Simple and sincere shines

We’re wrapping up another year and the Best TV Commercials of 2013 is the blog topic du jour. It’s prompted me to publish this post on four ads I found particularly enjoyable.

Let’s begin with Citi ThankYou Preferred Card.There are so many things right about this commercial. The concept is authentic and the script is flawless. The superlative talent deliver a wonderful performance and ace it with their priceless facial expressions. The commercial is simply delightful and I chuckle every time I see it.

Go ahead, rack up points on me–please!

Did you know that Old MacDonald was a really bad speller? This commercial cracks me up every time. How do you spell advertising success? G-e-i-c-o-e-i-e-i-o.

I’m probably one of the few who don’t really care for the AT&T “It’s Not Complicated” campaign. Yes, the kids are precious, but it took about three installments in the series for the concept to lose its verve. Recent commercials barely make sense and do little to enhance the brand. Somehow, an idea that seemed so simple, isn’t.

That said, everyone’s favorite in the campaign is endearing. It wins on cuteness and honesty alone. I wonder if the direct camera shots of the girl were completed in the first take.

Yes, that is adorable.

Shaquille O’Neal, better known by most as Shaq, surprises as a very gifted and talented pitchman. I’ve always known he was a character with an engaging and fun personality, but I didn’t expect him to parlay his likeability to a stint as a product spokesperson. Bravo, Buick for recognizing the big man as a pitchman. Hail Shaq!

Wow! He’s so much more than I expected as a product pitchman.

What do you think of my selections. What do they have in common? Do you have a top four? Do they include any of my favorites? Why do you like them?

del.icio.us Tags: television advertising,television commercial,advertising

Take 30 for Play 60

How many television commercials make you laugh every time you watch them? Here’s a better question: How many are promoting exercise for children?

This ad from the Play 60 program sponsored by the NFL is wildly popular and gaining reach well beyond the sports world.

Why?

It’s obvious. See for yourself:

“…and make Panthers fans forget about you.” Is this kid for real?

This young man has some serious acting chops. He seemingly has a career in front of the camera if he doesn’t make it to the NFL.

What a gem.

Now, are you motivated to get away from your computer, take your kids outside and spend 60 minutes playing?

del.icio.us Tags: National Football League,NFL,Play 60,Cam Newton

What’s more All-American than…

Don’t you just love the Jack-in-the-Box commercial with Brad Paisley? The guy’s a natural!

Talk about laugh out loud funny (that’s LOL for you younger readers). The commercial excels in every way possible.

When it comes to advertising, Jack-in-the-Box is a perennial All-American.

del.icio.us Tags: television commecial,television advertising,advertising

A clear-cut case of cause-and-effect

Who needs a championship football game to see super television commercials?

DirecTV recently launched a clever new campaign with a series of 30-second ads that demonstrate beyond a shadow of doubt that subscribing to cable TV will lead to bizarre life altering behavior.

Exhibit A:

Did I see a “Squirrel!” ?? That’s nuts.

So here’s the cause-and-effect logic, magnificently simplified…

Overpay = Anger
Anger = Alone
Alone = Shaggy
Shaggy = Rescuer
Rescuer = Zoo

A house full of stray animals couldn’t possibly end well. Did you see the opossum and raccoon?

Exhibit B:

He’s a pinball wizard, there has to be a twist.

It’s difficult to fathom that a father’s frustration with cable sends a daughter’s life spiraling out of control, but the video is pretty compelling. Let’s break it down:

Cable out = Dad frustrated
Dad frustrated = Daughter imitates
Daughter imitates = Principal expels
Principal expels = Goth boyfriend
Goth boyfriend = Undesirable wedding
Undesirable wedding = Dog-collared grandson

A child with a dog collar? Subscribing to cable leads to multi-generation dysfunctional families. Cable exacts a severe price on the innocent.

Exhibit C:

Cable is the Scourge that drove his life into a ditch.

I’m confident after walking your through the cause-and-effect logic in the first two commercials that you can now connect the dots on your own.

Need you see more?

That’s it. I’m convinced. The correlation is unassailable. Subscribe to cable (cause) and your life goes inexplicably and unexpectedly awry (effect). The only commonsensical course of action is to cut the cable and switch to DirecTV (logic).

You can’t argue with the reasoning. Even Aristotle would be compelled to make the switch.

BuzzNet Tags: Cable TV,DirecTV,cause-and-effect,logic,stop taking in stray animals,don't have a grandson with a dog collar,don't end up in a roadside ditch,TV commercial,television advertising,advertising,radio commercial,publicity,brand affinity,brand loyalty,brand experience,tagline,writing assignment,copywriter,blogger

Slug bug!

I’m a purist. Back in my day (oh gawd, doesn’t that make me sound old!), counting Volkswagen Beetles on the highways was a summer vacation pastime. On long car trips between campgrounds, my siblings and I would battle for bug counting supremacy. First to see and call it gets the credit. Yours truly always trounced my sibs because I had the best eyesight by far. I could recognize the shape of the Beetle from a distance by day and the unduplicated dual above-the-headlights parking lights/turn signals by night. I mean, I killed at this game. I’d develop such a big lead in a matter of hours on the first long drive that everyone pretty much resigned from the competition, although they were never allowed to quit.

There were a lot of Beetles on the road back in the 70s.

What that meant was that my sibs had sore bruises on their arms and legs from the slug bug punches I meted out without mercy. It became such fun for me, deciding who to pop each time I saw a red Bug. And that brings me to the point of this blog: How dare Volkswagen alter the game to not only include Bugs of every color, but Volkswagens of any persuasion? They can’t do that; I mean, come on! How can they add the Routan, Tiguan, Jetta, Toureg and the other eight models? I mean, they don’t look anything like the Beetle.

I ought to slug the powers that be for changing the rules of the game!

I ought to give them a slap on the back for such a brilliant idea.

Punchdub. It is a whole new game.

Passing thoughts…
Has there been an outcry from groups about punching family, friends and strangers? Wouldn’t surprise me. I applaud Volkswagen for ignoring them. PC groups are annoying. Well, most of them anyway.

Punchdub: I can’t help but wonder if there’s a political statement in there somewhere.

   

Technorati Tags: Volkswagen,Punchdub,Punchdub advertising campaign,Punchdub TV commerical,slug bug,Volkswagen Beetle,Volkswagen Bug,Routan,Tiguan,Jetta,Toureg,dub-ya,dub ya,summer vacation,family vacation,roadtrips,camping,campgrounds,driving,highways

Pharmaceutical manufacturer develops treatment for wild hair syndrome

Of course advertising works. The proof is in the glut of commercials on television for pharmaceutical drugs. Considering the immense cash expended in research and development, and the rigor involved in testing drugs, one has to assume pharmaceutical manufacturers do their homework when it comes to advertising. They know their customer. They know when, where and how to reach them. They know advertising pays huge dividends.

But at what expense to humankind?

Look at what has happened to our society. We put substances into our body to treat all sorts of discomforts and dislikes. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for relieving pain and correcting physical maladies and chemical imbalances that affect quality of life. But I question what we are trying to do when we take prescribed and OTC medications for every little twinge, ache, discomfort, imperfection and shortcoming.

For a certain portion of our population, it’s the path of least resistance. It takes absolutely no effort to pop a pill instead of getting on a treadmill or following a prescribed diet, lifestyle change, physical therapy or rehab regimen.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers recognize this is an exceptionally lucrative market and they are being very creative in developing remedies with appealing names for all kinds of medical, quality of life and vanity issues. Some are now described as a syndrome or disorder that also bears a creative name (such as the fictitious syndrome in this post’s title) that was probably assigned by a savvy marketer or a professional naming/branding firm. The medical community and the public didn’t know of this syndrome or disorder until we heard it described in a TV or radio commercial, or read about it in an advertisement.  In some cases, a close examination of the name of the “condition” by a thinking person would have him or her scratching his or her head thinking “What? Seriously?”

Unfortunately, the public is buying, regardless of the legitimacy of the syndrome or disorder, or the necessity of any kind of treatment.

What may be worse is how drugs have become the base for superficial gain.

Perfectly healthy people inject, swallow or smear to artificially enhance so they can look or perform better. It's superficial, vain and perhaps a bit reckless. Sometimes, the drug provides short-term results, but what about the long-term consequences? Many will discover them as health issues begin to arise in the ensuing years. With luck, if any delayed side effects arise, they will be minor. But that’s a bit like Russian roulette, isn’t it?

What is the pharmaceutical industry's responsibilities here? What about the advertising agencies? How are they culpable? How about the physician community? Is the federal government being vigilant enough in reviewing the efficacy of new drugs and the claims manufacturer’s publish? How closely do they review the data? And what about the consumer? How is he or she accountable for what is prescribed or voluntarily injected or ingested for medical, quality of life or vanity purposes?

I will attempt to answer these questions, keeping in mind this is an advertising blog, in upcoming posts.

Technorati Tags: advertising,TV commercials,radio commercials,pharmaceutical advertising,prescription drugs,medicine,medications,OTC,advertising agencies,physician community,quality of life,syndrome,disorder

Advertising in all its forms

OK, a bit more scut work and I think the mundane laying of the foundation for this blog will be completed.

There are many, many forms of advertising. Here are some of the most common: advocacy, comparative, cooperative, educational, goodwill, informational, institutional, persuasive, placement (movies/TV shows), product, purpose, reminder, point-of-purchase and specialty.

Can I cover all of them here? It is my hope that I will find examples from each that impress me, or make me cringe. The discussion could be fun.

The delivery vehicles are also important to address. Why? Some products, services or objectives of advertising simply cannot be achieved with or without certain media in the mix. If “words can not adequately describe it,” or, “you have to see it to believe it,” are expressed, then is it suitable for radio? Are opportunities to significantly improve ROI missed due to an inadequate or inappropriate media mix? Hmmm. Will I know it when I see it? Double hmmm.

In today’s society, the types of media are almost too numerous to list, so I’m only going to mention the most common ones here: television, radio, print, direct mail, outdoor (this bucket includes everything, from billboards to retail signs to static transit ads and the rapidly emerging out-of-home digital screens) web, and telephone (landline and mobile with screens). Did I miss any?

You already know I love television advertising; will I delve into the others? You betcha. I dig radio! Sometimes even moreso than TV. It engages the theater of mind, inviting the listener to create the scene in his or her head. It’s magic when it works.

Admittedly, I haven’t paid as much attention to print ads as I used to, primarily because I’m not exposed to them. I receive three sports magazines in the mail: one weekly and the others monthly, and a university alumni publication each quarter. That’s it. Did you notice I don’t have a newspaper subscription? Am I atypical? You tell me: how many print publications do you receive or read each week? How many are monthly?

Web ads. I’m going to make a concerted effort to be aware of my online behavior with regards to banners, interstitials and other forms of advertising deployed on web sites. There is a lot of great work being done online. I’m confident this medium is in its infancy and the potential for innovative and creative advertising is yet to be completely comprehended. Some of us may find ourselves right in the thick of it, intimately involved in the evolution. How cool would that be?

I feel like this post has meandered. Has it? Here’s what I meant to convey:

=> there are many forms of advertising; I expect to discuss most

=> there are many delivery vehicles; not all are appropriate for some messages, products, services or audiences and I’ll consider this when discussing some campaigns

=> the web is a new frontier, we probably have yet to comprehend its potential and I don’t know what I don’t know so let’s explore and learn together

Now for a strong finish. Here’s another television ad that still makes me giggle.

What an excellent script:

Boy Friday: Is that your new Sprint Phone?

The Man: Uh-huh. With Sprint’s new Fair and Flexible plans, no one can tell me what to do. I can talk when and how I want. It’s my little way of sticking it to the man.

Boy Friday: But, you are the man.

The Man: I know.

Boy Friday: So you’re sticking it to yourself.

The Man: (slight pause) Maybe.

That’s it - very crisp and economical, and flawlessly delivered by the talent.

Can you believe this ran in 2005? The commercial still seems fresh to me. That’s staying power.

How do you define advertising?

Advertising has been around since the beginning of time. Archaeologists have found many paintings in diverse cultures around the world that clearly announced an event or pointed to trade/the opportunity to acquire goods. I think that’s pretty cool. Even in pre-historic times, folks were trying to influence behavior through published messages. I wonder how the owners of the walls or rocks charged for the use of their medium.

To help frame the discussion in this blog, I want to answer the question, "What constitutes advertising?" I'll start this short discussion by presenting some definitions:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advertising

• Main Entry: ad·ver·tis·ing
• Function: noun
• Date: 1751

1 : the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements
2 : advertisements {the magazine contains much advertising}

3 : the business of preparing advertisements for publication or broadcast

Jeez. Is that it? Can advertising be adequately described in so few words. This isn’t Twitter, so let’s delve a little deeper.

The Marketing Dictionary:
http://www.answers.com/topic/advertising

Paid form of a nonpersonal message communicated through the various media by industry, business firms, nonprofit organizations, or individuals. Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the audience. Advertising is a marketing tool and may be used in combination with other marketing tools, such as sales promotions, personal selling tactics, or publicity.

OK, this is better, and in general, I think it captures the spirit of the term. Yet, the definition made me think, “How blasé. Dictionary definitions can be real snoozers!” They lack the appeal, pizazz and sham-wow that advertising can engender.

I prefer a broader and more chromatic definition of what constitutes advertising:

Every attempt to secure the sale of a product or service is advertising. The wares of the primitive merchant displayed invitingly in front of his booth is advertising. A want ad, to secure a job or an employee, is advertising. An inscription on a wall, the barker in front of a side show, the promises of an internet marketer, the announcement of a new online technology, membership in an affiliate program, wearing a peculiar shirt or distinctive sticker in your car - all these are forms of advertising in that they seek to attract attention to a product or a service that is for sale. For a product or a service of general use, rich and poor, high and low, men, women and even children, must be appealed to.

Works for me! Thanks to Fidel Prida, work@home entrepreneur, for breathing life into the definition of advertising. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-definition-of-advertising.html

Does this definition work for you? Let me know your thoughts.

Later on, I intend to challenge the notion that advertising is confined to the promotion of products and services, or the acquisition of votes. Hmmm, could be salacious.

Advertising rocks my world!

Anyone who knows me understands that television commercial breaks are not the time to engage me in conversation. My poor wife, who loves to chat, discovered this early in our relationship. Lucky for me, she didn’t ditch me after the first few times of unsuccessfully attempting to rip my attention away from the television to share a brief story of her day, only to discover my brain was fixated on the 30-second vignettes on the tube.

This attraction to advertising started at a young age. I can recall being mesmerized by TV, radio, print and even billboard ads when my age was represented by a single digit. Over the years, the attraction turned into a passion, a college degree, and ultimately, a career in marketing communications.

Something 2 Ad is my forum for sharing my passion. This will be more than a review of ads past and present that have captured my attention along with an explanation of why I like them (or not); I'll also be discussing advertising in all its forms, the power of advertising to affect change in society, both positive and negative, and whether or not agencies and their clients have responsibilities to their customers and the public at large. I also plan to research and comment on where advertising is going. It's a vast and exciting subject and I intend to delve into all areas where I have an interest, a point of view, and a desire to learn.

So let's start the journey and see where this blog goes. I hope you enjoy what I have to say and are motivated to provide your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree with me.

Let's start with a look at a commercial that is currently airing on national TV. Embedded here is one of my faves from the AT&T U-verse campaign:

This ad just cracks me up. The girl is a hoot. Love her attitude! The brief exchange between Tim and Mason is great; especially how Mason endures Tim's wisdom and then dismisses him with a simple "Yea, but I, I don't have that." His facial expression and body language speaks volumes.

This AT&T U-verse campaign is brilliantly executed. I'll be re-visiting it in future posts.