Free Desk Project

Life after graduation… That is a scary thought for most of us. Applying to jobs, going to interviews, and waiting to get a call back. This can be a very stressful and anxious time in our lives but I read about an idea that could be implemented in the United States to help struggling graduates.

The “Free Desk Project,” created by the London-based Open Studio Club, was founded on the idea of helping creative professionals by providing them with free workspace. The idea behind this project is that professionals would work on their own projects but use the agency’s desks. “The goal is to give up-and-coming talent the facilities, tools and camaraderie to create professional-caliber work,” wrote David Griner for Adweek.com.  

Agencies who participate in this project are not allowed to charge a fee or assign projects to those using the space; they can also choose to end the agreement at any time. Professionals are allowed to use WiFi and facilities for free during the agency’s hours of operation. To participate in this project, guests have to be actively working on a project and attend the agency daily.

I believe this is good requirement because there is always someone who could be using the space. They would much rather have someone working on a project 5 days a week instead than 2 days. It’s a better use of their space for someone that really needs it!

As one of those professionals who is approaching their graduation day, I would like to be able to participate and be a guest in an agency. Rather than staying home and trying to distract myself, I think this project would encourage and motivate me to work on something while I find a job. I could work on editing and fixing my portfolio or building my website. I could work as a freelancer and actually have office space to do my work.

I honestly believe this project is a GREAT idea. Especially now, when it’s hard to get a job right away, I think many people would benefit from the Free Desk Project.  Would you like to see something like this? Do you think this could be implemented in The United States?

"Bright Young Things"

I love hating on Victoria's Secret (as you may have noticed in a previous blog post), but it is just because I'm  jealous I don't look like their models in PINK clothing, This time, however, Victoria's Secret was on the bad end of a marketing miscommunication regarding their "Bright Young Things" campaign. Below is the clip of their ad, showing girls (who look younger than college age) enjoying Spring Break in teeny bikinis.

This letter from a father of a 3-year old girl went viral this week, criticizing "Bright Young Things" as sending a bad message and that the campaign is aimed towards middle school girls. Further criticisms stemmed from specific clothing items in the collection, such as "lace black cheeksters with the word “Wild” emblazoned on them, green and white polka-dot hipsters screen printed with “Feeling Lucky?” and a lace trim thong with the words, “Call me” on the front.” Such things in a middle schooler's wardrobe would be wildly inappropriate and confusing to the young girl's sense of self and feministic integrity (my words).

Reading this on facebook, I too was appalled, and got my flaming fingers ready to write up a nasty blog on the subject. However, like any responsible journalist, I did my research and found that the controversy was merely a misunderstanding and that Victoria's Secret has no intentions of creating a line for such a young audience. 
The misunderstanding stemmed from a quote from Victoria Secret's Chief Financial Advisor who claimed during a press conference the "magic of PINK" is to let high school girls feel "cool" and "older", like college girls. 


Who knew a pair of overpriced sweatpants could be so empowering?

Taking a Huge Leap Forward

In todays world there is one subject that has been under question for some time now.  This topic is that of gay marriage.  Should gay people be allowed to be legally married.  While not all states allow such a unity, some states do such as New York and Washington.  This is a topic that has everyone buzzing from politics to actors to everyday people in a grocery store.  Although a lot of people seem to step up and offer their opinion on the subject matter, individual companies and products rarely say anything regrading this topic.  One company that decided to take a stand it Amazon in their new commercial promoting the Kindle.

This commercial displayes a gay married couple at the beach interacting with a straight matrried couple.  It is showing them as normal people on vactaion and nothing moire.  It was such a simple and non-pushy way for Amazon to put a view out on this subject.  It is simple enough not to anger too many people but powerful enough to catch the attention of eberyone who sees it.  Could this one simple commercial open the doors for more companies to follow and put their view on this subject out there?  I guess this is something that we will have to wait and see. For now it is a huge leap forward for advcertising. 

"Don't Drive Sleepy"

Today, most safe-driving ads seem to be aimed towards not driving under the influence of alcohol, or to avoid cell phone use while driving. This ad is aimed at one of the other main culprits of vehicle accidents: driving while sleepy.

ThaiHealth Promotion Foundation has put together this campaign of ads in the effort of cutting down the number of accidents that result from drowsy driving. These ads have been very successful, showing the top eyelid to be some sort of vehicle and the bottom eyelid showing what will get hit when the eye closes.The copy reads, "sleepiness is stronger than you."

Because of the trend of thinking cell phones are the biggest threat to our roads, we often forget about simple things like tiredness and emotional strain can compromise our ability to drive safely.

Although the ad is from Thailand, the message is discernible internationally. Car accidents stemming from tiredness are a threat to all developed nations, so this ad has gained worldwide praise.

Pandora Offers New Possibilities for Advertisers

According to an article published by Christopher Heine, Pandora’s new software for audience segmentation will help them increase ad sales.  Pandora has partnered with StrataMarketing and Mediaocean to “allow clients of the media-buying software providers to view the digital radio player’s customer segments” (Heine).

This software will allow ad buyers to compare and contrast Pandora’s audience data against statistics from broadcast radio stations. The software will make things easier and faster for brand marketers who previously had to conduct manual research to obtain this information.

Now, Pandora can obtain demographical information including ethnicity, age, and zip codes from their users. This information is collected when users register for the service. “So, now the agencies will be able to target, for example, 18-to-34-year-old Hispanic women in Los Angeles who enjoy hip-hop” (Heine).

Currently, 65.6 million people in the United States use Pandora. This is a very attractive number for advertisers, especially now, that they can truly segment their target audience. Now, they will have the ability to pick and choose who they want to deliver their message to. I believe this is the ideal situation for any media buyer. It is almost like they can handpick their target audience.

What I am curious about is, what will this do for broadcast radio advertising sales? If companies are 100% certain that they will reach the ideal user, why wouldn’t they advertise on digital radio? Why would they pay to advertise on broadcast radio if they are not certain their target audience will hear their message?

 It seems to me that companies who choose to advertise on Pandora have an incredible advantage over companies who advertise on broadcast radio, especially because they can deliver their message to people within a specific age, ethnicity and even address. 

Sexy New FIAT

FIAT, a very popular italian car company, has released a sexy new commercial co-starring a model and a scorpion. In the ad, FIAT opens with a very curvy young lady and a deadly scorpion crawling up her backside. At first glance I didn't know whether to be excited to see such a curvy, young lady, or fear for her life because a sting from a scorpion is no joke. One thing is certain, the scorpion is up to no good.

Towards the end of the commercial, the scorpions intentions are revealed. Instead of stinging the young lady, he opts to clip her top off, a much more exciting result. He message of the ads was to make viewers think, How can you make the FIAT Abarth more exciting? ...The answer, make it topless. The ads follows the the scorpion's clip with the new, topless, FIAT Abarth speeding by.

FIAT uses a very effective advertising technique in this ad...Sex. The use of sex appeal works on the emotional side of advertising. A sexy model or spokesperson is used to excite potential consumers. FIAT's goal is to position their Abarth as sexy. The sleek design and speed of the car support their positioning, making the Abarth one of the sexiest things to come out of Italy since Maddalena Corvaglia  .

While some might argue the star of the ad is the scorpion, my attention was focused on the black bikini clad young lady... sorry guys