Ken Z

     Why are there so many ads in the world?  Are they necessary or just plain annoying?  There should be a limit.  For instance, Geico.  How many different campaigns can you run for the same thing?  I mean they have the Gecko, the Cavemen, and now the stack of money with the little eyeballs.  They show these ads relentlessly day in and day out.  DO they really believe that this sells insurance.  I would think that it deters consumers because they are so tiredof seeing Geico’s over-the-top, over-advertised commercials.

     Do consumers really need to see a commercial for a Big Mac or a Whopper, for example?  Have these products changed over the years?  Yet companies spend millions of advertising dollars to advertise a proven product.  It is not like companies have establish a market or a target audience.  Consumers know what products they want and where to get them.  I can understand advertising certain specials for these products but not commercials showing what there product is. 

     Then there are telemarketers.  I have never met anyone who can tolerate telemarketers.  I used to hand the phone to my two year old when a telemarketer called.  I had one going for almost a half an hour once.  Consumers became so tired of being called while they were sitting down to eat or on a Sunday afternoon, that the Do Not Call Registry was formed.   People can register there phone number so that it no longer receives those unwanted calls.  That was one ad that I didn’t mind seeing.

What is international advertising?  In short, it is advertising that targets a global market.  Obviously, products are not only sold in our hometowns or our home countries.  That’s what makes different countries so multi-cultural.  What if all the restaurants in America only sold American food?  No Chinese, no French, no Mexican, just American.  How bland would that be?  That would be the same with so many other products if marketers did not branch out.  This is not to say that every product or company does well in other countries.  Walmart learned that not every country is ready for one stop shopping.   Other companies, like McDonald’s, utilize glocalization.  Glocalization is adapting an already successful product to the local culture.  McDonald’s adapts it’s menu and architecture on a market-by-market basis to appeal to local cultures.

     Does advertising have to be overseas to be international?  There are states in the U.S. that allow advertisers to cater to the local culture.  Like here in Texas.  How many times have you been driving down the road and noticed a billboard that is using Spanish words?  Marketers recognize that Spanish speaking Texans make up a good majority of the population.  In an ever changing market and economy, marketers will do what it takes to reach it’s audience.

     Radio commercials are almost as bad as television commercials.  I don’t know about you but unless I here a good commercial on the radio in time, I start looking for more music.  If a commercial doesn’t grab my attention, I don’t want to hear.  Sometimes you may come across a radio commercial you like simply because you are focused on driving and don’t care if there is commercial on.  The one good thing for companies that use radio advertising is that it is cheaper than other mediums.  They consist solely of talking.  No colors. No visual stimulation.  A good radio commercial can create a vivid mental picture.  As with any medium, marketers place their ads on the stations that their target audience listen to.  Of course there are companies that advertise on almost every radio station.  Beer companies, Insurance companies, and fast food chains to name a few.

     One of the best techniques to making a good radio ad is humor.  Take for instance, the Budweiser “Real Men of Genius” jingles.  You know, the ads that start out by saying, “Today, we salute you Mr. Foot Long Hot Dog Bun Maker….”  Those are the best.  Consumers can relate to these types of ads.  Sex is another big seller.  No matter what medium you use, sex sells.  Another more simple technique is a straight announcer.  An announcer will deliver the whole script.  A lot of ads these days use celebrities with distinguishable voices for their ads.  They even use them on television ads as narrators.  Stop and really listen the next time you hear an announcer on the radio.  It may be very familiar.

     Everyone has heard of a trademark.  What is a trademark?  A trademark is a word, design, or combination used by a company to identify its brand and to distinguish it from others, and it may be registered or protected by law.  A registered trademark has an “R” with a circle around it usually at the end of the company’s name.  If it is not registered, the letters”TM” are at the end of the name.  Companies will go to great lengths to protect their brand names.  Infringement is nothing new.  Some companies will try to use altered wording or symbols of more popular companies to promote their own product.  Of course, the companies being infringed upon have legal teams to identify and combat these offenders.

     How do companies go about selecting brand names?  Do they just go with anything or are there methods in name selection.  For the most part names should be short and simple, so they can be easily remembered.  If possible, they should describe the product.  Obviously, you want a name that is easy to pronounce.  For instance, take the decongestant Sudafed.  Sudafed is the trademark name for a medication that has the prominent ingredient pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.  Which one is easier to say? 

     Slogans can be trademarked as well.  As we all know, slogans can identify a large company almost better than different products.  If you hear or read, “Just Do It”, you think Nike.  If you hear or read, “The Copper Top”, you think Duracell.  These have been drilled into our heads for many years.  So when you go to start your own company, make sure you do your trademark research.  Otherwise, you may calling, “1-800-Lawyers”!

     I have written about commercials in an earlier blog.  I emphasized my distaste for commercials.  Apparently, I am not the only one who is tired of them.  According to Roper Reports, 38 percent of viewers say they often switch to another channel when ads come on.  That is up 24 percent from 1985.  A few of the factors for this are TIVO, loss of audiences, and high production costs.  Companies are coming up with new to grab viewer’s attention.  For example, Stride gum.  In one commercial, a ram repeatedly rams a guy walking down the street until he gets the gum knocked out of his mouth.  Then a bunch of people come and grab the gum.  This obviously get peoples attention and makes them want to watch.

     Another popular method that advertisers are using these days are celebrities.  These types of commercials are commonly called testimonials.  About 20 percent of the ads in the United States use celebrities.  One of the more memorable recent commercials was Joan Rivers with Geico.  Geico was obviously targeting an older generation of viewers.  I would say that not many young people know about Joan Rivers and what she has done to her face.  It was quite funny if you did know. 

     In the age of technology, commercials have become much more advanced.  From high tech clay mation to computer generated images (CGI), advertisers have many tools to choose from.  Commercials take more risks these days.  Not just with imagery but with dialogue, as well.  Take the Burger King, Spongebob commercial using Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Big Butt song and saying, “I like square butts and I cannot lie!”  Some people fell that is overboard.  Others really enjoy it.  Either way commercials aren’t going anywhere.  If people keep changing the channel, they will just make commercials to where you want to watch.

     Just knowing who your target consumer’s are is not enough.  I great idea can be the difference between big sales and back to the drawing board.  The hard part is putting those ideas into motion.  What can a marketer do to grab the consumer?  “In your face” advertising sometimes works.  There are many different ways of creating an advertisement.  Think back to when you were a kid.  How many ads do you remember?  What was it about those ads that caught your eye and made you remember?  That’s the kind of brainstorming that goes into an advertisement. 

     Once you have your idea, your team goes into action.  The art director’s job is responsible for the visual, layout, and graphics.  The copywriter is tasked with creating the words for the advertisement and maybe the concept.  Each team player needs to understand the importance and the impact of the other’s role.  Similar to that of race car drivers and their pit crews.  You can’t win a race without everyone working together.  Then comes the rough draft.  When you put all the pieces together, are they going to work?  Does the ad speak to the audience they want it to?  After all the creativity, ideas, and research, it’s time for production.  You can have all the demographics in the world, but it may end up not quite what it was supposed to be.  A testament to a great idea is when you know who a company is, just by a concept they created.

     What does the average consumer look for in an advertisement?  Do we want subtle?  Or do we want to be wowed?  Maybe it is both.  That’s the challenge for all of today’s marketers.  How can I make the consumer come to my store.  Creativeness is a must.  Otherwise ever ad will look the same.  Who wants that?  I think there is a competitive nature amongst consumers as well as marketers.  We want to see “our” brand out advertise the “other” brand.  For instance, I drink Bud Light.  Personally, I like to watch the Bud Light commercials.  In turn, I also like to watch other beer commercials to see if they can make a better ad than Bud Light.  I think it is a safe bet that marketers think this as well.  If one company does create an ad that is better than “our” brand, are we going to sway or stick to what we like?  These attention seeking commercials have led to the brand of beer on The Simpsons mocking the big three companies. 

     Although I have pinged on beer companies, other consumer areas create the same competition.  Coffee, cereals, batteries, and auto makers to name a few.  In today’s economic market, the competition needs to be even more fierce.  They must take more risks.  Sometimes ads go over the edge and offend consumers.  They may not mean to offend, but some people can find something wrong with anything.  Companies must utilize every creative strategy they have to remain in the game, so to speak.  Some ads are in your face and some say nothing or almost nothing at all.  Such as the Corona ads.  All you usually hear is the light breaking of the waves.  Then you see Subway’s five dollar foot long commercial with people singing and dancing all over the place.  And of course, there’s the sex angle.  Marketers increasing use sex in their ads.  We will continue to see ads push the envelope.  The question is will it be too risky for you?

Winter is finally over,

Soon we will be splashing in the pool.

You take off the cover and find,

That it doesn’t look very cool.

You hope to see clear and blue,

As you gaze through the sea of green.

You throw your hands in the air and yell,

How am I gonna get this clean!

You roam from store to store,

Looking for some sort of solution.

Why does it have to be so hard,

Getting rid of this pollution.

You hear about HTH,

Who has the best shock on the market.

You just wish you didn’t have to drive,

All the way to Target.

It’s finally sold at Walmart,

Which is only two minutes down the road.

Thank God for competing businesses,

It takes off so much of a load.

It only took two years of yelling,

That Walmart finally listened.

My ranting and raving convinced them

To get the chemicals that make my pool glisten.

The End

     Who hasn’t been driving down the road and looked up to see a cow standing on a billboard telling you to “Eat mor chikin”?  Is that really going to make you go to Chick-Fil-A to buy a chicken sandwich?  The company really hopes so.  The creativity of the ad just might make you stop and think, “Hey, I don’t want any fast food with beef!”  Out of home advertising is everywhere you look.  The many forms of this type of advertising led to replacing the more familiar term outdoor advertising.  Buses, sports bars, airports, gas stations and even toll booths have advertising on them.  Then there’s Fed-Ex Field, Lincoln Financial Field, Comerica Park.  These companies have paid top dollar to advertise their name in huge letters for various sports venues. 

     Does the benefit outweigh the cost?  As stated in a previous blog, Americans spend an enormous amount of time in their cars throughout the year.  Marketers are banking on this.  In the bigger cities, a lot of people walk to their destinations.  Advertisements on benches, buses, phone booths, and windows are the last thing they see before point of purchase.  This is very beneficial to local businesses.  Out of home advertising is the oldest form of advertising.  Some of the oldest ads have come to be iconic.  I don’t think there is anyone in America who does not know the famous “Uncle Sam” Army recruiting poster.  It is remembrance like this that drives businesses to create an ad better than their competitors.  And it works.  Now every time you drive by a Chick-Fil-A, the first thing that will pop in your head will be a cow.  How ironic is that?

     Since the introduction of radio and television, magazine advertising has taken a turn for the worst.  Even with radio, magazines were still the only visual medium available to national manufacturers.  In the changing times, magazines shifted their style of advertising so as to target specific demographics.  For example, when big companies, such as Nike or Reebok, want to advertise a shoe from a famous athlete, they would not have very much success posting an ad in Redbook.  They would obviously choose a forum that athletes would be drawn to.  So they pay to showcase their product in Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine.  There are smaller sport’s magazines but they may not be as popular and the big wigs will not get much of a return on their investment. 

     Cost is a huge factor when advertising in today’s market.  The publishers as well as the companies who advertise are feeling the pinch.  The number of magazines that are competing with each other has prevented subscription prices from being raised.  About 55 percent of magazine revenue comes from advertising.  Postage and distribution costs is another major concern amongst publishers.  Retailers concerned with profit margins , are insisting that wholesalers limit the number of titles sent to them.  The economy and technology have taken a big chunk out of magazine advertising and profitability.  Will either ever bounce back?