Probability = 0.0000001%

Years ago, I came across a series of insurance ads that I found to be quite humerous and memorable.... I thought I'd dig them up to share.

The Probability = 0.0000001% campaign for Bangkok Insurance came out in 2007 and consisted of three short television spots centered around an armed robbery, automobile accident, and a natural disaster.

The spots utilize fear, suspense, and comically diffuse the scenarios with a seemingly impossible plot mechanism that immediately remedies the specific situation. The campaign's slogan appears next, "Probability = 0.0000001%", conveying to the audience that although spontaneous miracles don't happen, Bangkok Insurance is there for them.

Influencer Marketing and its Impact!

The collaboration between Balmain and H&M had all the possible reasons in the fashion world to be successful. But the amount of success the campaign actually received over social media translated into store purchases resulted into the most successful H&M designer collaboration up to date. Balmain first tweeted about the collaboration back on May 18th of last year. Here are some of the things the brand did to reach such advertising and marketing success:

1. THE BRAND USED STRONG NAMES IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY AS INFLUENCERS

   
   
   H&M and Balmain knew exactly that in order to reach their targeted audience they needed to sync into their everyday lives. What better way to do that then to see subtle advertisements posted by your most loved celebrities? H&M and Balmain used big names such as Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Jourdan Dunn to promote the campaign through their own social media pages. Balmain fashion designer Olivier Rousteing, also a huge name in fashion, used his social media as a means to promote the campaign just as much as the models. This was the result of how much these influencers helped the campaign:
   
   

   Overall number of posts referring to H&M & Balmain: 553,130 posts

   How many of those mention Kendall Jenner: 116,450 posts

   How many of those mention Gigi Hadid: 87,632 posts

   How many of those mention Jourdan Dunn: 51,836 posts

   
   

2. STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

   
   
   The campaign also successfully utilized social media in other ways than just through influencers. An advertisement promo video was downloaded into YouTube in October of last year, a month before the campaign launched in-stores, which currently has reached a total of almost 7 million views! The campaign also launched their own SnapChat story bubble and Periscope live feed so people could watch the campaign's fashion show from all around the world. Which takes us to their amazing PR campaign.
   
   

3. OVER THIS WAY WITH THE STOPLIGHTS

   
   
   Not only was Balmain and H&M strong on social media but also as we call it, they did an amazing job on the "RL" as well. The first appearance of Balmain X H&M pieces was on the red carpet of Billboard Music Awards. Models Jourdan Dunn and Kendall Jenner walked the red carpet with Olivier wearing select pieces from the then upcoming line and looking fierce. The companies also put together an enormous fashion show event just to showcase their Balmain X H&M line and all of its pieces. The fashion show had big name models walking up and down the runway as well a performance from The Backstreet Boys while they, of course, wore Balmain X H&M pieces from the male line.
   
   

4. NO, THAT DRESS IS MINE!

   
   
   So, to conclude on how successful the campaign was, at the day of the collaboration launch the website was almost impossible to shop on because of the amount of visitors trying to shop at the same time. Online was not the only busy place for the brands, the stores were absolutely packed and pieces sold out within hours all around the world. One negative point the campaign gained lots of buzz about were the fights filmed in-stores by crazy ladies who wanted that one last piece to take home. But that just goes to show how successful the overall campaign was.
   
   

Using Political Issues For Advertisement - Yes or No? Habib's Said Yes!

A little background to help us understand this great, but yet controversial, Brazilian fast-food chain advertisement released this week: 

Currently Brazil is undergoing the biggest corruption scandal in the country's history. Many pro-government (left party supporters – who usually wear red) and anti-government (right party supporters – who usually wear green and yellow) rallies are happening, which for the most part end with fights amongst both supporting groups. The President is also currently under an impeachment investigation, which brings us into the clever, but yet controversial, advertisement released this week in the country:

Habib's, a mediterranean Brazilian fast-food chain, used this tense moment in politics to advertise the fall in price on their famous "sfihas." On the ad numerous people say the word "Caiu!" in a very happy tone; the word translates to "it [she, as sfiha is a feminine pronoun] fell, it fell." Remember the current president is a woman; therefore, the pronoun play on words is important. The advertisement shows people from both parties happy and hugging each other. At the end of the ad it is revealed that what "fell" was the price of the open "sfiha" (not the President), and that Habib's has united Brazil. 

However, Habib's as a company has also been supporting the impeachment and the ad shows a clear standing on what the company supports politically. This ad has become very controversial in the country as many love it, and many hate it!

What do you think? Should companies get involved in politics?

Here is the advertisement:

Project Rock

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is everywhere lately, movies, social media, commercials, fitness magazines, you name a media outlet and The Rock has been on it in the last month. It was only a matter of time before this universally loved athlete and actor was joined with a large corporation looking to combine their future success with The Rocks current star power. In walks Under Armour who has teamed up with The Rock to create "Project Rock" a campaign that will release various aspects of workout gear, including the UA Limited Edition Project Rock Bag and Tank with Johnson's signature Brahman Bull emblazoned on both. With the final release being the UA Health Box that will include heart rate monitors, scales, fitness bands, and more to help the consumer track and pursue their health and fitness goals. Under Armour struck gold by partnering with the iconic star, sporting 49.1 million followers on Instagram alone The Rock comes with a loyal fan base that will surely buy his signature line of product. Proven by the simple fact that both the bag and the shirt sold out in record time, the bag in only the first week of its release and the shirt didn't even make it to stores, selling out in the pre-order phase. Needless to say the athletic apparel company did a very good job in picking their spokesperson, with both The Rock and Under Armour looking to make significant profits, with the Project Rock campaign.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristidosh/2016/03/03/details-on-the-rocks-new-project-rock-with-under-armour/#24434e46d879

Wonderful Halos and Mischievous Children

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a highly amusing commercial campaign for Wonderful Halos. Advertisements for foods and produce rarely draw or hold my attention, but I found this campaign to be especially memorable-- enough for me to grab a box of brand-name Halos during my next grocery trip.

The ads portray a series of misbehaving children in typical family scenarios. Each spot is only 15 seconds long-- short, sweet, and humorous enough to get the point across: Buy our product and your kids will be happy.  Furthermore, the ads do a great job at incorporating the product name, "Halos", as part of a selling mechanism within the narrative of the ads.

Granted, I was sometimes a naughty kid and I do love mandarins... so I may be biased, but you can check out the ads for yourself below:

Wonderful Halos - “Little Pony”

Wonderful Halos - “Duct Tape”

Wonderful Halos - “Laser”

Wonderful Halos - “Tantrum”

The Stories Behind the Stories

The Stories Behind the Stories

Most public relations majors know that one of the hardest parts of their jobs is explaining to their friends, families, etc. what they do. While “managing relationships” doesn’t sound interesting enough, “telling stories” is too vague. The art of storytelling in the PR world is often overlooked because it is not understood. Almost everything has a story.

For example, take a recent campaign from Audi where the organization provided free Wi-Fi to all attendees at the New York Auto Show. The catch? The titles of all the networks took jabs at Audi’s competitors. For example, one was called, “A4 has more horsepower than the 328i.” The witty writing and innovative idea earned mentions in Adweek, Mashable and more.

What many don’t realize, and maybe Audi is one of them, is that there are many stories to be told about this campaign. Storytelling from a PR perspective is more than just an overview of the campaign idea.

Here are some questions to be answered regarding the campaign:

1.    How on earth did they do that?

How much did it cost to provide free Wi-Fi to thousands of people? How did the New York Auto Show justify providing a vehicle (no pun intended) for one company to assert dominance over a competitor? From concept to execution, a behind the scenes look at how Audi moved a far-fetched idea into a reality would be a great way to keep the buzz going. It’s rare that people get a look at the creative planning process and the story behind the campaign would be a great one to tell.

2.    What would Audi have done if people reacted negatively?

Did Audi have a crisis communications plan in case it met negative reaction? What if BMW responded by pointing out the diesel engine crisis? Naturally, Audi would not want to point out that something would have gone wrong in its campaign. However, industry thought leaders, bloggers and trade magazines could capitalize on the buzz the campaign created and outline a proper communications plan if Audi needed to react to negative press. From the crises identification to the messaging to the cleanup, this is a great way to educate readers and establish credibility.

3.    What are the concrete results?

How successful was the campaign? How much press did it receive? How much conversation occurred on social? Was there in increase in sales? Organizations want to know that when they set out to tell a story, they will see results. Those results are a story as well. When Oreo famously live tweeted a response to the 2014 Super Bowl blackout, numerous statistics were uncovered comparing the media attention to the and social conversation at the time of the tweet to the time of the commercial. Statistics like these are particularly interesting when regarding the Audi campaign because its main function was to generate conversation. Sharing the results of the campaign and measuring its success adds credibility to the brand because of its ability to create conversations and to public relations as an art because of its ability to drive results.

Storytelling has been around for years, but recently has become a staple for describing the PR profession. In order to advance the understanding of and respect for PR, it is necessary to tell the stories behind the campaigns we create to keep people interested in PR and what its function is in the marketing communications mix. Let’s set a goal that next Christmas, no PR major has to answer the dreaded, “What does a public relations specialist do?”

My First Juice: An Underdog Story

In light of the recent presentation from Ad2 Pittsburgh, I wanted to share my experience of the first time I attended a Juice event. My first Juice was January of last year at Tenn Penny on Penn Avenue. I walked in with a friend that graduated with the same degree in 2014 to a crowd of people that seemed unwilling to give us the time of day. It was incredibly intimidating and for about the first 30 minutes, we stuck to ourselves. Eventually, we noticed some other Duquesne Alumni and it sparked a conversation. Through them, we met other people working at Apple Box Studios. If you end up going, it's likely you will find someone else you know there, Pittsburgh is a small town.

I strongly suggest bringing a friend. People often say to go alone so you are forced to talk to people, but I don't think bringing a friend inhibits you from networking. In fact, it increases the chances you will find someone one of you knows.

The next Juice we went to was in April, and I had already met Chris a few months ago. He was able to introduce me to some of his coworkers at Chemistry Communications. Through networking, I was able to inquire about an internship and was later interviewed for the position. I've gone to a few more events with the organization and have been able to grow my network in the advertising community. Young professionals in Pittsburgh are almost always willing to help because they understand what it's like to be in our shoes.

Check the Facebook page for a list of upcoming events: https://www.facebook.com/Ad2Pittsburgh/?fref=ts

Face-Plant's are the New Pre-Workout

Personally, I am not the biggest fan of Taylor Swift's music so this advertisement was definitely amusing to me as I'm sure it was to many others as well. While I may not like her music, I can't help but like the way that she is able to make fun of herself and be a good sport about it. This new advertisement from Apple came out on April 1 and has gone viral ever since. We all know that Apple comes out with great advertisements, but this is probably one of my favorites.

Using a pop star to show how she is just as normal as the rest of us is a good way to reach your audience. Apple utilized this in the best way possible by having Miss Swift flail around and act like an idiot singing on a treadmill. Now honestly, who can say they haven't done something similar to this, treadmill or not, when their home alone? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Wieners and Ketchup belong Together

While the Heinz "Meet the Ketchups" advertisement started back in January during the 2016 Super Bowl, I have noticed it on TV a lot more as of late. Before even this thought, Heinz launched their new advertising campaign back in October of 2015 where they started a commercial for their new and better mustard. This was a way to get us used to seeing people dressed up as giant bottles of condiments before they launched the larger ketchup campaign.

Now, instead of having a person dress in a hotdog costume for the "Meet the Ketchup" commercial they dressed up hundreds of dachshunds in "wiener" costumes. This was an attempt to show that ketchup and hotdogs truly belong together, by having them all run towards the ketchups. Now don't worry, barbecue sauce and mustard are also along for the ride for installment of the advertising campaign. I'm not sure what their next commercial is going to be, but as far as this one goes they got it right because, at the end of the day, who doesn't love dogs?

Animal Ads

Who doesn't have a soft spot for animals? Animals make for successful ad campaigns. While the title of this post and even the first question posed seem to set the stage for a cute story, unfortunately I'm posting something a little more depressing. The uncomfortable truth is that we need to respect animals more. Bored Panda posted 33 Powerful Animal Ad Campaigns that Tell the Uncomfortable Truth and though it can be hard to look at some of the images, campaigns such as these do have some positive outcomes. In the last few years, the documentary Blackfish which is the story about the Orca Whale's at Sea World sparked enough controversy that Sea World is now listening and changing their policies and plan eventually to stop the Orca Whale shows all together. Additionally another success, The Ringling Brothers are not going to have elephants in their shows anymore.

While these are small victories in the grand scheme of things, they are none the less victories and a small step in the right direction for all humanity.

Additionally, some of the harder campaigns to face are exposed everyday on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The group Mercy for Animals posts some of the most eye-opening content. This commercial is not tough to watch, but again, it is the truth and they are exposing it in hopes that the ads will convince people to start paying a little more attention to the bigger picture.

22 Years of PlayStation

Sony launched the original PlayStation in 1995 and their approach to advertising the console has evolved quite a bit over the years.

Let's take a look at some of their most memorable campaigns and TV spots over the last couple decades...

Here's one of the first broadcast advertisements for the North American launch of the original PlayStation. The campaign, "U R Not E" (Red-E, get it?), aired in 1995 and caused a buzz amongst the gamers for its intense tone and inclusion of 3D rendered game content. This was, after all.. a time when 3D was NOT the industry standard:

The 1996 advertisements for Crash Bandicoot were slapstick and comical, openly taking jabs at Nintendo's Mario:

PlayStation's Boycott Spyro campaign (1998):

A European PlayStation ad from 1999 made an effort to represent the diverse range of gamers the PlayStation brand had established:

1999, Y2K, The Matrix. Here's something unique, Sony's futuristic "PlayStation 9" ad from 1999:

Sony even commissioned David Lynch to make a PlayStation 2 commercial in 2002:

Sony's PlayStation 2 commercial for Mountain (2003):

The launch campaign of PlayStation 3 in 2006 had more of a fear-appeal, and it certainly created a buzz amongst consumers:

As the PlayStation brand became more established, Sony's advertisements took on more of a soft-sell approach. The ads relied less on gimmicky devices and in-your-face visuals, instead capturing the audience's attention with emotionally complex narratives.

Michael was part of the, "Long Live Play" PlayStation 3 campaign (2011):

And two of PlayStation 4's launch commercials...

Greatness Awaits (2013):

A Perfect Day (2013):

The Cookie Monster - Extended Cut

I'm sure you're all familiar with Apple's new commercial featuring the Cookie Monster. As he is waiting for his cookies to be done baking, he grows impatient. It's endearing and funny and resonates with such a wide range of audiences. More importantly, people are talking about it. 

Apple, being the marketing genius it is (with the help of TBWA of course), released a set of blooper from the commercial featuring the cookie monster himself. The fake outtakes add an even more endearing quality to the commercial and the brand while furthering the brand character and product usability. 

Click Here to read the CNET article

The extension of this ad is inspiring not just because of how good it is, but because of the strategy behind it. Apple recognized that people were talking about its ad and instead of just letting the buzz die down, they lit a fire under it. By releasing the bloopers just a few weeks after the commercial, the company waited until people were beginning to forget about the commercial so they could extend the word of mouth as long as possible. I think recognizing the various ways brands can feed off the buzz on their campaigns is often disregarded. Brands want to target Millennials, and Millennials buy products they hear about from friends. Increasing conversation should be the goal of any campaign targeting Millennials.

Apple understands this, and that's why they are apple.

Make Them Laugh

In order for an advertisement to be seen as a success it needs to stick out and be memorable. This is a fairly difficult task for advertisement creators considering the amount of advertisements the average consumer is bombarded with every day. One of the most successful ways to increase the consumers receptiveness and overall attitude toward a product or company is to use comedy, or light humor in the advertisements to create a connection between the consumer and the product. By using humor companies are able to entertain their target audience and push a product, without the consumer feeling like they are having a product pushed onto them. Large companies such as Gatorade use comedy in their advertisements to remain relevant in the ever changing marketplace and to get their more serious points across.

Gatorade partnered with the NFL to release a variety of videos using humor to remind people that they need to get up and get moving if they want to drink Gatorade. The Sweat it To Get it videos features well known NFL players as they interact with the consumer and make them perform various forms of exercise to earn their Gatorade. The ads are very funny and fun to watch making the viewer accept the product and Gatorades message.

Jingles are Forever

Advertisers are always looking for ways to make their product or service stand out amongst the thousands of brands that flood the market. Finding a unique way to represent your product will help consumers recall it with ease. Jingles have been an integral part of advertisements for a long time now. Jingles are witty little musical pieces that advertise the product, and they also have a history of getting stuck it your head for a long time.
When I was sitting around the dinner table with my parents one night I asked them if they remembered any advertisements from their childhood, which would have been in the 1950s and 1960s. Immediately they started singing all different jingles in unison. My parents did not grow up together as children, and yet they could both recall with ease those jingles they heard almost 50 years ago. It goes to show that just a simple little jingle can last seemingly forever. Check out some popular jingles our generation can no doubt pick out in an instant!

2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The NHL has been attempting to reach a new generation of hockey fans and bring in new viewers to a sport most commonly viewed as an after thought behind football and baseball in the United States. One of the NHL's biggest problems was the average americans inability to identify the majority of hockey players, since they are almost always viewed in full body pads and a helmet, obscuring the face. The NHL partnered with GoPro to try and get their players more face time with the audience and highlight the infectious personalities of their players in an attempt to draw in new viewers to the sport. The GoPro advertisement was a huge success showing the skill of the players and the fun that they have playing the sport of hockey, the combination of these two factors created a unique commercial experience where the viewer did not even feel like they were being sold a product and thus had fun watching these incredible athletes do what they do best.

The NHL in similar fashion to the GoPro advertisement attempted to showcase the human side of their players to intrigue the audience into watching the 2016 playoffs. Relying on home footage of the sports most talented players, the advertisement presents the idea to the viewer that these pro athletes are very similar to them creating a deeper connection between the viewer and the sport. The footage of the young players attempting to skate for the first time and practicing their shooting, generates a sense of nostalgia for those viewers who grew up playing the sport and remember those days messing around on the ice. 

The video than fast forwards to the players college and junior careers highlighting the evolution of the player, and all of the hard work and dedication that it tales to get to the point that they are at now. Finally in the waning seconds of the video the viewer finally gets to see the Stanley Cup the most iconic trophy in all of sports. The point of the advertisement is to show how hard it is to get to this point just to the playoffs and how much more work is needed to actually get to the Stanley Cup. The advertisement is a home run it highlights the human factor of the players, as well as the uphill climb all of the teams have to hoisting the cup. 

Life Stages of Millennials

Millennials are such an evasive complicated demographic that baffle advertisers. Trying to find one medium to advertise to all millennials is seemingly impossible as this group ranges from age 18 all the way up 33. In the article, "How Millennials Consume TV Depends on What Life Stage Their In", published on adweek.com, author Jason Lynch discusses on how there newly released Nielson reports on this subject impact where advertisers should focus their efforts when advertising to millennials.

Lynch explains that this Neilson report discovered that the amount of time millennials spend watching TV depends on the life stage they are currently in. This reports breaks millennials down into three groups, "Dependent Adults (those who are living in someone else's home, usually a parents or parents), On their own (those who are living in their own home, with no children), and Starting a Family (those living in their own home, with children)." 

The report goes on further to break down the amount of time spent on each device, such as laptop, smartphone, radio, and even tablet. 

Click on the graphic to read this article by Jason Lynch!

#FriendsAreWaiting

Every year thousands of people lose their lives to drunk driving accidents, whether they are the ones driving under the influence or just happen to get in the way of someone who was careless enough to dive under the influence. While most beer companies try to provide warning on their labels to prevent serious injury or death, simple labels just do not cut it. 

One beer company went above ad beyond in their attempts to address the serious issue of drunk driving through their advertising campaign, "Friends are Waiting". In the summer of 2013, Budweiser aired a commercial that plunged straight into the hearts of its viewers. 

Even though the dog's owner makes it home safe the next day, those few second we had to wait were heart breaking as we watched the dog whimper in fear of what happened to his best friend. It forced viewers to think of the people we would be leaving if we chose to drive under the influence. The dog is a representation of our parents, siblings, significant other, and even our kids. The choice of using a dog created an intense amount of sympathy, as the poor animal would never understand why his owner never came home. 

Budweiser's Friends are Waiting commercial shows their investment in not just their own consumers, but the well being of all people. Their message is simple, direct, and impactful: Always make a plan to get home; your friends are waiting. 

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

If you have not binge watched Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix, I recommend you do so. This show features 20 minute episodes of Kimmy Schmidt, a girl who was part of a cult and lived in a bunker while the 21st Century went on above her in NYC.

She is a quirky and confused young woman in NYC, the ads for Season 2 have perfectly described the humor and "blissful ignorance" Kimmy embraces throughout her adventures to the 'new world'.

These ads show a humor side to the known acronyms - although vulgar - Kimmy is believed they mean something else and uses them freely in her day to day experiences. Which just makes you laugh if you have seen the first season and waiting for the next OR intrigued by this interesting yet questionable Kimmy. 

Whoever made these advertisements kept in mind the audience of the show and used humor that would connect them to the show. These can be found as internet banners, bus stops, billboards, and subways.

The agency who created these ads was a Burbank-Based agency, Midnight Oil, who had watch season 1 and could not wait to use the previous seasons humor to advertise the upcoming season.

"We're fans of the first season, so we had a blast remembering all of its jokes, storylines and hilarious moments while developing the new creative with the Netflix Originals team," said Michelle Azzopardi, VP of creative at Midnight Oil. "It was important for us to maintain Kimmy's voice and honor her spirit throughout this campaign, reminding core fans why they loved Kimmy while also appealing to a whole new audience." 

So take a break and check out these hilarious ads.. and binge watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!

Baby Come Back: Swiffer Edition

An advertisers job goes well beyond just trying to get their name and message out; it's more about making an impression and being remembered. How else will a consumer know to pick your product or service over another brand? After creating the message the company wants to convey comes the task of message strategy, meaning how this message will be presented to the consumers in a memorable way.
In 2009, Swiffer Wet Jet found a way to take their mundane and everyday product, a mop, and turn it into a humorous commercial that people still talk about. Check it out.

Swiffer Wet Jet's used personification to take their once boring mop, and give a personality of its own. Instead of wet bacteria filled mop, it becomes a heart broken ex-lover who desperately wants back into it's owner's life. The use of the song, "Baby come back" by Player adds an another humorous element and takes the love scorned love connection between mop and owner a little further.
Swiffer created a series of these hilariously sad old cleaning supplies who are being dumped by their owners for the new Swiffer cleaning supplies. Check out some of their others commercials below!

L'Oréal Explains the Science behind Creating Makeup Skin Tones

By watching this video, you learn that there are more than just the skin tones we see in a store. Each new child born, has its own specific skin tone different than any other. Creating make up to match every skin tone has to start somewhere.

L'Oréal scientists made this video to show the process of finding and making the correct makeup match for a skin tone. Women of color have found it hard to match their skin tone with the corresponding makeup choices available to them.

The video also gives into some detail about L'Oréal's Women of Color lab. Created in 2014, it's taken skin tone measurements from 57 countries of origin, resulting in a spectrum of foundation that can serve more or less anybody - though the work is far from over. At Atis observes, "With each baby, a new skin tone is born, and with that we know our work is never done."

Even if you are not into beauty products, its amazing to understand what has to happen in order to make the skin tone colors. There are 20,000 data points that are needed to be understood in order to make up that color of skin.

This is an ad demonstrating knowledge behind a subject not many people know about - the making of makeup. They are not advertising their products, they are informing the public of what needs to happen and how each color is made. L'Oréal sponsors this video and has 97,337 views compared to 50,000 views in 2014.

Kobe Bryant Says Goodbybe

Nike has made a hilarious commercial for Kobe Bryants last game. This commercial offers a sad but true feeling for Kobe fans and haters. This demonstrates the crowds going to "miss hating Kobe."

It goes through with Kobe playing and fans of opposite teams are yelling "YOU SUCK" while the lights dim and Kobe points out singular fans from different teams. Each one is singing a line about how they hate Kobe, will miss him, and how much they despite him.

Although we know Kobe has been known as a Champion, he is also an antagonist, an idol and anti -hero. This being said, the commercial shows how Kobe thrives and embraces the hate.

Many people will miss Kobe and many people will miss hating Kobe.

Either way, he will be missed on the courts.




**Video would not load as it's own, so its a link for the first sentence!**

Uber's Rebrand

Sometimes, you just don't have a ride to a party. Sometimes, it's raining or snowing and walking to the restaurant just simply isn't an option. Sometimes, you want to cut loose a little bit and not worry about electing a DD to drive home. So, what does your squad do? Get an Uber.

Uber has forever changed the ride-hailing game, especially for millennials. Uber has become so popular, it has become a verb. "Just Uber over," or "Ubering it," have become common phrases amount users.

It's a simple idea:

1. Download the Uber app and create an account 
2. Enter payment information and pick up location using GPS
3. Wait a few minutes for a certified Uber driver to accept your request and show up
4. Get in a car and go

The service has been around since 2010, but really has become widespread in the last 2 years or so. Uber has expanded globally, and is now located in over 400 cities across the world.

Just recently, Uber decided to rework some of their branding. Most of the company's changes are cosmetic, including a revamp of the overall interface and typography of the actual app pictured below:

Uber also released a video further explaining the reasoning and significance of the brand changes:

                                      

According to the company, 

"[The atom] belied what Uber actually is—a transportation network, woven into the fabric of cities and how they move. To bring out this human side—the atoms—we’ve added color and patterns. The team has spent months researching architecture, textiles, scenery, art, fashion, people and more to come up with authentic identities for the countries where Uber operates"

While perhaps the most dramatic change was the app's style, Uber has also customized the coloring for the different places where the services are used. After some extensive research on culture, patterns, and designs, Uber has reworked app colors for a variety of countries. Some examples include Japan, Ireland, Mexico, and China:

Personally as an Uber user, I think the changes are great. I don't LOVE the new app design, because I think the old one became pretty iconic and easy to find. I do think the country customization will be awesome, however. I think it shows to Uber customers that the brand truly wants to know their consumers on a personal level, and wants to integrate into their daily lives on the most basic levels.

Overall, 8/10 Uber. Even though I really liked the previous logo, the service is still amazing and the country customization is a really cool concept. As a consumer, I'm looking forward to what Uber has in store for the future.

Saying "Adiós" to a Legend

Dos Equis announced in March that they will be ending "The Most Interesting Man in the World" campaign. The advertisements have been going on in the U.S. since 2006, so I am sure that everyone is as sad as I am to see such a well known advertising campaign leave us after ten short years.

Who could forget when the most interesting man graced our TV screens for the first time? In this commercial, not only does he free a wild bear and become friends with it but he also apparently has the most amazing beard in the world.

His iconic slogan, "Stay Thirsty My Friends", I'm sure, will last for generations to come. This campaign was clearly effective, with a grow in case sales by 34.8% between 2007 and 2015.

How does one go about ending the career of the most interesting man in the world? That's simple, send him where no man has gone before, Mars.

If you pause the video right at 28 seconds, you will notice that his friend, the bear, is there to send him off along with hundreds of other people from around the world. It's hard to say goodbye to a great amigó, but I could not imagine him leaving in a better fashion.

Gatorade - From The Pee Wees to The Pros

Growing up, Gatorade flowed like water at my house. I grew up in a very sports-oriented household, where weekdays consisted of long practices, hard games and pep talks from Dad. Weekends were for football games, Mom's homemade dinners, and lots and lots of rest and ice. I'm the oldest of 3, with two younger brothers who are currently finishing out their high school athletic careers. The sibling rivalry is real, and games at any and all levels are still, and probably always will be, a family affair. No matter what season it was or which one of us was playing (sometimes all 3 - sorry Mom and Dad), Gatorade was always present.

Q: So how did Gatorade become so synonymous with sports, trusted by athletes from little league to the majors? 

Players from every discipline have embraced the brand. The company is a sports giant, and has monopolized the market, outscoring their closest competitor Powerade on every front. Since it's early days in 1965, Gatorade has expanded, now selling quality workout gear, towels, water bottles and all kinds of other apparel.

A: Gatorade, who's parent company is Pepsi Co, is genius. The advertising and marketing plans have been second to none in the industry. 

Utilizing a variety of strategies, Gatorade has created a nearly perfect image to represent athletes everywhere.

First and foremost, the company loves using celebrity athletes.

 

(If players like Serena Williams, Jimmie Johnson, Brice Harper, Dwayne Wade, and Payton Manning drink Gatorade...I should drink Gatorade! I want to play like them!)

While maintaing this idea, Gatorade has embraced being associated with smaller scale athletics programs. The brand of course sponsors professional teams, but Gatorade also sponsors high school and college teams. In doing so, the company has earned a reputation around the sports world as a quality product for players of any level.

This awesome relationship has worked well for both the players and the brand. Gatorade sponsors individual athletes, gives scholarships, and donates money to various organizations and teams. In turn, athletes stay loyal to their favorite brand and their favorite flavor color of Gatorade. 

Genius Idea or Disaster Waiting to Happen?

Domino's launched a brand new app this week that takes truly takes the hassle out of ordering a pizza. While in the past, Dominos has created many other quick and easy solutions for customers to order their pizza, such as texting and tweeting emojis, using Amazon Echo, Apple Watch, and Xbox One, the new "Zero Click" app further streamlines the process. Customers simply have to open the new Zero Click app and after a 10 second countdown, their Easy Order account will automatically be placed. Once Domino's customers set up an accounts with the correct billing and delivery details, and pizza preference within the app, this becomes the default order. To the ultimate lazy pizza fanatic, this is the ultimate dream come true, but could this be a public relations disaster waiting to happen?

The public has taken to the Internet to express their concerns about the Zero Click app. Many of the concerns are related to the ease of ordering with the app, the whole purpose of creating it. What happens to customers with phones famous for butt dialing? Or those parents who give their phone to their child to play a game on? Domino's responded to concerns generally stating that if the app is accidentally opened, the 10 second countdown allows customers to cancel the order. Anyone with a child or has at least babysat once knows that it is nearly impossible to get your phone back from a small child once you've given it up, as well as how curious children can be and explore everything on a device. As for the pocket dialers, they only become aware of what has happened once they hear a voice shouting form their pants pocket. Honestly, is 10 seconds enough? Personally, I don't think it is and Domino's is also aware of this factor. On the Domino's AnyWare website the description of the app includes, "It's easy. Maybe too easy. You've been warned." Is this their way of acknowledging that they know people are probably going to accidentally order pizza? Is this warning basically saying they won't do anything about it because customers have created an account and agreed to the terms and conditions? If this is the case, then Domino's is creating its own ticking time bomb. While the app is convenient and provides a service desired by their target audience, it also may not be the best way to do customer service. Orders will be accidentally made and if there is nothing done by Domino's then the customer relationship will be tarnished, even ruined. This is a public relations crisis in the making. Personally, I'm going to stick to ordering pizza the old fashion way.

The Swedish Number + 46 771 793 336

I'm serious, give it a call.

This is maybe the best thing since sliced bread. Kudos to you, Sweden.

The press alone is enough to constitute this as a successful campaign. Sweden's tourism association launched, "The Swedish Number," a project that connects anyone in the world with a phone to a random (volunteered) Swede.

I'm very intrigued and plan to call the number. I will follow up in the comments how my interaction goes, but I also encourage everyone to give it a try.

To me, not only is this genius marketing, it also is a success on a humanitarian level. We can all benefit from learning about different cultures and what life is like in Sweden.

Via AdWeek:

The campaign was dreamed up by Ingo Stockholm, a WPP agency, for the Swedish Tourist Association—a different group than VisitSweden. The point is to offer a completely unfiltered view of Swedish life—regardless of the obvious risks of doing so. (The campaign also marks the 250th anniversary of the abolishment of censorship in Sweden.) 

"In troubled times, many countries try to limit communication between people, but we want to do just the opposite," Magnus Ling, general secretary and CEO of the Swedish Tourist Association, said in a statement. "We are making Sweden the first country in the world with its own phone number and giving our fellow Swedes the opportunity to answer the calls, express themselves and share their views, whatever they might be."

The point, Ling added, is "to show the real Sweden—a unique country worth visiting with the right of public access, sustainable tourism and a rich cultural heritage. With 'The Swedish Number,' our goal is to create more pride and knowledge about Sweden, both nationally and internationally."

Go Home Instagram, You're Drunk

What are you doing Instagram? You had a good thing going and you're starting to blow it. First you allow advertising, then you want to change the algorithms for how people's feeds are curated and then you increase video clips from 15 to 60 seconds... Let's slow it down, Instagram, you're going to scare everyone away.

Although there is not a solution or social media network comparable to sharing images like you do, this is how you create the downfall of a product, too much at once.

The algorithm switch was nauseating to say the least. If I have to read, "Turn on your notifications in the top right..." one more time...ugh!

On the upside, while this is trying to curb the amount of advertising, it will also have negative results for feeds that your truly do enjoy.

According to TechCrunch, this is the Death of Instagram for Brands.

Also,

Instagram's big bet on video doesn't stop at 60 seconds

Though I do think that Instagram means well and that the developers want to keep Instagram popular and resourceful. The whole algorithm thing is really to curb how many advertisements we are exposed to as users, but the way they went about the release freaked everyone out. People don't like change when a product works well.

According to AdWeek, "Before the API launch, Instagram ads for brands like Taco Bell and Capital One yielded strong brand recall, while those marketers saw clickthrough rates that outperformed Facebook. But consumers, it is feared, could react less favorably as more Instagram ads flood their smartphones."... Read More

Ad News breaks it down the best, so don't worry, everything's going to be okay, just don't act like that, Instagram.

Keep calm and trust influencers 

 

NHL After Dark

The NHL has been faced with the same problem for many years now, lack of exposure. Think of ESPN, very rarely does the network feature hockey as one of their leading stories, or one of their stories at all, for that matter. Lebron changing his headband is clearly more important than the incredible run the Pittsburgh Penguins have been on recently, or Patrick Kane being the first American born player since Dough Weight in 1996 to score 100 points in a season. With that travesty aside the NHL seems to have found themselves a match made in heaven in their recent partnership with GoPro and the creation of NHL After Dark. NHL After Dark is an 11-part series designed to shed more light on star players personalities and incredible skill on the ice.

The intriguing part of this series is the unique viewpoints that the use of GoPro offers the viewers, as the video progresses the fan is offered a chance to see the ice as these elite players do and the moves they can make with the puck are truly incredible. The speed and precision that these stars move the puck is truly incredible and mesmerizing, and provides a different kind of exposure to the sport that has yet to be utilized by any of the other major sports in the United States. With the sport of hockey being one of the more unique sports the use of GoPro is able to capture that unique quality that should enable the sport to garner more public attention.

In-Game Advertising

With March Madness officially over and football still a very long way off, sports fans are turning their attention to the start of the MLB season, and what the playoff pictures look like for the NBA and the NHL. 

Unless you're ESPN, in which case, basketball is the only professional sport that starts playoffs in April. Apparently there isn't enough "national interest" for The World Wide Leader In Sports to cover hockey, even though some of the country's biggest hockey towns (St. Paul, New York, Chicago, Washington, and of course, Pittsburgh) are going dancin' with Lord Stanley. But that's another rant for another day. 

That being said, no one loves playoffs more than advertisers. In-game advertising has become a norm for contests across leagues. It's now customary to see brands, logos, and slogans plastered on the jumbotrons or embedded into the fields. Sponsorship and branding is so prominent in sports that most arenas and stadiums are named for them. Playoffs usually means more nationally televised games, which means more eyeballs glued to the screen. If there's more people watching the game, there's more people who are going to be exposed to the advertisements. 

Yeah, ads can be kind of annoying, but I have to say, I've seen some very clever in-game advertisements.

There is a way to do in-game advertisements right. Take the "Boston Brewin'" Dunkin Donuts ad for example, posted along the boards in the TD Garden in Boston during Bruins' games:

I seriously love this advertisement. What a treasure. It's glorious. It's got iced coffee, it's got puns, it's got a well placed reference from a local, beloved coffee giant to a traditional hockey organization...these are a few of my favorite things.

What works for in-game advertising? What does not?

Hamburger Helper Drops Mixtape

This is not a drill. Hamburger Helper dropped an entire album on April fools though not entirely meant as a joke; it got more listens than a Taylor Swift single. 'Watch the Stove' has been listened to over 4 million times. The album dropped on Friday, and by monday morning 432,660,000 social impressions were made with 4,086,000 plays on SoundCloud. Liana Miller, the marketing communications planner and creative director for Helper said in an interview:

"This hit us by surprise, we did not expect this kind of reaction. We're a small and mighty team, we are six people who just have an interest in hip hop. We did not think this was going to blow up in the way that it would."

Even the album cover was amazing.

Everyone was surprised by Helper's marketing effort. People went crazy on social media making this ad a viral success. Hamburger Helper has a divided target audience of mothers and millennials, specifically young men and women who make the product in their dorms.

The album is available on soundcloud, which I encourage you all to listen to right away. And General Mills brand has created music videos for its hit mixtape.

Listen Here!

General Mills brand has even begun created music videos for its hit mixtape.

or listen on soundcloud:

to read the article published by Adweek click here

Zapping: A Problem or Not?

It’s 2016, and it seems that every little problem can be solved with a touch of a button.

Craving some Chinese food? There’s an app for that. Want to shop? There’s an app for that. What’s the score? There’s an app for that. Just really bored? There’s a ton of apps for that. 

The apps are so plentiful, Apple’s ad campaign featuring the slogan practically wrote itself. This advertisement, although almost 10 years old (!!!) is still relevant today.

(Vintage IPhone advertisement, circa 2007)

Our smart phones, even though they have the worst reputation, are not the only electronics that have made us as a society exceedingly lazy…TV has been doing it for decades.

For years, television has been the greatest source of day-to-day entertainment. In order to compete with phones and computers abilities to bring immediate, uninterrupted entertainment to consumers, TV evolved. 

Thus, the idea of "On Demand" came into being, and products like TiVo were born. 

With the creation of DVR, advertisers who had dominated regular TV broadcasting now faced a major dilemma: people were skipping right over commercials. Consumers, while watching a previously recorded program, zapped through the recorded commercial breaks, and companies paying  for those commercials started losing a lot of money. 

In the mid to late 2000's, advertisers found themselves grappling with Darwin's famous natural selection theory in terms of zapping. Companies advertising were in a sink or swim situation - either evolve and survive with the changing technology, or keep the same practices and become increasingly ineffective.

Most advertisers have found some ways around zapping. Streaming sites like Spotify, Hulu, Neflix, YouTube, and Pandora all require advertisements to fund their services. Consumers can opt out by purchasing a membership, but ads are still present (and still pretty annoying). 

As technology continues to advance, it will be interesting to see how advertising will change as well. Zapping has become somewhat of the norm, and a bullet that advertisers dodged. The next challenge may be more complex.

Do you zap? How would you combat customers practicing zap?

Olympic Ad Sales Top $1B

NBC announced last week that national advertisement sales for the Rio Olympics have topped $1 billion. This is ahead of the record pace set by the 2012 London Games, which reached the $1 billion mark only 2 days before the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony for the Rio Olympics isn't until August 5th, standing as evidence for how healthy and bullish the Olympics market is. Advertisers know that integrating their brands through the Olympic platform is a great way to reach large target audiences; therefore, it is expected that national ad sales will only continue to increase and set records.

While the Olympics is the biggest stage for companies to advertise on, it is also one of the most difficult to be effective. Such a wide range of consumers watch the Olympics, it is one of the few events that brings together various countries and demographics. Advertisers must have the ability to appeal to this wide range audience and send a message that many different people can connect with and be persuaded to take action. The value of live, big-event programming is more important than ever to advertisers. Due to the shift toward watching shows on demand, Netflix, and other online platforms, less consumers are exposed to advertisements during live airing of episodes and programs. Despite this trend, sports and live events have continued to draw large audiences and remain essential areas for advertising.Big ticket events like the Super Bowl and March Madness have been drawing record revenues the past couple of years. Consumers want to watch these types of programs live; they want to be part of the conversation on social media and join in on the excitement of a live event, where anything can happen. The Olympics is no exception. People all around the world are excited to watch their country compete. The Olympics' ability to dominate primetime for 17 consecutive nights is unmatched. If brands want to reach viewers and their customers in the third quarter of the year, they have to be in the Olympics. But also,not just being a part of the Olympics advertising, but have a compelling ad that appeals to the diverse audience. 

Below is an advertisement from the 2012 London Olympics that successfully connected with consumers all over the world. Click here to watch more ads that aired during the Olympics.