Elysesads Has Moved!

Hi people!

I want to let you all know that this blog will no longer be in operation. My new blog (same title) can be found at www.elysesads.wordpress.com. It's much more high-tech and I hope to do a lot more with it! See you there!

-Elyse

My Top 5, Week of 2/21-2/26

Hello fellow adnuts,

This week's Top 5 centers mostly around upcoming and recently launched campaigns, as well as exemplary use of social media by others. I've pretty much exhausted the Olympics and Oscar talk, so we'll just keep it chill for today. Enjoy!

1. As discussed in my post below this, this week's number one has got to be Lady Gaga. Besides being an overnight sensation the likes of which hasn't been seen since Madonna, Gaga's use of social media through Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and her Web site (see links in previous post) makes her relevant and relatable to her fans. This increases her fans' love for her while showing them how dedicated that she is to her "little monsters." To be totally cliche- yes, we are all gaga over Gaga. However, for a cool interpretation of her Bad Romance video, check out this article.

2. The launch of Axe's new product, Twist, which used a "co-creation" unit of both ad professionals and college students in order to develop the ads for the product. Twist is a new kind of deoderant whose scent changes as the day goes on - kind of, as the article states, how women expect men to be constantly changing in the game of love. You can find out more information on the ads for Twist as well as the first ad in the campaign here.

3. This super nifty article on old cereal ads from The Big Money, chronicling the evolution of the cereal industry from the past to the present. From sexist corn flakes to taboo frosting to a meat substitute, cereal has, and will, always remain a "g-r-r-eat" part of our culture.

4. Fed-Ex is now "shipping" its current marketing strategy to the World Wide Web. Just as other companies have done, the shipping giant, famous for its $379 million budget in 2009, which included ads for the Super Bowl and other pricey vehicles, is now targeting small businesses (less than 100 employees each) in order to rival its number one competitor, UPS. With a series of videos entitled "1-2-3 Succeed!" and starring comedian Fred Willard, Fed-Ex will attempt to increase what it calls a "key market" for them, due to the higher rates that small businesses usually pay for lack of the large volume discounts on shipped items that big businesses get. This Reuters article gives more information on the upcoming campaign.

5. Better watch out, Google. In a recent deal, search engine Yahoo! will now integrate Twitter feeds into nearly all of its products and pages, including Yahoo Mail, Sports, Finance, and Search. Yahoo's strategy to integrate all of the most popular social media sites into its environment rather than trying to compete with them will not only increase the search engine's popularity among younger demographics, but it will also provide an easy way for consumers to get all their information in one place. With the deal already in place with Facebook, this provides an interesting (and probably more successful) adversary to recently introduced Google Buzz, which tries to be its very own social networking tool, but which has not yet gained the essentiality that is common among already established sites like Twitter and Facebook. For more info on the deal, see this AdAge article. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, integrate 'em.

That's all for today. Have a great weekend!

Ra Ra Gaga!

I love Lady Gaga.

So do the other 2,850,948 people who follow her on Twitter, as well as the 5 million fans she has on Facebook, and countless more who aren't as involved in the online sphere.

Lady Gaga is the quintessential definition of a brand- she is a unique, relevant personality with enough mystery surrounding her overnight fame and overall persona to keep audiences interested for long periods of time. She doesn't exploit her power; you don't see her face on packaging for other products, and she doesn't make commercial appearances for certain products like her past doppelganger Madonna did. Instead, she controls the exact amount of involvement she wants with these brands, and uses that involvement in a beneficial way for both the company and herself- take, for instance, her recent position as the new creative director for Polaroid, and her creation of the Viva Glam line of cosmetics in partnership with Mac and Cindy Lauper, which have sold more than any other Mac line in the past.

Another part of what makes the Gaga revolution so interesting is her use of social media through her dedication to her fans. Being one of those fans myself, I avidly read her daily, and sometimes hourly, updates on Twitter (@LadyGaga), and I've watched her music videos on YouTube (check out this one for the Grammys) more than I have for any other artist. I scanned her Web site today to see if there was anything new (ladygaga.com), and I read this AdAge article discussing her impact on social media advertising and branding in general.

In short, I think she's amazing.
This, again, proves the extent to which relevancy and creativity make a brand. Not only does Gaga's story (or mys-story, get it??) intrigue the masses, but her dedication to keeping her fans informed (and even pre-informed, as in the case of the Bad Romance video), along with her involvement in companies that allow her to use her creativity in such a way as benefits both parties, make her beloved by both advertisers and consumers, and thus able to use her power in whichever ways she deems necessary. She also retains control over her managers and agents, and in this way allows the full extent of her personality to come through.

Maybe this is exactly what we need to do with brands. Aside from making them relevant, we need to make them personable, unique, and utterly dedicated to their user base, which is exactly what you have to be when trying to create a following in the world of social media. People want to know that you love them so that they can love you back. Create a mys-story (I love my jokes...), and then dedicate yourself to it.

Then we can all have a Bad Romance.

My Top 5 Campaigns, Week of 2/14-2/19

It's a very Olympic time of year.

Because of this, my top five for this week focuses mainly on the commercials I've seen during the Olympics and the campaigns surrounding them. Many YouTube links are provided. Enjoy!

1. Proctor & Gamble's first unified commercial campaign in the U.S. The first television spot the company aired appeared during the Opening Ceremony last Friday, and is part of their "Thanks, Mom" campaign. You can find the spot here - it made the people I was watching it with cry, and makes me feel warm and fuzzy every time I see it. In addition to this spot, P&G also gave Olympic families a $3000 stipend to attend and see their children compete, as well as creating a full family-branded center in Vancouver. All this comes from an attempt for P&G to both unify their existing brands under a single name, and to begin their upcoming push into sports marketing. You can find more details on the campaign in this AdAge article.

2. Kudos to Old Spice for their latest commercial, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. It's the best one I've seen in a while, and I'm kind of in love with it.

3. Visa's big push for the Olympics, which centers around the telling of athlete's stories with inspiring pictures and the tagline "Go World." The spots are part of Visa's first campaign that is directly tied to the Olympic Games; however, they've been a sponsor of them since 1988. The campaign not only includes inspirational spots, but it also features unprecedented promotions such as the chance to win tickets for life to the Winter Games, as well as some 3-D spots and a presence in social media. Here's their spot featuring speed skater Dan Jensen, the most popular one of the campaign. For more info, see this article.

4. Jet Blue's Twitter Test, which challenges agencies to have enough "know-how" of the popular Web site to find its senior VP- marketing and commercial on the site. The tweet, with the hashtag #sneaky, reads "We're pitching our advertising AOR. Curious on digital savvy...first test is how many of the agencies will find me on Twitter." Not only does this demonstrate the "savvy" of Jet Blue, but it also shows that they're going to take a geniune interest in the agencies that know their social media well enough to accomplish a simple, cheap task while weeding out the ones who may not be as interested in the account. Go Blue!

5. This BMW spot, aired in 2009. It's not the most recent, but it's the most creative thing I've seen BMW do in a while after that era of Clive Owen film shorts on their Web site.

That's all for today, folks. Have a great weekend!

The Art of a Story

AdAge's long-awaited review of Google's "Parisian Love" Super Bowl spot is out. Bob Garfield, the critic known for his sarcastic style and sometimes snide comments when reviewing spots, did something extremely surprising this time.

"Naturally, like everything else these people do," he states, "it was perfect."

Shocking. You can find the article and the ad here.

Garfield states that the reason Google's ad was such a success was precisely because it was so simple. By telling a short, sweet story, Google effectively demonstrated how essential it is to the lives of everyday people, while at the same time emotionally impacting men and women alike.

The ad itself shows just how important the aspect of storytelling is to a great commercial. In all of the renowned spots of the past, this tiny trait has provided the basis for their greatness. It is obvious in its simplicity, and profound in its impact. Let's examine:

Apple's "1984" spot.

American Express' "My Life, My Card" spots.

VW's "Snow Plow" spot.

And, recently, Proctor & Gamble's "To Their Moms, They'll Always Be Kids" spot, which made my friends watching the Olympics with me cry.

All of these ads not only serve to further the brand and awareness of their product, but they also bring to light the importance that seemingly small items serve in our lives. Proctor & Gamble's products are very low-impact purchases; however, by airing this commercial, they show us that these products - those which we don't think about on a normal basis- are fundamental in the bonds that we have with our family. It reminds us how we learned to brush our teeth with our moms, the smell of clean laundry when we came home from school, and those minor messes we made when we were having the most fun.

The stories don't have to be obvious in order to be told. On the contrary, by being so implicit, they allow us to make connections we may not have made had they been more explicit. Google does not show the man doing the searching, just as VW doesn't show the man driving the snow plow, and Apple shows a non-comformist in the midst of an undefined many to demonstrate how it (and after buying it, we) stands out. By making them this way, the advertisers give personality to the brands themselves, and not the people using them. It allows consumers to form relationships and loyalties with the brand, and it stands out precisely because it does not overtly try to sell the product's attributes. Consumers don't like to be told; instead, they want to feel like they're seeing and understanding for themselves.

These ads allow them to do that, and all of them have been revered as some of the the great artistic spots of our time. So what does it take to make art in an ad, and how can we interpret a demonstration of commercial spending to exploit the American consumer as art?

That's easy. Make it a story.

My Top 5 Campaigns- Week of 2/07-2/13

I'm going to try something new.
Every week, I'm going to post my top 5 favorite campaigns/videos/advertising-related news bits, and explain a little bit about what they are, why I love them, and exactly what they look like (through links, etc.). Shoutouts to my BFF Meg for giving me the idea. We'll see how this goes.

1. For this week, number one is going to have to be the upcoming campaign for the Academy Awards that I discussed in my last post. Oscar.com features a live count-down to the event as well as an in-depth look into what goes on backstage before, during, and after the show, along with predictions, message boards, a fashion section including last years looks as well as the evolution of style, opportunities for viewers to receive mobile alerts, videos from past Oscars, etc. The Facebook fan page includes a discussion board, links to the Web site, and opportunities for fans to view photos and nominees. Through making use of social media in these ways, this year's Academy Awards show will have more opportunities for engaged viewership than ever before.

2. Though this is kind of out-dated, I was recently introduced to VW's "Fun Theory" guerilla campaign in which advertisers took seemingly mundane activities (walking up the stairs, throwing something in a garbage bin) and made them fun by adding simple changes. See the YouTube videos below:

- "Piano Stairs"
- "The World's Deepest Bin"

Guerilla marketing at its finest.

3. Yesterday, several Belgian agencies went on strike to protest the recent neglect (rejection?) of a charter between agencies and clients that stated rules for putting out bids for agency pitches. The strike is a virtual one, featuring the now closed Web sites of 20 of Belgium's finest agencies (including branches of BBDO, JWT, Ogilvy, TBWA, etc.) that explain what the charter is, how it works, and why the agencies are on strike. Though only lasting one week, the virtual protest will nevertheless have an important effect on the way pitches are done internationally. To view their story, click: www.famous.be

4. Super Bowl ads, especially:
- Google "Parisian Love"

- Snickers "Betty White"

- Vizio "Forge"

- Dodge "Man's Last Stand"

5. Super excited for Sprite's new campaign. It's about time the brand came back. In addition to creating globalized packaging, Sprite's new campaign will move away from the "Obey Your Thirst" slogan featured in their campaign years ago, and will introduce itself as "The Spark." Featuring music and films stars, online music and social media content, as well as creating the Sprite Step Off competition, the campaign will be the first creative that Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has done for the client, which they recently won. For more info on the campaign, see the AdAge article here.

That's all, folks. Happy Valentine's Day weekend (go see the movie)!

Re-Mediation

It's been crazy lately.

First, the Grammy's makes use of social media integration like they've never done before- using YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWdbMaOzYTE), Twitter (@thegrammys), and a whole new website (Grammy.com) to keep up in real time with the flow of sharing going on online during the course of the show.

Next, Google airs a TV ad during the Super Bowl. Now, I know this doesn't seem incredibly huge, but the fact that Google has never done a television ad before, and the fact that this ad, according to an AdAge article, ranked as the No. 2 most liked out of all Super Bowl ads on social media sites such as Twitter, says a lot not only about the fact that it was aired at all, but also about Google's reputation. The ad itself, "Parisian Love," plays upon Google's very simplicity, and by doing so shows us how important it really has become in the lives of everyday people.

And finally, the Oscars is launching a social media campaign. Venturing into lands they've always been too conservative to enter (they said it themselves), they're making use of more ad agencies than ever, and learning from the mistakes made during the Grammies, are fine-tuning their live streaming and social media capabilities to allow a totally integrative experience before, during, and after the show. The new website will be a huge draw for consumers wanting to see what goes on backstage, as well as the Facebook app that will allow users to share videos and stack their opinions of winners against others'. It will provide an opportunity for the Oscars to increase their television share- an important move, since viewership reportedly dropped 13% last year, which was the third lowest in Oscar history.

All I have to say in light of these new developments is: finally.

I'm extremely excited to see what Oscar comes up with, and how they make use of that integration during the show. Though they're not planning on using Twitter, I'm sure the Twittersphere will more than make up for that with the huge amout of material available on both Facebook and Oscar.com. And even though what the Grammy's did was fantastic, the opportunity for the Oscars to learn from their mistakes (both the Black Eyed Peas' attempt to integrate user fan videos into their performance and the lack of marketing that left many consumers bereft of 3D glasses during the Michael Jackson tribute) presents a whole new dynamic for experience.

In my TV & Electronics Culture class, we've been learning about a concept called re-mediation- that is, the capability of one form of media to both copy and improve upon another one. For example, a piece of paper in real life is more real, but less limited, than a "piece of paper" in Microsoft Word. They both have their limitations, but in a way, the Word program improves upon our traditional perceptions of paper by allowing us unlimited fonts, ink, and paper itself.

In a way, I feel like this is what these three entities are doing- taking their traditional form of marketing through TV, radio, and word-of-mouth, and improving upon them by copying other forms of media. Social media has its drawbacks, as does television advertising in the case of Google; however, combined with traditional platforms, they offer them unlimited exposure and engagement among their user base- and the opportunity to make themselves a lot more relevant to their target audiences.

I guess its time for us to get with the program....literally.