Product Placement

Today, product placement is becoming more and more popular in both movies and television shows. The increase of placing products directly into shows is now regularly on series such as American Idol, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Extreme Makeover, or Celebrity Apprentice. American Idol judges are always drinking Coca-Cola while Survivor contestants can be seen drinking Mountain Dew. Extreme Makeover Home Edition doesn't fail to leave out that their tools and appliances all come from Sears. Celebrity Apprentice doesn't miss the opportunity to include using products by Australian Gold, Vera Wang, or 7-UP. In shows today, advertisers are becoming more eager to increase their screen time and for viewers to not see a recognizable brand, company or product right in these shows is becoming rare.

YouTube Video of Camry Crash

This week in the news, there was talk about a YouTube video of an elderly woman in Florida crashing her Camry into a supermarket and running several people over. There was negative feedback from the public about the video after it aired on YouTube because a Toyota advertisement was the banner on the bottom of the video. This made many people upset, believing that Toyota was associated with supporting the video because of their advertisement. Internet ads will automatically link advertisements for companies based on content about their product. In this case, it was a Toyota banner advertising their company and the Prius right next to a horrible video and something that the company does not represent. Google has sense removed the Toyota ad from the video. This is an example of how sometimes advertisements can accidentally and negatively portray a company and the downside to automatic ads by linking content.

Starbucks' Advertising Strategy

Starbucks is a company that has a unique advertising and marketing strategy when compared to their competitors and most other large, well known brands. Starbucks has embraced a "word of mouth" strategy that lets the high quality of their products and services speak for themselves. Starbucks is known for its high quality coffee and they believe that connecting with their customers, and focusing on their in-store experience is more valuable than any advertisement or mass marketing. They believe once a customer is satisfied, it is more effective when they personally promote their brand because they are a  pleased customer who will return and will remain loyal to their brand. They have focused on utilizing their current customers to attract new ones. Starbucks non-traditional method for advertising their brand shows that they are driving their sales through the company's image and reputation. Although for most companies this would be a very risky strategy, Starbucks has continued to increase their success by creating a top of the line brand image.

The "Hoppa" Commercial

I recently saw this Hopper commercial and thought is was really funny. I have never even heard of the Hopper by Dish but now know what it is from their commercial. The man explained right in the beginning exactly what the Hopper is. It's a DVR that allows you to record 6 shows at once and can be watched in any room of the house. It was straight to the point, hilarious, and showed how someone in every room was watching their own thing which portrayed what their advertising. If they keep making such good commercials, they will be loosing viewers because they will all have the Hopper and will be fast-forwarding through them. A lot of people complain about commercials and change them right away for good reasons. But if more advertisers spent a little extra time on creating funny commercials, even something as simple as a Boston accent, people would view their ads and appreciate their brand more. Maybe even talk about it with someone else like I am because I really enjoyed this commercial.

Coca-Cola Freestyle

A couple of weeks ago in the airport I saw my first Coca-Cola Freestyle. Since I hadn't seen one before I figured they were new but after doing a little research it seems as though they've been around since mid-2009. For those of you who don't know, it's a twenty first century, high-tech drink machine. It has over 100 Coke brand drinks available which is impressive when compared to the traditional soda machine that has only 6-8 options. There are all kinds of Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Powerade, Hi-C, Minute-Maid, Dasani, and many more. I was impressed by its touch screen technology and then shocked by all of the drink options. I just wanted a Sprite but after clicking on the logo, about 10 more flavors of Sprite were offered. I think this is a great advertising tool for Coke. With this machine, they have the opportunity to provide all of their drinks to a variety of customers and really get to showcase what they have to offer. They are promoting all of their brands at once and they are able to reach a wide range of consumers. These machines also have an innovative cartridge based soda dispenser technology which gives them a step ahead of their competition. It is also helping Coca-Cola track consumer behavior and brand preferences. The Freestyle is a cool advertising strategy for Coke, while pleasing customers and learning more about them at the same time.

Fashion Star

Last week I watched NBC's new series called Fashion Star. Its purpose is to give designers the opportunity to create new items and get advise from celebrity mentors. Then they showcase their designs to three of the largest retailers in hopes to have those buyers purchase their collection and sell it exclusively in their stores. The retailers are Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, and H&M. I'm not sure how their presence on the show has affected sales so far, but I believe it will increase revenue through the new publicity they will receive from the show. It seems like a great advertising strategy because the show promotes these retailers heavily and under each buyer is a large logo of each company that you can't miss to notice. After each show, consumers then can purchase the winning looks right away on the appropriate retailer's website. This is allowing viewers to be interactive with the company and purchase what they just saw designed on T.V. I think these aspects of the show will greatly help the success of these companies and are innovative advertising strategies that other retailers should envy.

#StopKony

Making Kony famous became very popular this week and was the most talked about trend on all social media networking sites. The video went viral and everyone was talking about it from friends on Facebook to celebrities tweeting about it. Although it isn't an advertisement, it is a campaign which is to inform the nation about Kony, what he has been doing, and how everyone can help. The informative video aims to make him famous through the assistance and raising support by our nation which will hopefully lead to his capture. It was interesting to see how a small campaign could turn into something so big. With no original sponsors, celebrity spokespersons or endorsements, the campaign received so much press and attention by the media. Now, politicians and celebrities with household names are promoting it and urging everyone's support. With all of the media coverage on it now, news sources have used it in headlines and during commercials, advertising the topic and their coverage on it. Stopping Kony and making him famous has turned into a movement. It's great to see how our voices are powerful and how people around the world can come together unselfishly to help others.