Convenience Of Technology

                      Convenience of technology

This concept is portrayed in a humorous and quite common situation when a person assumes someone attractive is looking at them and they get very flattered into thinking that the person is interested in them, when they are really looking behind them at someone else.

The convenience comes in when this person (a man in a fancy uniform at the bar) thinks he needs to get a hotel room, and he makes an instant reservation, only to find out the woman coming toward him passes him up to get to a man standing behind him. He then knows he doesn’t need the room and cancels it immediately, with an embarrassed smile.

                          ( Hotels.com mobile app.)

"Should You Or Shouldn't You?"

                     

                     “Should You Or Shouldn’t You?”

A question sometimes pondered at gift-giving time about underwear. Fruit of the loom has a commercial exaggerating the choices, showing the people you should give them to, as well as the ones you shouldn’t. The shouldn’ts are the humorous ones. Like a teacher, the doorman, a cop, a man in a superhero costume, and a Scotsman in a kilt. It ends with the line: “ But for the ones you should give them to, give them Fruit Of The Loom.” 

"Jake From State Farm"

                                

"Jake From State Farm"

A clever way of being able to say the client’s name four times without being obvious or boring. The wife comes downstairs at night to catch her husband on the phone supposedly sex talking to someone. She grabs the phone and asks what “she” is wearing.

The next shot is of the State Farm call center showing a man who was talking to her husband. He answers: “khakis”. Back to the house, she says to the husband :  "She sounds hideous”. He answers: “ She’s a guy, so….”

I hope State Farm has 24 hour call service to back up this spot. 

Another Approach To Persuasion

                  Another Approach To Persuasion

A commercial I’m seeing a lot of is a good example of a new approach to an old message. The message: “recycle”. The new approach, rather than showing the bad consequences of not recycling, was to humanize the thing to be recycled, along with the human reason to do it. It shows a plastic bottle drifting along on the street until someone picks it up and puts it in a recycling bin. (It always wanted to see the ocean). The next scene shows it as a bench overlooking the sea. The message of the ad is: “Give your garbage a new life. Recycle.”

When Sex Really Does Sell.

                      When Sex Really Does Sell.

The problem I have with the couples featured in E.D. commercials that are supposed to be married, is that they look like the first time they ever met was in the casting session before the shoot. They are the director’s idea of the “ideal” couple. They struggle to look like they have “chemistry”.

The E.D. spot for Viagra, that uses honest comments, is by a very attractive woman who seems to understand the problem. Sex isn’t used here as an attention-getter. It is a legitimate topic for discussion.

This change in tactics is rumored to be designed to interest women in the product’s value. It seems to me to possibly be preparing for the coming of a similar pill for women.

Budweiser Public Service

           

       

                              Budweiser Public Service

This is an interesting way to say the same theme: “Don’t drink and drive”. It’s told from a dog’s point of view. The spot shows all the stages of the relationship between the man and the puppy as it grows to an adult dog. He is a constant companion until one day the man goes out at night with a few guys, presumably to go to a club or bar, where they will be drinking. The dog waits as he always does by the door for his master. He waits all night. One assumes that something happens to him, since he didn’t come home. That he must have driven under the influence. In the morning, the dog is still waiting as the door opens and the man comes in. He apologizes to the dog, and explains that he decided to sleep over at Dave’s house, implying that he made the choice not to drive after drinking. The dog was very happy to see him. As would be other family members. Nice spot.

Promote Yourself By Promoting Your Location

            Promote Yourself By Promoting Your Location.

A medical center is promoting itself by lauding New York as a place where people come, not to retire, but to be challenged to be their best. It then says New York has developed the best in everything, including health care. “After all, we’re New Yorkers too.”

The visual is intriguing since anyone using Grand Central Station has seen this situation of someone playing an instrument to entertain commuters as they rush to their trains. A man is playing jazz saxophone (a version of West Side Story), when a girl opens her violin case and joins in to the pleasure of listeners, who applaud when they finish.

                          (NYU Langrove Medical Center)

Selling Precision

      

                                 Selling Precision

A quiet visual that requires no words, but tells the point that the voice over is making: “Every investor has their own idea of precision. And we have a SPDR ETF for each one of them.”

The visual is of a small maintenance man making an adjustment to a drinking water fountain. He seems to be adjusting the spout of water too high, until you hear the door to the gym open and very tall men in basketball uniforms emerge after practice and line up at the fountain for a drink. Each one drinks from the appropriately high, water spout.

The theme line repeats the idea of the selling concept: “Precise in a world that isn’t.” 

             ( SPDR—State Street Global .advisors)

I Believe Him

                                                  I Believe Him

It’s rare to see a commercial by a celebrity or athlete that doesn’t look like someone reading a script.

Growing up a Steelers fan, I saw Terry Bradshaw take a lot of physical punishment, including being dropped on his head. He understands pain. When he talks of shingles, I, for one, am surprised to know he has it. Which makes his point about how most people who’ve had chickenpox, have the virus in them.

He isn’t doing this for money, I assume, or for celebrity, since he’s known for his sense of humor. If he compares the pain to more than what he experienced in football, I believe him, especially since the spot isn’t to sell a particular product, but to talk to a doctor or pharmacist about what you can do if you have the problem. 

Weasel Warrior #2-Hidden Weasels

             

           Weasel Warrior #2.  Hidden Weasels

Here are a few more weasels to add to your list. They aren’t as obvious as the others. In fact, they are designed to by-pass your awareness that they are weasels.

Like this one: “No other brand gives you more” or “Nothing is better”. Nothing is worse either. Are they better than the others? No. It means they are the same as everyone else.

 Or this: “Four times as much cranberry juice as theirs. 100% juice.” Does that mean 100% cranberry juice? No! It’s mostly apple juice.       

Or this: “ You could save as much as”. (double weasel) . It could be a lot less.

Or this beauty: “No excess gas”. No gas? NO! No excess gas. How much is that?

Or this very subtle one to make any deal sound better: “available”. Which means you pay extra for this. It’s not part of the deal.

There’s another scam that everyone seems to fall for. It’s the “double the quantity” ruse. “We’ll send you a bonus gift Free! Just pay separate shipping and handling.” The dirty little secret is that most of these items only cost the sender what they are charging for S&H. You have just paid for another item. The original charge is pure gravy. [Caution: always check the small print for the S&H cost. It’s usually way more than it should cost to ship.]

Drama That Makes The Point

                       

                    Drama That Makes The Point

A SWAT team is making a raid. There are helicopter views of the street with night vision cameras, rappelling from the roof on ropes to the bedroom window. They crash through the window to confront a couple in bed. The leader calls out a name. The couple screams they did nothing wrong. “We just bought this house!” The team realizes they made a mistake and stands down. The team leader says: “didn’t your realtor tell you about this house?” they answer, they didn’t use a realtor.

A voice-over states: “Realtors have information you might not be able to find yourself. Like who else used to own your house. Just one way a realtor can help.”

                (Canadian Real Estate Association)

Cosmopolitan Of Las Vegas

                        Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Las Vegas has tried many different Positionings for the city and its image. For the longest time, it was known as “sin city”. When that didn’t attract enough visitors, it decided to be “family friendly”, with entertainment for the whole family. But as casinos popped up in every part of the country, it resorted back to the more risqué approach with “Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. That implied that you could go a bit wild and crazy, get out of your character, and no one will really know about it.

But now, the competition is between which casino/hotelwill you do it in?

The cosmopolitan is running ads that imply that you can do whatever your imagination guides you to with the theme : “The right amount of wrong”. They hope to stimulate your interest as well as your dark imagination. I wonder what characters that will attract? Will you be wondering what is really going on in the next room? Their commercial with a girl dancing in front of multiple mirrors suggests there are a lot of these girls here. It looks like a spot for an escort service or worse. I’d take my family to another hotel.

Favorite Ads

 

                                          “Favorite Ads”

If you ask anyone what their favorite ad is, you will get many different opinions. A lot of them will talk about things within the ad that appeals to them. Like small animals and cute babies doing cute things.

If you ask what the ad was selling, many will not remember. And if they remembered the category (dog food/diapers), they don’t always get the brand right.

[Note to advertisers: If you don’t want your ad budget going to promote your competitor’s products, design ads that separate your brand away from the others.]

Customer As Jerk

                            

                           Customer As Jerk

Some ads, in order to make a point, lose sight of the hidden messages  the viewer sees. If the viewer is a potential customer of the product, he pictures himself in the spot. If the character using the product is seen as a jerk, he reacts as though he, himself, is being insulted. If the character makes bad judgements or does something stupid, the viewer loses identification with the situation, and along with it, the product.

A recent commercial for Taco Bell Chicken Tacos does just that.

A girl on a walk with her boyfriend runs into her father and a business associate. She introduces the boyfriend who is eating the taco. The father extends his hand to shake, but the boy has his hands full with the product and decides, instead, to kiss the father on the eyebrow, astounding the girl as well as the dad who promptly leaves.

That bad judgement leads to the question of how good is his judgement in buying this product. No one wants to think of themselves as that stupid. And thinking of this spot might discourage them from trying it, rather than inspiring them to try it. 

Demo This.

                                    Demo This.

A "demo" of a product, by its very definition, is something that demonstrates how a product or process works. But the word can be used as a lure to promote a company or its full-line of products, without any "demonstration" of how their "unique method" works. 
I fell for this lure when I decided to brush up on my "school" Spanish. I called a well-advertised product's number for a "free demo CD". 
After a few penetrating questions, I was able to get the salesperson to admit the CD wasn't going to show me a sample of how I would be learning the language, but a sales pitch about all the languages they sell. The call was designed  as a marketing tool to get information about potential customers who would land on lists for mailings and possible phone calls. 
I ended the phone call.

Borrowed Interest

                                    

Borrowed Interest

Whenever you are drawn into an ad by a device that isn’t really organic or connected to the product being sold, you have been tricked by “borrowed interest”. When an advertiser doesn’t think his message isn’t interesting enough to attract your attention, they will use this device. It is a bad choice for them because the device they use to get your attention is by definition more interesting than their message. Which defeats their purpose. You are attracted, but only to the device  (celebrities, sex, pets, shocking words or situations).

And how many of you actually think the celebrity hawking a product isn’t being paid to repeat the words they are saying, and is only doing it for the exposure or money?

Try to become aware of being tricked by different borrowed interests. Ask yourself if you were persuaded to try the product by these means.

E.D.

         E.D. Commercials

It’s no wonder those men in the Cialis commercials have erectile problems. By the time they drag those two bathtubs out to the woods or the seashore, plus all the warm water to fill them, it’s a wonder they’re not candidates for hernia operations.

The chief selling point in all those E.D. commercials is disguised in the medical warning about getting four-hour erections.

Persuasion in Advertising

                              

              Persuasion In Advertising

An advertising message has a lot of competition in a free marketplace. But getting noticed is not the primary purpose of an ad. That’s important, but how it does it is very important. You can be surprised or shocked into being aware of something, but that doesn’t fulfill the purpose of an ad.

The message of an ad is to persuade you to investigate a product or service. That can be difficult in a competitive environment. And, because it is difficult, very many ads take what they think is the easy way: to remember the product by “entertainment”- Music, dancing, pretty women and men. These things can be entertaining, but what about the message of the ad which becomes buried in all that? Who even notices it, let alone remembers it? I can remember the pretty girls, but don’t have a clue what they were standing in front of, or dancing around.

 A persuasive ad is very rare. It will have you thinking about the product if you are a potential customer. Whenever you see a persuasive ad, even if it isn’t aimed at you as a customer, make a note of it. You’ve experienced a rarity. 

Having Fun Beating The Pants Off The Competition

Having Fun Beating The Pants off The Competition

Being Highly competitive in advertising doesn’t have to be serious, nuts and bolts comparisons. It can be fun for both the creators as well as the viewers. There is a campaign for work clothes that is just that. It is a series of cartoon illustrations comparing, in exaggerated situations, the advantages of the product. It is very creative in language as well as the situations themselves. The voice is of a “trucker”. The descriptions of the clothes is also clever: “The Long T “Shirt-The Cure For Plumber’s Butt.”, “Ballroom Jeans- Room To Crouch Without Singing Soprano”, “Unwet Your Pants”. The spots are easy to watch and even encourage the anticipation of the comparison. You’ll remember the commercials and products. That’s the real goal of advertising.

                                         (Deluth Trading Company)