DIRECT TV

Direct TV is a company that has been competing with Cable for some time now. One of the newer Direct TV ad campaigns focuses on trying to get people to get rid of cable by comparing it to things you clearly don’t like. For instance, after saying how Direct TV is better than Cable, it says some people still like the cable service. It then goes on to say that these people are like the ones than enjoy banging their head against hard surfaces. Or ones that like getting a paper cut or enjoy getting their arm stuck in a vending machine. 


This is clearly their way of saying people don’t like Cable anymore because no one likes doing these things that they mentioned. I find this to be a very effective strategy because the idea that you might not like Cable is subtly put into viewers heads by saying it’s like the other things you don’t like. Plus by using humor throughout the commercial, Direct TV’s message is enjoyable to watch, making it much more memorable as well.

OBEY: The Medium is the Message

OBEY Clothing is a popular clothing company distributed in many popular stores throughout the country, such as Urban Outfitters, PacSun, and Nordstrom’s. The average person will probably correlate OBEY with the famous, Barack Obama “Hope” image.  However, most people do not know the origins of the brand and the social and political impact that OBEY made.

OBEY was founded by street artist, Shephard Fairey in 1989, who later went on to become one of the most influential American artists of our generation.  The brand, which incorporated a “play on propaganda art”, was formed when Shepard created a stencil of the famous wrestler, Andre The Giant, with the words, “OBEY” beneath it.  A stencil, that started out as creative accident turned into a worldwide phenomenon.

Check Out More OBEY Art

Shephard began to place these stickers all over the City of Rhode Island.  He would place the stickers on the corner of stop signs, on buildings, and anywhere else the casual eye might see it.  Shephard was fascinated by the curiosity the stickers were getting.  Soon the entire city began to question, “what does this mean?” The answer…'It did not mean anything at all.'  The Medium was the Message.

By placing such a bold image with no explanation, allowed people’s imaginations to manifest the brand.  Shephard was fascinated that in 

American Advertising, companies associate positivity with their products, and consumers rarely question that.  Shephard was curious to see, if people could question his Brand, maybe they would start questioning other Brands as well, creating a domino effect. The word “OBEY” could mean anything and could be different based on the person viewing it.  The goal of OBEY was to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment.  The confusion of what OBEY meant, created wonder, provoked attention to detail, and even caused frustration, nevertheless it forced people to look further into the meaning.

“The more [it’s] out there, the more important it seems.  The more important it seems, the more people want to know what it is, the more they ask each other, it gains real power from perceived power.” – Shephard Fairey

The brand OBEY, went on to reach worldwide fame.  Shephard Fairey was able to use ‘an experiment into Phenomenology’ and content marketing to turn something from ‘nothing’ into ‘everything.’   Shephard went on to start the OBEY clothing line in 2001, was commissioned to place large murals in major cities, and even had an exhibit in the Andy Warhol Museum here in Pittsburgh.

'Shephard Fairey was able to discover how powerful human imagination and curiosity can be'

Airbnb We Accept

Early in 2017, Airbnb released an ad campaign called "We Accept" with both print and digital advertisements included. With the state of the country and world that we are currently living in, with discrimination, racism, sexism, prejudice, etc., seemingly never ending, Airbnb took the opportunity to show that they and their customers are united through all of these issues. Through this ad campaign, it seems as though they are trying to fight back to help put an end to all of these issues, even if it may only be one small step in the right direction.

If people see this campaign, they are most likely to entrust themselves to Airbnb, especially if they have been discriminated against in the past. This campaign shows that Airbnb accepts people no matter who they are, what they look like, or what their background is. It's a simplistic concept, but it definitely gets the point across that everybody is welcome to use Airbnb.

Hopefully when people see this ad, they will not only feel more accepted for who they are, but also begin to accept other people for who they are. I feel that this campaign is obviously beneficial for Airbnb as a company, but it can also be beneficial for the people of this nation and world in order to help us realize that we need to come together in our diversity rather than letting our diversity tear us apart.

Oreo's Real Time Response

When someone mentions the word Super Bowl, many think of the amazing teams, memorable half time performances or even the phrase, "I'm going to Disney World!" However, when I think of the Super Bowl, I don't think of any of those things. Instead, my brains connects the word to the advertising opportunities. According to CNN, more than 111 million viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl LI. Companies are willing to pay big bucks for these prime spots. According to the New York Times, a 30 second Super Bowl ad is going for around $5 million this year. With such hefty prices many wonder if the viewership rate is worth the cost or if there are smarter means of advertising. 

In Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, Oreo performed an extremely clever advertising tactic. During the third quarter of the game, a power outage at the Superdome caused lights to go out for 34 minutes. Oreo's social media team jumped at the opportunity by tweeting, "Power Out? No problem" with an ad of a dimly lit, lone Oreo and the caption, "You can still dunk in the dark." The response caught fire and quickly gained more than 15,000 retweets and over 20,000 likes on Facebook. 

"Once the blackout happened, no one was distracted- there was nothing going on. The combination of speed and cultural relevance propelled it to the forefront," said Sarah Hofstetter, president of digital marketing agency 360i, which handled Oreo's game day tweeting. 

A survey conducted before the game showed results that 36% of viewers would be consulting a second screen during the Super Bowl. Therefore, having a brand respond in real time on social media was a clever employment of reaching a second audience. 

"While this kind of social media campaign isn't entirely new, it's not as popular as it should be," stated Jonah Berger, a marketing professor.

So how the big question is how did Oreo pull off such a brilliant advertising tactic? The company ran their original advertisement in the first quarter of the game. Meanwhile, sources say they were equipped with a 15 person social media team, along with copywriters, strategists and an artist, ready to respond to anything that happened online regarding the Super Bowl in 10 minutes or less.      

EXTRA "Give Extra, Get Extra" Campaign

An amazing, interactive campaign sprung from a small piece of gum. Here is the full video overview of the Extra, "Give Extra, Get Extra" Campaign.

In summary, this campaign was aimed to reestablish Extra and their brand connection with their audience. They originally wanted to capitalize on the long lasting taste of the gum, but realized that they could extend the consumer's relationship with the brand by showing them the kind of social connection that could be formed via a simple piece of (Extra) gum. It started with a Love Story, of Sarah and Juan. The story follows their relationship throughout time where each memorable event was marked by a drawing on a gum wrapper. Below is just a part of the whole love story. The original video (second video) was broken into these minisode segments for different ad time allotment, and showing the consumer the progression of the story, which carried the campaign over time.

What followed was the hashtag, #GiveExtraGetExtra, and the shareable moments that were transformed into art on their very own, virtual gum wrapper. Partnered artist, Mya Pagan from Puerto Rico, was the featured artist for the gum wrappers in the short film commercial, as well as the ones created for all the audience submissions. The campaign site features an updating gallery of user submitted photos (see below) and their gum wrapper equivalent drawn by Mya. Submissions were completed by using the hashtag when posting photos to Twitter. 

http://www.giveextragetextra.com/en_US/latest-moments/call_me_trey_204

http://www.giveextragetextra.com/en_US/latest-moments/call_me_trey_204

Here is a link to their campaign site to see the full gallery. 

Extra was able to utilize this user generated content to both create a bond with their existing consumers and form new ones with an audience that wanted to be a part of the gum-wrapper-writing buzz. User Generated Content is, "the act of users promoting the brand rather than the brand promoting itself," - Jose Gallegos. Gallegos does a great job of pointing out the past, and present, examples of how this kind of content has always existed. It is just getting more and more creative over the years and is able to reach a larger population thanks to all the new technology and social media outlets advertisers now have access to. When done right, a UGC Campaign can have major, positive effects on existing, or establishing, brand image.

SUPREME: Guerilla Advertising & Marketing

'Supreme' is a skateboard and clothing brand that was established in New York City in 1994.  Although established to gear towards skateboarders, the company has reached massive fame, receiving interest from top celebrities and even collaborating with top-notch fashion companies such as Louis Vuitton.

Only starting in 1994, there is speculation as to how a small pop up shop in New York City could reach the mainstream media with, little to no advertising campaigns. The method used by Supreme is known as Guerilla Marketing.  Guerilla marketing is defined as “an innovative, unconventional, and low-cost marketing techniques aimed at obtaining maximum exposure for a 

product.”-dictionary.com 

Supreme is essentially marketed as a 'secret society.'  The company promotes its products and brand by ‘staying under the radar.’  With only offering purchase of products during 'drop periods.'  During these drop periods, the company will allow the purchase of limited edition items through the store or online...for a very large price tag.  However, once that limited edition 'drop' ends, the company will close the ability to purchase items online.

Check Out Supreme

This Guerilla Marketing technique makes consumers feel unique and ‘special’ if they obtain a Supreme product.  This is due to the price of the product, as well as the limited supply of these products.  This technique caught the interest of many high-end celebrities such as Justin Beiber, Tyler the Creator, and Dj Khaled,  who have been seen in several pictures wearing the product.  Once, consumers see high-end celebrities wearing these items, this promotes even more ‘word of mouth’ and ‘celebrity branding’ marketing and advertising techniques. 

The advertising and marketing techniques used, promoted the brand as inclusive, rare, and unique.  Supreme has even recently collaborated with brands such as Louis Vuitton.  Overall, sometimes "less advertising" is "more advertising".  Supreme was able to use unconventional and inexpensive marketing and advertising techniques to turn a small streetwear brand into a luxury fashion brand.

Mayhem is Back

The Mayhem commercials created by Allstate are some of the most recognizable ads created. The ad's humorous character named Mayhem, portrayed by Dean Winters, is as recognizable as Flo from Progressive and the Geico Gecko. What many do not realize, though, is just how big of a part this ad played to save the company.

The company was in the aftermath of a financial crisis, and the "in good hands" campaign wasn't making a big enough impact. The company needed a thunderclap to get consumer's attention, and that was what Mayhem delivered. It was the perfect way to show people that anything could go wrong at any moment, without being scary. Instead, the Mayhem campaign focused on humor, which I find is a more memorable way to appeal to the audience. I believe this because humor makes people feel good, and because Mayhem had many different humorous scenarios, it was that much easier to get consumers to remember the commercial. The campaign has also managed to avoid becoming overused by changing the constant situations and by changing things with their latest version.

The newest campaign featuring Mayhem features the character having a new years resolution. Deciding to protect people rather than cause destruction by being a road fare or a lightning rod. Of course, when others can't keep their resolutions, Mayhem comes back with all his destructive hijinks. I found this to be a refreshing twist, and it made the commercial even more memorable. This is why, in my opinion, Mayhem will be known as one of the most recognizable campaigns created.

The Demand for Authentic Diversity in Makeup Advertising

In September of 2017, the makeup industry experienced major shift in its status quo when iconic singer-songwriter, Rihanna, launched her debut makeup line, Fenty Beauty, with the "Beauty for All" campaign. The line's first launch consisted of only a few products: a primer, a lip gloss, face highlighters, but most notably, a foundation line -- featuring 40 different shades. This campaign addressed a demand people of color had for years that had been ignored by countless other companies. Fenty's inclusive campaign was a huge hit, earning $72 million in sales its first month of business. In Rihanna's own words, "I created Fenty after realizing the lack of skin tones represented in makeup, from the darkest shades to the lightest. I wanted a makeup line so that women everywhere would be included." The promotional images for her makeup line aptly feature a diverse range of models of all colors, providing more representation in an industry that currently lacks it.

Source: http://bit.ly/2eLZ8gr

Fenty Beauty revolutionized expectations for brand launches and campaigns and set a standard that is leaving other cosmetic companies up for criticism for failing to be inclusive. For example, Tarte Cosmetics, recently launched their highly anticipated Shape Tape foundation with a mere 15 shades, only 3 of which were tan to deep shades, not nearly enough to cover their entire customer base. Since the collection reveal, Tarte has been flooded with backlash, from both average consumers and social media influencers alike all over Twitter, Instagram, and other online makeup forums. A huge boycott has been organized, drastically downing their anticipated sales numbers. The product has been blacklisted by the community, online beauty gurus denouncing Tarte, not wanting to give the product any attention that is not criticism, out of both fear of facing backlash themselves and disappointment.
To try to quell this PR nightmare, Tarte quickly announced that they had more shades planned for a later release, but after releasing a statement excusing the line with, "Additional shades are usually added seasonally, which makes sense because your complexion tends to be paler in the Winter and darker in the Summer months," completely ignoring those with darker skin year round. Though they have since issued another apology, admitting their faults, promising that they "can and will do better", Tarte remains in hot water and has greatly damaged their reputation.

Source: http://bit.ly/2rYwQJ3

In an effort to appear more inclusive, most cosmetics companies are now featuring swatches of their products on more than one skin tone in their advertisements and product shots. However, this can backfire on companies when this strategy only showcases how limited their shade ranges are, which was has been a recent case for several different brands, such as It Cosmetics, Almay, and specifically YSL with their All Hours concealer. They released a promotional image on their Instagram, which was also featured as a product preview on Sephora's website. The image in question featured all shades of their foundation swatched on women of three different complexions, light, medium, and deep, despite there only being light to medium shades, with one dark shade that was not nearly dark enough to match the deep model's skin tone. The brand also faced criticism on social media and has yet to comment on the controversy.

Source: http://seph.me/2E6PHpW

With these expectations set, makeup companies are challenged to do better, to adopt inclusivity into their business plans, not just faking it to keep up with what some believe is a trend, rather than a necessary change in the industry. This sore lack shows that these companies have not been paying attention to who their audiences are and are missing out on vast opportunities in the marketplace. With this push from social media, the beauty industry can expect to change how they conduct campaigns from here on out, or else they will face backlash from consumers, due to these long-awaited expectations finally set in place. If companies fail to listen to consumers and answer this demand, they will likely continue to see decreases in sales and increased PR troubles.

H&M's sweatshirt ad controversy

Recently, the clothing brand H&M have come under serious scrutiny for releasing an ad that shows a black child adverting a green sweatshirt that says "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle." Once the ad reached the attention of the public, H&M was quickly criticized for promoting a racist ideology of comparing black people to monkeys. The incident has caused H&M to lose a lot of their collaborators and celebrity endorsers. Since the negative outcry from the public was strong, H&M have removed the ad and they have said to have hired a diversity leader to prevent this type of incident happening again. The parents of the child who was modeling in the sweatshirt stated that they did not think the ad was racist, but others within the public are not convinced. Many other articles have come out against H&M since this controversy, highlighting some other instances where the company has been perceived as insensitive to certain cultures. This example shows the importance of knowing the people one is trying to sell to along with the current social climate that those desired targets are living in. One could argue that because of the racial tensions that have been escalated within America, people responded more negatively to this ad then they would have if it was released five years ago. Being able to know the values of  a society and how a consumer perceives an ad is extremely important because their reaction to the ad can be inflated by the events that are happening around them. 

Geico "Unskippable" Ads

A few years ago, Geico came out with advertisements that were meant for Youtube and social media. These ads are so short that they are meant to be unskippable. During the time that the ad plays, Geico references the fact that you cannot skip the ads in different humorous ways.

I thought this was a unique and interesting idea when I first saw these ads playing before Youtube videos and such, something that nobody else had thought of. Usually many ads that play before a Youtube video are long enough that people are able to skip them, and the majority of the time people do choose to do that. With the release of these ads from Geico, they are sort of poking fun at this whole concept and making short enough ads that they don't need to be skipped.


Here's an example of one of these ads:

Propaganda and Women

Propaganda has been utilized primarily, and most memorably, for times of war and the need for national involvement. The official definition of of propaganda, from dictionary.com is: "information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc." The information it afforded and the big idea that, "YOU," could make a difference in the World War was all the people in the people of the United States needed in that time to act and make a difference. Propaganda's effectiveness played on the nation's high patriotism as well as the, to the point, call-to-action message tactic.

Some of the pieces feature women as independent homemakers, but in others, they are seen as slightly provocative showgirl type characters. Treatments of women in the propaganda of that time was to satiate two different audiences. On the one hand, there were some young men who were enticed by the pride, honor, and respect they would gain with their contribution. They would think of how something such as the "women back home" and how they would treat a military man returning from war. On the other, there were women who wanted to be perceived just as strong as the men of that time of national distress.  Here are some examples of the portrayal of the "strong and successful" type of women in some WWII propaganda pieces.

http://i.imgur.com/POiJ21K.jpg

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/393431717428316290

https://scripophily.net/womarcorwacp.html

Women in WWII are always a topic of interest, especially when it comes to the iconic piece, "Rosie the Riveter." There was a huge increase in work productivity, due to the women working on the home front as well as over 350,000 women working in military uniform. The images and ideals were strong and the messages worked. I believe the women portrayed in propaganda made a huge statement for their "new-found" capabilities. During the time of role changes and gender expectations, the women depicted on these call-to-action art pieces proved that the idea of a strong, powerful character did not only lie in men. It proved that women had a voice and it posed a kind of emotional, humble connection to the kinds of contributions made to the war. Women had just as much to give to the country as their male counterparts and then some.

In comparison to this, this time last year we saw women in some modern day pieces of propaganda in efforts to aid in President Trump's protest. The same artist, Shepard Fairey, who created Barack Obama's "Hope" image in 2008, had released these.

http://www.cnn.com/style/gallery/shepard-fairey-art/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/style/gallery/shepard-fairey-art/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/style/gallery/shepard-fairey-art/index.html

These politically charged pieces were released before Trump's Inauguration and the Women's March. Trump did not provide his public with the best image of himself when it came to his treatment of women and people of different ethnicity; and these are assumed to be a way to fight back and stand up to Trump and his lack of professionalism and courtesy. The art also calls upon the rest of the nation to realize their own humility and personal connection to the women portrayed. They are just as important as anyone else and have a voice just as loud. It is pieces like these that help us to reflect, entice us to change, and call us to do. 

A Different Way to Advertise: Spreading an Important Message

Many think of advertisements as just videos, commercials, and print advertisements, however music is becoming a popular place to see product placements and other forms of endorsements, but none have been as impactful as rapper Logic's new song 1-800-273-8255. The song itself highlights the issue of suicide with the title being the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. 

In the song, Logic raps from the perspective of a caller to the hotline, explaining his feelings and problems. Logic explains how everyone thinks they know what he's going through and understand his pain, but he feels alone and completely lost. The song then progresses through as the "caller" speaks to the other line and is eventually helped. The song finishes with "I wanna feel alive" and "I don't want to die anymore"

This song helped bring awareness to an actual problem and brought help and a potential solution. According to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, there was an immediate and lasting impact with calls increasing by 27% on the day of its release in April, while google saw a 100% increase in the number of searches. Google has also reported that the hotline is now being searched 25% more than before the songs release. In August, Logic preformed the song in August on the MTV Music Awards, bringing even more awareness, with the Hotline receiving over 5,000 calls that day, with call volumes remaining at a higher rate than before the release. 

The release of the song is not a traditional form of advertising. The song was not sponsored by anyone, and was purely written out of passion for an issue and to raise awareness. The song almost serves as more of a PSA instead of an advertisement, but the effect of the song has left a largely positive and helpful impact.

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