What Makes a TV Ad Appealing?

TV Advertising

We all know that one of the best mediums of advertising comes from the boob tube. But bear in mind, just because you get to advertise on television, it means that you will hit your niche market.

There is a matter of healthy competition in TV ads and this involves appeal. You cannot discount the fact that your competitors will be doing the same thing in helping out their marketing strategies and it is in these cases that you have to pull out your creativity jacket so that you can make the most out of your advertising investment.

There are rules in advertising to which we must follow. Do remember, you gain exposure but if you don’t abide by the standards set forth by advertising boards, you may just find yourself investing in a losing cause.

Every business must first identify exactly who their ideal client is before they do any advertising. Next, they must identify where this client is searching for the product or service you have and how they make their decision to buy. Only when these items are understood should you decide on marketing or advertising your business.

(Source) Success

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The Matter of Making Simpler Display Advertising

Display Advertising

In a nutshell, advertising doesn’t have to be sophisticated. There is a belief in some companies that the more high-tech your advertising campaign is, the more attention you will get. This may be true but not all people are appreciative of sophisticated display advertising.

Remember that advertising aims to attract the masses towards your product or service. It doesn’t matter if it is basic or simple. What remains is the fact that most people today have varying tastes towards taking notice of advertising campaigns set loose today in the various mediums.

Simple advertising works to the advantage of people but in the end, it still depends on how you can make your product or service become a need towards people in their daily needs.

“In order to really move into large masses of advertisers, display advertising has to be easier and simpler,” said Ajay Agarwal, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures. “Google did this with search advertising. We think the same thing has to happen with display.”

(Source) Wall Street Journal

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The History of Advertising Book

History of Advertising

For people who want to make the right moves in advertising, it would be only normal to find them cramming to find the right books on how to make advertising work to their advantage. Most people turn to the usual educational marketing and advertising books, but the difference really lies on a book that focuses mainly on advertising prowess.

Such is the highlight of this book simply called “The History of Advertising”. Once you hear it, it may seem that it is a book made for a college student. But the real essence of any subject, advertising in this case, really lies on the focus of books that are available in the market today.

Divided into sections by decades, this book explores the legendary campaigns and brands of advertising’s modern history, with specific anecdotes and comments on the importance of every campaign. You will find the picture of the camel that originated the Camel pack, the first Coca Cola ad, and even how artworks by masters such as Picasso and Magritte have been used in advertising.

(Source) Design Directory

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The Axe Cottage Needs You

I’ve never been a die-hard fan of much of the Axe creative – some is pretty stellar, and others just don’t quite hit me right. But this newest spot/website for Axe Canada is stellar, and just a bit different than much of the past Axe work.

Simple, not over the top (over the top for Axe, that is), a simple website, and a contest to win a trip to the Axe Cottage. What more could a guy want? Be sure to check out the website for more video clips and to enter the contest.

More Than Milk’s Best Friend

Oh the Oreo. That delightful bite of heavenly joy. Unfortunately, in countries other than the US, consumers disagreed. After being on the market for 12 years in China, Kraft finally learned that the lackluster sales of Oreo cookies were due to excessive sweetness. Their solution? Revamp the morsel into something less… sugary. Enter the Oreo WaferSticks. Layers of chocolate wafers, chocolate cream and vanilla cream all coated in milk chocolate. Now, to me, they still look sweet, but with the help of some guerilla marketing from college students the Oreo WaferSticks has taken off and become a top selling treat in China. So here’s the important question. When will this delicious looking treat be available in the US? Cause frankly, it looks fantastic.   (Source WSJ)

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Advertisements that Insult Human Intelligence

Smoking Fish Hook Ad

As far as advertising is concerned, getting the message across is one thing but considering the logical intelligence of the viewing market to which it is aimed at penetrating is another. In short, there are some advertisements that really do not care if their ad campaigns make sense or not. A simple word or two is all that matters for endorsing companies, normally terms that associate their brand to the consumer’s mind.

But while imagery is one thing, it is apparent that there are a lot of ads that do not make sense at all. Some call them wasted money and opportunity while others look at simply creating an image towards placing brand awareness for products and services.

With these tactics in mind, many people will agree, is it really for strategic management or plainly for conning people into intellectual proportions on the whole advertising paradigm.

 

We all have our personal advertising bugbears. I am frequently dumbstruck by the portrayal of young men as henpecked morons, perennially outmanoeuvred by their vastly superior girlfriends. And I can’t be the only person bothered by the ambulance-chasing personal injury adverts – the “no win, no fee” propaganda packs of the compensation culture.

(Source) theblog

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Look closely

FedEx logo

Do you see it?

More with the creator of the logo, Lindon Leader, of Leader Creative here

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Guy Ritche “Takes it to the Next Level” for Nike

After a few weeks of teasers and trailers, Nike finally released the 2-minute full version of the “Take it to the Next Level” spot after it aired on broadcast via ITV at the beginning of today’s Manchester United game.

The spot is directed by Guy Ritchie of Lock Stock & Snatch fame, who is no stranger to branded films. Several years back, he directed the 10-min. short, “The Hire: Star” featuring Madonna & Clive Owen for the BMW films series.

As anticipated, this spot is pretty impressive. Definitely falls in line with the overall Nike image of late. I’m curious to see of there’s any further integration of the spot into any of Nike’s advertising, beyond being featured (in high quality) on the Nike Football Homepage. Either way, it’s okay — the Guy Ritchie fanboy in me is satisfied.

The Real Secret of the Scarlet by LG Electronics

Scarlet

Have you ever tried to spend on an advertising campaign without even mentioning the brand of the product or service even once? It seems like a poor way to advertise and spend tons of dollars for promotional practices but apparently LG Electronics has a lot of things in mind.

Scarlet, an advertising campaign launched by LG Electronics features Malthe as the sexed-up, butt-kicking, red-eyed heroine “Scarlet.” There’s no mention of LG _ or even a prominent image of the TV itself _ in the advertising materials or commercials.

Now if that is something that seems like poor advertising then I don’t know what is. But fooling people and getting their attention in a different manner is perhaps the initiative. So what gives?

“To be honest, the most difficult thing for me on this campaign was to convince myself and my bosses to really own this idea,” says Lee. “To spend money without letting people know about our brand is really, really risky, right? But that’s the idea of this. We need a breakthrough idea to change the rules of the game.”

 

(Source) The Washington Post

 

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Why all the fuss about Miley?

The photo is off brand. Plain and simple.

The article, if you read it, lays out the Miley brand perfectly: A young superstar with a head on her shoulders and involved, loving parents to help her avoid the famous flame-outs of her tween predecessors. An all-American success story.

But the photo has blazed through all media.  Some shock (though a summer day at any neighborhood pool is more revealing) Some anger. Mostly just disappointment. It’s weird that a 15 year-old can command so much jabber. But this isn’t a 15-year old. This is a billion dollar brand.  And the keepers of that brand, the Cyrus collective and, yes, Disney, sure should have seen this coming and told Leibovitz to simma’ down.

All girls grow up. But parents with 9, 10, 11 and 12-year olds of their own are fighting to ensure it doesn’t happen too fast. Miley, 15, was a strong ally. But the photo gave them reason to wonder. There are some theories that suggest this is all by design. But it’s clear now that it was not yet time for a brand extension.

So, we’re left with a cautionary tale as to why people like us, people who work with brands, need to think long and hard about what we encourage those brands to do. Powerful brands come with powerful promises. Breaking those promises brings consequences. That said, we’re pretty sure this brand isn’t going to be withering for long.

Deconstructing the Audi RS6 with gymnasts

Audi has been creating (or rather constructing) some fascinating spots lately, like the “strings” spot I wrote about a few months back.

This most recent spot from BBH London continues along the deconstruction & construction path, stylizing the internal workings of the Audi RS6 via Hugarian Gymnasts. Certainly not the first thing I would think of, but the suspension of reality and the acceptance of the gymnasts loosely representing the internals of an RS6 engine does something fairly powerful, and certainly creates an interesting spot.

So the ultimate question: do gymnastics, string figures, and automotive orchestras work to sell cars and change brand awareness? Or does it simply yield commercials that are interesting to watch?

Glocalisation Advertising Strategies in India

Globalization is one thing that most international companies invest in today and it is an aggressive practice in the local shores of India. Large names that include Coca Cola and McDonalds have adopted the new termed practice called Glocalisation, a saleable mix of the global and the local, which represents the human capacity to bridge scales from the local to global and vice versa.

Product association is evident in our local regions and for international companies known throughout the world, the need to rev up the consumer awareness has become a critical need. India has so far acknowledged this need and companies who have intended to join in this Glocalisation practice are jumping in one by one.

Advertising agencies in our country are increasingly going in for international tie-ups. As a result, foreign brands are suddenly seeking local attention. The art of making an advertisement look local and endearing to Indians is the global spin-off in advertising,” Vipin Dhayani, creative head of the Everest Brand Solutions, said.

(Source) Zeenews

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Sponsoring Events to Advertise

Useful Marketing Ads

Familiar to most people who invest a lot in advertising is the fact of sponsoring events that are held on certain periods of time. This includes concerts or even sports events that draw a crowd to which provides a good medium for exposure particularly for brands that are still on the rise.

Aggressive giant companies like Coca Cola, Nike and Nokia do this. We can see their endorsement at various points in time. Notable among them include being seen over the NBA, the World Cup and concerts from known artists such as Christina Aguilera and Michael Jackson.

These events are held at various points of the world and the advertising support is something that makes them happen. With that in mind you can imagine the sum needed to finance these events and the returns expected from them on the chosen target market.

You can read something related to this here at the Business Week

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An end to the “Madden Curse?”

Brett Favre looks to break the Madden Curse as it was announced yesterday that he would be on the cover of Electronic Arts’ 20th Anniversary Edition of John Madden Football.

Seeing as Favre no longer is in the league, it’s safe to say either:
a) Favre will get back in the league only to suffer an injury
b) He should look to the skies for random falling pianos

The obvious question is– will there be weepy press conferences as an option?

Am I the only one who remembers Madden’s commercials for Miller Lite?

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Answering the Advertising Questions

Providing advertising support to marketing campaigns is not as easy as we all deem it to be. There are questions to be answered and expectations that are set. Set goals need to be achieved since investing heavily in advertising will surely have to come up with something.

Normally, advertising is aimed at producing sales and bringing in profit. But to be able to do so, tasked individuals have to take the necessary steps for these statistics to be a reality. It is not purely a hit and go itinerary. Set up your advertising campaign goals and be sure that they are achievable. Money invested on them should not be wasted. The result for the greater good of a venture is surely the one that most company honchos are looking for and will be expected to be achieved.


Marketing And Advertising QuestionsThe best video clips are right here

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Characterizing your Product Brand

Brand Identity

One thing that products need today is identity. It can be an aggressive product or a purely intuitive one. But knowing the consumers today, there will always be one attribute that will associate products. It can be positive or negative but either way everyone must remember, products are not made purely for display. There has to be something that it can easily be associated with.

Most household named brands today have achieved this. One good thing about successful branding is that it will be carried out for years to come. It will not die down. A good brand marketing technique will build brand identity which in turn will become the carving niche whenever the ordinary consumer sees it anywhere he may be.

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Oh… Okay… I guess.

Maybe I spoke too soon. After the amazement that was the Jordan spots, I came across W+K’s newest Heineken spot, “Share the Good,” for the Heineken Light product. The ad directs you to a website where you learn all about the movement to Share the Good. The site is FAR more impressive (at least in my opinion) than the rather corny commercial. Just watch the opening animation of the hands/backgrounds changing. After learning about the movement, there is of course, info on the beer, sweepstakes, the commercials and more. But I must say, personally, I do enjoy the thought of encouraging people to share beers. Thoughts?

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W+K – You’ve Done It Again.

With the newest round of Jordan commercials hitting the airwaves in recent days, there is only one thing that comes to mind… “Thank you Wieden + Kennedy, for you have done it again.” Each of the ads pushes the viewer to “become legendary.” And I must say, 60 seconds of Michael Jordan telling me I’ve probably just been making excuses, well, it cuts me to the bone. Each ad is awe-inspiring and each ad serves as a nice reminder that the brilliant advertising, it’s still out there. 

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Another “game” from Warner Brothers and The Dark Knight

In the vein of the Harvey Dent campaign site and the short lived “Joker-ized” version comes a new campaign from Warner Brothers in support of The Dark Knight the new Batman film.

Operation Slipknot, which is about corruption in the Gotham City Police Department. Apparently all the slots in the game were taken within 45 minutes of this email being sent out from Commissioner Jim Gordon.

???OK friend, you???re up to bat now. You have yourself a new assignment: Operation Slipknot.???

Another site for the Gotham Intercontinental Hotel has gone live, but the telephone number for the “concierge” has been disconnected.

I’ve been loving the way that Warner Brothers has been including hardcore fans who want in on the action without ruining the movie for those of us who don’t have the time.

Adidas, The Left Right Project

The Left Right Project is meant to celebrate an icon. Adidas and 180LA teamed up to create a giant pair of Adidas shell tops. One shoe was given to an east coast team of artist at Surface2Air in New York, NY. The other was given to the creative team, Upper Playground in San Francisco, CA. In a classic east vs. west tradition, the two teams designed their shoes to reflect their coast. Each crew had 3 days to design their shoe. The teams met up in Venice Beach, CA to showcase their work.

This is a nice viral/digital/experiential project. It is an example of micro targeting with mass appeal potential. The viral was picked up by the sneaker community as well as the creative community. It’s very Adidas and I like that it doesn’t feel overdone or over budget. The Left Right Project is part of a larger Adidas Originals campaign, which includes “games” and events.