A Gatorade Evolution

This tv spot is one of my favorite commercials currently running. Gatorade has been consistently entertaining consumers with their advertisements over the past 5 years but now with the growing competition in the sports drink market it's time for a change. Gatorade has introduced it's new product line and now has 3 types of products for each stage of the game. The "G Series" includes Prime 01: Pre-Game Fuel, Perform 02: Thirst Quencher, and Recover 03: Post-Game Protein Recovery.


TBWA\Chiat\Day has created a commercial that shows the evolution of not only gatorade but also the evolution of sport. The catchy jingle made just for the commercial produced by David Banner and sung by artist Quinn. This song is becoming a popular search question because people want to know who it is by and where it is from. These lyrics, "If you want a revolution, the only solution: evolve. You gotta evolve", speak to not only sports but also Gatorades newly enhance and "evolved" products. Gatorade used a variety of sports all-stars to help their research on how to make these G products fit the athletes needs. Peyton Manning, Serena Williams, Misty May Treanor, Dwight Howard, LaDainian Tomlinson, Derek Jeter, Landon Donovan and Ellery Hollingsworth all had a part in the G Series development and you can see locker room video chats at the whatsg youtube channel.

Here's the tv commercial, and don't worry the song won't get in your head too long...

VOTE FOR MY GLEE AUDITION!!!!

Okay everyone,

After weeks of me just talking it up...I FINALLY DID IT! My video has been submitted for the Glee open casting call :-)

So what I need from everyone is some help to get my video noticed!

To see the video you have to go on myspace.com. For those of you that still have myspace accounts YAY! just hit the link and find me and then watch and then give me gold stars (hopefully because you liked it).

For those of you who do not have a stupid myspace account (i didn't either) just take 5 minutes and make one so you can vote for me, and then you can delete them.

I expect EVERYONE who knows me to do this. Just think about it, if I get on the show and become very financially stable and live with the hollywood perks I will be more willing to share the glamour with people who helped me get there :-)

SO please don't rain on my parade and vote for me :-)

http://www.myspace.com/gleeauditions?link=530190719

Beauty and the Leak!

If you are someone up to date on any sort of technology or just news at all, you would have heard that a prototype of Apple's next generation of the iPhone was leaked via Gizmodo.

The story begins as a young Apple employee was celebrating his birthday and accidentally left the phone at the bar. Disguised as the normal 3GS model the drunk guy who found the phone started playing with it and soon discovered that it was not your regular iPhone.

Weeks after the iPhone prototype was found, Gizmodo acquired it for $5000 and created an exclusive coverage of this marvelous event and posted pictures of the product.

Prototypes always have glitches at first so in the feature article the writer briefly mentions some info but the phone obviously was shut down immediately after the owner knew it was lost.

It was truly an honest mistake for Mr. Gray Powell, yes that is the birthday boy's name. Poor guy hope he doesn't feel the wrath and/or mockery from his fellow apple engineers too much.

On a lighter note this is some great publicity for the new release of the product. Not that Apple ever needs it. But sometimes a little unplanned good PR can be a nice surprise :-)

Article: How Apple Lost the Next iPhone

State Farm Pocket Agent

Mobile Marketing has grown exponentially over the years especially since 2007 with the introduction of the iPhone to the market. Reaching consumers not only through text messaging but using fun and creative applications and games to enhance the user's experience with brands and/or products. Using this unique style of non-traditional marketing, companies can be truly creative in getting their message to consumers. There are so many great examples to choose from so where to start?



Since my semester has been consumed with State Farm propaganda because of Ad Lab, I have decided to spend this last case study highlighting a mobile campaign that has been a positive asset for State Farm as a brand. In 2009 State Farm created an iPhone application called the Pocket Agent. In efforts to reach a younger target market as well as trend setters who are more apt to download the latest smartphone applications, State Farm created a mobile "experience" for users.

With the "Pocket Agent", a user is not just introduced to State Farm as an insurance provider but the application serves as a guide to helping you in an accident situation. The application hits upon the many functionalities one needs when they get in an accident. First off, if your auto policy is registered on statefarm.com, and you are in an accident and have this application, you can immediately start the claims process in no time by a few taps on your phone. By taking photos on your phone and entering the location of the accident, submitting a claim is extremely attainable and simple. Did you lose or can't find your insurance card? No problem! The My Insurance Card function holds all of your information that you would need to exchange. There is even a feature where you are able to jot down the other drivers' information right at the scene so there is no mistake later. A brand new feature to the application is being able to "draw" the scene and show the road, objects involved as well as motion. This can all be done before you talk to your agent.



Once you've started the claims process it is most likely that you would need to find or call a repair shop to discuss damage done to your vehicle. No worries, with the Pocket Agent, State Farm is there to help you locate the nearest repair shop so you can get your car looked at as soon as possible. One last step to the process is locating your agent. Using this application, a customer/user can find their agent or find the nearest agent if theirs is not in the area.



Although I don't have an iPhone or State Farm insurance this type of application makes me want to have both! The ease of use and sleek design of the programs is very appealing for users. This type of application is targeting the on-the-go young target who is attached to their smart-phones like glue. They don't have to go through a long process to get the job done because this young generation is always on the move and has so much on their minds and in their schedules. I'm not the only one who this this application is close to genius. After looking at countless reviews the majority of them were positive, I actually had to look hard to find negative reviews, these were mainly from competitors or customers of competing insurance agencies. Here is something one reviewer had to say about the Pocket Agent,

"Similar to their early websites, many iPhone corporate apps have the heavy-handed feel of marketers trying too hard to race in on the latest technological trends. What develops from this mindset are usually thinly disguised sales channels that solve the short-term corporate need to "get out there" while leaving behind a jaded and less-than-impressed customer base. I warily expected the same from the first-to-market State Farm app, but was pleasantly surprised".

I downloaded this application for my iPod touch and was able to play around with it some more. Although I can't make phone calls from my iPod I can still find all the information and do the claims process. It is very clear that this application has thought of every possible convenience for customers. State Farm is being there for their policy holders in a fun and creative way through the Pocket Agent.




Pocket Agent Press Release

Samsung Business Card Thrower

So to promote Samsung's new digital camcorder a special video was recorded. A world champion business card thrower was recorder while showing his talents.

Talk about a innovative way to launch a product. Take a look at this unbelievable video you will be shocked at what this guy can do.

YouTube: Proceed with Caution...

Over the past few years, copyright infringement has become part of everyday vocabulary at the YouTube offices. This should come as no surprise considering the main function of the site is to post and share user-generated video content to the public. Most of the infringement cases have involved users recording and posting television programs, movies, concerts that the networks and production companies do not appreciate. This is completely reasonable and understandable. Similarly to illegally downloading and sharing music, these corporations have a right to have the videos removed from YouTube, and in some cases press charges. If movies and television shows were always available without have to pay to see it or rent it etc, the artists, actors crew and anyone else involved in the making, would be the ones to lose money as well. I think all of this is relatively common sense. But what about posting a home video of your child, a young toddler, singing and dancing along to a Prince song? Where can the line be drawn?

Everyday you see videos with disclaimers such as “this video has been removed by the network due to copyright…”, imagine if any video that contained any song in the background that was not “paid for” was removed from YouTube. There would be a lot less videos that’s for sure. So would some girl singing her heart out to Lady Gaga be removed because the song is audible in it? Or a song posted with lyrics even thought you purchased the song and just made the video for fun? There are so many examples of these questions that can be asked. At some point by removing all the content with so-called “copyrighted content” would lead to destroying YouTube entirely.

Granted it is hard to monitor a site that has grown so exponentially over the years and that’s why it is unfortunate but corporations feel they need to make an example of people. In 2007, Stephanie Lenz posted a video of her young toddler dancing to “Let’s go Crazy” by Prince. Universal Music Group, the owner of the song rights, wrote to YouTube demanding that the video be removed. YouTube of course proceeded to take down the video. This brings about the question of Fair Use.

According to the doctrine, Fair Use “allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as for commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching or scholarship”. Combining forces with a free-speech advocate group, Lenz found that she was within Fair Use of the song. You would think this would stop here, but no.

Since the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was born in 1998, companies like Universal have been on a rampage to stop every form of copyright they “believe” exists. After Lenz, decided to fight back, Universal brought out the big guns. Stating that she was in “bad faith” and had unclean hands for trying to pursue damages. Let’s be real here, it’s a home video, a cute one that this woman just wanted people to see. It’s not going to stop people from buying Prince’s music, or say hey I don’t need to buy the song I can just watch this cute little kid dance to it.

Although Lenz will not recover damages, she will collect legal fees from Universal. This case is important because “it raises the question of whether a media company can be held liable for pursuing a takedown without a full consideration of fair use.” This is in no way saying that Universal doesn’t have the right to take down videos they believe to be copyright infringement. However, it doesn’t give them the right to take down videos without fully determining if they are outside the Fair Use doctrine.

YouTube has not taken copyright infringement lightly either. On the site they have a specific outline of what copyright infringement is and how to know if you are in violation. I’d say that this is very responsible of them (most likely because of all the previous lawsuits) but at least it makes users aware of the difference.



To find out more about the case here are some related articles:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6200QZ20100301?type=technologyNews
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/blog-post/1594263/music-industry-beaten-dancing-tot
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/01/2833574.htm?section=justin

Embrace Life...

A PSA about always wearing your seatbelt. Effective? Yes or No? Thoughts?

10 Ideas that Changed the Marketing World

For those of you who do not subscribe to Advertising Age or at least look at it occasionally....you should. I found an article yesterday that has those essential facts to know about the marketing/advertising industry. Ad Age highlights some of the most influential marketing tactics and campaigns that changed the industry.

I had the opportunity to intern at TBWA\Chiat\Day in the Fall 2009 and two of their creations were featured on this list, and subsequently they are two campaigns that had a major influence in my interest in the industry.

The Absolut Bottle ads, as well as the infamous "1984" Apple Commercial (I got to meet the man behind that amazing creation!).

Here's the link to the article. You won't be surprised that you know the entire top 10.

A Look Back at 10 Ideas That Changed the Marketing World

Music Television...minus the music.

MTV was a staple of innovation in the '80s, becoming the first cable television program to broadcast music videos all day every day. However, over the past (almost!) 3 decades its slogan and mission of "Music Television" has become almost irrelevant. Slowly integrating a more variety of shows like the famous Real World, Cribs, Pimp my Ride, True Life, Sweet Sixteen and other claimed "reality" series.

The stake in the heart of "music television" came about in November of 2008 when Total Request Live, or TRL as most popularly known came it an end. TRL made Carson Daly a pop icon and well as branding the "VJ" job title. Growing up with MTV as being at least partly about the music, it really disappointed me as a loyal viewer that MTV was selling out and giving in to the Reality Show epidemic.

Well friends it has now become official, MTV has released its new logo design and without surprise it is now sans the slogan "Music Television". They are "embracing" the new direction they claim to be taking. According to the Yahoo! article, "MTV morphed into a channel that focused less on any one theme and more on targeting a specific teen and young-adult audience, ditching its music roots to deliver whatever the network perceived that audience wanted."

Well now that you are all intrigued here is the old vs. the "new" logo....



You may be thinking to yourself this logo doesn't look that different. Well you are correct. The 'M' is now slightly shorter and fatter but the only noticeable difference is the slogan has officially disappeared.

MTV is clearly making a statement...bye bye Music Television... R.I.P. 1981-2010




MTV's Big Change

Pass that Guacamole...

Well last night was once again filled with an interesting set of commercials. How could I have a blog talking about the creative side of marketing and adveritsing and not post my favorite spots from last night. So here we go...

I would have to say that my number one favorite (not in terms of being a great ad) but more so for the entertainment value had to be the Bud Light T-Pain voice box commercial...It just goes to show you that T-Pain can do anything and make lots of money...



One of the most clever and visually stimulating ads from the night had to be the Vizio ad...Bringing back all those youtube classics and putting it to a high tech futuristic theme really different...



So my last ad I'm going to feature I just found cute haha...Intel has really tried to modernize their advertisement and make them less corporate and more about innovation. The robot reminds me of Wall-E and how could you not feel bad for a robot named Jeff...



There were a lot of great ads and a lot of awful ads... I'm not going to overload you with them all now but maybe you'll see some more here and there...

Lastly I just have to put the introduction song with Jay-Z and Rihanna's Run this Town with the orchestra and then the CBS theme meshed in. They could not have made a more epic song to introduce this year's big game...



If you want to check out more ads for yourself check out Hulu Adzone or YouTube AdBlitz.

Heinz Ketchup Packet Upgrade!

"You want fries with that, in the minivan? No problem."

Yes I do, as a minivan driver (yes I am that cool) I know I always have difficulties with ketchup packets when I'm eating at a fast food restaurant on the go. Most of the time I just opt for barbecue or honey mustard dipping sauce, simply because they are easier to dunk my fries or chicken tenders in. Well finally Heinz has gotten the hint that their packets are too messy. Introducing the new packet that allows for both dipping and squeezing! Check out the photos!







Yay! Now I hope McDonald's gets their hands on these soon! Here's the article if you want to read more.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_heinz_ketchup

My Name is Kobe This is My Shoe

Going along with the Nike Shoe theme here is one of my favorite TV spots on right now....






Now here's a follow up....Lebron sorry but his shoe is just too hot....

Mass Customization of Shoes

Businesses are trying harder than ever to attract a larger market in a fast, efficient and least costly way. Some companies try brand extensions that appeal to different demographics, some companies try to generalize their products and some have created their own unique methods. Each strategy has its strengths and weaknesses, but probably the most successful form of production in this current age would be Mass Customization. Mass Customization can be defined in one way as creating products using computer aided manufacturing systems to build custom designed goods. Many companies are using this strategy to appeal to a wider market in a cheaper way. By using the qualities of mass production, providing the economically efficient side and adding it to a customization system, this way of production has for lack of a better phrase “the best of both worlds”. One of the best examples of a company that uses Mass Customization to its full advantage is Dell. By allowing customers to fully personalized and customize their computers to their needs by using the parts they make in bulk, customers appreciate the individualism but the manufacturers aren’t making waste of products they don’t need. Two other companies that are taking advantage of this system are Nike and Puma.
Customers, who buy clothing, shoes and other apparel, shop to find products that show their individualism and personality. Each of these shoe companies use their websites to give their customers the experience of creating their own personalized shoes using special mass customization. Nike calls their experience NikeID while Puma uses Mongolian Shoe BBQ. Each of these sites is very different in their use and experience for the customer. Puma is more aimed at the trendier customers who appreciate unique fashion. NikeID is more obviously aimed towards athletes and using your design to “customize performance”.

On the Nike home screen they choose to feature a specific shoe, right now it is the Zoom Kobe. When you enter NikeID, the site prompts you how to start the customization by choosing a shoe. The Nike site has over 150 customizable shoes for users to modify and create. But not only can you customize your footwear but you can also customize sport apparel and gear as well. In turn a customer can create his or her own work out or athletic style all on one site. When using the site I was first confused as to how to customize a show of my choice. They make it so easy to create the Zoom Kobe by making it the featured look that they forget that not everyone wants or needs that specific shoe. It took me a few too many minutes to get to the women’s shoes, which was kind of frustrating. Nike does get points for the sleek and “cool” look to their sight. For athletes it touches on the power that they want in a shoe. The colors are bold and bright but there is no room for patterns or neat designs in the program. Another bonus point is that you can choose to make your shoe a different width for the left or the right side individually, which Nike has always been known to provide a very good selection of wide shoes. What is nice about the process of creating you shoe using NikeID is that it monitors your progress. It tells you how many steps (things you can customize) and as you choose each option it acts like a checklist. This is fabulous because it helps make sure its customers don’t miss out on all the ways they can customize their shoe. Nike prides on the variety of different athletic wear they provide for every kind of athlete and mass customization in their NikeID site enhances that value immensely. Puma being a more casual shoe takes on a different approach.

Puma created a fictional shop called the Mongolian Shoe BBQ. Their idea behind it is that by choosing your own “flavors” you can create a shoe that fits your personality. They are trying to reach the more trendy and hip crowd by using the “everyone has a different taste” concept behind their site. On the site it explains the relevant history of the Mongolian BBQ and how the soldiers used to use their own flavors to customize their meals. Using this same idea, Puma has created this magical kitchen for shoes. In terms of visual presentation compared to the NikeID site, it is much more details and has a much more fun and playful feel to the site. They do not have as many options as Nike, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. In terms of ease of use this site hits it on the nail. At the BBQ it takes you through the different steps of creating your own flavor. With only three types of customizable shoes it can be restricting but they also let you choose from premade designs if you don’t want to create from scratch (NikeID does this as well). When designing this type of shoe you can tell that it not about what the shoe does for your performance but more about what the shoe looks like. You can choose from cool looking patterns and examples of shoes that optimize the more trendy, young type of customer looking to design a fun look shoe.

When going through each site it was hard to decide which one I preferred more. Being an athlete having the overwhelming amount of styles was amazing and knowing that I could customize them (once I found them) was comforting to know. In the Puma Mongolian BBQ I had a blast trying out all the different patterns they had available and I appreciated the shoe more as a work of art and something to show off my individualism. I’m not a fan however of the look of the basic shoes and I think introducing a couple more style would enhance their site and give people more options. Mass customization is clearly working for these two companies and their sites only get better and more improved as more people use them. Nike and Puma are not the only brands of their kind to do this, but they do it well. If I had the money I would have bought all three shoes I designed!

iPad more like iWant!

So Steve Jobs had another amazing Mac World announcement yesterday (even though everyone already knew what it was)...the iPad! This is Apple's weapon to destroy it's fellow gadgets...cough kindle cough.... Many are criticizing the iPad calling it simply a 'larger version' of the iPhone/or iPod Touch. This is not really the case. Yes it has some similarities but all Apple products do across the board to keep the compatibility between products. But when you look deeper in this magical tablet it's more than just an iPhone...more than an iPod....different than a laptop. Just take a look at the video from Apple...no not the Keynote speach...just this ...





This video should give you a different perspective of the product as a whole. One part of Apple's latest creation I agree with the critics about, is the AWFUL name. The iPad? really? Although I do enjoy the infamous "i" added to the prefix of simple words making them so trendily catchy, this one is iffy. Not that I could think of something better but this sounds more like a different type of product than a cutting edge piece of technology. Hopefully Apple with try to fix this mild oversight in their marketing campaign for the iPad. But overall once again Steve Jobs, you put on a great show for this long awaited product!