Sales Promotions

Trade Promotional Items

M&M Display verdict: Ineffective
  I chose this display as ineffective because to me it doesn't seem to have a real purpose.  M&M's has more than enough brand awareness and equity, to the point that this (to me) seems like a waste of funds.  I can't imagine any consumer being shocked to discover the different holiday packaging possibilities of M&M's (I remember getting the candy canes in MY stocking!).  If I'm running the M&M branch of the Mars company (or whatever candy company they are in); I'm sending them the different products in simple cases and letting the retailer use general shelf space for them.

Blue Moon Beer Display verdict: Effective
  I chose this display as being effective for many of the same reasons the M&M display was ineffective.  Blue Moon is not on the same level as many of the "big boys" in the beer market such as Budweiser, Coors, Miller, etc.  Having a well-done display like this in a store with traffic as heavy as Wal-Mart is assured to get the brand name out there, and is likely to add immediate value to the brand.  To me it seems like there would be a great ROI on this display.

Sales Promotional Items

Jose Margarita Mix Rebate verdict: Ineffective
  I hate, hate, HATE rebates.  There is nothing worse than a company expecting me to want to save $2 by: 1. Buying a stamp, 2. Filling out the inevitable rebate form, 3. Addressing an envelope and enclosing the rebate form (and probably the receipt), and finally 4. waiting several weeks for my awesome $2 check to arrive.  I cannot think of a worse pull strategy for a company to utilize.

Free Dorito Taco verdict: Effective
  This is all but guaranteed to get people into the door, and increased traffic is never a bad thing.  Also, I doubt many people would drive through Taco Bell and stick with one free taco...so it's generating revenue while getting a new(er) product exposure, thus potentially creating a need where one did not previously exist.

The Dire Shortage of Direct Mail

Given that the elections are right around the corner and I've been getting no less than 3 direct mailings a day (seemingly forever), I decided to be a bit sarcastic with my title.  I will now include a front and back image of the direct mail I decided to use, and will include my analysis following the pictures.

 

As far as my opinion goes, it's a fairly effective piece.  Some of this could be due to my bias though, as I have known Scott Krug for years and found his time as our state representative to be a joke.  Sorry for digressing into politics for a moment, but it may have played a factor into this ad's connection to me.

Trying to remove my biases, I feel as though it's a well-done ad.  You've got the dual paths with a clear message; followed by clear differentiating of the two candidates.  I was shocked to find out that the picture of Mr. Krug is actually one he uses in his own mailings.  I'm in no position to kid someone about their weight, but you would think they would at a minimum crop it a bit or something.  Conversely, Mr. Pluess' picture with his fireman equipment creates a nice psychographic feel (someone who has experience helping people with their problems).

The yellow on gray helps key parts of the ad stand out, as does the bold statements "Scott Krug failed us." and "Justin will stand for us."  It heightens the importance of the "fine print" so to speak; the areas describing avenues taken by Krug vs. what Pluess would do.  To me it is basically a lower-budget version of the Obama v. Romney comparison ads, and I in no way mean that as a negative.

Billboards

I believe the reason outdoor advertising spending has increased while other venues have decreased is due to the ongoing poor economy/sluggish recovery.  Below I will list specific reasons that factor into this:

• High unemployment/underemployment: With people hitting the road in search of work in numbers unseen since the Great Depression, outdoor advertising has a larger than usual impact.

• Less discretionary income: Obviously goes with the employment figures to some degree.  People are being more cautious with their money.

• Increased company conservatism: Companies are obviously aware of the first two issues, and as such want to get the greatest ROI from their advertising dollars.

• Increased "getting out of the house" type day-trips: This is 100% theoretical, I have virtually no data to back it up.  It is my theory that given the sad state of our country's economy, people may be getting together with friends and family more; or else taking a "Bus-cation" (business vacation).  When everything on the TV, Radio, and Internet reflects a stagnant economy, who doesn't want to get away for a while?

  I am including three photos of billboards for my blog posting.  The first one obviously lacks an ad; however it touched upon something we were instructed to weigh when designing our billboards (background color for all seasons).  I was thinking of yellow, and since the sign company agrees with me I assume I am on the right track.

  I chose the Hollyrock's billboard because I thought it did a nice job of showcasing a succinct but memorable message.  No fancy pictures or designs; the one flaw I see personally is lack of an address or website.

Lastly I chose an institution of higher learning for some contrast for my own work.  Pretty standard stuff, if viewed closely the woman does not have the most photogenic appearance in this picture.....

Adult Swim for an Hour

  I decided to watch Adult Swim for an hour because I have a strong affinity for adult cartoons.  I had hoped to stay up late because I know their commercials get progressively more and more segmented/strange (less likely to be ones used on other channels).  Alas, in my old age I only made it through the 9-10pm hour of "American Dad", though there were some unique commercials worth highlighting.

First I should touch upon the programming and types of advertisers.  For those who don't know, Adult Swim is Cartoon Network's post 9pm offering to grown-ups who still love to nurture their inner child through watching cartoons (albeit adult-themed cartoons).  "American Dad" and "Family Guy" are both shows from FOX that have their own hour on Adult Swim, and I don't feel as though either one really needs an introduction.  There is also "Robot Chicken" (claymation sketch comedy is how I would describe it), "Super Jail" (Willy Wonka with anger issues meets prison, after copious amounts of LSD), and "Venture Bros" (Scooby-Doo type animation, fun story line about a semi-successful scientist, his sons and bodyguard, and their many super villian type adversaries); among others.

This type of programming obviously lends itself to a nice segmentation of the market for advertisers.  There are the usual fast food commercials, car commercials, and the like.  However, it does invite edgier products/methods (such as condoms, in the example I am about to include below this paragraph).  There was also a trailer of the movie "Taken 2" that featured more violence than on more mainstream channels, as well as a trailer of the same movie that was a simply awesome paper cartoon that I cannot find video of anywhere I (if I find it by Monday I will insert it).

Also, Adult Swim features some of the most original and weird self-promtions I've seen anywhere.  I feel they hit their audience perfectly with the vast majority of these, and will include an example or two below before I begin to break down the advertisements more specifically.

 

•  Creativity: In terms of creativity, there are almost unlimited possiblities given the market advertisers reach via Adult Swim.  For example, the paper cartoon trailer of Taken 2 cannot be undersold, and I am bummed I cannot find it (someone was looking for it on Yahoo questions, so I may revisit that post to see if it gets answered).  It is a very liberal audience (obviously), which allows for unique methods not possible on many other networks.
• Length: Often the Adult Swim bumps are fairly succinct, but at the same time extremely memorable.  Commercials in general appear to be shorter on Adult Swim, perhaps making a statement about the viewers attention span (ha ha), more likely the freedom of the network placement allows them to get their point across quicker.
• Format: It is not unusual to see animated commercials, which I would think cut down production costs to a great degree.  Also at times they have advertising that doesn't have any spoken words, or at times just a photo rather than video.  All in all I think the wide array of formats allows companies to save a great deal of cash.
• Objectives: Advertisers using Adult Swim must have a product they consider marketable to a relatively small segment.  Given the potential trend setting options available coupled with the loyal market (still watching cartoons!), provided they are creative and thoughtful they can sell a lot of products utilizing this venue.

Sex in Advertising

 

  Sex in advertising is a complicated topic; and being a father (and thus a man) I have the unenviable vantage point of seeing and agreeing with points made by those for as well as those against.  Clearly the most common target audience is men, often age 18-35.  However, when enacted in a nationwide campaign sexual-oriented advertising is sure to reach people other than the targets.  As a parent, I find myself changing the channel when a commercial like a recent Hardee's ad comes on.

 

 

  To me it's a bit extreme.  The women are obviously gorgeous, and the man in me appreciates their physical beauty.  However, they're a scrap and a prayer away from being naked...not the kind of stuff I want my kids seeing even in passing.  I mean, it's got a bit of creativity (two beauties, two meats, "BBQ's best pair") but it certainly didn't take a Harvard-educated wit to come up with the idea.  In my mind the advertiser is entirely responsible for the content they use to promote their products. 

  I feel as though it would be quite easy to avoid this issue; provided the advertiser was willing to take the time to interview several focus groups.  For example, I consider myself fairly liberal and do not mind sex being used to sell up to a point...but it should either be relevent to the product or the commercial setting on hand (how often do models grill in daisy dukes and bikini tops?).





  Sexual appeals in advertising have one very obvious, very tangible redeeming quality.  They work.  As pointed out in the text, as long as something is effective there will always be people who utilize this sort of transformational ad campaign to sell their product. 

  I believe it is fine for advertisers to exploit consumer insecurities to sell a product, although I also believe it demonstrates a lack of ethics.  I think ultimately people need to rise above their imperfections and insecurities, although I find myself conflicted on this issue because there are many influences such as age, social class, physical disorders, etc. 
  In the end I believe advertisers should accept some ethical responsibility for their creation of unrealistic "aspirations", but then the question becomes what is the end result of that acceptence?  I stand by my earlier premise that it simply needs to be toned-down a bit and more situation applicable; also taking the time to ensure the ads miss non-targeted segments (kids, disapproving adults, etc) by airing them more responsibly (for example during the second half of a night NFL game rather than during each game all Sunday) is about the maximum we as an audience can expect in a country with the freedoms like ours.

 

 





5 Influences on Consumer Behavior

Culture: How people interact with one another; a set of learned behaviors that can include proper attire, how to greet people, etc.  For example, the old adage "sex sells" is certainly taken to extremes in our culture.  It impacts consumer behavior because marketing people are able to deliver what we come to expect and look for when deciding amongst products.  The "GoDaddy" ads with Danica Patrick also came to mind in terms of sex being used in marketing.


 

 

 

Subculture: Subculture can be anything from race to religion, from age to gender.  Each is basically their own mini-culture of sorts, and as a result members of each are a bit more closely knit (or maybe relating better to other members would be a better way to put it) so any ad that hits home with a particular subculture is likely to deliver good results.

 



 



Social Class: The easiest of the 5 to identify, it ranges from poverty to middle class to wealthy; with obvious varying degrees of each.  I personally feel like it would be the least impactful of the 5 we are covering, because if I really want a product I will purchase it regardless of which class it is marketed to.  I suppose if one is a mutli-billionaire they may be a bit more selective in terms of what an ad needs to appeal to them.

 

 

 

 

Reference Group: Reference groups could be anything from a group of friends to a book club, from the rotary club to the Kiwanis.  While reference groups are a smaller market segment, they obviously have more specialized tastes and needs that would allow an ad to really do well with those groups.

 



 

 

Situational Determinent: Pregnancy is one of the more obvious situational determinents to spring to mind, being a parent of a certain number of children or being of a certain age are also examples.  To me this seems to be the most exclusive of the 5 influences, as you will catch a certain target market at the expense of excluding everyone else.  However, especially in the instance of pregnant women, these groups have specific needs that will have to be met by someone.

 

http://www.pampers.com/pregnancy





WRFSC 2012

Well, here's my idea for the 2012 Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skating Club show logo; based off of the starting point of "musical icons & idols".  I had a friend who has been a graphic design artist (virtually) his whole life help assemble my idea with his advanced software..an interesting side note is that he made Mid-State's new sign!