Just like the college football season with the attention of thousands of viewers, the NCAA tournament has proved to be entertaining, surprising, and exciting. This month-long event known as "March Madness" determines which college basketball team is the best in the nation. What's the best part of March Madness for the media world? All of the advertising opportunities! Now, I'm not just talking about for marketers, products, businesses and such....I'm talking about for the schools themselves.
Last year George Mason University did a great job of suprising everyone by beating some of the best teams in the tournament including UNC, Michigan State, and more. So how did this help them out? The applications for the following school year quadrupled. Also alumni stepped up and started donating huge amounts of money with pride. GMU was shocked, seeing as they had little to no advertising for the school.
According to Rich Thomaselli's article, small schools can gain up to $50 million dollars in free advertising for doing well in the tournament. Not too bad, eh? I had never really thought about how admissions were affected by doing well in sports. It makes sense though; they are out in the public eye with top performances, of course more students would want to come to their school. Not only do sponsors get the benefit of great advertising spots, but the schools get free publicity. It was fun to read about the success of small schools in the NCAA.
Check out Rich Thomaselli's article at: http://adage.com/article?article_id=115715
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Promoting My Blog take 2
I have been reading other product placement blogs; it's really interesting to see what people's opinions are on certain media topics. Many people have been writing about Second Life and how it may or may not help the success of a business or product. One blog in particular talked about Bloomsberry chocolate like I did before in a prior post. Her post definitely got me thinking and I started to see a new perspective on how SL might help Bloomsberry. I left a comment on Amanda's blog explaining my thought process and how her post helped me develop new ideas.
I'm hoping that by leaving comments on other people's blogs, I will get more people to check out my own blog. Hopefully it works, but I guess I'll have to keep leaving comments and see what happens.
Check out Amanda's blog at: http://playproduct.blogspot.com/
I'm hoping that by leaving comments on other people's blogs, I will get more people to check out my own blog. Hopefully it works, but I guess I'll have to keep leaving comments and see what happens.
Check out Amanda's blog at: http://playproduct.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 23, 2007
Cell Phones the Next Advertising Platform?
I found an interesting article written by Alice Z. Cuneo on Ad Age's website about advertisements on cell phones. Right now, cell phone companies and marketers are trying to determine the success of possibly placing advertisements on cell phones. The amount of people that do not want the advertising on their cell phones is overwhelming, with 90% of consumers against the advertisements. Researchers discovered however, that consumers are more open to the idea if there is some sort of reward or trade-off. Besides the obvious desire for money, consumers are also eager to receive free cell phone features like ring tones and games.
Marketers are targeting younger people (around college-age to 30s) for this new cell phone advertising campaign. When polled, they found that people with lower income in their thirties are most interested in receiving advertisements. Only 9% of all respondents were at all interested; the number rose slightly at the thought of bribery.
It is obvious that the demand and desire for advertisements on cell phones is very low. The CEO of Mobile Posse, Jon Jackson, was quoted saying: "If you ask, no consumer ever will say 'I need more advertising in my life,'". I think Jackson hit the nail right on the head. Of course people don't want to receive advertisements on their cell phone. We are already exposed to an absurd amount of advertising every day; I don't see why people would want it to start invading their personal phones.
The marketers realize that advertising on cell phones is a great opportunity for them, but they are going to have to work hard to develop a way to get the consumers interested.
If they did start selling phone packages with a discount if you were willing to receive advertisements, I still don't think I would agree to it. I would gladly pay more money on a phone package and not have to read advertisements throughout the day. It was interesting to think about this, because I am extremely interested in every aspect of marketing. Hoping to break into the marketing business some day, I realized how hard it is to break through consumer barriers and opinions. I'm interested to see how successful the mobile companies are in starting this project up.
If you want to read Cuneo's article, check out: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=115614
Marketers are targeting younger people (around college-age to 30s) for this new cell phone advertising campaign. When polled, they found that people with lower income in their thirties are most interested in receiving advertisements. Only 9% of all respondents were at all interested; the number rose slightly at the thought of bribery.
It is obvious that the demand and desire for advertisements on cell phones is very low. The CEO of Mobile Posse, Jon Jackson, was quoted saying: "If you ask, no consumer ever will say 'I need more advertising in my life,'". I think Jackson hit the nail right on the head. Of course people don't want to receive advertisements on their cell phone. We are already exposed to an absurd amount of advertising every day; I don't see why people would want it to start invading their personal phones.
The marketers realize that advertising on cell phones is a great opportunity for them, but they are going to have to work hard to develop a way to get the consumers interested.
If they did start selling phone packages with a discount if you were willing to receive advertisements, I still don't think I would agree to it. I would gladly pay more money on a phone package and not have to read advertisements throughout the day. It was interesting to think about this, because I am extremely interested in every aspect of marketing. Hoping to break into the marketing business some day, I realized how hard it is to break through consumer barriers and opinions. I'm interested to see how successful the mobile companies are in starting this project up.
If you want to read Cuneo's article, check out: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=115614
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Second Life Advertising
Eager to network with people from all over the world? Well maybe Second Life is for you. This virtual world has proved to be a phenomenon with over 4 million users. Big businesses and organizations have bought islands in Second Life, and created a world of their own. Mercedes, Ithaca College, H&M and many more have buildings in SL.
When I first learned about Second Life, I was shocked. The idea that people could create another life for themselves and have their avatars go to different events seemed unbelievable. After exploring SL, I understand what a great marketing tool SL can be. While I've walked around going to different islands, I have encountered a lot of product placement and advertisements. Just today, something popped up saying if my avatar wore a huge sign for a certain company, I would make $2 (Linden) every 10 minutes. The Linden dollars can be used to buy clothing, products, islands, etc in SL.
So why should a company look into possibly marketing in SL? The virtual world provides another way to interact with consumers and potential customers. They can create an island or building for their product, or just put up posters in SL about their product. SL isn't right for every company though. The majority of users in SL have proved to be made up of middle-aged people with a fair amount of money to spend. SL is constantly expanding though, and is appealing to many different demographics.
In my class, my group is making a marketing plan for Bloomsberry & Co. chocolate bars. I think Bloomsberry would be able to get a lot of exposure by advertising in SL, but I think they should wait for SL to expand and have a larger college-aged user population. Bloomsberry & Co. primarily targets females in college. The packaging of the Bloomsberry chocolate bars is very attention-grabbing and creative, but I don't think older people would appreciate their package designs.
I'll continue to explore Second Life and see if I can find some of Bloomsberry & Co.'s other competitors.
When I first learned about Second Life, I was shocked. The idea that people could create another life for themselves and have their avatars go to different events seemed unbelievable. After exploring SL, I understand what a great marketing tool SL can be. While I've walked around going to different islands, I have encountered a lot of product placement and advertisements. Just today, something popped up saying if my avatar wore a huge sign for a certain company, I would make $2 (Linden) every 10 minutes. The Linden dollars can be used to buy clothing, products, islands, etc in SL.
So why should a company look into possibly marketing in SL? The virtual world provides another way to interact with consumers and potential customers. They can create an island or building for their product, or just put up posters in SL about their product. SL isn't right for every company though. The majority of users in SL have proved to be made up of middle-aged people with a fair amount of money to spend. SL is constantly expanding though, and is appealing to many different demographics.
In my class, my group is making a marketing plan for Bloomsberry & Co. chocolate bars. I think Bloomsberry would be able to get a lot of exposure by advertising in SL, but I think they should wait for SL to expand and have a larger college-aged user population. Bloomsberry & Co. primarily targets females in college. The packaging of the Bloomsberry chocolate bars is very attention-grabbing and creative, but I don't think older people would appreciate their package designs.
I'll continue to explore Second Life and see if I can find some of Bloomsberry & Co.'s other competitors.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Cutting Back Alcohol Ads
Throughout my blog, I have talked positively about product placement and shared product stories that are exciting for the media world. Today, however, I found an article about how an industry is being urged to cut back on advertisements and exposure. What industry and product might I be talking about? Alcohol.
The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, is strongly suggesting that alcoholic beverage companies tone down the amount of advertisements they have on college campuses and around teens. He wants the companies to get rid of as many outdoor advertisements as they can, and also try to stop using college newspapers for advertising. Moritsugu also mentioned that colleges and universities should try to get rid of alcohol-sponsored events.
I thought this was really interesting; I wonder if the commercials during the Bowl games and basketball games will exclude advertisements that involve alcohol. I'm not sure how marketers will try to get around this suggestion, seeing as a large part of the college sports audience is made up of the alcohol companies' target audience. I'm going to be looking for articles and watch a few basketball games to see if I notice an effort that the schools and marketers are making to limit the amount of alcohol-related advertisements.
Even though there are statistics that are showing that alcohol consumption among teens is dropping, Moritsugu is still worried about the amount of alcohol use in colleges and universities. Moritsugu is trying to avoid creating new laws, which is why he is asking the media and marketers to get on his side. Coming straight out of the article: "The entertainment and media industries should be sure movies, TV shows and video games do not 'glamorize underage alcohol use,' the report says. They should also avoid 'gratuitous portrayals of alcohol abuse in films and TV shows in which children are a major audience.'"
I am very curious to see how marketers and advertisers will adjust to this new "recommendation" from the Surgeon General. Marketing alcohol is already a complex business with so many things to consider. I'm interested in seeing how this may affect alcohol sales.
Read the article at http://adage.com/article?article_id=115414
The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, is strongly suggesting that alcoholic beverage companies tone down the amount of advertisements they have on college campuses and around teens. He wants the companies to get rid of as many outdoor advertisements as they can, and also try to stop using college newspapers for advertising. Moritsugu also mentioned that colleges and universities should try to get rid of alcohol-sponsored events.
I thought this was really interesting; I wonder if the commercials during the Bowl games and basketball games will exclude advertisements that involve alcohol. I'm not sure how marketers will try to get around this suggestion, seeing as a large part of the college sports audience is made up of the alcohol companies' target audience. I'm going to be looking for articles and watch a few basketball games to see if I notice an effort that the schools and marketers are making to limit the amount of alcohol-related advertisements.
Even though there are statistics that are showing that alcohol consumption among teens is dropping, Moritsugu is still worried about the amount of alcohol use in colleges and universities. Moritsugu is trying to avoid creating new laws, which is why he is asking the media and marketers to get on his side. Coming straight out of the article: "The entertainment and media industries should be sure movies, TV shows and video games do not 'glamorize underage alcohol use,' the report says. They should also avoid 'gratuitous portrayals of alcohol abuse in films and TV shows in which children are a major audience.'"
I am very curious to see how marketers and advertisers will adjust to this new "recommendation" from the Surgeon General. Marketing alcohol is already a complex business with so many things to consider. I'm interested in seeing how this may affect alcohol sales.
Read the article at http://adage.com/article?article_id=115414
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Honda Gives Celebrity Hydrogen Car
In one of my advertising classes, I am doing a project on the Honda Fit. Because of this, I've been cruising around Honda's website a lot and also paying extra attention to car ads to help me with my own advertisements. I was so excited to find an article today about product placement for Honda.
The story was released today, and it turns out that Honda is giving their first Hydrogen car to a 17-year old actress! The lucky teen is O'orianka Kilcher, who starred in the movie "The New World" in 2005. The reason she gets the new Honda FCX is because Honda knows that she'll be driving around Hollywood- showing off the new car and getting a lot of attention for Honda. (Let's hope she doesn't crash it!)
The Honda FCX has zero emissions and has met the federal safety standards. It's a great step forward for trying to solve the transportation/ global warming problem. Hopefully Honda's marketing strategies and celebrity product placement will help them gain a lot of loyal customers.
Kilcher is very excited about her new car and the difference she can help make. In the article they had a quote from her saying: "When I first started pursuing my dream of a zero emissions vehicle as my first car, it seemed like a pretty unrealistic dream. With Honda's innovation and support, my dream of helping the environment became a reality!"
I'm sure more news will be released soon on Kilcher's experience with the car and also Honda's advertising campaign to promote the vehicle.
If you want to read the article...go to: http://www.productplacement.biz/branded-entertainment/200703081832/honda-product-placement-hydrogen-car-to-celebrity
The story was released today, and it turns out that Honda is giving their first Hydrogen car to a 17-year old actress! The lucky teen is O'orianka Kilcher, who starred in the movie "The New World" in 2005. The reason she gets the new Honda FCX is because Honda knows that she'll be driving around Hollywood- showing off the new car and getting a lot of attention for Honda. (Let's hope she doesn't crash it!)
The Honda FCX has zero emissions and has met the federal safety standards. It's a great step forward for trying to solve the transportation/ global warming problem. Hopefully Honda's marketing strategies and celebrity product placement will help them gain a lot of loyal customers.
Kilcher is very excited about her new car and the difference she can help make. In the article they had a quote from her saying: "When I first started pursuing my dream of a zero emissions vehicle as my first car, it seemed like a pretty unrealistic dream. With Honda's innovation and support, my dream of helping the environment became a reality!"
I'm sure more news will be released soon on Kilcher's experience with the car and also Honda's advertising campaign to promote the vehicle.
If you want to read the article...go to: http://www.productplacement.biz/branded-entertainment/200703081832/honda-product-placement-hydrogen-car-to-celebrity
Friday, March 2, 2007
GEICO caveman sitcom
Possibly the most popular advertisements on television right now are the GEICO Caveman ads. The caveman first appeared in 2005, and showed a caveman living in the modern world. In the commercial, the cavemen find the Geico slogan: "So easy, a caveman could do it!" very offensive. The series was born with later commercials developing with story lines of a spokesman apologizing to the caveman. The newest ad features a caveman on one of the moving sidewalks in airports. He passes a GEICO advertisement with that same slogan and gets offended. These commercials have kept consumers and viewers entertained, and increased awareness of the GEICO brand.
Information was released today in Variety, saying that a sitcom is being created for ABC based on the GEICO cavemen characters. The cavemen will be living in Atlanta, and dealing with the modern world like the commercials have shown. The guy who is responsible for the creation of the GEICO cavemen is going to be writing the sitcom.
It's awesome to see a popular character in a commercial become the basis of a new television show. I'm interested to see how popular it will become, and the plot lines for each episode. Hopefully they'll have more information on the sitcom soon, but for now if you want to read up on the article, go to: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=entertainment&id=5086153
Information was released today in Variety, saying that a sitcom is being created for ABC based on the GEICO cavemen characters. The cavemen will be living in Atlanta, and dealing with the modern world like the commercials have shown. The guy who is responsible for the creation of the GEICO cavemen is going to be writing the sitcom.
It's awesome to see a popular character in a commercial become the basis of a new television show. I'm interested to see how popular it will become, and the plot lines for each episode. Hopefully they'll have more information on the sitcom soon, but for now if you want to read up on the article, go to: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=entertainment&id=5086153
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