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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!