Top Superbowl Spenders

$3.5 million dollars for a 30 second advertisement during the Super Bowl is alooootttt of money. Imagine running more than one ad during the big game. Even more money. Here are four of the biggest Super Bowl ad spenders!

1. Coke. In the past 9 years, Coca-Cola has spend approximately $66.8 million dollars on Super Bowl advertising. Ads include the white polar bears, Troy Polamalu spoofing Mean Joe Green, Family Guy and the Simpsons.

2. Disney. While the Super Bowl MVP "I'm going to Disney World!" commercial airs right after the game, trailers for Disney-produced movies air during the game. Disney has spend over $73.9 million dollars running movie trailers. Last year, Disney's promo choice was Pirates of the Caribbean.

3. Pepsi. Pepsi-Cola has spent $174 million on Super Bowl advertising, almost double what Coca-Cola has spent! But this is because Pepsi isn't just advertising their soda; They're advertising their snacks as well. Last year, Pepsi did a whole spiel on Doritos, which was very successful. Dorito sales went up and the commercials gained tons of views on YouTube.

4. Anheuser-Bush inBev. During football season, it seems like all we see are beer commercials, let alone Bud and Bud Light commercials. As the #1 selling beer in America, Bud Light virtually owns the Super Bowl with no real competitors. In the past 10 years, AB spent $239.1 million on advertising. Bud...Wei...Ser...

BK says Farewell to the King

Anyone wonder what's been going on with Burger King lately? The free fries, the delivery... and now free onion rings? Nothing really stood out to me until I just recently saw the new BK ad for free onion rings all weekend. So, I did a little research. Turns out that Burger King changed their whole campaign in early August. No more king (who I thought was a little creepy anyway), instead they're now focusing solely on their food and their new menu upgrades. They gave away their free "new" fries a couple of months ago and now they're giving away their free "new" onion rings. I've got to say, I'm kind of impressed with all of the leaps that BK has been taking lately. Not sure if any other fast food chains have actually given away their food before. And on top of that, they're now offering delivery! I honestly think that this marketing campaign is going to do great things for Burger King. Guess we'll wait and see!

Ferris Bueller's Day in a Honda CR-V

(photo courtesy of Adweek)

Oh yeah!

Ferris Bueller, the loveable hooky-playing high-school student from the 80s film of the same name, is back in a new TV commercial for the 2012 Honda CR-V. Set to make its broadcast debut during next weekend's Super Bowl, an extended version of the commercial has been released online by Honda.



In the ad, Matthew Broderick, the star of the original film, plays himself - an actor calling into work sick so he can enjoy a beautiful day off. While Ferris Bueller's ride of choice was a Ferrari, Mr. Broderick prefers the new Honda CR-V, complete with a "So Choice" license plate (how he described the Ferrari in the original film). The ad features several other nods to the 80s film, as well: a parade, a soul-searching trip to a museum, and a close call in which Broderick is almost discovered skipping work.

Like the Star Wars VW ads I wrote about last week, this car commercial uses nostalgia and the power of Internet viral videos to sell its product. The CR-V's target audience is young couples and families who want the convenience of an SUV with the style of a smaller vehicle. Generation X-ers (currently in their 30s and early 40s) were the key audience for the original "Ferris Bueller" film, and they are the group most likely to be buying a new car for shuttling kids around town in now. Over the years, "Ferris Bueller" has only increased in popularity, thanks to frequent TV airing of the film and a slew of "special edition" DVD releases. Younger people looking to buy a "starter-SUV" will also be drawn to this commercial, as it shows the CR-V's element of fun in addition to function. This age group is also likely to share the commercial on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media outlets.

Like Ferris Bueller, we all grow up, and while we're no longer in high school, this ad shows there is always room for a little spontaneity and fun!

J.C. Penney Hopes to Set Itself Apart from Discount-Driven Department Stores

We've all been there: mentally calculating whether that sweater or blender will be cheaper with a 20%-off coupon and an early-bird discount today or the 40% holiday discount a week later. Either way, we know that in another month, the item will be on clearance anyway.

Well, J.C. Penney is promising to change all this. Starting Feb. 1, the American department store will introduce the "new" J.C. Penney, based on everyday standard low prices rather than frequent, complicated sales.

In an interview that ran in the Jan. 26 issue of Wall Street Journal, J. C. Penney's new CEO, former Apple executive Ron Johnson said he thought of the concept after he subscribed to the store's customer email list. Soon he was being bombarded with incessant sales announcements. He read through recent company reports and discovered the average J.C. Penney customer only shopped at the store four times a year, and that 75% of items sold were sold at prices at least 50% below retail. Using these startling statistics, and by researching his company from the perspective of the consumer, Mr. Johnson was able to identify the store's biggest weaknesses.

J.C. Penney's new advertisement reflects customers' frustration with sales and the company's new sale-free outlook, while at the same time building anticipation for the Feb. 1 changes.

Barnes & Noble Offering App Freebies!

I think it’s safe to say that the U.S. is becoming more and more of an e-reader nation. The two big contenders in the e-book race-to-the-top consists of the powerhouse booksellers Barnes & Noble with its Nook, and Amazon with its Kindle. As the ongoing success of the e-reader device continues to spread across the globe, advertisers must become increasingly clever to introduce both new and returning customers to the technology. This is exactly what Barnes & Noble has decided to do, using apps on its Nook devices in order to attract more customers to its stores.

Barnes & Noble has teamed with software developers to create cross-promotions between their apps and in-store promotions. In its largest app campaign, the bookstore giant has used the ever-popular game Angry Birds, where customers can unlock free goodies when they connect to a Barnes & Noble Wi-Fi network with a Nook device. Normally app extras would cost money, but Barnes & Noble is giving away freebies to anyone who visits their stores and owns a Nook device. The app campaign not only rewards customers loyal to Barnes & Noble products, but it is alluring for potential future customers as well. The apps will also serve as a merchandise information source, where customers can view what Barnes & Noble is selling, including any promotions that are available.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/barnes-and-noble-nook/

Starbucks in Europe

It comes to no surprise that the "Starbucks" brand is becoming a world wide phenomenon with over 4,000 coffee shops worldwide. This Seattle-based coffee empire can easily be called one of the most popular and well known coffee brands around the globe. But for some, this coffee chain has yet to grace the corners of their streets.

When thinking of coffee or il cafe, I think Italy. Italy is among one of the original countries to introduce coffee and coffee shops to the public. Starbucks is planning on expanding their market and will introduce 650 branches throughout Europe! ABC News says "Starbucks is currently opening new branches worldwide at a rate of three per day." This expansion is remarkable! To think that Europe, home of some of the worlds best coffee, is opening up their arms to this "chain". It is quite interesting. Starbucks has made a very powerful name for themselves and now, when we think of coffee, the first brand that everyone around the world will think of is "Starbucks".

"We're taking a softly, softly approach when it comes to Europe," said a spokeswoman from Starbucks Europe. "We expect to open shops in the big four countries — Italy, Germany, France and Spain — in the next 24 to 36 months."

What does this mean for advertising? Is the Starbucks logo going to be a symbol of what coffee should be in today's world? What is going to happen to all of the smaller coffee houses around Europe that have originated this business? Although Starbucks is tastefully addictive, I hope Europeans stay true to their hometown coffee houses and continue to give them their business as well as enjoying Starbucks at times. What we see when we look at Starbucks advertisements and marketing is the same thing that Europeans will be glancing at in their cities. The Starbucks green and logo will begin flooding their street corners, filling their garbage cans, empty venti cups will be seen left on tables and desks, and scoops of Starbucks coffee will be what Europeans will be placing inside of their coffee makers first thing in the morning. Lets hope who ever is in charge of Advertising and Marketing for the Europe area is very good at what they do because this might be a very difficult market to break into at first.

Fashion-tising

If there is one thing the fashion industry is familiar with it is:  change.  It's a forever changing industry of trends and style, and now fashion magazines have changed their advertising strategies. As a result to the unreliable economy, most major fashion magazines have increased their ad pages for the March and September issues. Which surprisingly, showed strength in an uncertain economy. One of the most notable fashion magazines Vogue's March issue includes 443 ad pages. Which is 4% above the level it was a year ago. According to Susan Plagemann, Vogue's VP-publisher, "...It's significant for us,...We also beat our five-year average by 4.5%."

Vogue wasn't the only magazine to take this advertising strategy. Vogue's sibling magazine W sold 204 ad pages into their issue, which was 25% more than last March-- including 20 ads from Saks Fifth Avenue. Other magazine increasing their ad pages in the March and September issues include, Elle Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Allure and Glamour.

But why September and March? Because marketers use them to introduce the Spring and Fall collections. Fashion is dependable on change. If everyone waited for their clothes to wither out, there would be no fashion industry. Introducing these collections ignite consumer spending.

The most important question is: Will the fashion magazines continue to show promise? Our answer will come in the September issues.


Credit: Ad-Page

Life is A Sport, Make it Count

Nike's new campaign "Life Is a Sport, Make it Count" is taking over. If you haven't seen the ads for it yet, you will soon. The new commercial (see above) incorporates scenes from all of our favorite movies, our favorite actors and our favorite characters. By doing this, Nike definitely added a sense of nostalgia to the commercial for all audiences. Not only did they use nostalgia to get their message across, but they used an energetic and upbeat song-connecting the idea of being active to the message. This commercial is just overall fun, I think. As I was watching it, I found myself thinking about all of the days where I didn't even want to get out of bed to go to class, none the less go to the gym. But it's that idea that "everything counts" that gets you motivated. The way I saw the ad was that even if you only go to the gym for 20 minutes, or play a game of basketball, or go on a long walk, you're still getting some movement in and being healthy. The other campaign that is associated with this is Nike's new "Fuel band". It's a band that you wear around your wrist and it counts the number of steps you take per day and the how many calories you've burned. You can purchase this on Nike's website.

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board pulls ad.

The above ad was pulled on Dec. 8, 2011, by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board after hundreds of phone calls and email complaints about the ad's message.

The text in the ad reads "She didn't want to do it, but she couldn't say no. When your friends drink, they can end up making bad decisions. Like going home with someone they don't know very well. Decisions like that leave them vulnerable to dangers like date rape. Help your friends stay in control and stay safe." More information on the removal of the ad can be found on Think Progress' website.

While the small print of the ad is perfectly acceptable; you do, in fact, put yourself in danger when you drink too much, the larger text points the finger of blame at rape victims. Did you have a drink? Then it's your fault if someone slips something in your drink and rapes you.

This ad was part of a larger $600,000 campaign that aims to curb excessive drinking. From what I can find of the ads, women are depicted as the ones who should be careful about their habits and their friends should pay attention. What about the guy who sees the obviously intoxicated woman and sweet talks her into coming home with him? Or the one who slips something into her drink when she's not looking. Or the one who keeps touching her after she says no but is unable to fight back? Or the guy who yells and gets violent after a couple drinks and takes it out on the drunken woman he cornered in the bathroom?

Hey PA Liquor Control Board, is it all still her fault for having a drink or two?

"Kobe System"

There is a new advertisement out for Nike aimed at promoting Kobe Bryant.  He is selling "success" with his system.  The advertisement itself is awesome.  It shows Kobe in a self help guru type of role talking to a crowd of people inter-cut with highlights of him playing. That's not the only thing though, who are the people in the crowd?  He is selling success to Aziz Ansari, Hope Solo, LeBron James, Jerry Rice, Landon Donovan, Tony Robbins, Serena Williams, Kanye West,  and Richard Branson. People who already have enough money and achievements to last them a lifetime.  A second commerical came out a couple days ago.  This one was entertaining but hilarious too.  He trys telling Serena Willaims about "adaptation".  These commercials are great for Nike and they help promote Kobe Bryant at the same time.  I like the direction their marketing team took with the superstar celebs taking advice from Kobe Bryant, and having humor to it also. Check out the two videos belows to see the first two commercials.

Credit-http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2012/01/kobe-bryant-explains-kobe-system.html

youtube.com

Insurance Overload

Let's start with a simple list:

• Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There.
• Now That's Progressive.
• You're in Good Hands with Allstate.
• Nationwide is On Your Side.
• Fifteen Minutes Could Save You 15% or More on Car Insurance.

Sound familiar? Yes, you know them all. You've heard them a million times. And you probably sang a couple in your head as you read through them. 


Now, that simple list of tag lines gets a bit bulkier when we start to name all of the individual advertisements for each of those major insurance companies. Over the past decade, insurance advertising has become somewhat of a battle. Companies are trying to target "Twentysomethings" by making insurance more fun and relatable by creating memorable characters. And create they did. Each major company has at least one recognizable character in dozens of television commercials to help sell the brand. But here's my question: Are these characters actually selling the brands?



The insurance industry has pumped billions (yes, billions) of dollars into advertising in the past few years. In fact, the advertising for the industry reached a record of $5 billion in spending in 2010. But are those billions of dollars doing their job? Are consumers recognizing the brands and all that they have to offer?


I'm 24 years old and right in the middle of the companies' Twentysomething market. I've seen all of the commercials and some of them are my favorite commercials on television. I think they're great. Mayhem? Hilarious. Flo? Awkwardly funny. The World's Greatest Spokesperson in the World? Awesome title. And the Piggy with the pinwheel? My current favorite. I laugh every time. I could name (almost) every commercial out there, give my opinion, and maybe even recite a few lines. But ask me what specific insurance they are selling or the great ways in which they can save me money and it's more like.."Uhh.." And sometimes I can't even keep the companies straight. 

I'm not sure if I'm the only Twentysomething who notices this. Maybe it's because I'm not looking to purchase insurance at this moment? I really don't know. But I do know that there is a major focus on making these characters big and the commercials even bigger. Flo is a phenomenon. She has her own distinct look and a price gun. And with the help of Progressive.com, you can create your own Flo costume. (I would know because I was Flo for Halloween two years ago...) Mayhem has his own Facebook page. During the NFL Playoffs, people were doing the "Discount Double Check" instead of Aaron Rodgers' "touchdown dance." It's crazy how much we acknowledge these insurance characters!

I feel that sometimes this focus is overshadowing the main purpose of advertising: to sell. Numbers show that this type of advertising has helped companies like Progressive, State Farm, and GEICO. But that's not the case for all of these big-names. Regardless, it doesn't seem like the trend will be disappearing any time soon. 

And to think that this big business all started with this little guy...

Here are a couple of my favorite insurance commercials:

Credit: New York Post 

5 Worst Super Bowl Ads

Since the Super Bowl is right around the corner, there is already buzz about the advertisements. The couple days following the big game, people are going to be talking about their most favorite ads, but no one really mentions the ones that aren't so good. So I started searching, and found the 5 worst super bowl ads ever.

1. Doritos. While Doritos had two really awesome ads last year, (dog & birthday party) this one was just bad. And not to mention weird. The man is so obsessed with Doritos that he literally licks the cheese off his co-worker's fingers then proceeds to rip the pants off another.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNnD5kuHUE

2. Bud Light. A man in an upside down clown costume walks into a bar and asks for a beer. When he goes to take a sip, it looks like he is shoving the bottle up his butt because of the way the costume fits. If that wasn't enough, he then asks for a hot dog?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTvxyDwP2CA

3. Holiday Inn. I don't really know what this ad was aiming for. It involves plastic surgery, a high school reunion and a transsexual. Personally, I think it was tacky and distasteful but check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FhjgxjAJxU

4. HomeAway. HomeAway is a vacation rental company that helps you find the most comfortable and "home"-like vacation place. When I first watched the ad, I really didn't understand what was going on. The visuals were so busy and loud and cluttered that I couldn't focus. And when they showed the simulated hotel rooms, the camera panned so fast that I had to watch it a couple times over to understand that that's what they actually were. Then a screaming baby somehow gets launched into the air only to be caught by the host. I don't get it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k24N5DQ_XaY

5. Go Daddy. Same old, same old. "Sexy" women (although Jillian Michaels and Danica Patrick are very pretty) dressed in leather jumpsuits teasing viewers to go to the website. But this one had Joan Rivers' head on what looks like a teenagers body. As if Joan Rivers wasn't already creepy enough...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J83EQ7LubwE

Buger King Delivers!

Burger King has a new delivery service in the U.S. that is currently in the market testing stages and offered in 16 locations in Washington D.C..  Mc Donald's is the only other fast food chain to offer delivery, and they only offer it in New York City. 

How does it work.  Burger King will deliver to your couch, minimum order of $8 to $10 and a $2 delivery charge.  This new service is available between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. Jonathan Fitzpatrick, chief brand and operations officers says Burger King has developed "proprietary thermal packaging technology...which ensures the Whopper is delivered hot and fresh, and the french fries are delivered hot and crispy" (Horovitz, 2012).

There are two ways to order Burger King delivery.  Consumers can either call 1-855-order-bk, or they can log onto BKdelivers.com

What does this mean for Burger King? With a delivery service, people will have easier access to Burger King food items.  This is the only fast food delivery option for consumers. Thus, Burger King is a monopoly through this service. 

Will delivery prove to be an effective marketing tactic?  Will BK increase sales? 

I can't help but to think, what if it works?  Will other fast food chains began to offer this same service?  If so, what will happen to the masses if we consume even more fast food without even leaving our homes. 

 It seems there could be no better time than now to promote health and wellness as Americans become lazier.

Horovitz, B., (2012, Janurary 16). Burger King tries home delivery. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2012-01-12/burger-king-delivery/52604104/1

Velasco, S., (2012). Burger King delivery: Have it your way. At home.;
Burger King delivery services are available at select locations in Washington, D.C., and will soon expand. Can you get Burger King delivery? "Christian Science Monitor". Jan 19.

"Does Sex Really Sell for Go Daddy?"

Don't know if you are familiar or not with the "Go Daddy" advertisements, but there is one aspect they never fail to include, that's sex.

In the mist of all the talk in the 2012 Super Bowl commercials/advertisements, Go Daddy's "Body Paint" has leaked out into the web. Go Daddy purposely placed the video onto their website but there is a catch, the ending cannot be seen until the big day of football.

Danica Patrick and recently added Go Daddy girl, Jillian Michaels, are in the studio painting on a woman's obviously naked body. You can see the words painted on her chest, "Get noticed," which are the words of wisdom constantly used by the web hosting company for businesses. 

The Chicago Sun-Times received input from ad researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire about the true likability of sex ads during the Super Bowl, "They’ve found that spots with sexual imagery take a 10 percent hit in “likability” vs. ads without racy images."

Maybe the football lovers need to see a more family-oriented approach for the selling of a product, or maybe Go Daddy is in a whole separate category. 

Go Daddy has been using good looking and ambitious females to be the face of their sales method. A professional race car driver, professional poker player and the female body of health, Go Daddy hasn't had trouble finding these impressive ladies.

So will this year's sexy Super Bowl commercial get the attention of the fans? Their strategies cannot be that threatening, "When GoDaddy aired its first Super Bowl spot in 2005, it was a $100 million company few people knew with a 16 percent market share. Fast-forward to 2012, and GoDaddy is a $1.1 billion company with a 52 percent market share" (Chicago Sun-Times).

Check out the commercial here...http://videos.godaddy.com/godaddy_media.aspx?isc=vibdom50&ci=13336

Return of the Super Bowl Jedi

Last year's real Super Bowl MVP was a little boy in a Darth Vader costume, the star of Volkswagen's commercial "The Force."



VW is hoping to repeat its success with a new Star Wars-themed ad set to run during this year's Super Bowl broadcast. To get viewers excited for the commercial, VW has released an online teaser this week, the adorable "Bark Side" video. The clip shows a variety of dogs, each dressed as a different Star Wars character, barking the "Imperial March" theme song. Now, when it comes to viral videos, there are a few "sure things" to guarantee a hit: Star Wars references and cute animals are two of these. Sure enough, in its first three days on Youtube, the "Bark Side"video received more than 5 million views.

(Warning: The barking in this video may make your dog go crazy if he is in the room watching it with you. My dog certainly was not amused!)



What do these ads actually have to do with a German car company, however? Last year's commercial had a family-friendly feel to it, as the ad focuses on a little boy playing pretend, while his parents play along. The ad shows that the Volkswagen Passat is also good for families, implying safety as well as convenience. I'm not sure what this year's commercial will bring to the VW brand, but I'll be interested in seeing what they've come up with. No matter what it is, I'm certain of one thing: people will be talking about it almost as much as the actual game.

Don't Forget The Cheese!

The World according to Kraft seems to indicate one thing... we need more cheese! With an estimated budget of over $50 million, Kraft Foods has rolled out a new advertising campaign focused on the theme of, "Make something amazing". The advertisements used in the campaign will highlight five different cheeses that Kraft makes - Kraft Singles, Kraft grated parmesan, Kraft shredded cheeses, Kraft Natural Slices, and Kraft Fresh Take.

The cheese campaign will focus on creating delicious meals using Kraft cheese. Not only does this reinforce the idea of Kraft being an icon in the dairy and cheese industries, but the ads inspire us to think about what we keep in the fridge. With recipes ranging from simple to complex, the consumer might find themselves putting their cheese to better use by experimenting in the kitchen!

Kraft's cheese campaign will include 60-second television commercials, online advertisements, cooking video clips (kraftcheese.com), social media, in-store promotions, and newspaper coupons.

I actually had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for dinner tonight - still my favorite!

Pass It On Billboards

I see these billboards all over the highway and the more I see them the more I love them.

Values.com is a place simply to promote positive values. The billboards were meant as little reminders to pass them on. The Foundation for a Better Life is a non-profit organization founded to promote these values through print and broadcast media. The Foundation created the website Values.com so people can share positive actions and serve as inspiration for one another in the hopes of making the world a better place.

These billboards are really cool because of the messages that go along with the image. They are all different: inspiring, creative, funny, caring, commitment, rising above, sacrifice, etc. On the website, you can search the billboards by category and find a message that fits the value you're looking for.

Here is the link to all of them: http://www.values.com/inspirational-sayings-billboards

I think these billboards were a really good way to get people to visit the site, values.com. It definitely got me to check it out.

M&Ms Ms.Brown to be introduced during superbowl

On Superbowl Sunday of this year M&Ms will introduce their last character of the M&Ms crew, Ms.Brown. She will be the sixth animated talking mascot for the brand following the footsteps of the red, yellow, green, blue, and orange M&Ms. Ms.Brown will be the second female character of the crew and have her own distinct personality, just like Ms.Green. Ms. Brown is an intelligent woman with a quick wit who is finally deciding to reveal herself after years of working behind the scenes as "chief chocolate officer." The commercial is said to run during the first quarter of the game and is being produced by BBDO New York, which has also produced commercials for other MARS candies such as the Snickers commercials featuring Betty White and Roseanne Barr.

Ms.Brown must be something special because it is not cheap for MARS to run this advertisment during the game. This year a 30 second ad in the superbowl costs a staggering $3.5 million dollars, compared to last years $3 million dollars! Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me, but I guess the Superbowl is known for its commercials and there is no better way to get a product out there. Not only are the prices out of this world, but space for a Superbowl commerical has been sold out since before Thanksgiving. In order to promote the anticipation for Ms.Browns release she is making a huge spash on Facebook and Twitter, so be on the lookout for clues about her appearance and watch the big reveal on Feb.5th!!  

Disney launches "One More Disney Day"

Have you ever celebrated Leap Day?

Have you ever looked at that extra day in February, occurring every fourth year, and felt excited?

I know I never have. It's likely the same for you. But this year, Disney is giving everyone a reason to appreciate that one extra day: "One More Disney Day," an unprecedented move for the Mouse in which Disney's flagship theme parks in Orlando, Florida and Anaheim, California, will operate for 24 consecutive hours. From 6 a.m. February 29th to 6 a.m. March 1st, the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park will welcome guests and Disney enthusiasts.

This special day celebrates the extension of Disney's "Let the Memories Begin" campaign by allowing families to spend their extra time having fun together and making memories, according to Disney chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Tom Staggs.

But more significantly, this event spreads the message worldwide that the Disney corporation values, above all else, happy families and a place for them to purely have fun. "One More Disney Day" was announced during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC, which is owned by Disney. This anticipated national broadcast drew millions of eyes to Disney's new idea, and to a commercial evoking nostalgia and the fun of visiting Disney theme parks.

Disney raises the bar time and again in its campaigns to appeal to families and to compete with theme parks as well as other entertainment empires. "One More Disney Day" leaps ahead with its initiative in seizing an otherwise unassuming day and transforming it into a landmark event led by the Mouse.

I know I can't wait for Leap Day this year.

H&M Is Going To The SuperBowl With Beckham

Although, I enjoy the hilarious Superbowl commercials about cavemen and car insurance, I am most looking forward to H&M's first ever Superbowl advertisement. H&M has a reputation of incorporating fashion and quality at the best price. With a wide variety of men's, women's and children lines, I think it is safe to say that H&M has many demographics but only has one target audience: the fashion forwards. In the past couple months this Swedish originated company has generated quite the buzz. Mainly for the collaboration of a new collection with the infamous Donatella Versace that is already in stores now. But Steve Lubomski, the director of marketing for H&M in North America wanted more. And he found the way he was going to get "more" by launching the first ever Superbowl ad for H&M. He said,
“We’re always looking for new ways to surprise and delight our customers, and we see this as a unique opportunity to reach millions of fans and H&M customers..."

NBC is charging a record breaking 3.5 million dollars for a 30-second slot, therefore the advertisement H&M produces needs to be effective and eye-catching. Thus, the reason they are using this opportunity for one of the most eye-catching men of world: David Beckham.
The Superbowl will kick off the global advertising push supporting Mr. Beckham's bodywear line both on television and print. This international campaign will be premiered and continued through all markets. 
So whether you're tuning in for the game, H&M or most likely David Beckham realize you are witnessing H&M Advertising history and cross your fingers for your favorite team as well as a successful push for this international campaign.

Nike Just Did It.

During my class tonight, I had the pleasure of watching the 2009 documentary, "Art and Copy." (Yes, it was actually an enjoyable documentary..believe it or not!) If you have any interest at all in advertising it's definitely worth viewing, honestly.


Throughout the film, I was introduced to some of the most creative minds in the industry, whose big ideas brought us the original iPod ads (remember black silhouettes/white headphones?), "Got Milk?", "I Want My MTV", and..you guessed it.."Just Do It." Before tonight, I had no clue about the history behind Nike's campaign so it really took me by surprise, and here's why:


The creation of "Just Do It" seemed to have stemmed from a very nonchalant agreement between Nike and Wieden+Kennedy, the agency responsible for the new campaign in 1988. In the documentary, Mr. Wieden remembered saying, "Yeah. That'd work," when discussing the new slogan. Little did this group know that this slogan would become one of the top five campaign slogans of the 20th century. Here, I always thought it was a definitive 'yes' or 'no' when it came to advertising. Apparently 'maybes' can work too!  


And here's another fact for you: The slogan was created with the help of a well-known execution case in which Gary Gilmore said, "Let's do it," right before his execution in 1977. A bit morbid but, hey, it worked for Nike.


So, Nike's new campaign launches in July of 1988 with the hope of selling more athletic shoes. But what happened after that was probably more than the team imagined during their original meetings. People took the slogan and applied it directly to their lives, not just in an athletic sense, but with more personal connections. Yes, it got people to exercise again, but it also made people confident and even helped one man ask a girl to the prom, according to the documentary. It was an empowering message for men, women, and kids. And Nike didn't stop there. 


In 1990, the brand emphasized a message of empowerment through women's advertising, thanks to a few female employees who really took the "Just Do It" campaign to heart. Since 1990, 27 campaigns have been created which targeted women with both athletic and empowerment messages. Now, I'm sure most of the men reading this are thinking, "Here we go again with female empowerment, blah, blah, blah." But the documentary helped me to realize that even the simplest idea, that you may not even be 100% sold on at first, could turn into a much larger, cultural phenomenon. Nike's plan wasn't to preach empowerment, but that's how the public connected with this campaign. So sometimes you just have to go with it..or as they say, just do it.


Here is a women's television ad, launched in 1995, that was featured in "Art and Copy."

The Smith Brothers Agency, with locations in both San Francisco, CA and Pittsburgh, PA recently produced fresh, new ads for Jamba Juice. Not for a smoothie, but for an energy drink. An energy drink! I don't know about anyone else, but I love the idea of this... no chemicals, none of that nasty stuff-all natural! Not only do I love the idea of natural energy drinks, but the way that the Smith Brothers Agency designed these ads-all around the natural-ness of the drink. In their virtual ad, they give all of the stats and facts on consumers that they interviewed on the streets, and what they're take is on the new drink. Through the video, I found out that energy drinks are an $8.5 million dollar industry, and only 10% of the entire population drinks energy drinks-probably mostly coming from the teen and twenties generations. So what do the Smith Brothers do for Jamba Juice? Emphasize the idea of the NATURAL energy drink. And what does this do for Jamba Juice? Bring them many new target audiences. Now, the older target audience will not be against the whole "energy drink" thing, but they will (maybe) gladly buy them for their children also. These ads feature a catchy phrase promoting the healthiness of the drink, an actual picture of the product and a fit, healthy, happy person holding their product-all the things needed for a successful ad. Genius!