Guerilla marketing and advertising

I was just on an awesome website, because once again I was bored and decided to look up some of 'the most interesting advertisements ever' (that was what I typed into Google). One site lead to another and now I am looking at types of advertising that hits people deeper than most do, because they provoke emotions and feelings when someone just looks at it. I am going to include some photos of what I saw and I want to find out from people who agrees with this type of Guerilla marketing. I know this is an advertising class I am blogging for. To an extent though these are advertising products or suggesting a specific action should be taken.
 Example 1: Red Cross

White square next to her says 'Know what to do'

Example 2: for the 'Death Proof' DVD

Example 3: Feeding the Hungry

All of these are startling ways to advertise or market a product, cause, etc. Some people probably think this is going to far. But is it? It provokes so much emotion and feel because unlike a print ad or commercial, it may be difficult to avoid or turn away from. These types are often found in larger cities, by companies who likely have a larger budget to work with. There is time and place for these and if seen at the right moment can provoke unspeakable reactions.

Can Geico really...put out good commercials?

I am sure most of us have seen an abundance of Geico Car Insurance commercials. Over the past few weeks (maybe even months now?) every commercial now has the same start-the rhetorical question "Can switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?" see the clip below which has their most popular ones:

http://youtu.be/cCK6wQ0BoxI

Initially I thought this blog post would be negative. But now as I am thinking more about it, I am realizing that the company has had a slew of great campaigns over the past couple years.

1. First, it was the gecko lizard. "I am a gecko, not to be confused with Geico"
2. Then it was actors or celebrities in bad situations who at the end turned it around by saying the phrase "But I have good news! I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico"
3. The Cavemen. enough said
4. Finally, the present day question ones.

I want to know why they switch so frequently from one campaign to the next, and I wonder if any of these have significantly impacted car insurance sales. I think the only way to keep people interested will be to start airing new ones with new celebrities or personalities. Repeats get boring fast, something many advertising companies forget. Geico uses primarily TV to advertise, more so than print, so it is going to be vital they keep this fresh or will have to again switch it up.

gimme a break..with this savory bench!!

Imagine talking a walk through the park and seeing...this! I was bored and surfing the web for cool advertisements the other day on Google. This is not a print ad, or a commercial. This in fact is a bench somewhere on the east coast (didn't specify where) and I think it is genius.

This idea was probably conceived from a group of creative advertisers who wanted to break out of the norm of print ads and TV commercials. The Kit Kat jingle is catchy but it needed more. This was the solution that even if someone doesn't run and go buy a Kit Kat after seeing it, no one will ever forget sitting on that bench. It does not look like any other bench in the park, that's for sure.

With the wrapper strategically peeled half away and the brown wafer parts look identical to the original, the time and craftsmanship that went into making it perfect must have been a timely ordeal. Affective advertising is breaking out of the normal things every company does. It's using tactics that other companies don't have the thought, money, patience, or time to do.

I think we need to go on a class field trip to find this bench. I have a feeling we would be eating a lot of Kit Kat's if we do so...

Olay's new face...Carrie Underwood

While surfing People Magazine's website this morning I saw 'breaking news' stating that country singer Carrie Underwood has been named the new face of Olay Skin Care. While I still do not consider this to be breaking news, I clicked on the article and found out that not only is this a big deal for her, but it is revolutionary for the company.

Underwood is the first North America ambassador ever for the company. I guess that means any previous spokesperson has either been 1. not from North America or 2. not a celebrity. Regardless of those details, it sounds like a big deal.

I am always hesitant to believe celebrities when they endorse a product because it's a lot easier to rave about something when you're getting paid a couple million dollars to do so. Underwood has been seem by most people as a pretty genuine person, so when she claims that her mother first introduced her and her sister to the original Olay beauty fluid years ago, I believe her.

Underwood will begin now to appear in television and print ads for the company which as females means we'll probably be seeing her a lot more. Check out the gorgeous picture of Carrie below and decide if you think she is the right person to represent Olay. And read the article from people.com here: http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2010/09/08/breaking-news-carrie-underwood-named-face-of-olay-skin-care/?xid=rss-topheadlines

Justin Bieber retaliates via Twitter...is that OK?

Justin Bieber is one of the biggest pop singers on the planet right now. He is 16 and has had two platinum albums, and girls everywhere go crazy for him. Like most celebrities, he has a Twitter account (twitter.com/justinbieber) which boasts over five million followers. So, after an acquaintance of his friends hacked the friends phone to find Bieber's number and post it, he retaliated by posting that guy's cell number on his own Twitter page. Tweeting ' everyone call me 248------- :) or text' that kid received over 26,000 text messages from people thinking it was Justin Bieber they were contacting.

I am a big Justin Bieber fan, and I don't think it was necessarily wrong of him to tweet this in order to get the kid back. However, there are a few separate problems with this. First off, what fans are dumb enough to think a huge celebrity like him would post their real number? Did they think Justin was going to answer the phone or text them back? Lets be realistic here. Second, Bieber is sixteen-far from being grown up. It was immature, but more forgiving of someone who is a teenager adapting to the spotlight.

I talked to a few people about this, and someone mentioned he was just abusing his power as a celebrity. Knowing millions of people would see this tweet, he may have a gone a little too far. I agree (kind of), but the kid certainly learned his lesson

Spanish Advertisement near MU campus

After returning from a trip to Target, I couldn't wait to blog on a US Cellular bus stop ad that I saw not far from the Marquette University campus. I only know a limited amount of the Spanish language, so it was difficult for me to understand what it was saying. When I first saw it I thought it was interesting that less than 5 blocks over there could be the same sign just in a different language? After thinking about it now from a more advertising side, I wonder if companies vary their advertisements if they are just using a different language. Like does US Cellular just translate word for word everything the English version of the sign says?

I would have to think that although they are selling the same product, in this case cell phones and talk/text plans, they have to change things slightly because it is catering to a different demographic. This was also a lower class and lower income area, so perhaps the advertisements for US Cellular that we see at the bus stops on Marquette's campus are offering a different phone or a pricier plan. What students need is very different than what the people of that area need.

I was not able to take a picture of the sign before driving by. This ad got me thinking though how much work advertisers have to go through to adapt to both minor and major changes in audiences over the course of just a few blocks.

AirTran Airways offers bad billboard

On my way to Bayshore Mall yesterday evening I saw a billboard for AirTran Airways. It stuck with me because it was so ineffectively uncreative and lame that the first thing I thought was 'I have to blog about that!!' It was the traditional blue sky background with the words "We're Closed For Labor Day. Just Kidding" and then underneath said "Happy Labor Day" Not only is this not a funny joke, someone in the creative marketing and advertising department should lose their job for how dumb this is. Companies pay a lot of money to rent out billboard space and to waste it saying they are closed (for a holiday no one really cares about to begin with) just baffles me.

Going off that, Labor Day is a Monday off from work and school. Maybe I should appreciate it more, but the fact that it is one day and the only thing most people do is (maybe) grill a hot dog, most people aren't going to see that billboard and think 'wow, haha lets travel someplace.' Does anybody go anywhere for labor day, with the exception of possibly a neighbors backyard or to the Uncle's house one town over?  No one I know. So please, explain why AirTran couldn't at least come up with some other event soon occurring to advertise instead. Football season is starting, baseball is heading to the playoffs, more people are traveling for work, and thanksgiving will be here before we know it. All four of those things are better things to be promoting via billboard.

I wasn't quick enough to take a picture since it was on the highway, and I could not find the image online. But if you happen to be driving towards Bayshore Mall here in Milwaukee, take a look for it. Hopefully they can come up with something better to put there by the time you reach it.