Brosurance

What is advertising coming to? Modeled after the "got milk?" campaign, this is the most creative attempt I have seen to encourage consumers to get obamacare's new healthcare plan. Now I'm not going to get into a political debate here, but I do have to say that this is well targeted at the stereotyped image of college-aged consumers in Colorado. Though how will others perceive this?

Jesus burger?

Just saw an interesting news bit on the "Ghost Burger" - a burger that is filled with religious references. It has a communion cracker on top and flows with red wine that is supposed to be similar to Jesus' blood. Is this a new tactic at marketing to the religious? Or is it to make a mockery of religion? This is a very risky move. Religious consumers hold strongly to their values and decreasing the sacredness of these values (i.e., turning it into a regular consumption product) will likely cause the religious to turn against this burger. And why would someone that is not religious want to purchase such a product either? Bad move.

Apple's latest iPhone release - a clear statement of brand equity

I tell my students often about the importance of brand equity. There is no better example of this (at least right now) than Apple. The iPhone 5c and 5s were introduced to the market on September 20 and have already sold more than 9 million. I have to admit that I am one of them, though I don't follow your typical consumer. I upgraded from an iPhone 3 which was long overdue for an upgrade. But going back to the topic of brand equity, had Apple's name not been on the phone (regardless if it was the same quality product), it would not have sold nearly as much. Not only that, but Apple is using color psychology to increase sales - a "gold" version of the iPhone 5s leaves consumers with a feeling of luxury more so than most phones on the market today. Brand equity and luxury - a perfect combination.

How far is too far?

I am a big advocate for marketing, but I also think there is a point where marketing has gone too far. Pretty much every holiday is now commercialized. Do we really need to dig into September 11th now too? And how is offering sales commemorating such a tragic day in US history? This has definitely gone too far.

AT&T's Guinea Pig Commercial

 

Anyone that knows me would know that I am partial to guinea pigs. They're cute, don't have many bad sides, and are otherwise tame pets to own. I've mentioned before that there are three things in advertising that sell more than anything else: sex, cute babies, and cute animals. This commercial by AT&T falls into the cute animals category with talking guinea pigs (watch it here). Clever, but at the same time, the clipping between scenes gives it more of an amateurish feel. Cute animals can attract attention but they can only go so far. More movement in those piggies, less fake looking mouth movements, and perhaps some music really could have livened up this clip a bit. Authenticity is definitely key in advertising these days - does this seem like authentic pig moves? Does this increase AT&T's perceived authenticity as a brand?

Kia Hamsters are Back

The KIA hamsters are back. Many people expressed hatred for them the first go around, yet they attracted a vast amount of attention. This begs the question whether negative publicity can actually be a good thing for a brand. Usually the answer is no, but in some cases, publicity for a silly commercial can actually increase top of mind awareness for a brand. Though what is even more interesting here is the KIA hamsters working out on treadmills. I find any subtle cues for health in advertising very interesting. Could this potentially signify that driving a KIA is going to lead you to a healthier life? Based on my findings of health primes in other contexts, I would gander to say yes.

Priming & Businesses

My dissertation research looks at priming from the perspective of causes on product packaging influences perceptions of a brand. However, I think priming in many different instances is very interesting. For example, Business Week had a news article today about NASA's new center to digitize moon photos that will take place in an old McDonald's building (read the article here). However, you have to ask, how is this influencing the image of both NASA and McDonald's. Even though there are no golden arches in the building, consumers around the world are very familiar with the iconic McDonald's building. According to my research, this could have the effect of neutralizing the balance between these companies - in other words, the image of NASA could slightly deteriorate, and the image of McDonald's could increase. Yes, a far fetch especially for well established companies, but every brand should be aware how these subtle (or not so subtle) primes may influence perceptions of their brand.