Jeep: Advertising for an Older Audience

On this past Wednesday my group and I was asked to put together a commercial for an audience around 50-70 years in age.  The commercial in question was focusing on a Jeep vehicle.  Our group had to keep in mind what appealed to the older generation, such as costs and reliability.

The commercial starts off with a group of older friends walking to a 2013 Jeep Compass, ready for an adventure.  A grandma gets in the drivers seat and begins to drive her friends to the spot where they were going to go hiking in the hills.  Suddenly the grandma gets a call from her daughter as they arrive at the trail.  Turns out her granddaughter isn't feeling well and needs to be picked up from school immediately.  The group of friends turn around and get back into the compass.  Just when the audience expects a regular drive back, the commercial suddenly turns into a adventure filled with obstacles to get to the school.  The grandma puts on her racing gloves and it begins.  The camera zooms out to showcase the Jeep compass enter a fantasy land where it needs to go over rocks and stop for exotic animals.  After completing a series of obstacles the Jeep finally comes to a stop at the school.  The chaos then stops and the fantasy land disappears to a calm moment.  All four doors of the car then pop open just like in action movies when they walk away from the explosion, the friends slowly walk into the school in slow motion, some have canes and others are dramatically wiping sweat from their heads.  The camera then flips around to showcase the vehicle and then the commercial cuts off.

Oh and Betty White has to be in it because she brings such a youthful and comical side that would really benefit the commercial haha

Harley- Davidson: Consumer Motivation

After reading up on some of the ways Harley Davidson interacts with consumers, it is clear that they know how to make the consumer feel involved with the brand.  Harley created a Posse Ride which allows brand lovers to gather and ride their bikes together through different check points.  Below I will answer the following questions provided for this assignment.

1. Yes I do believe that by gathering people together for the same brand interest increases consumer involvement with the brand.  The involvement increases the consumers tie to brand but not only that but also tie them with other people who share their interests.

2. The elements of the Posse Ride that enhance the meaning of the brand to consumers, is creating the lifestyle the brand sells.  By actually using the product and having new experiences with new people it really gives the consumers a positive outlook on the brand.

3. No I do not believe that Harley should get more involved with the ride because it shouldn't some off as too organized.  The brand its self is about freedom and a more laid back approach I think.  In my opinion people who buy Harley's don't seem like the kind that want a super organized event.  They just want to ride and enjoy the experience.

4. In addition to the Posse Ride, I think Harley-Davidson could benefit from possibly more frequent and smaller events.  Even a restaurant (bar) would be interesting.

Day In the Life: Ed

Meet Ed, he is a high school science teacher.  He wakes up every morning to his IPhone alarm around 5:00am.  He then proceeds to plug in his coffee maker and pour in some Fair Trade grounds.  Ed doesn't like to leave anything plugged in to save energy.  He then takes a strict five minute shower and turns the faucet on for under a second to put water on his toothbrush.  Ed loves to ride his bike to work usually, but relies on his car in the winter.  When it comes to appearance, he goes for the natural scruffy look and carries his beige recycled knapsack everywhere.  On this particular day Ed headed to work in his old broken down station wagon because it was raining.  As soon as he got to work he opened up is classroom and cleaned the desks with eco-friendly disinfectant.  He then scanned his IPhone for the latest in the science world.  See, Ed doesn't like wasting paper but when the school delivers it to his classroom he takes home recycles it usefully.  As Ed was searching his phone for the next type of seeds he wants for his garden he stumbled across a SmartCar ad.  Although Ed already had a car, this one was advertised as very efficient and would be much less of a waste of energy than his bulky station wagon.  The ad even caught his attention with the green background.  With that last thought running through his mind the bell rang.  As usual the students came in and he gave his powerpoint lecture on the contents of a cell. Ed also does not give out paper handouts, instead has an online website for the students.  Once his day was over he pulled out his homemade sandwich wrapped in fabric and ate with his pals at a Cafe they meet at on Wednesdays. There, Ed discussed his concerns on the latest oil spill near the Golden Gate.  Once finished, Ed went home and pondered the ad he saw earlier.  Later that evening just before he went to bed, and after all the plugs were out he decided that he needed a SmartCar.

What Ed might look like below.    :)

And here is the ad he viewed.

Mazda Ad Failure: Consumer Behavior

Last year Mazda launched a commercial for their SUV using The Lorax to promote their vehicle.  Where it went horribly wrong is when the advertisement went against the movies message. The Lorax had just came out in theaters and was a well known Dr. Seuss tale.  It seems natural that Mazda would use a new movie to promote their car since many other brands have done the same, but it is obvious they didn't think this one through.  See, if you had heard of the Lorax story before you would understand it is a story about not compromising values and saving the "truffula trees".  The big picture is not ruining the environment.  However this ad is marketing a car that is not in anyway a "green" vehicle.  It is a very mixed message ad that left many consumers very upset and lost some consumers trust in the brand because of the bad portrayal.  It is hard to tell if this is a macro or micro approach since it is targeted at a younger audience but also a "green" audience.  What's worse is that they tried to market car as "fuel efficient" when it is not eco-friendly at all.  All around this ad is a complete fail and displays how consumer behavior plays a role in either the success or the failure of an ad campaign.

Below is the Mazda Commercial.

WWF: Advertising Methods

I picked the World Wildlife Fund as my topic because I really admire their campaign.  When doing a little research on some of their ads I came across this...

I know this is not exactly "digital" campaign like a social network campaign but I believe this is equally efficient.  In this ad we have a bathroom paper towel dispenser shown in three different shots.  As you can see there is a cut out of South America and the more you use the towels the cutout turns black.  This is used to show you that by using these towels you are destroying South American rain forests.  It's quite a clever idea and makes makes you a part of the issue because you are physically contributing to the loss of paper.  Upon further research I found that this ad was done by Saatchi and Saatchi which the professor talked about in class on Monday.  This explains the aggressiveness and directness of the message that WWF wanted to get across.

Above is a screenshot from a website detailing WWF's recent digital campaign.  As you can see they have created an app that allows you to get closer with your favorite animal.  By doing so it is probably more likely that you would donate for the cause.  This to is a very smart idea by WWF because again it is making the audience more aware and makes it a personal problem for the individual by bringing in something they care for like an animal.  Similar to the commercials that had sad music and abused animals this app allows the audience you get a emotional reaction from the experience. 

Gender Stereotyping: Still Used??

As much as I want to question why we still stereotype in advertisements today, I just can't imagine ads without them.  What I mean is what would be left?  Just imagine trying to sell a pair of girls shoes but you can't put just girls in the ad because that would be deemed a gender stereotype.  In a world where everyone seems to have a problem with something its hard to figure out whats acceptable.  Honestly, it's tiring even thinking about all the problems someone can have with a certain advertisement.  To me there is nothing wrong with a little gender stereotyping like displayed in the diet coke commercial that poked innocent fun at a stereotypical girls fantasy.  Below is the commercial that the professor displayed on Wednesday.  Yes, the stereotype of the man mowing the lawn and the girls gossiping is a little much, but I think this ad is funny and original which sticks out in the mostly man pleasing ad selection.  I know two wrongs don't make a right when the tables are turned but why not?  We both know Carl's Jr. ads featuring half naked women aren't going away so why not make an even playing field?  I am not gonna lie if I was at the park with my friends and this happened we would have acted the same way so I can't judge.

However, that Rose Petal Cottage ad was a clear overstepping of boundaries in gender stereotyping.

 The Cottage ad was just overkill on so many levels, from the song that was high-pitched to the little girl doing house chores.  Seems like a commercial stuck in the past along with old traditional values.  This is the type of commercial that enters a touchy subject, especially since it was imposed on little girls.  What makes me really upset is this is what innocent children are watching mostly without parental supervision.  I really feel like there should be some type of stricter guidelines when it comes to ads on children's channels.  I wish I could just sit here and tell you whats wrong and whats right but truth is it really just depends on the ad and how you use the stereotype that makes it either acceptable or comically bad like the Cottage ad.