenovelas, Amor Mio, as she munches down on her chicken salad for lunch. After her lunch, she drives over to pick the kids up from school and take them home, in order, to make dinner on time for when Max's Hybrid Honda Civic pulls up. For dinner, Emma prepares grilled chicken with asparagus. The family watches ABC sitcoms as the Max and the kids clean up from dinner. Her day ends by tucking her kids into their beds with fresh sheets and Emma climbing into her own bed with Max.

Laserdics - product flop

The laserdisc came out in the late 70's and was advertised as offering better quality video viewing abilities. At the time these advertisements were true. The laserdisc was just an over sized cd as we would see it today. The product was to rival VHS and betamax videocassette systems. The reason for the flop was because it just didn't attract many people in the United States. It seemed to become popular in Japan but was irrelevant in Europe and Australia. People believed it was too expense for the product and then to buy all the different laserdisc in order to use it. This product was not accepted by the majority of people and fell out of favor fast. Another reason as to why people didn't buy it was because half way through the movie, you had to flip the disc over to continue to the last half. Why do that when a VHS had all of the material on one cassette?

Greenpeace showing the darker side of things

Greenpeace is an organization that focuses on being green towards our planet. They want to diminish the oil the seeps into the ocean, put a big focus on global warming, and fix the pollution we put in our air. They really hooked me with their advertisement for Volkswagen's environmental opposition. Volkswagen is not keeping up with the environmental laws that Greenpeace is pushing forth. The company has not produced a fuel efficient car with their concept. They seem to refuse to be green. Greenpeace is really cracking down hard on VW because they are the largest car company in Europe and if they begin to change that will start a chain reaction of all car companies to have reliable fuel efficient cars.

Greenpeace is a great organization because it is made up of many different people from different backgrounds. Some are dedicated younger folks just wanting to make a difference and some are older people donating money for a good cause. Greenpeace uses a lot of its energy into showing the dangers of oil companies sucking the life blood out of the Earth.

Rose Petal Gender Stereotyping

The Rose Petal Playhouse was very stereotypical of girls. The producers believed that all girls want to do is play house. I'm a girl and I never wanted to do that but I see that stereotype being placed on my little sister. For her birthday, she asked for a kitchen, shopping cart, and baby dolls. She got all of these. Along with the shopping cart, she received a bunch of little plastic vegetables and fruits. For the kitchen, it was a light purple color with little flowers around the edges. Along with the baby dolls, she also got a stroller. She plays house everyday. She puts her baby in the cart and pretends to go to the grocery store to buy food for dinner that she cooks us on her little kitchen. She doesn't like to play other games that boys would play. She loves playing house and cooking for her family. I honestly hope that she becomes a chef and cooks for us when she gets older. The Rose Petal Playhouse just shows us how we start to set up our children for their lives later. We want them to know the gender differences. Women cook, clean, take care of babies - domestic activities. Men fight dragons, drive off road, fly helicopters, play with action figures, and play violent video games - manly activities.

Its Always Funny in Philadelphia

The show I've chosen is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the reason I've chosen it is because it fits a lot of stereotypical ideas. The show is about a group of friends who just seem to take advantage of every situation they are given. Every time they run into a different racial group they stereotype them. Each person in the group has a different stereotypical: there is a meat head, a pretty boy, a girl, and an older man who just takes advantage of everyone. The show is about a bunch of white friends doing different things in each episode. Usually they are getting into some kind of trouble. There is only diversity when they bring a guest on the show other than that there isn't much diversity because there are many reoccurring characters. Diversity is important in the media because it shows the differences in people throughout the world. As kids age they need to understand that there are different people with different responses to things.

There is a common stereotype in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia with the three guys believing that the girl can't do anything because she is a girl. The interesting thing about the show is the girl in it is a very strong feminist, it seems. The three white guys seem to try and take advantage of other people easily but that might just be how they do things. Not because they are white. The main stereotype that is easy to find is the guys stereotyping the girl in the almost every episode. Another stereotype they did is when they were in the ghetto, they passed up an intelligent looking older black man for a homeless white guy when asking for directions.

Stereotyping

I don't agree that it is right to stereotype in advertising. Yes, advertising has found a way to make it seem okay through humor but it doesn't portray people in the best light. Advertising just keeps stereotypes alive and makes every generation skeptical about others. Stereotyping isn't always correct either because many people don't fit into the category they are assigned. I know being a blonde I'm not incredibly stupid. People have stereotyped me but once they get to know me they are surprised that I'm not dumb. I think it is funny though that when I do happen to do something that is stupid, I blame my blondeness for what happened. It's like a stereotype I can fall back on for myself. It silly that even people are believing and using their own stereotypes to define themselves.

I don't think racism in advertising is a thing of the past. Racial stereotypes are slightly racist. They are portraying a race in a certain light that, is seen as funny, can also seem hurtful to others. There is a very fine line between them but sometimes the ads step on the line when they meant to just approach it. Racism is still alive today with everything around this world. People racially profile one another because it seems like it is the world we have made for ourselves.

Advertisers do have ethical principles and I believe they try not to ruin them but sometime what is funny to others is offensive to more. Picky people can find racism in any ad because it was what they were looking for and practically everything is racist nowadays. I don't think the advertisers mean to offend others they just do it to poke fun and some. In this commercial for Burger King, they stereotypes girls eating these little danty portioned meals while men feed on these giant burgers. They also stereotypes an asian chopping a cement brick in half; their stereotype is all asians know kung-fu. These commercials are made to be harmless but they continue to keep stereotypes and worst racism alive today and probably well into the future.

Ad it up!

Semiotics are an interesting thing. The ad world would be nothing without the simple but interesting and engaging messages they sneak into their advertisements. One of my favorite is a video from Heineken Beer. It shows girls getting excited at seeing their friends huge closet and all the clothes she can fit in it. Over their excited screams, they hear guys yelling and the camera cuts to them being excited over a huge fridgerator that only hold Heineken beer. The message is that this beer gets men excited and they love it just as much as women love their clothes. They love their beer so much they would devote so much space just to have more of it. It was a funny idea because it is true. You never think of women drinking beer; it's mainly for men. The fact that Heineken brilliantly made this commercial for the Super Bowl last year was just a funny idea that kept people watching and nodding their heads in agreement.

Another Ad is in print that is interesting involves Pepsi. I'm not a fan of Pepsi which is why I picked this ad. This ad shows a Pepsi can and a lime standing over it peeing into the can. This is happening because it has a twist. I'm not sure why this was a positive ad because I'm pretty sure no one would be persuaded to drink this beverage if it was advertised as having lime piss in it. Not very sanitary or yummy...but then again that's Pepsi.

An outdoor ad I found was one for Kit-Kat. I found it sort of clever as all ads. It is a bench with the words Kit-Kat on each little piece of the back of the bench. On the bottom, it says "everyone needs a break," which is Kit-Kat's catch phrase. Looking for the meaning in this ad, I found that when sitting on a bench you are essentially taking a break so why not have a Kit-Kat. It is also the perfect color for the chocolate of the Kit-Kat. I think each piece of the back of the bench looks like a piece of a Kit-Kat. Very interesting how they connected the two very different pieces. This just shows how flexible advertising can be; they can literally fit in anywhere. Now when I see a bench, I'm going to think of Kit-Kat. They make it so they get into our heads in every way possible and make connections between objects and their products, genius.

Brands branding us

Why do we buy brands? They say something about us. They say that we are into fashion, that we are sophisticated, etc. The brands, that we have branded with words like hipster or stylish, are actually branding us. We are following the leader when we buy items of clothing or gadgets. I love drinking Diet Coke so I have been branded by my friends as the Coke drinker. I only drink that brand because of their tradition. I have been pulled into the fact that all other brands of soda taste differently. I know that Pepsi is a competitor with Coke products so naturally I side with my brand. Other things like Apple have branded me as well. Apple products are known to be used by "creatives" or the lazy computer person. They are known to be easy. People who play games or are coders for computers always side with PCs because that is what they were made for. They were made to get things done. That's not what I am though. I fit into the lazy category so I have an Apple. It does everything I want to and also looks very sleek. Buying these products say many things about the customer; whether they have enough money to purchase these items or if they fit the person's style. Every brand says something about the person who owns it. These brands are branding us. We made them into the giant that they have become because we fall into the idea that these brands make us who we are.

Reaction

I was really surprised on the powerpoint by Dietmar Dahmen. It was so fun to listen to him talk about advertising. He obviously loves talking about. He really gave energy to the audience. I was thinking that the powerpoint would be super boring but he surprised me by being fun and exciting. The most interesting thing he said was the part about how dependent we are on technology. We must know what is happening on our social networks. I realized that I do check my phone every 10 minutes to see if I missed anything on Facebook or what not. As he was talking about having so many media networks, I saw some girl in class checking her phone every couple minutes or so. He was completely right! We are a slave to technology. We think it's working for us but really with out us technology is nothing. I go on Facebook dozens of times in a day even when I know nothing is happening on it. I only sometimes find something that interests me. Not every time though. I could be studying but for some reason I'm downloading a pointless app about throwing birds into different buildings. No wonder there is not hope for our generation - we are always on our phones!

advertising!

Something that excites me about advertising is that there are many different outlets (my friend is making fun of me right now for being so general...fine I'll go more in depth). I find it fascinating that you can insult someone and get them to buy your product. Makeup companies do it all the time, "You're not perfect and what would make you better looking is - this!" If your friend told you this, most likely you'd insult them right back. I don't think anyone would stand for that kind of harassment in person (Friend is looking over my shoulder...so better not mess up). I also find interesting that we are surrounded by advertisements everyday and most people don't notice. We are influenced without even knowing it. Who knew those advertisers are so sneaky? It's almost like subliminal messaging.