Campaign Synopsis/Critique

Overall, I am very pleased with our campaign for the Nike women’s toning shoe.  I felt like targeting the Nike shoe to the everyday mom versus the young 20 something woman is a niche that is untouched with this type of athletic shoe.  The purpose of a toning shoe is much better suited for an on-the-go mom who needs a little extra pep in her step.  But with a busy mom comes the difficult task of reaching her.  By placing our TV commercials during late afternoon talk shows we have the greatest chance of catching their attention to our product.  Also I thought the idea of immediately syncing the purchase of the shoes to the woman’s iTunes account was a brilliant plan especially because the Nike id program is already tied in with iTunes.  Cutting out use in social networking sites such as Twitter and Foursquare also seemed logical since we are targeting a slightly older market of 30-50 year old women.  However, apps for iPhones and Ipads do seem to still be popularly used by our target market so we decided to work those into our campaign.  Another social media site we decided to encompass was Facebook.  Facebook is used by all ages and is a great way of communicating, networking, and gathering people together with similar hobbies or interests.  We decided to use most of our budget through television advertising, followed by magazine spots, and finally with internet.  This difference in distribution of advertising dollars was decided based on the most popular media moms use.  I feel like this campaign would stand a good chance in a real situation.    

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Film, Film Craft, Creative Effectiveness, and Titanium and Integrated Lions Winners

I was very impressed with the work that came out of this awards ceremony.  I understood the concepts, ideas, and execution for these films better than I did for some of the cyber awards ceremony I attended on Wednesday night.  While the USA grabbed a fair share of the winnings for the night, there was presence of some smaller and less recognized countries amongst the winners as well.  Brazil is proving to be a growing threat in the industry as well as Korea.  The winning works were globally focused but often could be locally driven home too.  They often were part of an integrated campaign which would go on to receive worldwide exposure.  These winners, more often than not, were spots almost everyone, not matter what country you were from, had seen or heard of at least once.  The popularity these commercials have earned is what made them award winners.  Most are now a part of today’s pop culture such as the Old Spice body wash campaign.  I also noticed that 3 of the winning commercials were seen during this year’s Super Bowl.  One of the winning commercials was completely made from CGI imaging, which you never would have realized if they had not made it a point.  The images were so perfectly real it was incredible.  The work that will be unfolded in the next calendar year will no doubt be works of art.  I cannot wait to experience and witness the creative media pieces that will surround us in the future. 

Commercial 5

Weight Watchers- Heinz

This campaign was named “something you can stick to.”  The idea was that these microwaveable meals were so tasty they are something you won’t get tired of so you can stick to your weight loss goal.  To contrast the reliability of the satisfaction you will receive from choosing to use this product, they showed a variety of different workout equipment being used for different things around the house because the patron could not stick to the program.  As the number of now useless weights and machines goes on, you can see that the owner could not “stick” to anything.  As the different scenes are shown, you have to look for the key piece to find a common thread between them.  Engaging the audience in that way was an effective way of keeping their attention I thought.  I enjoyed hunting for the workout equipment and waiting to see what the message was going to be at the end of the commercial. 

Commercial 4

Halva- Bawadi

This commercial was for an Egyptian type of bread called halva.  The particular brand of halva advertised for is called Bawadi.  The commercial was done in an interview format.  The most peculiar part of it was that the interviewees were inmates in Egyptian prisons.  This brand of halva is popular amongst prisons because of its long shelf life and relatively good quality.  Since inmates don’t have much to cherish behind prison walls, using them to profess their love of the product was very smart.  They were passionate about Bawadi describing it as organic, long lasting, and full of protein (something much needed for those working on the yards.)  I thought this approach to customer testimonials was brilliant and creative.  Definitely something I have never seen before and probably never will again. 

Commercial 3

Miracle Whip

The miracle whip shown in the auditorium was an approach to advertising you don’t see very often.  They offered people’s negative and positive opinions back to back about their product.  It showed a series of everyday people and celebrities describing their love or hate for Miracle Whip’s unusual and distinct taste.  The tapings appeared to just be catching people right in the moment and asking them what they thought of the product, a very raw description.  I don’t think they should have shown any negative opinions in their commercial.  Any kind of negative feelings expressed about a product, for new consumers, does not draw them into the brand and make them want to try or buy it. 

Friday, June 24, 2011

HP Graphic Arts & BBDO

The focus of this master class was creative engineering through digital and physical playgrounds.  As technology in present day has changed, aspects of production are shifting dramatically enhancing creative output in unprecedented ways.  Creative engineering in today’s terms brings artwork into the campaign.  Billboard teamed up with HP in Brazil to create an interactive campaign through the internet named “billboard yourself.”  You would choose three of your favorite musicians and a picture of you would be created from the portraits of those particular artists.  After almost a week’s worth of seminars, I have pulled into conclusion that allowing consumers to interact with a brand like this can help to solidify and promise a bright future for a company.  Including your consumer is a key component in today’s market.  By using digital media, it allows you to do so much more at a much lower cost.

Chris Hall- BBDO Atlanta

After 13 years with BBDO, Hall has come to a conclusion that creative communication makes a brand more successful in the market; 11 times more effective to be exact.  Creativity, he said, is a comparative advantage for the client.  Hall also offered 3 pieces of advice to us.  Number 1, we are now in the golden age of creativity.  Technology is allowing us to run with our ideas like never before through state of the art programs and methods.  There will be more technological change in the next 5 years than there has been in the last 25 years.  Number 2, without integration and collaboration an agency or brand doesn’t stand a chance.  An orchestration of ideas amongst different departments is vital for media to continue to grow and change.  And number 3, this is a team sport.  You must pull out the best in each other for them to continue to work with you and push for bigger and better things.  Hall’s keys to success, in his opinion, were to evolve and take big risks and continue to do so even when you get big to stay afloat.  You must build trust with your clients and allow them to see your creativity has a history of working for them to believe risks are worth it.  I felt that Hall’s points were all very valid.  He seemed to come from a place of experience and patience.  He has been in the industry long enough to fully develop these pieces of advice and I’m thankful I was able to hear from such professional in the industry.