Individual Blog Post #5

This is an international ad I found on Ads of the World. It is probably the funniest ad I have seen in a very long time! The woman featured in the ad plays the part so well, it makes us women wonder why we even like the pigs at all. Walking around naked, adding beer to cereal, burping, farting and watching racing on TV, yup that's a man alright. The only difference is she looks a lot better than a man does. The concept is brilliant; the ad grabs your attentions immediately and holds it. Unlike a lot of ads similar to this one (entertaining ads based on humor or shock), at the end you actually know what the product is. The use of repetition i.e. scratching her butt twice, keeps the product in view and focus on the underwear. The tagline at the end reinforces the product and gives the message of the ad. It's true, men don't want to see other men walking around almost naked. Although they probably don't want to see a beautiful woman farting and burping either; but the point is well taken. She is just like a man, but boy, is she easier on the eyes (well at least to men)?

Everything in advertising is intentional right? I mean look at her place, filled with empty liquor and beer bottles, a pizza box on the table with a lone slice left, the empty fridge; what is all this stuff saying? In the infamous words or Austin Powers, “She’s a man baby!!!”

As a side note, I think the use of racing at the end is interesting. If this ad were an American ad (HaHa, I know it would never make it on American television), but if it were, she would be watching football. You would hear the stereotypical announcer in the background or the referee making a call. But being an international ad, probably based out of Europe, they use racing. I know racing in other countries is huge; and they don't do any of that silly NASCAR crap where it is considered a skill to make left turns a.k.a. driving in a circle. Take what you want from this, it is just a note of interest on culture and advertising to different countries.

Here are some print executions I found as well.

Individual Blog Post #4

Corona, the long time fun in the sun, life on the beach beer is repositioning their brand. They are planning on moving more towards slice of life commercials. They will be focusing on "refreshing moments" at parties and other social events instead of the typical beachfront scene. It is hard to envision Corona creating ads like Coors. Yes, it does appeal to a younger demographic, but there tactics are what has given Corona the edge for so many years now. The people in their new ads probably drink Keystone, not Corona. Corona isn't meant for the younger consumer who drinks to get drunk; this is a beer to be enjoyed by someone who needs to get away and can appreciate the serenity of a time off. After all it is a vacation in a bottle right?

We won't see much of it, as they are doing it globally except for the U.S. but their website corona.com does reflect their new brand image. I am not sure how successful this will be as I do not live in one of the countries this is being tried in, but it will be very interesting to see how it affects the brand image and demographics. Perhaps Corona has not been as successful in the UK and the brand image doesn't have quite as strong of a hold as it does here. Their advertising is what makes Corona so unique, their ads stands apart from all other brewers - it doesn't have party girls or dumb jokes, but beautiful beaches.

Epic News Broadcast

Individual Blog Post #3 - This Read is Easy to Digest

Recently, I discovered that Readers Digest doesn't just do magazines. In fact they do a lot of stuff, but my new favorite thing is their select editions. It is a series of four condensed stories in one book. You can sample four books in the time it may take you to read one. It allows for you try out new authors you have never heard of, but at the same time authors that have been selected for their adept story telling. These books also feature well known authors such as Marry Higgins Clark and Nicholas Sparks.

The authors are often surprised at how well the story stays true to form despite the amount of information that was removed. Nicholas Sparks comments, "the editors of Reader's Digest Select Editions continue to work their magic, their treatment of my novels couldn't be better." For instance, I just read the book Whiteout by Ken Follett. If you read the book in its entirety it would be 396 pages long, while the story I read was only 165 pages. At first I was skeptical, if I want to read a story, I want read all of it, find out all of the character idiosyncrasies, and the get to experience all the details of the story. But as I read it, the story moved quickly; it was suspenseful and interesting. I didn't feel like anything was missing. When I read reviews of Whiteout, people said it was a mediocre story that moved too slowly. I was surprised to hear the review, but it makes you realize that Readers Digest took out all the extra information that can drag down a book. We've all been there; where a good story can drag on and on because unnecessary details and information impede the flow of the story.

There are just so many great books out there, and never enough time to experience them all. These books offer such a great solution! The books are short in pages to begin with, but the way they are edited makes them fast paced and quickly/easily read. I would recommend these books to anyone who feels like I do, too many books, not enough time.

Fish Out of Water

One of the biggest rivalries in sports history is between the Red Sox and the Yankees; not to worry, I am of course on the side of the better team, the Sox.  I've been a fan through thick and thin; I rioted the campus of UNH when we lost the division and I screamed until I lost my voice when we won the World Series   It's a roller coaster ride with those boys, but I wouldn't chose any other team to be mine.  

A Red Sox game is always intense, but never more than when a game against New York roles into town.  Fenway is sold out, the crowd is fired up, and no matter what happens at the end of the game, we'll still remain ever faithful.  Unfortunately, the only time I have ever had the opportunity to experience the electricity of a Red Sox-Yankees game was in New York.  There are always some Sox fans no matter where you go, but one definitely feels out of place inside the Yankee Stadium, where your rivals completely surround you.  

We took our seats, in the mob of New Yorkers, dressed in their pin stripes and "Red Sux" shirts and not so easily watched the game.  You feel so awkward and uncomfortable; you don't even want to really cheer for your team because of the glares and comments you get from the people around you.  Perhaps if I had gone with a larger group of people, I would have felt a little more confident, but in our small group of three girls, I wasn't feeling so sure.  It is a surreal feeling to go through the opposite emotional spectrum than the rest of the crowd.  Every time we strike out Jeter or Matsui, I want to jump from my seat with a surge of excitement, but instead I am deafened by a roar of boos; and just about the time I am ready to throw my beer at the Ump, everyone else is screaming in approval.  You are so out of place, and reminded with every pitch and swing of the bat.  You are the outsider.  You are the odd man out, and in this riotous crowd, that is not really who you want to be.  By the end of the game you are only quietly cheering to yourself in order to escape the scowls and comments of the people around you.  You are excited to be watching one of the most extreme rivalries in sports, but cannot fully enjoy it because you are uncomfortable in your own skin, or in this case, your baseball hat.

We ended up losing the game, which seemed like an even larger defeat as we walked out among fans cheering in elation.  People around us were all talking about the game, about the quality of their players and about the lack of ours. Of course we were heckled and teased about our boy's performance that night, but in the end this was probably better.  I think I would have rather been teased by happy fans, than pushed around by sore losers.  I never hope for a loss, but in this case, it was probably for the better.

Individual Blog Post #2

They keep saying that now is the time to buy, so I did.  With a little help from my mom, and decent down payment I had saved, I was able to get into a 1600 square foot, three bedroom, two and half bath home!  Just in time to start my life in the real world. The price was right, graduation is around the corner, and it seems my future is starting off on the right foot.  Now the only problem is filling this new house.  I'm pretty much out of money, and all I have is a bed and a desk.  That's not much furniture for a house that big; can you say craigslist?  Even if I don't have much money to spend, it's still fun to look, and I must admit, it has become quite a distraction as far as school work is concerned.  Hmm, write on my blog, or look up new stuff to buy for the house?  It is taking a serious amount of restraint as I type this now not be searching for new furniture, decor ideas or adding stuff to the registry.

James, my boyfriend, and I hope to be in before Christmas so that we have something special to look forward to, as presents are not in the picture this year.   We've already started the cleaning extravaganza and minor fixing, but there is still a lot to be done.  What's interesting is that I've never had so much fun putting in 14 hour days of cleaning.  I guess it's different when it's yours and you know how much money you just spent to get it.  

The whole process has been very interesting, from the excitement of finding the home, the anticipation of the offer approval, and the work to make it your own.  James and I have had a lot of fun so far picking out things and building our home together - we're just lucky we have the same taste!  

The downed economy has had its benefits for us young first time buyers; as the market were a few years ago, we would not be able to get into a home for many years.  This is an opportunity we are very thankful for. People are losing their homes, their jobs and their families over this crisis we are facing. On a more positive note, that does James and my conscience good, the house we bought was a conventional sale, not a foreclosure or short sale. We are not directly gaining from someone else's loss.

  

Individual Blog Post #1

I think it may be time to reevaluate my career choice, or at least Ad Age thinks I should.  According to a recent article, the advertising industry is losing the best and brightest recruits because of lack of compensation.  The average starting agency salary is $32,000, and in California that isn't much.  That is actually 20% lower than the average starting pay of a librarian.  That's insane.  The types of people they are looking for are opting for jobs in the FBI or consulting firms, where the average starting pay is $88,000.  It seems I definitely need to reconsider!  The biggest problem with this situation isn't for the starving ad exec, but for the advertising firm itself.  When the industry can't compete for the best talent, the industry slows, loses the ability to be innovative and in turn only looks less and less attractive to up and coming talent.  

Apparently ad firms feel the luster of the glamourous lifestyle that advertising provides is enough of an incentive to take the lower pay.  It's that whole love your job versus living above the poverty line paradox.  Of course the potential to move up in the firm is always a possibility, and with it comes better pay, but how long is one willing to wait?  If you are a young 20-something who can still live at home until you move up in your career and salary level, or at least until can afford to live on  your own, then this is a no brainer.  On the other hand if you have a mortgage and kids, this choice may not be so obvious, or may not even be a choice at all.  

This all seems a little depressing, but the reality is if you want the job of your dreams sometimes you have to make some sacrifices including low pay and late nights.  And in this economy, you better take what you can get!