Reflections on my thoughts in Adv91

I really enjoyed this class overall because I learned the many different methods of advertising and how it can appeal to certain audiences. The presentations and activities really helped me understand the dynamics of the advertising world. I do not have a minor currently, however, I do want to consider advertising as a minor. Taking this class, I have generated a consciousness in me where I can easily analyze any advertisement and break down the aspects of what and who it appeals to. It also helps me in the future when buying products. Some advertisements can be skeptical and some may have great production value. When you understand the dynamics of advertisement, you can benefit from this because you know the authenticity of the ad whether it is genuine or deceiving. Many friends of mines are very blinded. They can be convinced to buy a certain brand or product minutes after they are exposed to the ad. Sometimes I feel like they are not making wise choices because the ads may be deceiving.  can finally say that they are lucky to have me as a friend because I can step in and help them save money by making wise choices in products. Ultimately, I feel that the skills I've learned in this class can greatly help me in the future and I will definitely remember the important fundamentals of advertising.

The Typewriter

Our groups typewriter throwback marketing strategy was quite difficult to create. However, we did come up with a few great ideas to bring back the typewriter's appealing aspects that would make people want to own one in this current generation.

We want to target two audiences with different advertising methods in each:

For those 50+:
-creating a nostalgic ad that would make them want to re-live the past and own a typewriter.
-use an old-fashion template to create an ad that may seem like it was from the 1950's but actually in this generation.

For the younger audiences in their 20's:
-create a Facebook contest: Take a picture of yourself and your typewriter and make it as vintage as possible, then submit it to the Typewriter brand's Facebook page. The top three images with the most vintage quality, will win $500.
-suggest that the typewriter is a "hipster" item in ads.

Interruptive Advertising

One of the most common interruption advertising methods can be seen on YouTube. Have you ever watched a mainstream music video or even a movie trailer uploaded by a film studio or record label? You will have to suffer 30 seconds to one minute of advertising before you can watch the famous video.

The image above is a great example. There are two types of advertising methods on YouTube. Both are the same however, one method made it easier for users to skip the ad. This means that you have to watch the commercial for 5 seconds before you can be prompted to skip the ad. Only videos that are semi-famous have that option. Otherwise, famous videos or music videos will have you suffer for up to one minute before you can watch that video.

The interruptive advertisement methods are hosted by Google AdSense. Google AdSense is a program for famous YouTubers to gain revenue through advertisement. When a user clicks on the ad before the video starts, the YouTuber gets paid up to ten cents. This program is exclusively available for YouTube users with at least a certain amount of average views per video and subscribers. So every time you see a YouTube video playing an ad before the video, that means the user is in the Google AdSense program.

Toblerone ad and market ideas

My group's Toblerone ad and marketing strategy includes Twitter and Instagram.

For Twitter, we want to create a contest where a Twitter user can tweet a creative almond joke. The most funniest and creative tweet for an almond joke wins a month's worth of Toblerone almond.

For Instagram, we want participants to take a picture of an almond in a very creative way. The Instagram picture with the most likes, wins $1,000.

These social media websites and apps are great ways to market a new product. I believe that our ideas to advertise the new Toblerone almond can be very effective and appealing to younger audiences who are constant tweeters and Instagram users.

We would also like to add a commercial for Toblerone and promote these two contests in the advertisement. Doing so, would greatly expose this new product and increase the engagement of the contest from social media users.

Jeep Patriot Ad group idea

For my group's Jeep Patriot ad idea, we have came up with these amenities and features, including marketing strategies:

-Used for vacation/Traveling
-Family Car - Grand kids
-Safe
-Gets you from point A to point B
-Good History of reliability
-safe off-road
-good for all sorts of weather
-simple to drive/repair
-not bogged down with unnecessary things
-classic design
-good handling
-American-made

For our commercial idea, we have decided to use a scene featuring a cabin and snow in the woods with kids running out of the car in a family vacation.

iPod Toilet Paper Deck ad idea

My group's iPod toilet paper deck ad idea is for the TV. A mom is at her friend Esther's house when Esther complained about her nasty and dirty bathroom. Esther is poor and has financial issues, not being able to renovate her bathroom. She wants her bathroom to be high class equipped with her favorite classical Mozart music. The mom decides to buy her a iPod toilet paper deck. She installs it and while she is sitting on the toilet doing her number two, she listens to her favorite classical song and looks around her nasty bathroom. The music gets to her and the nasty bathroom transitions to a nice and high class bathroom. The commercial ends with the title card saying, "You don't need thousands of dollars for a high class bathroom."

Creative advertisement

This is by far the best Google advertisement I have seen. It is 3 years old from the 2010 Superbowl. It revolves around a man who has been using the Google search engine in his life. From studying abroad, to finding a romantic restaurant, to wedding planning, to buying a baby crib. In a way it is pretty touching.

I feel that ads nowadays are lacking creativity. They use celebrities to endorse a product and sadly, it does work seeing how people are in society. This ad can be a great motivation for ad makers to create their own creative ad that appeals to everyone.

Creativity is very important in creating an ad. For example, a tagline that really appealed to me and was hilarious was for forpoopsake.com. It is a website dedicated to incorporating humor and poop. Their tagline was "Your Number One Source For Your Number Two Business!" Although this isn't a website someone would go to all the time, it really makes me laugh when I read its tagline.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia reminds us of a certain past, where certain events or incidents made our time the best, or worse. Nostalgia can be an item, an event, or an advertisement. This is also a great marketing strategy. Some ads today like the one above for Facebook, advertise a product or service using a vintage theme look. If you are in your middle age range and look back at a 70's or 80's Coca Cola ad you've seen at that time of the decade, you'd most likely be reminded of your childhood. This gives you a good feeling of your past and to top it off, you'll probably buy a bottle of Coke to fully reminisce and enjoy.

Growing up, I watched many 80's and 90's commercials. This one really hits the spot for me. Especially the catchy theme song, the McDonald's commercial above reminded me of my childhood when I would watch TV after I did my homework in the evening. My mom would cook dinner while my brother and I watched the Simpsons on UPN. Sometimes this commercial would come up and I remembered singing to it. It's a pretty cheesy commercial but those were indeed the days. These were the free-feelings where I had no major responsibilities and just lived my kid life. In the same time, if I looked at a commercial from 2013 in the year 2033 for example, I'd probably feel the same as well.

Nostalgia does not have to be that old. Sometimes when I watch commercials from several years ago, I have the same feeling as well. However, instead of reminding me of the past, it made me really want to go back to that time of my life bringing with me my conscious mind and mentality from today.

Harley Davidson

1. I believe that Harley Davidson was greatly involved with their own brand promotion such as the 2007 film Wild Hogs, which was based on the Hogs, which was an acronym for Harley Owners Group. Hogs was founded by Harley Davidson and is a wide community of Harley bike owners. I think after the 2007 film release, more people were exposed to the existence of the Hogs. This is a good way for Harley Davidson to promote themselves by creating a small community. This is kind of like an official fan club for a superstar.

2. I personally believe that the Posse Ride should restructure their tradition because it seems like it is a set of beliefs one must follow in order to be in the group. What if they just framed it so that it looks more like an annual event? What really threw me off in the reading was the "Posse Oath". Did it really have to be this exclusive? I do believe that this may give customers the comfort of knowing that Harley Davidson has compassion and loyalty towards every owner due to its strong bond in this Posse Ride.

3. I do believe that Harley should be strongly involved with their customers because it would not look like they just want people's money. By setting up a community of Harley owners, voices and suggestions can be heard to greatly improve the Harley community and the bikes itself. This shows that Harley really appreciates every customer and ensures that each and every one of them will be satisfied.

4. Harley could also be involved with the community by making small motorbikes for kids. Running about 8 MPH, this is like the toy Jeeps we see in Target. Doing so would get kids to be more interested in owning a Harley bike when they grow up. I know this is more of a marketing strategy (kind of like the candy cigarettes back then), however, to top that off, Harley should donate some money to charity as a way to show that they are not evil.

The Fall of HD-DVD: Format War

I remembered when this was around. It was 2007 when everyone was introduced to the HD-DVD. This was exactly like the Betamax story where the VHS although invented before it, outbeat the Betamax cassette due to more options and convenience of video recording. Same situation as the HD-DVD, however, the HD-DVD was beaten by the Blu-Ray disc. Why get a HD-DVD when you can buy a DVD which is cheaper and easier to duplicate? The HD-DVD was similar to a Blu-Ray quality, however, the Blu-Ray was everyone's favorite in the Format War therefore, the HD-DVD officially stopped production after its fall. Those who do not wish to spend extra money prefers the cheap and efficient DVD and those who wants to spend money on high quality playback would prefer paying an extra buck or two for the most high definition format there is, which is the Blu-Ray.

Playhouse Commercial

I thought the Playhouse commercial was highly stereotypical because of the selected colors and theme song. In addition, the producers used a little girl to star as a homemaker. This may set girls up to grow up being one. Our group suggested more neutral colors, more kids involved (boys and girls), and a nursery rhyme-type of theme song for our remake of this commercial. Our group also agreed that our remake of this commercial would greatly remove the stereotypes and signifies that this product may be suitable for both boys and girls.

Gender stereotypes in ads

Here is a great example of gender stereotyping in this Dolce & Gabanna ad:

This simply implies that men are masculine and dominant over women as you can see in this ad, a muscular male holds down an attractive female seductively, showing a dominant frame. This may be offensive to women. I'm guessing it is trying to show that once you buy this Dolce & Gabbana product, you will be perceived in a certain frame of dominance. For those who are socially blind of course, can fall for this ad. If I was a male who had no sense of self-centered masculine dominance, looking at this ad would greatly motivate me to buy this product and act accordingly to the ad, in a situational confidence. However, it is surprising that it is accepted by society and may influence others' perspectives on gender roles.

Stereotypes in Movies/TV

The latest stereotype I've seen in a movie is the 2012 comedy, Ted starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. John (Wahlberg) was at a house party hosted by his best friend Ted, a live teddy bear along with the real life Flash Gordon actor San Jones. Jones, after being coked up at the party, punched through a wall. Ming (typical Chinese name), Ted's neighbor is furious with a hole in his wall, frantically screamed and yelled with a heavily strong accent, holding a butcher's knife threatening to kill Jones as he approached the party. To sum this all up, an angry Chinese man holding a butchers knife screaming with a strong accent was the producer's portrayal of a Chinese man. In another scene from this film, John was checking out Ted's new apartment and asked about his next door neighbor. Ted responded, "Well they're Chinese and luckily they don't have a gong so I don't see any problems." Another great example of a very childish stereotype. They believed that all Chinese people bang their gongs loudly. This is not true.

Stereotyping in ads

Here is a very funny example of a stereotype ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5peC9wFu64w

I saw this ad one day at a cafe in Hong Kong. Obama is making a speech about change and then suddenly the famous KFC sandwich falls down in a giant size state and crushes him, ending the commercial with the Obama impersonator saying, "Change is good!" This stereotype portrayed in this commercial implied that all blacks love fried chicken. It was pretty hilarious to me however, I understand how this ad may be offensive to some viewers. I believe that stereotyping in ads can be wrong, however, in some countries like Hong Kong, stereotyping in ads are accepted as long as it is in a comedic form.

Semiotics

Once you have an idea of what semiotics are, you can apply that to how ad makers create their ads. This is a great way to analyze an advertisement. In a way you are un-blinding yourself and understand its witty or funny methods of a certain ad once you understand semiotics instead of being sucked into the convincing ad.

Semiotics in ads

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Kent.Outdoor.Advertising.JPG

Here we have a billboard ad for Kent brand cigarettes. This ad is similar to a billboard for a car since it is simple and said "Smooth Transmission" as well as "True: Performance". The connotation appeals to those who likes menthol cigarettes as seen in this ad, the whole background and theme is blue with blue lines on top on the cigarette. It is implying that smokers likes cigarettes with a smooth drag so the ad makers thought that making a simple blue background with a smooth car-influenced theme promoting this cigarette brand would be wise.


http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/0554_Creative_Ads/3.jpg

In this ad, we see a Pepsi and Coca Cola can. One straw is inserted into the Pepsi can while the other is resistant in being inserted into the Coke. The denotation of this ad focused more on the Pepsi can because the Coke can is obvious however, they censored the logo so that you can only see Pepsi. The ad simply implies that Pepsi is way better than Coke since the straw was very resistant to it. The connotation is some people prefer Pepsi over Coca Cola.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMraav_Q9L8

In this Oreo Super Bowl ad, we see two friends at a library whispering to each other which part of the Oreo tastes good, the cream or the cookie. As the words are being exchanged to each other, the fight escalated into a library disaster. Patrons knocking over shelves, employees throwing books, and a police car driving through the building. The connotation of this ad relates to us and Oreo cookies. We often have a debate over which part of the cookie tastes better.

Thoughts on advertising

I feel that if you are socially intuitive and aware of the dynamics of human beings, you can take advantage of that in advertising. This is because you know how others think and therefore, you can use your creative skills to create an ad that can convince others to buy a certain product or brand. People always told me, you must have a creative mind to have advertising ideas. I agree and disagree. Yes you must have creative ideas, however, those who are aware and socially intuitive, can also benefit from this as well.

Guest Speaker 1/28

Dietmor Dahem came into class today to talk about advertising. I was very impressed with his presentation because I felt that he did a very good job with the visuals and slides. Powerpoint presentations are usually very fun to watch and engaging. Dahem took it to another level and made his slideshows as if it was a real presentation at an event. His witty remarks and humor was very entertaining and has gotten my attention throughout the class time. I hope we can see more guest speakers who are able to be like Dahem in the future.