Archive for the 'commercials' Category

27
Jan
12

Super Bowl Advertising Preview

By Heather Horsey 5 Comments
Categories: Ads, Advertising, B2C, Branding, commercials, NFL and Super Bowl
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The average cost of a commercial for the Super Bowl is around $3.5 million this year, and NBC pretty much sold out its ad inventory by Labor Day. With the DVR changing how we watch TV and creating commercial skipping, television advertising seems like a dying media. So, why do advertisers mortgage the farm to get an ad for the Super Bowl?

Fewer events are more hyped, create as much fanfare, attract more interest from celebrities, politicians and average Americans than the Super Bowl. And live is still how viewers like to watch sports with the NFL leading the sports pack in fan base size. Last year’s Super Bowl had an astonishing 110 million viewers – definitely worth mortgaging the farm.

Therefore, we wanted to preview some of the spots that we think will be real highlights this year.

Volkswagen

One of the highlights last year came courtesy of Volkswagen as they unveiled their commercial, “The Force,” which featured a young Darth Vader and a new 2012 Passat.

Volkswagen may have replicated its 2011 success with a memorable ad for the  Super Bowl XLVI. They have a teaser (yes – an ad of an ad) for this year’s Super Bowl commercial, which includes dogs barking the Star Wars theme and is named “The Bark Side.”

As a dog lover, and Vizsla owner (top row-center), I for one am excited to see this ad.

Sketchers
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, will be guest starring in Sketchers third-consecutive Super Bowl ad. With expectations lowered after last year Kim Kardashian commercial, Sketchers can only improve, right?

It turns out that this particular ad features racing greyhounds that lose to a tiny dog wearing Sketchers.

Doritos
In my opinion, Doritos has been throwing multiple game winning touch downs with its “Crash the Super Bowl Contest” for the last couple of years, and this year looks to be no different. Here are some of the top contenders.

Sling Baby
What do you get when you mix a baby in a swing, a mean grandmother and a bratty kid taunting them both? A great commercial.

Man’s Best Friend
Dog-themed entries always grab my attention. This entry features a dog trying to cover its tracks and a human that can apparently be bought off for just a sack of Doritos.

The Voice
A promo for “The Voice” that will be aired during the Super Bowl, for a series that premieres directly after the Super Bowl, will at least create some conversation at the water cooler on Monday. The spot is titled “Vokal Kombat,” so I can only assume that it features Christina Aguilera ripping Adam Levine’s head off, vocally that is.

So, we are interested to know, what commercials are you most excited to see and , more importantly, do stellar commercials make up for a Super Bowl that is heavy on defense or one-sided? Let us know here on The Side Note, or on Facebook (Facebook.com/WeiseCommunications) or on Twitter (@Weise_Ideas).

22
Jun
11

Brand Advocates make the Best Endorsers

By Heather Horsey 1 Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising, commercials, Digital Media, Endorsements, Guerilla Marketing, Guerrilla Marketing and Stunts
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Are you in love with your car? How about customizing it? Considered color-matched exterior mirrors with your headphones? You are not the only one who loves their car with passion. One of my favorite brands, MINI, ran an outdoor campaign last month in Berlin that brought to life an unconventional marketing idea. MINI is a unique brand which truly allows buyer to express their unique personality.

KLLD global lead agency for BMW group has developed a new campaign for MINI, inviting millions of fans of the car from around the world to become part of the MINI family. This is a brilliant campaign because ir creates a personal experience for buyers, like the tagline says, “It’s Personal. Be MINI.”

In this campaign, brand users got the chance to be in a MINI ad campaigns. Participants were invited to enter MINI Photo Box, clamp on a pair of vibrantly colored headphones and select their favorite model from the MINI family with color-matched exterior mirrors. There were four colors and four models to choose from: the MINI Hatch, MINI Convertible, MINI Clubman and MINI Countryman.

Next, participants appeared in real-time on a video screen together with their photo and personalized MINI model. The MINI campaign was set up overnight on May 16 and continued until May 29 at the intersection of Kurfürstendamm and Joachimstaler Straße in Berlin. The campaign also ran simultaneously with a Facebook launch. (LINK TO:)

“With our ‘It’s personal’ campaign, MINI fans interact individually and authentically in an urban environment,” says Julia Hartmann, MINI Brand Management. “Through the personal configuration of the model, along with their choice of colors, we encourage them to express their personality – in front of friends and a global audience.” This unconventional guerilla marketing campaign was set to reach more than two million people on location and over 1.8 million MINI Facebook fans.

What do you think about making brand users into stars of an advertising campaign? How would it help your business get more attention? Share with us on Facebook at Weise Communications, follow us on Twitter @Weise_Ideas.

Thanks to Duysal Ekinci for her help in this blog post.

05
Jan
11

Branding Content: How creating a persona for your brand creates ROI

By Heather Horsey Leave a Comment
Categories: Ad Agency, Ads, Advertising, Apps, Business growth, Business Strategies, business to business, business to consumer, commercials, Communications, Digital Media, Email, Facebook, Flikr, Foursquare, GOOP, personas, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, webisodes and YouTube
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Branded content is essentially a fusion of entertainment and advertising that has been around for decades, just think of soap manufactures and the soap opera. With social media and the increasing prevalence of mobile apps in our daily lives, branded content seeks to have an increasingly large role in marketing and advertising of brands in the future.

Branded content can be anything from a short film, music, game, blog, mobile app, newsletter, blogzine, microsite or real-life event. The content merely exists to entertain and educate the consumer, while conveying subtle brand messages in the mean time. But more than this, branded content creates a persona for your brand and helps engage target audiences in a reciprocal relationship.

The idea for a brand is to listen to online conversations and establish what interests your target audiences. Is there a need or desire for certain information? Can you provide that information in an engaging way?

The most successful branded content programs are able to blend messaging in a seamless and transparent fashion, while still getting the information across to the consumer. Branded content creation serves several purposes: customer entertainment, stealth advertising and social engagement.

An industry that has embraced branded content is the fashion industry (see Louis Vuitton’s NOWNESS), but other brands that get it right are:

The iFood application allows users to:

  • Email or print coupons for Kraft products or even add them right to your store savings card.
  • Find recipes and post the ones you love to Facebook
  • Scan and enter a barcode to add to a shopping list or find recipes
  • Print shopping lists, coupons, and recipes
  • Get detailed recipe directions and even video tutorials
  • Set alerts about planned recipes, recopies of the day or special offers
  • Find a retailer to buy your products

Now, tell me that wont build more consumer loyalty?

Branded content is about creating an experiential story; It’s about crafting stories though every communication tool – signage, display advertising, print, radio and television ads, that are then translated to the web, social networks and now mobile apps. In the end it really comes down to knowing your customer extraordinarily well. By consistently engaging your audience via editorial content that is expertly mixed into the e-commerce landscape, you can tie sales. The best social media and branded content executions out there are driven by narrative, not commerce.

Branded content is quickly becoming a cost effective, long-term online marketing strategy that industries will continue to utilize as brands and retailers look for new, innovative ways to connect with customers online.

What impact do you think branded content can have on consumer behavior and where do you think this technique is headed in the future? We’d love to hear, so post a comment on The Side Note Blog, send us a tweet @Weise_Ideas, or find us on Facebook: Weise Communications.

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
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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.

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
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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.

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.

13
May
10

The American Cancer Society wants you to “Choose You”

By Heather Horsey 2 Comments
Categories: American Cancer Society, Business Strategies, business to consumer, Coca-Cola, commercials, healthcare, healthcare marketing and Walgreens
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The American Cancer Society launched the “Choose You” initiative this week to encourage women to take care of themselves and get proper cancer screenings. The national campaign involves a microsite, televisions actress spokesperson, two national sponsors (with advertising and marketing of their own), a national advertising campaign, and campaign–centered day.  We’ll take a look at the integrated health care campaign and review the tactics it uses.

The sobering facts, according to the American Cancer Society, is that one in three women will get cancer in her lifetime, and about half of all cancer deaths could be prevented if people maintained a healthy weight through diet and regular exercise; avoided tobacco products; and got recommended cancer screening tests. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to incorporate these healthy behaviors into a busy lifestyle.

Using actress Ellen Pompeo, from Grey’s Anatomy, as their spokesperson, the American Cancer Society held a large kickoff event in Times Square. They are encouraging women to sign a Choose You Commitment, an online pledge to reach a specific, individual health goal. Participants give a minimum five dollar pledge once they sign a Choose You Commitment to incentivize them to stay on track. They can also ask friends and family to support them.

Choose You participants and visitors to ChooseYou.com, the campaign’s microsite, have access to online support and tools such as a calorie calculator, virtual dietitian, nutrition and activity quiz, smoking cost calculator, prevention and early detection videos, and a desktop helper with daily health tips.

National sponsor Sprite Zero will launch new advertising to raise awareness of the Choose You initiative. The new digital and billboard ads will appear across the country starting in May and will feature the tagline, “The Choice Is Clear,” with information on the brand’s zero sugar and no caffeine benefits. Sprite Zero is also supporting the Choose You launch through product sampling and couponing.

National sponsor Walgreens, through its stores nationwide, will be offering discounts on products to help women live well and put their health first. Additionally, throughout the month of May, Walgreens customers will have the opportunity to support Choose You with a “scannable” donation at checkout.

On May 12, large employers around the country participated in Choose You Day, and encouraged their employees to pledge a five dollar donation to the lifesaving work of the American Cancer Society. The employees were also encouraged to take 30 minutes during the workday to focus on their own personal health. Employees could choose to take a walk, attend a yoga class or participate in a program provided by employers.

This campaign has lofty goals, and a great deal of marketing, public relations and advertising to back it up. The integration of advertising and marketing here is brilliant. Using advertisers to support your cause and spread your message is both cost-effective and a smart tactical move. However, the messaging for Sprite Zero will be interesting to review as they try to spread a healthy message yet not ‘dis’ their staple brand, Coke; a difficult, but accomplishable goal.

Overall the campaign’s use of a microsite, pledge and multi-faceted approach to educate women is smart and will hopefully be effective in making American women take action in regards to their own health.

17
Mar
10

Major Corporations Not Advertising Healthy Options…To Protect The Unhealthy Ones?

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Branding, business to consumer, commercials, healthcare marketing, Marketing and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , ,

A recent article in Advertising Age explained that some major food production companies are doing away with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as their main sweetener ingredient and replacing it with good old plain sugar. The switch to sugar is limited to certain products. I am no doctor or dietitian or nutritionist, but I have taken enough health, wellness and work out classes to know that high fructose corn syrup is unhealthy for two reasons – it’s sugar and it’s processed. And worse yet, it comes in virtually everything you buy that is packaged in the grocery store.

I also know that people are fed up with it. Which is why the switch is being made back to sugar. As HFCS became a cheap and easy way to add “flavor” to pre-packaged foods, obesity rates quickly began to climb. The statistics vary, but a variety of research says that the average American annually consumes upwards of 54 pounds of sugar, just in soda. Total annual sugar consumption for Americans is between 100-120 pounds, each. Yikes! You think you are not one of those people? Check out the foods you normally buy in the grocery store, many have HFCS included as a top ingredient – bread, yogurt, pasta, salad dressing, ketchup, pickles… the list goes on and on.

So why would a major food producer like Hunts Ketchup or Wheat Thins NOT do a major marketing splash when they eliminate HFCS from their foods? It’s not because of the lingering recession; it’s because of the unwillingness to take business away from their other brands that still carry the HFCS. (My guess is that non-HFCS products will be more expensive to purchase.)

According to the same article, Pepsi and Mountain Dew are marketing their products that have switched from HFCS to sugar – but these changes are for a limited time only. So they are making and marketing a short-term change to sugar, not a long-term one. See the Mountain Dew Commercial here:

I have issues on so many levels with all of this information (don’t get me started about why sugar is added to my bread or spaghetti sauce.), but my major concern is that the brands don’t want to advertise that they are switching from HFCS to regular sugar because they don’t want to hurt their HFCS brands, or confuse the consumers that don’t understand the issues with HFCS. Wouldn’t we all be better off if they did shout the change from the mountain top? Shouldn’t they be proud of this switch? Or are they just trying to defer the spotlight from how much sugar (sweetener, HFCS, whatever…) are in their products to begin with?

To make matters worse, we still have the Corn Refiners Association running a major advertising campaign stating that there is no difference between HFCS and sugar. The implication being that either are fine for you. You can see one of their commercials here:

OK – I’ll give them that added sweetener is still just that – added sweet. But HFCS is still processed, and our bodies react differently to it than to sugar. And I firmly believe that when a switch is made to a healthier ingredient, we should celebrate this, not hide it.

23
Dec
09

Vintage Toy Commercials Just in Time for Christmas Shopping

By Jay Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: commercials and Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

Vintage Toy Motorcycle

Straight out of the “Leave it to Beaver” era, I ran across this great video of vintage toy commercials by John Behrens (2009). It seems to be from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. I love how many of the commercials are totally driven to be sold to boys. Then at the end of the commercial, when the voice-over says, “No BOY should be without X toy,” the same voice then says, “And great for girls, too,” with a closeup of a smiling girl holding the obviously boys’ toy.

The level of technology, if you can call it that, is funny to watch and see how far technology has come since even the ’70s.

Collection of Vintage Toy Commercials

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