Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Chevrolet Zafira
A great example of an ad that envelopes multiples disciplines; print, design, a 3d element on a 2d pallet and a really cool concept with a very fitting tag line.
"Fits Everybody, Fits Everything." This would be a great promotional give away as well.
Advertising is Alive and Well
Paging Dr. Advertising
I recently read an article that suggested advertising, as it’s traditionally defined is “dead.” What?? Advertising is DEAD?? I think I missed the funeral. Just the other day I spent the day with Advertising, not just a passing nod at the grocery store or a polite wave while pushing through my DVR, I mean I spent all day long with what I would guess was most of what advertising had to offer. Advertising is certainly not dead, nor is it dying…it is just referred to by a different name.
All Day Long
So…stand in line at the grocery store and try to get away from it. To “advertise” is the act or practice of calling public attention to one's product. I stood in line, shoppers reward card in hand, wondering if I indeed wanted a Twix instead of a Snickers and even though I really like the taste of Twix more than Snickers, Twix has a lame campaign going right now, I actually thought that, and considered the Snickers. In my cart I had the short list of missing dinner ingredients, asparagus, roma tomatoes and milk. I also picked up some things I wanted…Tropicana Orange Juice, a Rockstar Lemonade energy drink and some Baked Lays potato chips. I make mention of the brands because I have been marketed to by these brands over many years and I am a loyal consumer of these products.
I wait for the next available self check out and inventory the 13 choices of gum and an equal number of breath mints. I see magazines stacked as high as the space available to do so, all with scintillating one-liners about Hollywood’s scandalous activity and the fastest car on the road is now even faster. A University of Utah sticker is placed on the floor close to where I stand which corresponds with the rack of U of U merchandise for sale just steps away. I pay with my debit card, which has a personalized picture of my most recent trip to Japan on the front, which is an option my credit union offers to it’s members. On my way out a familiar ring from The Salvation Army’s collection bucket during the holidays causes me to reach for the change in my pocket.
I drive home in my Toyota and catch a few minutes of the kids watching something on the Disney Channel and hear excitement when the latest commercial promoting the Nerf N-strike Stampede clip equipped dart gun appears. So cool it even caught my eye…seriously. Oh, and the fact that Nerf was a sponsor at this years Dew Tour was another reminder that it’s “Nerf, or nothing.” You can buy it here, if you want to.
Do you notice what you see anymore? Do you choose one brand over another because of taste, quality, price or design and if so, how did you become acquainted with that particular brand in the first place? Is advertising dead?
A Tivo in your back
Not many people consider commercials to be a pleasurable experience. Look at how convenient the advent and introduction of Hulu™, Netflix™ or Tivo™ is to our daily lives. Today Tivo allows us to record and watch our favorite shows at our leisure, Hulu lets us go back and watch it again from anywhere that has a computer and Netflix serves up movies at the push of a button. But what do we like most about these new viewing options? Does it cater to our busy schedules or is it being able to forward through the commercials, skipping the advertising altogether, the thing that is truly appealing? That notion might suggest that advertising has lost some of its effectiveness, but have these entertainment delivery mediums abandoned advertising as well?
Hell no, they WON’T go.
Hulu, Netflix and Tivo all have fairly well developed campaigns. All of them promote their independence from traditional viewing habits and all of them, advertise to promote their products. They also sell advertising space…ALL of them.
So what is it with some agencies and some advertisers falling into an “advertising is dead” mentality? As with any campaign, any budget or any product…you must do something new to keep or attract a loyal consumer. At times that change may be as simple as a new color or as complex as an entirely new operating system. If we as consumers did not believe that the next thing was truly better, we would not buy it. Advertising is the vehicle in which we become aware.
New paint in the ad industry is…smaller agencies, bigger agencies…or internal personal writing internal copy. New ad operating systems are viral campaigns, online distribution points with music and video as well as social networking sites. The competitive agencies must change with the times and hire or become knowledgeable in these categories, or they WILL lose some of the dollars available to them. However, all of these options are nothing more than new vehicles. Vehicles that without the old fashioned genius, born in the war rooms, think tanks and creative meetings of talented PEOPLE, advertising would truly die.
Ad campaigns, whether big or small, online, in print, broadcast or distributed virally will always be the backbone of our economy. Just as a doctor is born with a gift to save lives, a good campaign is created by a similar virtuosity.
The reality is…we will never get away from advertising. In one form or another, advertising is like air to our economy. We can hold our breath for only so long, and then we will gasp and draw it in deeper than before. Find the right personality to create your campaign and feel great about paying for it, because it can save your products life.
I believe Alec Baldwin says it beautifully in this Hulu ad.
“What are you going to do, turn off your TV AND your computer?” You will never get away from advertising…because it's an evil plot to destroy the world...ENJOY!
I recently read an article that suggested advertising, as it’s traditionally defined is “dead.” What?? Advertising is DEAD?? I think I missed the funeral. Just the other day I spent the day with Advertising, not just a passing nod at the grocery store or a polite wave while pushing through my DVR, I mean I spent all day long with what I would guess was most of what advertising had to offer. Advertising is certainly not dead, nor is it dying…it is just referred to by a different name.
All Day Long
So…stand in line at the grocery store and try to get away from it. To “advertise” is the act or practice of calling public attention to one's product. I stood in line, shoppers reward card in hand, wondering if I indeed wanted a Twix instead of a Snickers and even though I really like the taste of Twix more than Snickers, Twix has a lame campaign going right now, I actually thought that, and considered the Snickers. In my cart I had the short list of missing dinner ingredients, asparagus, roma tomatoes and milk. I also picked up some things I wanted…Tropicana Orange Juice, a Rockstar Lemonade energy drink and some Baked Lays potato chips. I make mention of the brands because I have been marketed to by these brands over many years and I am a loyal consumer of these products.
I wait for the next available self check out and inventory the 13 choices of gum and an equal number of breath mints. I see magazines stacked as high as the space available to do so, all with scintillating one-liners about Hollywood’s scandalous activity and the fastest car on the road is now even faster. A University of Utah sticker is placed on the floor close to where I stand which corresponds with the rack of U of U merchandise for sale just steps away. I pay with my debit card, which has a personalized picture of my most recent trip to Japan on the front, which is an option my credit union offers to it’s members. On my way out a familiar ring from The Salvation Army’s collection bucket during the holidays causes me to reach for the change in my pocket.
I drive home in my Toyota and catch a few minutes of the kids watching something on the Disney Channel and hear excitement when the latest commercial promoting the Nerf N-strike Stampede clip equipped dart gun appears. So cool it even caught my eye…seriously. Oh, and the fact that Nerf was a sponsor at this years Dew Tour was another reminder that it’s “Nerf, or nothing.” You can buy it here, if you want to.
Do you notice what you see anymore? Do you choose one brand over another because of taste, quality, price or design and if so, how did you become acquainted with that particular brand in the first place? Is advertising dead?
A Tivo in your back
Not many people consider commercials to be a pleasurable experience. Look at how convenient the advent and introduction of Hulu™, Netflix™ or Tivo™ is to our daily lives. Today Tivo allows us to record and watch our favorite shows at our leisure, Hulu lets us go back and watch it again from anywhere that has a computer and Netflix serves up movies at the push of a button. But what do we like most about these new viewing options? Does it cater to our busy schedules or is it being able to forward through the commercials, skipping the advertising altogether, the thing that is truly appealing? That notion might suggest that advertising has lost some of its effectiveness, but have these entertainment delivery mediums abandoned advertising as well?
Hell no, they WON’T go.
Hulu, Netflix and Tivo all have fairly well developed campaigns. All of them promote their independence from traditional viewing habits and all of them, advertise to promote their products. They also sell advertising space…ALL of them.
So what is it with some agencies and some advertisers falling into an “advertising is dead” mentality? As with any campaign, any budget or any product…you must do something new to keep or attract a loyal consumer. At times that change may be as simple as a new color or as complex as an entirely new operating system. If we as consumers did not believe that the next thing was truly better, we would not buy it. Advertising is the vehicle in which we become aware.
New paint in the ad industry is…smaller agencies, bigger agencies…or internal personal writing internal copy. New ad operating systems are viral campaigns, online distribution points with music and video as well as social networking sites. The competitive agencies must change with the times and hire or become knowledgeable in these categories, or they WILL lose some of the dollars available to them. However, all of these options are nothing more than new vehicles. Vehicles that without the old fashioned genius, born in the war rooms, think tanks and creative meetings of talented PEOPLE, advertising would truly die.
Ad campaigns, whether big or small, online, in print, broadcast or distributed virally will always be the backbone of our economy. Just as a doctor is born with a gift to save lives, a good campaign is created by a similar virtuosity.
The reality is…we will never get away from advertising. In one form or another, advertising is like air to our economy. We can hold our breath for only so long, and then we will gasp and draw it in deeper than before. Find the right personality to create your campaign and feel great about paying for it, because it can save your products life.
I believe Alec Baldwin says it beautifully in this Hulu ad.
“What are you going to do, turn off your TV AND your computer?” You will never get away from advertising…because it's an evil plot to destroy the world...ENJOY!
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