MyTouch Doesn't.

I was going to do a post about some print ads today (The Good, The Bad, and The One That Makes Me Giggle), but with the announcement that the iPhone 4G is finally coming to Verizon on February 10th, I thought it was fitting to gripe about another less-than-wonderful television commercial. In this case it's not just the commercial, it's the whole campaign.

Back in April 2009 I blogged about the Microsoft ads that were the answer to the Mac v. PC campaign. For me, the Microsoft campaign just did not match up to its competition. Now T-Mobile is stepping up against AT&T and the iPhone to advertise their MyTouch 4G.



I will start by saying this: PLEASE get your own idea. This whole "Hi, I'm this. "Hi, I'm this." is turning into, "Hi, I'm *insert brand* and my marketers aren't creative enough to come up with their own original idea for a commercial!" Beyond the lack-of-creativity in this campaign comes a lack of good strategy. The big push seems to be based on the fact that an iPhone needs WIFI to make video-chatting possible and a MyTouch does not. Neat. Except the last time I checked most people weren't lining up to buy an iPhone because it has video chat. The iPhone boom started long before the video chat option came along and clearly isn't the biggest selling point of the iPhone.

Nothing really compares to the iPhone. What T-Mobile needs to do is create a campaign that shows the features of the MyTouch without trying to make it "better" than xyz. When the Droid was first released an entire "Droid Does" campaign was launched. Rather than talking about how the same features available on both phones were better on the Droid, it pointed out the features that "Droid Does" that iPhone doesn't. Sure it still dissed the iPhone, but it left viewers with a taste of the capabilities available with the Droid instead of a picture of a less-cool-wannabe-iPhone.

More than one T-Mobile spot points out the video chat feature and the carrier network. Apparently T-Mobile feels strongly that AT&T is bogging down its customers with its super-slow network. There has been a lot of complaints about AT&T service, but Apple fans have a level of brand loyalty like no other. Have you met a non-AT&T customer that gave up their iPhone for a different phone to switch to better service? There's not many out there. Wait, what's that? Enter stage left: Verizon. Another network option for the same phone. Time for a new marketing strategy, T-Mobile.

New Year. New Writing. New Advertising Thoughts.

Happy 2011! Almost a year later I've returned to my AdGab blog to write about my favorite and least favorite advertisements. I've been busy the past year working for a local television affiliate and learning a lot about the behind-the-scenes aspects of television advertising. A great perk of my job is getting to watch TV all day - yes, I got to see the 2010 Winter Olympics live, Regis and Kelly every day, and I won't even have to take off of work to watch Prince Williams wed. On top of all that greatness, my coworker (shout out to Justine!) and I get to pick apart the commercials that we can't stand. The number one winner for 2010 was Tide Acti-Lift.

Observe.



1) The shot of the mother and her friends walking into the club is reminiscent of a shot in the opener of season one of The Hills. Yes, let me screen-split it to show the full ridiculousness. (Also note the outfits her friends are wearing.)


2) Why is the mother and her friends at a club? Do mothers of teens relate to this? I'm curious, please let me know if you are a mother of a teenager and still go to clubs with your friends.

3) Is that Nate's Taco Truck at the club? Okay that's irrelevant and only understood by VCU students/alum.

4) The fine print at :20 says "Dramatization: Dry roasted pepper olive oil stain on 100% cotton." So no, it's not even taco grease and buyers will be disappointed.

5) Out of all the clothes her daughter has, she chose to borrow that ugly green shirt.

In all seriousness. WHO were they trying to target? Single mothers in mid-life crisis? Okay, I get it. Instead of the mom doing laundry to clean her kid's and husband's stains out of their clothes it's her cleaning a stain out of the shirt she stole from her daughter for a fun girls night out. Yes, mothers have lives other than laundry and housework, but I really hope "The Secret Life of the American Mother" isn't her stealing her daughter's clothes to go out on the town clubbing.

Okay mothers of kids and teenagers, what activity and spill do YOU think would have made more sense for this commercial? Hopefully this is out of rotation for 2011.

The Martin Agency wins US Agency of 2009

Congratulations to Richmond, Virginia's The Martin Agency for winning US Agency of 2009! Check out the article from AdWeek here.

Merry Christmas Ads

Here are just some of the holiday ad's I've really been enjoying this holiday season.

WalMart Thanks Our Troops
I have to admit that when I first saw this ad it made me a little emotional. My heart always breaks a little for all the kids that are living with a parent stationed overseas and that goes double for the holidays. However, over the past few years I have seen some ads that seem to exploit this fact by creating ads based around this idea that are fairly insensitive. I think The Martin Agency did a great job with this ad. It's tastefully done and pulls on my heart strings every time I see it.



Target: Made by Elves
In all honesty, this commercial just makes me laugh. That's all there is to it. A big improvement from their horrible Black Friday commercials.



Verizon: Misfit Toys
I have been really enjoying Verizon's new commercials that go up against AT&T (more on that another time). My friend Jessica passed along this one to me after I Twittered about another Verizon ad. It's an amusing commercial that takes a great spin on those creepy animated children's holiday "classic" specials.



Which holiday ads do you like this year?

Brine Tribe

Time to get interactive. Actually, Brine has been interactive for a while now, but I finally found the time to sit down and join the tribe.

I first saw the Join the Tribe/Mask commercial during last season's NCAA Women's lacrosse finals. I love advertising, social media, and all things involved in my career choice, but lacrosse is my first true love. I loved the idea behind the commercial - using lacrosse equipment to create a tribal mask.



For those that do not know much about lacrosse, it is America’s oldest sport and was played by Native Americans for a number of reasons. It is not America’s fastest growing sport and is known as the fastest sport on two feet. I also like to refer to it as the best sport ever. (For more info on the history of lacrosse, visit the US Lacrosse website!)

But I digress. Brine invites its audience to “Join the Tribe” by logging onto its site to create a personalized tribal mask made of lacrosse equipment. Creators can choose to make a mask out of a pre-made mask, form a mask around a stencil, or start with a blank canvas. Users click and drag Brine equipment to form their mask and then can save them to the Brine gallery. There is also a download option that allows the new tribe members to download their mask in various sizes that include an iPhone and Icon-sized option. Brine also features tribe member’s masks in its print ads.



What I really like about this interactive campaign, besides the creative, is the ability to build a tighter community of lacrosse players. Plus, it’s fun! Check out my tribal mask below. It’s called “Raider” after my high school team where I began my lacrosse experience.

Whoops!

Sorry for the lack of posts! I have been busy interning at an amazing organization: Women for Women International. Be sure to check them out!

Spike Runs on Dunkin

Here is a hodgepodge of the Dunkin Donuts commercials for Spike TV. They are pretty funny. My favorite, of course, is the ad at 1:02 that is the lacrosse ad (YES! I will ignore the fact that all the lacrosse sticks seem to be mens sticks). "Can't has no place in ladies lacrosse, gentlemen." If only I had known that line while coaching this past season... the rest are pretty great as well. ENJOY!