IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Advertising

  • Get Your Vote On!

    From commercials to infomercials, advertising and marketing in this day and age has become a completely different game than in the past. Lately, between the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day, many Americans have been overwhelmed with advertisements and promotions that are attempting to make their company stand out from the competition. Whether it was simply trying to convince you to buy their soft drink or attempting to convince you to buy your girlfriend’s engagement ring from their jewelry store, sometimes it seems a little too forced.

    http://www.stikkymedia.com/blog/pepsis-20-million-dollar-social-media-campaign

    In response to this tension,  marketers are always looking for innovative new ways to involve consumers in the production, promotion and selection of the product itself. This method has been used effectively before and proved quite fruitful for certain companies. In 2007, Mountain Dew began their “DewMocracy” promotion where customers get the chance to vote on new flavors, graphics, colors and names. To this day, Mountain Dew continues to create opportunity for customer interaction in their promotions and advertisements.

    Interactive promotional campaigns are ideally designed to benefit both the customer and the company. Lays potato chips are the most recent corporation to take this creative strategy and run with it. Lays has put together a multi-step process for establishing their newest flavor of chip. Originally, Lays invited consumers to submit their flavor ideas and let the public vote on these flavors on Facebook. At this point, the public has voted and Lays has narrowed the competition down to the top 3 public favorites. These flavors have actually been produced and are available for purchase for a limited time. While these flavors are available the voting will continue on Facebook and eventually one will be voted in and named the newest member of the Lays family.

    http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/297982/81/You-get-to-pick-the-new-Lays-potato-chip-flavor

    Taking a step back and evaluating this marketing strategy utilized by Lays, Mountain Dew and many other large corporations, it is clear that it is effective not only as a result of the customer interaction, but in a handful of other ways. Obviously if voting and discussion is taking place on social media, this is driving a ton of Internet traffic to each of the respective websites. Also, the customer involvement builds a relationship with the consumers and gives them the feeling that they are a part of the company and making important decisions. Finally, specifically for Lays and other promotions that offer the product for a limited time, this strategy causes a boom in sales with everyone trying the new product.

    Now that this promotion idea of customer involvement has been tried and proven many large companies are adopting these campaigns. Doritos, along with a few other companies, ran campaigns before the Super Bowl to have the consumers make and vote for which commercial would be shown during the big game. So despite the fact that we are still being consistently and constantly advertised to (and that’s not likely to change any time soon!) the benefits of running these promotions are clearly beyond the obvious boost in sales, this is relationship building at its finest!

    – Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

  • Valentine’s Day Pie

    With another Valentine’s Day comes another slew of tacky love themed promotions from chain restaurants.  Over the past couple of years, chain restaurants all over the country have put out heart shaped dinners for Valentine’s Day, and this year is no different.

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    For the fourth year in a row Papa John’s is bringing out their heart-shaped pizza on February 14.  Back in 2010, Papa John’s debuted their annual Valentine’s deal by offering a one topping thin crust heart-shaped pizza and a cinnapie for $15.  The past few years have been such a success that they decided to bring the deal back for another year.

    Another pizza joint that is joining in on this year’s fun is Pizza Hut, but they’ve got something else up their sleeves.  Instead of joining in on the heart-shaped fun, Pizza Hut has decided to put out a pizza-scented perfume for Valentine’s Day.  A free bottle of Eau de Pizza along with a $20 Pizza Hut gift card will be given out to 24 people each day from February 11 to the 13.  In order to win, customers have to tweet at @PizzaHut with a reason they should win and the hashtag #LastMinuteLovers.

    Image

    Pizza Hut is no stranger to the February 14th pandemonium.  Last year they offered their Valentine’s Day Engagement Package for the first 10 customers who could afford it.  At the measly price of $10,010, the package included a red ruby ring, limo service, flowers, fireworks show, photographer, videographer, and a Pizza Hut Dinner Box.  As tacky as this package sounds, the company received about 800 serious inquiries within the first 24 hours of the promotion.

    We will see how well this years promotions work for Papa John’s and Pizza Hut, but if history tells us anything, they will work out very well for the companies.  Here’s to a beautiful day filled with love, romance, heart-shaped pizza and pizza-scented perfume.  Hope y’all enjoy it!

    – Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

  • For the Love of Advertisements

    For those of you who don’t know what Valentine’s Day is (and have been living under a rock), it is an annual holiday established to celebrate relationships and love. It is a time when couples buy each other gifts, exchange them with one another (which is the most stressful part from a man’s point of view). Just what inanimate object is somebody to give their loved one as a symbol of their relationship? This decision can make or break the holiday and ultimately the relationship.

    Due to the nature of the holiday, consumers are now being bombarded with visual and audible advertisements offering grand suggestions for Valentine’s Day gifts. These commercials seem very similar in nature, as they are usually directed towards men. Most of these commercials hold men in the stereotypical light of being confused and flustered by the thought of buying a gift for their significant other. This notion can be clearly seen in a commercial created by the company “ProFlowers.com.”

    In this commercial the main character, a football coach, is “coaching” men on how to get their partner the perfect gift. The coach uses great inflection in his voice as he tries to motivate his “players” to make the right choice and go with his company’s business. The advertisement even goes so far as to show what not to get her (as the camera pans to a sloppy bouquet of dead flowers in between the coach’s motivational speech). He keeps explaining the benefits of this service as he draws up “the big play” on the chalkboard behind him, showing how it can help you “score.”
    Another classic example of a company targeting a dominant male audience is through the chocolate company Russell Stover and their “Men Should Go With The Heart Shaped Box” campaign. This advertisement showcases testimonials from women who are just passing by on the street and exclusively features them praising the chocolate makers. The attractive women clearly explain that “it wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without the heart-shaped box” and, of course, how much they love chocolate on this special day. They conclude the commercial with these women coming to a consensus that; “men should go with the heart-shaped box at Valentine’s Day.”
    With all of these advertisements, there is obviously a great range of possible gifts to give a loved one. Just don’t be an idiot and not get her anything or you will be in the dog house….and that’s not an ideal place to be on the 14th. 

  • Platinum or Gold?

    There’s no question that Budweiser left an impression with their “Brotherhood” Clydesdale commercial. Twitter was abuzz? with admiration for the unbreakable bond of a horse and it’s “brother.” But what about the other Budweiser commercial? The one where they announced their brand extension, “Budweiser Black Crown.” The commercial claimed to be made for the “finest” of our society by stating the beer is made from the finest ingredients and having a glamorous crowd call it their own.

    It’s not uncommon to announce a new product or brand extension at the Super Bowl, in fact just last year Bud Light released “Bud Light Platinum.” This commercial claimed to be a step up from the regular Bud Light brew by striving for platinum, not gold.

    Two similar brands announced similar brand extensions. Budweiser decided to appeal to the elitist in all of us, Bud Light chose to approach our more ambitious side. The clean, crisp factory setting of the Bud Light factory versus the rustic romantic setting of the Budweiser celebration.

    It seemed to us that Bud Light took a bigger risk by ditching the typical crowd voicing their approval and choosing a stark white background to contrast the vibrant blue bottle. In this case, we think the risk paid off. Which commercial do you prefer?

    – Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

  • “Who are you wearing?”

    The 55th annual Grammy awards will be airing live on CBS this Sunday, and it is certainly safe to say that there is much buzz about the fashion. In fact, the Grammy awards are known for their crazy, over the top red carpet looks. Who could forget Jennifer Lopez’s cleavage bearing VersaceImage dress that she wore to the 2000 Grammy awards? Or Pink performing in a nude colored body suit at the 2010 Grammy awards? Well, it won’t be happening this year.

    The CBS Standards and Practices Committee sent out an email asking attendees, including performers, to adhere to a stricter dress code policy this year. The email specifically stated that outfits exposing “bare fleshy” areas of the body would not be tolerated. On top of this, attendees have been asked to refrain from wearing clothing items that would display blatant product placement, obscene/foreign language, or advertising personal causes in the form of lapel pins.

    So with the new dress code policy, not only have the attendees of the Grammys been affected but the designers as well. Designers receive a lot of advertising and publicity at awards shows by having celebrities wear their gowns and suits. With the very recent enforcement of this dress code, what will designers and those attending the show do to make sure they are adhering to these rules? Designers have been working for moImagenths and months to have their gowns/suits ready to be worn on the red carpet in hopes of getting their names out there, or even better, getting their gowns/suits on the best dressed list. It will certainly be interesting to see what will go down this Sunday night.

    – Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

  • The Old and The Reckless

    The commercials from last Sunday’s Super Bowl have been flooding social media sites as they get passed around by friends. The Taco Bell “Viva Young” commercial has been  particularly popular with over two million views on YouTube. The commercial starts with a nurse at a retirement home putting an older man to bed. Then the old man sneaks off with friends to acquire the life of the young and, of course, “Fourth Meal” at Taco Bell.  This unusual group of pranksters are seen pool hopping, lighting firecrackers and even getting down in the clubs. The group building up a hunger ends their night at the Taco Bell Parking lot, and walking back to the retirement home as the sun rises. The song “We Are Young” by Fun, is played in Spanish (of course)to maintain brand continuity. Interestingly, that particular song became popular during last year’s Super Bowl; when it appeared in a Chevy commercial.

    While watching the game, a friend said “talking babies and crazy old people always make the best commercials”. It is interesting to me that the most entertaining commercials are based on events that do not happen often (or at all!) The concept of “old folks” having partying hard and reliving their youth is entertaining and hilarious. This idea has been used before; the artist Modestep released a music video for their song “Sunlight”. This video was posted on YouTube on July 3, 2011 and has over twenty-two million views. The Modestep video has the same idea as the commercial but is not censored by the FCC. The Taco Bell commercial is a “clean” version of this music video as much of the material is not suitable for U.S. television. It Is remarkable to see music culture influencing the types of commercials we see.

    The stylistic features of the commercial and music video are similar. Certain aspects, such as the shot angle and exposures, are close to the same. The idea of the older people going crazy and partying hard that Taco Bell portrays take you by surprise, particularly while considering that most of the commercials promoting their unique concept of “Fourth Meal” have been targeted to their younger consumers (who are more likely to be up late). This commercial appears to actively debunk the stereotype that elderly people are typically in bed by nine. It is interesting to see the commercial feature a group of people who may or may not consume Taco Bell given the primary target audience of most Super Bowl ads. Is this an opportunity for Taco Bell to expand to more mature (or not-so-mature) markets or just another opportunity to entertain the younger population at the expense of the older one? Regardless it is a reminder to “Live Mas” and while doing so, fill your hunger with Taco Bell.

    – Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

  • The Super Bowl of Advertising

    You know what they say – “the best part about the Super Bowl is the commercials”. From the Budweiser frogs, to the GEICO Gecko and even Maxwell (the little piggy who cried “whee whee whee” all the way home) we are constantly receiving messages through creative entertainment. Whether or not you tune in for the game or the ads on Super Bowl Sunday  it’s inarguable that there are only a handful of other events that have the capacity to attract this much attention from such a large audience. Football fan or not, Super Bowl Sunday is all about packing into a room full of friends and family and eating Doritos, Dominos or wings from Buffalo Wild Wings while drinking a nice cold Budweiser. The circumstances surrounding this iconic American tradition combine to create an ideal environment for marketers trying to sell their products. Millions of diverse viewers will tune in and inevitably be bombarded with advertisements targeted to all ages and demographics; an opportunity that advertisers eagerly await all year.

    That being said, it is pretty obvious that many big-name brands would benefit by planning huge advertising campaigns strictly designed to run during the Super Bowl. In the past it was imperative that these commercials were kept a secret until their grand unveiling during the big game. However, with the recent explosion in popularity of social media and internet video viewing platforms, things have taken a slight shift. Many of the advertisers supporting this year’s Super Bowl are now releasing “teasers” designed to increase anticipation of the full ad, as if these commercials were full-length feature films… and it doesn’t stop there. Some of the companies released the full edition of their Super Bowl commercial as early as three days before The Big Game. Well… that doesn’t make it much of a Super Bowl commercial, does it?

    So now that these companies are releasing their special campaigns pre-Super Bowl, viewers will have the pleasure of seeing ‘Super Bowl’ advertisements running up to a week early. Some of the main sponsors created interactive campaigns in order to pre-determine which of their advertisements would resonate best with viewers. Doritos ran a “Crash the Super Bowl” contest where viewers voted for their favorite fan-submitted video to “win” and be played during the game. Similarly, Coca Cola varied from this strategy by releasing a teaser but letting the fans vote on the ending.

    Doritos-goat

    At the end of the day, there are successes and failures in the Super Bowl advertising process. From a marketing standpoint these ideas are pure genius. Directly involving the audience, either through voting or asking for audience submissions, builds the brand’s relationship with its consumers and brings more attention to their product. So for those of you with a pre-game tradition, you might want to begin by preparing yourselves for the commercial invasion that America likes to call the Super Bowl.

    – Michael Nunes, Alexandra Huss, Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Dann Williams, Daniel Schaefer Lauren Habig