Art Show Blunder: Event Hosting Tips for Young Professionals

I went to an art show last night where I encountered a less-than-professional young professional. From an event attendee and fellow young professional, here are my tips for yp's that are attending their own events:

1. Don't drink, especially if there's an open bar. A glass of wine usually leads to a second, and a third, and before you know it you're no longer running your event, you're at your own party.

2. Let your fellow event hosts know ahead of time that they will be asked to give a short speech. Don't throw them in front of a crowd unprepared. It creates an awkward experience for everyone.

3. Don't interrupt a speech to interject your own ideas. Especially if you're going to make statements that are offensive to the attendees. This connects to the first tip: don't drink.

Remember that you're not only representing your organization, you're also representing yourself. Any small blunder may seem harmless at the time, but is likely to leave a sour taste in your event attendee's mouths that may come in to play at a later point.

Chobani v. FAGE: The Greek Yogurt Advertising Battle

It seems like there is now a yogurt out there for everything. Yogurt that cuts calories for those that want to be fit, yogurt for those with digestive issues, yogurt for those that crave sweets, and now the original Greek yogurt seems to be going main stream. Recently, commercials for both FAGE and Chobani Greek yogurt have been airing in the battle for brand awareness and consumer sales.



The FAGE commercial without sound is beautiful. The white oceans and flowers blending with color are gorgeous. I’ll ignore the fact that it makes the yogurt look extremely watery and milk-like because the visual concept of this commercial is fantastic. What drives me nuts about this commercial is the copy. There’s a comment on the YouTube video that says it best: “This sounds like Dr. Seuess was craving yogurt.” I can plainly say that rhyming is just plain lame, especially when the rhymes don’t sound the same. (See what I did there?) Nothing about the copy in this commercial makes me think, “Hm, I want to try that!” In all honesty, when I went to write this post I couldn’t even remember the brand name to look up the commercial. Oops.



The Chobani commercial is fairly plain (no FAGE pun intended). Quick spots that have a Chobani fan telling a story about their favorite yogurt. One tells the tale of an Angela look-a-like that hides her yogurt in the drawer at work to deter hungry coworkers. The other shows an early morning adventure of a man on a mission to see the plant where his favorite yogurt is made. There’s nothing overly creative or stimulating about these spots. The ability to relate to the people in these spots (I, too, work in an office where coworkers are not afraid to snatch an unmarked snack from the fridge) and the repetition of the brand name is what makes these spots work.

So how am I judging the overall winner of this battle? Not really by my advertising-side opinion, but rather my personal consumer experience. I had actually never heard of Chobani before I saw the commercial. After hearing these silly stories over and over I became curious. I now eat Chobani every day and I look forward to it! This is not to say Chobani is the better yogurt. FAGE may very well taste better or may even be better for me, but nothing about their spot makes me want to find out.

I know, I know...

I've fallen way behind on the blog posts! But who can blame me? The weather has been beautiful (minus today) and since the start of daylight savings time I'm able to run outside after work instead of going on the treadmill. I can't resist! Plus, I have a lot of big announcements to share, but they will have to wait a while. New advertising posts coming soon. I promise.

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!

Favorite Ads

I Tweeted/Facebooked a request to my friends: Tell me your favorite ad (broadcast, print, etc.). Here are some of the responses.

VW Pink Moon (From Cole)

I vividly remember this commercial. What makes me laugh now is, from what one can actually see of the car, how out-of-date the Cabrio actually looks in the present. However, I remember it being a popular commercial and I attribute much of that to the calming, nostalgic feel of the commercial that is still very opposite of most car commercials that focus on the fast, powerful feeling of driving the advertised card.

"Bff Jill?" for Cingular (From Ellen)

Honestly I have yet to meet a person that doesn't like this commercial. Male or female, I've often heard "IDK, my BFF Jill?" quoted. Plus, the over-usage of the text lingo was comparable with filming the commercial in a different language... the viewers is drawn to watching just to figure out what is even being said. It still makes me laugh.

Think Before You Speak for AdCouncil (From Katelyn)

Unfortunately due to the small amount of air time PSAs receive, most people have not seen this commercial. Admittedly, I think I have only seen it once or twice. What I respect about AdCouncil PSAs is the use of comedy to draw the attention of viewers to become familiar with the issue being advertised. My favorite part of this commercial is the bluntness of having "Knock it off" at the end and the complete nonchalant tone of the woman's voice when she explains the use of "That's so Emily and Julia." Nice pick, Katelyn!

Schick Quattro TrimStyle for Women (From most females I know)

I don't feel this commercial even needs an explanation of why it's a favorite of many women. It is appropriate in the sense that a young viewer is not likely to understand the changing shape of the shrubbery. For someone that gets it, it is simply hilarious, but in a subtle way.

Supermodelquins for Old Navy (From various supermodelquins fans)

Personally, I am not a fan of the Supermodelquins. I think the commercials are cheesy and kind of dumb. What I am a fan of is how well these ads transition from television to in-store. When one enters an actual Old Navy store, the supermodelquins are there to greet them which instantly creates a connection from viewing the commercial to the actual brand experience.

There you have it, some of my friend's favorite ads (that, incidentally are all television ads).

It's a Twitter World

I read an interesting article in the AdAge newsletter today about correlation between Twitter and Hollywood's box office success. Simon Dumenco's "Could Twitter Destroy Hollywood's Marketing Magic?" reflects on the recent Baltimore Sun article "Twitter Effect rattles Hollywood" written by Michael Sragow. Dumenco's article uses the Trendrr Chart of the Week to establish his observations between the relationship between the number of tweets and the movie's overall gross. It appears from the chart that the higher volume of tweets resulted in a higher box office income. However, what Dumenco misses that Sragow gets is that it is not necessarily the quantity of tweets, but the content of the tweets. While the quantity of tweets helps the topic reach "Trending Topics" status, I personally recall "Bruno" being a trending topic that was accompanied by an overwhelming amount of negative tweets.

It is very apparent that Twitter is really beginning to have an impact on word-of-mouth promotion and demotion not only on movies, but television series, music, and other brands. Looking further into this, I came across a site called TweetFeel. The site allows the user to type in whatever keyword is desired and receive a calculation on positive or negative Tweets about the topic. This tool could potentially be very helpful for companies to track the word-of-mouth on a particular brand. For example, the movie Inglourious Basterds has just begun its nation-wide opening weekend, but TweetFeel has already calculated the results of 62 tweets that revealed a 87% positive response to the keyword. It also displays actual Tweets so the user can see what is being said on the topic: "Inglourious Basterds is AMAZING. Go see." "[Username] thought Inglourious Basterds is amazing and wants to see it again!"

However, there are some tweaks to work out with TweetFeel. Sometimes the system picks up a tweet that contains the keyword, but may not truly reflect a negative or positive attitude toward that keyword. I searched the brand soda "Sprite" and was given 33 tweets that resulted in a 91% rate of positive tweets on the brand. However, negative tweets on the brand included ones such as, "I don't like Sprite with skittles yuck!" whereas a positive tweet on the brand included, "I need a Sprite and some skittles to regroup."

Twitter will continue to be an important tool in word-of-mouth promotion for brands and I have to agree with Dumenco when he says, "Some day soon somebody's going to get a Ph.D. in the statistical parsing of Twitter data streams -- high-concept stuff far beyond the purview of the humble Trendrr Chart of the Week." And, while I'm at it, follow Simon Dumenco on Twitter.

AdGab Makeover

I gave AdGab a little makeover! It's been almost a year since I began this blog. Unfortunately it's been a little neglected due to the ever-present job hunt so I thought I'd spruce it up a bit for its first birthday. I was really getting tired of the orange template and decided to customize it a bit. Maybe the new look will inspire me to gab more than I have been these past few months. Hope you like it!

When I Grow Up...

I just re-discovered this video while posting it on a friend's page. It's always made me laugh, but I like to think it explained a lot of my professor's personalities while I was studying advertising.

If Man Walked on the Moon Today

The Martin Agency tweeted a link to this today. Their critique: "Should break to MJ news mid-story."



I personally like the Twitter tweets, especially the one that says, "Those space suits look gay."

Oh I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Weiner

A great article from AdAge about Oscar Mayer's advertising/marketing: Remembering My Days as a Hot Dogger.

Hmm... I think I'll go make a hot dog for lunch.

Bleeding Billboards

An interesting twist to road-side billboards.



Here is a short article about the billboards that is followed by some interesting comments and opinions on the campaign: Disturbing Billboard Bleeds When It Rains

What is your opinion on this billboard?

Tweet Tweet: Kid's DON'T Twitter

The Hartman Group has published an article surrounding the misconceptions of teenage usage of technology. The article is on point and very true. Though not a teen myself (thank goodness!), coaching tweens and teens sports really gave me insight into their use of social networking.

Hartman Group discusses 5 misconceptions:
1. Teens and Millennials communicate with each other via Twitter.
2. Email plays an important role in the daily lives of teens and millennials.
3. Teens are engrossed with utilizing technology to transform their lives and create cool software tools.
4. Facebook is the new Myspace for teens.
5. We can impute important learnings about future behavior by studying attitudes and behaviors of teens and millennials in their interactions with technology.

These are all extremely true. Technology does not play as important of a role in teens/tweens (or "millennials" I guess) in the way people assume. While studying advertising in my final semesters of college, it felt like the professors always wanted "Social networking!" as an outlet to reach the target audience. As long as those two magic words were said, the student was off the hook. What my professors did not understand was the truth of the 5 misconceptions above. If only this article had been published a year ago... it would have made senior year so much easier!

Read the complete article and find out the truth behind these misconceptions: Kid's Don't Follow, Kid's Don't Twitter.

NBA Wants to Think Outside the Bun

Taco Bell is the NBA's newest fast-food sponsor, replacing McDonalds. Read about it on Adweek.

I'm not much of an NBA fan, but now that Utah Jazz has signed VCU Alum Eric Maynor (#3!!!) I'm sure I will be seeing a lot more Taco Bell adverts.

It's About You: Lance Armstrong/Nike Launch New Campaign

Lance Armstrong and Nike launched the "It's About You" campaign Sunday night. The campaign, developed by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, uses mixed media to raise cancer awareness in conjunction with the July 4th start of this year's Tour de France. The campaign's was launched with a TV spot entitled "Driven" that features Armstrong and other cancer survivors. The spot will run throughout the duration of this year's Tour de France. Being a huge cycling fan and, therefore, a huge Armstrong fan, I may be a little biased in saying that I really believe this is a great campaign. The TV spot directly addresses the negative comments that have been countlessly made towards Armstrong claiming that he is arrogant, using performance enhancing drugs, etc. The most powerful part of the ad is Armstrong's statement, "I'm not back on my bike for them." As reflected in the title of his 2001 autobiography, it's not about the bike.



Videos on YouTube will feature stories of survivors as well as those affected or inspired by the fight against cancer.


The most innovative and just down right cool part of the campaign follows in a Tour de France tradition. Chalk writing, as seen in the photo below, floods the roads on the Tour de France route displaying inspirational messages for riders. This year, viewers can submit inspirational messages through text or internet that will be displayed in yellow chalk on the Tour de France route. GPS coordinates of where the message will appear on the Tour will be sent via email giving those submitting a chance to see their message. These "Chalking" events will also occur in cities across the country including New York and Chicago and photos will be featured on the Nike website.


According to an article from Business Wire, Nike athletes will also wear yellow LIVESTRONG apparel at numerous sporting events. Men’s mile and women’s 1500 athletes wore yellow at the Prefontaine Classic June 7. Nike Golfers, including 2009 US Open champion Lucas Glover, will wear LIVESTRONG at the Travelers Championship June 22-28. Nike 6.0 BMX athletes Mike Spinner, Garrett Reynolds and Dennis Enarson will sport LIVESTRONG product June 26-27 at the Chicago stop of the Dew Tour, the most attended and viewed action sports tour in the world. Boston Red Sox pitcher and cancer survivor Jon Lester will wear a LIVESTRONG glove and spikes during the entire month of July. Sprinters Sanya Richards and LaShawn Merritt will wear LIVESTRONG uniforms and spikes at the Paris Golden League track & field meet on July 17. Nike athletes playing in the American Century Celebration Golf Tournament beginning July 14 will wear yellow.

Lance Armstrong is predicted to win the 2009 Tour de France. The win will make it his 8th Tour win overall.