Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Advertising & Inspiration
As Comm 296 comes to an end, I couldn’t have thought of a better way to finish the class than with the documentary Art & Copy. For me, this movie was all about advertising and inspiration, a perfect definition of what marketing accomplishes.
Back in January, during the first day of class I only understood the first part – advertising. The other aspect of connecting with people through their emotions, or leaving a lasting impression didn’t seem as vital. This course came together so logically, and the importance of marketing really shone through.
The documentary focused more on creative ways to advertise, and advertisements that catch people’s attention. I couldn’t help but notice Matthew Ho’s blog about Wes Welker and the “Butterfinger” advertising that was pursued after the Superbowl. It definitely caught people’s eyes and went viral. This is the kind of advertising George Lois was talking about in the documentary: it gets people talking, in some cases pisses people off, but most importantly, IT WORKS. He came out with the Tommy Hilfiger campaign “The 4 great American designers for men are”, which definitely stirred the pot in the fashion industry at the time, but in the end it paid off and now Tommy Hilfiger is an international fashion icon.
- Taken from Matthew Ho’s Blog
What I have taken away from this documentary is that controversial advertisements are huge risks. If you offend people they will not support you, but if you introduce them to something new, something creative, something personal, and something inspirational, your efforts will result in success. The best marketing tactics out there offer something people can relate and connect with, allowing people to recognize specific emotions with specific brands.
That’s what marketing is all about- the consumer. The advertising shouldn’t be made to suit the product, it should be made to suit the customer, and that’s what I had failed to understand at the beginning of this course.
Tapping Into Emotions- A Successful Marketing Strategy
After reading classmate, David Huynh’s Blog about marketing to people’s emotions with examples like NBA star Jeremy Lin and a new video about bullying, I wanted to further the discussion.
In class we discussed the controversial ‘Kony 2012’ video made by Invisible Children that aimed to connect with the western population, to raise awareness and donations. Kony 2012 as many of you know is around 30 minutes long and is about accused murderer, Joseph Kony, who kidnapped children and raised them to be apart of his “army”. The reason this video went viral was because the makers were able to connect with people on a personal level- people were made to feel sorry for those children. We discussed a lot about this video in class, and for that reason I want bring up an untouched point instead.
Tweets by PM of Uganda to various celebrities
Jason Russel, co-founder of Invisible Children, was arrested in San Diego and put into the psychiatric ward of the hospital (read and watch video: ‘Kony 2012’ co-creator, Jason Russell, detained by police). In response to this incident, the PM of Uganda released a You-tube video explaining how Joseph Kony is no longer in Uganda and reaffirms his non-support for ‘Kony 2012’. What caught my eye the most was that he turned to Twitter to get his point across. He tweeted to celebrities including Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Tim Tebow, and many more inviting them to visit his beautiful country. I see this is an extremely brilliant marketing strategy. Similar to what’s written in classmate Simrat Tatla’s Blog, celebrities have great influence over the population. The PM of Uganda was able to connect with the western population and those influenced by the ‘Kony 2012′ video, through celebrities using twitter. People are emotionally connected to celebrities and anything they support, people are influenced to support as well.
Personally, I think the PM of Uganda used an effective marketing strategy to educate the western population on what is actually happening in Uganda. What started off as tapping into millions of peoples’ emotions, through ‘Kony 2012’, is ending the same way, but with an anti-Kony 2012 campaign.
PM Amama Mbabazi speaks:
Social Networking Sites Invading Our Privacy…
A while ago, I noticed that every time I logged onto Facebook all the ads on the side either appealed to me or were somehow connected to me- “How on earth does Facebook know me so well?!”. Turns out, Facebook and other social networking sites are tracking our movements on the internet, creating databases, and providing assurance to companies that if they pay them, their advertisement will be broadcast to their target market.
This is a very strong marketing strategy for Facebook (boosts their revenues), but is it an ethical business practice? We have had discussions and debates about ethics in business, and ultimately we concluded that good morals equate to stronger customer relationships. Personally, I feel like I have to be more and more careful when I use any website (not just Facebook) because I don’t feel safe surfing the internet anymore. I don’t think it’s fair that businesses are able to manipulate us into purchasing their products or bombarding us with information on sales, promotions etc.
Although this video isn’t very popular, I wanted to show everyone how EASY it is for companies to find your data and include you in their target market:
A blog written by Victor Pan, marketing associate of WordStream Inc., compares Facebook with Google and concludes that Google will overtake Facebook in the social networking world. What I found stated in this blog that was interesting was that 1 out of every 4 minutes online is spent on a social networking site– this is just calling out for unethical advertising. Now these two companies are competing head to head to provide better services for their members, all in order to lure in big companies.
After the class debate on subliminal and political messages, I sided on the “against” side. Simply put, everyone is entitled to make their own decisions, and shouldn’t be manipulated into wanting something. I believe that people have their own core beliefs and values, and if companies are advertising to consumers and making them think they need something they don’t, its just complete garbage!
Super Bowl XLVI Offers Effective Marketing Opportunities for Companies
Every year hundreds of millions of viewers tune in to watch the Super Bowl- this presents an opportunity for companies to advertise their products to wide audiences. This year there are a lot of new companies advertising during the Super Bowl for the first time, like Acura, Lexus, and Century 21. For these companies it’s going to be really difficult to produce effective commercials, because they lack the experience the returning companies have.
Some companies resort to external marketing companies for advice and assistance in producing their commercial. These external companies complete the marketing research and create a suitable commercial. This includes Dannon (yogurt company), which is advertising for the first time during the Super Bowl to promote their new product.
The average price this year that NBC charged for every 30 second time slot was $3.5 million. This shows the supplier power NBC has because it is able to drive up prices and if companies don’t want to pay that much other companies are willing to take the offer.
The traditional view of Super Bowl commercials is that they are “epic”. Companies want to make commercials that meet the high expectations of consumers, with a wide variety of themes (usually comical), and hope that they will be remembered. Super Bowl commercials are so highly regarded that many people often search them up on sites like You Tube to watch them again.
In my opinion, the Super Bowl is one of the best opportunities to advertise for products and services- so many people watch them. Certain companies like Doritos allows their consumers to participate in their marketing plan. Doritos lets consumers make their own commercials and then chooses the best one- the winner gets a monetary prize and the commercial is aired. Their strategy seems to be working, an outside perspective shows how consumers really feel about the product. The Super Bowl 2012 Doritos ad that won is below!
Here’s a Little About Me…
Hello Everyone!
My name is Preet Gill and I’m a second year student at the Sauder School of Business (like most, if not all, of you). I’m 19 years of age and graduated from Rick Hansen Secondary School, in Abbotsford. I live in Vancouver during the week, but go back home for the weekends to stay with my family.
A face to the name:
The subject of Marketing is of great interest to me; I love it! In my opinion, business is driven by Marketing, which is the reason why I’m taking this course. It is really important to learn the fundamentals of Marketing before I graduate with a BComm degree because I find that most jobs require a background of Marketing. I also find it very fun and interesting- it definitely encourages participation and interactions between students.
My experience with marketing has mostly been as a consumer. I am able to distinguish between brands and see the different tactics and strategies that companies use to attract consumers like me; slogans, sales, and now even through phone apps. As a student, I took COMM 101, which has a similar approach to this course, and has given me background knowledge of Marketing.
My favourite ad has definitely got to be the Old Spice commercial with “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”. It’s hilarious, and actually began a new trend- Dairy Queen soon came out with a similar themed ad. The Old Spice commercial is below:
That’s what you call a catchy advertisement! It has over 38,000,000 views on YouTube.
Something personal about me is that I get extremely bad migraines. Some of you can relate to me, but my headaches get very bad that in some cases my prescription medication just doesn’t cut it and I’ve had to go to the hospital. This doesn’t define me as a person, but it’s one thing that has made me stronger.
Hopefully you’ve learned a little more about me now,
Cheers!
Hello world!
Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!