Tag Archives for advertising

Super Bowl ads may disappoint this year

According to Adage.com report on a recent Gallup study, Super Bowl ad recall suffers in tough economic times when consumer confidence is low. This coupled with the fact some advertisers like GM and FedEx are pulling out means the potential for disappointment this year is high.

For smart savvy marketers, the Super Bowl ads are always a bit of a joke — big bang for little effect. They are more of a showcase for the big brands like Budweiser or the new on the scene brands like GoDaddy.com. All that aside, it is still a sad day for marketers when we are not waiting with baited breathe to see every second of the advertising action.

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Burger King going viral again, but success is uncertain

The newest video viral campaign for Burger King is Whopper Virgins, which is a “pure” taste test between the Big Mac and the Whopper among people who have never heard of McDonald’s or Burger King much less a hamburger.

Adage recently published “Response to BK’s ‘Whopper Virgins’ Short of a Freakout“, which highlights the early stats on the campaign are “o.k. but promising” and tone of the buzz is waffling a bit as some negative buzz is coming in.

The bottom line:

Personally, I am not 100% sure how I would judge this campaign. It is a novel concept, but the social value is dubious to me.

I am still a fan of the previous Whopper Freakout campaign.

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You had to know search Ads on YouTube were coming

YouTube to offer search results advertising for videos

YouTube to offer search results advertising for videos

The New York Times reports in “YouTube to Sell Advertising on Pages of Search Results” that YouTube will start auctioning search ads to people/companies that want their videos to appear for search terms.

We all had to know this was coming. I think the interesting part of this article in the tiny quote from the CEO:

“I personally do not believe that the perfect ad product for YouTube has been invented yet,” Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said in a conference call with analysts in July

Few thoughts:

  • I would feel disheartened to be the guy/gal that came up with search results advertising they are releasing when the big guy isn’t sure it is right
  • I like that the CEO is managing expectations with analysts to say “we are still experimenting”
  • Why did it take this long? Two years…really?

Brands go negative, will it pay?

The New York Times ran a story today “Dueling Brands Pick Up Where Politicians Leave Off “. It highlights a recent advertising trend to run negative ads against a company’s competitor to better position products.

Brands that are highlighted include: Dunkin’ Donuts, Apple and the response from Microsoft, Campbell’s Soup and the response from Progresso.

Below is Dunkin’…

McDonald’s has done a similar tactic also with Starbuck’s in the sights.

Will these ads pay?

In the short-term, most likely as consumer spending tightens. The long-term is likely to just lead to increased rivalry in an already tough category (coffee, soup, computers). True differentiation and leadership by a brand is needed to sustain an advantage. The great thing about Apple’s “comparative” ads are that they truly have differentiation in the product and experience and that is what was highlighted as different and exciting. Has it outlived its usefulness? Yes. Time to innovate again…

Kelloggs & Walmart partner on value advertising

Let the rage of practical “penny” saving ads begin….

Who knew breakfast was so expensive. I understand the logic, but is Walmart trying to put McDonald’s out of business now? More likely, this is just a good way to stay relevant in a turbulent time and in great Walmart fashion their supplier footed the bill.

Check out the ad: http://walmartstores.com/Video/?id=1142