Hasta La Creative!

One thing you have to consider when you invest in advertising for food such as burgers is you have to put some spunk to it. Many people normally do not value the product being promoted if no emotional feeling is added to the mix. Apparently this is what Culver’s restaurants have added to the advertising mix; the matter of being emotionally connected with a product.

It is a fitting preparation towards starting the whole climax of the advertising strategy. The market audience can get a feel of what they are missing with these emotionally added factors that are normally overlooked when advertising prowess is concerned.

“This campaign is intended to further that emotional connection with the brand that we didn’t have before, to show [the product] and take it up another notch,” said Contino. “Emotional messaging is becoming ever more important . . . We have to show how we deliver the most to our guests through great restaurants, food and experience.”

(Source) Brandweek

Advertising is a strategy to get attention and provide colorful information and insights as far as promoting a certain product or service these days. Apparently, one thing that people fail to consider is the age factor. Kids are exposed to the various forms of mediums such as television and print advertising and from these modes alone, they get educated informally.

Advertising can help or hurt a business. A lot lies on how they are carried out and conceptualized. As far as the proper way to use these advertising strategies is concerned, social responsibility has to be added to the fray. You just have to be sensitive to the target market you are carrying out since not all people will analyze them.

On March 10th, Dr. Jean Kilbourne, an internationally recognized author and lecturer, visited the Fort Hays State University campus, describing how the advertising industry serves as a damaging element in the gender socialization process.

Her presentation, “The Naked Truth: Advertising’s Image of Women”, focused on a “toxic environment” created for the “sake of profit.”

(Source) The Edge

As far as deciding on which proper mode of advertising to turn to, it is no longer restricted to the big three, namely:

1. Television
2. Radio
3. Print

These are traditional advertising techniques. We have seen the evolution of other advertising strategies such as the Internet advertising era but that is too restricted to people who are frequenting the web.

With that in mind, check out the new way of advertising to get attention. The Sign Spinners who are hailed as the new sandwich men of the US are sure to get the attention of people in neighborhoods where they may be assigned. Paid at a fair $10 per hour to walk around and spin signs given to them, people are bound to take notice and become curious at what the sign being spun holds.

Read more about it here at the AFP.

The best advertising strategy to get your target market’s attention is to use images of the world today. One thing that people want to see is what people from anywhere today are doing and what is hot in their book. Advertising through using these facts and practices which in turn will be integrated with the products offered by corporate giants such as Alcatel-Lucent can expect a pretty good turnout as far as consumer buying behavior is concerned.

Sometimes, you just have to look around to get ideas in advertising. You don’t have to dig deep to be creative. Make use of your surroundings because they can create the attention you are looking for your product or service.

Read more: Alcatel-Lucent launches a global advertising campaign celebrating the Always On way of life

We are all aware the web is full of advertising tactics to help promote products and services covered by various companies. But while these online advertising practices are indeed something to behold, the question of effectiveness and consistently hitting the actual target market really leave a large cloud of doubt.

  

Yahoo knows this all too well and apparently this is what their planned release of AMP. AMP intends to simplify the whole buying and selling process through online ads which is a welcome development for businesses sorely lacking in getting results from their online targeted advertising.

  

According to a company statement, the platform will enable advertisers to “precisely yet easily” target audiences, while also allowing publishers to “better monetise their content”.

  

“While online advertising grows more sophisticated, the process of doing business today is surprisingly cumbersome and manual,” stated Hilary Schneider, executive vice president of global partner solutions at Yahoo!.

(Source) Bigmouthmedia

As if Rick Astley wasn’t getting enough inexplicable renewed popularity, here’s a bit more. A brilliant digg user decided to solicit the help of fellow dig users on a level of epic proportion when he discovered that the New York Mets are holding a contest to vote for the 8th inning sing-a-long song. Potential to be quite possibly the largest Rickrolling of all time.

And for those not too familiar with the concept of Rick Rolling, here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Around the year 2003, an Internet prank known as “rickrolling” appeared involving misleading links redirecting to the music video. It increased in popularity as a 2008 April Fool’s Day joke through various media, including YouTube rickrolling all of its featured videos on that day, and a website allowing people to Rickroll their friends phones.

In ‘a couple of weeks’, about 13 million people had been ‘rickrolled’ into watching Astley’s video, the BBC reported on 1 April, 2008.”I think it’s just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it,” Astley told the Los Angeles Times in late March 2008, adding: “That’s what’s brilliant about the internet.”

So now the link has been dugg over 8000 times, and it’s spreading on fark and 4chan as well. Tomorrow is the final day to vote. It’s certainly a very real possibility that the NY Mets (and fans) may have just been Rickrolled like never before. Which says a good deal for internet memes and the significance of internet users (like those on digg) in swaying public polls – and who knows what else. Just something to think about while you try to imagine a packed Shae Stadium sinning “never gonna give you up…”

One thing that will surely get the attention of the target market you are catering to is the presence of well-known celebrities such as NBA superstar LeBron James. James has not only been a phenom in the National Basketball Association but also elsewhere as more and more kids are looking up to this athlete who made the big jump to the big leagues over a college education.

While the move may not necessarily be your typical role-model move, you just have to admit that he is the top personality that most people, young and old, are looking onto these days. Here is a commercial with so many people involved portrayed by only one person, LeBron James.

Social networking sites are a good way to pick up new customers of various target markets these days. With so many people hooked up to these sites such as Facebook, it should not be surprising why companies such as Careerbuilder.com have struck a deal to run job recruiting campaigns for various clients.

  

The concept is similar towards any fad or advertising media we hear of today. “Hot” companies and trendsetters are bound to be taken in and Facebook, which has obviously outdone rivals MySpace and Friendster in the social networking binge is the ace of all aces today.

  

 

In these modern times, if you have the budget for aggressive advertising, it is best to plan it and implement it with a bang. Salon Selectives is putting a lot of weight on this advertising campaign and the results are expected to be great for them.

“The new campaign leverages the brand’s original core messages of transformation and customization while modernizing the theme. We have developed a new ad approach for the hair care category, moving away from product demonstrations and impossibly beautiful hair close ups, to connect with women through fantastical action-adventure stories.”

(Source) Business Wire

In today’s environment, with technological advances, marketing strategies and celebrity endorsements, shoes have become much more than just footwear. Brands are scrambling to assert their top-dog status, and today finds Nike is in the midst of launching one of their broadest multimedia campaigns to date, including a :60 spot to air on American Idol and college basketball tournaments asserting that “my better is better than your better”:

The emerging Nike campaign is in direct response to the Under Armour Superbowl spot proclaiming “The Future is Ours,” announcing their entrance into the cross-trainer marketplace. Under Armour quickly rose to dominance in the “compression fitting apparel” category, and after entering the market less than a year ago, has taken a 1/5 market share of football cleats. An interesting article in today’s Oregonian has some interesting info and quotes regarding the Nike campaign and the shoe/athletic apparel battle:

“This was definitely an all-out attempt to stop Under Armour in its tracks,” said John Horan, publisher of trade newsletter Sporting Goods Intelligence. “They want to make sure they don’t get surprised on this category.”

Follow the jump for the Under Armour spot, a bit of Adidas, and some Pony action