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For the past couple of years or so, I’ve been becoming more and more aware of brand placements during television shows. While the most obvious seem to be for car companies, lately that focus has been on “Bing” for some networks. In the middle of a scene, the plot will turn into a search engine commercial for Bing and as this becomes more glaringly obvious, it always becomes more annoying. This may be because I’m a little too obsessed with my television shows and don’t appreciate impromptu advertisements, but I suspect it’s mostly my avid loyalty to Google that sparks my resentment.

This is just my personal opinion, but I feel that Google is such a strong brand that direct competitors don’t really stand much of a chance unless they find a new angle to approach the market. Proof of this obstacle is that Google has even become an unofficial verb. Maybe if one could use the phrase “I’ll bing that”, (and have others actually understand) I’d appreciate them more, but right now, trying to be a replacement for Google seems slightly unrealistic to me.

I was at a conference the other day listening to a speaker from P&G, when I saw this commercial. Not only is it a prime example of sponsoring an event to tap into a consumer market, but in this case, the spirit of the Olympics is nicely aligned with P&G’s goal to better their consumer’s lives.

I have to admit, this immediately got my attention and after I saw the video I had goosebumps on my arms. This will definitely stay with me for a while, which means P&G have done an effective job in their promotional mix.

I wanted to expand on my friend, Zak’s blog post, “Pop-ups”. Although, I agree that pop ups, are more often than not, annoying, I do enjoy interactive advertisements. There’s something about them that just captures one’s attention and makes one ponder about the sponsoring company. When challenged to play a game I just can’t resist; interactive pop ups are extremely effective in my case.

While a Starbucks drink may cost more than average, they manage to reduce customer dissonance by combining a social responsibility initiative with product excellence. This advertisement caught my attention because even though it targets a specific consumer segment, coffee lovers, it still manages to connect those consumers to others such as farmers and communities.

Accompanying the “Shared Planet” slogan is a “Three Great Coffees Doing Great Work” tagline. The three distinct new coffee bean products each promote something different.

This specific blend addresses fair trade between Starbucks and the coffee farmers. This blend illustrates how Starbucks pays fair prices to benefit the farmers and protect the future of coffee farming.

These are some fantastic examples of how  creativity is an important aspect for effectively marketing…well, anything. Some companies may use these benches to promote their product’s value, social responsibility or any sort of message they wish to send.

Just seeing this image has a much greater impact on me, in regards to being conscious about wastefulness, than listening to yet another commercial on television.

Before I came across Smile O Smile, I never really gave much credit to bench advertising. Now though, I realize that marketers may use any channel and create a powerful campaign as long as that channel is used properly.

There are still many more images of creative bench advertisements from around the world including one that was designed to bring couples closer together. Please go to Smile O Smile if you want to brighten your day; I know I had a good laugh.

Lately, there are so many great innovations in technology and social networking that we sometimes forget to make time for the classics. This may not be true for everyone, but I used to love curling up on the couch with a novel and read for hours at a time. As I grew up and had more places to be, I would still always find a way to read at least a couple of chapters a day. Whether it was in the car on the way to practice or pretending my mom couldn’t see me with a book in my hands sneaking glances under the dinner table, I just couldn’t tear myself away. Now though, it’s more often than not a text from a friend rather than a book.

We’re simply trying to cram more into the day than ever before and when life forces us to pause (waiting on a friend, hungry for an ordered meal, standing in line to get your license) instead of enjoying the moment for what it is, we just wait for the next thing to happen (impatiently, I might add). This is why, when I saw this ad for reading, I simply thought, brilliant and refreshing.

A book, a Thai publishing house, came up with fast food version of reading, without all the painful calories, called, “a book:Enjoy the Wait”. They came up with an ingenious marketing plan that not only stimulates their business, but also the minds of their consumers. With five different tools to send snippets of stories to those who are forced to wait on anything, A Book, has managed to new customers and increase sales. My favourite is the “a book” queue up tickets that replace the old “take a number and wait to be called” system.

I do love my gadgets, but the fact that a book was able to reinvigorate literature reminds me that I don’t have to give up my past love for reading for my more recent inclination to surf the net.

I was perusing through some of my classmates blogs and I noticed that one of them brought up something that I can definitely relate to (Not to say that everyone doesn’t make a statement in their own way). Anita Chang shared a shopping experience at Town Shoes that was saturated with marketing and really put their company in her thoughts.

Once a consumer gets inside a store one might think that the marketer’s job is done, but they would be wrong. I personally can attest to the effectiveness of in store advertising and promotions. One mention of possibly winning a prize instantly catches my attention and more often than not I participate in the contest!

As I was searching for some new recipes on the internet, I realized that Chatelaine magazine has redesigned their website. While I usually only visit the site to read up on cooking, I actually went to some of the blogs and read about a new contest that TD is sponsoring. It suddenly struck me that this was a very effective marketing strategy on Chatelaine`s part. Refreshing their image not only attracts new consumers, but also peaks renewed interest of current readers.

I encourage you to check out the website, http://www.chatelaine.com/en , if for nothing else, to discover some mouthwatering dishes.

I was very excited when I heard about this promotion to trade monopoly money for a McDonald’s large fries. My friend sent me a link to this blog and it immediately got my attention:

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2010/10/use-monopoly-at-mcdonalds-25-gift-card.html

And though, as I was reading this Vancity Buzz post, I completely agreed with the statement, “I love McDonald’s fries”, I realized that the “free large fries” wasn’t necessarily free. By asking for monopoly money, one is actually trading for the fries with something of potential value (depending on how much you like playing monopoly).

For those families that love the game and often find a shortage of playing money, giving some of those bills away may be an even greater cost than the few dollars it takes to just buy the fries. Don’t get me wrong, I used to love participating in the McDonald’s Monopoly game and this promotion is a great way to get people’s attention, but monopoly money is simply not that easy to replace.

Some consumers may believe that high quality comes hand in hand with high pricing, but in my opinion, those people clearly haven’t been to Costco. They offer quality products at very low prices which stems from a strategy of buying in volume.  I usually don’t associate with one brand over another, but when it comes to Costco, I have to admit that I am an extremely loyal customer. Some of my earliest memories are riding in the shopping cart during my mom’s weekly grocery run and later running from stand to stand, trying as many samples as I could. In addition to providing great value for their customers, Costco uses a very simple and effective marketing strategy. They offer free samples which is an easy way to entice people, especially those like me. I can’t count how many times my mom has left the house for two or three items and ended up at the checkout line, cart overflowing, with me at her side.

There is also a component of Costco’s strategy that addresses a consumer’s need for status or a relationship with their company. Membership cards that advance all the way to executive status also allow Costco to keep track of valuable consumer information.  If all else fails and they haven’t managed to peak public interest with free samples, low prices with quality products and membership cards, then how about getting featured on the popular comedy, “Modern Family”. In one episode a character was introduced to a Costco warehouse and his reaction was like he had just discovered a magical kingdom. And if I may borrow a quote from that same show, Costco “has everything you need from birth to death”.