AD OF THE WEEK
This weeks pic is a little off the wall. The reason being it gets your attention through so many soft emotional catches that you don't even realize. A little girl, a dog, a mini van, blue collar workers, cornfields, windmills, going green, and so many more. Just watch it again and you will see what I mean.
FLOP OF THE WEEK
Did they record this in one cut? It flopped and it flopped BAD!!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
GPA Advertising Weekly Awards - Feb. 14-21, 2010
“AD OF THE WEEK”
WHY was it the best?
An emotional climax is the name of the game in this ad. Wow, excellent song choice along with celebrity appeal. It has a hero, the hero failing, the hero overcoming, and the hero winning. Nike proclaims, "Just do it". I think they "Just DID it".
"FLOP OF THE WEEK"
WHY was it the worst?
McDonalds has always had a trendy theme in their advertising, but NOT with this one. It looks like they let a twelve year old draw a picture and they animated it. In no way did they brand their company, also they had no glaring target with this.
Have any comments? Give us your thoughts on the best/worst of advertising this week.
WHY was it the best?
An emotional climax is the name of the game in this ad. Wow, excellent song choice along with celebrity appeal. It has a hero, the hero failing, the hero overcoming, and the hero winning. Nike proclaims, "Just do it". I think they "Just DID it".
"FLOP OF THE WEEK"
WHY was it the worst?
McDonalds has always had a trendy theme in their advertising, but NOT with this one. It looks like they let a twelve year old draw a picture and they animated it. In no way did they brand their company, also they had no glaring target with this.
Have any comments? Give us your thoughts on the best/worst of advertising this week.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Pursuing the Triple Crown: Is Your Business a Thoroughbred or an Inefficient Mule?
The problem many businesses face that is addressed in this blog: Having an entrepreneurial mindset with a lack of connection to the customers you serve in a practical way.
Listen to our Podcast below:
The Triple Crown boasts the pinnacle of success in many sports. It proves that an athlete’s ability spans the gap separating sheer greatness from the ability to be legendary, encompassing all aspects of success. How can your business achieve a Triple Crown?
There are three functions that are personified in a business:
1. Technician - person who does the actual labor for the business.
Example: The painter for the paint company or the salesman for the insurance agency.
Strengths: They are the arms and legs of the business.
Weaknesses: Often times does not carry the heart of the business and can be paycheck focused.
2. Manager - the overseer of the technician; ensures the work of the business is executed efficiently.
Strengths: skilled at motivating people; talented and understands what the business is trying to accomplish.
Weaknesses: can be power-hungry and make the mistake of assuming their ideas are greater than the entrepreneur's.
3. Entrepreneur - casts the vision for the company; person with the big idea who started the business.
Strengths: understands the business most accurately and is big picture/idea driven.
Weaknesses: tends to overwork the technician and manager; can becomes too attached to their own ideas and will not be
willing to change.
Every role must obtain a perspective of the others and understand the importance of each. In other words, there must be synergy created within the company. The entrepreneur must empower the manager by casting a vision. The manager must then relay the vision to the technician while facilitating logistical responsibilities of day to day business. The technician, which is a vital role in customer relationship management, needs to be the voice of the customers and share from his colleagues perspective what the customer desires from the business. When each position understands the viewpoint of the others, the business will have a better understanding of the short and long term goals and how to achieve them.
Five actions to establish a better view of your technician's perspective:
1. You must become an expert: specific knowledge must be acquired about the product being sold in order to communicate the real nature of what you are selling.
2. You must know your customer: you must understand the individuals that make up your target market, their needs and wants, and how to relate to them.
3. You must understand your product's nature: every product has a unique nature that needs to be capitalized upon in marketing. It is the job of the marketer to discover these characteristics and emphasize them.
4. Instilling fear to make a sale does not work: do not use statistics to threaten a customer into a sale. A relationship built on trust is key in a sustainable marketing relationship.
5. Unique features should be capitalized on: every product needs a distinguishing trait that sets it apart from the others. Find that trait and market it.
What this means to you is that whether you feel you’re a master or in desperate need of help, remember, relationships are the foundation of a successful business. No matter what level your need is, GPA advertising is here to improve your business’ growth, profit, and awareness.
For a free business consultation please email us at info@gpaadvertising.com
OR
Give us a call at (410) 227-1825
Remember you can visit our website: http://www.gpaadvertising.com
Recommended readings for further education on these topics:
The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
The AdWeek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman
Listen to our Podcast below:
The Triple Crown boasts the pinnacle of success in many sports. It proves that an athlete’s ability spans the gap separating sheer greatness from the ability to be legendary, encompassing all aspects of success. How can your business achieve a Triple Crown?
There are three functions that are personified in a business:
1. Technician - person who does the actual labor for the business.
Example: The painter for the paint company or the salesman for the insurance agency.
Strengths: They are the arms and legs of the business.
Weaknesses: Often times does not carry the heart of the business and can be paycheck focused.
2. Manager - the overseer of the technician; ensures the work of the business is executed efficiently.
Strengths: skilled at motivating people; talented and understands what the business is trying to accomplish.
Weaknesses: can be power-hungry and make the mistake of assuming their ideas are greater than the entrepreneur's.
3. Entrepreneur - casts the vision for the company; person with the big idea who started the business.
Strengths: understands the business most accurately and is big picture/idea driven.
Weaknesses: tends to overwork the technician and manager; can becomes too attached to their own ideas and will not be
willing to change.
Every role must obtain a perspective of the others and understand the importance of each. In other words, there must be synergy created within the company. The entrepreneur must empower the manager by casting a vision. The manager must then relay the vision to the technician while facilitating logistical responsibilities of day to day business. The technician, which is a vital role in customer relationship management, needs to be the voice of the customers and share from his colleagues perspective what the customer desires from the business. When each position understands the viewpoint of the others, the business will have a better understanding of the short and long term goals and how to achieve them.
Five actions to establish a better view of your technician's perspective:
1. You must become an expert: specific knowledge must be acquired about the product being sold in order to communicate the real nature of what you are selling.
2. You must know your customer: you must understand the individuals that make up your target market, their needs and wants, and how to relate to them.
3. You must understand your product's nature: every product has a unique nature that needs to be capitalized upon in marketing. It is the job of the marketer to discover these characteristics and emphasize them.
4. Instilling fear to make a sale does not work: do not use statistics to threaten a customer into a sale. A relationship built on trust is key in a sustainable marketing relationship.
5. Unique features should be capitalized on: every product needs a distinguishing trait that sets it apart from the others. Find that trait and market it.
What this means to you is that whether you feel you’re a master or in desperate need of help, remember, relationships are the foundation of a successful business. No matter what level your need is, GPA advertising is here to improve your business’ growth, profit, and awareness.
For a free business consultation please email us at info@gpaadvertising.com
OR
Give us a call at (410) 227-1825
Remember you can visit our website: http://www.gpaadvertising.com
Recommended readings for further education on these topics:
The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
The AdWeek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Futuristic taglines: can companies predict the future better than consumers?
The tagline of a company says it all. It's their focus. It's their definition. It's what they want to be known for in the world. Corporations that have become house hold names are often accompanied by their tagline. For example, everyone knows the tagline to All State Insurance is "You're in good hands." The best tagline a company can create is one that involves their customer, a positive emotion that is invoked when it is read, and one that focuses on one-to-one marketing, as opposed to one-to-mass (broadcasting). 
I have begun to question, however, the effectiveness of companies that attempt to forecast the future in their promotional strategy. Take, for instance, the ice cream company Dippin' Dots. They have been claiming to be "The Ice Cream of the Future" for the past twenty years. I have to ask myself, "When will the future come to be the present, and when will Dippin' Dots be the ice cream that represents that time period?" There are two things about this tagline that are crippling to the company:
Statistics show that Dippin' Dots franchises has decreased in numbers over the past years. A declining trend in popularity started in 2006 in the United States with 448 franchises, decreasing to 441 in 2007, and ending with 420 in 2008. They fell from a Franchise 500 rank of #112 in 2008 to #175 in 2009. Could this have anything to do with the fact that no matter how hard we try, tomorrow never comes? Nor does the future.
Corporate communications director Terry Reeves was quoted saying, "Our goal is to increase the number of stores and sales at stores owned by existing franchisees, and we of course want additional franchisees to open stores in new locations." This seems to be an unmeasurable, non sustainable goal that has no numbers, benchmarks, or an action plan to accompany it. I would venture to say that if Dippin' Dots continues to claim to be the ice cream of the future, their company and all franchisees involved may not have a future of their own.
Did you like this article or have thoughts or comments you'd like to share? Email jen@gpaadvertising.com and let us know.
I have begun to question, however, the effectiveness of companies that attempt to forecast the future in their promotional strategy. Take, for instance, the ice cream company Dippin' Dots. They have been claiming to be "The Ice Cream of the Future" for the past twenty years. I have to ask myself, "When will the future come to be the present, and when will Dippin' Dots be the ice cream that represents that time period?" There are two things about this tagline that are crippling to the company:
1. There is no relevance to the current day and age that we live in, when customers are actually buying: TODAY. There is a disconnect to customers' wants and needs. I would not be surprised to find a customer thinking, "If this is the ice cream of the future, what is the ice cream of today? I want to buy ice cream now that satisfies my desires, not that will be the best ice cream there is ten years from now."
2. There is no connection to the consumer. Nothing in their tagline benefits me as a consumer or connects me to their product.
Statistics show that Dippin' Dots franchises has decreased in numbers over the past years. A declining trend in popularity started in 2006 in the United States with 448 franchises, decreasing to 441 in 2007, and ending with 420 in 2008. They fell from a Franchise 500 rank of #112 in 2008 to #175 in 2009. Could this have anything to do with the fact that no matter how hard we try, tomorrow never comes? Nor does the future.
Corporate communications director Terry Reeves was quoted saying, "Our goal is to increase the number of stores and sales at stores owned by existing franchisees, and we of course want additional franchisees to open stores in new locations." This seems to be an unmeasurable, non sustainable goal that has no numbers, benchmarks, or an action plan to accompany it. I would venture to say that if Dippin' Dots continues to claim to be the ice cream of the future, their company and all franchisees involved may not have a future of their own.
Did you like this article or have thoughts or comments you'd like to share? Email jen@gpaadvertising.com and let us know.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Has Jeep's advertising techniques limited is target market?
We all know that one of the first steps in the marketing process is finding your target market. But when finding the target market we need to make sure that market is not too narrow. Too narrow of a target market can cut other markets off from being attracted to your product. According to Entrepreneur.com, a target market can be defined as "a specific group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services." You don't want to limit your customer base by the way that you market to your target market.
For example, We think Jeep has hurt itself over the years by the way its line of vehicles have been marketed. Jeep has driven home the concept that its SUV are great off-road vehicles - but how big of a market can that really relate to? Women (for the most part) aren't going to be inclined to by a vehicle because it performs well off-road. Women (again, for the most part) need a vehicle that helps them accomplish their everyday tasks. Jeeps have become more and more luxurious and meet the needs of a larger market over the last few years, but Jeep has yet to emphasize this in the marketing campaigns. I think it's great that Jeep has separated itself from other vehicle manufactures by pushing the "off-road" features, but what if they started incorporating another marketing strategy into the current one in order to show all sides of the Jeep brand?
How would you market a Jeep? Would you do away with the current campaign and fall back into mainstream automobile advertising? Does Jeep have it right?
Did you like this post? Email kyle@gpaadvertising.com
Sunday, February 7, 2010
How did potentially great Super Bowl ads lose their buzz?
During the Super Bowl we tweeted (@LemonAdBlog) about there being a strange trend among some of the commercials. On three separate occasions, two commercials were played back-to-back that had a very similar style. All of the commercials were very well done, but they lost some of their glamor due to the spot they were run in. Here's what we mean:
#1: Mars' Snickers vs. Focus on the Family
#2: CareerBuilder.com vs. Dockers
#3: Dr. Pepper vs. Tru TV
Do you see the similarities? Wouldn't you be upset if your company spent 2.6 million dollars for a 30 second spot only to have it's predecessor have the same concept behind its ad? Did the second ad seem weak compared to the first ad due to the similar content?
Leave a comment or email kyle@gpaadvertising.com
#1: Mars' Snickers vs. Focus on the Family
#2: CareerBuilder.com vs. Dockers
#3: Dr. Pepper vs. Tru TV
Do you see the similarities? Wouldn't you be upset if your company spent 2.6 million dollars for a 30 second spot only to have it's predecessor have the same concept behind its ad? Did the second ad seem weak compared to the first ad due to the similar content?
Leave a comment or email kyle@gpaadvertising.com
Super Bowl XLIV's Top 5 Commercials
#5 - Bud Light
#4 - Mars' Snickers
#3 - CareerBuilder.com
#2 - Dodge
#1 - Google
Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment or email kyle@gpaadvertising.com
#4 - Mars' Snickers
#3 - CareerBuilder.com
#2 - Dodge
#1 - Google
Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment or email kyle@gpaadvertising.com
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
