On July 1of 1963, the U.S. Postal Service implemented the Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code as a technique to expedite mail delivery across the nation. The coding system was invented by Robert Moon, who submitted the idea back in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The Postal System will only give him credit for the first three digits - which relates to a general region of the country. The last two digits that in essence carve out smaller geographies was a shared endeavor and credit goes to a “committee” of smarties.
But not only did Mr. Moon contribute to the efficiency of the postal system, he also gave a helping hand to marketers. Zip codes are often used as a way to identify particular market segments and advertise to them accordingly. Which segment are you? You can find out the top segments in your zip code by going to the following link and going to the “Zip Code Look-up” Tab:
When you woke up this morning, did you think of all of the possible ways you could be injured? …and then think of all of the things you could do to prevent that?
No one ever expects to lose their life when they head out in the morning, but too many people do not take proper precautions to ensure their safety. Due to the lack of general knowledge of preventable injuries a community was designed to raise awareness, transform attitudes, and ultimately change behaviors in an effort to significantly reduce the number – and severity – of such injuries.
The PSAs in this campaign are very matter-of-fact and use blunt honesty to shock viewers into questioning their own precautions (or lack there of). With taglines like “You’re not expecting to need a helmet today” and “You’re probably not expecting to drown today” being placed on bike racks or towels left on the beach, these ads are sure to catch some attention and at the very least, make viewers discuss the unique ad they saw while walking through town today with family and friends.
What do you think? Will this help lower the over 1,000 preventable injuries that happen per day in BC? Is it a helpful reminder or just plain depressing?
Hot out of the oven, Pizza Hut – one of America’s favorite pizza companies - is announcing a new name: “The Hut.” In an effort to attract a younger consumer, Pizza Hut is rolling out the rebranding campaign in select markets across the US.
The effort includes the launch of Hut TV, an in-store entertainment experience designed to decrease perceived wait time, increase frequency of visits and promote specials. But with short customized segments from CBS–produced programs such as Wheel of Fortune and Entertainment Tonight – are they missing the mark of the “younger generation”?
According to the Chief Marketing Officer of Pizza Hut, “The Hut” is only a “vocabulary word” that shortens the brand name for an impatient text-savvy youth market. Clearly the shift is an effort to broaden awareness of their product line that goes above and beyond pizza to include pasta, wings and more. But do consumers really need the clarification?
To top it off, this isn’t the first time Pizza Hut has toyed with its image. Back in 2008, Pizza Hut rebranded its locations in the UK to “Pasta Hut.” After a consumer vote, 81% of British consumers polled wanted to go back to the old name. Could this be a repeat offense in the US? Pizza Hut, Pasta Hut, The Hut – the third time is a charm, right? What do you think – is “The Hut” a hit?
This past Friday night I was at the rehearsal dinner for a young couple to be married the next day. The party was in the groom’s parents’ lovely home. It was all pretty snazzy. The 45 or 50 guests were gussied up, tan, fit, multi-generational and probably mostly WASP. The menu was authentic Italian cuisine. There was staff. The over-the-top flowers were plentiful and stunningly arranged. A rented bartender served cocktails and champagne for the father’s welcoming toast to the guests and the young couple. Most of the party stayed indoors because the temperatures and humidity were tropical. Rain threatened and then showed up. So who went outdoors in the wilting heat and then the storm? Smokers. Who smokes any more? Not my friends and contemporaries. (I am old.) It was the kids. The twenty-something young professionals and of them, the young women, were the smokers. Hoping to look smart? Hoping to stay slim? Hoping to become addicted to the most dangerous chemicals you can ingest that are proven to be the most destructive to health and well-being? Probably not that one.
I said to one young woman—the hostess’ daughter, “Does your mother know you’re doing this? You shouldn’t smoke, you know.” She said, “No one should!” Laughed. Inhaled. Twirled her cocktail skirt. I felt bad. For the past 25 years, I’ve written and been involved in social marketing against smoking and secondhand smoke. Our agency, working with the Michigan Department of Community Health primarily, has targeted all ages, races, demographics with measureable successes. It’s discouraging to see any one smoking. Did you miss the messages? Apparently. We know the anti-smoking work is never finished. We know it’s tough to counter the glamorous smokers served up in movies and elsewhere. We won’t quit.
You’ll find our award winning and very effective anti-smoking tv commercials on psastation.com
When I see young women sucking on cigarettes in an electrical storm, risking the ruination of costly cocktail dresses, I don’t think smoking looks chic. I think it looks like addiction. And I feel sad. What do you think?
Have you ever used the Internet to search for medical information? Maybe even self-diagnosed yourself with a an ill-fated disease based on one of your symptoms (c’mon, fess up)? If you have been online searching for health-related data, welcome to the majority of the population. Sixty-one percent of Americans use the Internet to access health information - up from 25% back in 2000 (source: PewInternet). But, who is most likely to be searching on the Internet for medical information? According to PRIZM, a leading market segmentationtool, the PRIZM cluster most likely to be found listening to a health-related podcast, going to a medical website, and/or reading a blog or physician reviews is the nation’s most elite segment – The Upper Crust. A little bit about Upper Crust: their age range is between 45-64 and median HH income is about $114,000. They read the Wall Street Journal, Economist, and Forbes. They listen to NPR and ESPN radio. They watch tennis, golf, and horse racing. Think of Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady – but American and with Internet access. And if he had the latter, perhaps he’d spend more time focusing on his health and less time trying to change Ms. Doolittle. I happen to find her Cockney twang endearing.
Macy’s, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, the Gap, Mayo Clinic – check.
The Mayo Clinic, one of the nation’s healthcare leaders - just announced that they will have a presence in the second phase of the Mall of America. I guess we won’t just be shopping for shoes anymore.
They haven’t yet announced what services will be provided, it could be diagnostic screenings, wellness counceling – things along those lines, but it will in the end all drive the shopper/patient to their main hub in Rochester. Talk about a great healthcare “retail” strategy.
As a breast cancer survivor, I spend quite a bit of time digging through the web on the latest and greatest breast cancer articles. I’m always looking for new tests, treatments, research studies and whatever else is out there. As I was doing some searching, I found some really clever non-traditional breast cancer advertising.
Take a look at some of my favorites.
These sticker placed strategically on fruit in India asked women if they check their breasts as carefully. Plays on the amount of time people spend making sure they purchase the perfect fruit. Source: Ads of the World
Reminds people that anyone can get breast cancer
Breast Cancer Mannequin combined with stickers in fitting rooms in a lingerie and swimwear boutique in Dubai
You don’t always see breast cancer and breast cancer doesn’t always show up on a mammogram. If you can feel something, get it checked.
Stress balls in Portugal
What do you think? Like them? Think their effective? Offensive? Or make you think?
So my tween-age daughters and I were watching a show on our DVR and they wanted to rewind and play over and over one of the new Sprint spots. You know the one with the facts and figures about how many people are doing what with their phones and from where. They find the spots fascinating. And so do I. So I started thinking about why that is. Sure, we are a voyeuristic, tabloid, reality TV society, so knowing other people’s business is fascinating. But it makes me feel a little behind too. Like I’m ahead of the cyber curve when it comes to most forty-something moms in my neighborhood, yet I don’t have a Kindle or stream Pandora from a bus. The spots really made me want to ditch my old tiny Blackberry and trade up to something where internet is seamless. Sprint’s campaign is a kick in the pants and is redefining keeping up with the Jones. The Cyber Jones have moved in. What do you think? Are you keeping up with the Cyber Jones? Are you behind? Or do you even care?
During the SuperBowl, Coke pays $3Million for a 30 tv spot to advertise an 80 cent can of soda.
During the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Zero money is spent advertising tickets yet I found tickets for sale for $1490 for one ticket. And someone will pay that.
Is advertising always needed to sell a product or service? I guess not. Can you think of anything else that sells without a little pitch? Let me know.
You know you’re not supposed to open the door to strangers. You know it’s a dangerous world out there where there are bad things going on. Deviants, pervs, smarmy, sicko guys with insinuating voices and lame stories just wanting you to let your guard down and invite them into your house. They prey on your best qualities to be kind, helpful. Oh? Car trouble? Oh.
You can track the train of thought the creative team had and it is so good. Hmm. Bugs are creepy. Bugs give me the creeps. Bugs are creeps!!! And so, the knock on the door and who is on the porch? A huge cockroach. And he’s just got the lamest cock-and-bull story about what happened to his car and could he use your…”oh, is that oak?” he asks gesturing toward the floor. (My favorite touch in the whole thing.) He has a voice no one in their right mind would believe. The homeowner doesn’t seem to believe what he’s seeing. Ewwwww. And fortunately, Orkin is on the spot with solutions, protection. The creep is driven off. Well, he drives off.
It’s all so improbable and yet you get it. You’re right there with it. It’s a great, fun, memorable, creative reminder that you don’t want creepy things in your house.
Orkin could have opted to explain its methods and the damage and the trouble and expense infestations can put you through. That they’re the biggest or best bug killers around. They don’t drone <smile> on and on. You get a look at their thoroughness. They imprint their name well. And they make you smile. People like doing business with likeable people. What about you? Does a light touch or fun scare you off? Or are you up for a great, big, right idea?
I previously discussed whether or not iPhone applications should be considered a new form of advertising. This blog post focused on the many positive qualities of iPhone apps as advertisements, but it overlooked one issue that affects the amount of people that are exposed to them. If a consumer does not have an iPhone or an iTouch, they do not have access to applications at all.
Kraft Food realized this limitation within their mobile strategy and decided to focus on extending its reach towards any mobile phone with an Internet connection.With the help of Phonevalley they are now offering Kraft recipes on the go via a mobile destination. This site has the same features as the iFood Assistant App [access to over 7000 recipes, interactive shopping lists and recipe e-mail capabilities] but has a much broader potential consumer range.
The question that has begun to arise is whether or not a simple website on your phone can prove to be just as appealing as a hip application. Considering that a mobile destination is free for consumers, one would think traffic would be more likely to flow in that direction, but it isn’t going to flow there on its own. In my opinion, the reason iPhone apps are so successful is because of the mainstream advertising push. If mobile destinations received just as much airtime and publicity, the branding really could be more successful.
Are mobile destinations a more effective form of marketing than iPhone apps of the same capabilities? Well that depends on who’s doing the campaign.
Social media is nothing new these days, but it’s the latest catchphrase to enter the advertising industry so now companies are finding new ways to broaden their consumer outreach. Facebook and Twitter seem to be providing the perfect outlet for that need. Many brands are getting excited about using social media. Starbucks, Kraft, Target, and Burger King are just a few of the big brands reaching out on a person-by-person basis. Kraft used a charity approach by vowing that every single person who downloaded their app would in turn be donating 6 meals to Feeding America in Kraft’s name. Within a few weeks more than 200,000 people had downloaded the application and the numbers are still growing.
What makes this so amazing is that people are involved, they are having a conversation, talking to each other, to big companies, the world is now a place where consumers are choosing to open the dialogue between themselves and the brand, this is everything we could have hoped for and dreamed of in advertising. Social media is a tool with endless possibilities. Is it possible that we have discovered the holy grail of advertising?
Social media is nothing new these days, but it’s the latest catchphrase to enter the advertising industry so now companies are finding new ways to broaden their consumer outreach. Facebook and Twitter seem to be providing the perfect outlet for that need.
