Celebrity Diet Gimmicks or The Real Deal

 In the beginning of this course we discussed the celebrity endorsement of diet supplements and how it often needs to be who are real and have experience the battle of the bulge.Anna Nicole Smith and Kim Kardashian have very similar backgrounds in that both women rose to prominence through world of glamour modeling and notoriety of the men they date. Consequently both women wound up with a reality show on the E! network and they both have similar busty body types so ideally they would make the perfect spokes model for a diet supplement. In this blog I want to analyze how the diet supplements of Quick Trim and Trim spa sky rocketed off shelves advertising to a similar target market of young women but ultimately failed to maintain a dominant position on customer like other fellow competitors. In all honesty can these celebrity powerhouse equal promotion sure but the question is for how long if the product is not legit. In early 2005 Anna Nicole Smith had dropped all of her weight from years of being a plus size model and she publicly announce and gave credit to TrimSpa and naturally the company saw this as a big marketing advantage and instantly pick her and began advertising campaigns that were certainly geared toward young demographic. They use her as well as  such devices as winning a a free Corvette or cash for trying the product. However in 2007 after the passing of the model the New Jersey based company was named in Class Action lawsuit for alleging that marketing of this product was false and misleading. Also the Federal Trade Commission made the company pay 1.5 million in damages and the company was dissolve. In terms of the Kardashian Family and a clan that is know for their curves they use another type of marketing fundamental and that is the act of just brand messaging and brain washing as they use there many outlets to get there fan based to purchase this product. The Kardashian family use salacious late night commercials, their reality show and the 13.6 million twitter followers who follow these women every movement. Kim also falsely reveal how the product had help her to lose 15 pounds in a few weeks but anyone who watches the show can tell this wasn't true. Now Americans favorite reality family is in trouble as the product has been hit with a 5 million dollar lawsuit as four customers claim the product didn't live up to it's weight loss claims. The similarity in both products is that they both seem to use the same marketing push but ultimately ended in the same position. As there was just no scientific research to back up any of these products and the cusumer never saw results. 

Celebrity Gimmicks

In the beginning of this course we discussed the matter of celebrity endorsed diet supplements. In this blog I want to analyze the marketing of diet products through promotion and publicity and the use of celebrity. Glamour Models Kim Kardashian and Anna Nicole Smith have a similar background as they both start off as women who gain celebrity through notoriety and because of the men they dated. Through this kind of fame they both consequently wound up on the E! network with reality shows. In Early 2005 Anna Nicole Smith had lost all of her weight obtain through her work as plus size model through a supplement called TrimSpa when she went various outlets informing her fan base of this naturally the New Jersey company pick her up as spokes person and began advertising ad campaigns that were certainly geared toward a young demographic as they use such devices as the winning of a Corvette or cash.Instantly the product flew off shelves selling an astonishing 141 million dollars in sales. However in 2007 after the passing of the model various consumers came forward proclaiming that supplement didn't work and as result the company was slapped with 1.5 million lawsuit c for misleading and false advertising and the Federal trade commission had the product and commericals removed from the market. Plus the company obtain at least 33 million dollars debt. On the other hand the Kardashian family just use good old fashion brand messaging and loyalty in 2010 thorugh the use of her show "Keeping up with the Kardashians"  and there salacious late night commericals of the product they were able to began discussing athe supplement called Quick Trim and how this product had help Kim and Khloe lose weight. As result of their powerful fan base and through powerful use of internet they were able to get this product into 25,000 retial chain and the sells grow to 50 million in revenue. Although in 2011 the product as well as American's favorite reality TV family was hit with 5 million dollar lawsuit and the results are still pending. In conclusion my research has told me that you can have the best marketing campaigns ever but to remian completely dominant over the concumer you must a reliable good product.


Maximillian Boudreaux

Progressive Marketing

The Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, called Progressive for short, is a US automobile insurance company co-founded by Jack Green and Joe Lewis in 1937 and its headquarters is stationed in Mayfield Village, Ohio. Progressive is one of the largest auto insurance companies in the United States and currently insures over 10 million people.

Progressive's TV advertisements depict an insurance superstore with an overly enthusiastic, carefree cashier named Flo, who explains the benefits of Progressive Insurance to customers around the "store". This builds customer interest by focusing on and demonstrating the many advantages and benefits of switching to Progressive. The commercials usually end with Flo saying or doing something funny or random that grabs the attention of its audience. Progressive insures other properties such as boats, homes, and pets if they are ever injured in an accident where an insured vehicle or property was involved. That also builds interest for people who want to have additional properties insured. Progressive also let's you choose a policy that fits your budget and let's you make your own discount (up to 30%) based using a small device that plugs into the on-board diagnostic (OBD) port of your car and monitors your driving habits for 30 days. So you are in control of how much you want to pay. This builds the desire to choose Progressive over other companies that don't offer such perks. Progressive also shows you how much you are saving by switching to them from other auto insurance companies. This promotes action and leads price sensitive customers to take action and switch to their company.

In the commercial below, whether it is intentional or unintentional, Progressive is reaching a new target market by incorporating fictional video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. Or it could be because he's blue and Progressive's main color is blue. Either way, this was a great way for Progressive to reach a new audience because of shock value; it was in good taste, and on a lesser scale, promoting the SEGA franchise by marketing the company's icon. No one was expecting them to take that route and incorporate that particular character, the majority of Sonic the Hedgehog fans are die-hard fans, and SEGA also benefited from this commercial. Based on YouTube comments and other online reviews, this commercial did very well and increased brand recognition for Sonic fans that didn't know about Progressive, and brand insistence for Sonic fans that may already have another insurance company or are in the process of choosing another insurance company.

Here's a second commercial which gives a little more information about what Progressive insures.

Tiida!!

In a highly competitive environment of advertising, advertisements need to be attractive to audience. There are many strategies for good commercial. Some people use hilarious stories to appeal audience; some use touching stories. The one I found is a commercial from Nissan. This advertisement is creative and short. It can convey its goal clearly in a short time.

Different countries may have different needs for cars. In Michigan, people prefer big cars. However, in small country, like Taiwan, small cars may be more appealing. Tiida is a series of car collections from Nissan. In the advertisement, once people say Tiida, those things are getting bigger. It means that even Tiida is a small car, but the space inside the car is not cramped. There are no dialogues in this commercial; the only word people hear is Tiida. It can also make audience to remember the name of the car. In addition, the driver in Tiida is usually young parents. It can easily indicate that the target market is young parents or young people. It means that Tiida is not quite costly; even young people can afford to pay.

This commercial expresses the idea of Tiida successfully. People can understand the advantage of car immediately. In fact, Tiida does have great sales volume in Taiwan. 

Katy Wu

Wheat Thins: Do What You Do

Wheat Thin is a baked snack cracker made by Nabisco, aka National Biscuit Company. This company is a subsidiary of Kraft Foods. Nabisco was formed in 1989 by William Moore and Adolphus Green.

Wheat Thin has enlisted a famous duo, a famous CARTOON duo for its latest commercial. Wheat Thins newest commercial features Brian and Stewie Griffin from the sitcom “Family Guy”. This commercial is based off an infamous “Family Guy” episode that most fans and even the occasional watchers recognize as a spoof of the “Cool Whip” episode.

The commercial uses humor and celebrity endorsement to draw their customer’s attention in, full-filling the first step in AIDA. The commercial also uses repetitive use of their brand name to increase brand familiarity. True fans of the show are also likely to then associate Wheat Thins with the show and the humor of the commercial, creating positive brand recognition. Wheat Thins target audience with this commercial probably falls within the 18-34 range seeing as how that is the age group of “Family Guy” fans. Although Wheat Thins and “Family Guy” might earn new fans because of the humor used in this commercial. The Wheat Thins slogan of, “Do what you do” applies to this commercial because as fans of the show will tell you, Brian and Stewie are doing what they do best- fighting.

Although there is very little statistics publicly available about the success of this ad campaign, I can only imagine it has had a positive effect on their sales. I come to this conclusion as when I was trying to figure out what commercial I was going to review, I had several suggestions to do this specific commercial. And upon researching this commercial’s success I could find nothing but rave reviews for the New York agency for creating this successful ad.

Sex Sells Cars Too

As we heard on Monday, sex isn't always the easiest thing to sell. Its touchy and sometimes awkward and marketers looking to sell sex have to tread carefully. The good thing about sex though, is that it makes selling anything else a piece of cake. Seductive commercials are a way to insure you appeal to a wide range of target markets, as well as capture attention and make your add the loudest noise in the room.

Cars can be a tricky product to sell. Besides the fact that they are expensive, high involvement purchases, the competition is huge, and many people are very particular about the company they buy from. These two commercials for the Fiat stood out because they both appealed to a wide rage of people. They also did a good job leaving the viewer with something to take away, so even if you didn't buy right away, you might come back later. The former uses a very seductive approach, hoping to capture attention before you are even aware of the product. Once you start the commercial, you have to finish it to see what happens. Making it the most interesting thing in the room helps to eliminate any other noise that may distract the audience. Leaving the viewer with a "you'll never forget the first time you see one" punchline, the company hopes that next time you need a car, you'll remember the first time you saw a Fiat. The other commercial uses a famous opinion leader to try to capture the same attention. Good or bad, Charlie Sheen has had more news time in the last few years than most celebrities see in a lifetime. Even if some people are not so fond of Sheen, anyone not living under a rock will recognize him instantly, and that recognition alone goes a long way in getting audiences to remember your add.

Either way, using sex (or a celebrity with a reputation for sex) in an add greatly increases the range of audience your add will appeal to. Almost as important as the add itself is the message behind the add that the consumer will retain, and the advertisement of the Fiat does both of these things very well.

Commercial 1

Commercial 2

Absolute is Swedish vodka, made with continuous distillation. It was created by L.O. Smith known as the “King of Vodka”. Its original name was Absolut Rent Branvin which means absolutely pure vodka in Swedish. After changing the name to Absolut he registered
the brand name in 1879. With a bottle that was originally dismissed by the test markets, Absolute continued to grow and was being exported by 1979. Five short years later they were in 18 countries and by 1985 it was the #1 import. They are currently the #2 Vodka in the world right behind Smirnoff. The company has used competitive advertising to achieve this. Last year they broke the 5 million case mark for the first time the only companies to do this are Bacardi, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan and Jack Daniels in the spirits sector.

In addition to their year round flavors like Citron, Mandarin, Pear, Berry Acai, Vanilla, and Ruby Red Absolute also have Limited Edition flavors that come out through the year.

An example is Absolute Greyhound. The company collaborated with a Swedish music group called Swedish House Mafia. The commercial shows a futuristic fantasy world where three
groups of people in weird looking costumes come to meet in the middle of a desert.

While they are drinking Absolut cocktails that are served by a masked waiter, the guests are listening to the song “Greyhound” by the members of Swedish House Mafia. The members of
the music group turn into robotic greyhounds. The beat of the song sets a pace for them as they chase a floating glob, the guests are watching from afar with binoculars.

The dogs finish the race and a Final close up of the Vodka is shown again.
A part of the campaign has been Facebook with a site where you can watch the video, hear the song and mix it yourself. While the overall concept was innovative, some bloggers were not as excited by the depicted scene in which Greyhound dogs were being raced.

Another Promotion being run was ‘An Absolut World’. This promotion boasted an ATM that gave out free money in New York and Taxi lines filled with Porsches in Germany.

Why do Commercials Succeed or Flop?

Almost every American has seen a T.V. commercial. On most occasions we do anything in our power to skip commercials. However, on rare occasions we find a superb commercial. So what separates the excellent commercials from the duds?

A good commercial has objectives (persuasive, informative, or a reminder) however, the main goal is to be remembered, make a profit, and enhance the company's image. But before anything is said in a commercial it must first grab the customers' attention. Advertisers have to compete with the noise of the house. You have to be beat the talking, the dogs barking, the telephone ringing, and other problems that limit the viewers attention. Web Mirage states that a good ad should grab its consumers attention in the first 3 seconds. Obviously that is not a large window of opportunity; thus, quality ads need a strong beginning. Here are a few techniques.

1)Humor

2)Something new/creative/colorful

3)Sex appeal

4)Outrageous acts

5)A celebrity

6)Cute animals or babies

7)Telling a story

8)Emotion/Pain

A good commercial will usually have one or multiple of these techniques at the beginning and throughout the commercial. Then advertisers can slip in information about the company while the target customers are still entertained.

Here is an example of a bad commercial.

It is awkward, not funny, or colorful, and does not fit into any technique mentioned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elguO9usN4Q

Here is an example of a good commercial.

Has a colorful and uniquely interesting start. Then tells the audience the store brand and information about low pricing. Then it applies slap-stick humor, promotes its “Price Match deal”, then repeats the brand name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvAj6qfmFQ

Other well produced commercial examples

Sketchers “Mr. Quiggly” uses 1/2/6

Chrysler “Halftime in America” uses 5/7/8

David Beckham “H&M Bodywear” uses 3/5

-Michael DiGiovanni

Cultural Considerations in an Ever Changing Society

As the ever changing global cultural melting pot continues to stir, previously established norms and boundaries begin to blur. In truth lines once draw to govern acceptable practices and ideas shutter under the ever pushing weight of an evolving culture. As such with this constant change in cultural norms or agreed-upon expectations and rules by which a culture guides the behavior of its members in any given situation. Advertising managers must be ever vigilant to keep up with such accepted norms, this so to avoid violating the core ideology of this target market. With respect to this, advertising managers must take into account a variety of considerations when developing and managing advertisements.

From this the common questions arises, why is culture so important to consider in marketing? To answer that consider the total influences that stem from culture:

• · the cultural environment strongly influences the labor environment.
• · and the socio-economic environment.
• · and the politics of the populace , which effects the Political / Regulatory / Legal Environment.

Looking at this it is quite easy to see the extent and the level of control culture exudes.

With considerations to all of the varying aspects one product stood the battering test of culture consideration, K-Y® Brand INTENSE®. With the semi-controversial cultural nature of openly discussing sex, K-Y had many socio-cultural obstacles to overcome including the regional differences in accepted norms. To surpass these obstacles K-Y launched advertisements that catered to the selected regions cultural norms, this meant that the message would reach its target market without offending any possible receivers. Ultimately I would praise K-Y for the brilliant execution and launch of K-Y® Brand INTENSE®. The Advertising managers took into full consideration all regional areas that their commercials would reach, and what audience would view them. As such the campaign was complete success resulting from the understanding of regional cultural differences and shaping each commercial to fit the accepted norms; thus curtailing and mitigating all fallout.

By Christian Wojcinski...

Changing History

After the National Hockey League went on strike for the 2004-2005 season the following 3 seasons had very low television ratings and was in danger of losing its television deal. The NHL had to come up with a creative way to create a new image to go along with post lock out hockey.

This is when The NHL came up with their “History will be made” commercials. These were a string of commercials that were released leading up to the 2007-2008 NHL playoffs. They had such a positive initial reaction to their new marketing campaign that the NHL decided they would continue the ads throughout the playoffs even making more than 5 new commercials.

The “History will be made” commercials take some of the biggest moments in NHL playoff history and simply ask the question “what if this never happened?” They play these clips with nostalgic music and are only 30 seconds long but had a very big impact on the way the NHL was going to market themselves.

The commercials had so much success that they continued to play a few and made more for the 2008-2009 NHL playoffs. The NHL realized that no matter how their product changed or what their image was, if they could get people to think about their favorite NHL memories they could sell them on their new product. The NHL continued their nostalgic commercials throughout the 2010-2011 season.

Garrett Stripp