Where in the World is Tom Cruise?

He’s in Pittsburgh!

No wait, he’s in LA!!...or is it the Taj Mahal?

Well, wherever he is, he is promoting his newest film Mission Impossible.

Celebrities themselves are walking billboards and 3-D advertisements. GOOD AND BAD.

Wherever they go, the press follows.

Thousands and thousands of photographs have been taken of Tom Cruise, a few even captured by yours truly, since he has been in Pittsburgh filming his upcoming movie One Shot.

Each photo that is shared on Facebook or Twitter is a free advertisment for Tom and his superstar brand.

Who needs to pay for advertising when the public itself is spreading the news of Tom Cruise?

Far from a Tyrannosaurus Wreck

WPXI Presents: My Macy’s Holiday Parade

could be seen November 26^th from 9am-11am on the streets of Downtown Pittsburgh.

Everything went smoothly throughout the broadcast and all of the parade attendees went home with smiles and cotton candy.

Two hours of broadcast time took five months of preparation.

Incredible, I know.

For three of those months I got to experience the world of advertising and event planning for this parade through my internship at WPXI. Because of this, I was named one of the associate producers.

Exciting, I know.

Anyway, as an intern in the programming department, I was given the job of writing scripts for the broadcast of the parade. Each act of the parade had to be contacted and important information had to be gathered.

Scripts were written up for WPXI anchors David Johnson and Peggy Finnegan so they could read the copy as acts, floats, and giant balloons strolled down Fifth Avenue.

Each of these scripts seemed to be a mini-commercial or advertisement.

There were even “mandatory mentions” that had to be said during the live broadcast because of special contract agreements.

Mentions included sponsors such as the Post-Gazette, Mini of Pittsburgh, and Kennywood Park.

I will never forget the day I became an Associate Producer.

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So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night

Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu!

Pittsburgh was the official bat cave for several weeks this summer while Director Christopher Nolan captured shots for the newest installment of the Batman film series, The Dark Knight Rises.

While closures in the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh became common, residents and commuters alike had to plan their schedules around the BatMobile’s voyages around town.

Pittsburgh city folk endured weeks of summer snowfall, blocked intersections and highways, and low-swooping helicopters.

With all of the Batman hustle and bustle that occurred during the production, Nolan felt as though a THANK YOU was in order.

After the final cut, cast and crew quickly disappeared. Anne Hathaway and the Tumbler were no where to be seen.

But Nolan left behind his official THANK YOU, PITTSBURGH advertisement that he posted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Nolan decided on a full one-page ad of The Dark Knight Rises poster, expressing his gratitude to the city.

THANK YOU, PITTSBURGH was printed in the middle of the batman logo

amidst crumbling city skyscrapers. Along with Nolan, the ad was signed by Produc

ers Emma Thomas and Charles Roven.

For all who endured the hectic film production schedule, this ad was a souvenir to remember all of the ROAD CLOSED signs and detours.

You're welcome Christopher Nolan.

You are welcome.

Re-Re-Re-Release

NOW AVAILABLE ON VIDEOCASSETTE

What do Aladdin, Simba, Aurora, and Snow White have in common?

They all live in the Disney Vault, located somewhere between Timbuktu and Lala Land.

Realistically, the Disney Vault is an advertising and selling scheme, and also a cute way of saying

“Buy this now, or be charged more for it later.”

Starting in 1937, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment began a policy in which Disney animated features would be put on moratorium or suspended sales for varied periods of time.

When this period of sales is over, the classics would be placed “back in the vault” until another release, scheduled years later.

This advertising tactic has been used for decades. The Disney Vault campaign emphasizes that certain animated films from the Disney Golden Age will be sold for limited amounts of time.

These pre-established windows of time allow for re-release money and the opportunity to sell to new, younger generations.

Oh, and don't believe everything you hear.

Jim Henson is not trapped in the Disney Vault.

MMMhop ba do be dop ba doo hop?

Bands making brands is a popular trend among artists, from Bob Dylan to Justin Bieber.

Perfume, board games, clothing lines: all part of developing an artist’s persona.

But what if the brand takes a wrong turn somewhere along the way?

The Hanson Brothers, a band of brothers...obviously...popular for their ’97 hit “Mmmbop” have recently announced their plan to release an Indian Pale Ale in 2012 called “MMMhop”. This beer is supposed to appeal to fans over 21 and beer lovers.

14 years after their hit, the Hanson’s fan following is made up of mostly women, all over the age of 21. Perfect timing, huh?

I am not opposed to the brothers having their own string of beer flavors, but change the name, please?

I am actually begging here.

Change.

The.

Name.

Whoever came up with this name probably thought that they were brilliant, but I just don’t see it. Why not call it “HANSON BEER” or “HANSON EST. ‘97”?

If it were my brand, I would keep it simple and the wittiness to a minimum. Being a fan of Hanson since their early days, even I admit that the beer brand name is more than slightly corny.

Hansonopoly didn’t go over too well, why would one think MMMhop would be any different?

Dear Taylor, Zac, and Isaac:

Stick to the bop and nix the hop.

Sincerely,

Me.

It's that time of year again

Every year around Christmas time when I turn on my TV, I feel like I always see the same movie playing; Miracle on 34th Street. While I know it is a holiday classical and many people watch it every year as a tradition, I can't help but think of how Macy's must really love the free advertising. Macy's and Gimbels are two very big parts of that movie and while I'm sure they don't boast about the free advertising every year, they had to have thought about it when that holiday classic was being created.

Product placement is a very common thing now a days and has been for a very long time, but it makes me wonder if Macy's involvement in Miracle on 34th Street is product placement of the 1940's. Miracle on 34th Street is played all Christmas season and since Macy's is still a powerful department store, they get free advertising all Christmas season. I do shop at Macy's and my mother did manage one at a point in her life so I'm not bashing Macy's, but more on the lines of congratulating them for being clever enough to decide to be in Miracle on 34th Street.

Moms at 42?

When my younger brother was born, my mother had just turned 40 and the doctors were surprised that at her age, she was having a child. Now, according to this ad, women can become mothers at 42 and even possibly older. I've heard of the 60 year old ladies having 'miracle babies' before, but I thought that older women having children was just a miracle.

When I saw this ad I was very surprised and interested. While the life span of Americans has been increasing over the decades, along with people getting married and such, I am surprised that a company like Nature Made would target older women having children because while there are an increased amount, it's still not that large of a demographic.

Now I'm all for waiting to have children, because we all know we don't need anymore teenage mothers, but aren't health risks for the children still an issue for older mothers? I don't know the answers or the risks really, so I guess this ad really did do it's job since I am so curious now after seeing it.

Intriguing picture, great message

When I came across this image on the internet, I didn't quite understand it at first glance. Having no real color to it, it didn't originally catch my eye. After analyzing it a little bit longer, I realized how clever of an ad it really is. A helmets job is to protect one's head and as this ad obviously shows, the Lazer helmet being advertised definitely protected the mans head from a serious accident.

While this ad is comical, the underlying story is kind of sad. This man was obviously in a very serious accident if he's in a full body cast, minus the top of his head. Terrible accidents are a rather touchy topic for a lot of people so the way they approached portraying this ad was very well done. If they would have had the man in a flat position with he eyes shut, it may have been harder to grasp the comical aspects of the ad, but the awkward positioning of the man's body was just right to make the humor and the helmet safety the focus.

http://spyrestudios.com/hilarious-print-ads/

Target's secret strategy

Have you ever noticed when you walk into Target that there is never any music playing? I never actually noticed it until my roommate mentioned it the other day. Target chooses not to play music to allow the customer to not focus on anything except what they are purchasing in the store. It's like targets secret weapon. As simple as that seems, it's actually a very complex decision that companies have to make. Music is a very large impact on one's experience.

I work at a Barnes and Noble cafe and deciding on the music to be played is ridiculously complex. Since we serve Starbucks coffee, we originally were told we had to have the 'Starbucks atmophsere' to go along with it; which meant loud, obnoxious music. Starbucks music at the required level is supposed to be actually quite distracting and annoying. At my work, we obviously decided not to follow their standards and play enjoyable music for our customers.

For as simple as music is, no music at Target kind of surprises me, but what I'm even more curious about is the fact that I never seem to have cell service in Targets either. Another one of their secret strategies? Maybe.

The media's image of family

When you type 'family' into google image search, nearly every picture is of the same thing; a mom, dad, and at least two kids and they're all white. Media and advertising has created a very specific and precise image of family. Even after all of the changes in our society and growth of minorities, the media still has a hard time portraying anything other than that 'perfect white family'.

Within the past decade, minorities have been more prominent in advertising than every before, but every image of family still tends to be that perfect white family. Toyota has actually released a statement that they are targeting minorities because they are such a large market and while that is great that companies are recognizing minorities, they still aren't being portrayed in advertising.

The main reason advertising doesn't portray mixed families is because advertising is meant to be universal and since there are still people who get uncomfortable about minorities, they choose to stick to the universally excepted. If media wanted to change the image of family, they could because media can change any topic if they really wanted to. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me, but an interesting tactic in both the media's part, as well as advertising's part.

Some extra cash from blogging?

While it isn't a relatively new idea for quality bloggers to get payment for their craft as writers, it's certainly cutting-edge for users of Wordpress.com. Their plans to partner with Federated Media will ensure that individuals who regularly update blogs with a particular niche topic, will be made through advertisements featured on their sites. The new WordAds feature will be optional and geared toward bloggers who want to earn money by allowing "high-quality" ads to appear on their blogs, the company said. Only blogs that are publicly viewed blogs with customizable domains will be allowed to join the program. But there will always be room for expansion in the future for users that are not initially selected.


No other details concerning this new idea have been released yet, but the overall concept is a good idea. I think a lot of freelance writers would benefit by making a few extra bucks that the ads can generate for their sites.

Ads Reflect the Season of Giving

It's the most wonderful time of year, especially for the advertising industry. While we are constantly reminded of great holiday deals and potential savings on gifts, we must also consider the aspect of "giving back" that is a vital message in a lot of ads. One ad in particular that reminds us that Christmas is more than just a plethora of gift giving is by the Childhope Phillipines.

This print ad depicts a stone wall etched in the shape of a crude fireplace with the outlines of stockings and hearth in white chalk. The copy reads: "Over 200,000 children are spending Christmas on the streets." Followed by this is contact information for the organization, which emphasizes helping someone in need this season.

I think the idea of the ad works because people are more inclined to give during this time of year. Not only that but the image is gripping enough to catch your attention and make a statement, without having to say much in the form of text.

For more information concerning this ad and others like it check out this site.

Give me chicken! Give me liver!

Although there are thousands of new ads and commercials that come out every year, there are some that remain classics. One of the first commercials I remember seeing as a child and still can recall now is for the cat food Meow Mix. I know this may seem like a random commercial to so vividly remember, but I blame the jingle. The simple jingle is one that repeats one word -meow- over and over in a tune so catchy it will not leave your head for years (I'm living proof for that).

The Meow Mix jingle is a perfect example of why jingles exist in the first place. They are a catchy and easily remembered brand identifier. In this case, the jingle has been around for decades, even still appearing in commercials today. It is part of the Meow Mix brand, and because of that it won't be going anywhere soon.

Football Every Day of the Week

Have you ever wished that you could stay connected to your favorite NFL team more than just on game days? Well wish granted! The NFL has heard your cries and answered them in a very simple way -- giving you access to football everyday of the week!

This simple concept is so elegantly transformed into visual gold in one smooth commercial. With its upbeat background music accompanied with bright colors and continuous flow, this commercial immediately captures viewers attention. It depicts a young man rolling through out his typical week, the entire time staying connect to the NFL through various mediums. These include traditional television, smart phones, internet, etc. As he rolls through different boxes (or days) he is surrounded by different environments such as home, work, public transportation, and the outdoors.

There are obviously many different ways of getting "everything football", as the commercial reads. By creating this simple string of events and having the main character roll through them all, the sheer scope and many combinations are shown to the audience in about 30 seconds. Which is pretty impressive if you ask me. Take a look for yourself here!

Dead Island Trailer

Dead Island is a zombie video game that was released earlier this fall. The trailer was graphic and gory, but also surprisingly enough, a bit emotional. Some said it would make you cry, which isn't what one would normally expect from a video game. The trailer showed glimpses if the game; zombies, blood, and a family. There were great screen shots, music and the trailer was played in a different order in which the storyline, and what was happening, all came together in the end. It was like watching a mini-movie. To watch the trailer on Youtube, you had to be 18+ or signed into an account due to the graphic content. Besides being a great advertisement, it created a lot of hype for the game and made you want to play it. I wanted to check it out and I don't even play video games.

Campbell's Soup Snowman Commercial

The Campbell's Soup Snowman commerical has become a timeless winter classic ad. It has lasted, and remained a popular holiday commercial, for since 1995. It fits the brand, and the image it has created; the commercial is wholesome and sincere focusing on warmth and family. The snow melts when the little boy warms up after being served some Campbell's soup. It plays on nostalgia of playing in the snow, the holidays and family which appeals to both children and adutlts, espcailly mothers. Its appeals, to audiences emotions and holiday sentiments, make this commerical timless.

Starbuck's Holiday Cups Come to Life

Starbucks has a new app this holiday season for there featured holiday drink cups. The new app brings the cups to life, when the consumer views them through the free downloadable app. Currently it is only available for the iPhone but a Android app is supposed to be coming out soon. There are a variety of five different scenes, from carolers to ice skaters that can be seen on different cups. This provides more incentive to buy holiday Starbucks drinks, and is a perk to existing Starbucks addicted customers. It also lets the customer interact more with the product, not only by watching it but customers are also able to send snapshots of the scenes to friends and family, as an added bonus holiday greeting. It engages the customer in a fun and creative way, while also promoting not only the brand but the featured holiday drinks for the season. The new app enhances the brand, but also adds "experience".

Add Some Swag to your Brand

A new study conducted by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) revealed that promotional swag generates more attention than more traditional mediums, such as TV, print or radio. Coffee mugs, pencils, and flashlights are among the many ideas for companies to distribute their logo to consumers. This finding helps show where the direction of the future of advertising is leading as marketers debate over the next great advertising medium. ASI also found that this newer form of alternative advertising has a lower cost-per-impression price tag compared to national magazine and prime time TV ads.

600 consumers, consisting mainly of businesspeople over the age of 21, were surveyed both in-person and online throughout major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. The respondents were asked to recall promotional swag received in the past year. Some key findings from the study include the increase of willingness to collaborate with the advertiser, more favorable impression of the advertiser after receiving swag, and bags were found to be used the most frequently among wearable swag items.

I think this is a great study to help defend any previous doubts on promotional materials. While most companies think slapping their logo onto waterbottles or pens may be an expensive form of advertising, it is actually more cost effective in the long run because of the stronger impression left on the consumer. The companies who have a larger advertising budget would see a benefit to creating useful products that incorporate their logo or slogan because the product would be recurring in the consumer's lifestyle.

This article was found on AdWeek.com.

Cravendale Cats with Thumbs

In Cravendale's "Cats with Thumbs" ad, it ponders the question, what would happen if cats had opposable thumbs? They would gang up and go after Cravendale milk.

The ad appeals to the audiences sense of humor, which is unique for an ad about milk. The humor in the ad can reach a large range of age groups which fits the product since milk is a beverage that pretty much everyone drinks and a common household product. The creativity and humor of the ad are what make it stand and and make it a memorable ad. The ad has over four million hits on Youtube. The ad positions the milk as something desirable and coveted. I really liked the ad, I thought it was hilarious.

Apple's Store Within A Store

Best Buy now features several Apple products that create a store within the store. As seen in their latest Holiday Ad, a salesman is showing a customer how to use face time, a key feature to many of the newly launched Apple products. They participate in a light hearted conversation and then the sales associate even jokes harmlessly, "I guess Santa better watch his back!"

The ad cuts to another scene of a darkened living room with Santa Claus entering. He is about to place presents under the Christmas Tree and then he realizes that everyone received a variety of Apple products instead of typical gifts he might deliver. A light in the opposite corner of the room comes on revealing the woman from the store sitting beside the cookies and milk intended for Santa. She then proceeds to chug the entire glass of milk with a menacing look on her face. The text "Game On, Santa" then flashes across the screen, suggesting that Best Buy has everything everyone needs at Christmas as well as the people who can help you "be" your own Santa Claus.

The overall tone of this ad is obviously humor and I think it achieves this goal. While some people may view it as an "attack" against Santa, I find it to be light hearted and informative of what Best Buy has to offer with its new Apple selection.

Here is the full length commercial.

Bing Calls Upon Rudolph For A Special Favor

With the holiday season fast approaching, advertisers have pulled all the stops to display their very best holiday themed advertisements. Bing, the third largest web search engine owned by Microsoft, is no exception. The company has partnered up with a whole cast of holiday characters in the hope of attracting people to their site. And with steep competition such as Google and Yahoo! they are ensuring this marketing campaign is unique to their competitors.

The overall strategy involves numerous advertisements that utilizes humorous situations featuring the characters of the holiday classic. Every character has a problem that they use Bing to solve, the end result shows them successfully pleased with choosing Bing as a search engine. There are four different scenarios Microsoft has planned to use for its Bing campaign. One of them features the Abominable Snowman (named Abominable) searching for a more ferocious roar. Another showcases a few characters searching for a vacation getaway that happens to be on an island of misfit toys. 

Microsoft has bought seven slots to run this campaign on national TV. They plan on running these four thirty second commercials from Thanksgiving until Dec. 21st. The goal isn't frequent exposure, but rather high impact for the viewer. While I am not a user of the Bing software, I find these ads to be rather appropriate for this time of year. Not only that, but with a holiday classic like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Bing is bound to get more exposure and recognition from the campaign.  

For additional information about this campaign strategy, you can find the full article here.

Watch the Abominable BING Ad here.

Whoever thought a Ginger could be so cool?

Chances are you have never heard of Lifestyle International Ltd. or Ginger. I hadn’t either until I saw their eye catching print ads online. But before I continue about these ads, allow me to catch you up on Lifestyle and Ginger. Lifestyle is a leading retail company in India. They sell anything from shoes to furniture and is comparable to what we call Macy’s. Ginger is a brand that can be found in Lifestyle stores all over. Although Ginger produces regular clothing they specialize in accessories, particularly jewelry.

I would have never been able to tell you about any of that if it had not been for the print ads I had found. These ads cleverly combine photographs of Ginger jewelry with whimsical sketch like drawings of women wearing it. What struck me first about these images was simply how interesting they were. It made me want to be the sketched women in the pictures. They appeared to possess a timeless beauty, with still being fun, fresh and young. Not surprisingly, this is the image and reaction that Ginger was trying to convey to its audience. According to their website their collections are meant for “the happy go lucky women who enjoy the sun and shade of life equally.” It further segments its intended audience into separate collections. These collections are for every type of woman – from the “soft romantic”, to the “head strong leader” there is a piece in this collection for everyone. This is also reflected in the print ads. All four of them seem to send a different personality and vibe to its audience. I think that Ginger did an excellent job in creating visually appealing ads that strongly speak to their intended audience.

Black Friday Funny

We all know Black Friday is not for everyone – but Targets ongoing seasonal ad campaign is. When done right humor can be a strong marketing strategy. In targets ads for Black Friday shopping, they have found something that works. This series of TV commercials features a crazed and intense Target shopper preparing for the Black Friday deals and specials Target offers.This Target shopper is better known as “the Christmas Champ”, played by standup comedian Maria Bamford. She does an excellent job in creating a humorous personality that many people are able to laugh at.

One reason these ads work is because they bring a light hearted and funny aspect to a day that is usually surrounded with stress and seriousness. It gives customers a chance to step back and think about how crazy the concept of Black Friday shopping can become. It also reaches a wide target audience, something that is pivotal for any Target commercial. Because Target has such a large selection and variety of merchandise, they need to create advertisements that will reach a large and differentiated target audience. Humor is something that all people can identify with and appreciate. By incorporating it into their Black Friday commercials, Target has successfully created awareness surrounding their Black Friday deals this year. If you haven't already take a look at one of these commercials below, or if you would rather read more about these commercials click here!

Highmark - It's Everywhere

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been noticing the same ad campaign across Pittsburgh region. These ads that have been catching my eye aren’t for the typical store, product, or entertainment that typically litters the billboards and TV commercial ad space. Instead it is for the health insurance company Highmark. These cleverly designed ads take a very simple concept and expertly create advertisements that deliver the message to customers without having to ‘cut through the clutter’.

The major medium incorporated into this campaign is the use of billboards. They all have the same design – the bright blue bottom half, white top half, with a big green check mark and the type that reads “accepted everywhere”. The bright colors are very helpful in catching the public’s attention, and by using the green check mark as the center of the visual backs up what the type is saying. Also the placement of these billboards is another aspect of the success of these ads. From my own personal experience, I have seen these ads in the middle of downtown, all the way to the rural countryside of Pennsylvania. The TV commercials are just as effective. They use the same bright color pallet, playful background music, and arrows to signify ‘here’ and ‘here’ or all the places Highmark is accepted.

Although I could not find any internet pictures or links to these ads, I am positive that all you have to do is look around to find one. And when you do I believe you will be just as impressed as I was.

Pittsburgh Penguins Find Their Future in College Students

With almost 300 straight sellouts, three championships, a young team, and a brand new state-of-the-art arena, it's no wonder that the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League are popular with the people of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Penguins merchandise is among the best-selling out of all of the teams in the league, and tickets for home games always sell quickly. While the crowd at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center arena is filled with season ticket holders, businessmen, and those lucky enough to grab tickets, there is a consistant presence of college students.

Six years ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins weren't selling out every game and decided to try selling the extra tickets to students at a discounted price, a tactic they called "Student Rush." Students jumped at the opportunity to see a professional team for a cheaper price, and soon students were lining up hours before the game outside of the ticket windows to guarantee a seat. Student Rush was an instant success, and though the Pittsburgh Penguins team began attracting a larger, wealthier crowd, the Penguins front office didn't disband Student Rush. Instead, in a surprising act of public relations, they expanded it.

Today, the Penguins organization selects certain home games with 600 tickets for Student Rush, have a disc jockey to entertain the waiting students, give out prizes, and even bring out members of the team and coaching staff to dish out free pizza before the game. The Pittsburgh Penguins have made the message clear that they want college students to be able to enjoy the games, and by catering to the college crowd by giving them discounted tickets year after year, they are developing their consumer base for the future.

While the Pittsburgh Penguins also reach out to other audiences within their fan base, their specific outreach to students is unique in the National Hockey League. The Penguins organization recognizes that college students are an opportunistic audience to attract, since students are close to earning their own independent wages, are willing to spend money on good entertainment, and can also easily become loyal customers to the brand. Other teams in the National Hockey League, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, have seen the success of the Penguins' Student Rush and are trying to emulate it in order to build their fan base as well.

Student Rush continues to be a successful and inspiring promotional event for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and there are no plans of disbanding it any time soon.

SOURCE: "Student Rush offers kids a chance to attend Penguins games"
Pictures are from the Pittsburgh Penguins official site.

'Tis the Season: Classic Christmas Commercials

'Tis the season for Christmas shopping, music, shows, and, of course, advertising.

Every year, consumers look forward to their favorites of each as signs of the season, and classic holiday commercials are no exception. A handful of television advertisements have found their way into the hearts of consumers and so are expected to air during the Christmas shopping season.

Such classic commercials are the M&M's "Christmas Faint," "Hershey's Holiday Bells - We Wish You a Merry Christmas," Campbell's winter Chicken Noodle Soup commercial, and, in the Pittsburgh area, Eat 'N Park's "Christmas Star" commercial.

The ads range in tone from humorous to relaxed, but all have the same warm mood that consumers associate with the Christmas season. Since people have grown to love the commercials, associate them with the holiday season, the ads also inspire brand loyalty from the consumers who enjoy them. People may purchase the products advertised in the classic commercials as a way of supporting their favorite classic ads and as a way of participating in the holiday season as a compliment to their favorite commercials. After watching the "Hershey's Holiday Bells" commercial, one might purchase those holiday-themed Hershey's Kisses in order to bring the 'magic' of the commercial into one's home for the holiday.

In the advertising frenzy this holiday season, companies will compete to grab consumers' attention and their hearts. They hope to inspire consumers to not only buy the product, but to associate it with the holiday season and become loyal to the brand as a holiday tradition, just like with their classic predecessors.

Penn State Hires Ketchum Agency for Crisis Communications

In its latest move for crisis control, Penn State University hired the Pennsylvania based Omnicom Group agency, Ketchum, for crisis communications. This is another response that the university has made in light of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.

While the Ketchum agency is better known as a PR firm, it is also recognized for having around 50 crisis executives and has also built a reputation for its success in crisis communications.

It will be Ketchum's responsibility to advise Penn State and help the university reach out to all parties involved in the scandal and speak to them and the public truthfully about the scandal in order to build trust with the public and rebuild its image again. No matter what the public opinion is of the scandal and the university, it is Ketchum's hired duty to help Penn State recover from the scandal.

SOURCE: "Penn State Enlists Ketchum for Crisis Communications"

Disney Magic for Disney Parks in Times Square

Times Square in New York City is full of lights, billboards, and screens, all vying for the attention of the thousands of tourists that visit it each day. One screen in particular captured the attention and imagination of visitors in order to promote Disney Parks by using a bit of 'magic' called an Augmented Reality Billboard.

When someone stands on the special marker located opposite of the billboard, a Disney character appears on the screen and interacts with him or her in Augmented Reality. It was a success with children and adults alike, as people danced with Donald, dug for buried treasure with Captain Hook, helped Cinderella try on her glass slipper, and modeled with Cruella De Vil.


This short-lived promotion for the Disney Parks is not only memorable for the people who saw it and participated, but is an example of how to successfully promote a business using Augmented Reality Billboards.

SOURCE: Disney: Augmented Reality in Times Square

Kohl's "Friday" Parody for Black Friday

Back in March, the now-infamous song, "Friday," by Rebecca Black, went viral and garnered lots of attention for the 13 year old aspiring singer and her song.

Kohl's recently parodied the song in their latest ad to promote their Black Friday sales, and it certainly got my attention. Since "Friday" is so well known, for both good and bad reasons, just hearing the song has people paying attention to the ad. It's humorous seeing "Friday" being used in a real commercial, and the commercial is well-done in that it gets the point across quickly that you can get all of your holiday shopping done at Kohl's on Black Friday at good prices. However, the ad could also have a negative impact on consumers as well, since so many people voiced their dislike of Black's "Friday," those people could also dislike Kohl's for using the song, and even featuring Rebecca Black herself in the ad as a background shopper.

Either way, Kohl's using the infamous viral song for their Black Friday ad proves that using internet pop culture in advertising is effective for reaching out to multiple generations of consumers since so many are familiar with "Friday."

See the commercial here.

Dermablend Go Beyond The Cover Commercial with Zombie Boy

I still don't quite understand why someone would want to tattoo themselves THIS much, however, at least Rick Genest is putting his tattoos to good use. Rick Genest, also known as Zombie Boy, not only appeared in this advertisement for Dermablend, he can also be seen in Lady Gaga's music video for Born This Way.
The ad campaign "Go Beyond The Cover" for Dermablend skin concealer is unique and effective. I first saw this advertisement while on StumbleUpon (a search engine) about a month ago and have been meaning to blog about it since. The ad certainly has a freakish effect, mainly because of Zombie Boy's signature stare, but also because the product is so fantastically successful! Watching him take off the concealer and then seeing the process of applying the concealer play in reverse was rather mind blowing.
The ad campaign for "Go Beyond The Cover" is a clever idea as well. Especially since now so many people are concerned with judging others by their appearance. The campaign attracts a wide range of people including both male and female, particularly ages 13 to 35, depending on the person's lifestyle and attitude.
I love the ad and would even consider buying the product...now I just need to get a tattoo!

Super Bowl Aerial Ads

Even though the Super Bowl is still months away, that doesn't mean that advertisers and marketers aren't thinking about their commercial time during the game. It is known that Super Bowl ads are one reason why some people watch the event while spots cost millions of dollars for just 30 seconds of air time. For this year, the price for each thirty second commercial is 3.5 million dollars, being half a million higher than last year. The problem is that smaller companies and companies that do not have a large marketing budget can not afford to advertise in this manor.

To solve this problem, AirSign Aerial Advertising is now offering advertising live at the Super Bowl for a fraction of the cost on a first come first serve basis. The company has been experienced in the the business since 1996 in advertising in the air. Stated by the founder of the company Patrick Walsh, "One of the best options for Super Bowl aerial advertising is our newest branch of advertising, Blimp or Airship advertising, the manned airship is customized with a client's brand and it can float over the open stadium for the entire game." On these ships, companies can have whatever message they would like with their logo and company name illuminated through internal lights.

I think that this is a great new method of advertising during the game- although viewers of the game can not see the ads, the attendees of the Super Bowl will be seeing the ads during the entire game. What do you think? Do you think this is an effective way of advertising besides commercials?

Click here to read the full article.

In Honor of Veterans Day

On Veterans Day, Outback Steakhouse aired a commercial in honor of those who have served and who are currently serving for our country.
The restaurant played black and white footage of servicemen coming home to their families and friends.
Like many other restaurants, Outback Steakhouse offered a free meal for all veterans on Friday the 11th.
I actually really like this commercial. It's patriotic and uplifting. Airing this commercial and offering a free meal was a great way to get more people into the restaurant...even if they aren't a veteran.

Subscription Shopping…Good Idea?

Most of us have been ordering products off of the internet for years now, but things can be made even easier. Now we have what is known as “subscription shopping,” wherein certain websites will automatically send products to you without your ever having to do a thing. Venture capitalist Phineas Barnes claims that consumers are overwhelmed with all of the choices out there; this service can only make things easier for them.

This service operates much like the Fruit-of-the-Month Club, though it is a bit unclear as to what exactly these services offer. Can one rely on the website to not take advantage of their subscription by automatically sending them the items with the most exorbitant prices? Also, can a consumer set the automated ordering system to send them the same items each week or month, or are these subscriptions entirely controlled by the company one is purchasing from?

I don’t foresee this as being a long-standing trend, or at least not one that is likely to grow very far beyond where it is now. As the article on Adweek says, a lot of orders sent via subscription companies are a direct result of consumers simply being too lazy to cancel. If a lazy consumer were to be charged a decent amount for one of these subscription purchases, I believe they would rather swiftly cancel their subscription. What do you think? Would you ever subscribe to a shopping service? I wouldn’t.

Read more about this trend here.

New Life to Old Brand

The company Procter & Gamble is bringing life back into one of its oldest and most well known brands- Ivory soap- by producing new packaging, advertising, and social media initiatives. The company is using the Ad firm of Wieden & Kennedy which is based in Portland OR to produce the new packaging with features bright colors like cyan, purple, and green chosen to contrast with the soap's pure white. Its social media efforts include producing a Facebook page. At the same time, the company is producing ads that are intended to promote the Ivory Brand's "value and simplicity".

Ivory is one the six soap brands sold by P&G, the others are Olay, Gillette, Old Spice, Safeguard and Camay. This Advertising effort is the first major marketing strategy for the company in years- having only advertised minimally since 2006 spending a high of $1.4 million that year and less than $325,000 in total between 2007 and the first half of this year. Therefore, this new marketing is definitely a change for the company to push their products.

I think that is is important for brands like this to bring new life into their products. The company already has a strong foothold in the industry with history and trust. But, it is important to bring the products into the 21st Century to market to new consumers. It will be interesting to see if their sales increase due to these new marketing techniques.

Click here to read the full article.