The power of image

These three print ads instantly caught my eye with bright colors and interesting scenes. It gives a feeling of imagination and magic. The ads are for AT&T's "best coverage worldwide". It's saying that if these magical places actually existed, AT&T would still have you covered. More than the message, I like the playful images.







The thing that gets people is obviously the images. However, the message doesn't come across to me well with only the image. Usually we use our creative headlines to grab people but if you have an eye catching image, you don't really need an awesome headline. Sometimes you don't need a headline at all.

I also like the treatment of product placement. The phone in each one is surrounded by a design based on the theme of the image. The white border around the outside grounds the image, with some elements crossing the border which adds to the playfulness of the ad. To sum up, this ad's just really fun and unique for a phone ad.

Found on adsoftheworld

For a better-looking tomorrow

When asked to blog about a good over the counter medicine campaign, the first one I thought of was NyQuil. This campaign focuses on how NyQuil helps you sleep like a baby, only less cute. It's a simple message but the images are great. You got these hilarious close-ups of grown men sound asleep, tissues all around them. Not a pretty picture. The headline “For a better-looking tomorrow” works perfectly with the image. Note that the headline is the same in all three print ads. Most of the time we are told not to do that however, with different images and the same message in all three, I think it works. It's a campaign we all can relate to. Here is the commercial going along with the print ads.



Pretty much the same idea. The thing I like about the commercial is the copy at the end. “The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold...medicine.” I think this is an interesting way to list the benefits without “listing” them. It's said in a fast and interesting way and gets straight to the point. This copy is also in the print ads, however, you don't notice it because the image explains it all. You don't really need to read further.

One thing that we struggled with in our print ads for Gelusil was listing the benefits of the product. It was hard to word it without being too wordy. For our Gelusil print ads, we had more of a complicated idea. It was creative, but made you think and read on to the body copy. In the NyQuil print, you get the message right away. It's simply showing what the product does. I'm one to like the more simple yet clever campaigns so I can't help but to love this one.

Found on Adsoftheworld

Amazon: #1 Brand in Value Perception

This isn’t about the coolest brand, the most innovative brand, or the most popular brand. It’s all about perceived value vs. price paid. Here is the official chart of what people think are the top 10 most valuable brands globally and in the U.S.



On both sides of the board, Amazon comes in at #1. This came as a surprise to me because I don’t think of Amazon as a valuable brand. I think of it more as an Ebay-like site, only more reliable. I was recently making my wedding registry with Amazon, not because I thought I would get more value out of it, but because it was easier for my family to ship the gifts to us. Anyway, there were some things I saw at other stores that I wanted. I knew they would be pricey but I was surprised that they were considerably cheaper on Amazon than at the store I saw them at. I didn’t think much of it until I found out that Amazon was rated #1 for perceived value. It must be true for most of their products.

The next thing I noticed in this chart is that the number 2 spot for both the U.S. and global was a toothpaste brand, but one was Crest and the other Colgate. What surprised me even more was that the U.S. voted Crest as #2 (Colgate was #8). I always grew up thinking Colgate was the better value. There are many similarities in brands in the two lists, just in different order (for example Coca-cola is #6 in the global brands and #3 in the U.S.). I expected McDonald’s to be over on the U.S. side but I guess it’s not as valuable to us as Bud Light and Walmart.

Apple didn’t make the list even though it’s a good brand, simply because it’s known as being pricey. Google didn’t make the list either, but that’s because you can access it for free. Starbucks may be more desirable, but Folgers is the better choice when it comes to price and value.

So why does the perceived value matter to these top 10 brands? Well, now they know they can raise their prices to boost profits. I think it’s better for a brand to start off at a lower price than what it’s worth. After consumers realize the value that they’re getting with the brand, the brand can raise the price with consumers thinking they are still getting a great deal because they trust that brand.

Found on AdAge

Hacienda, a Mexican restaurant, came up with this billboard to promote their drink in northern Indiana. Shortly later, it was taken down because of all the complaints. Any idea why? Here is the billboard. Think about it.



The billboard looks fine to me. The idea behind it was how people belong to clubs and teams. The company wanted to develop a cult following like-minded people. The problem with the billboard is that it refers to the 1978 Jonestown cult massacre where 900 people died from drinking cyanide-laced grape punch. Obviously, the billboard was a major offense to the people of the town. The billboard was a complete accident. Whoever came up with the idea didn't know about the massacre. I found that kind of funny but at the same time, it's serious. How many people will go to Hacienda now? They are either offended or scared to do so. This is a good example of how in the advertising world, everything you say has an impact, either good or bad, and people will always remember it.

Info found here

The top 50 list

I was recently reading Fast Company and came across the world's 50 most innovative companies. Apple was no doubt #1 for “dominating the business landscape, in 101 ways”. Here are the 101 ways:



Twitter came in at #2 for “five years of explosive growth that has redefined communication”. Facebook was #3 for “600 million users, despite Hollywood”. Nissan came in #4 for “creating the Leaf, the first mass-market all-electric car”. This surprised me because it was up there on the list mixed in with the social networking and technology companies (Groupon, Google, Netflix, and Zynga are next in line). Also, as the all-electric car sounds cool, I didn't really think it was popular. I haven't heard much about it. Like I said, many of the social networking companies are on the list. LinkedIn and Foursquare are among them along with Wieden + Kennedy coming in at #25 for “dominating the airwaves and the Internet with its Old Spice campaign”. Here is the “true tale” of how they came up with the idea, in comic book form.

View here

Anyway, the point I'm making with this blog post is that the social media companies take over the first half of the top 50 list. This means that advertising is changing. There are so many options out there now. There's more than just Facebook so we need to think outside the box of what can be done on the Internet.

Going viral

We've been working on a project where we have to come up with a viral video and I think a lot of us had trouble with staying away from commercials. At least I did. I felt like I had to mention the brand in there somewhere but that's not what viral videos are all about. It's just meant to be cool. Whatever you're doing in the viral video doesn't have to relate to the brand. I think this is a good example of that.



What they are doing is blowing out and re-lighting these candles with a cannon. And what's the brand? Erbert & Gerbert's subs. This brand has nothing to do with cannons or candles except for the fact they were celebrating their 20th anniversary. However, it does show how fun the brand is without directly saying that. Anyway, the thing that's going to help us with our viral videos is maybe stepping out of our branding boxes. We all watch youtube everyday so we know what's out there and what people on the web find funny. All we have to do is think of something new.

Video found on YOUTUBE

2011 Super Bowl

I didn't think the 2011 Super Bowl commercials were as great as previous years but there were some really creative ones. My favorite was this one, done for VW.



Many of the Super Bowl ads were in your face humorous, such as the Doritos and Pepsi ones. The thing I liked about the VW one was it's simplicity and subtle humor. There's no conversation going on at all, just different scenes. Even though the kid has his face covered, you still can feel emotion through his body language. The part I liked the most was when his mom slides the sandwich over to him. You see that "Oh, mom..." emotion that we all recognize. I also think the brand did a good job of hitting their target audience, being families. Whenever I think of targeting families I feel limited in what can be done so this ad really inspires me on how a family oriented commercial can also be hilarious.

Video found on YOUTUBE