THE MAN WAS STRUCK BY A RAINBOW

Have you ever wondered what would happen to you if you were struck by a rainbow? No? Let me tell you the story of the Skittle Man. Once upon a time, an ordinary man was just hanging out outdoor and he was struck by a rainbow miraculously. And then, he underwent a physical transformation that his skin is now replaced by Skittles. I don’t mean to be judgmental but he looked creepy in the video. He now saves money from going to the barbershop and when Skittles keeps falling off of his body like exfoliation. Because of the way he is now, as a Skittles man, his wife has to cope with this situation and constantly pick up the Skittles that is falling off of him. Besides, he became famous in the neighborhood because if his appearance and the fact that he was struck by a rainbow.

This ad is outlandish and weird in some way. It is intended to imitate a documentary that would “win a prize at Sunday or Cannes”, which tells the hardship that the Skittles man has to go through after the physical transformation. This ad takes creativity to a whole new level that it had become bizarre. Bizarre in a way that people would remember. I am still confused if I liked the ad but it is definitely a different approach that a candy company took to promote its candy. Effective or no? I think it is up to the viewer because ads like this is hard rather subjective since there is no clear emotions that the ad is trying to bring across.

What do you think?

References

What Is It Like to Have Skittles for Skin? This ‘Documentary’ Reveals the Hardships. (2014, December 10). Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://creativity-online.com/work/skittles-struck-by-a-rainbow-documentary/38146

CHRISTMAS GAME STRONG

This is an unusual Christmas ad that I stumbled across online. Sure, everyone wants a piece of Christmas when it’s December but Glico, a Japanese snack company took a different approach to create a Christmas ad. They sure put a lot of effort in the ad and a lot of editing and training to come out with this masterpiece. It is unusual because it is not a touching ad or a heartwarming ad which most of the companies are heading toward. Instead, it is a compilation of Christmas songs put together by the sound of cracking, rattling and crunching the snacks.

The main product that is highlighted in the video is Pocky, a chocolate-coated biscuit stick. Breaking the Pocky sticks by making different shapes of the mouth produces different sounds and tunes. With heavy editing, song like “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, “Joy To The World” and “Jingle Bells” are made into a medley. It is interesting to see how the sequence and order are choreographed so neatly according to the beat of the songs. It looks like a lot of fun!

Not only is the company on time for the festive season’s bandwagon, it is also trying to promote its smile.glico campaign with an aim to bring smiles to the consumers around the globe because they believe in smiles when people have sweet experiences. The energy that the commercials send across is very positive and they give our happy vibes to the viewers so that when they consume glico’s product they recall the happiness they felt when they watched the commercials. Also, nobody wants a sad Christmas.

From the smile.glico video and the goal of the campaign, we can clearly see that glico is trying to expand the company’s reach to other parts of the world. It was not stated clearly where exactly but definitely outside of asia and they see Christmas as a big opportunity because it’s a worldwide celebration that people with different cultural backgrounds share the same concept of Christmas and similar emotions they feel toward Christmas. When people are on the same page, the message is easier to transmit across no matter where they are from.

In conclusion, big festive seasons like Christmas is a big opportunity to be monetized and capitalized, sad but true. I hope that the true meaning of celebrating Christmas will not be forgotten and it is not about how expensive the presents are but how sincere they are. Also, don’t forget to be happy, thankful and at the same time cherish your loved ones. Happy holidays!

References

Smile, Glico. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://vimeo.com/107874518

Escamilla, R. (2014, December 12). Christmas Songs Composed of the Sound of Crunching Pocky & Other Snacks From Japanese Snack Food Maker Glico. Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://laughingsquid.com/christmas-songs-composed-of-the-sound-of-crunching-pocky-other-snacks-from-japanese-snack-food-maker-glico/

Getting “Saucey”

For those of you of age drinkers out there (And you live in Los Angeles or San Francisco), “Saucey” might be the best app you’ve ever downloaded.  Saucey is an alcohol delivery app that is trying to differentiate themselves from other alcohol delivery apps out there such as Drizly, and MiniBar.  In fact, they are referring to themselves as “the Uber of alcohol.”  The app allows for users to purchase alcohol from the app and have it delivered directly to their door, but Saucey is doing it a little differently.  Currently, the app is running a promotion with Jack Daniels that has a Frank Sinatra impersonator deliver their whisky.  “To qualify, buyers must use a special Sinatra ordering code, or buy one of several Sinatra packages. That includes a deal called the “Rat Pack” that comes with the Sinatra Select super-premium version of Jack Daniel’s along with cigars. Mr. Sinatra, who famously referred to Jack Daniel’s as the “nectar of the gods,” would have turned age 99 on Friday, which is the hook for the promotion.”

Earlier in the year, Saucey partnered with Anheuser-Busch, and the MeUndies brand which involved delivering alcohol with male or female pajamas by MeUndies.  Also, they plan on partnering with Absolut that will include ingredients to make snazzy holiday cocktails.

There is one shining light in all of this, Chicago does have a few delivery apps that cater to the city, though they don’t come along with pajamas and impersonators.  (Check out Drizly!)

Schultz, E. (2014, December 10). Booze-Delivery App Unleashes Sinatra Impersonators | Digital – Advertising Age. Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://adage.com/article/digital/booze-delivery-app-unleashes-sinatra-impersonators/296157/

(n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://gaia.adage.com/images/bin/image/rightrail/sinatrasaucey.png.jpg?1418164395

Comparing the Ads: El Salvador and the United States

Often times we do not notice the differences between the United State’s advertising characteristics and smaller countries’. We tend to focus most of our energy looking at Europe or China.

For this blog, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the differences between the United States’ advertising and El Salvador’s. This is because a very good friend of mine, Miss Gomez, recently returned from spending a significant amount of time in El Salvador visiting her family. This blog is according to her observations and our discussions.

When we discussed the topic, I was very curious as to what mediums of advertising she saw often. According to Miss Gomez, billboards are a very popular advertising tool. She explained how she saw them everywhere. This is different from the United States where you are most likely to see a billboard by a major road. She explained that “in El Salvador there are many billboards in all parts of the country, city, or in smaller towns” (Gomez 2014).

We also noticed that there does not appear to be major competition for advertising space outside of tourist areas….”Stores will advertise certain products with posters inside and outside of their stores. You might even see a Coca Cola poster right next to a Pepsi poster” (Gomez 2014). This is obviously quite different from the United States where major competitors care and watch each other’s advertisement environments closely. Here they are in a constant state of monitoring and competition.

We also discussed the variety of advertisement topics. Miss Gomez examined to me that there are very few advertisement topics in comparison to the United States. She explained: “What I noticed in El Salvador is that most of the advertisements that are shown, not including television, is for food, beverages, and phone companies. While here in the US there is a lot more variety of the advertisements that are shown” (Gomez 2014). This is interesting and could be the case for a number of reasons. Miss Gomez explained that “Life is more simple in El Salvador and a lot of people do not have the capability to spend on luxury goods. Food being a necessity, it is more advertised” (Gomez 2014).

These are just a few of the differences that we discussed. It was an interesting conversation. We concluded that it depends on a number of things including the situation of the people and country, as well as the environment itself and the sociology of the people.

-“You should always expect advertising changes from country to country. It all depends on the type of environment that they live. In an environment where there is a lot more disorganization and no real laws, it is able to understand how and why advertisements are the way they are” (Gomez 2014).

Resources

Gomez, A. (personal interview). 2014

Social Media: A Fashion

Lately you may be noticing, especially on Pintrist and Instagram, social-media-themed fashion posts. Social media is beginning to make it’s way into the fashion market.

Outfits revolving around social media   systems are entering more than one sector of this market. As you can see in the pictures below, there is everything from quirky t-shirts to high-end fashion to accessories revolving around social media. Below are pictures from some of these sectors.

The posts I tend to see most often deal with nail polish and amusing t-shirts. Pictured below are some examples.

Included in this are a number of tutorial posts. People often post pictures or videos with the steps to paint ones nails or make the t-shirt. Below is one of these tutorials.

Pictured is an Instagram post that provides visuals and instructions for a social-media-themed

nail polish technique.

It will be interesting to see how this new pattern of posts pans out. What do you think? Do you think it will fade away, become more frequent, or stay the way it is?

Drunk Facebook

We’ve all been there. Sitting at second or third bar of the night and posting pictures of you and your friends on Facebook while slightly intoxicated. It’s only a problem when you wake up the next day and realize what you did.

If this scenario is all too familiar to you, worry no more! Facebook is creating a ‘Digital Assistant’ that will save you from your drunk self. That’s right; Facebook is working on a program that will prevent you from posting on Facebook while inebriated.

So, how does it work? Basically, Facebook’s new program will use your phone’s front-facing camera to determine if you’re drunk based on how you look. The program begins to take pictures of you when you post on Facebook and analyzes these pictures in order to determine how you look when you’re sober. Then, if you try and post when you’re drunk it will be able to tell by the way you look and will not allow you to post.

In addition to preventing you to from posting when you’re drunk, the program will also prevent other people from posting pictures of you that you are unaware that you are in. If Facebook sees a picture of you uploaded without notifying you, it will prevent it from being posted until you authorize it. This protects you from pictures that are uploaded by others.

While the feature that prevents other people from posting pictures of you is very nice, the program that looks at you and prevents you from posting while you’re drunk is sort of creepy. I’m not sure people are going to want their phones analyzing how drunk they are and not allowing them to post online. I think that this should not be a problem that occurs frequently enough to merit the need to have a Facebook nanny-cam.

Developing this technology has to be extremely expensive for Facebook and I think that drunk users are not their problem to deal with. Facebook is meant to be a social media mobile application, not a visual breathalyzer. If people are not responsible enough to stay off of Facebook when they are drunk, then they should have to deal with the repercussions of their actions.

While I think that this program does showcase a cool technology, I don’t think anybody is going to want Facebook to know when they are drunk. I’ll be curious to see how popular the program is once it’s released.

References

Koch, C. (2014, December 9). Facebook Wants To Stop You From Uploading Drunk Pictures Of Yourself : T-Lounge : Tech Times. Retrieved from http://www.techtimes.com/articles/21825/20141209/facebook-stop-uploading-drunk-pictures-yourself.htm

Instagram: The Ultimate Digital Marketer

In the recent year, Instagram popularity has grown tremendously, even beating out some of the most popular social media sites. “Instagram now has 300 million monthly users, picking up 100 million since March. The photo- and video-sharing app has surpassed Twitter’s official user count of 284 million,” explains Garett Sloane on AdWeek’s recent article. Instagram has become extremely popular for both food and apparel inspiration. Companies such as J. Crew, Lululemon and Whole Foods have taken advantage of their growth and have expanded their audience. By providing new style tips and fun food recipes, the audience stays engaged with the organization on a new level.

Stella Artois started a new marketing campaign called “Give Beautifully” on Instagram and YouTube for the holiday season. Stella Artois will be running a total of six photos on Instagram in relation to their “Four Stories of Giving” on YouTube. These photos’ purposes are to enhance the experience you have when drinking Stella Artois. “Given the commitment to artistry and sophistication that defines the Stella Artois brand, we thought featuring imagery support the brand’s holiday campaign, ‘Give Beautifully,’ would be the perfect fit,” says Lucas Herscovici in the AdWeek article cover Stella Artois’ campaign.

One of Stella Artois’ six photos on Instagram:

One of Stella Artois’ “Four Stories of Giving” YouTube videos:

What are your thoughts on marketing through Instagram? Do you find it effective?

Choose Your Own Package

(Image courtesy of wallpaperest.com)

What a lovely image. Floating about the clouds, enjoying a cold beverage, listening to some tunes from your mp3 player. That is how we all want to believe flying to be, but reality sets in once you board your plane. Flying has nearly become more of a luxury than a convenience with all of the changes airlines are making. Delta is a company that has more changes on the way.

“Made You Look” Campaign

The New York Post recently began its new “Made You Look” advertising campaign, and after over a decade of not advertising, the publication plastered its attention grabbing ads with several out-of-home locations. Landing on top of taxis and subway carts with lines like, “A good headline kicks you in the eyeballs,” and “You can judge a paper by its cover,” fall right in alignment with the Post’s witty approach and clever tone. CEO and publisher Jesse Angelo states, “The goal of the campaign was to capture and reinforce, across print and digital, consumer and trade, our core strength: getting people to pay attention to what we do through our wit, our irreverence and our truly unique voice. [The] ‘Made You Look’ [campaign] accomplishes that.”

The newspaper’s campaign coincided with the digital re-launch that took place last year, but the cab toppers and transit ads are just the beginning. The post will continue its ad campaign efforts with the help of Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners in New York. Similar ads will be found in experiential, digital, trade, and more out-of-home advertising within the upcoming months.

Continuing to capitalize on scheduling and timing, the Post will launch additional ads due to the company’s recent print and digital growth. The Post came in second with the largest year-to-year digital network growth. According to U.S. comScore, the publication’s digital network, which includes nypost.com, pagesix.com, and decided.com, had a 102 percent increase of unique visitors. The newspaper has also experienced over 3 percent sales increase on the weekends and 2 percent sales increase from its last financial quarter.

I think the New York Post has made a great decision to take advantage of the newspaper’s recent success. It’s an opportune time to implement new advertising objectives and strategies in order to remain relevant in an industry that is slowly declining due to technology and the Internet. The Post executes this in a manner that remains true to what it represents as a company and the tone it portrays as a tabloid newspaper. In alignment with the publication’s overall image, ‘Made You Look’ establishes the Post’s wit in an environment full of advertising clutter. The new campaign successfully captures the company’s target audience and breaks through media noise.

However, the Post runs the risks of consumer overexposure and wear out. The advertisements’ tone may be clever at first, but soon turn sour. The campaign is susceptible to waste coverage as well. Since the ads are placed on a variety of out-of-home locations, Due to the nature of out-of-home advertising, the ads are publicized to non-target audience members.

Reference:

O’Leary, N. (2014, November 19). New York Post Dares You to Ignore Its New Ads. Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/new-york-post-dares-you-ignore-its-new-ads-161519

Radio Shack Gets Weird

Radio Shack, the electronic and gadget franchise, has been in a bit of a slump in recent years thanks to other giant electronic retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart. Advertising and marketing campaigns have been scarce, and the company has been in search of a revival…well, they’ve found one (somewhat). Parody singer Weird Al Yankovic has signed on to be the company’s newest, and weirdest, spokesperson and appears in the company’s new advertisement. The ad features Weird Al guiding a shopper throughout a radio shack showing her products that will appeal to people of all ages, but rather than speaking, he’s communicating through song (of course) to the tune of the song “Toyland” from the musical “Babes in Toyland”. If you haven’t seen the commercial yet, it’s exactly what you would expect from Weird Al: weird, and weirdly catchy? Not saying I’m going to be walking around my apartment singing the lyrics of the commercial, but at least it got me interested in Radio Shack, for once.

I think that Radio Shack has made a move in the right direction gaining a spokesperson that’s recognizable, and unique. Radio Shack desperately needs to make a reappearance, especially during the busiest shopping times of the year, and I think that having such a unique public figure like Weird Al could generate some much-needed buzz. Although Weird Al has been out of the spotlight up until recently with the release of his newest album, he’s still famous enough that consumers will be able to talk about his involvement with Radio Shack. However, Radio Shack is going to have to keep up the momentum and push its marketing efforts even further if they want to even stay remotely relevant. They are losing a battle against other electronic giants, and are going to have to think of more innovative ways to get people to want to choose their products over a competitors. Weird Al can only be so catchy for so long, before you just can’t take anymore.

Reference:

Morrison, M. (n.d.). Weird Al in Radio Shack Holiday Campaign | CMO Strategy – Advertising     Age. Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/weird-al-radio-shack-holiday-campaign/295755/

McDonald’s: The King of Fast-ish Food

McDonalds began as simple restaurant that sold affordable burgers quick. It began a fast food revolution and has expanded across the globe. Since then, McDonald’s  expanded beyond its humbling beginnings. However in its attempt to please every customer, McDonalds’s might be stretching itself toot him to be successful.

Now Mcdonald’s menu includes 121 food items from a hamburger to a Filet-O-Fish.

http://on.aol.com/video/is-mcdonalds-menu-too-big-to-be-successful–518543867

While the commentators mostly discussed on McDonald’s expanding menu, I wondered what caused McDonald’s to grow beyond its formerly successful business model. My theory is that ever since consumers have become more health conscious, McDonalds has dealt with criticism that has greatly damaged its image. The media criticized McDonald’s for producing unhealthy, sugary food with very few healthy options.  It has also been accused of marketing unhealthy food to kids by offering toys with happy meals. Plus, anyone who saw the movie Supersize Me felt a riffle effect of disgust and fear of McDonald’s.  In order to respond to its criticisms, McDonald’s felt obligated to expand its menu to include almost everything for any customer.

In order to fill the various order, McDonald’s sacrifices its famous delivery time. When compared to other fast food chains, McDonald’s is no longer the fastest choice. It is getting beat at the very thing it invented.

While McDonald’s is trying to please the media, consumers and investors, its brand is suffering rebrand. It cannot be both a low-cost fast food conglomerate and health conscious. It will must sacrifice one for the other. It must choose to have healthier food at a higher production cost or have unhealthy food and maintain its affordable price. In order to survive McDonald’s need to choose a specific target audience. It simply cannot be a one-stop fast food organization for everyone.

Instead of rebranding the happy meal into they monstrosity that literally scares children, McDonald’s should rethink and simplify its brand strategy.

Resources:

(n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://online.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-menu-problem-its-supersized-1417631056

LEGOS REACHING GIRLS

Legos has never been a company that you would think reached out to girls and what they want. We always associate it with toughness, boys, building, etc. They have tried to break this mold many times, with different products, and now with their biggest attempt, a commercial directed towards them.

“The ad nicely flatters parents—suggesting Lego is the choice of smart, creative kids who’ve been brought up well—while also recognizing that girls play with Lego differently  than boys do.”

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfhV3Q4LJPM

Lego really took the time to make sure that their message was clear and presented the correct way. This could have gone terribly, but instead they got it just right.

Read the full article here and see how Lego pulled off their first direct ad towards girls. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-lego-finally-makes-inspiring-empowering-tv-ad-girls-161795

Let me know what you think! Growing up with Legos this is finally something that is directed to me, and I find very interested and forward of the company.

Open Happiness…in a smaller size for a bigger celebration

Done by:

Nicole Camacho

Ayrie Gomez

Kelsey Barton

Shinyee Seet

Lauren Nowak

The North Face Viral Video

by: Jose Vega, Lexi Genge, Lauren Groberski, Tim Lawden, and Hillary Anthony

We wanted to create a video for The North Face that breaks boundaries. Many of younger consumers have come to associate this brand with an unappealing, materialistic culture that we wished to disassociate with using this advertisement. Our intent is to create a lasting impression on consumers in a serious yet comedic way which will be difficult to forget. By creating a short, simple hashtag we hope to create a “buzz” on social media sites that will help re-shape the image of the North Face.

Canada Goose Viral Video

We made a viral video to promote Canada Goose jackets, which are the best quality and warmest coats available on the market. Our target market is adults and outdoor enthusiasts in both rural and urban areas that experience extreme cold weather. We will create brand awareness for the Canada Goose company through our viral video, and create #GooseWeather to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to prove to our consumers and potential consumers that Canada Goose coats and products are the absolute best. Since these coats are already very popular in Canada and Europe, we would like to attract more Americans to the brand. Canada Goose is sold in 50 different countries, and increasing this number would increase sales.

Enjoy!