Coming Soon: Vertical Videos

In June of 2016, Snapchat, a popular social media app that allows users to share photos and stories with friends that disappear after a set period of time, allowed advertisers to begin placing skippable ads in users' stories, as a way to reach the app's 158 million daily users. 

Part of Snapchat's struggle with convincing brands to utilize the popular app for its paid advertising has been first convincing them of the value of utilizing vertical video--a form that is best suited for the format of the app because audiences do not need to turn their phones to be able to view the message. 

Advertisers were not quick to adapt to the vertical video trend that Snapchat advocates for because it requires shooting materials with more than one camera, and logistical reconfigurations during production, according to Bloomberg. 

However, the vertical video trend may be set to take off, now that Instagram, the photo sharing app owned by Facebook, introduced a story feature in August of 2016, and will now allow brands to place ads within it. Now, brands that brave the logistical and expense challenges of producing vertical videos will be able to reach the 158 million Snapchat users as well as Instagram's 400 million. 

In an interview with Bloomberg magazine, head of consumer engagement at PepsiCo., Kenny Mitchell, said that he thinks that vertical video is going to become more prominent this year, and that PepsiCo. is "considering it from the outset," when building its advertising campaigns. 

While one might have imagined that Instagram introducing a story feature to its app, something that prior to the introduction was a feature exclusive to Snapchat, would hurt Snapchat's user count and revenue-making ability, it turns out that Instagram's story feature may have made advertising on Snapchat more appealing to major brands.

Walmart - The Receipt

      Walmart released a new series of Ads this weekend during the Oscars. Four renowned Hollywood directors were invited to produce 3 one-minute length movies for the brand, with a specific condition, the ad had to include 6 elements: bananas, paper towels, batteries, wrapping paper, batteries and a video baby monitor.

      Antoine Fuqua directed "The Gift"

       Marc Forster directed "Lost and Found"

    And Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg directed "Bananas Town"

     The 3 Ads have an amazing quality and production, the idea of Walmart creating this "receipt" with products they sell is very interesting and all of the directors did a good artistic job around the given elements. Unfortunately, the repercussion of the commercials have not matched with Walmart's expectations, but I admire its impulse to dive in the artistic world in order to establish a new brand concept. 

Movie's Trailers As a Way Of Advertising - Oscars

This was Oscars weekend and, as you all have probably noticed, there was a mistake during the annunciation of Best Picture's winner. La La Land's team celebrated for about 5 minutes, when Moonlight took the spot, officially winning the award. Both movies are exceptionally good, even though its differences. And those differences can be seen not only on the big screens, but also in the way in which the movies advertises itselves. In the cinema industry, the flagship of advertisement is a movie's trailer, and that's why we will be analysing both La La Land and Moonlight's trailers.

Moonlight is renowned for its representativity. With a cast composed only of black people, the movie tells the story of a poor and gay protagonist. During the trailer there's a huge appeal for strong scenes in which the dialogues are deep enough to provoke curiosity in the audience. You gradually become involved with the story, since the sequence of scenes gets more and more intensity towards the end of the trailer. The only external information that is given is the name of the director, Barry Jenkins.

La La Land, on the other hand, works with rhythm more than with storytelling. The musical's trailer catches the public's attention with its joyful and also intensifying song, but keeps the audience in by giving evidence that this would be a good movie to watch. During the 2:26 minutes of the video, all of the following information is presented: From the writer and director of Whiplash; Winner of People's Choice Awards of Toronto International Film Festival;  Winner of Best Actress, by Emma Stone, in the Venezia's Biannual; the month of releasement; 3 newspapers' quotes about the film quality and 4 critique ratings of 5 stars; and the 2 oscars nominations of best actor and actress for 2017.

Those 2 trailers give us a lot of information on distinct ways to advertise a movie, being by provoking interest through the storyline itself and the films own elements, or through the confirmation of the film's quality by people from the external scenario.

New Burger King Ads Are Too Hot

     Ask any experienced griller and they'll tell you that flame grills produce a better taste on your burger than any electric grill. This is the main selling point of Burger King's newest ad campaign, which features various photos of real Burger King locations that caught on fire because of their flame grills. These ads are certainly engaging, so let's examine one from a critical advertising perspective.

    In terms of legibility, this ad does its job. There's a minimal amount of copy, only including "Flame Grilled Since 1954" in the right corner, and the time and place of the accident in the bottom left. With minimal copy, the ad gets its point across that Burger King definitely uses flame grills, the better alternative to electric grills. Because the ad has minimal copy, it keeps it from being overcrowded. In this way, we can enjoy the giant image of Burger King on fire. It does not take much time to understand the ad, and concision is key to ad effectiveness.

    In terms of sequence, the ad is well executed. We read the main copy first, and as we move down we see the image that reinforces it. This represents an appropriate hierarchy of information. The emphasis on the burning restaurant itself is important and useful, since it gets the user interested in the ad. The color scheme is straightforward, using colors like red, black, and white to create contrast between the burning fire and the dark night behind it. The red is also important since it's Burger King's main color. There is an overall sense of harmony and balance in the ad, but this isn't so hard to create with the main copy on one side and the main image on the other.

    It's safe to say the ad is consistent with the brand's identity, since Burger King tends to put out ads that emphasize its "bad-ass" nature. They really try to promote the idea of enjoying a good burger, a concept they usually align with masculinity and edginess. Here they are saying that taste is more important than safety. That's about as bad-ass as you can be in a marketing campaign for food.

    While the concept of the ad is cool, we must consider the negatives of producing something like this. People may be turned off to the idea that Burger King promotes taste over human safety. In turn, they may think twice before the next time they step into a Burger King out of fear they might be in danger of being burned alive. Consumers may also be worried if anyone was hurt in these fires, and the ad doesn't specify whether that's true. Also, many people may not know the true difference in taste between an electric grill and a flame grill. If so, the selling proposition fails completely, leaving only the negativity of the fire itself.

    While Burger King's edgy approach should be respected, the negatives do stand their ground. Do they outweigh the positives?

Image source: http://www.adweek.com/creativity/burger-kings-awesome-new-ads-show-actual-bks-that-caught-fire-from-flame-grilling/

Calvin Klein uses Oscars flub to promote new models

A day after what many are calling the most memorable blunder in awards show history at the Academy Awards, Calvin Klein announces new underwear campaign featuring the men from the Best Picture winner, "Moonlight".

Last night at the Oscars, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the wrong card and incorrectly announced "La La Land" as the Best Picture winner, rather than the actual winner "Moonlight". The response was unimaginable, with social media absolutely blowing up over the incident. The hashtag "#envelopegate" was trending all night on Twitter and still is frequently being used a day later.

Calvin Klein had planned to announce the new campaign a week after the Academy Awards, however, after the media firestorm that took place, with many people who may not have heard of "Moonlight" before the incident, the campaign launch was pushed up and announced today. 

It's a brilliant move from the team at Calvin Klein, as it's best to take advantage of the free press that will come with the launch being tied to the awards show controversy. 

Actors Alex Hibbert, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, and Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali are all featured in the ad, which as usual with Calvin Klein ads, are stylishly photoshopped to increase the sex appeal. 

This is one of the first moves made by new Calvin Klein creative director Raf Simons, and if the campaign can take even a little of the steam from "#envelopegate", it will be a brilliant first move from the new team. 

Netflix Around the World

Last monday (02/20) Netflix Brasil released a new commercial on facebook. The ad is based in a Brazilian TV Show called "Betray or doesn't betray? by João Kléber", in which a fidelity tests is done, recorded and shown live on a stage for the person who is distrustful about his/her SO, and an audience.

Netflix posted the ad video together with the captions "Boyfriend has his fidelity tested on João Kléber's stage. You can't even imagine what is about to happen". When you play it, there is a guy sitted on a couch with a remote control in his hands. The video is paused and we can see João Kléber, who starts to scream "Stop, stop, stop!" he explains, "The guy on the video is Pedro, and this (pointing to the girl standing by his side on the stage) is Juliana, Pedro is her boyfriend and they always watch together the show Narcos. Juliana is questioning whether Pedro is or not watching Narcos without her. Do you think he will do it? Do you think he will betray Juliana?", a important note is that, in Portuguese, the language spoken in Brazil, "betray" and "cheat on" have the exact same meaning.

The video continues and we see that Pedro starts watching Narcos without Juliana, that becomes extremely disappointed with her boyfriend and decides to watch all the episodes of House of Cards just to give him spoilers.

With this ad, Netflix shows an amazing way of winning the public by interaction. The idea of choosing a popular TV Show from the opened channels to create and advertising that, being posted on the internet, becomes a meme, is a very interesting marketing play for the millennials, Netflix's target audience in Brazil.

Also, Netflix's staff continued interacting with the public on the post's comments. Everytime someone tagged their boyfriends/girlfriends saying "remember that day when you watched … without me", Netflix created compositions with the person's profile picture and the sentence "Cheated! Watching Netflix", just like this:

Credit Card Thin Televisions???

The future is here, and it's TINY.

LG has unveiled their new 4K OLED TV that is AS THIN as a credit card. The 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), was the first place where tech lovers could witness this marvel of a TV.

theverge.com

This tech hasn't been seen before from other television brands, which is why LG made sure they were the first to step into the "ultra-thin" game. Also, no need for purchasing a wall mount. LG created this TV to be mounted to the wall with MAGNETS. *mind blown*

theverge.com

This is a large step in the television world. Not only for TVs themselves, but for streaming services and television stations. Now more than ever there is a chance for television to make a comeback with high quality television shows and movies to accommodate the fast-paced technology of today.

This TV is only the beginning of what's to come. With the rising of 8K resolution and potential 12K, we will soon be watching shows that are more realistic than real life.

Check out this article for more details on this crazy new tech - The Verge

WWF Produces Powerful Ads

The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) is known to be the protectors and conservationists of the worlds endangered wildlife. They strive to empower people to help them by pledging to protect wildlife and donate to the cause. Donations can be made monthly, or you can donate towards a certain endangered species.

Advertising for these causes needs to be shocking enough to persuade the viewer to donate to the cause but also needs to be tame enough that it doesn't scare the viewer away.

The WWF has done an effective job with their advertising strategies. For example, the ad below that is conveying the idea of how terrifying it would be to see the end of sharks in the ocean. Even though sharks are seen to be incredibly scary and dangerous, it is still important for the ocean to have this predator.

This ad uses very little copy but utilizes contrast to show the emptiness of the ocean when the fin of the shark is no longer there. Using the term "horrifying" to convey the perception of sharks to the general public, then stating "more horrifying" when the shark is no longer there shows that not having sharks at all is a larger and scarier issue that will then effect other ocean creatures.

Overall, the WWF persuades its viewers by showing them a world without these animals, and even if the animals are not favored by a lot of the audience, their importance on this earth still remains intact. Visit the World Wildlife Fund website to check out some more of their ads and ways you can donate!

#ShareTheHealing

For years, Vaseline has struggled to find a way to get their simple product back on top of the skincare market. They wanted a campaign that would not only put their product back on consumers’ bathroom shelves but also impact society in a major way. So, in June of 2015, they partnered with Direct Relief and launched The Vaseline Healing Project. The purpose of this campaign is to improve the skin health of millions of people living in crisis and emergency situations. They do so by donating Vaseline products and medical supplies to hundreds of clinics and hospitals around the world. Many of these products are placed into relief kits, emergency medical backpacks, and hygiene supply kits to displaced families. They also sponsor dermatologists to go on medical missions to treat patients in resource-poor communities as well as those recovering from natural disasters and other emergencies. In addition, they develop and deploy training for community health workers to properly diagnose and treat skin conditions. 

From this campaign, the brand has increased market share after 25 periods of market decline. They have had a global reach of 2.1 million people, with their mission being to help heal the skin of 5 million people by 2020. This is an amazing campaign that has positively impacted so many lives around the world. Vaseline needed to improve their market share, but did so in a way that also improved the health of millions worldwide. This is one of the most innovative and charitable campaigns I have ever come across and I am happy to see that big companies like Vaseline are doing a lot more than just selling a product. 

"Imagine the Possibilities" of Purpose Branding

In the Fortune article, "How to Build a Breakthrough Brand," Jim Stengel, head of branding consultancy at the Jim Stengel Co. and former global marketing head at Procter and Gamble, recognized purpose advertising as one of the biggest trends in the industry to emerge within the past 10 years, and he cited Mattel, owner of Barbie, as one brand that has utilized this strategy particularly well.

In late 2015, Barbie launched a new advertising campaign to accompany the release of its new product line that included dolls that represented a more diverse population of women. Barbie dolls are now available in a variety of skin tones and body types, as shown below.

To increase sales, and to reclaim Barbie's position as a leader in the toy industry after a two year period of declining sales, the company decided to return to the founder's mission for the dolls. The original goal was to get young girls to think of themselves in various roles, through playing with Barbies that have endless possibilities of professions, and to, in turn, inspire confidence through play.

With this strategy in mind, Barbie launched its new marketing strategy to portray its purpose, labeled by the tagline--"You can be anything."

One of the ads that is a part of the "You can be anything" campaign, is titled "Imagine the Possibilities," and it shows real reactions, captured by hidden cameras, to girls imagining everything that they can become. For instance, one girl comes into a classroom and introduces herself as the professor for the day. Another girl greets pet owners as their vet. Other professions depicted include a soccer coach and museum tour guide. The end of the commercial shows a girl imagining that her Barbie is a professor to portray that playing with Barbie invokes aspirational thinking and confidence to pursue those dreams. Check out the ad below.

Another ad included in this campaign, released during this year's Super Bowl is called "Dads who Play Barbie," and as the title suggests, the ad shows dads playing Barbies with their daughters, and states that "Time spent in her imaginary world is an investment in her real world," encouraging dads to not only buy Barbies for their daughters, but to actively engage with them in play. Of course, the ad ends with the tagline, "You can be anything."

Barbie's rebranding to get back to the message of purpose its founder intended, is an extremely effective example of the current trend of purpose advertising. Since the launch of the campaign, Barbie's worldwide sales have increased 15.8 percent, according to Fortune magazine.

Starbucks Across America

I'm a fan of mugs and all things Pittsburgh. So when I saw this at the Starbucks on campus last semester, I had to get it:

Yes, I know it says Pennsylvania instead of Pittsburgh. But when something's black and yellow and covered in bridges, it obviously represents us—not Philly.

The mug is part of the Starbucks Local Collection 2016. This collection proclaims that "every place has a story to tell," and on the website, it says each mug was designed by someone who felt a connection to the place depicted on that particular mug.

The Philly mug isn't memorable enough to include here, but below are some of my favorite mugs from the collection. Each picks out a unique quality about the location shown, and represents those places well.

The Chicago mug features a classic patriotic color scheme. The slanted script and rippled water seem as though they'll fly right off this rendition of the Windy City. A modernist interpretation of the Sears Tower keeps watch in the background.

The D.C. mug captures the District at its best: during the National Cherry Blossom Festival. I love this festival—hundreds pink flowers soften the edges of monuments and museums alike, giving the whole city a warm glow.

The Maryland mug depicts the Chesapeake Bay and the aquatic nature of the state in beautiful blue hues tinged with green. It reminds me of road trips to Baltimore and Ocean City.

Starbucks seems to have created The Local Collection as a way to freshen up their prior take on localized mugs (we've all seen those old cookie cutter city mugs). But why should a large corporate chain like Starbucks take a localized approach to anything at all? 

While Starbucks has a loyal consumer base, local coffee shops are a direct competitor to the chain—coffeeshops exist in a monopolistically competitive market. Unlike perfectly competitive markets, where goods are homogenous, monopolistically competitive markets are comprised of goods with slight differentiations. Brand loyalty is a huge factor in monopolistically competitive markets. In order to attract and retain brand loyal consumers, Starbucks needs to connect with local populations, like actual local coffeeshops do. What better way to connect than with customized mugs celebrating places across America?

The Local Collection 2016 is fresh, fun, and a great way to enhance the Starbucks brand. You can view the entire collection here. Which mug is your favorite?

It's the '90s All Over Again

Trends come and go, but a prevalent trend for the past year or so has been everything '90s. Dark lipstick, leggings, flannel, crop tops, chokers, high-waisted jeans and round sunglasses are everywhere. Even cassette tapes and instant film cameras are having their moment in the throwback spotlight, but with slight modern twists to keep them relevant…

One company that has capitalized on this nostalgia-trend-wave is Urban Outfitters (UO). UO is bringing brands such as Calvin Klein and Fila back into consumer consciousness. 

They also sell these hats with vintage '90s logos: 

By collaborating with these brands and by selling vintage-inspired products, UO has carved out a niche for itself as a purveyor of nostalgia. The UO brand has always been a little off-beat and sometimes pretentious in a hipster way, but by selling '90s trends, it continues to reinvent itself in order to stay relevant. Fila and Calvin Klein are surely benefitting from the added exposure to a target market that may not have given either brand much thought otherwise.

Hello From The Other Side

🎶 Hello, it's me 🎶 Just calling you from my iPhone. Although they're ubiquitous today, the iPhone was revolutionary when it made its debut.  So how exactly did Apple introduce the very first iPhone to the world? Let's take a look at this ad from early 2007:

Notice how many clips from popular movies and TV shows are brought in. These clips show the way telephones have evolved over decades, from a classic model in I Love Lucy to a late '90s/early '00s version in High Fidelity. Even animated telephones, such as the ones depicted in The Flintstones and The Incredibles, are brought into the ad. By rapidly showing all of these examples of people answering phones, Apple builds momentum to the present: the ad ends with an image of an iPhone.

The image is followed by the word "Hello" filling the screen in white letters on a black field, followed by the phrase "Coming in June" before the Apple logo closes the ad. Ending the ad with this sequence is reminiscent of movie trailer endings. It goes with the cinematic theme of the ad. This simple concept with grand scale underpinnings is what makes Apple's marketing endeavors so effective—the concepts easily appeal to any consumer, and the implications of the theme elevate the consumer's life to theatrical heights.

A Cure for Wellness Seeks a Cure for Bad Advertising

A Cure for Wellness is a film in which a business executive is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from a wellness resort in the Swiss Alps. He soon finds that the resort is only making patients sicker and that he has no way out. The film, directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Dane DeHaan and Jason Isaacs, was released in theaters on February 17, 2017 and has received less than stellar reviews.

Like any movie company, 20th Century Fox is always looking for new ways to promote its films. Taking a cue from the controversies of the 2016 Presidential Election, Fox decided to use fake news websites to create stories with both direct and indirect references to the movie. Fox partnered with fake news writers to publish stories on five different websites, aptly named Houston Leader, Indianapolis Gazette, NY Morning Post, San Fransisco Dispatch, and Salt Lake City Guardian to appear to be local newspaper sites. Stories on these sites included reports that President Trump and Vladimir Putin were spotted at a Swiss spa together before the November election. The story went so far as to use the exact spa from the movie and reference the movie's main character. Some stories were not relevant to the film and touched on topics such as abortion and vaccines. One talked of how Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Halftime show would address "a sickness inside us" and fight Trump's inherent bigotry. Such articles urged readers to interact in ways such as tweeting #ACureForWellness or #TakeTheCure to raise awareness of the "issues" addressed. Unsuspecting readers would tweet and share the articles without realizing that they were really promoting the film. The stories have been shared thousands of times and have even been picked up by partisan sites.

The problem with Fox's strategy is that people have recently been known to fall victim to fake news. Simply scrolling through Facebook and reading a headline can be enough to convince someone that the news is credible. Sources are not always checked and jokes are not always understood. A representative for Fox has since apologized for the campaign, saying, “In raising awareness for our films, we do our best to push the boundaries of traditional marketing in order to creatively express our message to consumers. In this case, we got it wrong. The digital campaign was inappropriate on every level, especially given the trust we work to build every day with our consumers." Experts have pointed out that subjects of the fake news articles may have a legitimate legal case against Fox. The case is up for debate: Was Fox creative in its marketing efforts, or was the company acting irresponsibly by feeding into the epidemic of fake news? Fox certainly got people's attention, but at what cost?

Links to the fake news sites now take readers directly to the A Cure for Wellness movie homepage, though the article about Lady Gaga's performance can be viewed on partisan website below.
http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=61506

Pepsi's New Ad Strategy? The Big Screen.

Pepsi has announced plans to turn it's viral ad campaign, "Uncle Drew", into a full length feature film, with plans for a wide release all across the country.

The web campaign centers around "Uncle Drew", a late aged old man who has incredible basketball skills. He is played by 24 year old NBA star Kyrie Irving, who wears heavy prosthetic makeup to pose as an older man.

This wouldn't be the first time that an ad campaign attempted to expand into film, with the most notable success story being the Michael Jordan-Bugs Bunny film, "Space Jam". This was based off a Nike commercial starring the two, however Nike declined to be involved in the production of the film, fearing that sales would be affected if the movie flopped.

Pepsi is taking full control as PepsiCo Creative is listed as a producer on the film. They are explaining that while Pepsi won't be in the central plot, there will be several instances of strong product placement. In an official release for the film, a quote from a Pepsi spokesman says that they "want to make people laugh and then go out and buy a Pepsi." rather than making the Pepsi promotion a distraction throughout the film.

This is a risky move from Pepsi; there is a big difference from free YouTube and social media success than spending ten dollars to go see it in theaters. This strategy has failed in the past on a slightly smaller scale. A few years ago, Geico attempted to create a sitcom based on their "It's so easy, a caveman could do it" campaign. Following it being greenlighted and premiered, it was an utter disaster. The show was universally hated by critics and audiences alike. Thirteen episodes were filmed, but the show was cancelled after six. It has since been listed on the top 25 worst television shows of all time, and it resulted in Geico cancelling the incredibly successful campaign altogether.

This is an incredibly bold move by Pepsi, however the risk may end up being worth the reward. If the movie can make a solid return, it would almost certainly boost sales of Pepsi and possibly lead to other films based on campaigns. We may entering a whole new world of long term advertising.

JC Penney will close 140 Stores, trim 6000 Jobs

Department store JC Penney will be closing 140 stores, which will cost around 6000 people their jobs.

The move, described as a cost cutting measure, will save the company roughly 200 million dollars in the next calendar year.

The continues a trend for big department stores, as last year, Macy's announced that they would close 100 stores with thousands of people losing their jobs.

All of this information comes AdAge, and it is interesting to note that these two staples of the department store world are admitting partial defeat and closing so many stores worldwide. The main cause of the rapidly declining business is online shopping, as people are finding it way easier to just pull out a laptop or phone and order what they need, rather than driving to a store and picking it up.

Macy's and JC Penney have seen a rapid spike in online shipped orders over the last five years, and it would not be surprising to see several more stores physical locations and have their interest pivot to beefing up their online store.

Even with the closing, the stock prices for JC Penney went up a few points, further showing the point that the online sales continue to drive business.

Lilly Pulitzer Teams Up with JetSetter

Lilly Pulitzer is a high-end resort clothing brand known for its brightly-colored, simple shift dresses and airy pieces that are perfect for a getaway. Lilly Pulitzer was originally started in the 60s by the company’s namesake, Lilly Pulitzer. She owned her own juice stand in Florida, but was dismayed to find that all of her clothes were being ruined by stains from the fruit juices that she was making. To fix it, she started making basic shift dresses out of bright fabrics and patterns so that the juice stains wouldn’t be noticeable. Her brand launched into fame when Jackie Kennedy wore one of her dresses in a magazine shoot.

Given its history, it’s easy to tell that Lilly Pulitzer has been synonymous with the beach, relaxation, and traveling since the brand’s conception. The company recently teamed up with JetSetter, a luxury travel company that helps consumers find the best, most lavish hotels at Instagram-worthy destinations around the world. They currently have a promotion where if a consumer books a trip on JetSetter, they will receive a $50 Lilly Pulitzer gift card to help them fill their suitcase with colorful clothes for their impending trip.

I think this is a wonderful move for Lilly Pulitzer. Not many people are aware of their clothes, and I think partnering with a huge company like JetSetter will help them get their name out there. Not only that, but JetSetter is a great partnership because it stays true to the Lilly Pulitzer brand image and history. The company is all about kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying a few drinks in the sun while wearing fabulous clothes. In my opinion, this partnership is a match made in heaven.

What do you think about Lilly Pulitzer’s collaboration with JetSetter?

Benefit Cosmetic's "yuck" Advertisement

Benefit Cosmetics is a makeup and skincare brand known for their quirky, vintage-inspired products. Examples of their product line include a mascara that is supposed to give eyelashes the appearance of wearing false lashes on top called “They’re Real!” They also have a cream-to-powder highlighter to illuminate the skin called “Watt’s Up!” Most of the product names are a play on words or phrases, and the brand is known for pushing the boundaries in order to achieve that quirky and fun image.

Benefit recently released an in-store advertisement to showcase their new eyeliner, perfect for creating a cat-eye effect. This advertisement was placed in Ulta and Sephora locations across the United States. As you can see from the picture, it is a set of before and after photos, showing what the model looks like without any eyeliner and what she looks like with Benefit’s new eyeliner applied.

However, the main problem with this is the copy underneath each of the pictures. Under the makeup-free photograph, there’s the word “yuck.” Under the photograph featuring the model wearing the eyeliner, there’s the word “wow!”

Many beauty enthusiasts lashed out against Benefit for choosing to put that kind of copy on their advertisements. Many believed that being a woman in today’s society is difficult enough: There’s so much pressure on everyone to be perfectly skinny and made up at all hours of the day. The last thing that women need is a makeup company telling them how to feel when they are going bare-faced for the day.

I completely agree with the backlash against this advertisement. Having a beauty company further that pressure that women feel by making those who choose not to wear eyeliner feel like they look “yuck” is irresponsible and harmful. Especially since this was placed in Ulta and Sephora stores, any person who walked by could see it, including little girls. Why would you want a child to come across that and think that the only way to be beautiful – or appear “wow!” – is by wearing eyeliner? I understand that the goal here is to sell product, but I don’t think it’s very responsible of the company.

What do you think about Benefit’s new advertisement?  

Did Motorola's Steve Jobs Portrayal Go Too Far?

    Motorola has taken in interesting approach with their new ad for the Moto Z, a new smart phone in their arsenal. Their argument: that smart phones haven't progressed as much as they should have already, and that their new phone is a step in the right direction. The ad features a number of strange scenes, some of them with futuristic and artistic elements, and others that are purely comical and random. It effectively conveys the mindset behind the new product: you can make it what you want.

    However, the commercial is not without its faults. In the beginning, a man who is portrayed as Steve Jobs is seen holding up a new iPhone to people in 2007. This is supposed to represent the beginning of the smart phone revolution. Motorola takes things to the next level when Steve Jobs starts fumbling with the smart phone before he ultimately drops it to the ground. This is clearly a jab at the Apple brand, symbolizing that they have been careless with their smart phones by not making them innovative enough.

    Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, as it's fair play in competitive advertising to set your product above the rest. Although, Steve Jobs died relatively recently in 2011, and some people may find it tasteless that they portray him as a fumbling fool in the ad. Is it truly ethical to mock someone who is deceased in an effort to discredit a competing brand? People who were formerly committed to Apple products would find no joy in this commercial if they valued Jobs, and so they would be less likely to be swayed into switching to Motorola. There are certainly other ways that Motorola could have taken jabs at Apple without bringing Jobs into play.

    What do you think? Is Motorola's jab at Jobs tasteless, or is it harmless humor?


Link to ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH318gs2iOY

Absolut-ly Appealing Ads

Absolut Vodka created a campaign for their original vodka product. The campaign is a series of advertisements that show the bottle in a variety of scenarios. One is Absolut "Security," where the bottle is wrapped in chains. The second is Absolut "Perfection," where the bottle has a halo above the cap. The third is Absolut "Primary," where the bottle is covered in mud and dirt. The fourth is Absolut "Anonymous," where the label is pixelated out.

This ad series is visually appealing with its simplicity and image-heavy style. The bottle is placed in the middle of the advertisement, and there is a spotlight on the image, making it stand out as the main attraction of the ad. The main copy is in white, bold, sans serif font, against a black background, which also makes the copy stand out.

Each ad creates a literal visual representation for the copy. This strategy personifies the product, which makes it more relatable to customers.  The strategy also makes it easy to create a vast series of headlines and adapt to various concepts. If this campaign was still ongoing currently, it would be interesting to put these ads on social media and have viewers make up their own Absolut headline.

Can you think of any other notorious ads that incorporate personification?

Make Love Not Walls

Diesel has recently launched their new “Make Love Not Walls” campaign, firing back against President Trump’s plan to build a wall that separates Mexico from the United States. Diesel says on their YouTube channel that this campaign is about "tearing down the mental and physical walls that separate us, and let all sides come together in the name of unity and love”.

The video first features a lonely man walking along a very boring and unmaintained cement wall. He picks up a flower off the ground and throws it over the wall. Soon enough, a girl on the other side of the wall picks up the flower and throws another one back over to him. Shortly after, a heart-shaped hole is blown through the wall creating a passageway between the two sides. A diverse crowd appears and there are various types of couples kissing, getting married, as well as many people dancing and enjoying themselves. The video becomes more lively and colorful than it was in the beginning. Everyone in the video is getting along despite their race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Diesel’s artistic director Nicola Formichetti was quoted saying, “There are so many walls, symbolic and physical walls that are stopping people from being their true selves, from loving who they want to love, etc. We wanted to spread a positive message and show that a brighter and exciting tomorrow is possible”. 

I feel that this campaign is a great way for Diesel to bring people together. Instead of only promoting their clothing line, they are promoting love and happiness among everyone, no matter who they are or who they are in love with. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COXx3YTNW1s 

Essie Capitalizes on Episodic Video Campaign Structure

After pining for blog post topic inspiration this past week, I was spontaneously reminded, thanks to Rebekah's post on Kate Spade's #missadventure ad campaign, of a brief series of YouTube advertisements that had caught my eye a few months ago from Essie, an American nail polish company currently operating under L'Oreal.

The campaign, known as the Essie's Naming Department series and currently only features two two-minute long film ads, involves episodic, dramatized sagas of how Essie nail polishes get their names. Each ad centers around two unnamed female leads who work in the fictionalized Essie naming department and the inspiration they find in typical work day scenarios for unique nail polish names, tailored within specific nail polish lines. The ads rely on a quirky, sort of kitschy vibe, and a lighthearted sense of humor to engage audiences, and in my opinion, they are very effective in doing so.

I remember first seeing these ads when I was about to watch a YouTube video, but instead of skipping past the advertisement when given the option I watched all the way through to the end and actually found myself wanting more, a rare occurrence when it comes to ads that disrupt the flow of my video viewing or streaming experience. I cannot recall having ever seen another advertisement or ad campaign for nail polish, and considering the characteristics of the product, I can imagine that it would be difficult for brands to differentiate themselves within the industry as color and formula are the only major differences in their products.

I think that Essie was smart in choosing to focus on the uniqueness of the names of their products rather than on the physical characteristics of nail polish as it allows them to tell a story, capture the audience's interest, and create a bond between potential customer and brand. Additionally, Essie nail polishes are a bit higher end, and therefore pricier, than standard drugstore nail polishes, and I think that the brand identity that these ads foster might convinces customers who previously did not feel connected with the brand to try Essie products regardless of the price disparity versus other similar products.

I'm surprised that Essie has not expanded upon this series, and as both an interested advertising student and a consumer, I hope to see more from them in the future!

Nike's Equality Ad

      Nike released a new Ad for the Grammy's night and it has Equality as its theme. The 1'30'' video is presented in black and white, with interesting beautiful camera angles that contrasts with the jazz soundtrack, emerging the viewer in the storyline. There's a narrator who guides the audience to the perception of how important it is to have equality in sports, in a way that if we can achieve it, we can also have equality everywhere. 

      Appropriately, the majority of the casting is composed by black people, which not only gives the Ad much more strength to its speech, but also gives opportunity to those who are many times excluded from fundamental parts of our society. 

      Personally, as a cinema student, I have a preference for advertisings that, instead of selling a product, creates a concept for a brand reaching out for consumers with matching personalities and points of view, and sometimes even affecting someone's opinion. This advertising for me has all the potential to both achieve Nike's financial goals and have an effect on the public in a human perspective, and that's why it is so great.

http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/go/equality?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fl.instagram.com%2F%3Fu%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fnike.com%252Fequality%26e%3DATNbhp7Fco40AXCuFwcmFiBb3kLr9RVODFDCX-dSdguid3G8q-mOZq0j7bT975cE4INglj0

Taco Bell Thinking Outside the Box

          Back in the late 1990's/early 2000's Taco Bell had their brand identity associated with the talking Chihuahua that would say "Yo quiero Taco Bell", though they have re invented the brand with their recent commercial campaigns. When the Super Bowl Taco Bell commercials aired, we found ourselves lost for words after watching, shrugging shoulders looking for a message. I believe this is the point to almost every commercial Taco Bell has produced since 2013, there really isn't a clear brand message besides the promotional commercials showcasing a new product.

The commercial I am specifically referring I an unable to track down but this one will serve the same purpose to analyze. Senior citizens going out to party and at the end of the night, they stop and eat Taco Bell.

While there could could be a message of "living young wild and free", I believe the real message here is keeping the Taco Bell campaign continuity of keeping it random and very entertaining. This strategy has been very successful for them because of the word of mouth they are able to achieve. After seeing one of the Taco Bell commercials, my friends and I continued to discuss it almost few minutes after it aired and into the game. Some of them were saying how it made no sense and it wasn't smart for Taco Bell to make commercials that feel as though they have no direction, while they were arguing I was thinking to myself that Taco Bell's advertising/marketing team are achieving exactly what they want. The word of mouth continues to grow stronger every second they are talking about Taco Bell after seeing the commercial, and that's a very powerful for a brand.

The Tide Super Bowl Campaign: What It Could Mean For The Future

    Though Super Bowl 2017 is already a week gone, there are still some interesting ideas that can be taken away from its ads. One that was particularly interesting was the Tide campaign, which featured a "live" ad that included sportscasters Curt Menefee and Terry Bradshaw, and also actor Jeffrey Tambor.

    In the beginning of the game, Tide's ad was disguised into the actual broadcast. As Menefee and Bradshaw discussed the game, a rather unflattering stain could be spotted on Bradshaw's shirt. Many people, including myself, thought the stain was a mistake in the broadcast. However, once Tide's commercial hit the air, the truth was revealed. In the commercial, Bradshaw noticed the stain on his shirt was trending, so he started taking drastic measures to get it fixed. This included taking a motorized cart down a highway and eventually crashing into Jeffrey Tambor's house. Tambor hilariously watches a show about animals after putting Bradshaw's shirt in the wash. Once the commercial was over and the stain was fixed, the stain could no longer be seen on Bradshaw's shirt during the live Super Bowl broadcast.

     Speaking from a business perspective, this is a rather ingenious method of advertising: get the people concerned about an issue in the program their watching, only to realize it's a method of advertising. This almost insures that viewers will not ignore the advertisement, since they are actually interested in the details of the program they are tuning in for.

    However, looking forward with this method of advertising, there could be some ethical issues. People tune into programs for good content. They trust that they are getting the best possible product from the producers. They do not want advertisers to get involved in the particulars of the script. And okay, you might say that this has been going on for years in the form of product placement. This can be witnessed in classic movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, with the Reese's Pieces product. Although, product placement is one thing, and this issue with Tide and Bradshaw is another. People were genuinely concerned about the stain on Bradshaw's shirt. They thought it was a legitimate part of the program; no one could have possibly known it was a piece of advertisement until the commercial hit. Once advertising starts interfering with the content of trusted programs, we have the right to be concerned as consumers. What if program "themes" start teaching lessons about brand, instead of the real lessons of human life? What if that episode of Spongebob you show your kids teaches them to always buy Burger King instead of McDonald's, etc.? Clearly this issue of interfering with content is something that should be monitored in the future.

It Takes Two

During the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday night, Target debuted a new commercial in the form of a music video featuring popular artists, Carly Rae Jepsen and Lil Yachty. The video, directed by Roman Coppola and choreographed by Mandy Moore, features the artists performing the '80s classic, "It Takes Two," and dancing with "shoppers" around a Target store.

By sponsoring this collaboration, Target is basically putting complete product placement into a music video. Target advertised the video throughout the night of the GRAMMYs by showing sneak peak commercials leading up to the big premiere. It was a wise timing strategy for Target to debut the video during music's biggest night of the year, when avid music fans wouldn't dare turn away from a music video, even if it is an advertisement. In the first hour since the video was uploaded to YouTube after airing on TV, it has nearly 4000 views. Target and the other brands included in the video get the added benefit of having their product advertised anytime somebody views or downloads the video.

Production Cost vs. Placement Cost During the Big Game

We all look forward to the Super Bowl for two main reasons. First, getting together with friends and family, ordering pizza, drinking (root) beer and putting on our eating pants, and secondly for the commercials. While ordering a pizza and driving to a friends house might only cost you about 30 bucks total, the second favorite pastime costs companies a lot more than you might think.

In 2017, the cost for a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl was $5 million. If you think that's bad, imagine spending $9 million for a 60 second spot. Nine. Million. Dollars. Absurd right? While you might think it's a bit bananas to spend that much money on a spot just to make a funny joke or make a political statement, for some companies it's worth it.

84 Lumber released a rather controversial ad this year, depicting a single mother and her daughter attempting to come into the United States all to be met at the end of their journey blocked by a large, recently built wall.

The lumber conglomerate was forced to edit their ad just a little bit to not show the wall, seeing as it was a strong political statement seemingly against the newly elected President, Donald Trump. However, in a statement the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday, the CEO of 84 Lumber, a woman, released the fact that she did vote for Trump and currently still supports him.

Politics and controversy aside, it was very important for 84 Lumber to release an ad because they are a relatively small company. No one may know where they came up with $9 million to pay for a 60 second advertising spot, but they did. It was probably the most controversial and most talked about ads of the 2017 football game.

Nonetheless, some professionals think that advertising during the Super Bowl isn't worth their time or money. According to SmallBusiness.chron.com, average production cost of a national television ad is about 342,000 dollars. That's before you even submit the ad to the television network, which for the Super Bowl is FOX, and pay them either $5 or $9 million dollars.

Many companies that are notorious for advertising during the Super Bowl, like Budweiser or Doritos,  don't actually see much gain in sales after advertising. They are pretty much in the lucrative game for the publicity and to get people talking. After all, word of mouth advertising is the strongest and most persuasive way to get people to buy or use your products or services.

What do you think? Is it worth it as a large or small company to spend over a quarter of a million dollars to produce a high-quality commercial, then buy a spot during the Super Bowl each year for between $5 and $9 million? Let me know in the comments below!

Super Bowl's Italian Sports Car Sponsor

        With the Super Bowl just last Sunday, more than half most likely tuned in for the infamous Super Bowl commercials. As always they were funny, cute, clever and even at times stepping over moral boundaries though what many viewers were surprised to see was the official sponsor of Alfa Romeo. As American citizens we can assume that the general public does not know of this well established Italian car brand, so when we didn't see Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan or Mercedes as the official sponsor our eyes perked up. As Alfa Romeo, they have only had two production cars sold in the United States of the passed 25 years, why Alfa then?

Alfa Romeo is returning to the United States with vengeance, informing by pouring into the rich history of the brand in the early years even before the world renown Italian sports car brand Ferrari. The Super Bowl commercials showing the beauty behind Italian engineering, blowing a new wind of innovation to the states. 

                       


I love cars, specifically Alfa Romeo, specifically the same exact model shown at 31 seconds in the video, the same car my father owns, 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto. So the subject of cars specifically Alfa Romeo is very close to my heart from being able to grow up as a child and see my father drive and fix up his Alfa.

I am excited for Alfa Romeo's future success in the United States. 

Nordstrom v. Trump

President Donald Trump has fired back at Nordstrom for dropping his daughter Ivanka Trump's clothing and jewelry line from their stores and catalogs. 

In a tweet sent out on February 8th at 10:58 AM, President Trump tweeted out from his official Twitter page.

The tweet was then retweeted from the official "POTUS" account. It is not clear if this retweet was done by a staff member or Trump himself.

Nordstrom released a comment explaining that the drop was not due to any political reasons, but because of poor sales of the product.

Nordstrom was put in a very tough spot. With the country seemingly divided, keeping the daughter of the controversial President as a representative of the company could cause some customers to stay away. Of course, dropping her caused this; and created a potentially dangerous enemy in the form the the most powerful man in the country.

Ivanka has been civil so far about the drop, thanking Nordstrom for carrying the line in the first place. One has to wonder, however, if this tweet from Trump was completley his own words, or if Ivanka had something to do with it.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of President Trump, having POTUS say something so negative about Nordstrom is certainly not good for business. One has to think, however, that Nordstrom prepared for this due to the President's past with companies that have "wronged" him.

It will be interesting to see how Nordstrom's Public Relations team handles this controversy.

Uber vs. Lyft

Although the #DeleteUber campaign was created as a civil rights campaign, it still speaks to the advertising industry and branding.

After news of Trump's immigration ban, all taxis in New York were halted from taking trips to the JFK airport for one hour to protest Trump's order. Uber, however, did not follow suit. The ride-hailing app dropped surge charges and continued trips to/from the airport. Many customers were outraged by Uber's decision, claiming that the company was utilizing this strike as a means of profit.

Chicago journalist Dan O'Sullivan created the #DeleteUber social media campaign in response to the airport strike in order to encourage Uber customers to delete their accounts. This campaign took off rapidly, and more than 200,000 accounts have been deleted.

Uber's primary competitor, Lyft, has taken a different stance on the issue. The company emailed a statement to its users explaining how Lyft feels deeply affected by the Muslim ban. The company's core values (as well as our nation's) are to accept and cultivate diversity, and will not stay silent in threats that directly and negatively impact the company and the nation. Since the incident, downloads of the Lyft app have skyrocketed.

Both of these instances (Uber and Lyft) illustrate the risks of a brand taking a political stance, or getting involved in a political scenario.  Whether or not Uber was actually using the protest as a source of profit, the company involved itself by having a voice during the protest. Tweeting during a large-scale, controversial political event is extremely risky, and Uber ultimately suffered from their decisions. Because the business was hurting, an opportunity presented itself to Lyft to take the opposite stance and benefit from their actions.

It is important for brands to have core values and support other causes besides their own products/services. That is how brands build and maintain relationships with their customers. However, politics can certainly make or break a brand/customer relationship.

Do you think it is wise for brands to take a political stance? In what cases might it be a good idea, and in which cases might it be harmful to the brand?

Links to Uber and Lyft websites:
https://www.uber.com
https://www.lyft.com

Advertising Coming to American Sports Jerseys Next Year

In our increasingly distracting world companies are struggling to gain the attention of consumers through advertising. Luckily mainstream American sports are catching up with the rest of the world by putting brands on team uniforms. In the 2017-2018 season the NBA is implementing a 3-year pilot program that lets teams put brands on a 2.5 inch by 2.5 inch location on the teams’ jerseys.

General Electric is one company that is taking advantage of this. It has recently moved its headquarters from Connecticut to Boston and is paying $7 million dollars a year to place the iconic GE logo on the top right of the Celtics’ jerseys. In addition to the money GE will be providing lighting, medical equipment, and data science solutions to the team.

This is a great strategical move by General Electric. Seeing GE on team jerseys will make people associate the company with Boston and will ensure Boston and GE are synonymous with each other.  

Is advertising on team jerseys a good idea or is it a shameless money grab by the NBA and its team owners?