Closing Blog

As the semester has finally come to an end, I wanted to talk about how my first experience with blogging has gone. It has been surprisingly fun and it was cool to be able to critique different advertisements--specifically in my case, commercials and print ads. Advertising is all around us and it was really the first time in my life that I was attentive about it and did some deeper digging to think about things like: who's the target market? Were they successfully reached? What is the objective of the ad? What is their single-minded proposition? Why did they make their print ad so small or large? Why did they choose those colors? Does wordy or not wordy help a specific advertisement? There are so many aspects to advertising that I never took the time to realize. Originally, when I first heard about this assignment of having to blog two times a week, I was pretty unhappy about it. I had never blogged before and didn't really know what to do. Four months later, I am certain I will continue to blog. I am going to change my blog site because I will probably go another route in my blogging that isn't directly at advertisements. I'm sure there will be some blogs of me critiquing and criticizing certain ads but I just want to blog about different situations going on in the world around me. I want to thank Jane, my advertising teacher this semester, for allowing me and everyone else in the class to be exposed to blogging because I know if I never took this class, I would never consider blogging...ever! So thank you! I'm out for now...until next time bloggers!

Winner Winner...CUTIES for Dinner!

So our advertising group presented a creative pitch about Cuties today and we came out on top! We were able to combine humor with the creative briefs objective and SMP and we felt like we had huge success! We had a lot of fun putting together different ideas for executions and being able to explain them to the class. We had 3 different commercials that we would air on television, and what we felt really brought home our point was having our background music incorporated within our presentation. The music differed for each commercial because each commercial would have a different scenario and we were able to match the commercials with the proper soundtrack. For example, in our first commercial, we called it Cutie Countdown and it was about a bunch of dads running to the grocery store with their kids and a grocery list written out by their wives. At the top of the list, it says "Cuties". The dads all see there is only one bag left and suddenly turn into superheroes! (as I blogged before, our big idea was BE THE HERO). We have the Diaper Wrangler and the Bottle Blaster for two heroes in a showdown for the last bag of Cuties. They are throwing diapers or squirting bottles into one another's eyes. Then an employee rolls up with a cart full of Cuties saying "Chill guys, Cuties are back!" During this entire commercial, we have the song Final Countdown playing. One of our other commercial ideas was a dad watching his kid play in a soccer game. The dad is relaxing, interacting with the other parents and suddenly his wife calls and says, "honey, you have snack duty today, I hope you remembered the Cuties." Then time stands still when he realizes he forgot. He sprints to his minivan with a stroller, backpack, and diaper bag trying to get home and back in time for halftime with his Cuties. He gets home dumps the bowl of Cuties into his backpack and gets back in the car. He's driving like a madman to get back to the game. The soccer field is in sight, he skids into the parking lot and grabs his backpack full of Cuties. Just then, the theme song from Chariots of Fire begins to play and the dad begins to run towards his son in slow-motion. He's dripping sweat, he's pushing the stroller but it begins to veer out of control so he leaves in behind, he jumps over a dog and diapers are flying out of his diaper bag. He gets to the team just in time and his son goes, "Dad! You remembered snack duty!" and the dad says while gasping for air, "yes I did!" and he begins passing out Cuties to all the little kids and they begin to rejoice and praise him. Our punch line would then be, "Don't miss your chance to be the hero...buy Cuties!" and in the background, the dad is bent over at the waist and the other parents are all smiling and patting him on the back. We had a blast being able to create a pitch for Cuties and our team was able to pull together and get first place in the creative brief for Uniqlo and then get first place in the creative pitch for Cuties. Vitality...where would you be without us?

Cuties Clementines

So my advertising group is working on a creative pitch for Cuties Clementines as seen in the picture above. One point that the brief team made that caught our eye was that their target market was not only moms but dads as well. We thought we could really capitalize on this niche within the market so we did. We have made thought of several ideas that incorporate dad's "being the hero" and we have been able to run with that. Our group has several execution strategies including 5 commercials and 1 print ad that we would be placing in a magazine. We are extremely excited to pitch our idea to the class on Thursday and if there weren't other groups competing with us for the Cuties pitch, I would have gone into more detail about our ideas. I will come back and blog about how our pitch went and how I thought we executed our pitch to the class.

Earl Cox: The Martin Agency

Earl Cox was supposed to come speak to our advertising class yesterday, but had a last minute cancellation. I was really excited about Earl Cox coming to speak to our class after I did my research on The Martin Agency because I found out that they came up with the “Virginia is for lovers” campaign which is now nationally known because I knew about this all the way up in Boston…my home town. This agency was founded in July 1965 in Richmond, Virginia and they are one of the nation’s leading agencies today. According to their website, they have consistently been in the top 5 marketing agencies in the country! Earl Cox’s role for the company is the chief strategy office and partner. He got his BA from Virginia Tech and he has worked on big campaign ideas including GEICO and UPS which is pretty cool. I feel like he would’ve been a really great speaker to hear from for at least two reasons: he’s a Virginia Tech alum that has gone through some similar things that we have and because of his experience with big companies like GEICO and UPS. Unfortunately, he cancelled but I know he would’ve had some great things to tell our class especially about strategies.

Inflatable Airbag in a Mag?

After our discussion in class on Tuesday, we talked about how there are many layouts to an ad. This one caught my eye because it's more than just an ad on paper...it's an ad that comes off the paper! On the page before the actually inflatable airbag, it says, "hit this spot hard and find out why the new Peugeot 408 provides a lot more safety". After the reader hits down on the spot, there is a tiny airbag that inflates on the next page and then the ad goes into detail about all the airbags this car provides. This ad really attacked the design principles we talked about in class specifically the depth & perception and movement. Having an ad in a magazine move will set you apart from other competitors because not many companies do that. It also increases the depth of the ad as well with this inflatable airbag. The last and final thing this ad did was that it nailed the first impression. It needed to draw the reader in and it definitely did. If I ever saw an ad that said "hit this hard", I would do it 10 times out of 10 and then I would be exposed to the reality of how that airbag inflates in a car. What a great marketing idea!

Nike ID

I think this is a very clever yet simple print ad made by Nike. After we saw Brandon Thornton and hear him talk about how Nike ID has played such a huge impact on Nike, I decided to go check out some of their ads for it. This one grabs the reader's attention immediately with great VISUALS with their variety of colors that they use. It is very creative or UNIQUE because its showing a shoe being dunked in paint which can seem odd to some reader's which will cause them to look into this ad a bit more. Once they look at it, I think they can draw some conclusions that the consumer can customize their shoe to whatever color they like...on that same note, I think it could also be confusing because some consumers may not be able to connect this idea because this ad has a lack of words; and by lack of words, I mean NO WORDS. Through in class discussion, we talk about how the headline is used to draw the reader in...there is no headline so how can they draw them in with it. That is something I wish Nike had put a little more thought into and if they put something simple in there that talks about customizing your own shoe the way you want it, I feel like that could increase their already awesome idea of Nike ID.

Miller Light "Man's Up"

So this commercial came out a couple of years ago, but I remember that they came out with a few different commercials with this theme of "Man Up" and have a Miller Lite. Obviously, their challenge is to be able to compete with other brands specifically bud light. The objective that Miller Lite is trying to achieve is to position Miller Lite as a light yet tasty beer in the mind of the consumer. I really liked these commercials even though they may come across as a little bold by calling out their target audience (mainly 21-35 year old men) for not being too "girly" to order a Miller Lite but I like it because they used humor to help get across their message. The SMP for this ad, I thought, was that if you use a "carry-all", you aren't ready for a Miller Lite. It's a manly alternative to a "light" beer, but you get more taste instead of a mediocre light beer. Miller Lite came out with several other commercials like this that have the same theme as I mentioned earlier. For example, they have one where instead of a man using a purse, he think skinny jeans is a good look. Same message where it seems like guys are doing girly things and when they become a man, to try Miller Lite. Immediately after watching this commercial, I stopped knitting and ran to the bar to get a manly Miller Lite...so MAN UP!

Gatorade is Always #1

Print ads need to be simple yet effective and I think this one does it perfectly. Everyone knows about Gatorade and how powerful of a brand they are, but they still need to make advertisements to maintain their elite positioning within the consumer's mind. This ad combines both sports (where Gatorade focuses most of its energy) and their rank among competitors (NUMBER ONE!). This reinforces their dominance to their consumers and causes them to still think about Gatorade. I love Gatorade and after viewing this ad, it made me want Gatorade now. Everyone wants the BEST of something and Gatorade knows that's one of their competitive advantages...I think Gatorade was smart in making this ad to really separate themselves from their competitors. A well done ad by Gatorade that states the facts right to the consumer and they use great color and imagery to reel the audience in.

Kelly Fisher: Got Chocolate Milk?

Tomorrow for our guest speaker, Kelly Fisher will be talking to our advertising class. Kelly supposedly has played a big role in the Got Milk campaign. It was originally started in October 1993. It only increased sales in California, not the whole nation. Obviously, this campaign has been a huge success because it is still going on now and it’s almost 20 years later. Milk sales have increased a lot and this campaign is one of the very first ones I ever remember in my entire life. I thought it was incredible that they could get famous celebrities, mainly athletes or singers, to get that signature milk mustache above their lip. It is so memorable for not only me, but a bunch of other people. I am beyond excited to hear all about this campaign tomorrow from Kelly because of how booming this promotion for milk has been. I know this will be an awesome presentation tomorrow and I can’t wait to learn more about the behind the scenes part of this entire process. Since I couldn’t find much information on Kelly Fisher herself, I am ready to learn about her role as well............................ Kelly Fisher spoke to our class today and it was pretty awesome. One, because we got free things including shirts, lanyards, and keychains with “Got Milk?” written all over them; and secondly, because she filled us in on their newest idea. I had no clue that the Got Milk? Campaign was moving to increase sales for chocolate milk currently. She walked us through a couple of their ideas and they are actually going away from milk mustache look for chocolate milk for numerous reasons, one including it simply just didn’t look good. She showed examples of all of their ideas and let us analyze them for which one we thought were the best and worst ones of the options given to us. They ended up choosing the campaign that my group said was the best one…”My After” which had the meaning that chocolate milk is a great choice for an after workout or after game drink to help refuel you the quickest. I thought it was a pretty cool idea and apparently so did their consumers because Kelly said that their sales have increased since pitching this newest campaign. I had a great time listening to Kelly Fisher talk about such a popular campaign such as Got Milk? And I learned a lot from her.

Julie Talbot: Burt's Bees

Julie Talbot will be coming in from Burt’s Bees to talk to our class. She is the global brand manager for them and I’m very excited to see what she has to tell us because of how big and successful of a company that Burt’s Bees is. Burt’s Bees has to be one of the top competitors in the lip balm industry which led me to research exactly why and how they got to be the best. They are very committed to many things that score well with their target market like: making their products 100% natural, preserving the rights of both humans and animals, giving back to the community, and taking care of the people who make our business what it is. I like that Burt’s Bees does all of these things because it is important in the consumer’s minds. I couldn’t find a lot of information on Julie through the website so I’m excited to see exactly what her job description entail...................... Unfortunately, due to bad weather, Julie was not able to come in and to talk to our class about Burt’s Bees so I didn’t learn much about Burt’s Bees and how they were able to position themselves to be amongst the top lip balm company in the world. I really wish she was able to make it in because I find great fascination out of companies such as Burt’s Bees that have been able to climb their way to the top and be the “king” of their respected industry.

Kleenex...The Kisser Cleaner Upper

I absolutely LOVE this advertisement. I thought Kleenex did an extremely good job in portraying the message of how powerful their product is. Being the youngest grandchild and only grandson in my family, I had personally experience of getting smooches on my face from not only my grandmother but her 8 other sisters during family reunions. I can 100% relate with this poor kid in the print ad. When I saw this ad, I thought of me. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to wipe off old lady lipstick from your face. It's sticky, it smears all over the place, and worst of all, gets all over my sleeves when I'm trying to wipe it off. If only I had...wait... a Kleenex! Incredible! The only thing I would question in this print ad while yes...very funny and very easy to relate to..it relates to me...currently a 21 year old male college student. And if I saw this print ad 10-15 years earlier, it still would relate to me. But I wouldn't buy this product, my mom would. So it makes me question a little bit about the target market they were attacking in this advertisement but I know moms will see this ad and appreciate the humor and possibly go out a purchase this product...because if something can get off lipstick...it must be sent from God!

Corona: Find Your Beach...Wherever That May Be

I'm a huge fan of Corona first of all, so I may be a little biased towards this brand but I absolutely love what Corona has done with their advertisements especially with their new punch line: find your beach. The problem that Corona has encountered before these commercials is that they have to constantly compete with all the other beer brands like: Bud Light, Coors Light, Heineken, and Dos Equis to name a few. All of those commercials bring something unique but mainly they're all humorous commercials. Corona has gone a different route which I like because it is really setting them away from the norm of beer commercials. They had to compete somehow with all these other brands and they're doing just fine with these beachy commercials. Everyone loves to think about drinking a nice cold beer in front of the ocean. It's just a pleasant thought to think about and it kind of puts people in a "happy place" thinking about that. I know I love drinking a beer on the beach. Corona's objective, I feel, is to make themselves more competitive with Bud and Coors etc...and I feel like they have by using these "beach" commercials. They are way different than the Bud and Coors commercials so it strikes a different nerve within the consumer's mind. Their brand positioning is much different which needs to happen because Bud Light has dominated the humor aspect of a beer commercial. Their target audience is obviously beer drinkers but not the party animal, sport watching type. They're going after the more sophisticated, business side of people where they may be traveling on business and they just need a Corona to bring them to "their beach" to relax and not to a huge sporting event where it's loud and surrounded by obnoxious drunks. I feel their SMP (single-minded proposition) is "find your beach". But what exactly does that mean? I think it doesn't necessarily mean drink a Corona and you'll feel like you're on a beach. It really means, what is equivalent in your mind as a beach is in the mind of those in the commercial. Maybe your beach is watching a movie with your significant other or reading a book with a Corona in hand. The bottom line is that Corona is saying that a Corona can take you to your happy place wherever that may be. To me, a beer on a beach is perfect and I love what they did with this advertisement.

Presidential Election

This blog is going to be short because I absolutely hate politics. I would watch a few commercials here and there but I would try to avoid it at all costs. But if I were to say who advertised better, I would say Romney but that doesn't have much to do with anything. I only think that because Obama was able to have his four years in office and there were obviously people unhappy with his performance...even some Democrats. So I felt like Romney had the upper leg coming into the election because he would be able to use that against Obama. I really don't feel like advertisements have much pull in the presidential elections anyways though. I think they mostly depend on how you grew up and then the presidential debates. Unfortunately, Obama is the king of speaking and pretty awesome at debates and Romney takes a backseat to that. I'm a Romney fan but I can only hope for the best... Go Team Romney!

Brandon Thornton: Wieden & Kennedy

Brandon Thornton from Wieden & Kennedy came and spoke to several of us about his job at Wieden & Kennedy and the steps he took in order to get there. Brandon graduated from Virginia Tech in 2006 as a marketing major and didn’t really enjoy his time here. He got a job for UPS and absolutely hated it. He eventually quit once he got accepted into the VCU Brandcenter. After making it through the two-year program, he attained an internship with Wieden & Kennedy and has been working there ever since mainly on the Nike account. His background story was very encouraging to me because I almost feel as if I was in the same boat as he was in. He finally found something he was good at and passionate about and now he’s doing that as a career. Throughout his presentation last night, he constantly hit home the point of “creating your own voice”. I liked this because we have to attempt to do this in our blogs that we have to do for class. Brandon was able to use the gifts and strengths that he has and he is now doing something he absolutely loves. I may not want to work at Wieden &Kennedy but I want my lifestyle to be similar of Brandon’s in that I will be doing something in my career which really emphasizes my strengths and at the same time, is something I love doing. His entire presentation was extremely interesting and hopeful for me as I am about to enter the real world in a few months. I’m excited to hear what else he has to say in class today.__________________________ When Brandon came to speak to our class he showed us how a creative brief was done by his company. It was really incredible the amount of time and effort it looked like was put into the brief. It was great being able to see something tangible for us to relate to in order for us to put together our creative brief on Uniqlo. I was very motivated after his presentation in class because it made something that seemed so far-fetched more of a reality for us to do and I was encouraged -- that through not only Brandon, but our other speakers-- I am able to understand a whole new language through taking this class. These speakers have dropped a lot of terminology on us and if I wasn't taking this class, I would have no clue what an SMP was or a key insight was so that is also very helpful in our project that we have due in a couple of weeks. Brandon was definitely my favorite speaker so far because he was the most relatable to me. Yes, because he was closest to our age but also because of the environment in which he works and what he does (mainly within the sports industry). I learned so much from Brandon during both his night and day presentations.

Powerhouse Gym

As I was searching online for some print ads that caught my eye, I was immediately drawn to this one. I like this one a lot because it's very clever in the fact that it uses its surroundings to help draw attention to the ad. A building is under construction and the ad agency was able to capitalize on that and make it look like a guy was working out. Size was a big factor for me. Not only was this a clever and fun idea, it's also HUGE. Everyone driving/walking by this is going to see this and it's memorable enough where they might consider a membership at this gym. This ad is obviously very extreme with a huge, muscular man doing a work out with two cranes but that's what will make it stick in the target market's mind. This is a very very visual print ad that shows what could happen to you if you joined this gym. I've been a member here for 3 months and I'm seeing results just like this guy!

Tidal Wave

This may be a bit of a stretch but Tide came out with this print ad and I thought the soup looked like a TIDE-al wave. I don't know if Tide had that connection but I think it would be pretty clever if they came up with that idea. That's just a side note. I think this print ad is pretty powerful because it really does state the facts: stains love your clothes. I can personally relate to this ad, and they drew me in with their vibrant orange color and it shows havoc and chaos. Maybe it's just me, but I am drawn to ads like this because they show humor and you want to know where the ad is going with it. That soup looks pretty thick and creamy and you know that would be a pain to get out of a nice dress shirt and since they're advertising TIDE...this stuff must be strong! I think Tide did a great job in showing how powerful it can be with the soup shown in the ad. I think being able to provide a powerful message in a print ad is very difficult and I think Tide did a great job with it.

Rodgers!! Discount Double Check!

Aaron Rodgers, NFL MVP of 2011, had this "touchdown dance" made famous through all of his rushing touchdowns throughout the year. His originally meaning to this celebration was showing off a championship belt, but he hooked up with State Farm and created the first of at least 4 State Farm commercials where he and other members of the Green Bay Packers help market State Farm. This commercial was awesome for State Farm because they attacked a target market of sport's fan. Obviously, this market is huge and using someone as influential as Aaron Rodgers and, when this commercial came out, the reigning Superbowl champions, this will get a lot of talk going around from consumers. I know who State Farm, All State, and Progressive are and some are more memorable than others but I, and I'm sure a lot of other people, get really interested in commercials when they combine the company's product with a celebrity--more importantly, a sport's icon. After this commercial debuted, it was no longer the championship belt celebration that was famous, it was State Farm and the "Discount Double Check" move. State Farm made this commercial a huge hit with its humor that they have made several more commercials sort of piggy backing off this original one. Personally, this commercial is my favorite of all of them, but yet, I still find myself sitting through all of these commercials and not changing the channel because I know that it has the potential to be as funny and catchy as the original. After this commercial, I found myself doing this ridiculous "discount double check" move just as a joke along with my roommates and if a commercial can get a consumer to do crazy things like the "discount double check" motion, then something has gone right in their advertising strategy.

7-Up Targets Wrong Target Market

So I was trying to find a print advertisement that was ethically questionable. I stumbled upon this 7-Up ad. You may wonder what this has to do with sports, but Kobe Bryant, arguably the NBA's best player is sponsored by them. So back to this ad...when I first glanced at it, I obviously thought it was a baby drinking beer. And I know that's what 7-Up wanted the consumer to think as well. It is very eye grabbing. But after that, I got to thinking...a lot of mothers and probably some fathers would get offended at this picture as it could hint at alcoholism and other such things. I think this was wrong, because one...babies shouldn't be drinking 7-Up and I can't imagine they have the "youngest customers in the business" and secondly, I think this print ad is extremely wordy. Maybe I'm just biased because I really hate reading ads with a lot of wording but I was not loving this ad one bit after my initial smile of seeing a baby drinking what I thought was a beer. Once I dug a little deeper, I realized this was a pretty dumb ad and I wasn't a fan.

Steve Grant: Modea

I have been looking forward to this speaker ever since I saw this on the syllabus. I have heard a lot about Modea and it has all been very positive. Upon my research, they have a really well put together website that gets across the point of what they do and I could really tell that they pride themselves on their creativity. One marketing tactic that I picked up on while researching is that they developed a blog in February. Before this class, I really would not have that much respect or take much notice to a company creating a blog but once I had to start blogging, I have a completely new perspective. Tomorrow, Steve Grant is coming to talk to our class about his insights and I’m really excited about what he has to say seeing that his position at Modea is head of strategy. This really applies to me because in my Marketing Communications class I’m currently taking, I was elected to be in charge of the strategy aspect of the entire, semester long project. I will have my ears open ready to hear what he does and how he executes on different ideas. I read that Steve was brought onboard to help define the strategic vision of Modea, as well as trying to grow the company. A fun fact that I read up on was that Steve Grant is also a hometown native of Blacksburg, VA. I’m ready to hear about Steve’s experiences over that last 9 months he’s been a part of Modea....................... After Steve's visit, I liked everything he had to say to the class but the big takeaway I got from his time here was how opinionated and funny he was. He knew exactly where he stood on so many beliefs, specifically owners of BMW's, and would insult them with no problem. Seeing this side of someone can really show us how very passionate they are about any such topic. I enjoyed that aspect of his presentation of how he kept the whole class engaged with funny jokes and also, his extremely strong opinions on different subjects. Hopefully, more of our guest speakers we have throughout the semester will be as engaging as Steve!

The Famous Arnold Palmer

What better way to market the famous "Arnold Palmer" drink than by using the man who invented it. Arguably, one of the best golfers the world has ever seen came up with this combination of iced tea and lemonade. Some people may be familiar with the golfer Arnold Palmer and may hear people say, "Man, I could really go for an Arnold Palmer" and the other person may have no idea what that is. By combining the person and the product, ESPN is reaching a whole new market. First, the Arnold Palmer drink attracts those who have heard of it through word of mouth but the sports watchers, like myself, found out through this commercial. I thought this was very clever for ESPN to incorporate Arnold Palmer with his very own Arnold Palmer creation. I'm sure the profit increased for the Arnold Palmer drink after the making of this commercial and after the first time I watched this commercial I thought, "That was awesome."

Old Spice = Big Muscles and Cute Girls

So you're telling me that if I invest in Old Spice: Champion I will be as strong as an NFL superstar and be able to do pushups with a hot girl riding a jetski on top of me? I think I'll buy it! Now the question--is this puffery or is this deception? I would say it's so absurd that it's puffery but I feel like this is flirting with deception. There might be some people out there that really think that using Old Spice: Champion could cause some of these results. Maybe not being able to pushup a jetski but maybe just make you stronger, but the more important one, is that if I start wearing this scent, I could have a cute girl in a bikini near me?! Why wouldn't I buy this product? As funny as Old Spice made this commercial it can still give people the wrong idea. Personally, I think this is puffery where I know that this doesn't happen. Maybe because I've been around long enough where I know that girls don't just chase you through the woods if I'm wearing Axe body spray or I can bench press a jetski with a cute girl riding it so I think this commercial is great. I think it's very memorable mainly because: 1. there's a cute girl in a bikini but 2. there is also the sport's aspect of it where Pro-bowler Wide Receiver Gregg Jennings is in this commercial. I tend to remember commercials with famous athletes in them so I thought Old Spice did a good job in marketing their product by using both the girl and a professional athlete. After seeing this commercial, I may go out and buy Old Spice: Champion...and a jetski.

Just Chip It Out!

Now this commercial is hilarious to me on all different levels. Being the avid golfer that I am, I have been in both scenarios--the one trying to make an impossible chip shot, and the guy saying "You can't get through there...just chip it out!" This commercial's target market is obviously to golfers, but mainly the inexperienced ones...the ones that may think they're better at golf than they really are. I've had many experiences like this where I thought I could hit a shot and it turns out for the worst; maybe not as bad as getting hit in the crotch but the ball definitely didn't go where I wanted it to go. This is great marketing by Chipshot that makes custom clubs because they are making it out that if the consumer had suitable clubs for him or herself, they'd be able to hit that impossible shot through the trees. I know that when I don't hit a great shot, I immediately blame my club, not myself! I thought this was a very well put together commercial that is very realistic for most golfers to relate with. The funny part about this commercial is that we golfers, still try to take that impossible shot about 98% of the time!

Look! It's Michael Jordan!!

Now this commercial is awesome on so many levels. We never really think about how common a name like Michael Jordan really is. For this guy in the commercial, it must really be terrible for him! Like me, everyone in this commercial thinks of Michael Jordan as the tall, black, basketball player and arguably the best basketball player the world has ever seen. For this poor poor man, he is nowhere close to being that. He's small, white, and nonathletic. You can see on everyone's face that they expect to see THE MICHAEL JORDAN! And their looks of disappointment are always there. ESPN did a great job in selecting their target market which is obviously sports fans because anyone who knows anything about sports will definitely know the name Michael Jordan. This commercial is great because it's so realistic for how we would act if we worked at a restaurant or a hotel or delivered a pizza to a guy named Michael Jordan. I feel that having a commercial that relates to your target market is key because it makes the advertising that much more memorable. The message of this commercial is "It's not crazy, it's sports." which is exactly what this advertisement captures. Fans will be fans and that's just how we are when it comes to sports! If your name is Michael Jordan and you aren't a 6-time NBA champion, I am sorry for you.

Dr. Pepper10: It's Not For Women!

Dr. Pepper10: It's not for women! Let's see...who could this offend? Umm, about 50% of the population! Dr. Pepper literally just offended and specifically called out women for not being able to drink this certain brand of Dr. Pepper because it's a "manly drink". Wow, I thought I had seen it all but when a company is literally telling a certain target market (a huge target market (women)) that it's "not for them", I feel like they are totally taking themselves out of the equation for getting maximum profit out of a product. A few girl friends that I have already told me how they were offended by that commercial and would never buy it now. Great job, Dr. Pepper...you lost at least 3 potential customers. And not only did my friends say they wouldn't buy that specific type of Dr. Pepper, they said they are done with Dr. Pepper...period. Why would Dr. Pepper do this? Maybe because it has some people, like myself, talking about it. Cool, Dr. Pepper got me talking about how this offended a total sex but is it worth it, Dr. Pepper? Is it worth you losing potential customers just so you can get a buzz going around about your potentially offensive commercial? Maybe to you, but to me, I thought this was an extremely stupid move on your part. With all that being said, I'm still drinking Dr. Pepper...thankfully I'm a guy.

Monica Jones: AD2 Roanoke

We had a guest speaker from AD2 come speak to our Advertising class yesterday. Below is my insights and critiques on the company before I met Monica Jones and then I will write what I think about the company after the speaker. From my research, it may not be a current issue AD2 Roanoke is facing but I noticed that they are reaching out to strictly people the age of 32 and younger. As I feel they are trying to stay with the younger and “hip” crowd, I think that they could be limiting themselves from other opportunities out there. I think having a wider target market would help grow their company and people over the age of 32 may be in more of a need to stay “cool” and look towards the future. It’s not just the 32 and younger adults that want to look towards the future. Through further research and recommendations, I’ve noticed that a lot of people had a positive experience through AD2 Roanoke which is good especially because their website says, “we know how to have a good time”. As for consumer perceptions: as mentioned above, most customers are enjoying their time with AD2 Roanoke. I think a large part of that is not only the price ($2/month) but also how convenient they’ve made themselves. For example, they constantly send out tweets or post on Facebook. Since their current target market is adults 32 and younger, this works out because some of the older folks may not be as tech savvy so they’re using their young target market as a competitive advantage by using such websites. I also read that they help companies make personal websites. This is huge because having a presence in the world of Internet is one of the major ways companies make it in the world today. AD2 Roanoke knows how to reach its customers so that they can have a presence in the world at the most competitive level. For example, websites, twitter, and Facebook. __________________________________________________________________________________ Monica was very insightful and helpful when she spoke to the class yesterday. She just reinforced how important a good resume is and how important connections are. After hearing her speak, I got really encouraged because I have already had several internships so my final step is to just lock down a full-time job after graduation. I really liked what Monica said to us and I look forward to the rest of our guest speakers in Adversiting!

Watching the Game, Having a Bud

This is one of the first Superbowl commercials I specifically remember for longer than just a week of the Superbowl. I remember when this commercial came out a few years ago, it was a hit! Everyone I knew would be saying, "wassssupppppp???" Budweiser did a great job in tying in a very funny and memorable commercial to their brand. People may not have thought of Bud immediately but with the popularity of the saying "wasssuppppp" it made people wonder or ask where that came from, and then Budweiser would be brought up. It was a huge way to get their brand recognition out because they debuted the commercial on Superbowl Sunday (the most watched sporting event in America) and specifically known for having hilarious commercials. I love this because of how memorable it was and it was great because they went after the right target market. How many guys are just "watching the game and having a Bud?". It hit home for so many guys and then adding the funny catchphrase of "wassssuppppp" really hit the nail in the coffin. This is still one of my favorite commercials and it came out almost 6 years ago! Now that's how you advertise a product!