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Adgabber points us to a funny spot from McDonalds who is continuing their aggressive push into the high end coffee market. It does a good job of taking the coffee shop experience to the every day Joe in an attempt to change the perception that high-end coffee is only for Philosophy majors. This is an interesting entry in the constant battle between the likes of Starbucks, McD’s and Dunkin Donuts.
I have to admit, I love a Starbucks Mocha but I haven’t been brave enough to try McDonalds version. Anyone out there who can vouch for…
Tide to Go has taken their talking stain to the people. To support the talking stain commercials, they’ve created a contest for user generated commercials. The contenders can be viewed at their site as part of the three areas where users can engage with the brand and provide content: Real Stories, User Generated Commercials and Be the Stain. The winning commercial aired during the Office series premiere on 9/25. Personally, I get a kick out of the section that allows users to become the stain by uploading a picture and audio to create a funny spot you can send out.
What do you think,…
In recent commercials, Old Spice takes a tongue-in-cheek approach with celebrity endorsements to promote Swagger. In each TV spot, a younger version of the celebrity is shown as being a total loser with the girls. Then, we see him today - as a hipper, more attractive individual.
The only problem with these commercials is the celebrities they’ve chosen (LL Cool J and Brian Urlacher) aren’t really all that cool. What’s more, both celebrities aren’t that famous for being ladies’ men. Think about it: who is the target audience? Young guys who shop for fragrance at Osco Drugs as opposed to the department store.…
Many companies struggle with whether or not they should hire a professional copywriter to create marketing collateral, write print or online articles, or the sales letter that goes to their clients. Especially in a time when many companies are number crunching, this becomes a big debate–usually between the marketing manager who understands the significance and the CEO who doesn’t.Here are 5 reasons why you should hire a copywriter.
1. You’re not a copywriter. First and foremost, you are not a copywriter. Copywriters are wordsmiths who know how to word things ways that you may never think of on your own. You probably…
Is everyone ready?
Ready for the September 28th season premiere of Dexter?
Well, get ready! Check out these cool, glossy magazine covers.
The covers replicate magazines such as Details, The New Yorker, People, Wired and GQ. With story lines like, “Everyone’s Favourite Hacker is Back,” “Dexter Morgan, Why He’s so Killer” and “Serial Sexy, Dexter Morgan Spills his Guts on Life as America’s Hottest Bad Boy.”
The world’s favorite serial killer is coming back for a third season on Showtime and along with these so called magazine covers, some pretty elaborate ad campaigns such as the ‘Bloody Urinals’ and ‘Butcher Shop’ promos, have been…
In the latest Microsoft commercial - sans Seinfeld - the biggest software developer in the world takes on its rival, Apple, by showing how global it is. People of different ages, from different countries, working in different industries all state “I’m a PC.” And? Well, that’s essentially it.
I can see how Microsoft is trying to inspire the million of users who are being told that PC users aren’t cool. And some folk might take comfort that not all PC users are nerds and even if they are, they outnumber those creative Mac people. But this ad seems to do little…
United’s “It’s time to fly” tagline was first unveiled during Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004 – present), but the campaign was reintroduced last month using a very smart strategy: a global venue (appropriate for a commercial airline). United premiered 5 new TV animation commercials during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. One of the animations features sea creatures in orchestration, called “Sea Orchestra.” Never have underwater creatures looked so elegant and amazing.
Christine Babick is a blogger at www.beneaththebrand.com. A marketing strategist and linguist, she specializes in marketing language, website text, “emo copy,” and cause and relationship marketing.
In order to promote its new Bliss line to female chocolate lovers, Hershey’s worked with viral marketing company House Party to organize more than 10,000 Bliss-themed parties, which took place frm April 25 to 27th. Hosts could go to Houseparty.com/hersheybliss before the party date to share party ideas. Overall, more than 129,000 guests attended the parties, where they could sample three different Hershey’s Bliss flavors. Afterwards, participants posted more than 26,000 photos, 50 videos and 15,000 blog entries to the site. House Party was also passed along 7.5 million to 8 million due to word of mouth from the event.
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Last summer, My M&M’s customized candies launched a challenge called My Treasured Moments. Couples were asked to write a 500-word essay describing a treasured moment in their lives involving My M&M’s. More than 300 submitted essays. The winning couple took a vow of silence and agreed to communicate for 31 days only using My M&M’s. During that month, people could log onto ww.mymms.com/win to view video footage of the couple communicating with My M&M’s in their home. The couple completed the challenge, winning $31,000.
When Does Controversial Advertising Go Too Far?
In my second and most likely last installment about controversial advertising, let’s talk about some campaigns that went too far & delve into why they went too far. This is where I think controversial campaigns get interesting from the armchair quarterback perspective because I think the definition of too far greatly depends on your personal mindset. Benetton, for example, has often found success with their controversial images and campaigns. But sometimes they have gone too far & received a backlash from it as a result. So, has Calvin Klein. Often…
Besides having beautiful classical and jazz piano versions of United’s lovely theme song, Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” United has created several fantastic animated commercials that express their offerings in a touching way to their audience.
Highly conceptual but at the same time, earthy and relatable even in their fantasy, these animations represent what magic there is in flying (if you can maintain your suspension of disbelief long enough to forget the extra charges for each piece of non-carry-on luggage that airlines like to sport these days).
What’s right about these ads? United used a popular form of creative expression and married it to…
In Belgium, this creatively and very appropriate promotion was done for Safari Park Beekse Bergen.
The lion was used to promote the Safari Park and what a perfect fit for the meat that consumers purchase at the local butcher!
What do you think? Have you seen butcher paper used for any other promotions? I would be curious to see them!
Source: Ads of the World
Amy is a blogger at Talent Zoo’s website: www.beneaththebrand.com. She currently works in nonprofits and is back at grad school. She really enjoys researching creative marketing, public relations and advertising ideas and techniques and is always on the search…
More “connecting with people” from Microsoft and Crispin Porter. Still no mention of Mac by name in the ads… Microsoft just calls-out PC stereotypes - Now, that’s a loaded word.
Life Without Walls
Kelliann McDonald is a dynamic Marketing & PR Professional and head of K. Melanie Marketing Consultants. You can read more about Kelliann and K. Melanie Marketing Consultants at http://blog.kmelanie.com.
Who doesn’t love Jelly Bellies? Let me tell you, I LOVE Jelly Bellies! My favorite flavor? Popcorn! Believe it or not, there is someone out there (me!) who is addicted to the popcorn flavored Jelly Bellies.
Popcorn is only one of the 50+ flavors ingeniously created by Jelly Belly. And this simply was not enough for the brand so they went to consumers to vote for a new flavor, via a promotion they called the Dream Bean Challenge.
So, who was the winner?
Açai Berry won and beat out the other flavorful finalists, which included honey, sublime chili lime, Thai iced tea and…
Not since the Lexus recall - after their highly-publicized launch - has a brand done so much to inspire consumers’ confidence. The brand I’m talking about is Ed Hochuli - a high-profile NFL referee. 
During Sunday’s Denver/San Diego game, Hochuli made a mistake when he ruled a fumble as an incomplete pass. The call came during a crucial time and ultimately allowed Denver to score and win the game. Following the ruling, Hochuli went on to admit that he erred and he has even publicly apologized for his gaff.
In the days when AIG and Bear Sterns go belly up and…
Okay, sadly, I admit that I know the words to several New Kids On The Block songs. Imagine my surprise when I saw a NKOTB video playing on VH1 the other day. At first I thought it was a flash back piece but noticed the date at the end as 2008. What?! A comeback.
The boys are back and have debuted at #1 on the Billboard pop charts. In this day of choreographed dance steps and enhanced voices is this too little too late or is the timing right for these guys to reach out their audience and revitalize their careers? What do…
In recent months, I’ve really become more aware of packaging. That’s not to say I ignored it in the past but I now find myself really looking at the packaging of products. Sometimes it’s easy to recognize what it is visually trying to convey. Other times, it doesn’t seem to make much sense.
What sparked this little ramble? Samsung’s Wide LCD HDTV. Let’s take a look shall we?
The packaging is fairly simple with the TV being the main focus. Boy, isn’t she a beaut! What I don’t understand is why there is a woman reading a newspaper with her back turned…
This Saturday, as I watched USC thrash the overrated Ohio State football team (sorry Gabe), I couldn’t help but wonder how the ad business might benefit from having referees and umpires watch over the creative process. The following are some of the calls I suspect we might see if such supervision came to pass: 
Holding: client or account exec doesn’t forward necessary information to complete assignment.
Penalty: creative team gets an extra 5 days to complete assignment.
False Start: assignment started before creative brief approved by client.
Penalty: current deadline is void. new schedule to start once brief is approved.
Delay of Game: creative team…
Michael Moore
Micheal Moore continues to develop his personal brand in innovative ways. He’s been working on a new movie called “Slacker Uprising” which revists content that he collected during the 2004 election. In a unique move similar to Radiohead and other music acts, he’ll be releasing the film online for free on September 23. The free release is designed to coincide with the elections and hopefully drive voters to the polls in November. What do you think, old and tired technique or unique approach for a controversial brand?
