Kaleidoscope

Most of us dread standing on the scale and looking at how many pounds we’ve gained after that hearty thanksgiving turkey dinner over the weekend. Depending on what you see when you stand on the scale, those numbers may come to haunt you for the rest of the day, or even perhaps week.  At this point, you really have three choices: 1. Pray that the scale has severely malfunctioned and return your scale to your local retailer immediately – demanding a full refund (it’s the machine’s fault, of course!), 2. Go in to complete denial and pretend that those extra five pounds were part of a bad dream, or 3. Start watching your diet and start hitting the gym.

But many of us may choose to not live our lives based on a number that a small, flat, square-shaped machine displays to us. This may be unavoidable however, if  your a frequent bus-taker in Amsterdam. 

In order to promote its fitness services, Fitness First has created the first-ever, bus stop scale. As long as you sit on the bench at the stop, your weight is displayed in large, clear, red, digital letters for the world to see. Fitness First realizes the power that the scale has over many people, and has decided to take advantage of this mechanism to encourage the weight-conscious public to join their gym.

Although this ad is innovative and would probably create local buzz, I do have to question the accuracy of this bus stop scale. Assuming that Fitness First has not tweaked the scale to over-calculate our weight, many of us like to travel with purses (if you are a girl), or backpacks, and other personal belongings. You can see in the picture above that the lady has also placed her purse on the bench beside her (who knows, maybe she’s carrying a set of dumbells in there)! As well, our heavy coats during the winter time may add significant poundage to our overall scale reading. Definitely something to keep in mind.

Regardless, this ad is creative and eye-catching.

The question is, would you have the courage to sit on the Fitness First bus stop bench? Or would you prefer to stand while you wait for your bus?

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If you’re like me, you absolutely loveee Broadway shows. The amazing music, the acting, the show lights, the combination of all three – your heart seems to burst in to song. Well, at the ripe young age of 5, I witnessed my first broadway musical: Andrew Lloyd Weber’s production of CATS. Ohhhh boy, as I type this post, “Memories” is playing over and over in my head.

Anyways, as I was cruising the web, I came across some advertisements for this musical which brought a smile to my face. The Swedish Opera company “Goteborgs Operan” printed these posters to promote the broadway musical some years ago:

Now wait a minute, THOSE AREN’T CATS!

Exactly. This advertisement is truly ingenious in a number of ways. It utilizes the age-old dilemma of “Cats or Dogs”. Are you a “Cat” or a “Dog” Person? If prompted, I would respond “dog”- despite the fact that my name starts with “Cat” (ha ha ha..). But as the proud owner of a miniature schnauzer (oh fancy that, she looks a lot like the first photo posted here!), and a Black Lab – I have been fully converted.

BUT even I, a self-proclaimed dog lover, have got to say, that these ads do one up the dog team in several ways. By printing large images of dogs on these ads with the big, bold, lettered word “CATS” on the bottom, my mind feels as if it is playing tricks on me. The juxtaposition of the prominent image and text in this ad are enough to catch the eye of any person. As well, a humorous element is added, when these would-be cute, little dogs which are featured on the ads are characterized as vicious, snarling, mangy, mutts! The CATS logo following the negatively-characterized image of a dog is a prominent and outstanding reminder of why CATS “are better” and why you should therefore, go watch this musical.

However, in defense for dogs all over the world, I can say through personal experience, that not all dogs are as scary as those printed on the above ads.

My Schnauzer doesn’t look like that all the time, and here’s the proof:

I apologize if this scarred anyone.

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Why bother handing out businesses cards or brochures when you can have THIS:

Sooooo Clever! and it definitely catches your attention. These small door-stick-ons have it all – they’re an innovative and creative way to get the company’s message across to its core consumer market, and the little stick-ons provide just the right amount of information so that it would be easy for any homeowner to contact their local Papa Johns pizzeria.

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I was browsing some marketing blogs today and came across a hilarious advertisement posted on Carmen Chan’s Marketing Blog. I found this hilarious because it was so, completely, RANDOM.

I will repost the video here for easy access:

First of all, I love Orangina. It is an awesome and refreshing mixture of orange juice and soda – two things that I love. But seriously, what where they thinking?

This advertisement had nothing to do with the benefits of the product, except perhaps, that the ingredients used in the drink are so natural that you can apply it as aftershave for your skin – if you’re a mountain lion. Yeah, no……even as I typed the latter half of the preceding statement, I felt as if I were talking about an entirely different product. As you can see, I can’t find many ways to justify the presence of certain elements of this most random advertisement.

BUT, this advertisement did make me laugh, despite my initial reaction of utter bewilderment. It drew a reaction out of me that was prominent enough for me to proceed to blog about it. And I am sure, many would enjoy watching the hilarity of this absurd commercial for a orange juice soda – considering there are over half a million views on the youtube video. Therefore, the advertising team behind this commercial was able to successfully accomplish one thing, at least – to create buzz about the brand. Although that buzz may not put the brand in a positive light, at least the brand will be widely known.

Prior to seeing this commercial however, I was well aware of the Orangina brand and thought only positive thoughts about it. This commercial has definitely negatively impacted my image of the Orangina brand. The drink which I had once perceived as a fresh, tasty, high-end, and exotic, foreign soda – has now been diminished to a mountain lion’s after shave tool.

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With the recent hype surrounding the announcement of the 2012 continuation of Nolan’s batman movies, I was reminded of the amazing marketing campaign that promoted one of the highest-grossing movies ever – the Dark Knight.

This was a viral campaign conducted by 42 Entertainment which heavily promoted the movie the year leading up to the release.

The marketing for this movie was…. Insane!! I was never a big comic/superhero fan, but even I heard word of mouth about this when it was happening. The marketing budget for this movie was a whopping $75 million dollars. This gave 42 Entertainment plenty of $$ to spend – eventually leading up to one of the most interactive movie marketing campaigns ever. There were literally hoards of people marching in several cities – supporting a fictional politician “Harvey Dent”, while thousands of others painted their faces and joined in to the Joker’s Army. 42 Entertainment along with Warner Brothers was able to bring a taste of Batman’s fictional world, the city of Gotham, to the real world.

This video pretty much sums the entire process:

Yeah, people were given CAKES! from local Bakeries!!! WITH CELL PHONES! from the Joker himself!!

The cake report: http://www.whysoserious.com/reports/cake.

That’s pretty crazy stuff, but it obviously paid off! The Dark Knight dominated the box-office for weeks on end, with the highest pre-sales ever recorded.

If you’re still interested in the campaign, this website gives a detailed and thorough account of the events leading up to the movie.

http://www.moviemarketingmadness.com/blog/2008/07/movie-marketing-madness-the-dark-knight/

I wonder if Warner Brothers/42 Entertainment will attempt a Part II of their infamous viral marketing campaign for the next movie, the Dark Knight rises (2012). If so, comic-book/superhero fans all over the world will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye to the action surrounding the release of the newest batman movie.

Until then,

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The following are WARNING images that will printed on cigarette packages. These new images are a part of the FDA’s tabaccoprevention efforts. Instead of the old “Warning” messages that were printed on the old cigarette boxes, the government has attempted to capture the attention of the general public by printing these shocking and graphic images of the negative implications of smoking.

How effective do you think these ads will be? Or will regular smokers continue to smoke regardless of what is printed on the packages?

The ads feature 9 different messages. Here are a few from each category (I’ve omitted some that are slightly more graphic. These images are taken from http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/CigaretteProductWarningLabels/ucm2024177.htm if you’d like to find out more):

WARNING: Cigarettes are Addictive.

WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children.

WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease.

WARNING: Cigarettes cause Cancer

WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease.

WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby.

WARNING: Smoking can kill you.

WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers.

WARNING: Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.

Although these advertisements do achieve the shock-element factor, I have to question the ethics of printing such graphic and disturbing images on these cigarette packages. I think that the last series of photos which reflect a more optimistic and hopeful image of a tobacco-free future seems like a better way to reach out to regular smokers. In the society we live in now, most people are well-aware of the negative health effects of smoking, and so printing these graphic and disturbing images would not necessarily change the habits of regular smokers.

Despite the ethical arguments behind this campaign, it is apparent that images do speak louder than words – and that these new images would probably catch more attention than their old Warning text counterparts.

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Have you ever heard a girl mention that she’s “riding the Crimson wave/cotton pony” or that she’s having her “monthy visitor”? Or perhaps you’ve begun to think that every other girl out there has a Aunt called “Aunt Flo” who visits frequently throughout the year.

Sorry guys, but the bloody truth (pun intended) is that those statements are actually incognito ways of saying “I’m on my Period”.

Now before you all squirm uncomfortably in your seats about the “P” word, and proceed to close this internet browser – take a minute to think about those brilliant tampon and pad commercials you see on TV. Things aren’t so bad, right? Those tampax girls are usually showing their pearly-white smiles, dressed in vibrant-coloured, floral-decked, sun dresses who spin around as if the world were dainty and fun. There’s not a worry in the world when you’re time of the month comes! I believe most girls would agree with me when I say “YEAAAA righhtttt”.

This severe dissonance was brought to my attention when I was reading Olivia Chiang’s marketing blog post entitled  “This is funny, Period.” First of all, props Olivia, I love your blog post title. It made me lol, literally.

But prior to reading her blog post, I had never realized how distorted some tampon/pad advertisements are in portraying this monthy burden that half the population must endure for a good 50-60 years of their lives. Albeit, I do not have as much angst towards the tampax/always advertising as the Texan woman mentioned in Olivia’s post, but I can’t deny that she does make a valid point. “Have a happy period” – is that even possible? This Always brand tagline is featured all over their commercials and advertisements, even on the pad itself! and yet, can a single pad really conquer that monthy hormonal change that stresses and inhibits a girl from continuing her day-to-day activities? Not to mention the cramps that some girls get!

Although the ads are effective in portraying what a period is like for a girl in an ideal situation/world, those happy girls who prance around the beach during their period are simply unrealistic. My main concern is not the advertisement themselves, but the distorted view that tampon and pad commercials portray of having your period. Trust me, it’s not as fun as it looks.

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Have you ever looked at an item – be it a book, a magazine, a landmark, a logo, or whatever it may be… and experienced a dire need to find out exactly what that thing is!? What brand it is, what company it belongs to, what year it was made, you just wanted to know. So you log on to Google, and stare at your blinking cursor – wondering what to type in order to fit the item’s description. But what if words fail you, and whatever adjectives you can muster up simply do not fit the description completely.

Well earlier on this week, I was introduced to a feature that would help solve this problem. My older sister showed me a new app. from Google that included a new feature called “Google Goggles”. She took a random book from our library, took out her phone, and used the google app to take a photo of it. Little blue, green, and red boxes appeared on the screen – scanning the photo carefully –  and within 10 seconds, a google search had been conducted simply based on the photo itself. I proceeded to immediately download his app, and then decided to search it up on youtube.

And this is what I found:

I loved this ad in particular because of its creativity, and artistic simplicity. The majority of the commercial features black & white caricatures that look as if they’ve been drawn with a black sharpie. Any colour that is added in to it is shown to emphasize the more important points of the ad – the informative features of this new google invention.

What to search using Google Goggles

All in all, it amazed me how far technology is growing. The ability for Google to develop such a far-reaching, ambitious, and complicated app. juxtaposed to the simple commercial ad made the app extremely appealing. Despite the complexity of the programming that goes behind this app. that I probably wouldn’t ever begin to comprehend, the simple and cute ad made the app. seem super easy to use!

If you have a smartphone – download the app. for free and see for yourself! It’s pretty darn cool to say the least. 🙂

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This advertising campaign launched by Volvo displays several images of Volvo cars with an animal lying on its side on top of the hood of the car. The message? To inform the public that Volvo has gone eco-friendly.The following are some images from the campaign. They feature several wildlife animals assuming, what I like to call, “the Mermaid Position”.These ads do stand out in that they juxtapose a creature from nature, and a man-made, polluting machine, united and existing together in harmony. Even Volvo’s tagline “for life” could be seen as a double edge sword – it could be interpreted as a useful tool for humans during the course of our lives, or it could be interpreted as an advocate for all things living. Although the latter may not have been  Volvo’s intentional message, the advertisement could certainly be perceived that way.

Regardless, everyone loves seeing cute little forest animals chillaxing, so why not on a new eco-friendly car?

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If you’re a Costco member, you have probably experienced walking through the doors (gates – really) of the warehouse entrance, as two seemingly emotionless men stand on either side of you. One man takes a quick glance at your membership card, as the other hands you a coupon flyer. What deals will entice you to buy a product today? Will your purchases of the day be based solely on the savings you know you’ll make from the coupons? Or will the flyer simply be tossed aside at the bottom of your shopping cart without further consideration?

Yeah – those coupon flyers probably will spark lights in some of our eyes, but we can’t deny the coupon-speckled floors of the Costco vicinity, the flyers flying in to our faces as we walk back to our cars, and the crinkled coupons beneath our many grocery purchases. Some of us just don’t care.

Or do we?

Enter Groupon,

an online coupon site that caters to your personal interests and that allows you, the shopper, to find the hottest deals that are closest to you. Groupon has revolutionized the old-fashioned coupon books by promising you the savings you want from the businesses in your area; providing you deals on services ranging from restaurants and facial spas, to local dog groomers. The company’s done all of the gritty-work of bargaining with local businesses for you – all you have to do is agree to buy the product and an electronic coupon will be sent to you instantly.

Sounds simple (and not to mention convenient) enough! So, here’s how it works:

Or, if moving images are for you, take a quick peek at this flashy video made just for you by the Groupon folks: Learn How Groupon Works

Groupon’s competitive advantage – this new idea of “Collective Buying”, allows businesses and consumers to enter a “win-win situation”. Shop-owners are guaranteed a certain number of sales as well as the ability to promote their services, and customers get dollars off of their favourite goods. $$$

Not only that, but Groupon is easy to use too! Check out this handy Groupon App. that I downloaded on to my Iphone. The company sends me daily deals through email as well.

It certainly seems like an ideal situation – everyone gets what they want. Businesses get their name out, and customers keep the change in their pockets. I mean check out that 51% in savings! Don’t you want to save that much on your next “facialicious facial”? oh la la!

But of course, there’s always a downside to everything, and we must view things in retrospect.

Jessie Burke, the owner of Portland’s Posies Cafe explains how Groupon brought her businesses to the brink of bankrupcy.

http://posiescafe.com/wp/?p=316

Although Groupon can serve as a marketing strategy to promote your business, it appears that there are businesses that should be cautious about whether or not their services are suited to Groupon’s marketing and promotional tactics.

So the next time you find yourself flipping through those old-fashioned coupon books, or snipping coupons out of a newspaper, perhaps you should consider the option of going electronic and signing up for a Groupon instead.

And if you’re running a local business, you may want to consider if Groupon is truly helping you save too.

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