New technologies in advertisement

The topic discussion this week was new technologies in media. I think that most advertisment is moving towards phone aps. Before the big thing was web advertisement but due to smart phones advertising has shifted. People are always on their phones non-stop because ya so conveiniant to have all this technology and power in one hand. 

For example qr codes are a big thing. It's a square fragmented 1 to 2 inch box that people can scan and it opens up a webepage or a coupon. Companies are really utilizing smart phones technology because it's instant and saves paper cost. 

I would like to see more advertisments related to gaming. If companies could find a way to make consumers interact with a game it could be cool. For example if you get high scores you get

Coupons to try new products and encourage consumers to write a review about it. Companies could also get a test group audience and even a consumer group or discover their market. 

Nostaligia pros and cons

Last week we discussed how brands use nostalgic advertising to sell products. In my opinion, some of the advantages of this form of advertisment are that they make you feel comforted, remenace about the past, and could even inspire people to do things. Brands like Coke-A-Cola and Disney do a good job in providing a innocent sense of nostaligia. 

However, every thing can have its pros and cons. A couple disadvantages could be that if misused consumers could be turned off by it. For example if may only be used for a specific audience with a older age group. Kids don't pay to much attention to it. Another con could be that misused it could mislead peeple Into buying unhealthy products. For example underaged kids buying cigarettes because they saw a nostalgic image of marburo man riding a horse and smoking one of their cigarettes. 

Things that appear manly or cool could be misinterpreted by a younger audience. 

Consumer behavior for Playstation

The new advertisement for the sony PS4 has been generation quite a buzz for excited play station gamers. The new console is scheduled to release next month. The commerical has a catchy tune and is marketed towards players who like to share the gaming experience with their friends. This is an interesting approach because lately most of the PS3 games have started to become more anti social. Many of the new games on the PS3 are 1 player with the option to play with others online but you can't play 2 player on the same console. I think Sony has begun to realize that people want to enjoy playing games with 1 or more other players right next to them instead of online. I think it takes the whole personal interaction away from the product. Microsoft has caught onto this a long time ago, with most of their games for the Xbox 360 being 2-4 players. It appears Sony is just catching on, better late then never. I'm interested to see if Microsoft will be raising the bar as they have been with their konnect technology and intense online gaming. The Xbox one will be release a month after the PS4 and so it will be exciting which brand takes the win. 

Here is the URL for the PS4 commercial 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s0d9d-cdxhk

Harley Davidson answers

Yes I do believe brand communities like Harley  Davidson result in greater involment in the brand. By creating this club or lifestyle for consumers, Harley is able to connect emotionally and engage their customers by giving them something to be apart of. 

Elements such as the free open road, old biker bars, and sharring travel stories help to bring meaning to the brand as more than just a brand but a lifestyle or biker culture. 

I think the company should not get more involved in the ride becasuse that would make it feel less rebellious and carefree 

I believe Harley could increase more involment in the brand by making a social network for riders to share stories and locations of good bars or stops to visit during a HOG posse ride. 

Chrysler fails to produce a winner

Last year Chrysler began its marketing campaign for the brand new mid size sedan named the Dodge Dart. It began advertising it during the MLB all star game featuring NFL star quarterback Tom Brady. Despite their excitement, their sales for the mid sized sedan has flopped. Among the two competitors which are the Civic and Corolla, Chrysler failed to produce a competitive mid sized sedan that would perform up to par. Initially, they sold roughly 200 units a month when it first came out. Although during the month of November they sold 4500 units it came very far from the competitors 30,000 units sold by Honda and 22,000 units sold by Toyota. Analysis say that the Dart's failure could be because Chrysler  has little experience in mid sized cars, with most of their successful vehicles being jeeps and trucks. Consumers also failed to give it a high rating due to its power train issues and steep priced options. 

Dodge did a great job in designing the exterior and interior but many consumers failed to give it a good rating because the car would tend to show several mechanical glitches after 20,000 miles. Dodge should stick to what they are known for, Ram trucks and SUVs like the Durango. 

I believe they had a good thing going by realizing that there was a market for mid sized sedans, however they failed to perform due to poor mechanical construction on their part. 

Should have sat this one out guys :) 

Rose petal play house commercial rewrite

I would start the commecial with a shot

of 4 multicultural kids each holding a product that comes in the cottage. It would also have a playful song in the back but nothing that makes it seem catered to little girls. Something maybe with a funny accent like how spongbob square pants has a pirate singing their theme song with kids shouting the courus in the background. The house itself would need to have less feminine colors. Maybe a green, yellow, and red color scheme. The little girls could still be doing stuff like cooking and rocking the baby but I would also include shots of what kind of things there are to do for boys. I think it is important for boys to have imaginations and being able to play along with girls. They could show boys cleaning the gutter or fixing the pipes with a girl handing him the tools and learning how to do it too. Finally I would end it with the kids giving eachother high fives for helping eachother out in different chores around the house and eating at the dinner table. 

Greenpeace UK environmental campaign

Greenpeace is a international campaign working across the globe fighting many environmental issues including climate change, protecting the forest, protecting the artic, and finding sustainable energy. It's interesting to see how much the internet has changed the world of advertising and how powerful social networking has become. Greenpeace does a good job in taking advantage of the internet by creating a twitter, YouTube, and Facebook account. They also have several actors and directors fighting with them towards their cause. In case anyone wants to check out some of their information here is a link 

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/global

This website provides good facts and strong arguments. It's nice to see that they combined social media with the help of famous people and also allowing ordinary people to make post and their Facebook and Twitter. 

I like what they are doing and wish them the best in their cause! 

Is gender stereotypes a reflection of today's society?

Last weeks topic was gender steriotypes. The question that was asked was whether gender steriotypes were setting the standards of society today or if it was instead mirroring it. I believe that it is simply reflecting it and that advertisments get these stereotypical ideas from modern society. I believe this to be true because you never really see new steriotypes out there in the media, advertisments even sometimes have a outdated portrayal of society at times. As society has begun to merge gender  roles (seen mainly in the workforce or in the household), we still see a majority of products marketed and even produced in favor of one gender. Take the tablet made by Eutostar. 

This tablet, sold on amazon, claims to have made the worlds first tablet exclusivly for women. The tablet comes equipped with apps that a woman would use such as yoga, recepie generator, weight loss, and measurement converter, amount others. 

I find it discouraging that these products that are new to the market are encouraging the roles of women by assuming that these are the apps that they need and want. This only barricades the gender roles and discourages women to venture out in trying new things that are considered "a man's job". In a way I think it's societies job to create the standards that the media should mirror, however there is no room to make this happen without further encouragement from the media because that is something we see everyday.