Archive for the 'Ads' Category

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08
Sep
10

We’re Weise…and we approve this message

By Mark Plumb Leave a Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising, B2B, B2C, Business Strategies, business to business, business to consumer, commercials, election, Marketing and Political
Tags: , , ,

Election Day is November 2nd and in the next two months, traditional advertising vehicles will be bombarded with political advertising. Expect to see more TV, radio, outdoor and print advertising advocating a specific candidate, issue or initiative.  Even though this is a mid-term election, there are so many congressional (both senate and house) and governor elections, traditional advertising channels will be inundated with political advertising.

There are two major impacts for marketing professionals:

  • Inventory of available advertising space is extremely low
  • People will become numb to advertising due to the political ad messages

Studies have shown that negative advertising moves the polls for and against candidates more than ‘what I stand for’ advertising. The fact that people tend to retain negative information longer than positive information is another reason why negative political advertising is so effective. Since it is effective is shaping opinions, we know we will see negative ads.  We always do.

Prior to Election Day, advertisers should consider alternate advertising vehicles.  For example, focusing on a vertical market segment.  If you are trying to reach men, focus on sports related media like Sports Illustrated or ESPN.com.

However, all is not doom and gloom as advertisers take for granted that the public’s dislike for political ads will spillover to product ads.  It is our opinion that there is a contrast effect for product/service advertisers. Exposure to negative political ads impacts the consumer feelings about politics – product/service ads are unaffected by these feelings. In comparison with political ads, product ads appear even more attractive and credible.

Advertisers create entertaining, emotional and humorous ads positioning products/services in the most attractive light. Positivity is the face of product/service advertising. In contrast, political advertisers typically anger, disgust and repulse their audience.

Advertisers should prepare for November 3rd (the day after Election Day) with renewed effort.  The inventory will be available and the public will be more receptive to your message.

Let us know if you agree with us and follow Weise Communications on Twitter where we approve our tweets.

17
Aug
10

Don’t Blame Advertising: Influencing Risky Health Behaviors in Youth

By Tracy Weise 2 Comments
Categories: Ads, Advertising, Health care marketing, healthcare and healthcare marketing
Tags: , , , , ,

Consumer Affairs published and article today titled, “Do Advertising Bans Deter Bad Habits in Youth?” The article raises some interesting concepts, most notably that bans on alcohol and tobacco related advertising does not quell these high-risk behaviors by youth.

The focus of the article is on the review of studies conducted to support advertising bans. Jon Nelson, professor emeritus of economics at Penn State is quoted in the article as stating,

“The studies, in fact, are deficient in so many respects that the big question is whether there’s any influence of marketing at all, especially the mass media.”

Well, Mr. Nelson, I can tell you, without a doubt, that if bans and regulations were lifted, the marketing of tobacco and alcohol products to youth will have a dramatic effect. Usage will increase. This is because smart marketers know how to get people to do the things they want them to do. And that is precisely why the limitations are in place.

We know that effective marketing will push behaviors in a certain direction. I believe what Mr. Nelson is trying to convey is the absences of marketing does not necessarily push behaviors away from risk taking. While I agree with the sentiment, when it comes to teenagers smoking and drinking, a stalemate is a pretty decent, albeit not perfect, solution.

And how can you expect more? There is a proliferation of “adult” advertising that teenagers resonate with. 17-year old girls are not trying to emulate other 17-year old girls, they are trying to emulate sophisticated and beautiful adults. Like the women these ads:

Even if you take advertising out of the equation, look at what teenage and young adult movie stars are show doing on a regular basis. Images are prolific of the “it” stars Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart smoking. And what teenage girl isn’t currently in love with Pattison? (Marlboro must simply love this image of Pattison).

The bottom line is you can blame advertising for getting people to do something. But can’t blame the lack of advertising for unsuccessfully preventing action. Community hospitals, government agencies and other healthcare organizations that want to decrease risky behavior in youth should spend money on “anti” campaigns. Because, like I already said, good marketers can make people do what we want them to do.

A couple of anti-smoking “youth” ads found on the 10steps.sg website…

09
Aug
10

QR codes: The next revolution for mobile marketing?

By Mark Plumb 21 Comments
Categories: Ads, Advertising, commercials, Marketing, Mobile advertising, mobile marketing, QR Code and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,

Calvin Klein has become one of the first brands in the U.S. to incorporate QR coding into their advertisements in hopes of integrating upcoming campaigns and engaging customers in mobile marketing.

A QR code is a square configuration of blocks specifically placed to identify a particular website when scanned by smart phones. Similar to bar codes, the QR code is photographed on a mobile phone, scanned and read by a mobile application, directing viewers to specific information, or in Calvin Klein’s case, a video advertisement.

Check out this story from the BBC with the first QR code application in Europe to get a demonstration of how QR codes work.

QR coding originated in Japan and has proven successful abroad, but has yet to be fully integrated into advertising in the United States. Calvin Klein placed this billboard in NYC and LA testing the effectiveness of QR coding in hopes of energizing traditional and digital consumerism at home.

Click on the image below to see the video for this QR code. The video is an ad promoting Calvin Klein’s skinny jeans X.

(Fair warning that the ad is racy/sensual and intended for mature audiences.)

QR codes allow companies to reach target markets while “on-the-go” creating brand activation. The question is where QR codes will take, not only mobile marketing, but also more mainstream advertising in the future? Will we see QR codes on billboards across the nation, on sales collateral, or even on business cards – linking to a video about yourself?

Wayne Sutton, author and business development strategist (pictured below) has already incorporated QR codes on his articles.

Let us know where do you think QR codes will take us in the future. Thanks to Lucas Niederer for contributing to this blog posting.

For more information on how QR codes can be used to better your business and improve your ROI, visit weiseideas.com.

30
Jul
10

Old Spice, New Marketing

By Heather Horsey Leave a Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising, commercials, Marketing, Social Media and Video Ads
Tags: , , ,

Contributed by Lucas Neiderer, Weise Communications Public Relations Intern

Isaiah Mustafa is helping to change the way we see online marketing. “Who is Isaiah Mustafa?” you may ask. He is the charming body-wash pitchman and face behind the more than 130 million viral views since February for Old Spice’s “Smell Like a Man, Man” campaign. He is also part of the reason the product’s sales jumped 55 percent the past three months and 107 percent this past month according to Nielson Co. data.

If you haven’t seen the commercials yet, take a look at two of my favorites.

Here are three takeaways from the Old Spice campaign.

1. Ingenuity. Old Spice did not simply shoot commercials in hopes of optimizing ROI and then move on to the next bigger and better campaign (which will have a hard time living up to this one). Instead, they did what most marketers and companies forget to do, build a relationship with their audiences. After the viral success of the commercials Old Spice and Mustafa delivered more than 185 live video responses to consumers’ social media queries. The videos continued to generate product and company conversations and built a community of followers, increasing the power of the Old Spice brand. Take a look at two of the video responses created by Mustafa and Old Spice.

2. ViralSpice. ViralSpice is an online marketing tool launched by Ajinty. Designed for celebrities, artists, politicians and big and small brands, it allows personalized ad campaigns to connect with followers while providing distribution and measurement of interactions. The tool allows users to personally target their most influential followers and measure the impact on their brand.  ViralSpice’s ability to measure brand engagement, recall and track conversations in real time will help shape the industry of tracking and measuring online marketing. Viral Spice was named after the Old Spice campaign because of the way Old Spice connected with its followers through video responses to followers’ questions and comments on social media.

3. Understanding your audience. Old Spice took the core nature of being “manly” and turned it into short satires, leaving men proud to be men and women wanting their men to be manly…and smell good. Interestingly, Old Spice did not target solely men who are the premier consumers of the brand. Instead Old Spice understood the influence females have on their male counterparts and tailored the videos to market to women as well, knowing they would purchase it for their man or persuade their men to purchase the body wash. Old Spice capitalized on their opportunity to not only produce comical videos, but also build a community with their followers, fans and direct and secondary target audiences.

Old Spice used creative communication to gain market share, increase ROI and build an online community.  Aside from producing creative videos, Old Spice was willing to take the time to respond to followers and produce interactive means of communication through social media, raising the bar for future online marketing.

Contact Weise Communications today to creatively build a community for your business and product. Visit us at www.weiseideas.com or call us today at (303) 996-9940.

12
Jul
10

The All Too Often Forgotten Marketing Rule

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising, healthcare, Marketing, PR and Social Media
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The All Too Often Forgotten Marketing Rule: Don’t Forget What Makes Your Hospital Different

Here on The Side Note Blog we write a lot about how and why to implement certain aspects of marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns. We have covered SEO, mobile marketing, social media, outdoor advertising, TV advertising, branding, crisis communication and so on. It should not be forgotten however, that all of your marketing and advertising should never lose focus on what makes your hospital unique. What is the one thing that your hospital can hang its hat on? Is it quality product, service, price, convenience, atmosphere or location? Never lose focus on the one thing that makes your hospital – the reason patients will change doctors to have treatment at your facility. This reason needs to remain a fundamental part of your marketing message.

Take for example a full-service hospital known and recognized by the community for its excellent oncology services that is focused on growing the orthopedic service line. This hospital should write messaging targeted at getting people to remember that a hospital with great oncology services most likely has other world-class services as well – in this case orthopedics. Anchor yourself to your key differentiator whenever possible.

Maybe the thing that you can ride on is your location. Consider a fundamental focus on outdoor and radio advertising and put directional information on every billboard and in every radio ad. Regardless of what the overall message is, never run an ad without information on where the hospital is located.

Maybe the very best thing that your hospital offers is the quality of nursing care. Focus on this. Nurses spend more time with patients that physicians do, so talk about the care of nursing in all areas of your hospital. Use your nurses in your campaigns. Talk about the difference they make every day.

Regardless of the goals of individual campaigns, try to include your distinguishing component. Don’t ever let your audience forget what makes your hospital different from your competitors.

15
Jun
10

Maybe you need better advertising. Maybe you need a better tampon box.

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Ad Agency, Ads, Advertising, business to consumer, commercials, Uncategorized and YouTube
Tags: , , , , ,

Yes, this is a blog about tampons. And it is especially relevant for art directors who constantly wear black and get all broody when clients ask to see “something a little bit different, please.”

For years, I have had issues with what I refer to “tampon box creative.” If you are not familiar with my personal reference to tampon box creative, all you need to know is that tampon box creative is not compelling. It is not noteworthy and it is not interesting. And it is most likely not worthy of my blog writing time.

So my day started out on a bang when Jay, our creative director, forwarded me a link to the American Advertising Federation 2010 National ADDY Award Winners, specifically the Best of Show Winner. It’s a mini-movie about Tampax. Even better, the story is about a boy learning to appreciate Tampax.

If you ask me, figuring out how to advertise tampons from a boy’s perspective is pure genius. I applaud the Leo Burnett agency for a superior concept and final execution. It is truly stellar and deserves the accolades it receives.

It is worth mentioning, however, that it is not just the P&G tampon movie that talks about tampons from a new and different perspective. A slew of recent tampon ads for U by Kotex prove a point that tampon commercials have traditionally been inside the world of “tampon box creative” – nothing notable or memorable. Let’s face it, in the list of “Best Ads Ever” you don’t find any tampon commercials. But these are better than their predecessors.

I love the fact that Kotex and Tampax are stepping out and truly letting their creative agencies come up with different, unique and interesting ideas to generate brand awareness and drive sales in a traditionally stale market.

The lesson we can learn from this is that regardless of what the product is and no matter how traditional the advertising HAS been, when you hire people who literally think “outside the tampon box,” you can develop compelling creative that gets noticed.

What do you think about the P&G movie? Do you have examples of tampon box creative you want to share?

Are you looking for compelling, out of the tampon box creative? Call me. I can assure you that nothing we do here looks like a tampon box.

04
Jun
10

Hanes and Michael Jordan – Another Integrated Marketing Campaign Done Well

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Ad Agency, Ads, Advertising, Branding, business to consumer, Marketing and Uncategorized
Tags: , ,

I would like to start this blog with a few personal comments. While my husband may not think I know who Michael Jordan is, I do. I may not be an over zealous basketball fan, but who doesn’t want to be like Mike? And to top it off, I love his Hanes Commercials. And don’t judge me, men love Victoria Secret commercials for the same reason women enjoy seeing Jordan in his Hanes.

So when I read the New York Times article about the new Hanes commercials (sans Charlie Sheen) it took me about 15 seconds to blurt out, “I love those commercials!” And now there is even more to love. Hanes has fully integrated the TV and radio campaign to include Rick’s blog (its rather lame, but so is Rick). The website promoting the story of Rick and Michael (stuck on a flight to Sydney together) is terrific. I especially like the comfort demos.

You can also follow Hanes Comfort on Twitter and on Facebook. I feel like the Facebook page could be a bit more Jordan-esque, but what is cool is that you can sign-up for Hanes weekly giveaway for a chance to win two round-trip JetBlue Airways certificates.

All of the commercials can be seen either on the website or on YouTube. I especially love the “bacon neck” ad.

The beauty of integrated campaigns, such as the Hanes campaign, is their ability to make use of multiple media channels – TV, radio, and social media to name a few. Messages reach larger audiences and can more specifically target service and product audiences.

What do you think? Will Jordan convince you to purchase some Hanes? Will you get involved in following Hanes in their social media campaign? What do you think about the campaign?

Is your business ready to utilize the power of an integrated campaign? Visit Weise Communications for help in making your campaign a success.

26
Apr
10

Facebook: It’s getting ‘Like’ confusing

By Mark Plumb 1 Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising, Communications, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Uncategorized and Web sites
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Facebook has recently made two changes to the social networking website. One is a new ‘Like’ button that can be embedded on other websites and enables sharing of content. The other change removes the traditional Fan Page and changes ‘Become a Fan’ to ‘Like’.  Using the same term for distinctly different applications could lead to confusion with users.

According to the New York Times, Facebook has created a universal ‘Like’ button that Web publishers will be able to add to their websites.  It has significantly more functionality than previous content sharing buttons.

For example, not only will the new ‘Like’ button allow Facebook to keep a record of the links liked by each Facebook user, it could also allow non-editorial sites such as Yelp to show users how many of their friends enjoyed a particular restaurant or business. Clicking the new ‘Like’ button on a website outside of Facebook will default to a Facebook user’s public profile and act as an implied recommendation.

There are significant implications for advertisers. Today, Facebook targets ads based on what information users fill out in their profile, including location, age, gender, favorites and fan pages.  With the new ‘Like’ button, Facebook may make targeting available based on self-selected preferences. Facebook members recommending things they “like,” will make it easy for Facebook to target advertising toward users “most liked” items filtered by their Facebook friends.

“Facebook potentially could power an all-knowing behavioral-targeting platform the likes of which we’ve never seen before,” said Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus, a New York-based strategic marketing agency.

The other change is a language change. For businesses with a fan page, users will connect with them by clicking ‘Like’ rather than ‘Become a Fan.’

Facebook claims this is a part of a larger effort to improve user experience, increase engagement and promote consistency. Facebook did some research and found out the users are more likely to “Like” something instead of becoming a fan.

Detractors say that if there is any increase in ‘Liking’ a Page versus ‘Becoming a Fan’, it is due to confusion users are experiencing over the language change. ‘Liking’ a page from a company isn’t the same as ‘Liking’ a friend’s status update. Instead you are connecting to that page and it will appear in your profile.  There is not an associated ‘Unlike’ button so removing the connection to a company’s Facebook page may prove to be challenging.

Asking people to ‘Become a Fan’ sounded more professional to me. If you have an idea on how to sound more professional than ‘Like Our Fan Page’, let us know. Until then, I know this sounds weird but…Please like us on Facebook.

09
Feb
10

The New Definition of Terrible Advertising – Demon Sheep

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising and Political
Tags: , ,

Look, I like Carly Fiorina. I respect her as a woman and a business leader. If I had had lunch with her a month ago, I would have asked a million questions about her life, her leadership mantra, her strength and her determination. But now, if I had the chance to ask her anything, it would be, “What were you thinking?!”

She is running for the Republican Senate nomination in California, and her latest political ad is just bad. I first read about it on NPR in a blog appropriately titled, “The Worst Political Ad Ever? This One Has Got to Be Up There.”

I was so mortified by the terrible production and terrible content. I had a hard time believing that the ad actually showed a fake sheep with red glowing eyes. This is one of those ads that you expect to see as a parody on Saturday Night Live. If I hadn’t read about it on NPR, I would not believe it was real.

My professional opinion? This will do Fiorina more harm than good. Based on the more than 600 YouTube comments – mostly negative – about the ad, I can’t imagine Fiorina isn’t thinking the same thing right about now. I guess we will see the true impact of this ad when the California primaries come around.

In the meantime, what can we learn from this? We can learn that politicians should hire agencies that not only have political savvy, but also know how to develop appropriate messages for their clients. And they should have some oversight in that production. What do you think about the ad? See the ad below:

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