Tuesday, November 25, 2008

the finale: MY FAVORITE ADS

During the semester, we've been talking about the "science" of advertising - the aspects of marketing, what goes on before we ever get to the creative stuff.

But today, we talked about the creative aspect of it:
The creative team consists of creative director, copy writer, and art director, otherwise known as the CREATIVES. The marketing and advertising research figures out what do say, the creatives figure out HOW TO SAY IT.

Here are some of my favorite ads (some are part of a larger campaign...)









Now to explain why i love these VERY DIFFERENT commercials so much:
In class we determined that creativity often combined two objects or elements and tries to connect them. In all these commercials, the difference between the message and personas or elements of the commercial seem ESPECIALLY unrelated.

They all use comedy of some sort (a talking baby). In that way, they grab your attention because they are not predictable. When you think of a stock trading company and their ad, you don't think of a baby using it e-trade, a computer webcam, a blackberry, AND talking! It definitely makes you stop flipping channels to figure out what is on the screen.

Another reason is expressed by the PSA announcement - which isn't selling a product, but an idea to encourage kids to invent something. It uses the innocence and simplicity of children to sell this idea.

Often times it's difficult for me to explain why i like a commercial: after all, i have never invented anything, i don't buy skittles, use e-trade or buy snickers...

Yet i most likely WOULD if put in that position. These commercials have given me a favorable perception of the companies and their products.

They just make me laugh at their randomness. But interestingly enough, they get their point across:
1.) in the PSA, the boy invented something useful to his life. even though it's not perfect yet, it's a start and his friends admire him for it.

2.) in the snicker's commercial, the whole point is FEAST. the car contains the leaders of different eras, the people of different cultures and times that would be the ones to feast. in that respect, snickers is fit for kings. so you should buy it too.

3.) for the skittles commercial, the target audience is young adults or kids that are interested in candy that is "extreme" or unusual. for a product like skittles gum, that is new and branching into the gum business, they used cool flavors to attract this "extreme" audience: the really cool extreme aborigine guy on his tiger elephant and helicopter even admits that the gum is very extreme.

4.) all i can think of for the e-trade commercial is that it's so easy a baby can do it...but for me personally, it's just hilarious to see a baby talk (and receive a phone call from a "naughty" girl)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

COOL media for advertising

Chapter nine starts off by talking about media planning and the challenges planners face. Media planning is to conceive, analyze, and creatively select channels of communication that direct their advertising messages to the RIGHT PEOPLE at the RIGHT TIME.

This is an interesting place that advertising is found:




I've seen this car on the UT campus often. It is part of communication media. It is transmits the advertiser's message. While we are accustomed to the traditional forms of communication media (TV, newspaper, radio), something like this is new and innovative. The Red Bull car has no purpose except to PROMOTE the product (red bull energy drink).

I've often seen people giving out FREE red bulls from the trunk of the car. This form of media is especially effective because it is moving and colorful. Kids on college campuses are often on the go and frequently passing cars, but this one grabs our attention. Since young adults "on the go" are the advertiser's target audience, the COOL car is perfect to catch our attention as we walk down the street. And better yet, they give away free red bulls as a promotion, creating a DESIRE for us to go buy red bull on campus (however overpriced it may be, hahaha)

Integration Triangle


The integration triangle is used to show how various brand message sources influence the perceptions we have of a product. This is trying to be from the point of view of the customer.

Everything a marketer sends out is a message.

So to understand how your messages work on consumers, marketers use this model. With this knowledge, marketers can know where the messages are coming from, what effect they have, and the cost of influencing or controlling those messages.

In the triangle, there are PLANNED MESSAGES, PRODUCT/SERVICE MESSAGES, and CONFIRM MESSAGES.

* Planned messages are "say" messages -- in other words, this is the message that the company directly says about itself. These messages can be relayed in a number of "traditional" ways -- advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, merchandising, etc. In that respect, they may be the most accurate, according to the company. It is self-serving, and therefore is not the most impactful -- of course a company is going to communicate positive things about themselves...

* Produce/service messages are "do" messages -- they tell what the company/product actually does. This has more impact because it can CONTRADICT the planned message. It's how the product actually performs...it is powerful in that performance usually speaks for itself. Sometimes consumers may be willing to refute the other messages (if negative) if it has been PROVEN by actually trying the product that it is good.

* Unplanned messages are "confirm" messages -- these messages prove what the company SAYS and DOES. The company/marketer usually has no control over this message. Sources include gossip, word of mouth/testimony, things competitors say, etc.

Levels of Relationship



In this post i will just talk about the levels of relationships that marketers have with their consumers...

TRANSACTIONAL

In this relationship, the goal is purely about the exchange of product; there really is no reason for the seller/marketer to follow up on the consumer. For example, when you go to a farmer's market and buy vegetables, your relationship ends right there.


REACTIVE

In this relationship, the feedback is necessary in the event of a problem with the product. An example would be when you go to the dry cleaners. There is no follow up, they just let you know that if anything is wrong with their services, let them know.

ACCOUNTABLE
Follow up occurs even when there isn't a problem - for example, a salesperson may call you after you purchase something to check whether it met your expectations (no cognitive dissoance...), and ask for suggestions to improve their services before too many customers are lost.

PROACTIVE
In this relationship, the seller continues to contact you long after you have made the purchase in an attempt to assess your CONTINUED satisfaction. this is usually for a more serious purchase like cell phone services or insurance.

PARTNERSHIP
This is the most developed one -- a continuous relationship between seller and customer; in some cases, they may even know you personally, for example - a personal shopper at Macy's or Nordstrom's. They call to notify you of sales, assist you automatically when you walk through the door, and even wonder where you are (call/email/mail) you when you don't use their product/services for a long period of time.

>>All of this is part of RELATIONSHIP MARKETING: creating, maintaining, and enhancing long-term relationships with customers and other stakeholders that result in exchanges of info and other things of mutual value or interest. That is why there are different levels - different sellers/buyers have different relationships because different issues are important to them.

>>Why are these relationships important?
As the level of the relationship increases, or becomes more involved, the cost of losing a customer increases in value as well. If a customer has one bad experience with your product, they will tell everyone they know (Word of Mouth) and you will have lost a real customer and countless potential ones.

>>But it is important to know that PARTNERSHIP cannot and should not be used for every seller/buyer relationship. Similarly, not every product needs such a high level of relationship. It all depends on the NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS and the PROFIT MARGIN if those customers are lost...For example: coca cola (an international company) and which wich (local, Austin) aren't trying to sustain the same number of customers.