In an effort to boost sales of their iconic publication, Playboy magazine has recently announced they will be holding a Willy Wonka-esque contest. They will give out ten “golden tickets” to readers of newsstand copies of the December issue that went on sale November 12th. The ten lucky recipients of these “golden tickets” will win a VIP trip to the world famous Playboy mansion for their infamous Midsummer Night’s Dream lingerie party next August. This will be the first time Playboy has awarded access to its exclusive parties to readers via contest. While Hugh Hefner is confident that the advertising gimmick will work, I find it hard to imagine fans buying massive quantities of the same magazine à la Veruca Salt so they can attend. Currently, all ten tickets are still up for grabs and Playboy has been heavily advertising the contest to spark interest. Playboy.com continues to track the contest. It is an interesting concept and time will tell how the public will react and if it will do anything to save the financially ailing publishing empire.
Last week Nike unveiled a new TV spot titled “Rise” starring LeBron James. This ad follows his unfavorably received ESPN special “The Decision” where he announced he was leaving Cleveland and taking his skills as a forward to South Beach to play for the Heat. In the spot, James repeatedly asked the viewer “What should I do?” While this abstract ad is not nearly as creepy as Nike’s Tiger Wood’s spot that premiered before the Masters, it also seems to beg for public sympathy. The spot also cleverly addresses his critics including Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan. Although it is unlikely to help rehabilitate his image in the eyes of all those who dislike him, it is still incredibly entertaining and appealing to his new fans and those few still loyal. It also proves that when your image is trashed as often as James’s and public opinion is constantly changing, it is extremely helpful to have an excellent marketing team.
Although it is less than two weeks old, the ad has received well over 3 million online views and has become well-known enough to earn its place in pop culture history; forever immortalized as a spoof on South Park. The long-running animated series is frequently hailed for its relevance and spot-on depictions of ultra-current events due to the episodes being written the same week they air. The parody can be very difficult to grasp if you have not seen it in context with the rest of the show but it is instantly recognizable as a “Rise” spoof. Recent episodes of the series have revolved around the BP oil spill and the ongoing storyline is continued in this episode with more of former CEO Tony Hayward’s pathetic apology attempts, struggling superhero Captain Hindsight, and Cartman abandoning his team of “superheros” to fight the spill on his own. In the parody, different characters ponder how to deal with their individual dilemmas in a style similar to James’s. Although South Park’s spoofs are rarely flattering, the ad’s creators should be proud that their work has become so entrenched in popular culture, and so quickly, that it was worthy enough to be lampooned on one of the biggest shows in the world.
UPDATE: The commercial has just received another parody, this time produced by Cleveland fans in response to his departure. As views continue to increase it will be interesting to see if any other parodies are made.
Chado Advertising & Design has recently finished development on a new website for Trophy Fly Fishing. Based in the Cabo Pulmo marine park in Baja Mexico, Trophy Fly Fishing is the premier destination for big game sport fishing chasing the elusive Rooster Fish. Knowledgeable, experienced guides demonstrate proven techniques while helping guests track, chase, and catch the much sought after rooster fish. The services are offered out of El Pulmo Eco Palapa, an eco-lodge that offers comfortable accommodations off the grid and right on the beach, where guests can savor the tranquility and solitude living far away from civilization while enjoying the camaraderie of fellow fly fishers.
The new website includes information about the guided fly fishing adventures, the luxurious accommodations, the rooster fish, and the unique location. The site also features a photo gallery, video playback, social media integration, pay pal functionality, and a custom content management system.
Guerrilla marketing stunts are becoming increasingly prevalent in the advertising landscape. It has been proven to be a very effective way to increase brand exposure and establish a stronger relationship between the brand and consumer. Unfortunately, due to poor planning and failure to foresee future consequences they have been known to backfire. The latest and possibly greatest example of this happened Tuesday in Los Angeles when an obscure hip-hop band called Imperial Stars decided to block traffic on the busy 101 freeway in Hollywood. In an attempt to attract attention and increase exposure the group forced traffic to a dead stop when they parked a large truck sideways blocking all but one lane going southbound. They then proceeded to climb on the roof of the truck and performed their newest single appropriately titled “Traffic Jam 101”. Commuters continued to stack up behind the truck advertising their band as tempers flared. Eventually, like many failed guerrilla marketing campaigns, the police came and arrested the performers for their impromptu show. The truck driver reportedly fled the scene in another car and took the keys with him so the truck had to be towed and traffic remained at a stand still until the area could be cleared.
Although they received media attention, this is probably the worst example of guerrilla marketing I have ever seen. They managed to make themselves look like complete idiots, angered everyone in attendance at their “concert”, and will now have the stigma of being those morons who stopped traffic and made everyone late to work. This type of stunt worked much better when the Beatles did it.
ADT home security has launched a brilliant but ethically questionable new campaign to influence apartment owners in Santiago, Chile to consider a new security system. By using a specialty spring loaded box to deliver their message, the ADT marketing hit apartments and condominiums to convince residents that their homes are easy to break into. They would slip the flat box under the doors and on the other side it would pop up into shape and make it seem that someone infiltrated their home just to leave the box. The box features an ADT logo with menacing copy reading, “Breaking into your apartment is easier than you think.” Although this ad is very clever, unique, and probably very shocking it seems very unethical to advertise their services by literally invading their home. I really like the creative concept and execution of this advertisement but it is blatantly unethical. Although most home security advertisements do carry a message invokes fear to the potential customer to scare them into using their product, this guerrilla tactic crosses the line of decency as it crosses the audience’s property line. It makes the audience feel unsafe in their own home. Besides being unethical, there are potential downfalls for ADT using this tactic; people might believe that ADT actually did break into their homes to leave the message and become fearful, distrustful, and alienated, which is the exact opposite of what you want when you are a home security company. Although it is very ingenuitive, unique, and engaging the advertisement was also unethical and potentially dangerous for their brand.
In an attempt to gain new customers and jumpstart their brand, Anheuser-Busch has declared today Budweiser National Happy Hour. The world famous brewer will hand out free 6-12 ounce samples in select bars and restaurants across the United States. Their goal for this nationwide sampling campaign is to appeal to young drinkers under thirty who favor micro brews and craft beer over traditional American lager. Budweiser’s ranking among national product brands has dropped significantly from 16th in 2003 to 220th this year while specialty brews have almost doubled their market share in a year. Personally, I don’t believe this tactic will be very effective. Nearly everyone who drinks beer has tried Budweiser before and it is considered by many to be the quintessential American lager, a classic. I remember my first beer and it was a Bud.
Budweiser will remain a market leader because of nostalgia and is still favored among older generations. The only way to appeal to the younger crowd that has been blessed with tastier beer options is to adapt their strategy. The Budweiser brand is too valuable to attempt to completely rebrand, it would most likely have disastrous consequences. Keep the Budweiser brand unaltered but at the same time invest in small craft breweries to offer a more diverse product line that may or may not be under the Budweiser name. Shift their marketing strategy aimed at younger drinkers away from Bud Light Lime and towards more promising craft brews owned by Anheuser-Busch like Shock Top and Hop Hound.
This fall Microsoft hopes to change the face of gaming and eventually everyday computing with the release of their newest technology for the Xbox 360; Kinect. Kinect is a specialized motion capture camera that recognizes people and body parts that will enable users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without a controller using “natural user interface” like gestures and spoken commands. Users can play games by using themselves as the controller and their avatar in the game mimics their every move. This project was introduced to compete against other motion gaming systems like the Nintendo Wii, which has dominated the video game market with their specialty motion capture system for years, and Sony’s recently launched “Wii copy”; the Playstation Move. Microsoft is banking on their unique technology that does not require a controller to overcome its competitors and transfer the technology to different sectors other than gaming. Although the Kinect doesn’t launch until early November, brands are already finding ways to utilize the new technology as an advertising medium.
So far, companies like Sprint, T-Mobile, and Chevrolet are using the technology to advertise to gamers in innovative new ways with campaigns centered around new games. Chevrolet has placed branded content in the Kinect launch title Joy Ride, a competitive racing game that requires players to make driving motions with their body. Chevrolet has paid for branded content where users can “test-drive” Chevy vehicles in the game and unlock special game content like playable Corvettes and Camaros to race by viewing in-dash video advertisements. Chevrolet has also created a “Kinect friendly” ad that will be part of their campaign for their electric car, Volt, where users can physically explore and interact with the vehicle using Kinect’s interface. Sprint has reportedly sponsored another launch title,Kinect Adventures, with a co-branded contest on Xbox Live. T-Mobile is also sponsoring Kinect Sports, holding various Xbox Live contests.
I am looking forward to experiencing these new ads that take advantage of the emerging technology. There is a lot of potential to create immersive, highly engaging ads on a growing medium that has alreadyproven to be effective. As this technology expands we are likely to experience an advertising renaissance with creative advertisements that have an extreme amount of depth featuring fully interactive content. It will be very interesting to see how the technology is used and what directions it will take the advertising industry.
Since 2009 Adidas has released limited edition Star Wars themed shoes and apparel in a wildly successful cross-branding campaign that has utilized social media technology andviral videos featuring prominent Adidas athletes and famous musicians including David Beckham, Daft Punk, and Snoop Dogg. So far, this limited collection has been a top seller, appealing to a wide variety of different markets and demographics. With creative designs, including Boba Fett track jackets, Chewbacca fur-lined parkas, and Stormtrooper high tops, Adidas has created apparel that appeals to both Star Wars fans and serious shoe collectors.
One of the most creative and appealing parts of the Star Wars campaign has been their unique product packaging. By recognizing the growing market of consumers who buys shoes strictly as a collectors item that will never be worn, they have created packaging that is consistent with the cross-branding theme alluding to Star Wars action figure collectors while providing the protection of sealed packaging for the limited edition shoes. They have also released special packaging specifically for their limited Han Solo SL72 shoes. Alluding to the end of The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader preserves Han Solo by freezing him in carbonite, the shoes come in their own shiny carbonite packaging as if they, too, were frozen.
This unique choice of packaging takes appealing elements from their biggest target markets and combines them staying consistent to the brand. With their innovative advertising and creative designs, Adidas has created a truly unique collection that is out of this world.
As mentioned in previous articles, ad placement in video games is on the rise, especially in sports games. As its audience grows along with technological advancements like in-game updates via internet connectivity, video games have become a great medium for connecting with hard to reach demographics. Recently Nielsen studied the effectiveness of in-game ads and found they work very well. The study was commissioned by Electronic Arts for Gatorade and showed that in-game advertisements across their various sports titles including their NHL and NBA games increased household dollars spent on the sports drink by 24%.
Now that it has been proven effective more brands may be willing to add video games as a new advertising channel. This has been the first real study on its effectiveness relating directly to sales and could mean the start of an advertising boom in mainstream video games. The new challenge will then lie in using effective product placement without taking away from the user’s gaming experience.
For the first time in over fifty years, the iconic Chiquita banana brand is changing their label. The little blue stickers that have been their product’s differentiating trademark will be redesigned. What is interesting about this campaign is that they are calling upon their consumers to design new stickers. The contest started earlier this summer and the brand received hundreds of consumer-generated images that were eventually narrowed down to fifty finalists. The banana giant then encouraged the public to vote for the winning design. Today, after collecting thousands of public votes on a great variety of different directions including monkeys, smiley faces, robots, beach combing bananas, and oddly, lucha libre masks, eighteen winners were announced. These lucky designers will soon see their own design grace the iconic Chiquita bananas in grocery stores nation-wide this November.
This design contest is part of a growing trend where brands will incorporate their customer base into the branding of the product, implying ownership and creating an emotional connection with the brand. Also, by allowing social media connectivity linking to facebook, it allows users to run their own mini campaigns for their design focused on the Chiquita brand. For a product as generic as bananas, Chiquita has done an exceptional job.
