Advertising Without Commercials

Since the creation of Tivo and the increasing ability to skip commercials, advertisers and agencies everywhere have had to find different ways to reach target audiences other than simply commercials and other print advertisements. This began the greater use of marketing and public relations campaigns.

A recent example of this is the advertising for the new Anchorman II movie. Instead of using a massive amounts of money to spend on advertisements, they have instead incorporated the concept of the movie in to everyday events.

For example, the movie's main character (for those of you who don't know), Ron Burgandy (played by Will Ferrel) is a less than humble, humorous anchorman for broadcast news television. Those in charge of advertising for the film have taken that aspect, and incorporated it into real life news broadcasting events.

Here's Ron Burgundy, in full character, broadcasting a curling event:

Here's Ron Burgandy in full character again, reporting real news for a North Dakota television station:

He even has taken part in interviewing sports stars like Peyton Manning on SportsCenter 

The marketing team for the film even had him create a book, in which he gives the reader helpful tips in the character of Ron Burgundy. Burgundy describes the book on an episode of Conan: 

So enough of the clips. Is this really going to help?
Absolutely. In doing this, the film is advertising to a number of different audiences. The movie is becoming appealing to the (few) who watch women's curling, the demographic from North Dakota, men who watch SportsCenter, and the late night television watchers who seek a laugh from the Conan O'Brien show. It's genius quite frankly, and it probably is costing just as much as the skippable 30 second television ad.

Aside from assimilating the movie's main character into real life broadcasting events, the marketing team for the film is also having the film star take part in Q & A's at journalism schools across the country. Earlier this week at Emerson College, the school held a press conference and ceremony with Ron Burgundy, where they renamed their school of communication, "The Ron Burgundy School of Communication"---for one day.

This was extremely beneficial for both parties, as the school and the movie gained press coverage across the country. The students even benefitted by seeing an exclusive screening of the event.

Way to go, Ron Burgundy. You stay classy, marketing team.

Emotional Strategies in Advertising

Today I will be discussing the most popular advertisement of the month, which has been garnering conversation all across the country.

Is this commercial from Doritos? Apple? Microsoft? Or any other of the advertising giants? Nope.

It's actually from Volvo, introducing their dynamic steering. However, the impressive thing isn't what they were advertising, but how they did it. Check it out.

This video, quite simply, makes you think and say "wow". You can't look away. A guy is looking a split between two cars.

Then the point of the ad is displayed, and immediately everyone thinks, "wow, thats incredible".

Every point of advertising is hit in this ad. You remember it, you talk about it, and you understand the message. Not to mention the song choice is glorious.

Touchdown Ads and Other Campaigns That Need to Rebuild.

Today I will be focusing on the use of sports in advertising.

Usually, the brands that use this technique most often are beer and other masculine focused companies.

Today I'm going to focus on a particular Bud Light commercial that has not only won me over, but several of my friends and even my brother. Everyone has "that one friend" who gets a little too into watching television sports, and has a tendency to yell at the TV. This Bud Light ad centers itself around the idea that having beer and a cheering on a winning sports team (two very masculine ideals) are more than worth having "that friend". Check it out.

This ad makes it clear that it's ok to be a unique guy, who has unique friends, and who likes to do unique things. This ad was a part of Bud Lights superstition campaign, which has been popular amongst viewers. 

One beer advertisement that I think needs to revamp itself is the Coors Light Mountain Men campaign. 

Are the ads good? Yes. But they are getting old and people are starting to realize that Coors Light markets their product over something that the consumers control : the temperature of the product. Time to rebuild Coors. 

Consumer-Made Advertising

Hey all,

Today I will be discussing the great success of the consumer-made advertisement.

Who knows what people want from commercials more than those who watch them?

That holds true to the recent success of Dominos and Chevrolet commercials, who are made and enjoyed by viewers. Both companies have held competitions during large television events such as the SuperBowl, promising air time and a large sum of money for the best commercial.

The campaigns are genius, and have really generated a positive image of both brands. Here are two examples:

Doritos 

Chevrolet

Both ads are extremely original, and were immediate hits. Both ads caused a stir, and the user generation made them very relatable.  

Microsoft Surface 2 Ads

Hey guys. This week I'll be analyzing the new Microsoft Surface 2 ads. For once, they have left iPads out of their ads, and personally, I believe that it has overall improved their message. Leaving out who your competitors are often gives off the impression that your company believes that there is no competition--your brand is simply the best.

Microsoft completes that message in their new ads, using a sleek advertising campaign with no vocals. It makes the product look sexy and new. The ad even makes me feel bad that I got my dad an iPad last winter.

Microsoft, way to go.

Simple. Effective. 

Public Relations in Advertising

Today I will be discussing the profession of public relations and its relationship with advertising. Often times when rumors or backlash is being produced towards a company or organization they will turn to a team of public relations specialists to boost their image. The public relations specialists will usually use press releases, interviews, or planned speeches with the company in order to clear the rumors or enhance the companies image. However, in order to reach the greatest number of people, the PR specialists will sometimes turn to advertising.

That's what BP did in 2011, after they were still getting some backlash for the infamous oil spill of 2006. The public was complaining that some of the oil spills effects were still impacting the waters, and that BP wasn't doing enough to fix it.

BP, working together with PR specialists, started a PR/Marketing campaign called "Committed to America"
Here is one of the ads:

As you can see, BP is trying to shake away the rumors that were surrounding their company and affecting their profits. When people saw the BP logo after the oil spill, their brand became synonymous with pollution and the harming of innocent sea animals. In these ads, BP shows the audience that their company is committed to not have another catastrophic spill, and that they are even as dedicated as improving American jobs.

BP came out with several more ads in the campaign, all in which you can see here: All 7 of BP's Committed to America ads

Personally, I appreciate the effort being put forth by BP officials. It really does show the public that they care and are committed to not only clearing their name, but also improving the country.

The advertisement/marketing campaign that I will be reviewing this week are the heavily discussed Microsoft Surface vs. iPad ads. Usually, I hate when companies use their competitors product in their ad, due to the fact that to me it's basically admitting that their product is considered inferior. However, in this campaign, Microsoft does an excellent job of getting down to the specifics of what their product has that the iPad doesn't, such as a USB port and kick stand.

Using the clever voice over of Apple's fabled, "Siri, Microsoft almost mocks Apple's simple interface and business incapabilities.

Only several ads that I've seen can successfully use this technique, such as this 2010 Pepsi commercial, where they portray Pepsi literally standing above the rest of all sodas, especially Coca-Cola.

As mentioned earlier however, I usually hate this technique. It seems like a low blow, and to me, is an unsuccessful ploy for me to want to switch what companies product I buy. Take this ad for example, would you want to switch products? I wouldn't. 

Luke Wilson, fail. 

Welcome!

Hey everyone, my name is Garrett Johnston, and for the next few months I'll be analyzing the best and worst of this years advertisements. As a sophomore at Elon University and studying Strategic Communications, I have an ever growing passion for Public Relations and the art of advertising. Everything in this world is a product, and behind all those products is someone trying to sell it to you. Some people and companies are successful in the art of selling you their products, while some struggle. My first post contains two ads which people have become very familiar with; one which is popular, and one which is not. The first ad I will analyze is part of a humorous marketing campaign being put together by Geico. After the ups and downs of the gecko and caveman campaigns, Geico needed something fresh that grabbed the attention of the viewer, and made their product clear to every audience. They came up with their "happier than" campaign, which contains the oh-so-popular 'hump day' commercial, among other hits. If you live under a rock and haven't seen the famous 'hump day' commercial, here it is:

The ad is simply genius. I've seen the ad maybe 200 times, and I still laugh every time. The ad has and will remain successful for many different reasons. The first is because the ad has become synonymous with the day Wednesday. This causes you to think of the ad every Wednesday, not only giving you a chuckle, but a subconscious thought of how Geico can save you 15 percent or more on car insurance (making you happier than a camel on hump day). It also created an iconic figure in that of the camel. Whenever I see a camel now (not that I see camels very often), I immediately think of it yelling HUMP DAY. The most legendary commercials do this very thing: create an iconic figure in your head synonymous with the companies brand. This commercial has gotten plenty of airtime, and won't stop getting it anytime soon. Geico, you're doing it right.

Now to the company that most people have grown to hate their advertisements: Progressive. I simply do not see the appeal of Flo. Every time I see a Progressive commercial, I want to grab the nearest hard object and hurl it at my television. I don't know a single person who will actually watch a Progressive commercial. I understand the argument that maybe people hate the commercial so much that they remember it, but still. I'm pretty sure that people hate Flo so much that they have started to avoid Progressive, which is why they have started to move into a new advertisement campaign: the talking insurance box (which is equally as dumb).

I don't see any redeeming qualities for this commercial. Instead of making a popular iconic figure like the camel, they just make us viewers HATE Flo.

This is the only OK Progressive Commercial (Below)

This commercial is OK because it tells you a positive feature about Progressive insurance, and adds a funny twist. However, other than this ad, Progressive is doing it wrong.