I do not condone this direct to consumer advertising scheme that most of the large drug companies have. In fact, I abhor it. It's a sleazy slimeball way to get consumers to take a product that they might not necessarily need. Really, how many of the men with erectile dysfunction are old and should not be trying to get it up anyway?
The commercial for Enzyte always comes up when I'm trying to watch the Daily Show. Morality aside, I do thing that this is a somewhat effective commercial. After all, I pay attention to it. I think the thing that gets to me most is that man with the really creepy forced smile.
I don't really remember much of the commercial (even if I do see it everyday), but I can clearly picture that smile in my head. And that half wave. I found a different commercial advertising the same product on YouTube, but this will give you a sense of just how cheesy Enzyte's commercials are.
As far as intent goes, it's not a bad commercial. I had to look up the name of the product before writing this post, but I'm sure if I had asked my friends, "What's the name of that product? It has a commercial spot during the Daily Show featuring a man with a huge creepy smile," at least one of them would be able to tell me the product name. So I suppose it's effective. I doubt Enzyte will knock Viagra out of the number one spot as the brunt of all limp jokes, but at least it's getting out there.
But, if you're going to talk about entertainment, it's pretty terrible. They always have the most stereotypical comments and euphemisms. I don't enjoy watching the commercial at all and dread it when it does come on. Why? Annoyance really. It's that smile again. Everything comes back to the smile.
The real dilemma in this case is: a commercial that'll stick in people's minds with a very clear-cut idea of what the product is for or a commercial that's there to entertain and to be forgotten about once the next one comes up.
As I sit here tacking stickers with our company's logo on promotional bottles of hair gel, I really have to wonder just how effective these small items are. What does a software company and hair gel, mints, and some of these other nicknacks have in common?
My dad used to bring back all sorts of little toys from software trade shows. I've played with fuzzy little monitor creatures, temporary tattoos, and all sorts of wacky pencils. I have no idea what company those things were trying to promote, nor did I really care. Of course, I was not the target market, but I can almost say for certain that my dad didn't care either. He just tossed the free stuff my way and never gave them a second glance.
Now that I have become the target market for these products that I'm labeling, I still don't understand why companies give them out. I'm not saying it's a nice gesture, but I think some people could use a little creativity with the things they give out. Maybe go for things that people would actually use.... like CBS's new egg marketing idea. I don't really like the though of things stamped onto my eggs, but at least people will see them every time they go reach for an egg.
There is a food cart in New York City. Probably half the New Yorkers know which one I'm talking about even just from that first sentence. There is a famous food cart in New York that gets a lot of business every night, even when it's raining. People are willing to stand in line for more than half an hour just to get a dish from this famous food cart.
What is really impressive about this food cart is not just the amount of dough the owners must be sitting on but also just how everyone knows about it. They don't advertise anywhere so their customers must know about that place through word of mouth. And it must have been pretty powerful word of mouth because once anyone of my friends mentions the words 'chicken and rice,' we all know what that person is talking about. How does a food cart without a name, without an image, without any sort of advertising get so much business while a food cart selling the exact same type of food a block away doesn't get any?
This is real word of mouth. Everyone is willing to talk about the product without being "inspired" by advertisers. I work for a word of mouth company so I know what it's like when people are given rewards for spreading word of mouth. Many times this comes of as ingenuine and easy to see through as being just part of a marketing scheme. But the lovers of chicken and rice are happy and even excited to talk about chicken and rice. That enthusiasm is hard to buy. Even companies with all the advertising money in the world don't get that kind of excitement. I don't hear any one of my friends raving about how amazing Coke is.
One of my all-time favorite commercials is this one done for Barr's Irn Bru, a famous Scottish soft drink.
It's a simple commercial, but it's very amusing. How often do you see old ladies popping out of luggage cases? I am usually looking for original ideas, but not all ideas are originals. In fact, most of the commercials out there are recycled over and over again. But this idea of the product being more amusing than whatever else is happening in the world works well here.
Okay, I may be biased a little. Irn Bru has always held a special place in my heart ever since I first tried it in Scotland. My love for Irn Bru was something that I could bring back to America and share with other people, something no one else has ever experienced before. And I do suppose this love of sharing the greatness of this soft drink is one of my reasons for wanting to praise this commercial (or advert as those UK people like to call them).
On an unrelated note, I was just thinking about my criticism for the egg radio commercial that I heard. I suppose it's not entirely fair to criticize something and not come up with a better alternative. After thinking about it for all of about five minutes, I came up with a path that the egg should follow.
The egg is good for the body because it provides a source of protein. Of course the American Egg Board would prefer to have the egg as an all-the-time food instead of just a breakfast food, which is what it's currently most commonly seen as. In order to do this, it's necessary to point out just why the egg is so great that it could be eaten at every meal.
I was thinking along the lines of having strong people try to crack an egg by holding it vertically between their thumb and index finger. It's nearly impossible to do so. A possible slogan for something like this could be "Live Toughly" or something along the lines of being strong.
I was listening to LAUNCHcast radio. I really like the ability to customize my music, and Launch is about as close as I'm going to get to having all my music with me.
In between all my good music, I have to listen to the commercials that Launch occassionally puts on for people like me (i.e. a college student who can't pay for a subscription). I heard one this morning that just made me say, "What the fuck?" This was inside my head, of course, because I'm sure my boss wouldn't appreciate that.
Because it was the radio, it just had one person telling the audience something. This is what he said:
They say it truly exists so we seek it out, we seek for this miracle food with 9 amino acids. The local seers - we call it: the egg.
And then came the tagline: The incredible, edible egg. Nature's miracle food.
Learn more at the american egg board.com
Okay, who were the copywriters who came up with that one? Incredible, edible egg? Nature's MIRACLE food? Really, it just sounds like someone was trying too hard to come up with a slogan. It may sound cute in print, but all the hyperbole does is make people laugh while shaking their heads in disbelief. There's no way I'm going to believe that an egg is nature's miracle food.
I understand that it's hard to get people excited about an inexciting commodity like an egg. I think before they can do thaty, they must first understand what makes the egg so much better than other products out there (and no, being edible doesn't count). Of all the generic food products, I think the only really successful campaign was the one done for milk. Because I had them continuously telling me how milk does my body good while I was growing up, I simply cannot believe that people used to drink more SODA for breakfast than they did milk. I can't imagine drinking soda for breakfast. Also, the milk mustache campaign was extremely successful. I think one of the signs of a good campaign is one that can be parodied and still cause people to think about the product.
And I just noticed that it's really the American Egg Board (AEB) dot ORG. I'm pretty certain the commercial said dot com. I'll have to listen to it again next week while at work to make sure.
I'm sorry egg. You're going to have to try harder.
I think what really impresses me about this ad is that you can tell it's a Snickers ad just from the colors and the typography. And it reminds you that Snickers is about satisfying your hunger. There's nothing new to learn from the ad; it just serves as a reminder. And it's quite interesting. There are other ones around such as 'Hungerectomy' and such, which are not really all that clever, but it still says something about the brand.
This is another one that I saw today. It's a Cingular billboard. The orange part at the bottom says 'Calls,' which goes with their recent campaign of how they have the fewest dropped calls. I think it's a good use of space.
There are many blogs out in the blogosphere (I have never had to use this word before) that talk about advertising and marketing. Some of them complain about ads, some just post them so others can see, and some are from companies themselves. In an effort to be different - because that's what branding is all about, isn't it - this blog will not provide insight on the advertising world. It will not analyze ads and news.
However, this blog will be a medium for me to say what I think about ads that make an impression on me. Sometimes there will be praise, sometimes there will be jabs. This will be my own personal opinion so I have something to refer back to if I ever need to talk about advertising for any reason. And hopefully, one day advertisers will look to this and use it to analyze what works and what doesn't. But they'll have to do so themselves as I won't be of too much help.
This is the blog of a female minority of the 16-24 age group demographic. This is what she says.
This is just a place where I, an undergraduate marketing major, will talk about anything marketing or advertising related that may affect my life. I'm not sure what direction this blog will take or if I'll continue using it, but here we go.
