Forget the sandwich, in the words of our illustrious COO, Maria Marcotte, I am a full-fledged member of the “four course meal generation.” I won’t mention my three children whose ages span 21 years, my full time career, or volunteering (although after 6 years of Lost, my schedule has now cleared for an hour a week), I’ll just focus on an ever-so-gracefully aging mother who is halfway through a rehab stint at a very good convalescent home in North Carolina.
I’ve spent the last three weeks dashing around between home, work, hospital, and convalescent care, since my mother had knee replacement surgery. And would you like to guess how many elder-care marketing messages I’ve encountered? None.
What a missed opportunity. Do I want the best ongoing care for my mother? Yes. Do I have time to figure out what that really means? No. In the hours I have spent with her at the hospital and in the nursing home (sorry Mom, I know you like to call it re-hab), have I been a captive audience with a Blackberry and a penchant for searching health tips for older folks? You betcha. But not one relevant ad has crossed my path. In fact, kudos go to Johns Hopkins for being the ONLY organization to remotely recognize my situation, but that is only through opt-in health alerts.
So where are the marketers? I’m not that hard to find. Why not serve me up something on Facebook (since my life story is now ever-so-public)? As I dig around online why am I not targeted contextually? Why aren’t those ads hitting me on my phone during those endless bedside hours?
Long-term care insurers? Long-term care providers? Home health organizations? Home medical equipment retailers? Hello? Anybody out there? Help me and the millions of people like me figure this elder care mystery out - we certainly don’t have the luxury of time to do it ourselves.
When I was a kid, I remember seeing schoolteachers out and about (i.e., store, restaurant) and just couldn’t believe it. What? They let them out of the school? Shouldn’t they be in the classroom – clapping erasers, reading the dictionary or putting the border on the bulletin board? It was hard to imagine them as everyday folks doing everyday things. I find I do that with physicians. Shouldn’t mine be at the office – reading scans, looking through a microscope or discovering cures? Nope. Turns out they get to lead normal lives too. And boy do they. A study from Manhattan Research found 64% of physicians own smartphones and that this number is expected to rise to 81% by 2012. And can you find them updating their status on Facebook? Yes, 88% of them have visited the site. But, odds are you won’t find them tweeting – with about 16% of them using Twitter, which is a bit less likely than the U.S. adult population at large.
Is traditional going to become non-traditional media? Well it seems that the ever-evolving social media is the latest and greatest form of marketing and advertising. Newspaper is close to extinction, TV and cable spots can be fast-forwarded and people are tuning into satellite radio.
I went to MSU’s career fair earlier this week. All the students were familiar with social media and a few of them seemed to have a better grasp on it than others. What I’m really trying to say is - it should become a staple class among advertising college courses today. And it should be integrated into media buying courses as well.
I know it changes daily - but that’s the purpose of classroom discussions. Keeping it fresh!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve undoubtedly heard about the launch of Apple’s new ipad. Apple (and everyone else) is touting the new device a cross between the laptop and the iphone. I’m not going to go into the details of the ipad and it’s features and capabilities, however I do want you to think of the advertising capabilities that will be viewable now on the ipad’s large screen and smart interface.
Since the development of the smart phone, app developers have come out of the woodwork to capitalize on these phones’ capabilities. Now, with the larger display size of the ipad, a screen size of 9.7 inches (similar to Amazon’s Kindle), but with 1024X768 Pixel resolution, app developers and rich media moguls are going to be salivating at the potential opportunities that await them. Imagine your ad on someone’s ipad, growing to a size not seen before on a device that has such mobility since the laptop. Imagine your ad animating, growing, moving, talking – persuading the reader In (technological) ways not even devised yet. The ipad doesn’t (yet) have flash capabilities so if you try to view something built in flash you’re going to get the annoying little icon that you’ve seen before on your iphone, however, I’m sure web developers and app makers are going to devise ways around this downfall by deploying messaging in ways that nobody has even imagined yet. I’m imagining that when an ad is viewed on an ipad, the ad will “know” that it’s being viewed on that device and display appropriately. (versus if it’s displayed on a smart phone) That opens up a lot of opportunities to ad builders like myself, and advertisers like you.
I don’t think that the ipad will ever replace the mobility and usability of a smart phone nor replace the effectiveness of mobile marketing. Also the fact that ads on the ipad can be geotargeted will be a huge differentiator from ads served on laptop computers. As an art director I can see many benefits to this new frontier of viewing ads, although the jury is still out whether this device will be a hit or not. Do you see any new opportunities here? Shoot me a quick comment.
We are just a few weeks out from the big event. That’s right folks, Super Bowl Sunday is fast approaching. Now it is no surprise that ad budgets have been drastically cut, but what comes as a surprise is Pepsi won’t be advertising.
Like so many other people, I tune in to see all the great commercials that Budweiser, Pepsi, Doritos and other advertisers produce to premiere during the Super Bowl, but with some big name advertisers jumping ship in favor of interactive and social media, who will fill the void? New advertisers like KGB and TruTV now have the opportunity to jump on board with an extra incentive in drastically reduced rates.Such radical changes in advertising plans forces one question: why? Many advertisers may be heading in a different direction because interactive and social media seem to be leading the pack for so many things now (the hype surrounding Avatar, new product launches) and advertising budgets are being reallocated in ways that I never would have imagined years ago.With the world of advertising changing like it is I ask you is social media a little blip on the radar that will soon fade away or is it here to stay? What are your thoughts?
It has recently been reported that coupons are on the rise for the first time since 1992. The concept of a coupon dates back to the late 1800s. They gained popularity in particular periods of time including the Great Depression and the advertising glory days of the 1950s and 1960s. Not surprisingly, the latest recession has created increasing demand for paper and paperless coupons. Companies such as Wendy’s and Sam’s Club are experimenting with mobile coupons where cashiers scan coupons on cell phones. Not only convenient but quite eco-friendly, mobile coupons are likely to rise significantly in the next few years as the smart phone market increases. If there is a good app for this, I’m game.
Media is not something we spent a lot of time learning about in college, so when I came to Brogan & Partners I had no idea what I was in for. From day one, I realized what my future would hold… invoices, lots and lots of invoices!
After learning the daily operations and being able to input five invoices per minute (I wish), the fun began. I have found that there is nothing more exciting than being given the opportunity to pick and choose what TV or radio stations should run our spots. And can you believe we should watch TV for research?! No mom, I can’t help you clean now, I am doing research!!!
Being in the media department has not only educated me on the business of buying, selling and placing but it has also allowed me to be more creative, thinking with a non-traditional mindset. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that media is ever changing and those that can think outside of the box will pave the way for the future.
As I move on in my media career, I will remember what I learned here at Brogan… to be smart, creative and successful at all costs. And I can thank the wonderful media team for beating (no, not literally) those attributes into me!
Thundersticks. The word alone creates a pounding sensation in my head. But if you want to hit a large sports crowd with not only your brand name but also with sound similar to a herd of wild horses coming at you (personally, I’ve never heard wild horses coming at me but I did hear it in a western once, or was it City Slickers?), thundersticks might be right up your alley. According to Wikipedia, thundersticks were created in the Republic of Korea. They first gained popularity in the United States when used by fans of the Anaheim Angels during the 2002 World Series. Speaking of angels, what a non-traditional gift from heaven.
Watch the clip below, and tell me this wouldn’t be a great idea for Ball Park franks?
I’m a blimp. Perhaps you think that I’m down on myself. I mean, I’m referring to myself as a “blimp”. But, in actuality, I’m quite pleased with how I look. Any attempts to tighten my waistline would create a negative impact on both how I maneuver and the attention that I receive. I actually feel quite light. You can see me from miles away and I have the best seat in the house at many of the nail-biting, barn-burning sport games of the season. I’ve been featured in many movies including Goldfinger, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Gone in 60 seconds. I’ve also been in the company of some fascinating personalities – such as Ronald Reagan, JohnnyDepp, and Harrison Ford. You see, I’m not your ordinary blimp; I’m a Goodyear Blimp – one of three operating in the United States. And when you visualize me, you most likely picture my sleek, bullet-like, silver appearance with “Goodyear” printed in bright yellow on the side. Quite possibly, this is one of the best, historical examples of non-traditional advertising to build a brand. Think non-traditional advertising is a bunch of hot air? Lighten up.
The versatility of nightlife advertising is common knowledge. It is one of the most effective ways to target young professionals with a disposable income. With so many advertisers prepared to get their brand seen, most have turned to non-traditional tactics to grab the potential consumers attention.
In an attempt to fight through the media clutter, non-traditional advertising in bars, clubs and restaurants is becoming impressively creative. Ads range from coasters to determine your ring size from the jewelry store to mirror clings of different lipstick colors from the beauty supply.
Are we, as advertisers, being forced further away from tradition in order to get noticed? If so, is the pay off worth the creative risks? Personally, I think we should enjoy the creative freedom when we can.
What happens when you use non-traditional tactics and apply them to an area that reaches over one million ready-to-buy consumers? You get The Smart Screen, an 8-foot tall audio/video plasma mall display. Think of the mall maps… in HD.
Designed to inform, engage and entertain consumers, this screen not only has higher quality capabilities but the creative can be updated everyday if need be. The eye level portrait format advertisements reach extremely large audiences of upscale, affluent consumers while being efficient at reaching teens and young adults of both genders.
Now the question is, was turning the traditional freestanding mall backlit display into mini TVs containing nothing but commercials really necessary? Or could the ever-changing ads really peak the potential consumers’ interest? I know I would give The Smart Screen a second look, even if it were only to appease my curiosity. It’s up to the content to keep a consumer hooked.
Do you ever go to a shopping plaza and notice the pavement of their parking lot or notice their yellow parking stripes? I notice if the lot’s pavement is smooth or broken up or if the stripes are a bright mustard color or if they are faded. I know call me weird, that I notice the things that seem so miniscule in life…but you should keep your eyes on the asphalt!
Well if you don’t notice or if you pretend not to notice, I bet you would notice if the parking stripe had an advertisement of your favorite cereal brand on it…especially if you were in the parking lot of your local grocery stores or, for you ladies out there, Target!
Parking lot stripes are one of my favorite forms of non-traditional advertising. It breaks away from the bland parking lot and jumps out at you when you’re running those errands that require you to go to a plaza, grocery store, etc. The stripes now have the ability to have sound! How cool is that?
