Archive for May 15th, 2006
Volkswagen’s latest two commercials in the USA for the new-look Jetta are causing some controversy.
They violently depict accidents but, as you would expect, show how safe a VW Jetta is as the passengers come out unscathed, and then the commercial ends with an untraditional sequence of a crash-damaged Jetta rotating, thereby sacrificing the oppotunity to show the consumer the car in perfect condition.
What these commercials starkly demonstrate is what happens to anyone in a crash; you’re going about your day, driving around in your car, talking to a friend and… BANG ….. out of nowhere you get hit.
Watching it makes you realize how traumatic this experience is. But does it improve the chances you’ll buy a Jetta?
See it here.
May 15th, 2006
The next big thing in marketing communications …… word of mouth.
We’ve always known it’s important, so what’s new?
A Canada-based company, BzzAgent, offers marketers word of mouth campaigns working with ‘Bzz Agents’ who are, basically, promoters the company hires to learn about your product then preach it.
Visitors to the website can apply to become BzzAgents, and advertisers can contact the company to tap into these Word-Of-Mouthers!
Apperantly, the company wants to now expand outside of Canada. Interested?
Whatever will marketers think of next?
Here’s how it works.
May 15th, 2006
The notebook PC is from Lenovo, and it’s World Cup year. It’s obvious what’s happening here.
It’s a ‘cooperation’ with FC Barcelona, and its football superstar Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, famous of course as Ronaldinho.
He will become a Lenovo Worldwide Brand Ambassador and will feature in worldwide marketing campaigns and activities for the recently announced Lenovo-branded notebooks and desktop PCs; which were previously branded IBM.
And here’s what the PR people wrote for Ronaldinho to say 
“From keeping in touch with friends and family when I am in training, designing my exercise routines, to keeping an eye on Barcelona’s standings, technology and products provided by Lenovo have added value to my life as a sportsperson.”
It should be interesting to see what’s the value of this endorsement.
Football players endorsing football shoes, balls and kit makes sense; endorsing youth-targetted products like Pepsi is also fine …… but a $1,500 notebook PC?
It’s going to take more than a football magician, like Ronaldinho, but maybe everything goes in World Cup year.
Here’s the press release on Lenovo’s website.
May 15th, 2006
The famous Camel billboard on Times Square, which for decades emitted a puff of smoke every 4 sconds. (Image source: http://www.lileks.com/NYC/timessquare/26.html)
In the Middle East, outdoor advertising seems to be dominated by cookie cutter solutions. Unipoles, Mupis and endlessly huge areas of flex printing. Here’s something to think about when dreaming up you next outdoor campaign.
Neon Nostalgia From Times Square to Be Sold by Sign Maker - New York Times:
The heyday of electric signs in Times Square has given way to the era of digital video screens and giant vinyl billboards. This week, like so many things in Times Square, nostalgia itself will be for sale when a Philadelphia auction house sells an eclectic collection of drawings, models and neon signs, all vivid reminders of the brightly lighted advertisements that have long hovered over Broadway.
The collection is being sold by Artkraft Strauss, which made and maintained some of the most recognizable incandescent and neon advertising signs in New York City for decades. The family-owned business, which has shrunk in recent years, has sold off its billboard business and production plant and is refashioning itself as a design consultancy.
Visit the Artkraft Strauss site here. Read about their history here.
May 15th, 2006
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