2017 Design Trend: Cinemagraphs

Every year I'm curious to see what design trends are entering and/or exiting the market. Behance created a 2017 Design Trends Guide with 20+ trends to exercise and/or watch out for. Number 2 on this list is Cinemagraphs.

Cinemagraphs are upscaled gifs of still images which include subtle elements of movement. Somewhat like Apple's new live photo feature. Personally, I've always loved a good, effective gif. I think the movement creates visual interest and generally leaves a positive user experience.

I agree with Behance that cinemagraphs will be become increasingly popular in 2017 and most likely for a few years to come. In my current role, there has been a push from the top to increase animations in our marketing materials with traditional gifs, short videos, and cinemagraphs to be used on our websites, in email, and on social media.

Check out these fresh cinemagraphs! (Warning: while some are super subtle - others are much more surprising and fun to watch/guess what will be animated.)

Social Marketing: Heineken

Social marketing is much like commercial marketing, but with one major difference in agendas: Social Good vs. Financial Gain.

Unlike big corporations or brands, non-profit organizations are largely focused on influencing behavior to benefit society as a whole rather than pushing a new product or service. Great examples of social marketing include Above the Influence's "Who Controls You" campaign, and truth's "finish it" campaign.

However, some big brands do choose to use their national and/or global platform to push social marketing along with their products and that is a win-win for all. Last year Heineken released "When You Drive, Never Drink" using racing legend and safety pioneer, Jackie Stewart to demonstrate responsible drinking by not drinking and driving.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tV6gygNPetU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


I'm not familiar with Jackie Stewart so even though I appreciate this commercial, it doesn't exactly resonate with me. But what does are these infographics about moderate/responsible drinking surveyed and targeted towards millennials.

The bottom line is that Heineken has made it clear that they care about the well being of their consumers and the well being of the families, friends, and strangers around those consuming their product. Above pushing their product, they're pushing responsible drinking.

Home is Where the Heart is

Seattle-based home buying company, Zillow recently launched a campaign that tugs at the heartstrings of even those with the iciest of cold hearts. Each of the five video advertisements features different types of families/people searching for a new home. Zillow knows that purchasing a new home is both an emotional and often stressful experience, and they want to show their market that they care. The various stages of life, most often known as the "slice of life" technique has been proven effective in helping aid company relations with their target audiences. In the screen grab featured from YouTube, this particular ad features a young boy and his father who are forced to move after the loss of their matriarch. According to CEO Jeremy Wacksman, stated in their accompanying press release, "We hear so many incredible personal stories about the different paths people take to homeownership. We were inspired to bring the modern home shopping story to life with this campaign".

In addition to tugging at heartstrings of viewers, the company took an important stab at acknowledging the buying patterns of millennials, who have been often criticized as renters and not homeowners. The segment entitled "Just Me" features a young woman who is searching for a new apartment, but is advised by a coworker to purchase instead to gain long-term investments, even though it is only her living in the home. This particular commercial tapped into an audience that Zillow's principle competition has not taken advantage of thus far.

Know Your Client

As a public relations/advertising practitioner we are consistently reminded that appealing to the target market is the most essential part of any successful campaign. However recently, beauty company Shea Moisture, has missed the mark on what seems to be their target audience entirely when they attempted to appeal to new audiences. The company, which was started in 1912, promotes products using certified organic Shea Butter, which has mostly been advertised towards African American women. The company attempted to open their brand to more women, by including a variety of Caucasian women in their latest campaign for sales at Target. The campaign was met with backlash from many as they were accused of "white washing"a proud, African-American company that has lasted a decade.

The company took to social media to openly and honestly take responsibility for their lack of sensitivity towards their target audience who has been using the product loyally, even admitting that they simply "f-ed this one up". It was refreshing to see a company admit to their faults simply and effectively communicate with their market directly via the sites that they most often use. How do you think companies can increase their target audience without losing a key demographic in the process?

Is Word-of-Mouth Advertising Becoming Obsolete?

Some smaller companies rely very heavily on word of mouth advertising. Why? It comes down to a few simple reasons. One being the heavy cost of advertising in today's world, and another being that they want to appeal to a certain target audience or a certain geographic location that is more centered around where their stores are located. One example of a national level of word of mouth advertising is that of The Walking Company. Specializing in comfort shoes, The Walking Company has over 250 stores throughout the United States and a few located in Canada. Based in California and being so large of a chain, most people would think that they would allow some money towards advertising. In a sense, they do. They have advertisements on Pinterest and located in their stores in shopping malls or plazas. What they do not do, however, is commercial or web-based video advertising. The Walking Company has had some very good success with this. Each of its retail locations, of which there are over 250, pulls in $1 million annually. Some locations do between $1.5 and $2 million depending on where they're located. In my mind, it seems as though The Walking Company has deployed some successful word of mouth campaigns. Sure there are companies that really cannot do it well, but if a company is established well enough and has a loyal customer base, as well as delivers quality products, word of mouth advertising will continue to be one of the most effective forms of advertising out there.

E-Commerce Genius or Consumer-Fooler? An Inside Look at Amazon's Low Prices

We have all been there. Whether during class, late at night, or sitting in Starbucks waiting for our wrongly-spelled names to be called; Amazon shopping sprees. People of the millennial generation have essentially been taught that e-commerce giant Amazon has the lowest prices on all things, but is this actually true or have we all been scammed? There's no doubt that Amazon is an incredibly convenient way to shop. On our laptops, just a few clicks and we can have packages big or small delivered to our doors in as little as two days. From our phones, we can turn on "one-click" shopping or have "dash buttons" for our most frequently shopped items. It is so easy to shop for millions of products on Amazon.com. One thing Amazon touts is their low prices. For years now, if you go to a store such as Best Buy or Target for a phone case or memory card for your camera, people still pull up the Amazon app on their phones to compare prices there. Rather than checking competing stores' prices, consumers default to checking Amazon. I am one of these people. Research shows that the Seattle-based company tricks their consumers into thinking they have the lowest prices around by changing their prices on their products up to five times in just one hour. This technique is being classified as "the psychology of price perception." This might sound like a bunch of gibberish to the average consumer, but what it really means what Amazon is doing is discounting big items, such as a new 50-inch LG 4K television by large percentages, then changing prices on their lesser-popular items to be much more in order to compensate for the lost profit on the television while still making up their profits elsewhere. This begs the question; is Amazon an e-commerce genius or a consumer-fooler? Well, why can't they be both? Clearly something is working for them.

Unskippable Ads

Early this year Geico released an ad campaign called Unskippable Ads on youtube. Essentially they had a faux skip this ad button and the only words in all the ads were "You can't skip this Geico ad because its already over. Conceptually speaking it is very interesting in that they appeal to the viewers disinterest of ads and recognize it so it seems as though they are in doing the viewer a favor by leaving them with a very short silly ad however they still get their name out there to the individual. Since it was so brief however do you still think the as is effective?

Gas Pump Video Ads

I had stopped for gas at a Sunoco and when I got out of the car the pump seemed normal until I had completed the process of dipping in my card and putting my information, however when i began to pump gas I realized that local ads began playing on a small screen on the pump. The ads were only 10 or 15 seconds long each, one was a weather report, one was for a nearby shopping center, etc. However what really got my attention was that in the time 4 ads played i had spent 7.00 more than I had intended. Do you think that this is dishonest to technically "distract" customers while they are pumping gas, effectively spending their money. Worth noting the ads only played when gas was pumping not before or after.

Harley Davidson Truck

On my drive home I pulled up behind this truck and instantly knew the company with only a silhouette of the logo. The ad had got me thinking about what takes a brand or ad to the next echelon of recognizability where they no longer need the logo and it is still immediately apparent who the company is. Benefits of reaching this point from a design standpoint are it grants designers more creative freedom with new ideas.

Some examples of companies that can, have done this would be McDonalds in taking away the text "McDonalds" below the golden M and Apple (for a while now) only using their brand logo of an apple no longer including any text below it.

Times Square Snapchat ads

While I was home for easter I had a free day and chose to venture into Times Square since it had been a while since I was able to head into New York City. When I finally made it I was reminded again about the insane amount of large advertisements you are bombarded with. One (group) however, Snapchat, stood out to me the most. I found it very interesting that they chose to take four (only three pictured) different billboards for their ads. While I was not able to find an exact figure as to what the exact cost of each of these ads are in Times Square one can imagine the insane price tag that would
accompany this space. However after spending most of the day wandering midtown with friends and passing through times square a few times i noticed that unlike some of the other ads, the bright "snapchat yellow" lines of ads from anywhere on the west side of times square even though they were at the very bottom and if was only one ad was there you may not be able to see it.

Some other notes on it, the "snap code" pictured third from the right led the customer to a website where you could purchase spectacles.

One major thing that I noticed after examining the ad for a moment was that nowhere on any go them does it even say "Snapchat" or "Spectacles" yet I was instantly aware that this was an ad for snapchat.

#Duquesneable

I'll miss Duquesne. 

Grad school is fast-paced and nonstop, but the skills learned both inside and outside of class make it all worth it. The MBA program gave me a better understanding of how businesses function, and the graduate electives I took in Marketing & Advertising were my favorite classes at Duquesne—especially since I want to focus my career in those fields after graduation.

While I haven't designed any marketing or advertising campaigns on a large scale yet, it was exciting to be in a large-scale marketing campaign for Duquesne's School of Business. A dozen Duquesne MBA students were selected to be in this campaign, and many photographs were taken during our photo shoot in September 2016, but the only photo chosen to be on busses everywhere (as of April 2017) was this one:

That's right. I'm officially #Duquesneable.

Being a part of Duquesne's branding for the School of Business is a fun and surreal experience. And of course, I couldn't finish this Advertising Campaigns class without blogging about it.

The photos taken for this campaign were not just used on bus ads…they have also been used on other parts of the Duquesne website, to promote various School of Business programs. For example, I've never been a Graduate Student Ambassador, but I am on the webpage about them:

The choice of Duquesne University to use real students, rather than paid models, lends authenticity to their campaign, providing prospective students with a personal connection. Being personal and relatable is a vital way for the university to differentiate its brand from that of other MBA programs. The effectiveness of the campaign should translate to increased enrollment and higher recruitment into Duquesne's MBA programs. 

At the end of the day, it was nice to advertise the university that has done so much to make me a more skilled employee in the job market. 

Picklesburgh!

A festival centered around pickles isn't odd—it's just another thing to experience during summers in Pittsburgh. The Picklesburgh festival celebrates all things pickle for two days in July on the Rachel Carson bridge. Even if you don't like pickles (how dare you), the festival is definitely worth scoping out—who doesn't like free live music on a summer day?

I happily attended the festival in July 2015 (where I took the photo above), trying samples and listening to Nevada Color play live while the crowd shuffled past. The giant pickle floating over us all was a great way to remind us that Heinz was the biggest sponsor of the festival.

Although Heinz corporate headquarters is no longer located in Pittsburgh (much to our dismay), its legacy as a Pittsburgh company lives on, and the Heinz-branded pickle is a great reminder of that. The festival was a joint endeavor of big sponsors like Heinz and BNY Mellon as well as little local businesses and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. Participating in Picklesburgh was a great move on Heinz's part, by showing that corporate brands started small and still value contributing to their communities.

If you've never been to this event, you definitely need to go this summer! It's a great way to see big brands and small brands come to life over a shared love of something we all appreciate: food.

Sexy is So 2007

Sex sells...or does it? Recently, Carl's Jr. has taken a different approach to their former advertising style which often featured scantily clad women munching suggestively on their mouthwatering burgers. The likes of Kim Kardashian West and Paris Hilton were seen ravenously feasting on the all-american treats which made little sense and barely made anyone other than hormone racing teens want to go to Carls Jr. Over time, Carl's Jr. had to have noticed they missed out on advertising to their most important audience, moms who stop to get fast food when rushing their kids to and from practice have zero interest in seeing a rich heiress in a bikini noshing on a hamburger.

The suggestive copy reads "She'll tell you size doesn't matter. She's lying", which leads me to question who this campaign was really intended to sell to? In recent years, the food trends that made waves were less suited towards selling sex, and instead, focused on the actual product. Audiences are more interested in where their food comes from and the quality of what they're putting in their bodies.



After documentaries such as Supersize Me and Food Inc. blasted the lid off the fast food industry, it called Americans to action to be more responsible about their food choices. Fast food chains took a dramatic hit as former consumers have increased demand for healthier, eco friendly options. While many have taken this in stride, it leaves a multi million dollar industry wondering how they can bring back all that lost revenue. The answer has been mostly simple, people are always going to eat fast food, whether its due to connivence or economic reasons, but they still are plagued with a plethora of options. For companies like Carl's Jr., they've moved towards the classic public relations principle of "tell the truth", with straightforward, simple campaigns that focus on the product.

Companies are Removing Ads from YouTube Due to Offensive Content

Companies put a lot of faith into online advertising vehicles since they do not know exactly where their ads will show up. They could be associated with offensive content similar to what was happening with advertisers on YouTube. Multiple companies removed advertisements from the site because Google was placing their products next to offensive content including hate speech. This is not good for a company’s brand image and could end up making them lose money. 

Google says it is trying to improve its ad placement steps but that is not good enough. There is no excuse for Google hurting a brand when it is giving Google money. With so many places to advertise Google needs to hurry and improve because they could lose a lot of money to its competition.

Smart Yard & Google's Brand Legacy

In recent decades, advertising campaigns have incorporated offbeat humor more than ever before. This humor is especially appealing to millennials, and the quirkiness is taken one step further with joke ads launched on April Fool's Day.

I originally saw this ad in a PRSA Pittsburgh blog post and it caught my attention more than the other brand pranks featured in the post.

The fictitious Google Gnome appeals to many aspects of that quirky millennial humor: the gnome talks back, ponders existentially, plays metal music and laughs in a robotic voice. More importantly, it reinforces what we already know about Google—the brand's ongoing relevance in a changing digital landscape.

Although googling became an actual word that was added to the dictionary in 2006, Google knows that relying on its past achievements is not enough to keep it in the public eye. Through the introduction of Google Drive, and its suite of applications that are comparable to Microsoft Office, Google entered the cloud computing world seamlessly. By creating Google Home, the company was able to directly compete with the Amazon Echo smart home device. This growing suite of Google products keeps the brand current and innovative. But just in case we forgot, the Google Gnome joke ad is a playful reminder.

Infographic Résumé or Resum-nay?

I love infographics.

As a graphic designer I appreciate everything that a well-designed infographic has to offer visually from great typography to simple color palettes to cute vector images. And if there is a solid concept behind the data being visualized, even better!

But as an audience, I love infographics because I don't always have the time, desire, or mental capacity to read paragraphs of copy pertaining to anything data or stats driven. A well designed infographic communicates facts or shows contrasts and comparisons in an upfront manner without any distracting, fluffy copy in between the main points.

Plus, I'm a visual/picture-memory kind of consumer. Take this extremely simple, but effective, Know Your Coffee graphic for example. For years I've been ordering a macchiato, latte, or cappuccino not knowing there was an actual difference. Even after asking half a dozen times, I never could remember which is which, but seeing a visual makes all the difference.

Of course infographics can be much more complexed, like this one to the right, Why 2017 Is the Year to Take Snapchat Seriously. It that highlights how and why Snapchat is important for advertising. 

Steel City Style

Pittsburgh is a proud city. The Steel City brand captures that pride in a way that is both timeless & modern. I first noticed this shop last summer, when they were selling merchandise primarily online.

Although temporary kiosks at local malls during the holiday season did generate some sales, Steel City never had a physical location of their own until their pop-up store appeared Downtown on Smithfield Street in late 2016. This pop-up shop was such a success that it became a permanent location for Steel City merch:

The branding of this company appeals to yinzers of all ages. Apparel from hoodies to baby onesies to socks are all available, branded with the crisp copy and clever slogans that burgh-dwellers love so much. A personal favorite of mine is this tote:

Among the NYCs and LAs of the world, Pittsburgh has crafted out its own niche as a major city with a hometown feel, and a brand character unparalleled to that of any other city. Steel City underscores this brand character, showcasing Pittsburgh pride and reminding tourists that we are the City of Champions.

Google Makes Move Against Ad Blockers

    It's easy to see how AdBlock has affected the march of online advertising. With this tool, it's not necessary to view any of the ads that are the staple of online moneymaking. Given, many websites stop the user from moving forward once they detect an ad blocker is enabled, but this isn't always the case. Either way, ad blockers make online advertising seem like a pest, and less of an opportunity.

   Google is making moves to alter this reality. Recently, the Coalition for Better Ads released a list of "undesirable ads" that tend to deter user enjoyment. These include ads that take up the whole screen when opening a web page, or even automatic videos. Google has plans to release its own "ad blocker" that takes these ads away, but leaves the ones that are more convenient for consumers. 

   While this seems like a good idea, it certainly isn't enough to get consumers to stop using ad blockers. In fact, a Google company spokeswoman admits this. She claims that more companies need to get involved to stop the reign of ad blockers. It is only by a joint effort that online advertising can increase its quality for users. 

   Without ad blockers, users waste vital moments of their day watching ads that are usually uninteresting to them. But with the blockers, companies lose money from advertising. It's a two-sided problem, one that requires effort from both consumers and companies. If consumers aren't forced to watch ads, but the ads they do see are somewhat tailored to their needs, perhaps they will be more interested in viewing them. Maybe with more money invested in user-specific advertising, the ad blocker problem will start to die off. 

  What do you think?

Info Source

Image Source

TV Advertising Walkouts and the Desire to Remain Brand-Safe

Earlier this week, Bill O'Reilly, host of political talk show, The O'Reilly Factor and easily one of the biggest audience draws to the Fox News channel, was unceremoniously ousted from the network on the tails of a series of allegations that Fox and O'Reilly had paid $13 million in settlements to sweep sexual harassment allegations brought again him under the rug. However, O'Reilly was not the network's only loss as with his departure came the loss of $150 million dollars worth of advertising revenue as advertisers began backing out of the show left and right, unwilling to be associated with O'Reilly's alleged behavior.

According to an NPR interview conducted earlier this week with Jeanine Poggi, a reporter for Advertising Age, the departure of these advertisers was more or less responsible for bringing about the end of The O'Reilly Factor, as they made O'Reilly a greater liability for the network than an asset. Poggi suggests that advertisers responded the way that they did in an effort to avoid associating their brands with poor or illegal behavior, appease consumer outcry, and try to remain brand-safe, a term that implying the avoidance of potential controversy that could negatively affect the brand.

http://www.npr.org/2017/04/20/524936023/the-power-of-television-advertising-walkouts

In reading this, I couldn't help but think of the widespread use of images of unity and acceptance in this year's Super Bowl ads in light of the results of the recent presidential election and the derogatory and discriminatory rhetoric that had become normalized since the ascension of President Trump. What brand such as 84 Lumber attempted to do in creating a sense of inclusiveness through their ads, despite the fact that their consumer base is likely largely conservative does not seem that different from what the advertisers backing The O'Reilly Factor were attempting to do in dropping their support of the series. I think this trend of remaining politically correct is going to continue to be a factor in both the type of advertisements we see moving forward throughout the next four years, but also the kind of moves that advertisers and agencies make to protect their brands' reputations.

Consumers Know an Ad When They See One

It is not uncommon for a celebrity or social media star to promote a product or brand on their social media channels. This common practice has lead to companies needing to be transparent when they pay someone to endorse their brand or product.

Designating sponsored content is meant keep consumers from being fooled into thinking that someone they follow talks about a product just because they like it. It turns out, however, that consumers are not that easy to fool.

In a recent study, the 64% of the consumers surveyed said that they saw messages from brands on social media as ads. People are becoming more and more accustomed to seeing these types of posts on their feeds. Social Media advertising has become an important part of most brands' advertising mix. This is why companies need to realize that consumers are becoming wise to their social media strategies. Trying to sneak ads into people's feed is more likely to annoy consumers at this point. It is time for companies to understand how smart the average consumer is and to be transparent with their advertising messages.

Not Another Social Media Site: How Pinterest is Rebranding Itself

According to a report released by Bloomberg Technology on April 21st, Pinterest, the photo catalog based social media site much beloved by DIY-ers and inspiration seekers worldwide will be launching its first ever U.S. advertising campaign in the Summer of 2017. While, at least from my own perspective, it seems rather odd to put advertising efforts towards promoting a social media site, especially one as widely known as Pinterest, the campaign is more an effort to reshape the general public's view of Pinterest and move away from the social media site label, effectively rebranding the site.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-21/pinterest-to-start-its-first-u-s-advertising-campaign

In an interview for Bloomberg's Decrypted podcast series, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann states a desire to shift towards marketing Pinterest as a "visual search engine" rather than a social media site, especially since Pinterest is geared more towards idea sharing and less on generating social interaction or attempting to boost "likes" and "follows." Essentially, the goal is to situate Pinterest as a site where consumers can go to collect ideas, concepts, projects, and even products that they'd like to try out and store them for quick and simple access.

Personally, I think that this is a wise decision on Pinterest's part, especially as I've noticed that Pinterest does generate as much buzz as other similar sites like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram do simply because the site is labeled as a social media site but has few social components to its structure. Pinterest has apparently had great success with a similar rebranding campaign launched in London in 2016 featuring television and billboard-esque ads, however, I'm still not entirely convinced that such a campaign could be measurable effective in altering user's perceptions of Pinterest. I look forward to hopefully seeing the campaign when it makes its debut and I can only hope that Pinterest proves me wrong.

False Advertising for Kona Beer?

In the world of advertising, transparency is key. Advertising a product and building a brand identity are important for the success of any company. There is, however, a fine line in advertising between true and false.

Kona brewing company is being sued for false advertising concerning their line of beers and where they come from. Their beers have a distinct Hawaiian theme with names like 'Longboard' and 'Big Wave' and have imagery to accompany the names.

The company is being sued for deceptive advertising due to the fact that their beer is not actually made in Hawaii. Their site does say that it is made across the Unites States, but that has not stopped plaintiffs from filing against Kona. Their main argument is not necessarily false advertising but rather, misleading advertising. Kona is not the first and will not be the last to be the target of lawsuits such as this. They are, however, a reminder of the need for transparency when it comes to advertising products and building the identity of a brand.

Parody Marketing: Cell Phone Wars

In marketing and advertising, a parody concept is a strategic and creative tactic that negatively or humorously uses a competitors existing campaign to highlight negative points and attempts to persuade the consumer away from the competitor and toward their brand.

Although I wouldn't dare to parody a competitor in my career, but as a consumer, I find parodies highly entertaining. And if done clever enough, often times the parody resonates far beyond the original.

I don't recall the cell phone carriers being openly and aggressively competitive in advertising 5-6 years ago, but recently it seems that with every new Verizon campaign, Sprint or T-Mobile have a quick rebuttal.

Most recently, Verizon's Mic Drop campaign. To keep up with the competition, Verizon announced an unlimited data plan with Silicon Valley actor, Thomas Middleditch, standing on a red carpet, with a mic in hand, who spoke to a group of patrons whom are all gathered at a public park. At the conclusion of his speech he literally drops the mic to figuratively close the conversation and send a message to the competitors.

Weeks after airing, Sprint responded with a parody. Sprint continues the conversation by using the once Verizon poster boy, Can-you-hear-me-now? actor Paul Marcarelli, who literally picks up the mic to continue the conversation that Verizon attempted to close. Marcarelli is also standing on a red carpet and appears to be in the same setting as Middleditch.

Verizon's latest Mic Drop campaign.

Sprint's response to Verizon's Mic Drop campaign.

But before this Mic Drop campaign, there were the colorful balls. Verizon used colorful balls which symbolized each of the carriers to visually explain awards they had recently won. Sprint and T-Mobile each responded with their own versions of Verizon's commercial to set the record straight. Watch all three below. 

Verizon's Colorful Balls campaign + Sprint's response + T-Mobile's response

What are your thoughts on parodies in advertising? 

Ads vs Art

A recent article publish by the Nation took a look at the latest war on advertisements in New York City. It was discussed that the average American is "exposed to 10,000 advertisements a day, up from an estimated 2,000 in the 1970s." That being said, most Americans use pop up blockers to deter ads when online, but they cannot do this in the real world, that was until a group of Brooklyn artists decided to change the scene. They began placing art over advertisements in places such as bus stop kiosks, phone booths, subway walls, etc. to help give the brain of passerby's a break. According to Caldwell the idea came to her when she was "sick of seeing advertisements that encourage unnecessary spending through the promotion of self-doubt and inadequacy." The discussion we as professionals in the Advertising and Public Relations world face is often how to get our message across to the audience, but perhaps we need to be more concerned about how much our audience is flooded with these messages daily.

https://www.thenation.com/article/these-new-yorkers-are-covering-advertisements-with-art/

What I'm Doing Here is Not For You

While no longer particularly to-the-moment relevant, I wanted to take a moment to highlight a recent campaign I was very impressed with when it first debuted. Last month, in celebration of March as National Women's History month, espnW, a branch of ESPN catered specifically towards female sports fans and highlighting the efforts of female athletes, released a short brand film entitled "When I Play". The film features footage of a combination of both professional and amateur female athletes practicing and playing their sports, while a voice-over speaker recites a poem about the difficulties that women in sports face and the reasons that they continue to play despite judgment and discrimination.

While the film serves a dual purpose as both a tribute to women in sports and an advertisement for espnW, I don't think that that at all diminishes the power or effectiveness of either function. In fact, if anything, it enhances both. As a female athlete, watching this film was very emotional for me because it resonated so closely with issues I've faced and experiences I've had firsthand, and based on the attention that the video got on social media when it first came, I can only assume that other women, from competitive athletes to non-athletes are having similar reactions to being represented in such a powerful and poignant way.

 Kudos to espnW for finding a way to create a fairly profound attachment with their target audience based through the use of a campaign based solely around this video. I myself did not realize that ESPN had a channel specifically targeted towards female athletics, but after watching this video, I for one will certainly be more likely to seek out media from said channel, and I'm sure other female athletes feel similarly

Natura Faces: Who are you on the streets?

     Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics brand, recently relaunched a makeup line named Faces. The line's campaign defines a new positioning to the brand, embracing social causes throughout videos that question #whoareyouonthestreets?.
    The campaign brings 5 Brazilian influencers who support causes related to woman, non-white, LGBT and disabled people. The city is used as a background to gather all those people's lives, and allow them to be who they wanna be.
     The 5 15 seconds videos have well thought compositions of scenes, creating a nice aesthetic result, and are also effective in transmitting the aimed message. This 1 minute video nicely combines all of them:

     Natura, a brand that have always been concerned about environmental issues, was very successful on defining that positioning. It established a new target and brought up a new perspective to the cosmetics and make up market.

Image_Hack

     The Danish agency Mindshare has a new project along with Dove. After doing some research, Mindshare noticed that the results of the terms "beautiful woman" and "real woman" in stock websites were totally stereotypical. They wanted to do something in order to change that, willing to renew the social concept of womanhood, and also to provide a realistic representativeness for real woman.
     The following video explain how they started hacking the stock website and ended up changing Denmark's advertising flow:

     By producing pictures of real woman and adding relatable tags to them, the agency and the brand started, together, a movement that became worldwide. And after the images were out there on the Internet, they started encouraging new agencies and new brands to use them as well. Not long after that the Country's Ad scenario was different, and woman were being portrayed equally.

     The hacking project gives us a very good example of how to work on enhancing the establishment of a brand's missions and values. Dove could both advertise itself and generate social impact, causing the society's and, consecutively, the consumer's engagement.

Pittsburgh's Advertising Scene

        Pittsburgh's rising presence within the fields research, technology, and pop culture are not going unnoticed, though when regarding advertising agencies, the steel city doesn't lack either. Throughout downtown lies some of the worlds leading advertising agencies tucked away going unnoticed in a random floor of a high rise, or in a small window shop. Naming a few Deeplocal, Chemistry, Marc USA, and Applebox Studios. Their clients ranging from healthcare companies, non profit education services, Google, and Nike the talent level is demanding here in Pittsburgh. Deeplocal was one of the coolest advertising agencies I have ever visited, the office being in the strip district yielded a creative, fun, yet series environment and there clients spoke for themselves... Google Netflix, American Eagle, Nike, AirBnb, Lyft, National Geographic, Spotify and the list goes on. What is unique about there agency is how they are able to create complex ideas requiring many different fields of expertise and able to produce it all within house. Deeplocal has multiple floors each consisting of a separate entity of the company. The heart and brain of the agency is the two main floors. The second floor is where the collaboration is held for the accounts and the floor below it that is the tech shop where all of the mechanical and coding engineers work to bring to life the ideas of the floor above. Netflix has asked them to create a gadget from scratch promoting the new advancements Netflix is making to there shows and infrastructure. 

Creating traffic, and clicks for Netflix, Deeplocal was able to create the brand tone they wanted for their new strides in their business model, and this commercial reflecting that.

When are Ads Too Obtrusive?

Last month Google rolled out audio ads for the Google Home device. Usually when people would ask the device something they would receive the answer and the device would shut off. With the audio ads though an advertisement would be added to the end of the answer which was obviously bothersome to many people.

 Not only was it annoying to be spoken to about the new movie Beauty and the Beast from a speaker, the ads were unrelated to the users. Luckily for the people annoyed by this feature it was short lived and Google removed it.

Hopefully they do not reintroduce this anytime in the near future and if they do, they will be more subtle.

Instagram Influencers are Being Warned About Hidden Advertisements

The Federal Trade Commission is warning celebrities on Instagram about their relationships with brands. It wants more transparency and better disclosure from the celebrities who are pushing products. When they normally create a sponsored post they use hashtags like #sp or #Ad and the FTC is saying that it’s not enough. They are sending out letters explaining the proper procedures for posting sponsored content and are expecting celebrities follow them.

It is very important for celebrities to disclose that they are being paid for a post because people might go and buy something thinking the poster was giving a genuine opinion. It seems like the influencers are trying to trick people into buying something rather than explaining its benefits which is not necessarily the most honest way to make money. 

Are these sponsored content posts fine as they are (similar to the one above) or do they need to be more obvious about being sponsored?

Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Rebranding

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are reestablishing themselves as American burger restaurants. They are doing away with ads showing scantily clad women eating burgers and are humorously explaining it as Carl Hardee Sr. coming back to the business. 

Before this rebranding ads like the one below were being used.  Hardee's and Carl's Jr. finally realized these were unusual and ended up changing their brand. 

To rebrand themselves they first go through the “history” of the restaurants and explain how they are getting rid of the womanizing ads. 

They also created an ad using someone from the Slo Mo Guys YouTube channel where they destroyed the old Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brand image. 

This new attitude is a huge step in the right direction but it does not erase their previous advertisements. Hopefully they can continue to create a a strong brand that revolves around food instead of half naked women. 

NatGeo Brings Einstein into Modern Day

With its new drama series, Genius, fast approaching, National Geographic has dedicated a large portion of its marketing efforts toward advertising the show. The campaign began with a Super Bowl commercial in which actor, Geoffrey Rush, can be seen in character as Albert Einstein playing Lady's Gaga's "Bad Romance" on the violin. This was followed by an experiment at the SXSW festival in which visitors were invited to submit selfies via Twitter that would be drawn on a chalkboard by a robotic arm. The selfies were drawn up of Einstein's own words and equations. The experiment was meant to combine Einstein's love of science with his love of art.

More recently, NatGeo has created a Facebook campaign that allows users to connect with "Einstein" via the Facebook Messenger app. The Einstein chat bot responds to messages immediately with witty remarks and quotes. This campaign coincides with this weekend's March for Science in Washington, D.C., where marchers will have access to a special Genius wi-fi network and an electronics charging station along the National Mall.

Genius premiers on National Geographic on April 25th. Would this campaign be enough to convince you to watch it?

Who whipped it better: Starbucks or Burgatory?

Starbucks has released a new, limited time drink, and like all magical things, it has gone viral.

The flavor-changing, caffeine-free Unicorn Frappuccino® tastes sweet at first and begins to turn sour, and change colors, as it is enjoyed. And like all great non-light Frappuccnio®'s it is topped with whip cream. AND fairy dust. 

Everyone is talking about it, ordering, taste-testing, and giving their official beverage and mythical creature critiques from The Washington Post to CNN Money to Cosmopolitan.

But unfortunately for some, the drink is almost literally mythical as some areas have sold out in just 12 hours. Meanwhile in other parts of the country, there is a never ending demand and supply of the blended beverage – so we've been told by one stressed out barista. 

All the hype and constant mention of the drink is good for Starbucks and the brand – and they seemingly didn't have to advertise at all other than in-store signage. They teased the drink on Twitter a few weeks ago but that didn't stir much of a fuss until the drink actually debuted. I think Starbucks knows their demographic well enough to know that they would love the concept and would Instagram the crap out of it once it was in their hands.

I am a bit surprised however. Unicorns have been making a comeback for quite a few years now and I'm surprised it took Starbucks this long to capitalize on the trend. 

But you know who saw this coming a few months back? Rhymes with purgatory. Yes, Pittsburgh's own Burgatory, known for their helluva burgers + heavenly shakes, created a limited time Unicorn Shake over the winter months. They weren't shy about making a comparison on Facebook. 

I didn't read all 266 comments, but I did notice that many yinzers claimed to have tried both mythical beverages and have agreed that Burgatory reigns over Starbucks. Others also demanded and requested that Burgatory bring the shake back soon, and often. I love how a national chain like Starbucks has unknowingly brought brand awareness, loyalty, and future business to a regional chain like Burgatory.

So, who whipped it better: Starbucks or Burgatory?

A Racist Wave in Advertising

Last week 2 big companies pulled their ads after being accused of racism. Pepsi and Nivea had completely different approaches, but both ended up in the same place.

Pepsi had a good intention releasing this Ad during their new campaign: 

The video, starring the top model Kendal Jenner, addresses precisely the human rights issue. Having a photo shooting in the middle of a manifestation, the model decides to give up on the job to march with the people. Pepsi only forgot one important thing: Practice for real the “good deeds” they are trying to propagate. Kendal takes the blond wig and the lipstick off in a very empowered act, but give it to a black woman as if she was there with the only purpose of serving her. It’s very important, when we talk about important subjects like this in the mass media, to pay attention to all the details and think over to see if we are really meaning what we say, because saying, mainly in advertising, is too easy. 

On the other hand, Nivea’s new campaign didn’t even tried to be engaged. Their Ad with the slogan “white is purity” brought up a completely outdated conversation about racism, not because we shouldn’t talk about it anymore, but because it is so primordial that we, as society, should have already solved this problem. White is not purity. And the idea of advertising a black and white product with this slogan shouldn’t even pop up during brainstorming, it’s unbelievable how they got it until finalization. 

After all the discussions, both of the Ads have been pulled out of circulation. Let’s hope the other brands learn with their mistakes and never repeat them again. 

Instagram vs. Snapchat: The Story

Ever since the "story" feature was brought into Snapchat, which is where you can post pictures and videos that will stay visible for 24 hours, versus the 1-10 second time frame for single snaps sent to friends, competitors sought out ways to create this for themselves. Instagram took to the "story" feature as well, adding in filters and different ways to customize the images and videos that were on one's "story". The debate over who is doing it better has been an internet craze over the past months.

Some are dedicated to the original Snapchat story, so much that they will post their snapchat username on their Instagram story to lure people back to Snapchat. Others, who already use Instagram more so than Snapchat, utilize Instagram stories since it is conveniently placed in an app they are already using. 

According to and article on AdAge, Instagram is taking the lead in popularity, by garnering 200 million daily users of the story feature. This is based on Snapchat's 158 million daily users, which is not far behind, but acknowledging that it was the original "story" feature application. 

Instagram also moves ahead with the incorporation of "Instagram Live", which is where users can stream a live video on their Instagram and people can watch and comment. Snapchat has not utilized a "live" feature yet, but it doesn't go without notice that Instagram may have copped the "live" idea from Facebook.

All of our favorite social media applications are trying to outsmart one another by adding the same features but trying to make them better than the original. Do you think this is a fair play by Instagram? Or should they try to find their own niche feature that steers away from the rest?

Non-Profits War with Advertising

Let's face it. Advertising is expensive. In 2008, the average for a 30 second national commercial costed $342,000. That's pretty intense. That might not be too bad for a multi-million or billion dollar corporation to pay for a commercial. Now think about being a non-profit organization. Personally I work for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I'm an intern with them until I graduate, in which I will then turn into a full time, salaried employee. $342,000 is about a third of what the Western PA & West Virginia Chapter accrues in a fiscal year. To spend that much on a commercial would be ridiculous. Many non-profits refuse to pay for any advertising because A) how expensive it is and B) their profits need to go towards their efforts, whether it be curing cancer, social issues or other worldly problems. For example, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society donates 95% of their donations and earnings towards funding blood cancer research. The other 5% goes towards office supplies and mailings as well as expenses towards holding events to fundraise. LLS would not dream of spending a third of their yearly donations towards making one thirty second commercial. Not only would it cut a large dent into their yearly funds, but it would also be terrible PR because people would not see the need to spend that much on an advertisement. The cons outweigh the pros in that situation. Non-profits should stick to free advertising. Word of mouth has and can work wonders, but social media is certainly the best way for non-profits to advertise. Not only does it offer them a way to advertise their causes and efforts and events for free, but it also gives them a chance to directly and intimately interact with their target market and those that may have questions or concerns. What do you think? Should non-profits consider spending more on advertising or should they keep utilizing all sorts of free methods to spread the word? Below is one of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's videos that has been shared on different social media platforms hundreds of thousands of times within the last 4 years.

Emirates Airlines Goes After United

Competing airline Emirates has no qualms about kicking United Airlines while they are down, as the President of the company goes on the offensive.

Emirates Airlines President Sir Tim Clark told CNNMoney editor John Defterios, "Let me say that it's a disgrace. It shamed the airline industry as a whole."

United Airlines has been under an intense amount of fire after a video leaked of a passenger being physically dragged off the plane after an error by the company resulted in overbooking. The passenger tried fighting back, but he was restrained and kicked off.

Several passengers were disgusted by the treatment of the man, with several getting off and others blasting the airline. Emirates has been rated "best airline" several years in a row by it's customers, and they are not afraid to publicly shame the currently disgraced United Airlines.

Some people are wondering if it's fair of Emirates to so publicly attack United, but I say kudos to them. While other companies remain silent toward the controversy, Emirates pulls no punches. United is currently losing money at a record setting pace, but they got themselves into this scenario.

Emirates prides themselves on being a great experience for their customers, so when something this horrific happens to a passenger, Emirates almost has to say something in order to protect their own brand.

SOURCE: Business Insider

Earth Day, Where Advertisers Blossom

With Earth Day approaching, landing on Saturday, April 22nd, there is much to say about the day of planting trees and reaching out to the world to be thankful for all it has provided. Organizations and companies take Earth Day as a prime opportunity to show their stance on the day as well as plugging their own products within advertisements. Some, more creative than the others, are deemed to be the most popular Earth Day advertisements.

Let's take a look at this first one from Jeep: Having a green background instantly reveals to the reader that there is something to do with the earth or nature within the advertisement. There is a lot of white space in the advertisement as well. After reading the copy of the ad, which in summary, says to take care of the earth or there will be no where left to drive. This is where the symbolic representation of the jeep driving off the "earth" comes in, since there would be no more earth if it is not taken care of.

The next ad, from 2013, makes a pun out of the holiday. It shows the earth as something "consumable". This expresses how as humans, we are using the earths resources and in turn "consuming" it. Having the fork and knife in the advertisement, making it look more like the earth is going to be the readers next meal, sends the message that the earth is not something we should consume, but something we should value and appreciate.

In this third ad, created by the World Wildlife Foundation, they use one of the world's most famous villains to tie in a pun for their cause. Darth Vader, from Star Wars is shown in the advertisement holding a baby sheep and surrounded by various other wildlife, including butterflies. This "alter-ego" of the famous villain ties in with the copy of the text, which suggests that the "Dark Side" saves the planet. This pun is expressing the importance of switching off lights in homes and other power sucking sources so that energy can be conserved.  

Which Earth Day ad was your favorite? Check out this website to see other cool Earth Day ads that show different companies' creativity in supporting our planet! Also, check out the official Earth Day website to find out ways you can help the planet as well.

Chance the Rapper is Changing the Music Industry

Chance the Rapper, the 24 year old rising musician, has been named one of TIME Magazine's most influential people in the world.

That is the perfect word to describe Chance the Rapper: influential. He refuses to sign with a label, stating that he doesn't want the industry to change him. He releases his music on streaming sites, and only makes money from his touring. He is one of the first musicians to make their music completely free, refusing to sell his "art." To say that Chance is unique in this industry is an understatement to say the least.

Chance also did something else groundbreaking: he forced the Grammy's to change their rules. Throughout the entire history of the "Grammy's", streaming-only music was not eligible to be considered for awards. When Chance released "Coloring Book", is was so widely praised that the Grammy's had to change their rules in order to avoid a possible protest. Chance was nominated and won for "Best New Artist".

Chance has drawn praise from some of the biggest rappers in the world, such as Kanye West, who he made five songs with, and Common, who spotted Chance at a very young age and pushed him to follow his dreams.

Chance the Rapper continues to talk about how he refuses to go towards record labels, and claims that they taint all music. As long as he continues this protest, he will continue to completely change the music industry.

With Bill O'Reilly gone, Advertisers flock back to Fox News

After the firing of controversial news anchor Bill O'Reilly, advertisers have begun to make amends with Fox News.

On April 1st, it was reported by the New York Times that O'Reilly and Fox News have paid at least 13 million dollars in settlements to people accusing the former of sexual harassment. When this came out, over 60 advertisers boycotted Fox News, resulting in huge losses for the news organization. After weeks of protests, and while O'Reilly was on a "planned vacation", Fox News announced his termination.

The first major advertiser to publicly applaud Fox News was Mercedes-Benz. The automobile company had pulled their advertisements after the allegations leaked regarding O'Reilly, however they said they will consider returning if the termination truly is permanent.

It's a huge risk by Fox News, as O'Reilly is by far their most popular anchor. His show, "The O'Reilly Factor", was the highest rated show on the network for several years. "Tucker Carlson Tonight" will replace the "Factor" in the 8 P.M. time slot, however experts are saying that at the very best, he may get 75% of the viewership that O'Reilly had.

This move is solely based on protecting the brand's image. With Fox News being known as a very conservative favored station, President Donald Trump has caused plenty of controversy for the network. They cannot have more of these allegations hitting them, and had no choice but to terminate the relationship. It's a bold move, but a commendable one.

Greenery: Pantone's Pick for 2017

Every year since 2000, Pantone announces a color to symbolize and reflect current cultural trends. This year the color is Greenery, a "fresh and zesty" yellow-green shade. Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute defends Greenery as a shade that will "provide us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment. Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalize, Greenery symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another, and a larger purpose."

https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2017

Pantone promotes Greenery with:

• Available mugs and USB thumb drives (items you would see on a "top 10 gifts for any design geek" list).
• A 45 second video showing Greenery as an encompassing lifestyle with food, products, clothing, and landscaping – all reflecting hues of the shade. (I think the spot has a very Target or Gap vibe.)
• Numerous downloadable .ase color palettes (this is HUGE if you're a graphic/web/digital/visual designer as you can be sure that these are color palettes that are on trend and selected by color experts. It is super easy to upload .ase files to Indesign or Illustrator, do a simple google search or give me a shout out if you have any Qs.)

As leaders in the color industry, Pantone's color pick of the year influences the runway, home decor, and advertising. I don't think we'll see monochromatic ads heavily featuring Greenery much like their video, but I do expect to see it pop up subtly in color palettes set forth by Pantone across the web.

Visit pantone.com to see Greenery in action or to view past colors of the year and let me know what you think of this years pick or any of the ones before it.