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.

American Air and US Air Merger

It's interesting to see American Airlines and US Airways merging. Oftentimes, we say that companies are best off merging when brand image is similar so the reputation of one does not lower the reputation of the other. Though some would argue, acquring a company with a better brand image could improve the brand image of the poor brand image company. In this case, American tends to have higher customer satisfaction ratings and US airways poorer. It seems as if US Airways is going to decrease the image of American Airlines, especially if they impose many of their regulations and use the same customer service agents. Where is this focus for both of these airlines now? Is it on the consumer? The price? Or somewhere else.