Super Bowl LI Ads: Will they be worth the watch?

With the Super Bowl coming up quickly, viewers from across the nation will gather to watch the game. Along with the game, of course, come the commercials. Companies pay monstrous amounts of money to advertise during the game, with prices getting as high as $5 million for a 30-second spot.

Commercials during the Super Bowl have become so popular, people who are not interested in the game itself will watch solely for the commercials. In the past, there were some ads that were so memorable they lingered on the internet long after it aired. There were also some that were a complete flop.

The question is, what will Super Bowl LI bring to the field when it comes to it's commercials?
Let's take a look at what companies have provided throughout the years to get us pumped for the big day:

What better way to begin a glimpse into Sunday's game with Budweiser's AD from 2015 (prepare some tissues):

Ugh, one can't talk about Super Bowl commercials without adding this classic from Apple in 1984:

One company that always knows how to make a memorable appearance is Old Spice, but this one is particularly memorable from 2010:

Now let's head to the world of fast food, where Taco Bell rules in their Super Bowl ads:

Finally, in my opinion, one of the most memorable commercials from all of Super Bowl history. Ladies and gents, I bring to you, Talking Baby:

So, does this glimpse into the past help us pan out what this year will bring? Super Bowl LI will definitely be memorable, but will it be because of the game or the ads? Go watch this Sunday, Feb 5th and be the judge!

Controversy or Free Advertising?

Since President Donald Trump's recent ban of refugees and citizens of certain, and mostly Muslim, countries, many people have been speaking up. Certain judicial staff in many states have been putting into order policies that go against Trump's plans in order to make the most for their Muslim communities. People have been raising hell outside of different Trump buildings in Washington D.C. and New York City, just to name a few places.

Companies have also been calling to take action against the recent ban on certain people entering the United States. Starbucks, the coffee powerhouse not known for staying out of controversy, released a statement on the morning of January 30 saying they were looking to hire 10,000 refugees to provide jobs and reasons for refugees to seek shelter in the United States.

Many Trump supporters have been using the hashtag "#BoycottStarbucks" because they feel this is going against the President's orders. The majority of Twitter and Facebook users that side with the boycotting of the coffee giant are putting the idea out there that Starbucks should instead hire 10,000 veterans of the United States military rather than focusing on hiring refugees. People that are saying this are missing one vital point however; Starbucks released a statement in 2013 that they're goal by the middle of 2014 was to hire 10,000 veterans and family members of veterans. The problem? Just under 8,000 veterans and their family members even applied for jobs, and the majority of them got it.

What point am I trying to make? The point that if you are a veteran or want to support veterans, seek a job out. Nobody is entitled to a company searching for them. These people need to search for jobs rather than sitting around waiting for opportunities to seek them out.

This also begs the question; is Starbucks in a deep pool of controversy for their statements or are they simply gaining free advertising? There is definitely something to be said about being in controversy. For example, they will probably lose a few customers here and there when those customers decide to side with Trump supporters and the #BoycottStarbucks movement. However, according to Starbucks reports from 2015, the company announced that it served on average 60 million customers every week. Every week. In a year, that's 3.12 billion customers. Of course, that is assuming that nobody ever returns and that every customer is entering a Starbucks establishment for the first time. This simply isn't the case, however in terms of money, 3.12 billion customers in a year with an average of five dollars being spent per customer is over 15 billion dollars of revenue for the company in a single year.

The last point I'm attempting to make here is that with a few Trump supporters that also support the boycotting of Starbucks, the company shouldn't be worrying whatsoever. They won't be losing much money, if any at all.

Keep on ordering your venti spiced lattes whenever you wish. If you like the taste, enjoy it while you can.

Alpha M: Why Color Scheme is Important for Branding in New Media

     With the advent of YouTube, new jobs were created in the online world. People used to use the website simply for entertainment, but once channels were developed that gained enough followers, the website was inclined to start paying people for their work. Now, YouTube enthusiasts are raking in surprising amounts of cash. This includes the highest paid YouTube earner PewDiePie, who earned $15 million in 2016 alone.

     But becoming a YouTube start is not an easy task. Just like any business trying to get off the ground, YouTubers need to develop a sense of continuity in their brand. This can be witnessed with YouTuber alpha m., who has well over 2 million subscribers. Alpha m.'s channel is dedicated to everything masculine, and he aims to help men with their style, fitness, and more. Even a quick scroll through his channel displays the standard layout of his brand. Every video has a color scheme that incorporates white, gray, black, or orange. As shown above, these colors are also incorporated into his logo. One might wonder why maintaining such a color scheme is important, but with YouTubers this is a must.

     With all of the suggested videos coming up on the side of your screen after watching any video, it's hard to discern which ones hold the most quality. So if you're looking for videos on masculinity, you might want to find Alpha m.'s, since his brand is clearly quality and time tested. So how are you going to find his videos in the quickest way? Color scheme. His captions are always the same color, so it's that much easier to notice his well-established brand. With so many competitors, ease of access can set your brand apart from the rest. If alpha m. didn't have a continuous color scheme, it would be harder to find his brand in the soup of videos presented.

Wonderful Pistachio's Campaign Continuity

                Within the world of advertisement there are millions of ad campaigns per year aimed towards creating brand identity, strengthening an existing notion about a brand, or creating a new identity for an existing brand. So how does a company or service launch a campaign to stand out in this new wave of advertisement? The answer in my opinion? Continuity.

One brand that is doing it as well as anyone else if not better is Wonderful Pistachios.

 

Their campaigns have incredible continuity. The constancy lies within all elements of the commercial including setting/background, the green pistachio color, duration of the ads, and of course how the celebrity cracks the nut. Launched in early 2013, Wonderful Pistachio shows various celebrities cracking the pistachio nut in a way that suites their style and personality. Thus creating an extremely recognizable campaign sense that it is Wonderful Pistachio. In order for more brands to becoming successful in their ad campaigns, continuity across all platforms will be the most effective in gaining the publicity and attention required to steer the company or brand in the desired direction.

Blog Inception

Warning: this is a blog post about a blog. I have a friend named Mitch Rissmiller, who is currently a sophomore at High Point University in North Carolina. He is studying strategic communications and marketing. He came up with the idea in his first semester of college to create a blog written by college students, for college students. His story is a great example of branding development.

He and a couple colleagues began brainstorming about names for the brand, knowing they wanted a collegiate theme. The team finally came up with the name "QuadGoals" and developed the slogan, "Turning your BS into a B.S." Once they developed this initial brand identity, they knew they had to begin strategizing the logistics of how the brand would come to life.

QuadGoals founders: Erika Esterline and Mitch Rissmiller 

They knew their target audience would be primarily college students, looking for advice on everything from fashion and beauty to next-level professional advice. Because of the demographics and psychographics of this target audience, they decided to create an online blog, while also creating a presence on other social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). They also had to strategize in terms of quantity of content by creating content calendars. Initially, Mitch and his team had to create enough content to get their blog started for the first month, but knew they would need more help from other students. They began a hiring process for new writers to join the team who could give different perspectives on the various aspects of college life. The blog has been extremely successful in his college community in North Carolina, and Mitch has hopes of expanding the outreach to colleges across the country.

The planning of this brand began in the fall of 2015 and just recently launched on January 10, 2017. Mitch's story truly illustrates what hard work and dedication can do if you put your mind to it. Check out QuadGoals in the link below!

http://quadgoals.com

The Power of Positivity

Athleta’s campaign, the Power of She, has turned into a movement inspiring women and girls of all ages to come together and empower one another while also promoting health and wellness. This campaign has created a community of sisterhood, embracing confidence and happiness within one another. Those involved can share their lifestyle and fitness stories to motivate other women into reaching personal goals and realizing one’s full potential. The core belief of this campaign is, ‘Alone we are strong, united we thrive. Together we create the Power of She’.

The Power of She campaign has recently featured Tao Porchon-Lynch, the world’s oldest yoga instructor. At 98 years old, Tao continues to practice and teach yoga. Tao promotes positivity for Athleta by spreading an insightful message. In her words, “Anything is possible. Nothing is impossible. When you wake up every morning say, ‘This is going to be the best day of my life’ and it will be”. She is an inspiration to women everywhere and the perfect addition to Athleta’s campaign. Check out more of what Tao and her yogi partner, Terri, have to say here.

What's Your Personal Brand?

Graduation is around the corner, your job search is getting increasingly urgent, and networking is crucial to securing the opportunity you want. How do you make yourself stand out from the crowd of qualified students all clamoring for the same positions as you?

Take a moment to think about your personal brand. As you know, every business and company out there has its own brand...but in today's society, everyday people all have brands too. Your personal brand consists of your identity, your interests, your skills, your passions--all the aspects of yourself that make you unique. Taking control of your personal brand now will allow you to better market yourself to potential employers during networking events and job interviews.

I'm still figuring out just what exactly I want my personal brand to be, but I do know that being a student has always been an important part of my identity. In the picture above, I'm graduating from college (that's me in the red sash). My notions of what type of career I wanted have definitely changed since then, but life is a process of continually learning. I like to think that a willingness to learn is one of the more marketable qualities that anyone can bring to their own personal brand.

So what about you? What interests and passions definite and drive your actions? What's your personal brand?

The CSS Design Awards

This year so far has provided us with some of the most creative digital work to date. The CSS Design Awards, honors these designers, web creators, and developers for "pushing the boundaries of creativity, functionality, and usability" (CSSDA). These awards are presented not only yearly, but on a monthly as well as daily basis. The winners receive certificates, trophies, and recognition from industry leaders and their large fan base on the CSSDA site.

Here are some recent winners/nominees from the CSS Design Awards:

Website of the Day Jan 23rd, 2017 - www.wokine.com

Award Nominee Jan 24th, 2017 - https://36creative.com 

Award Nominee Jan 24th, 2017 - https://www.gbrdesign.com/en/

Website of the Day Jan 19th 2017 - http://weareangstrom.com/en/

Visit the CSSDA website to check out other winners/nominees, as well as submitting your own creative work.

Happy Designing!

Dior Takes New Route with Advertisements

With Paris Fashion Week coming to a close shortly, one of the most well-known designers, Dior, has launched a new campaign that showcases a shift in aesthetic appeal.

Going along with the latest trends displayed on the runway throughout the City of Light, Dior's advertisements have gone from embracing bright floral designs and backgrounds contrasted with dark clothing and accessories to option for airy black-and-white photographs spotted with pale pink touches.

It might seem like a strange move at first for Dior to make the move away from darker clothes - seeing as we are currently in the middle of winter - but Fashion Weeks are a season ahead. The clothes spotted on the runway right now are intended for spring and summer, and so with that knowledge, the baby pinks and strappy dresses make much more sense.

It's interesting that they are also taking a break from the more overt sense of femininity into a style that is more relaxed and effortless. The actress in Dior's previous advertisements, Marion Cotillard, has her hair fixed perfectly and is adorned with accessories and a classic fit-and-flare dress. In the new advertisements, the silhouettes are airy and dramatic while still appearing cool, and the hair and makeup are both left to look undone.

These new advertisements can be seen in fashion magazines on the racks right now, such as the latest issue of Vogue.

What do you think of Dior's new advertising campaign?

#PuppyMonkeyBaby

With the Super Bowl coming up in just a couple short weeks, it's time to start getting excited for 2017's Super Bowl commercials.  2016's Super Bowl had quite a few memorable commercials, including Mountain Dew's "Puppy Monkey Baby." Although this ad was not my favorite, it was the most memorable.  Mountain Dew's strategy for this commercial was quite innovative, by creating a strange creature (a puppy monkey baby) that chanted "Puppy Monkey Baby" in a rhythmic tune.  The imagery of the creature definitely surprises viewers, and the simple tune is very catchy.  If I watch the commercial just once, the tune ends up sticking in my head the rest of the day.  It is interesting to see how a company can create an ad that does not really relate to their brand or products, but can be so memorable.  When people hear "puppy monkey baby" they recognize that as Mountain Dew.

If Mountain Dew created such a bizarre commercial last year, what is in store for this year's Super Bowl commercials? Will Mountain Dew live up to its previous year, or will another company take on a similar strategy? We will all have to wait and watch on February 5, the only day of the year where viewers are genuinely excited to watch television commercials.

Do you have any favorite commercials from last year's Super Bowl? Any insights on what may come in this year's Super Bowl? Comment below!