Month: February 2011

We were talking in class about how companies try to rebrand themselves to new audiences. There was an example of the Honda Odyssey and their ploy to market to the male demographic. It reminded me of an ad I saw for the Toyota Sienna. Its titled “Swagger Wagon” and can be viewed below.

This commercial not only applies to making the vehicle cool for men, but for women as well. Its funny and very original and I think any parent could find great enjoyment in this. I would have never thought that the van industry would have to worry about marketing themselves to new individuals. I believed that if you had a large family, a van or SUV was your only option, and due to high gas prices a van was probably the best choice. Yet it is pretty apparent that no matter how practical a product may be, individuals still put as value into the “coolness” of the product. The van industry has realized this an has begun to re-brand themselves as not only practical but cool.

On February 6 the biggest day of the this years advertising took place … oh and the biggest day of the year for anyone interested in football. It saw the match up between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, with Green Bay coming out victorious. However, for anyone in the marketing industry, the commercials played during the game may be the biggest story. With each 30 second spot selling at a minimum of $3 mil, you better hope you got your moneys worth. Some of my favorites are here.

The reson these ads stand out to me is they strike an emotional cord. Whether its the satisfaction of a child in his “Jedi power” or regional pride in the Imported From Detroit, it was more than the product. Many ads had the big name stars in them, however it is clear that just an aspirational figure does not make your ad great, but rather the power of human emotion. Not everyone faired as well, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Other of noteable mention:

Norwegian Commercial about the blind

Several emotions arise after watching this ad. First I found myself laughing, thinking what I was watching was rather humorous. When I realized what the ad was for I began to ask myself if the ad would really help blind individuals obtain a job; perhaps they may be making the situation worse for them. I’m sure no blind individual would like to know that someone thinks that it is funny to change in front of them, because it doesn’t matter right? They are blind. On top of that, many individuals that are blind are not completely blind either, they can make out shapes, and I’m sure they would know something was up if they entered a copy room and at the very least heard people hooking up. I realize that it is just a commercial and that it shouldn’t be taken to serious because it is just a joke. However, is it okay to promote such advertising that pokes fun at a marginalized group of people, regardless if they are trying to help or not? I think this ad may cross some lines. A better ad may show that blind individuals can work just as well as others, not showing that the only benefit is you can do stuff around the office that you couldn’t do when individuals that could see were working their. Regardless of the reaction or insensitivity to those that are blind, the ad is pretty effective in catching your attention. It begs the question, is any press good press?  This question is addressed in the Canadian Marketing Blog.  I’m not sold on that argument, we need to be careful what people might be getting out of our ads.