Month: March 2011

(This post is for the purpose of Comm 299)

There are many people that we encounter in our lives. Some we remember while some we forget; some pass us by while some stays in our lives.

While growing up, the questions of who inspires you has come face to face with me several times, and in different life stages, this inspirational individual has changed several times.

I have realized, it is not those famous people that we hear on the news or see on the television that inspires me, but rather the corner article of the new paper sharing stories of common individuals like. What they have accomplished may be minor, but sometimes very meaningful. With our society heavily focused on materialism in judging a person’s importance or success, we have forgotten many simple details in our lives which makes them meaningful.

Being a subscriber of Reader’s Digest, there are stories of amazing people doing amazing things, yet they are so humble in announcing their contributions that people often don’t know about them. To me, these are the people that we should be inspired by and should look up to.

I want to be inspired because of a person’s loving nature, because of person’s selfless act and because of a person’s desire in making others better. And by being inspire by these individuals, I hope to someday accomplish something that will too, inspire others and making my life more meaningful.

Since the summer, I have been following the blog LoveDesignFest by Bri Emery.

She is a graphic designer and as well as the partner editor for the Rue magazine. She shares her passion for typography and simplicity in design with her interesting and colourful posts.

With her updates on her life and pictures with her friends, it is very interesting to get to know someone’s life through pictures and videos. While with her busy life, she not only managed to sustain a creative buzz but incorporated into her life and share it though her design blog.

Not only is her blog a channel in sharing her daily activities, but a way to promote products that she is a partner of. The Ban-Do, an online shop offering cute accessories that are of multiple use.

She first promoted by selecting a random follower that made a comment and send them the product “shoe clip” as reward. Before she promote this lovely shoe clip and other product offered by BanDo, there were lots of cute “professional” pictures that feature these product.

Pictures of her and her friends, all wearing different colourful hair clip to allow not only interest in these adorable accessories but as a way to promote the products.

Look at these cute little things, don’t you want one too!? ( if you’re a girl )

Billboards have been around for a long time as a way of advertising. However, nowadays, there are so many other channels for companies to attract their consumers, such as TV commercials and online ads.

Nevertheless, many companies still uses billboards creatively with a WOW effect to attract people’s eye. Making this traditional method something new and innovative.

This McDonald ad is not only interesting but also clear of what kind of product they are offering to the public.

Cleans pores. Fights Pimples.

How powerful is Miele?! See for yourself!

These companies transform the ordinary way of posting on billboards with words and 2D pictures and make it something that is intriguing and genius!

Not only did the marketing companies found a new way to utilize the traditional billboard to create a wow effect, a campaign from Germany found some interesting surfaces to promote “life is too short for the wrong job.”

Not only was these ads appearing on non-ordinary surfaces, it interacts with their audience using a humorous attitude to raise awareness for purpose of their campaign.

In a time where people are exposed to multiple media, it is easy for company ads to be ignored. However, with a bit of creativeness and bold thinking, a dramatic effect is not hard to create.

When looking at these ads, many of them looked simple and straightforward, yet not everyone was able to think of it and apply it at the right moment. For an industry that requires new ideas constantly, sometimes it takes a little extra attention to life to find inspiration to create something that allows viewer to resonant with the idea. And that is what an effective advertisement should be.

Growing up in Taiwan, I was exposed to a very different lifestyle than in Canada.  Compare to the North American and European countries, Asia is much more conservative and values things much differently.

When I first came to Canada, hugging was something that I am not used to. We are more aware to physical distances and perceive maintaining personal distances as a form of being polite.  We still express our excitements, just not through hugging.

It is important for not only individuals, but companies to understand the difference between cultures to market their product and services effectively.

Chanel, the queen of fashion, invited Keira Knightley to campaign for their fragrance,Coco Mademoiselle. The interesting thing is, the same billboard picture of Keira, is very different in Asia and in Europe.

Can you tell which one is used in while demographic region?

In one of them, Keira is obviously showing less skin while the other is exposing A LOT.

People from Europe or North American may find that the amount of skin exposure is acceptable, however, by taking into account of the culture influences, the first picture could generate negative public reaction.

Just imagine, this half naked Keira ad on a billboard in  Saudi Arabia?! The public might be furious since in the culture, women are not allowed to show more than their eyes when in public.

Next time while traveling to a different country where the cultural differs a lot from Canada, pay attention to the advertisements. It might interesting to find how people perceive  things differently and how companies changes their strategies accordingly!

Last year African hosted the FIFA World Cup, although not personally a huge soccer fan, it is hard to miss all the commercial and enthusiasm around me.

My dear friend Anoushka Patel, at the height of  5’0 is perhaps the smallest and BIGGEST soccer fan. She can talk about soccer all day, her mood swing with the performance of her favourite team. Her enthusiasm for soccer fills not only her life but her blog as well.

Like all big events, the sponsors put in lots of money making ads to promote not only the event but their product. Pepsi, the soft drink giant who is always able to create commercials that catch people’s eye did it again with their promo video for FIFA 2010

It is simple yet cute and sends an obvious purpose.  FIFA, an event that brings people together to share their common passion and allow a “usually” friendly competition between nations.  But imagine a FIFA without commercials? Would it still be the same?!  Maybe not, you see, like me who is not a soccer fan and knows nothing about soccer would have no idea when or where FIFA is. However, with adds and commercials, we are forced to notice and forced to pay attention and finally forced to be part of it.

People everywhere is so busy with life that without these promo advertisements, we seemed to be lost in routines, and fell into the danger of ignorance to what is happening around us. Although not all advertisement provide us positive and useful information, but in our generation, these commercials has become a way for us to learn and understand our surroundings and keep us in touch with current while we focused to our complex path to our ultimate goal of life.