Dead Island Trailer

Dead Island is a zombie video game that was released earlier this fall. The trailer was graphic and gory, but also surprisingly enough, a bit emotional. Some said it would make you cry, which isn't what one would normally expect from a video game. The trailer showed glimpses if the game; zombies, blood, and a family. There were great screen shots, music and the trailer was played in a different order in which the storyline, and what was happening, all came together in the end. It was like watching a mini-movie. To watch the trailer on Youtube, you had to be 18+ or signed into an account due to the graphic content. Besides being a great advertisement, it created a lot of hype for the game and made you want to play it. I wanted to check it out and I don't even play video games.

Campbell's Soup Snowman Commercial

The Campbell's Soup Snowman commerical has become a timeless winter classic ad. It has lasted, and remained a popular holiday commercial, for since 1995. It fits the brand, and the image it has created; the commercial is wholesome and sincere focusing on warmth and family. The snow melts when the little boy warms up after being served some Campbell's soup. It plays on nostalgia of playing in the snow, the holidays and family which appeals to both children and adutlts, espcailly mothers. Its appeals, to audiences emotions and holiday sentiments, make this commerical timless.

Starbuck's Holiday Cups Come to Life

Starbucks has a new app this holiday season for there featured holiday drink cups. The new app brings the cups to life, when the consumer views them through the free downloadable app. Currently it is only available for the iPhone but a Android app is supposed to be coming out soon. There are a variety of five different scenes, from carolers to ice skaters that can be seen on different cups. This provides more incentive to buy holiday Starbucks drinks, and is a perk to existing Starbucks addicted customers. It also lets the customer interact more with the product, not only by watching it but customers are also able to send snapshots of the scenes to friends and family, as an added bonus holiday greeting. It engages the customer in a fun and creative way, while also promoting not only the brand but the featured holiday drinks for the season. The new app enhances the brand, but also adds "experience".

Add Some Swag to your Brand

A new study conducted by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) revealed that promotional swag generates more attention than more traditional mediums, such as TV, print or radio. Coffee mugs, pencils, and flashlights are among the many ideas for companies to distribute their logo to consumers. This finding helps show where the direction of the future of advertising is leading as marketers debate over the next great advertising medium. ASI also found that this newer form of alternative advertising has a lower cost-per-impression price tag compared to national magazine and prime time TV ads.

600 consumers, consisting mainly of businesspeople over the age of 21, were surveyed both in-person and online throughout major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. The respondents were asked to recall promotional swag received in the past year. Some key findings from the study include the increase of willingness to collaborate with the advertiser, more favorable impression of the advertiser after receiving swag, and bags were found to be used the most frequently among wearable swag items.

I think this is a great study to help defend any previous doubts on promotional materials. While most companies think slapping their logo onto waterbottles or pens may be an expensive form of advertising, it is actually more cost effective in the long run because of the stronger impression left on the consumer. The companies who have a larger advertising budget would see a benefit to creating useful products that incorporate their logo or slogan because the product would be recurring in the consumer's lifestyle.

This article was found on AdWeek.com.

Cravendale Cats with Thumbs

In Cravendale's "Cats with Thumbs" ad, it ponders the question, what would happen if cats had opposable thumbs? They would gang up and go after Cravendale milk.

The ad appeals to the audiences sense of humor, which is unique for an ad about milk. The humor in the ad can reach a large range of age groups which fits the product since milk is a beverage that pretty much everyone drinks and a common household product. The creativity and humor of the ad are what make it stand and and make it a memorable ad. The ad has over four million hits on Youtube. The ad positions the milk as something desirable and coveted. I really liked the ad, I thought it was hilarious.

Apple's Store Within A Store

Best Buy now features several Apple products that create a store within the store. As seen in their latest Holiday Ad, a salesman is showing a customer how to use face time, a key feature to many of the newly launched Apple products. They participate in a light hearted conversation and then the sales associate even jokes harmlessly, "I guess Santa better watch his back!"

The ad cuts to another scene of a darkened living room with Santa Claus entering. He is about to place presents under the Christmas Tree and then he realizes that everyone received a variety of Apple products instead of typical gifts he might deliver. A light in the opposite corner of the room comes on revealing the woman from the store sitting beside the cookies and milk intended for Santa. She then proceeds to chug the entire glass of milk with a menacing look on her face. The text "Game On, Santa" then flashes across the screen, suggesting that Best Buy has everything everyone needs at Christmas as well as the people who can help you "be" your own Santa Claus.

The overall tone of this ad is obviously humor and I think it achieves this goal. While some people may view it as an "attack" against Santa, I find it to be light hearted and informative of what Best Buy has to offer with its new Apple selection.

Here is the full length commercial.

Bing Calls Upon Rudolph For A Special Favor

With the holiday season fast approaching, advertisers have pulled all the stops to display their very best holiday themed advertisements. Bing, the third largest web search engine owned by Microsoft, is no exception. The company has partnered up with a whole cast of holiday characters in the hope of attracting people to their site. And with steep competition such as Google and Yahoo! they are ensuring this marketing campaign is unique to their competitors.

The overall strategy involves numerous advertisements that utilizes humorous situations featuring the characters of the holiday classic. Every character has a problem that they use Bing to solve, the end result shows them successfully pleased with choosing Bing as a search engine. There are four different scenarios Microsoft has planned to use for its Bing campaign. One of them features the Abominable Snowman (named Abominable) searching for a more ferocious roar. Another showcases a few characters searching for a vacation getaway that happens to be on an island of misfit toys. 

Microsoft has bought seven slots to run this campaign on national TV. They plan on running these four thirty second commercials from Thanksgiving until Dec. 21st. The goal isn't frequent exposure, but rather high impact for the viewer. While I am not a user of the Bing software, I find these ads to be rather appropriate for this time of year. Not only that, but with a holiday classic like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Bing is bound to get more exposure and recognition from the campaign.  

For additional information about this campaign strategy, you can find the full article here.

Watch the Abominable BING Ad here.

Whoever thought a Ginger could be so cool?

Chances are you have never heard of Lifestyle International Ltd. or Ginger. I hadn’t either until I saw their eye catching print ads online. But before I continue about these ads, allow me to catch you up on Lifestyle and Ginger. Lifestyle is a leading retail company in India. They sell anything from shoes to furniture and is comparable to what we call Macy’s. Ginger is a brand that can be found in Lifestyle stores all over. Although Ginger produces regular clothing they specialize in accessories, particularly jewelry.

I would have never been able to tell you about any of that if it had not been for the print ads I had found. These ads cleverly combine photographs of Ginger jewelry with whimsical sketch like drawings of women wearing it. What struck me first about these images was simply how interesting they were. It made me want to be the sketched women in the pictures. They appeared to possess a timeless beauty, with still being fun, fresh and young. Not surprisingly, this is the image and reaction that Ginger was trying to convey to its audience. According to their website their collections are meant for “the happy go lucky women who enjoy the sun and shade of life equally.” It further segments its intended audience into separate collections. These collections are for every type of woman – from the “soft romantic”, to the “head strong leader” there is a piece in this collection for everyone. This is also reflected in the print ads. All four of them seem to send a different personality and vibe to its audience. I think that Ginger did an excellent job in creating visually appealing ads that strongly speak to their intended audience.

Black Friday Funny

We all know Black Friday is not for everyone – but Targets ongoing seasonal ad campaign is. When done right humor can be a strong marketing strategy. In targets ads for Black Friday shopping, they have found something that works. This series of TV commercials features a crazed and intense Target shopper preparing for the Black Friday deals and specials Target offers.This Target shopper is better known as “the Christmas Champ”, played by standup comedian Maria Bamford. She does an excellent job in creating a humorous personality that many people are able to laugh at.

One reason these ads work is because they bring a light hearted and funny aspect to a day that is usually surrounded with stress and seriousness. It gives customers a chance to step back and think about how crazy the concept of Black Friday shopping can become. It also reaches a wide target audience, something that is pivotal for any Target commercial. Because Target has such a large selection and variety of merchandise, they need to create advertisements that will reach a large and differentiated target audience. Humor is something that all people can identify with and appreciate. By incorporating it into their Black Friday commercials, Target has successfully created awareness surrounding their Black Friday deals this year. If you haven't already take a look at one of these commercials below, or if you would rather read more about these commercials click here!

Highmark - It's Everywhere

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been noticing the same ad campaign across Pittsburgh region. These ads that have been catching my eye aren’t for the typical store, product, or entertainment that typically litters the billboards and TV commercial ad space. Instead it is for the health insurance company Highmark. These cleverly designed ads take a very simple concept and expertly create advertisements that deliver the message to customers without having to ‘cut through the clutter’.

The major medium incorporated into this campaign is the use of billboards. They all have the same design – the bright blue bottom half, white top half, with a big green check mark and the type that reads “accepted everywhere”. The bright colors are very helpful in catching the public’s attention, and by using the green check mark as the center of the visual backs up what the type is saying. Also the placement of these billboards is another aspect of the success of these ads. From my own personal experience, I have seen these ads in the middle of downtown, all the way to the rural countryside of Pennsylvania. The TV commercials are just as effective. They use the same bright color pallet, playful background music, and arrows to signify ‘here’ and ‘here’ or all the places Highmark is accepted.

Although I could not find any internet pictures or links to these ads, I am positive that all you have to do is look around to find one. And when you do I believe you will be just as impressed as I was.