The blog by Drew McLelland The Most Brilliant Outdoor Campaign Ever, is a great read about a great billboard campaign by Garcia’s a local irish pub in Buffalo. The campaign was to create a story of a man trying to meet a girl that he saw at the pub one night by buying billboards that he used to present his messages to her. As McLelland’s blog post stated most outdoor campaigns follow strict guidelines; such as, never use more than seven words, always use an attention getting visual, include the company logo, leave the boards up for a minimum of 30 days to achieve

 frequency goals and buy several locations. Garcia’s campaign broke all of these rules, yet it was a powerful campaign. What was even more interesting about this campaign was the complete story line the marketing agency (Crowley Webb) conceived which included hiring two actors to play the part of William and Angel who finally met at the very crowded bar (thanks to the campaign) where they danced and then left together in a limo. The blog is overall saying that it is ok for marketers to break rules as long as it is to add extra value for the consumers and in effect is able to capture the imagination of more people. This is an amazing billboard campaign that captured the imagination of all of Buffalo and was featured in some national news papers and ofcourse throughout Buffalo’s media all for the price of renting the billboard for 9 weeks.

After reading William’s blog post I tried out the AdBlock tool on my own computer. I found that the add on worked very well and was especially happy that it did in fact remove the

between clips while watching T.V. shows on network websites. Unfortunately AdBlock only applies to online advertisements and a short walk in any city will quickly ruin any hopes of block the influence of advertisements in our daily lives. Advertisements are everywhere! News papers, billboards, buses, bus benches. The overall power of advertisement is no longer the ability to intrigue consumers into trying new products with crafty and entertaining marketing; but rather, to continuously bombard consumers with corporate logos all day every day no matter where they are. I believe the efforts of AdBlock are futile because it is only effective at blocking the obvious advertisements. When watching a movie or T.V. show on a network site, AdBlock is able to block out the annoying ads in between clips; however,

the viewer is still subject to the large amount of product placement in every modern movie or TV show. So although I would agree, and am thankful for, innovations like AdBlock that remove annoying ads from my online experience, I would make the argument that such innovations have been largely over shadowed by our ability to create new ways of reaching consumers in every aspect of their lives.

After reading Severin’s blog post about Molson Canadian’s strategy of giving away cases of free beer on the streets of Vancouver I realized that this is a strategy used by other large companies as a way to increase brand loyalty and recognition. In early September a small pub located close to my apartment took to the streets handing out free bite size samples of their signature dish, chicken pot pie. I agree with Severin’s point that in the long run the benefits of giving away free products will have an advantageous effect on sales. I believe that this strategy works not only with large corporations but also with small companies such as neighbourhood pubs because it increases exposure and creates a loyal clientele within the neighbourhood.

McDonald’s has also used this strategy to increase its market share of coffee sales against coffee giants Starbucks and Tim Horton’s. Once a year McDonalds gives away free coffee for a whole week, which allows consumers sceptical of the quality of McDonald’s coffee (as I was) to try it and come to the realization (as I did) that it is good quality coffee that is cheaper than both Starbucks and Tim Horton’s. The cost of giving away free coffee is in the long run out weighed by the benefits of increasing McDonald’s brand recognition as a place to buy not only Big Macs but your morning coffee as well. Not to mention the cost of giving away free coffee for a week is also decreased in the short run by the fact that many consumers who enter a McDonald’s during this particular week with the intention of getting a free coffee, end up leaving with not only a free coffee, but also a full priced egg McMuffin as well (as I did).

The typical Nike commercial attempts to attract consumers to Nike’s brand by showing star athletes like Lebron James or Serena Williams wearing nike products while dominating in the respective sports. This marketing approach inspires consumers but may also isolate individuals with particular dislikes towards certain athletes, sports teams or who don’t participate in organized sports. In Nike’s recent advertisement campaign they have eliminated this risk by showing anonymous athletes performing spectacular athletic feats all while wearing Nike products.

This commercial is effective because it is entertaining and inspiring. The anonymity of the athletes is important because it allows the viewer to associate the athletes as normal people rather than as star athletes with large salaries and endorsement contracts. I believe Nike was attempting to show the consumer that anyone can be an athlete and more importantly anyone can and should wear Nike products. Nike is marketing towards a greater target audience by showing mainstream sports like football, soccer and basketball while also showing obscure sports like roller derby and extreme wheelchair sports all in one commercial. In my opinion Nike’s strategy of marketing its products to a more general crowd will increase demand for Nike products among casual athletes as well as consumers who would not consider themselves athletes.

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!