Victoria Solomon

Ad Review: Yahoo Repositions Its' Brand

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:31:38 -0700

Recently, I saw Yahoo!’s 60-second (pretty long, since most commercials are 30 seconds) TV ad spot, featuring Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights.” It coverages an average Joe (smart move) at work, when he enters “the world of Yahoo!” from his computer, taking a break from work. Yahoo! was smart in this, they chose an “anyman” and shows how Yahoo! can take anyone “away.” Now, I don’t know about any of you, but Yahoo is probably my favorite news site, for all information. Why? I’m pretty sure they provide the best headlines for links, which makes you want to read all of the news.

However, this commercial is a little better for those who are familiar with Yahoo!. As a Yahoo! user, I know that Yahoo has a variety of different news sites that are targeted to specific demographics, and they win readers with catchy headlines. I get lost in Yahoo, more than I get lost in CNN.com. Also, Yahoo! allows you to connect between your different social networks (although their email system is still not as good as Google’s).

Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners (another firm I’d love to work for) is the advertising agency behind these creative, exciting, and beautifully produced commercials as part of the Lip Sync Campaign for Yahoo. In these commercials, Yahoo! tells stories and fantasies, positioning themselves as an entertainment service. This is way smarter than competing with Google, as they did in past commercials. No one can compete with Google - it’s as plain and simple as that. Wise lesson to companies (excuse my poor wording): if you can’t compete with the competition, position yourself as something else.

In the Romantic Date Night commercial, Yahoo! markets themselves as an entertainment service but the clip also shows how they provide advice, fantasy, solutions…whatever it is that is missing in your life. This ad campaign is pretty well-done and thought out. I just hope it improves Yahoo!’s business since their have lost a good portion of their audience/users over the years. Often, Yahoo leaves a bad taste in the mouth, similar to AOL or the old Earthlink. But Yahoo has grown and reinvented their brand; I encourage you to check it out as your site for new information.

Ad Review: Buick's Regal Campaign

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:49:12 -0700

Maybe I’m wrong, but Buick for a long time was just an average American car. Nothing special, nothing spectacular, nothing too fancy or extreme. So…maybe I just have something against American cars compared to European or Japanese cars. But anyways, I was driving down Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles a couple days ago (stuck in traffic, of course) and noticed a billboard with a basic slogan. Now it would seem like any other car ad, with the exception that when I looked at which car it was, it was a Buick. Since when do Buick’s slogans read “We threw caution out the wind tunnel”? Maybe for an Audi TT or a Mustang, this slogan would make sense. But with a Buick? It got my interest into their new campaign to reestablish their brand and promote the “Regal.”

“We want consumers to discover the 2011 Buick Regal as a compelling performance sedan,” said Craig Bierley, Buick advertising director. “We are presenting the Regal in a variety of ways that are unexpected and providing relevant personal stories to allow consumers to draw their ownconclusions about our newest Buick.” With gray, silver, and blue tones the Buick ads attempt to stand out. Unfortunately, while this brand identity is new for Buick, it’s old for other car brands out there. Basically, Buick stands out for Buick but not with its competition. However, I do appreciate the witty copy lines.

Ad Review: Kia's Soul, the New Way to Roll

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:01:00 -0700

The other day, I was watching TV and the new Kia commercial for the “Soul” came on, featuring hip, “gangsta” rapping…Hamsters and a very catchy song, “The Choice is Yours” by the Black Sheep (NOT HAMSTERS?!?!? Crazy I know). Kia has used hamsters in previous commercials, which turned out to be very successful, and of course they wanted to reach a different target audience with the Soul. Kia wanted to reach a younger, hipper, fresher audience…and so they turned to hip hop hamsters. Not exactly sure who came up with that idea on the drawing board at famed So Cal-based David&Goliath (one day I dream of working there).

So why toasters and washing machines and boxes as the “that”? Like the Scion, or other “boxy rides,” the Soul is a boxy modern vehicle. Kia built its brand on inexpensive and entry-level cars. I think of Kia as the, post 25-year-old grad-student-now-in-the-working-world vehicle. It’s smart for them to try and reinvent their brand (or create a specific model) for a younger target audience, expanding their market. And…I’m guessing hamsters are non-threatening ways to show hipness…?

Kia is also apparently “rolling” out a line of new hamster clothing…not for hamsters obviously. But their hamster-themed shirts, hats, and hoodies. I’m not sure how successful that will be, but I think the ad is great. What makes it great? The song. It’s too catchy, if you heard it on the radio you’d like it. So, hamsters really can’t ruin the commercial.

Fun Facts

Did you know that the artists rapping for the Kia commercial, Black Sheep are from Queens, New York? They were extremely popular in the 1990s. The Black Sheep have made a recent comeback with the Kia commercial. I’m sure many of you might laugh at how silly it would seem that these rappers have sold themselves to the image of hamsters, but they’re probably “rolling” in the dough after this commercial (total pun intended). The song came out in 2008, and was ranked as #73 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs.

Ad Review: Don't Snicker at Snickers

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

This snickers advertising campaign for billboards, buses, and city advertising was started around 2006. It has been successful for almost 4 years now. The advertising campaign uses the visual design of the snickers logo and just replaces the Snickers text with their slogans and taglines. It allows for consumers to visually identify with the brand and look at the brand in a new way. With this advertising campaign, Snickers wanted to become part of the snack industry as well as the candy industry. Snickers used words such as hungry, snack, peanuts, and nuts in order to have consumers connecting Snickers to a snack as well. By trying to become part of the snack industry they move away from the negative idea of consuming candy. People feel better about consuming snacks more often than they do candy. By becoming part of the snack market, Snickers can be eaten more often. Consumers feel less guilty. Snickers wanted to send the message that their candy was about satisfying hunger, not as a dessert or guilty pleasure. They decided to use the fact that their bars contain peanuts to approach the snack world. Also you can see from two of the advertisements, that their target audience is college students.

I thought this advertising campaign was extremely successful. The billboards were simple, yet the design was based off of Snickers so you got the point. And since the consumer’s mind was used to the Snickers logo, they were interested in what text had been inserted instead. It was simple, effective, to the point, and made a connection to the snack industry.

Ad Review: McDonalds Does Coffee

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Since I explored Starbuck’s advertising a while back and their target against companies such as Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds who are providing lower cost coffee, I wanted to explore McDonald’s ad campaign that took place last winter/spring of 2009. McDonald’s launched an ad campaign over winter 2008 to spring 2009 in honor of their new coffee drinks. They wanted to separate themselves from Starbucks in the area of cost, but not quality. Not only did they create a series of billboards with creative lines, but they also played with the urban layout of major cities. For example, the ad below plays with the idea of street lights.

I love these ads. Finally there is some creativity coming back in advertising. Creative taglines, creative plays on our environment, and being humorous. They definately bring the working class back into coffee and get that target audience. They get this target audience by using urban locations where working class people are. Billboards, bus stops, and parts of the street all capture this working class population. Not only are they able to single out their target audience (a mass population as well), but they are creative and funny when they do it. This in turn is good PR for their company…something McDonald’s needs more of. Another advertising campaign below shows coffee beans in a bus glass window…genious! They combine aesthetics (the campaign is organized and attractive), creativity, humor, and good PR for their company.

McDonald’s did an incredible job at their advertising. Way better than Starbucks and thus they gained a lot of customers…launching something risky…McDonald’s coffee. They knew they had a bad reputation, and thus created an amazing advertising/PR campaign.

Ad Review: Life Takes Visa

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Credit cards are easy to promote. What is more fantastical than using a magical card to buy whatever you like! (And of course not include the dreadful part of actually paying off the card in the advertisements). Visa came up with their new campaign (semi-new, it has been around for a year or so) titled “Life Takes Visa.” They took a whimsical, organized, and humorous perspective on the spending of money. They effectively correlated their television ads and their print ads.

Often pastry food stores, when placed with choreographed dancing can take off a fanciful, suburban, fairytale vibe (I would love to use the word whimsical again). They use bright colors, then place in the middle of this dance (of life), a gentlemen who chooses to pay with cash, and how that stops everything in his life and what is going on around him. In the bigger picture, Visa is trying to say: Visa is easy. Everywhere takes Visa. Not everywhere takes American Express or cash. Visa is safe, Visa is fast, Visa will help you continue in life. You won’t have to stop and think about things, you can just buy buy buy (the American dream). And the commercials are very American. The second one features a football team, the New Orleans Saints, and tennis player buying tennis balls with cash (a less American sport) thus holds up the whole patriotism of the football day.

We see this continuing in their print ads effectively. Also by having the words “Life Takes” it also means life takes from your money, life happens, accidents happen, things unaccounted for have to be paid for. However, what fills in the gap of what “life takes” is Visa. Through their print ads, they try to show individualism, and how your Visa card represents you and what you want to do.

Ad Review: Trident Layers It On

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Recently, Trident came out with their newest gum, Trident Layers. It’s a unique gum in that it is a gum sandwich with a sour flavor in the inside and a sweet flavor on the outside. And how do you go about advertising taste of gum through a print ad? Mostly with gum advertisements, I have found that you just have to create positive awareness and trust with the gum flavor (even if the consumer has never had the gum). If they see enough ads, with enough bright colors, and the gum is buzzworthy, it’s a for-sure purchase when they’re in the grocery store. The consumer can easily grab a handful of packs and throw them on the belt. Gum advertisements just have to create awareness of great taste, long-lasting taste, and something new, something better.

Trident uses an emphasis on their color scheme, staying with a “delicious, fruity” pink, and using “bubble-gum” typography. The show the gum blown up, and even though it is just a giant rectangle the consumer can get an idea for how taste the gum will taste from the strong artificial coloring. The font is almost schooped out of the surface, similar to how ice cream or desert would be taken from a container or cake. The consumer also sees what the Trident Layers packaging looks like below the giant piece of gum. Notice how the actual package of gum is 1/4 the size of the gum. This subtly tells consumers that while the pack of gum is small, and the pieces of gum are small, the flavor is HUGE, long-lasting, and packed full of taste.

Trident’s current tagline as a company is “a little piece of happy.” This emphasizes how much gum can change your mood or how you’re feeling. It emphasizes the influence gum can have throughout life, which i believe is true. Gum can aid in many social situations in many different ways.

Ad Review: 2008 Pepsi is Presidential

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:00:00 -0800

Pepsi’s idea for their most recent ad campaign was the ride on the Obama’s winning of the 2008 Presidential Election. Obama’s own campaign used the line “Yes, we can!” and Pepsi used this to their benefit and used the line, “Yes, you can!” They even redid their logo which was very similar to Obama’s web design and logo. (Of course Pepsi uses similar colors but they updated their logo to look more bold and modern). Pepsi’s ad campaign featured copies such as “One for all”, “Yes you can!”, “Howdy!”, “LOL”, and “Pop Pop Pop”. Their ad was less about the soft drink and more about the youth generation and movement and about capturing the current youth of the U.S. by using phrases, lines, and abbreviated words.” Bright colors also accompanied these lines. For one of their copies, they quoted, “Every generation refreshes the world. Now, it’s your turn.”

I thought Pepsi’s advertising campaign was ‘refreshing’, new, bright and a perfect way to show their patriotism. Often Coca-Cola is more associated with America. I get old 1950’s images in my head of a dusty old gas station, and men popping open glass coke bottles. Pepsi opposes this image by showing a more liberal, new, refreshing outlook. While they might have lost some customers by showing a more liberal, democratic party perspective with their ad campaign, their main point was to gain more young consumers, especially those around the ages of 18-30.

I personally don’t see the effectiveness in soft drink campaigns between Coca Cola and Pepsi. Mainly because people will like either Coca-Cola or Pepsi and they are usually committed to which ever one they favor. An ad campaign will not change that. However, I think this campaign definately improved Pepsi’s brand image and had people thinking about Pepsi as a brand and ‘new’ soft drink.

You can find more information on their ad campaign here.

Ad Review: Juicy Couture Aspirations

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:00:00 -0800

I wanted to take a blog entry to talk about perfume advertisements, since mostly I focus on food and beverage advertisements. Fashion and perfume advertisements are a world of their own and take gender and body image into account. Part of what Juicy Couture stands for as a company is femininity, elegance, sass, spunk, and physical independence from man (but not necessary emotional or economical independence). They represent what I like to call “whimsical childhood make-believe grown-up.”

These advertisements lack taglines, but they express a woman’s desire to live out her childhood fantasies with a more adult perspective. Fantasies of being a princess, living in fairy tale land, where you can taste perfume, exotic desserts, everything is an extreme feminine, huge bows, gowns, unreal animals. Take for example, the advertisement above. We see women in beautiful, different-colored gowns. They seem to be worshipping the giant perfume bottle, and its presence fills the room (almost as the smell would). The perfume bottle thus has status, and hierarchy, and is a social symbol of wealth and prestige. Thus the perfume is associated with higher social status, wealth, and prestige. It becomes these values.

In the advertisement with the woman and the giant bow, we see her topless. She has a giant, beyond-lifesize red bow. This shows extreme femininity. Once again this is an advertisement for the Juicy Couture perfume. In this ad, we see the perfume bottle is jewelry, it becomes a wearable accessory that is necessary for beauty. The perfume (while only a smell) because more visual, and more visually necessary for a fashion look. The perfume as jewelry also represents wealth and decoration. Decoration for the human body. Once again, we see the words “Juicy Couture” childly placed on the page in “cut-out” letters, giving it a whimsical, scrapbook feel.

The advertisement above shows a man and a woman drinking from a giant perfume bottle. The woman is once again wearing a larger-than-life bow, a fur coat (showing wealth, elegance, prestige), and bright red lips, showing exoticism, elegance, and racey-ness. In her hand, she holds the crystal top to the perfume bottle. The man is more feminine, with pink streaks in his hair, and nature-like tattoos on his body. The perfume here, becomes more than just smell, it is taste. It’s hydration, it’s a delicious smell that is “edible.”

Brand Review: Tropicana Brand Identity

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:00:00 -0800

I don’t know if any of you recall, but last January, in markets, and even our local Fens, there was a big change in the drink section. The Tropicana cartons were completely different. And while many of you probably didn’t think much of it, and just grabbed for it, there was huge debate over the change (so much in fact that they reverted to the old carton design). Now some aesthetic lovers, loved the new modern carton. We liked the clean typography, the simplicity, and were ready for a change from the orange with the straw. However, aesthetics does not always rule consumers in terms of their buying patterns. Just because a bottle is prettier (although this makes me cringle) does not mean a consumer is more likely to buy it. And consumers get used to the standard design of products. Below is the old carton (left) versus new carton (right):

Consumers got confused and couldn’t find their Tropicana cartons (and while I argue it really isn’t neuro science), they had a drop in sales and a lot of complaints. They argued that the new carton looked too much like a “generic” brand. Along with these new cartons, came a new advertising campaign (which stuck), despite reverting to the old cartons within 2 months. They began the “Squeeze” campaign. A campaign that focused on the strong ties of family and children along with…well, squeezing oranges. A lot of this association has to do with orange juice being a breakfast drink, and a time families eat together.

They used the tagline “It’s a natural squeeze” at the top, to show that the juice was natural, and so are family values and love. Then we see a mother and her two daughters, with missing teeth. The missing teeth ads a cuteness factor, and an imperfect factor, to show these are “real” family situations that would occur in the presence of Tropicana orange juice.

There are usually more women and children featured rather than men and children just because it seems as though women shop more often for household products. While the advertising stuck, the carton did not, and in March they went back to the old carton. However, their advertising was effective and presented the values that they wanted. This advertising was less ad for new consumers as it was a reminder to current and old consumers just what values came along with buying Tropicana orange juice (and that they were the same juice company).

Ad Review: Marketing POM Juice

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:00:00 -0800

How do you sell an expensive juice that is rich and bitter, but also tasteful? How does one even compete in the juice market when a lot of it is for children and families, but your product is higher end? I’m sure POM juice was thinking the same thing when they first began their company. So they chose the health angle, focusing on the trend of antioxidants at the time. People will buy into any health craze and anything they believe will help them live longer (I say this as a supporter of antioxidants and pomegranates). POM effectively advertised their product through clean cut ads. Their ads feature white backgrounds, causing them to stand out on billboards and bus stops. Most of their ads are placed on billboards, posters, and bus stops. The ads feature an image of the drink and usually some sort of “prop” that correlates with the tagline. The ads take on a comedic approach.

The tagline uses “Life Support” as referencing to how pomegranates and antioxidants support your health and your life, but also refers to actual life support machine in a hospital. Also, the drink looks like a “bag of blood” (sorry to be so harsh), meaning pomegranate is the liquid that keeps you alive. Once again the ad uses a standard font, similar to Helvetica, with their three main colors, white, red, and black.

Here we see the tagline “Forever young,” meaning that POM will give you the energy to play or behave like a child. The bottle here is used to represent a human body, symbolizing life and support once again. The green and orange are nice contrasts to the rich red.

I remember a couple years ago, seeing these advertisements on billboards, before POM became popular. It got consumers thinking, what is that? There had been nothing else on the market like it before. (At least nothing comparable in terms of taste for pomegranate juice). Now POM juice has passed the “trend” stage, and has moved on to a regular in everyday households (mostly for the 30-60 year old consumers), despite its expensive price.

Ad Review: Absolut Boston and Sports

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:00:00 -0800

Recently, I was waiting for the T at Kenmore and looked at the slew of advertisements across the track. Absolut had purchased the whole wall for their new vodka, “Absolut Boston.” Absolut is known for their amazing advertising campaigns. They are genius, visually and require a simple tagline. What makes their advertising even more effective is the name of their product, “Absolut.” An advertising team can do so much with the word “absolute” more than they can with “oreo,” “sam adams,” or “vitamin water.” Absolut has made vodkas for most major cities around the globe. So, it seems only natural that for Boston, they would focus on Bostonian’s love for the Red Sox and the Celtics. After all, if there is anything I have learned and noticed in my three years in Massachusetts is their unhealthy obsession with their baseball team.

And how genius to take something Bostonians are obsessed with, and connect it to an alcoholic beverage?

Ad Review: Starbucks Competes with Dunkin + McDonalds

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:00:00 -0800

In the past year, Starbucks has launched a new ad campaign that features typography/background of old, rich, coffee, farming textures with witty taglines. These taglines tell consumers that yes, there is other coffee other there. They acknowledge their competition, such as Dunkin Donuts or Coffee Bean. However in two lines, they offer evidence as to why they are better. Starbucks’ ads tell how some coffee places may be cheaper, for example Dunkin Donuts, but that you are sacrificing quality. This advertising campaign effectively parallels with Starbucks ideals. Starbucks is known for having rich, good quality coffee at a higher price, with a great store atmosphere. With their advertising, they do not offer change or a new product, but just reemphasize the quality of their coffee and why you go there. Not why you SHOULD go there, but why you already go there. This advertising campaign was most likely to keep their current customers from switching over to Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds, despite weak economic times and their big price differences.

This advertising campaign was/is effective because when you think of Starbucks you think of high-end coffee, with a bit of eliticism attached to the price tag. Their store/advertising doesn’t have the “You Kin Do It” community, working class quality that Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds uses to promote in their campaigns.

Ad Review: Chase Expands to California

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:51:00 -0800

Last year, Chase Bank acquired Washington Mutual and refurnished their bank locations in California to apply to the Chase brand. Chase Bank is one of the sixth financial institutions in the world, however, since it was new to California, Chase needed a strong advertising campaign to get new clients and customers. They decided to stick with their three main company colors: white, blue, and black. Chase hired McGarryBowen advertising agency to create the following advertisements and commercials. The campaign is titled “Chase What Matters.” Chase decided their target audience would be California citizens, 18-50 year olds, both male and female. The advertisements were simple with a white background, strong tagline, and a supporting image. For examples, see below.

Chase used humorous taglines that plays on the weather in San Francisco. Citizens of San Francisco can then connect to these taglines. This creates a positive brand image for Chase. Chase put up the billboard below where there was a marathon being held:

Chase also connected their print advertising well to their TV commercials. For example, see one of their television commercials.

The commercial finishes with the tagline, “New to California, not to banking.” Another billboard for Chase featured the tagline, “California’s brand new 200-year-old bank.” By placing their advertisements on buses, huge buildings, and billboards they reach people all over California, specifically cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

This advertising campaign is effective because once again it uses simplicity. Simplicity is possible while maintaining the brand’s visual design. Great taglines, and a brand’s design is the best advertising sometimes.

Isn’t this funky? It’s a great use of advertising...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:27:00 -0700

Isn’t this funky? It’s a great use of advertising and blending it in with the world around us. For example, using the accordian part of the bus as the toothbrush neck.