The Taste Of A(nother) New Generation

In search of a new generation, Pepsi has reworked its logo, and the price tag when all is said and done will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The new logo took five months and more than $1-million (U.S.) to create, estimates Advertising Age. The real cost, however, will be in replacing the old logo on trucks, vending machines and stadium signs.

Brand gurus are divided on the new look, which is meant to suggest a smile. A Pepsi executive described it as "more dynamic and more alive." One brand expert said it looks "less durable, less permanent and classic."

The new logo is expected to make its debut in 2009.




I've yet to make up my mind on this logo but I'll think of something. What does this say about the whole Coke Vs. Pepsi thing? How many times will Pepsi rebrand themselves while Coke remains unchanged? I guess when you try to market yourself as younger and hipper you have to redefine yourself with each new generation. That's an awful lot of money though!

What would your transit bus say?

In the what's-coming-next file: Ads on the sides of buses that change depending on what neighbourhood they are cruising through.

Media company Titan Worldwide has launched three-metre-wide digital LED displays that show commercial-like ads on New York City buses. The signs carry GPS technology and can target audiences based on time of day, city block, postal code and demographics, according to Mediabuyerplanner.com.

The signs are being rolled out in key U.S. markets and in London, with Canada and Ireland soon to follow, according to Titan. New York plans to install the system on 200 buses in the first quarter of 2009.


This blurb from today's Globe somehow reminded me of Shorr's comedy routine about guys in dollar sign hoodies. I can totally see the bus switching from Hennessy ads, to Absolut ads, to Miller Lite ads, and finally to Colt 45 ads, as it makes it way from Manhatten to the "less affluent" neighborhoods. But I digress...

This could be a brave new world in racial and demographic targeting for advertising. Also, I'm pretty sure Titan Worldwide was the company putting those cool subway ads up in NYC that we talked about in Marketing. Those guys are rolling out a lot of cutting edge outdoor media, and that's good for everyone. Yay Outdoor Media!

Rememberance Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJctzkxFd08

I was watching tv with my brother last night and this ad came on. Neither one of us said anything after we saw it but about fifteen minutes later my brother started talking about what it would have been like to have gone to war. Obviously this commerical had an impact on him and after watching it a couple more times today I can see why my brother had the reaction he did.

I think this is effective commercial and is very well done. It use both shock and emotional appeal to reinforce its message of the importance of remembering and recognizing veterans.

This is just getting a little ridiculous.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Car_Slams_into_Starbucks_Two_Hurt.html

This relates to our marketing class and our discussion on why Starbucks was failing as a brand. Part of their problem was that they expanded too quickly and bought up too much too close together. I can't think of any other reason as to why it would just happen to be two different Starbucks involved.



This is the only reason that I have a bottle of OS Sport aftershave in my cabinet. An effective use of a B-list celebrity with a huge cult following is guaranteed to sell to some film and television geeks, such as myself. Bruce Campbell, star of Army of Darkness and bit player in the Spiderman movies (Wrestling Announcer, Snooty Usher and French Waiter) has that "Not Quite Famous" charm to him that doesn't make him seem pretentious even though he is trying hard to be so. He's just there because he's glad to have the attention. I think this really works...it suckered me in so it's not all bad.

Is there hope for the humble bus bench?

As I was working on the mixtape campaign, I started thinking about bus benches as a possible media channel. Now, some other cities may have better approaches to bus bench creative, but here in Winnipeg, it's pretty bad. It seems like the only people willing to advertise on them are real estate agents who write their own ads.

I cite one in my neighborhood as an example of this phenomenon: It's for a real estate agent, Kisil & Associates, and it features an image of a guy and three women posed as if they are Charlie and his Angels. The copy is Get (in a different font from the rest of the copy) The team. The tools. The trust.
But what does a Charlie's Angels pose have to do with the copy? Am I missing something here?

Is there a way to make bus benches a decent form of outdoor advertising? Has anyone seen a cool bus bench that really caught their attention? Any thoughts?

Those cheeky Germans...

These are a couple new VW ads featuring Brooke Shields, pushing their new minivan the Routan. I was remembered these spots after our discussion in Ad today about how all car commercials seem to be the same. Burton pointed out the VW ads featuring the old Beetle as a talk show host which reminded me of these ones. They're different and kind of funny in a refreshing sort of way.

On another note, what's with VW using German names for all their new models? You have the Routan, the Tiguan, and the Touareg. Are they just really playing up the whole German engineering thing or is there some other reason for these new model names?

Learning Manipulation

Quote from "Advertising and the Invention of Postmodernity"
http://www.transparencynow.com/advertise.htm

"Most viewers know it is all a manipulation, even if they don't always reflect on what they know. But many still respond by buying the product, voting for the candidate and admiring the celebrity, as if they have been taken in by the message. It is as if the radio audience in 1938 had realized it was listening to a performance by Orson Welles but decided to panic anyway because the play was so convincing and so much fun to believe."

This article made me think about the power of advertising in modern society and how much influence we, as advertisers, can have on an audience. Are we learning how to be creative or are we just being taught how to become great manipulators?

This ad caught my eye for obvious reason. I don't know if it was the words BEER or the fact that I could make $5000. Or the fact that they got my age right...

This ad is why Facebook values itself at 100 billion without having a business plan. The prospect of big money using extremely well targeted ads.

Facebook is just information for marketers looking to sell you a product, and so far they've accrued some major scratch from investors.

Needless to say I have joined the beer panel.

John Smiths.

I...I can't even describe how much I love these! No nonsense indeed!

So I am obviously trying to catch up on my blogging. I have had these posts in my head for a while now but just found the time (and memory) to post them today. I will save the rest for another time though!
Anyway, here is a website that I enjoy for its fabulous time wasting qualities but a lot of the entries are ad related. Check out the whole website if you have time: www.oddee.com
But here is a specific link to "The 15 Most Creative Bus Ads". Enjoy! http://www.oddee.com/item_96486.aspx

PSAs

So on the same note as Vanessa's PSA post here is a website for the "The Meth Project". My question is: does the shock value of these commercials work for you? Do you think they are actually reaching the "kids of today" with these edgy ads or are they trying to shock simply for the sake of shocking? Anyway, if you want to view the ads go to this website: http://notevenonce.com/View_Ads/index.php. All the tv, radio, and print ads for The Meth Project are here.

Duck, Duck... Mongoose

I just saw this commercial while I was watching the AST Dew Tour on NBC. Considering the target audience of teenage boys is this ad effective? I felt like there was too much "Mongoosing" in the spot which seemed to lessen any impact it might have had. This is pure image advertising for the brand so there's no real call to action but shouldn't they at least put up a website address or something? Any thoughts?

Mighty Awesome

I find this infomercial spot so funny. Every infomercial is ridiculous but this one is just so good on so many levels. The unintentional comedy meter is really peaking on this one. I especially love how it needs a dry time of 24 hours to mount a shelf bracket yet only 5 minutes of dry time to become a link in a chain lifting a cinder block.

The greatest irony is that I saw this spot on Teletoon Retro this morning. I don't know if anyone ever watches Teletoon Retro but it's really funny how most of the commercials aren't for kids stuff but for adults. Do kids even watch this station? It seems like the channel targets people who are old enough to remember watching this stuff 20+ years ago more than actual kids.

P.S. This is the US version of the spot because the Canadian version off the company's website auto starts when the blog loads and I didn't want to subject everyone to it unless they wanted to be. You're welcome!

I truly wish all advertising was like this. I really think this is some of the greatest advertising I've ever seen.

Last one like this

I swear I'm not trying to be debbie downer...
This ad is pretty good too, look at the production skills! Despite the bad, (really bad) judge in the end, the rest of the commercial is pretty good. These are more so PSA's but a commercial is a commercial. Drinking and driving ads have been done so many ways, but I had never seen one like this.