Suffocating ads

Suffocating ads

The general trend for tobacco companies in common opinion recently has not been in their favor. Years ago their advertisements were ripped from magazines, television and billboards in many states. The future for marketing this product doesn’t look good. A controversial topic at the least, I can’t help but feel frustrated for this continually bashed industry. Although not a smoker, I can only imagine the feat of trying to market a product so many people try to ban from everyday life. It has to be a tough job knowing that first your product was ban from inside bars, and then in many public places. The article below explains a move towards battling tobacco companies once again-

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/16/opinion/green-tobacco-education/index.html?iref=allsearch

It mentions that the advertisements across the country are totaling $54 million dollars. The Center of Disease Control is addressing the bill for this one, and is ultimately comprised of taxpayer dollars. Although it’s not the worst use of taxpayer money by any means in my opinion, I believe it’s common knowledge smoking is bad for you and shouldn’t be wasting the money that could be placed elsewhere. This is sort of a double-whammy on the tobacco companies, their product is unable to be displayed as the company would like, and some of the money they pay to the government is funding an anti-campaign against them. It’s not that the tobacco companies are right in distributing an addictive product, but the assumption it is bad for your health is clearly marked by laws, labels and common knowledge. I feel that there is enough going against any tobacco company, and marketing their product would be nearly impossible these days.

Alive or not?

Which way would you go?
Marketers have plenty of options when looking for endorsers or ways to endorse 
their product. The safest way, using either a fictional personality or dead 
celebrity has worked for many companies. "Charlie" the tuna has been the mascot 
for Chicken of the sea and has never once gotten arrested or had an affair. Just 
as well, when people think of Popeye almost immediately spinach comes to mind. 
He would be a perfect candidate for representing the vegetable, even though he 
has a temper and odd lifestyle. 
On the other side, having a concrete and real representative of a product or 
service can be just as good if not better. Even long after the endorsement ends, 
people can still associate the product with the person (This could obviously be 
good or bad!). At the same time, while being the endorser, they could win a 
championship, award or respect of the public. Media outlets have more insight to 
people's personal lives than ever, and that's a dangerous tool against any 
endorser. Any possible endorser has to weigh their options very carefully before 
having anybody sign a contact to represent the product/service/company. Which 
would you pick, the dead or fictional representative  or alive and well? Why? Do

you think an audience can identify well enough with a fictional character?

Leaving on a jet plane

Leaving on a jet plane
When looking at all of the places today marketers have to leave their mark, airplane travel can't be ignored. The terminals for each airline are littered with advertisements for everything under the sun. From travel destinations to business solutions advertisements are there with you the entire trip. After boarding, a passenger is still a potential customer of additional services offered. For example, many planes come with televisions in the headrests, which you may watch silently, or pay $2 for a headset to listen in. That's usually the time I start lip synching, or turn to a foreign channel so I can finally watch without being frustrated by the lack of understanding language. However, both the television and airline are trying to reach you, and regular headphones will do the trick. When you're "plugged in" the advertisements from anywhere can flow in, and they've got you all ears with nowhere to go.
You'd think your safe at thirty thousand feet from spending cash, right? Well, not exactly, there are credit card slots next to the televisions. This way you may make a phone call ($3.99 a minute Jet Blue), order an on demand movie ($4.99-8.99), or order from the advanced meal menu. While there has always been beverage services, the ease of ordering everything else is amazing. Many times you don't even have to speak a word before a quick "thanks" to the delivering attendant; you can tap and purchase whatever you'd like from the television in front of you. I would like to see the revenue collected from a single flight. Although it is definitely not where the airlines make their money, it's another way to keep the initial price of a flight down. The industry is mature and crowded enough that any new incentive is welcome.

Have you been on a flight recently to see some of this? What do you think?

Long Time Coming

It is no surprise that since the development of the Internet print sales of the publication have gone south. The epitome of an encyclopedia is to get quick, accurate information about just any topic. Although I think the Internet is great, I find it sad that this "historic" information source will no longer be tangible. It doesn't surprise me that last year print editions only accounted for 15% of the company's revenue, and didn't cover what it cost to produce it.
The story is not all sad however, Britannica will still be selling a product online. The company has increasingly been selling their electronic edition and has been extremely well received by schools and institutions. One of the major positive attributes of the online edition is that the encyclopedia is continually updated and kept accurate. Although you'd have to be reading a very old copy, topics such as Persia (instead of Iran) would be outdated. To me, that's one o the cooler parts of having something like that outdated and unchanged. It wouldn't be useful for current factual information, but it's interesting, and sad to see a perspective gone. There will no longer be a time where you can look to this historical publication and see what was previously perceived as fact.

The Nature of P.R.

I find it comical that companies devote so much of their resources to public relations. An essential part of any large business, the power of good P.R. can make or break you in a tricky situation. For example, think of Toyota’s debacle with alleged sticky gas petals, or BP’s oil spill in the Gulf. Each company had their fair share of accusations against them, however they are no longer topics on the news. The dictionary definition of Public Relations is, “The professional maintenance of a favorable public image by an organization or a famous person.” So, is P.R. seen as a safety net for when things go wrong? Or if things go wrong?

The nature of a company or person actively seeking to make things better in the eye of the public before anything bad happens seems greasy to me. Who would want to take part in a business that is going to need defense for something they did incorrectly? Is that any better than a child who has done something wrong and has an excuse waiting for the adult? At the very least it’s interesting to see how companies handle a situation nobody would like to be in, and sometimes even look better at the end of it. That’s when P.R. turns into an “art.”

McFiciancy

Some of the toughest challenges aside getting all ingredients and supplies to a location at the correct time, efficiency and consistency are the names of the game in fast food. One may wonder how major 'restaurants' are able to offer food so cheap and make it the same every time. It makes me wonder why some fast food locations have the steps down pat, and others in the same category are serving soggy cold everything.
McDonalds has been the case study of efficiency, consistency and success when serving people on a large scale. Although much less power and creativity is given to each employee, it is shown that this process works. Other establishments have set their model very close to McDonalds but just can't match up for some reason. For example, Dunkin Donuts around the northeast doesn't offer the consistency McDonalds or Wendy's seems to have. Also, you'll find yourself waiting longer for the order to be ready for you. Part of this is you don't want a sausage, egg and cheese on a croissant made hours before your arrival. With enough planning, thought and the correct employees any business could get down the efficiency McDonalds has to offer. If only the food tasted a little better!

"I want to go to Friendly's"

At first, it seems like a waste to advertise while the customer is already engaged in a sale. At Friendly's, they play their own advertisements over their speaker system between songs. Even though the establishment is failing as a business, it may not be a bad idea. The jingle is terrible, and seems to play at least ten times before you leave. However, that darn jingle is very catchy and could do a number with young kids. Although pretty annoying to adults, kids could pick that up and sing it over and over again. Is it worth it to have something annoying to adults, who transport and pay, but gets in the younger customers' heads and drives them back?

The case study would probably say the tactic wasn't successful, but at a different time in the business's history I think it could have been a great idea. There are plenty of successful businesses that rely on cheesy and annoying advertising. Whatever sticks with possible customers is what will be able to drive business to certain establishments. The opposite however can happen and there are ads that deter possible customers from purchasing the product. The “I want to go to Friendly’s” chant in the restaurant may have been that little bit to help the company go out of business, despite their delicious food.

They'll even get you when you're skiing

They'll even get you when you're skiing.
 The other day, while I was skiing at Smuggler's Notch, and then again at Bolton Valley, I realized there are advertisements on the mountain. At the bottom and top of the ski resorts, there is commercial space to be had. The two main kinds I saw were stationed right beside the lift at the bottom, and near where the trail starts at the top. I can't think of these locations to be very successful in their marketing efforts. Like a watermark or beach, I'd think that most people skiing wouldn't carry much cash on them. Or, if someone saw the advertisement on the mountain, I doubt they'd be paying attention to it. For example, I was looking for them second time around and I could only remember two of the four. One was for "Powderbank.com" and the other was for "Kleenex."

I clearly recognized the Kleenex advertisement, and can see its relevance. At the bottom of the ads are a shelf where you can grab tissues and toss them out. What a perfect opportunity to reach people with such a universal product. However, it doesn't provoke me to buy their tissues verses any other brand. They are very helpful and much appreciated though, it makes me want to be the sales rep. that goes skiing all over and gets to refill the Kleenex!

Public Speaking

On Monday, January 30th we had our first E-pitch presentation. Public speaking has never been a strong point or activity I'm fond of. Actually, I try to avoid it as much as possible. The E-pitch is a different kind of animal however, a sort of one on one public speaking, without the script. Just by not having the E-pitch in the public speaking category makes it less intimidating, although neither are easy. Watching the replay of myself stumbling at times, and doing better in others really makes me want to prefect the art. The power of being persuasive to a marketer's career has to be crucial. That time in the "elevator" could really change a career for the better and that moment could come at any time. I wish I had known about the concept in general when working at a small bank. It could have made my ideas for their loan marketing program much more persuasive and concrete. I can remember leaving out parts of my ideas for a classic car loan option that I really wanted to include when meeting with executive staff. Had I known about E-pitches, it could have gone better.
Doing the exercise in class I believe was more beneficial to the idea of selling an idea and being confident about it than memorizing and delivering. Although under pressure I had trouble with both, the later attempt seemed to be much better in body language. I hope that means I'm getting better, although saying to myself, "it's not a huge deal" may help with the anxiety. I could see this actually helping out in real life, and that's why I have no problem putting myself through the misery. I've got to get comfortable at it sometime!

5000 Commercials a day

When reading a Hartford Courant article on my Itouch, an advertisement popped up without my knowledge. I looked away from the screen, and tapped it again when I looked back down to read the remainder of the story. I found myself on a completely different web page because I accidentally tapped the bottom of the screen, where an advertisement had been lurking, waiting to be hit. This time, Bank of America had paid for an advertisement for low mortgage rates, and somebody had just been paid for my accident. It makes sense that companies choose to advertise on free applications, it gives incentive to buy the real product, and a way to keep making applications profitable.  It makes me think, who started all this?

 For television, I could see why there would be many commercials on a basically free service, all you needed was a t.v. and an antenna. However, when there started to be cable options, how did commercials leak their way into the deal? If there is a service that isn’t free, wouldn’t you be able to rid commercials from your viewing? Aside from a larger selection of channels, the time spent away from your favorite show is still similar. It’s amazing that the problem got to a point where a service to completely wipe out commercials from viewing, creating a DVR service. The idea of that comes at a funny time, were some people are waiting to view commercials during the superbowl.  One day we are making an exit to all commercials where another we’re waiting for what company can top the other. It makes me wonder why some companies make mediocre commercials all year long, and find out it’s a great idea to make one quality ad for a football game.