Quick Response Bar Code

One of my tasks at my internship is to keep up with jewelry news. Today, I was searching around the Internet and came across an advertisement that is to appear in Elle Magazine tomorrow. The advertisement is for Hearts on Fire, a diamond company, and features a quick response bar code. According to National Jeweler the rationale behind the ad is that, "Customers, especially bridal customers prefer to access information from their cellular phone. This technology will allow [Hearts on Fire] , the ability to give their customers what they need and direct them to their closest Hearts on Fire retailer in the most efficient way possible." This is the way that advertising is moving. It allows potential consumers the ability to easily gather additional information as well as locate a store where they can buy the product. I think that a QRB is a smart way to better results with advertisements.

Nielsen + Facebook Study

Definitions:
Live-Stream: A continuous news-feed that highlights what a Facebook user’s friend is doing. Examples of items that may appear on the live stream is “Sarah and Johnny ended their relationship” or “Sarah → Johnny: I never want to see your ugly face again”.
Social Ads: Advertisements on Facebook that entice a user to click by mentioning that one or more of their friends are fans of the brand highlighted in the advertisement.
Hybrid: A mixture or a something that is created by combining two or more different elements.

An article recently posted on AdAge discusses a study conducted by Nielsen and Facebook. The study was the first of its kind and focused on advertising recall, brand awareness and purchase intent. The findings of the study are below:


1. For the control group Facebook homepage ads averaged:
a. 10 percent increase in ad recall
b. 4 percent increase in brand awareness
c. 2 percent increase in purchase intent


2. When friends were mentioned in advertisements (social ads) ads averaged:
a. 16 percent increase in ad recall and a 30 percent increase when it was in a live stream
b. 8 percent increase in brand awareness when there was a social ad and a 13 percent increase when the mention was included in the live stream (organically)
c. 8 percent increase in purchase intent either with social ads mentioning friends or in the live stream


The take away:
The results are pretty straight forward - by achieving organic results via the live-stream, advertisements have a better chance at increasing advertising recall, brand awareness and purchase intent. This is pretty obvious. For example, if I went on Facebook and saw that 25 of my friends were fans of a brand that I was unaware of I would definitely click on the associated ad. Why? I trust my friends and I want to find out what great new item my friends are into, and why I have not heard about it. However, using the live-stream cannot stand-alone. It is too risky to assume that your brand is automatically going to be the talk of the town, instead advertisers need to create a hybrid and use both paid advertisements along with the added boost of organic mentions. Lets say one of my friends’ mentions a brand and I’ve never heard of it, this would not create a lasting impression and I probably would not search out the brand. Yet, if one of my friend mentioned a brand and a few hours later a “social-ad” appeared on my homepage with the same brand highlighted I believe that I would be much more likely to click on the ad, remember the brand and I would be more likely to intend to purchase the band.

The Down Economy, Helped Digital Get Up

"Everything has to work in this economy. If the economy hadn't dropped the way it did, we would have been on auto pilot and not experimented the way we did. Our production quality online is better than our broadcast."

- Jim Farley, group VP-global marketing at Ford Motor Co.

I think the point Mr. Farley is making is a valid one. Looking back on the past half- century the stage was perfectly set for the Internet to become fully integrated in the lives of Americans and people throughout the world.

It all started when the USSR, who else, launched Sputnik in 1957. The launch of Sputnik catapulted the United States to try and regain their technological lead over the USSR. Skip ahead almost 40 years, the effort that the US had put into researching technology, along with a little help from their friends - the British, was finally paying off. And in the 1990s the Internet was estimated to have grown by 100 percent per year! In addition, as of 2009 there are over 1.67 billion Internet users.

The economic recession took effect as a result of a mixture of things, however, its timing was impeccable in relation to the rise of the Internet. Just has people were starting to figure out how great a tool the Internet was, large companies began losing money and having to pull back advertising costs (not the best method but none the less very prevalent). This caused companies and advertising agencies to get creative and turn to a new media that had previously been untapped, the Internet. If the economy had not caved, would advertisers had a reason to look to other, less expensive methods to get their point across? I think that it is hard to say, however, I do believe that the process of adaptation would have been significantly slower. In the end, the recession allowed the world to step back and analyze was to improve on the status quo.

I Think SNL Agrees With My Last Post

This morning I was watching CNN and the video below came on. I think it is pretty clear that the people at SNL would agree with my last post.

Also as a side note, Earl Woods passed away in 2006, which makes this commercial seem even more odd.

Nike and Tiger...really?

Last week in class a Wieden+Kennedy media buyer came in an spoke to our class. Although she was a great speaker, one of the main things that stuck out in my mind, that I wished I asked, was about the new Tiger Woods spot for Nike. I may be wrongfully assuming that they produced the spot, however, since they are the agency of record for Nike I think it is a pretty good assumption. The spot which can be found here, shows a silent Tiger staring blankly into the camera. The voice in the commercial is his late father Earl Woods. Earl is giving his son advice, such as "I want to find out what your feelings are. And did you learn anything?" The spot is emotional and intriguing, however, is it ethical?!

Many things about this spot scream no! To begin, I believe that one's private life should be kept private, with that being said, should any additional attention be drawn to what Tiger has done? Is he simply defaming himself even more or is he trying to somehow repent for his sins by bringing his dead father into an ad?

Although I understand that Nike is trying to own up to one of their celebrity endorsor being a complete mess up, this ad in NO way makes me want to buy anything having to do with Nike. I believe that the ad makes Tiger seem like he is getting out scott-free and even makes matters worse by bringing his dead father into the mix.

Will I still by Nike stuff? Obviously, it is a great brand that makes quality products and has had YEARS of great celebrity endorsers.

Will I still by Nike stuff because of this ad or Tiger Woods? Probably not. Although I am not in the target audience that Tiger is trying to capture, I believe that this advertisement would make me feel worse about Tiger. I believe that the ad illustrates Tiger as a sell out, especially for bringing his deceased father back from the grave (kind of creepy). It also makes me feel semi-ill that Nike would allow something to be created like that.

Oprah - The Next Chapter?

The bad news: Oprah's daily talk show is ending in September of 2011.

The good news: Oprah isn't leaving the talk show world, she is just moving to cable and prime time.

Instead of having a daily talk show. Oprah, being the wonder woman that she is, is creating her own cable network. The channel is called OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network) and it is also where she will host her new show titled, "Oprah’s Next Chapter". However, "The Next Chapter" will be quite different from Oprah's current gig. For starters the show will take place outside the walls of her current studio and will only air a few times a week.

The idea is to get the big bucks from advertisers by placing her on prime time. The announcement was made during Discovery Communications' annual upfront (learned about this term last week!). During the presentation Winfrey was quoted as saying, "“I want to take what I’ve established in daytime, inspiring people and giving them hope — and some cars — and build on that, 24/7, OWN style.”

My personal opinion on the matter: Although I think that the OWN will be hugely successful, I do not think that "Oprah's Next Chapter' will be as big of a hit. I don't believe that Oprah, although I do love her, will able to bring what she created during the daytime and bring it to prime time. The reason being, Oprah's key target audience are stay at home women, whom at 4pm have time to sit down and watch her show while cooking dinner or putting their kids down for a nap. However, I believe that during prime time there is more going in the woman's life as well as increased competition on television. Yet, I do believe that she will be successful in the upfronts and selling ad space, I am just unsure if consumers will actually watch it.

POV: American Idol vs. Dancing With the Stars

A recent New York Times article stated, "ABC's, “Dancing With the Stars,” attracted more viewers (23 million) than “Idol” (21.8 million)." With both shows captivating over 20 million viewers, I think any advertiser would be gaining a significant amount of reach. However, why is American Idol charging advertises almost three times as much as for a thirty second spot as Dancing With the Stars?

Currently, a thirty second spot on "American Idol" has a price tag of $642,000, while "Dancing With the Stars" is only raking in a meager $209,000. The article, which can be found here could be a basis for a POV. When it comes to more "bang for your buck" Dancing With the Stars may come out ahead, yet, the New York Times blames the demographics of the show's audience for the drastically lower price tag. The Dancing With the Stars' audience is comprised mostly of women over 50. "Idol,” on the other hand, is made up of younger men and women. The younger age group, especially men under 35, are extremely difficult to reach. Since they are a rare bread when it comes to traditional media usage, advertisers are willing to pay top dollar, hence the steep cost of Idol.

In addition, as a third year college student with a mom in her mid-50s (sorry mom!) I can see this separation first hand. While my friends and I tucker down to see who is going to be the next cut on American Idol, my mom and dad are cozying up to see Kate Gosslin waltz across the stage.

Four Square - Twitter on Steroids?

Foursquare has the potential to be the next big thing in social media. As a “newbie” to Foursquare, I am in awe of the idea and with over 750,000 users I’m not alone.

Foursquare brings social media into the real world. By “checking in” not only are users allowing their friends the ability to see their location, but users can also receive recommendations of places to go nearby.

Bringing this idea back to the University of Texas at Austin it would be used constantly on 6^th street. Bar-hoppers would be able to find out what bars are having the best specials or what bar their friends are at, simply glancing at their phone.

However, I believe that this application has the capability to go beyond the mere convenience of meeting up with friends and into the realm of creating tribes. Let’s say, for example, you are traveling to San Francisco for the weekend, however, you have never been to San Francisco before and do not know the first thing to do there. Yet, your friend Steve, Mary and Sally frequent the Bay Area regularly and have “checked-in” numerous times during each of their trips. As a result of their “check-ins” you will be able to see what they enjoyed doing in San Francisco. Furthermore, because you are friends with them you have a very high likely hood of enjoying similar things.

Finally, the use of advertising on Foursquare is also quite fascinating. If users “check-in” enough times at the same location, they have the ability to become “mayors” and “mayors” have the ability to gain “freebies” (actual free stuff!) at these locations.

According to the graph to the right and Mashable, Smartphone usage is quickly gaining momentum. With this momentum innovations for media space are increasing. However, it key is to make sure the consumer is engaged in the ad and does not feel invaded by it.

"We Can't Move Forward, Until You Mail it Back" - The 2010 United States Census

I think that the government (or DraftFCB the agency responsible) gets advertising, or just has the ability to spend enough money to get their message across.

Case is point the 2010 Census. In the past two weeks I have received numerous direct mail pieces reminding me to fill out the census and thanking me for already doing so. Before the census was released TV commercials were aired directing me to a website if I desired additional information. Along with this, billboards, radio, print and Internet advertising were utilized to reach the United States population at as many touch points as possible. I personally believe that with the $300,000,000 budget DraftFCB achieved their goal of reaching the United States population, however, only time will tell.