A Few Good Ads: "Intel Star" and Ally Bank "Straightforward" Commercials

Intel - Ajay Bhatt Is A Rock Star


Ally Bank 'straightforward' by BBH New York
That kid's face is priceless

Good/Bad Commercials according to Reggie

Good
Adidas Originals House Party
Why: In my opinion the commercial does exactly what it aims at. Selling a product to youth using known celebrities but not doing it in a conventional way. Everyone loves a house party and the music goes excellently with the atmosphere, it really makes you want to move. I just like it.

Bad
Whopper Virgins
Why: I think its kind of insensitive to the people that really live in these places. It's sort of like "Lets go find these savages and introduce them to something great"... Very exploitative if you ask me.

R.I.P. Omar Edwards

I know this has nothing to do with Advertising but Omar Edwards was a New York City Police Officer shot while off-duty by a fellow cop in east harlem. Although I didn't know Mr. Edwards personally this story really touches home for me. This was a man who just wanted to serve his community and raise his family. My condolences go out to his family. Here is the link to the New York Daily News Article for more details.
Article

Bee.TV City Anthem

Bee.TV provides a new way of watching TV. Imagine a channel that actually knows you. A channel that knows your preferences and can provide the best available shows at the time you want them. It's sort of like pandora but for video. This is a little promotional video for Bee.TV

The Great Debate

Kobe Vs. Lebron, Nike vs. Adidas, Gatorade vs. Vitamin Water. Sports and to a large degree Branding is about match-ups and rivalry. The NBA Finals are approaching and there is big money and brand exposure at stake. Many NBA fans are already salivating at the prospect of two of the players considered the best in the league going head to head for a title. J.R. Tolkien himself could not have written a better plot. Kobe "The Black Mamba" Bryant, seeking his 4th championship but more importantly trying to prove he can when his first without Shaq after being swept by the Boston Celtics in last years Championship round. Lebron "The King" James, The young phenom from Akron,Ohio seeks to take his hometown team to their first Championship in franchise history. The whole city of cleveland has not one a championship in any sport since the 1964 Cleveland Browns. There is also no bigger stage for Lebron to become a true Legend then going head-to-head against Kobe Bryant in a championship series and outplaying him. Young Vs. Old is not the only angle however, These are two players with two distinct personalities and playing styles. Kobe being the more reserved and tactical while Lebron is more charismatic and plays with a brute force, high-flying, and flashy style. With such distinct characteristics there is no middle ground, fans of kobe bryant usually respect but do not necessarily like Lebron James and the reverse is also true for Lebron fans. This is what makes this rivalry work. Fans aren't the only ones eager to see these two play each other in the NBA finals. Nike has already started airing commercials during playoff games that includes both players talking trash to each other in their MVP (Most Valuable Puppet) campaign. Nike sponsors both Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Vitamin Water who also sponsors both players have already begun their "Great Debate" campaign which features people making the case for either of the superstars by emphatically comparing their abilities. Appearing at the end of the commercial, an old man states "The boy definitely gets his vitamins". While both Nike and Vitamin Water are working hard to capitalize on this moment in sports, Adidas and Gatorade are sort of left on the outside looking in. They have chosen a different strategy which includes a very close relationship with the NBA, sponsoring the league instead of trying to get a lot of big name players with a few exceptions of course. Adidas did sponsor Kevin "The big Ticket" Garnet last year on the celtics amazing run to the NBA finals and they also sponsor Dwight "Superman" Howard, who is the biggest threat to challenge Kobe and Lebron on their way to the finals. The two sponsorship strategies are interesting and come with their own set of risk and reward. Sponsoring the league ensures brand exposure but is relatively tame in terms of impact on consumer behavior. Sponsoring a player can be dangerous because if the player gets injured (Ask Adidas about Kevin Garnett this year) then it can be devastating however the reward is much higher if that player becomes a household name and hot topic during the playoffs. What is interesting about basketball however is that nothing is guaranteed, Carmelo Anthony (also sponsored by Nike) and the Denver Nuggets have shocked kobe and the LA LAkers at home yesterday to tie the series 1-1 and Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers who up till wednesday have won every playoff game lost to the Orlando Magic at home in game 1. What is more interesting however is that it was just 5 years ago, Kobe was at the center of controversy himself as he was charged with rape in colorado in 2004. The charges were eventually dropped but many people questioned if he would ever be able to revive his reputation and get sponsorships back. Time has spoken and indeed he to a large extent has been able to recover from all the bad press. The Great Debate still lives on though, Who is the better basketball player, Kobe or Lebron? Will Nike and Vitamin Water continue to capitalize on their players success or will an upset in the regional championship series leave fans waiting another year to see this dream matchup?

This Nike Commercial is hilarious
MVP (Most Valuable Puppet) Nike Commercial


Vitamin Water Kobe vs. Lebron

The Great Debate

Worst Commercial I've ever Seen

Pepsi Mic Pass

Just thought this was a fresh way to provide entertainment with a branded message. They combine "Hipster" rappers like Charles Hamilton with established artists like Talib Kweli and Freeway. Charles Hamilton (who I actually know) even references pepsi in his rhyme. This kind of reminds me of the collaboration between Mickey Factz and Honda. Don't be surprised to see more of these videos using new hip-hop talent. Check out the video.

Will Twitter help Eminem go platinum this week?

5 years in hip hop is like an eternity and a hiatus for such a long period of time would be the death of most rappers' careers. This is not the case for Eminem who is poised to go platinum with his newest release "Relapse". Eminem hopes that his time away has caused more anticipation than anything else and if his lyrics are not controversial enough to spark interest in his album then his marketing team has attempted this time around to create a much more diversified strategy, utilizing social media and converging it with creative websites along with traditional radio spots and appearances at big events such as the MTV Movie Awards. With this comprehensive strategy they hope to create a different kind of experience, providing many levels of depth for fans of Eminem. What I mean by depth is that if hardcore fans want to get into Eminem's mind they can go about it in several different ways. Twitter has been used as a tool to create mystery surrounding the release. It is effective at creating a buzz with statements like " A world so dark, a world so cold... The devil only knows". The Twitter was also used to release the album cover and screenshots of the new "3 am" game for the iphone. A simple search for Popsomp Hills, the rehabilitation center that Eminem has allegedly reported to reveals an ingenious website created by Omelet, a branding, advertising and entertainment agency based in Los Angeles. The front page of the website reads "At Popsomp Hills we give each abuser a choice: go into rehab or risk losing everything". With the use of traditional media and social media, I expect Eminem's "Relapse" to do very well its first week. The continued success will depend on the quality of the album which I know he will deliver on. Im honestly impressed with this marketing strategy because it is creative. I am a really believer that if ideas are not new and creative then they are worthless and I can tell that eminem's marketing team was dedicated to creating a unique experience and this should be applauded.
Popsomp hills rehabilitation center
Eminem's Twitter

Crispin Sells its Interns on ebay

They are actually only selling their interns services over a three month period during the time they are not working on their main projects. The auction includes a "creative presentation" consisting of strategies, and recommended brand positioning and concepts. The winning bidder will not receive any finished advertising materials which I think makes this auction kind of lame. I'm kind of interested to see who wins the auction though and what the interns come up with.
Here is the link
Crispin's Interns on ebay

Train Station Dancing... Cool

Just Watch These

Created by The Saatch (my name for Saatchi and Saatchi)



This is a promotion for Sound of Music

Blogging

So My Girlfriend found out I'm writing this blog. Little does she know that I also read her blog and I think its awesome. Its kind of weird because I'm writing this blog for the public but I am a little nervous about people actually reading it. I guess blogspot is more of a diary for me but If anyone actually happens to stumble on this page (I don't know how in the hell you would)... Hello, My name is Reggie. I'm in College. I like running. I like advertising. I hate awkward moments. I love awkward moments. Red Globe Grapes are the best edible things in the world.

Brands are people too!

So just randomly today I was trying to figure out why the "Get a Mac" commercial spots, you know the ones where Justin Long matter-of-factly says "I'm a mac", were so successful. I think its because by putting a face to the brand, apple did something that we all do naturally. People quite naturally personify things they interact with. Just yesterday I called my printer "evil" when it refused to print one of my final papers this morning. I realize that printers usually don't have a sense of morality but this was an example of how people apply human characteristics to things in their environment. Brands have for a long time have tried to give a "face" to their brand and apple has taken this quite literally. By making a brand a person instead of a logo they have seemed to reach people on an emotional level. Many firms have recently tried to connect with their consumers by allowing their employees to blog or having a representative twitter and I believe this is all an attempt to give a personality to their brand. Brands are people too, but there are many firms who still resist this type of advertising. Instead of the classic way of advertising where a person passively stares at a commercial on TV, I think a good ad should be a start of a dialogue between the consumer and the brand. People quite naturally endow brands with specific qualities and advertising firms can use this behavior in order to shape brand preference.

Trident X Beyonce Dance

So if you have not seen this video of Beyonce 100 Single Ladies Flash-Dance then you haven't been on planet earth... or maybe just youtube in a while. Check it out and let me know what you think? What do 100 single Ladies have to do with Trident?... Beats me but I know I enjoyed this video ;)

4A's Conference addressing Diversity

Diversity sounds like a good concept, but too often does it remain a concept rather than a workable objective. More often however do people and companies forget to ask themselves "Why do we want Diversity?". Is it so that we can use the term as a talking point in our marketing? Or is it that we really do think that having a broad range of ideas and cultures makes us a better company? At 4A's Leadership Conference in San Francisco, Dan Wieden spoke about how firms can more easily attract talent from diverse backgrounds. He urged agencies to partner with local arts organizations they feel passionate about. I agree with Mr. Wieden that an agencies' involvement with minority communities can be a huge benefit in attracting talent from these places. I know from growing up in harlem that there is a wealth of talent there and its all about identifying those transferable skills that are suited for the advertising business. I've added the link to an article that covers this part of the conference but I just want to commend the 4A's for addressing the very important issue of Diversity and Multiculturalism in the business. This issue is especially relevant to MAIP participants because it's programs like this that are actually trying to change the situation that Mr. Wieden is talking about.

Where Wieden Finds Future Minority Hires

Reggie's Favorite Quote:
"We have to do better, and we have to do better quickly." - Mr. Wieden when discussing Diversity in the Advertising Business.

OK guys, I know I've been blogging a lot but this is because I've had so much on my mind to write about before I registered for this site so now I'm just pouring everything in. If you can give me suggestions on how I can improve my writing please let me know! Thanks for reading.

The Generous Brand

While reading yet another article on AdAge I stumbled across an article that addresses how companies can start attracting consumers by being generous. This was kind of a new concept to me because especially in this economy, firms are trying to cut back on a lot of extra spending so I wasn't sure if giving would be a great idea. This article however convinced me otherwise by suggesting that we use generosity in a much more general way. One example would be General Mills' decision to place Box Tops for Education on all its products (and the products of its competitors, by the way) providing social value. John King then talks about how the image of a brand as generous will create a more loyal customer who takes on ownership of the brand. I think it is truly important for advertisers to look past just messaging and more into experience and involving the consumers in the process. This takes an engagement on a different level then how king describes it "the baseline of trust and awareness". Generosity Works.

Building a Generous Brand

Reggie's Favorite Quote from Article:
"If the microsite isn't dead, it just drove away on a crotch rocket wearing a windbreaker and no helmet. Digital is no longer about investing in sticky online real estate and expecting the audience to come to us"-John King when describing the need for "slippy digital"

Reggie's Second Favorite Quote from Article:
"The generous brand has a much bigger cupboard to draw from. We're now in the business of building brands about ideas. And that means a car company can sell fun, a soda company can bottle optimism and a chocolate company can make joy. For us, it means advertising just might be able to change the world"- John King

Can Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube ever be profitable?

So I read an interesting article on AdAge (my favorite website) about whether these social networking sites will ever be monetized. In the article (I'll add the link), Simon Dumenco examines the strategies these companies have used to bring in money from a basically free service. Youtube has started to increase the number of videos with ads as well as selling prime spots on the websites front page to firms looking to utilize the millions of views that youtube gets in a second. The real roadblock to these websites generating money is that they were never built on a profitable business plan. When the original creators of the youtube or facebook were making the website they were thinking "how can we attract the most people to our site and make it as fun and useful as possible" and not "How can we make this website the most profitable". The consequence of this is that the websites don't make much money and actually cost a lot more to run (buying bandwidth and site maintenance). There is some talk about maybe charging a subscription fee but how many of us will actually pay for a service that we have received for free for so long. I think our generation particularly has expected everything on the internet to be free and if its not then we will search for something else that is. The paradox is that these websites popularity is due to the fact that they provide a free resource for us to communicate with friends and family in a very user friendly way and if we take the free out of the equation, this bond we have to these companies will break down. These websites may never be profitable but as long as venture capitalist keep funneling in the money, we will continue using them but how long can they keep being in the red before people that fund these website disappear? It's hard to imagine a world without Youtube, twitter, facebook, or myspace but I believe that this is the inevitable future and its going to happen sooner then you think. The world is constantly changing and people are always looking for something new. Once youtube gets too ad heavy we will find something else and when twitter tries to place context sensitive ads in the middle of our tweets, we will leave that too. What do you think about these social networking sites? Can they ever be profitable and if so, how can they achieve this?

The Coming End of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook Socialism

Dwele X McCafe?

McDonalds is spending an incredible amount of money trying to push their new coffee line but I think this little jingle from Dwele is perfect for trying to present the brand in a more sophisticated way to the African-American Audience. Dwele is also featured in a new McCafe commercial that I just saw during an NBA play-off game. A great Jingle is such an underestimated component to a great ad campaign.

Santo

What could be better than an advertisement about advertisements?