Coca-Cola Suspends Advertising for Typhoon Relief

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/coke-ads-philippines-_n_4338746.html

The article discusses the decision by Coca-Cola to suspend their advertising in order to support the victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines.  The amount of money donated nets to approximately 2.5 million in cash.  This is truly such a great deed by the company.  While they seem to have sacrificed much by stopping advertisements, they are building a great image for their brand.  Their donations almost make up for the lack of marketing in recent time.  I feel that this was both a bold and successful move for the company, as it will perhaps spark in consumers minds that Coca-Cola is not only looking for profits, but also wants to help during times of turmoil.  The question that arises here is: did they really sacrifice their advertising?

McDonald's Failed Promotion

http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2011/08/30/mcdonalds-olympics-promotional-disaster/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBnVtUpCV28

This is an example of how promotions can go horribly wrong, even for big companies like McDonald's and even with clever advertisements for the promotion.  McDonald's agreed to give away free food to customers for every medal that the U.S. won in the 1984 Olympics.  To figure out how much they would be giving away, McDonald's looked at the 1976 Olympics.  However, the company failed to look at the 1980 Olympics, where the U.S. boycotted the Olympics since the games were held in the U.S.S.R.  Therefore, in 1984, the Eastern Bloc boycotted the Olympics since the U.S. was hosting it.  With the fiercest competition to the U.S. not showing up, the U.S. took home over twice as many medals as expected.  Therefore, it is very important to make sure you have control over the factors effecting how much you give away during a promotion.  

Kmart Commercials

I think that Kmart has been doing a very good job with their advertising because all of there commercials are very memorable and funny.  They also have the "ship my pants" and "big gas savings" commercials.

I know we were talking about Kia Soul Hamster Campaign and how it was fairly successful in its purpose, and I feel like this video of Toyota Camry commercial does its job fairly well at changing people's perspectives.

Marketing of Political Ideas: Burma (Human Rights Watch)

 

This is a clever campaign made by JWT Global Advertising Agency. A giant installation was created at New York's Grand Central Station as part of the campaign to help free Burma's 2,100 political prisoners. Creating a symbolic action of removing the pens (cell bars) to sign a petition was brilliant.

Disneyland Emotional Appeal Ad

There is nothing more appealing and attractive than an advertisement strategy that uses emotional appeal to touch our hearts and inner most feelings to really grasp our full attention and possibly usher in potential long-term consumer relationships. When I viewed this advertisement from Disneyland, I suddenly felt like a child again and it really made me feel special inside. I thought that this commercial did a good job in touching peoples' hearts whether young or old and using that childhood nostalgia emotion to get people to come to Disneyland to celebrate their birthday. I feel like this ad targets a large audience as well. When kids watch this, they will feel like they are special and deserve a special occasion on their birthday and when parents watch this, they will be reminded of their childhood and want to fulfil the wishes of their children.

New GoldieBlox Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFpe3Up9T_g

This reminded me of the Doctor Barbie's price relative to other Barbie dolls such as the Magician Barbie and Chef Barbie. The commercial appears to be an awareness only advertisement, revealing no information about prices. However, the combination of the video and the lyrics sufficiently articulate the message that GoldieBlox is trying to convey to consumers: inspiring young girls to go after these traditionally male jobs. With enough awareness in the market, I believe parents would be willing to spend more for this product since they hope it will lead to their daughters aspiring to enter into these professions.

Could any advertisement possibly rival this one?

I stumbled upon this commercial on one of the blogs that I read on a daily basis. After more research, I found that there is much media frenzy about this commercial. Many are asking how any commercial could possibly rival this one!


The commercial is 100% real and was filmed in only one take. The point of the commercial is to demonstrate the dynamic steering capabilities of the new line of Volvo trucks. I thought it was also a very interesting commercial because we have looked at Volvo throughout our class discussions and have found that they tend to position the brand as a family brand. However, this commercial definitely positions these trucks as both sophisticated and "macho."


When Volvo began to plan the advertising and marketing for the new line of trucks, they decided that they would use YouTube as their primary form of media outreach. The video was posted on YouTube November 13th and already has over 8 million views! The creator of the video says that "YouTube films would create attention, and inform and entertain audiences. YouTube will pave the way for future advertising and sales campaigns in local markets."

Virgin Atlantic In-flight Safety Video

Although this is more last-exam material, I thought it was a great video of Virgin continuing with its theme of positioning itself as the airline that makes flying sexy. The inflight safety videos, which none of us ever watch completely revamped, now making them much more appealing/entertaining and still informative. This video has gotten over 6 million views in the past few days!

The Importance Of Branding

In my procrastination, I've started watching Mad Men. ( great show!)   This clip from the first season combines a lot of the things that we talked about when we covered branding, and more current pricing strategies. Rachel's conception of her store as a luxury brand was directly connected to her dislike of the coupon idea. I think it is really interesting to start to consider how all of the little marketing pieces fit together as we get to the end of the semester.

The Onion – Employee Coproduction

Hey guys,

Being a huge fan of The Onion, I came across a hilarious article today titled "It Almost as if Rite Aid Cashier Doesn't care About Reputation of Rite Aid Corporation".  I know that the site focuses on satire, but I think this article's main point is very relevant to our class's emphasis on the coproduction and interaction between customers and employees in service industries.  The article explains that "Morales’ nonexistent greeting, slow response time, and general air of indifference all but pointed to the conclusion that he perhaps did not see himself as a representative of the Rite Aid brand who has been tasked with upholding that company’s sense of tradition and character."  While exaggerated and funny, this illustrates the importance of service employees' role in representing the company, and the fact that employees won't just naturally put in their best effort  – rather, they have to be given incentives and proper training.  Let me know what you guys think!

http://www.theonion.com/articles/it-almost-as-if-rite-aid-cashier-doesnt-care-about,34562/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=LinkPreview:1:Default

Apple's Psychological Pricing

Today in class we discussed psychological pricing, and I was surprised to realize how often I fall into these marketing traps in my own life, especially with Apple products. This current iPod touch add add illustrates what I believe is either the compromise effect or the decoy effect, products of similar composition with price point and storage being the main differences. I realized in the past when I bought iPods or iPads I have always bought the middle positioned product because I feel like I am getting the best "deal" in comparison. I guess their strategy is working on me. Is this compromise or decoy effect and do does everyone do the same thing with Apple products?

The Hopper From Verizon; aspirational group, market segmentation

Really funny commercial about positioning and segmentation according to social class. Shows a 'typical' middle-class, sports watching Boston family. It shows the aspirational aspect of owning a Tivo (record TV shows, etc.), which has been common in higher classes for years now but more recently is becoming more widely available to all classes. Emphasizes the 'boston' dialect to a specific  type of audience.

Pepsi Vs. Coca Cola

Hi everyone. I saw this side by side comparison of Pepsi's original ad for Halloween and someone's photoshopped Coca Cola's response and I just found it ingenious and felt like it completely floors Pepsi's intentions. Too bad it wasn't Coca Cola's actual response. Would you choose Pepsi or Coca-Cola though, if this was brought to your attention?

Brands and Branding Strategies

I came across this and found it interesting.  It reminded me of our discussion in class about branding strategies with Yum! being an example of a multi brand and P&G being in the new brands category.

Impressions of brands

Hey y'all,

This is a link of popular brands and products with funny slogans that more accurately describe consumers' impressions.  It's interesting how some of these made-up slogans describe the marketing plight of certain brands in just a couple words, for example Pepsi. As was discussed in class, despite consumer preference for the actual flavor of Pepsi in blind taste tests, most consumers still prefer Coca-Cola in their purchase decision. Enjoy.


http://twentytwowords.com/2013/10/17/famous-brands-updated-with-honest-taglines-21-pictures/