Critiquing advertisements - it's all about the Target

After reading the advertising critiques for my online 4650 class,  I noticed that when critiquing an ad it is easy to do it from your own point-of-view (pov), but what we should do is examine the ad from the target market's pov.  This can be very difficult at times - and is one of the hurdles of advertising.  You may end up designing an ad for a target market that is 180° different from you.  That is why whenever possible it's a good thing to have your target market look at and critique your ads.

In regard to the assignment, I want to review a few key terms in advertising that have specific definitions in that context.  

Positioning - this term means how is the product 'positioned' in the mind of the consumer to set it apart from the competition.  There are several different positioning strategies that can be utilized:  product attribute & benefits, price/quality, use or application, product class, product user, competitor, and cultural symbol.

Appeals - now, I know this sounds like "how appealing was the ad to you?" but it isn't about that.  It's about the message structure of the ad.  How are you attracting the attention of your target market?  Appeals can be placed in one of three basic categories: emotional, rational or a combination of the two.  There are also a couple specific appeals talked about in our book: comparative, fear, and humor.  How is the ad appealing to the consumer - is the question you should ask yourself when evaluating an advertisement.   

Advertising execution - how are you going to present or execute the appeal?  Execution is about the manner in which you construct the ad.  Your textbook suggests several different execution styles: straight sell, scientific/technical evidence, demonstration, comparison, testimonial, slice of life, animation, personality symbol, imagery, dramatization, humor, and combinations of these.

Campaign theme - the central message or idea.  What are you trying to get across to the target market?  What ties all the parts of your IMC together - this is the campaign themes central focus.

Now, let's look at some of the advertisements from the assignment.

Smart Car:

I will admit, that I personally like this ad a lot.  I think it is clever and gets its message across in a creative and indirect way, but let's look at it from the target market's pov.  Speaking of the target market - who is it?  Given that smart cars are under $20k, I don't think they are targeting people who are Mercedes buyers.  I think their target market is younger, educated, lower-middle income who strive to drive a quality car like Mercedes.  Their target market probably includes recent college graduates and college students as well as 'green' consumers.

The appeal here is a combination - emotional/rational - emotional because of the humor of the 'lightbulb' car and the indirect headline but it is also rational because of the appeal to the quality of the Mercedes brand.  Positioning is based on attributes and price/quality (getting Mercedes quality for dime-store pricing).  The execution both humor and imagery.  

I do believe for the target market the ad is effect - humor is a good appeal and execution to use for this market and the indirect headline also fits well with an educated consumer base.  What I would be concerned about is Mercedes owners who are exposed to this ad and how it will impact their feelings about Mercedes.

Corona:

Perhaps the best thing about the Corona ads is the campaign theme and its consistency across multiple platforms and over time.  Corona has been successful, imho, of positioning the product according to use/application - the beach!  The television ads that we examined earlier in the semester point to them now taking this idea a step further - for when you need to 'feel like' you are at the beach.  Ultimately, Corona is our beach escape - with or without sand (or it would be if I drank beer...but you get the idea).

Visually, I think the ad is done nicely with the elements of the beach - boardwalk, beach, surf, palm trees all present and accounted for.  Also, the copy refers to the beach and the lifestyle of the target market.

Disney:

Surprisingly, this ad created the most polarizing views among those who critiqued it.  Where we need to start is - who is the target market?  This set of ads was targeted toward older consumers and placed accordingly in 'adult (older audience not naughty)' publications like Vanity Fair.  From my pov - I liked the visualization and photography in the ad, but let's look at the more broad target market. 

The appeal is emotional and the execution is imagery.  There is little to no text and they are expecting their target audience to know that the ad is for Disney without many cues in the ad itself.  The imagery itself is telling the story of Cinderella, but perhaps a touch on the dark side - even for adults.

Also, it was mentioned in the critiques how this ad can evoke the idea that the Cinderella story we were told as children (particularly little girls) is not necessarily one that is able to come true.  With an older target market, this is very possible - that instead of capturing the fun of Disney the ad instead captures the disappointment of unfulfilled fairy tales.

People often think of Disney as a place for kids or people with kids, but they also target young adults, seniors and others in the 35-60 bracket.  The food and wine festival is a good example of an event that is targeted toward adults.  I think they were trying to hit this older target - but maybe a bit too 'artsy' to be effective. 

Note: There is a whole series of ads done like this and from a photography/art pov they are pretty cool.

Canon:

In most cases, this ad was not critiqued from the target market's pov.  In this ad for a Canon EOS 40D, the target market is not the average person, it is a camera enthusiast who is thinking of upgrading their camera to something more 'pro' like.  Obviously, this ad would be in popular photography magazines - those that target the amateur photographer and not the pro.  Given that it is placed in the right media vehicle, it could be very effective.  This ad is using an emotional/ration appeal with a humor and imagery execution.

The text in the ad is what points to the target market - it is in a language that they are learning to speak, and Canon is letting them know that if they get it - then they are ready for the EOS.  It's a great example of writing copy that makes sense for your target but not many others.  Where I think this ad fails is in the imagery - the photo used in the background.  It isn't as evocative as I think the target market would like - it should be something that makes them think, "Canon can help me capture that," but the setting just isn't good enough.

The campaign theme is - you know when you're ready - and they have given you the test of understanding the headline to see if you are.  I liked it, but I'm curious to know how they executed it in different media before I could say if it was an overall effective campaign.

Project Podcast

I've uploaded a walk-through of the project into the learning module for the project.  I cover such things as:

• What's expected in the PPT due on the 17th.
• Why you are turning in a proposal - feedback from the client and myself
• What sections of the paper have been modified or dropped because of the nature of our client (also included in the Project doc entitled: Start Here....)
• How materials will be turned in for grading.
• Details about the client
• Highlights from Beverly Maddox's conversation with my in-person class
• Availability of photography services if needed of the clinic

If you have additional questions or comments, please, don't hesitate to contact me.  I look forward to reading your advertising critiques as well as seeing your proposals on the 17th.

Print Ads to Critique

If you are in my MKTG 4650 on-line class, this blog post is to put the print ads for your critique posts in one easily accessible place.

Commercials for Ad Critiques

If you are in my on-line MKTG4650 class, then this entry is for you!

I could not find a way to embed videos in a GaView post, so I am putting the commercials here for your viewing pleasure.

All publicity is... it depends

We had some great discussion posts in my 4650, Advertising, on-line class about whether or not all publicity was good - regardless of whether it was negative or positive.  I wanted to discuss a few of the topics that were brought up further.

Herman Cain's Chief of Staff smoking a cigarette

This one cigarette has generated a fair amount of discussion and negative publicity for this ad, and possibly for Cain's campaign as a whole.  The Chief of Staff could've been thrown under the bus for this one easily, but part of the problem is it also brought to light Cain's activities while part of the National Restaurant Association (As Top Restaurant Industry Lobbyist, Herman Cain Partnered With Big Tobacco To Promote Indoor Smoking )

On top of this, there have been reports of sexual harassment charges made against him during his time at the National Restaurant Association.  Both of these negative publicity events are bringing him more attention and awareness, but the question remains - is it the type of awareness that will get  him votes come primary day?  One thing is true, it was handled poorly by his crisis management team as highlighted by this US News & World Report article by Lauren Fox.

For me, the most interesting thing is the deliberateness with which Mark Block takes a drag on the cigarette.  I think it was an attempt to target a certain segment of the population that are heavy smokers.  Also, as Tamara stated in the discussion, "his platform is based on less government and less regulation which may appeal to the smokers who are voters and who feel they should not lose their right to smoke in public places."  Since it isn't Cain in the commercial smoking, I think there would have been minimal damage if they had apologized, aknowledge that smoking in the ad was a bad image (at least for kids) and pulled it.  The sexual harassment charges, not so much.

Someone also mentioned about President Bill Clinton and the negative publicity surrounding his sex scandal.  There are a few differences that should be highlighted.  At the time of the scandal, President Clinton was in his second term of office and essentially a lame duck.  He was not up for re-election, but Vice President Al Gore was the soon-to-be Democratic nominee for the office of President.  The real question for Clinton's sex scandal is how much did it damage Gore's campaign - not only in the negative publicity it generated for Clinton and Democrats as a whole but also in the lack of campaigning that Clinton did for Gore because of the sex scandal.  In an attempt to not taint Gore with the negative publicity of Clinton, did the Democratic party sacrifice the the good publicity and attitudes Clinton may have generated for voters?  We will never know.

Speaking of sex scandals, Adam and Lindsay both discussed Tiger Wood's situation.  I think Lindsay made an excellent point with the comment that those who are idolized and respected by children have the most to lose, hence why Tiger has been more effected by the negative publicity than let's say Kobe Bryant.  I do believe that if Tiger can ever preform his magic on the golf course again, people will forget completely, and he will be back on top, though the negative publicity impacted his Q-Score and his bank balance in a big way.

Abercrombie & Fitch this past spring sold a padded bikini top for young girls that riled up some blogging moms (thanks Amanda for this example!). Did this negative publicity impact the consumers of the bikini tops?  Most likely - not, but who it may have influenced was the moms or the purchasers.  In family situations, the intended user of a product doesn't always have the final say on what is purchased for them to use.  Usually, the purchaser is a parent - maybe a mom - who may agree with the negative publicity that this bikini top was just a bit too grown-up for an 8 year old.

Several of you wrote about the debacle with Toyota and its accelerator, someone mentioned they wouldn't buy a Toyota because of this.  An Op-Ed piece from the New York Times explains that the vast majority of incidents were related to driver error, floor mats or accelerators sticking - not to Toyota and faulty electronics, but this isn't what people remember.  Faultless Wendy's sales floundered for months after the faked finger in the chili incident that received nationwide attention.  Both of these are good examples of how negative - and sometimes untrue or half-true - publicity can have a long term effect on a company.

Amber pointed to the negative press associated with the latest in Netflix business moves as an example of bad publicity not enhancing a company's brand image, increasing customers or building awareness.  The same could be said of the Falcon's as Jasmine mentioned related to Michael Vick.  It took several seasons for the Falcons to rebuild interests after Vick was arrested.  As luck would have it - or bad luck that is - Vick was the focus of the Falcons ticket campaign that season.  Until last year, the Falcons went back to focusing on the team as a whole and resisting placing focus on any single player.  Michael Vick, himself, is an example of someone trying rebuild and remake their brand image.

Someone mentioned about Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise's negative publicity.  In both cases, neither have had very successful projects nor been offered as many since their very public breakdowns.  The negative publicity for both related to their outbursts (Cruise jumping on Oprah's sofa and Gibson using racial slurs while drunk) have damaged their careers - at least in the short term.  On the other hand, Charlie Sheen made a fair bit of money off his public breakdown as did Two and A Half Men gaining ratings during the premier of this season.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the Super Bowl Halftime incident of a few years ago involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.  Many in the PR world speculated that it was a publicity stunt meant to drive buzz about Janet and her soon-to-be released CD.  MTV promoted on their webpage earlier in the day - be ready for a shocking halftime.  Shocked we were.  After which the blame game started.

There were five major players in this incident - and the blame ended up squarely, rightly or wrongly, on one of them.  The NFL blamed CBS since the network was in charge of the entertainment.  CBS blamed MTV since it was the "Halftime show presented by MTV," and said there was no 'malfunction' in the halftime show planned as far as they knew.  MTV turned to Justin and Janet - and then placed the official apology in Janet's lap.  She ended up being the one who took the heat (even though she didn't rip the piece off), going on MTV and its website with a recorded message apologizing for the 'malfunction.'  She was subsequently asked to not appear or perform at the Grammy's a few weeks after the SuperBowl where she was scheduled to be part of a tribute and highlight more of her new CD.

Where was Justin in all of this?  He actually apologized on his own through his publicist the night of the SuperBowl.  He then went under ground until the Grammy's, and when he appeared there it was with his mom as his date.  Upon winning, he apologized again.  Why didn't MTV go after him for the more public apology they demanded from Janet?  MTV needed him, he didn't MTV - but Janet did.

Amanda linked an article concerning the post's topic from the American Express Open Forums.  "Is any Publicity Good Publicity?" by John Mariotti is worth a read and summarizes our topic fairly well.

Putting the 'I' in "IMC" - From Support Media to the Internet

The term support media is used to describe a wide variety of ways that marketers can reach a target audience.  Often, support media is used to supplement broadcast and print media by increasing impressions or reaching target audiences that are hard to reach with more traditional media.  Outdoor advertising - including billboards, and branded entertainment are two of the categories found in support media that I want to talk about today.

Billboards - we all see them.  They are geographic-targeting at its best.  As local newspaper and radio consumption falls, billboards still offer marketers a local audience.  Women's marketing Inc.'s website, billboards.com, not only showcases billboards, but has extensive examples of other out-of-home media encompassing everything from transit advertising to aerials.  They highlight their work on the Yellow Tail wines billboard campaign that utilized color and spectaculars as the means to gain consumer attention.  The Blue Blots blog also highlighted some creative billboards.

Branded entertainment includes product placement, branded integration and advertainment.  Product placement occurs when a brand is placed in any entertainment media including tv shows, movies, music videos and video games.  Typically product placement is paid or barter for by the brand company, but sometimes it is a happy shout-out from the creators to a favorite brand.  A recent example of the later was The Bark's mention on NCIS: Los Angeles that the magazine didn't know about until the show aired.

Jennifer Lopez is seen sipping Coke on American Idol, but in her video I'm Into You, Koma is what she is sipping.

Product Placement News reported that this is one of many product placements for Koma who is integrating ten more into their campaign.  Sadly, they do not showcase their product placements at all on their badly updated website.  They obviously forgot the 'I' in 'IMC.'

The New York Times reported yesterday (October 27, 2011) that ESPN Deportes is premiering a series "El Diez"- it's first scripted show. The show has branded integration with American Airlines, Burger King, Chevrolet, Coors Light, and HomeDepot.  These brands have staring roles in the show's storyline. Chevrolet and Coors were interested in the opportunity to work with the show's creators to have the brand integration more organic and natural for the viewer. 

Also included in branded entertainment is advertainment. One classic example of advertainment BMW's The Hire films. They starred Clive Owen as a James Bondish character and highlighted the performance of BMW within the context of a short film plot. Recognizable directors (Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie) and actors (Madonna, Gary Owen, Marilyn Manson) participated in the films. BMW took the films down when they changed ad campaigns and agencies. You can watch them on YouTube - because someone ripped them for us :) - abmwfan.  One of my favorites is Hostage directed by John Woo.

Some current examples of advertainment include the websites of Crayola and Doritos. These two brands have integrated their advertainment into their IMC.

Direct Marketing is another part of the promotion mix that extensively utilizes integration. Let's take a look at Empire Today. In their commercials, they integrate tv advertising with a direct marketing component (call -1-800-588-2300).  Once you call the 1-800 number they will connect you with a sales person to learn more about their products in your home. It's easy to measure success of direct marketing by the number of responses you receive from a particular direct marketing effort. 







Several of you used examples that integrated the internet/interactive component of the promotion mix with other components.  Caitlin brought up the use of e-mail as a method of direct marketing - which integrates the two.  Many companies ask us to sign up for their mailing lists offering us either the option to 'opt in' or 'opt out' of receiving email from them and other parties they sell our emails addresses to.


Jordan mentioned Super Bowl commercials and that their true impact extends beyond broadcast during the game on TV.  Many people will watch the commercials on-line again after the game.  At over $2 million dollars for a 30-second spot, the true value is in how much are you talked about after the game. Is your commercial mentioned in social media and linked?  The internet provides a way for advertisers to get potentially exponential bang-for-their buck.  GoDaddy does a particularly good job of integrating its commercial creation process into its blogs and website.  For a commentary on how Steve Jobs and Apple changed Super Bowl advertising, read this FoxNews article.


Amanda posted and commented about a video "How the Internet is Changing Advertising" by Epipheo Studios.




Tiffany and Kimberly brought up the importance of the changes between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.  In Web 1.0 we were consumers of information that companies put on the web, but by the time Web 2.0 came around, we were no longer passive informations receivers.  Collaboration and creation are the forces behind Web 2.0 and consumers new interactions with brands.  Let's return to the Doritos' website and look at their 'Crash the Super Bowl' campaign.  Here consumers are asked to create ads for Doritos - and this isn't their first time with this concept.  You may remember this Super Bowl ad created by consumers from this year:




Marci mentioned the increase usage of YouTube by advertisers.  Doritos has a YouTube site that integrates its Crash the Super Bowl campaign into its YouTube channel.  YouTube offers marketers a place for consumers to see commercial advertisements as well as how-to videos and behind-the-scenes content.  Zyrtec used YouTube as a channel for its Parks Unleashed campaign. The campaign included games and contests.


Collaboration and consumer creation of content isn't always a bed of roses for a company.  When something goes wrong into today's social media driven world, it can go viral very quickly.  Tamara discussed how Delta's baggage charges of returning soldiers quickly went viral.  Here's the original YouTube video:




11Alive reported on the incident, and AirTran used it as a way to get good publicity by its policy.  The link has several videos connected to the article and how social media effected the spread of the news.


I'll leave you with a video about social media and how it is changing our world - marketing and otherwise:

2-page Magazine ads

I found this great blog/magazine with a bunch of examples of effective and innovative use of a 2-page magazine spread.  Many have an element that must be added to the magazine (like a pull cord), but many accomplish being unique without any added cost. 

Take a look - I have to admit I think the wonder bra one is both hilarious and a great example of demonstration.

#1AdTrend magazine's - effective 2-page magazine ads article