Three rights does make a wrong

There are many things that I enjoy in life. For instance I love the Olympics, I love DreamWorks animated films and I love Advertising. Putting all of these things together into one item does not make a win win.

To shed more light on what I am talking about, let’s discuss the Olympics DreamWorks product placement deal. As you know we are now in day four of the Olympics and Bob Costas is our host every night and guides us through the Olympics that air in prime time. As you may have noticed each night as a lead in to the commercial pod (break), Bob tells us about DreamWorks new movie ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and talks about how there are similarities between the Olympics and the movie, then NBC cuts to the specially created Olympics/’How to Train Your Dragon Trailer’. The shift from the Live Olympic coverage is meant have a smooth transition for all of us to stay glued to our TV and watch the trailer. For me personally, it is a bad transition that just annoys me. I would enjoy it more if they did not do the NBC lead in with bob and just ran the commercial.
I totally understand the ultimate goal of what they are trying to do and how difficult it is for product placement to work into live programming. I also know it is not just DreamWorks that NBC is doing this type of promotion with, but no matter what advertiser it is, this is not an effective way to incorporate your commercials into the Olympics.

Take for instance Coke and Gatorade and how well they have done with their product placement. On American Idol, the judges drink out of a large Coke Glass. The glass just sits there and at no point do the judges say “I am going to take a drink of coke now”. You get the full affect of the placement of coke without a hard sell. Gatorade also does a great job of product placement. I mean how many Athletes you see drinking a Gatorade after an endurance event. When you sit back and watch TV, take a look at all of the product placement in live and pre-recorded television programs and decide for yourself what works and what does not work.

The Day After

The Super Bowl has ended. The Saints have put the cherry on top of New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations. Now it is time for everyone to sit back and cast their opinions as to which commercials were good and which ones were not.

It is my humble opinion that this year’s Super Bowl spots fell sadly flat compared to years past. This might be because I am not a part of most of the advertisers target market. Yes I am a soon to be middle aged woman and the Super Bowl is aimed towards middle aged men. But I don’t care. I am still going to verbalize my opinion on the advertisements that aired.

My Favorite advertisements:

1) Google : It was a very simple advertisement that took you on one man’s journey through his school travels to falling in love to becoming a family man. The spot was very direct and to the point. They used simple heartfelt music which pulled out the sentimental soft side of people. The commercial conveyed something that everyone one who is a part of the digital age can relate to. It reiterated the simplicity of the site which also sets itself apart from its competitors such as Bing or Ask. I think it goes a long way to remind people how simple Google is to use and how we can use it every day to make our lives easier.

2) Volkswagen: Deutsch hit a home run with this spot. Everyone can remember playing slug bug or Cadillac whack when we were in the car. This nostalgic commercial goes a long way to re-branding Volkswagen. It is also nice to know that you can slug bug someone whenever you see a Volkswagen driving down the road and you do not have to wait for a VW bug. Watch out family and friends. I hope future spots from Deutsch will build upon this and remove the bad vibe that the previous ads left me with.

3) Denny’s: The three Denny’s spots created by Goodby, Silverstein and Partners were another hit with me. A far cry from their disappointing Diamond Foods spot that also aired in the Super Bowl. It was kind of Denny’s to warn their chickens that this week would be a tough week, since everyone who goes to a Denny’s restaurant on February 9th will get a free Original Grand Slam Breakfast. I think the chickens had better keep taking their grain steroids because if you go in to Denny's on your birthday you also get a free Original Grand Slam. The commercials were creative, comical and had just the right amount of screaming animals in them. They reminded me of the Bridgestone commercials that The Richards Group had in the SB last year with the screaming squirrels. I hope that Denny’s gets enough business out of the spots to cover the costs of the commercials. Only time will tell…

Please leave your thoughts and comments on my blog and stay tuned a recap of my least favorite Super Bowl Commercials.

Kathy

* Commercial links provided by Adweek Super Bowl site.

Continued convergence of broadcast and on-line

It is the time of year when companies and advertising agencies pull out all of the stops to get their best creative on the broadcast airwaves during the Super Bowl. This is when all media buyers stress out the most, negotiating the optimal location within a commercial pod for their clients spot. They watch the Super Bowl commercial breaks with eagle eyes, making sure that everything ran correctly. This year it will be a little different as we see the continued merging of broadcast media with the on-line media. Previously it was GoDaddy.com that drove viewers to their web-site to see the remainder of the commercial. This year the up and coming Austin company HomeAway will be airing a spot created by Publicis in the West. The spot will feature the National Lampoon’s Griswald family. While they have not stated which quarter the spot will air in, it is widely publicized that the spot will direct you to their web-site to watch a 5 minute National Lampoon/HomeAway video. The ultimate goal for the company’s spot is to increase company recognition and put them in a good spot for when they go IPO in the next couple of years. I think between word of mouth by such famous people as Lance Armstrong, who has tweeted about Home Away on numerous occasions, and the spot, that the company should see continued growth and recognition.

Welcome to my Blog

Polka dot elephants, what are they and why is my blog named that. They are the symbol of our creative mind. We each strive to be our unique self in a world that tries to tell us what we should be. So put on your childhood thinking cap, grab a box of crayons and draw and color in your own elephant as creatively as you can. Then post that up in your office at work and when you are overstressed and freaking out, look up at your elephant and remember what it was like to be a child again. Remember the fun times you had playing the back yard making mud cakes on bricks or putting a towel around your neck and pretending you are a superhero. Those were the carefree days that we used to have and need to remember to include in our daily life. Wither you are working or looking for a job, this exercise should bring a smile to your face and peace in your heart.

So now that we know what a polka dot elephant is, why is my blog named that. Well why not name it that. It got your intention and intrigued you and made you smile. Which is what all great advertising campaigns do. So this is in fact my platform to accentuate my advertising campaign for myself. My goal is to use this format to share my passions and insight with anyone and everyone. Over the next few days, I will be sharing my thoughts on the Super Bowl advertising season.

Thank you for stopping buy and I hope to see you again soon,

Kat