Lately we have been talking about good and bad publicity. We pose the question, is all publicity good publicity? In my opinion, I think that all publicity is good for someone's career if all they care about is being famous and being known. If a celebrity does something wrong and either goes to jail or rehad for it, there are always going to be fans out there who still like them, or who like them even more now because of their "bad" image. There are many celebrities who want to be seen as role models and they do not want their names spread across the tabloids each week for something small that they did and now regret. Also, you cannot always believe the publicity that you see. Even if it is publicity about something good a celeb has done, it still may not be true. This can go the same way for brands. For example, Abercrombie & Fitch got a lot of heat about their scandalous catalogue they produce. It gave A&F a bad image to some people, like parents, but a sexy, hot image to others, like teens or young adults. A&F obviously believes that all publicity is good publicity or they would not produce this magazine with fears that parents would not want their kids wearing A&F merchandise.

News

When I want to know about something I usually just look it up online. With today’s resources it’s so easy to go directly to what you want to know instead of having to watch long news broadcast. Every now and then I will watch the news if it is something major that is going on and I want to watch them broadcast the latest news, but for the most part I use news sources like USAtoday.com where I can get the news I want when I want it. I checked out both BBC and the New York times and found them also to be very good. They had a lot of options and showed world wide news which is really good because you can know what is going on around the world. BBC was very easy to navigate around and find what you want. New York Times was a really good website but tended to just be information on things that were happening in the United States with some information about world wide events. I think now matter how you get your news its important to know what is going on around you and around the world.

Professor Sanghvi asked us to compare the NY Times news, BBC news, and our local news to each other. For my news, I will usually just watch the morning news show on local tv stations so I can see what the weather will be like and just to see what is going on. I went to the NY Times webpage and also to BBC news webpage and I there are some differences in those sources and the local news webpage. In the NY Times they had more categories and articles to choose from. It was set up very well and you could easily read and naviagte your way around. BBC was great also because they had sections for each part of the world. NY Times had national news and then world news, but the world news section was very large and covered every other part of the world in one section. For the local news webpage, they provided accurate, efficient news, but it was mostly just local news. Local news does not cover as much national or worldly news that the NY Times or BBC covers. Personally, I liked the NY Times the best because I am more interested in national news. For someone who wants to know what is going on all around the world, BBC would be the best for them. How does this relate to marketing? I was asking myself this as I was looking at all of these websites. I believe that for small businesses the local news on televion and their website are great places for advertisements. A lot of people rely on the local news for weather and traffic, so many people will watch or visit the website numerous times a day and see an advertisement for a brand or local business. As for the NY Times and BBC, a brand that is known nationally and worldwide would do best advertising either in the paper or on the website. A brand that everyone knows and everyone has either used or will use in the future. A food or beverage brand would be best because everyone is familiar with these kinds of brands. Placing ads on the websites would be the best thing to do because there are a few number of people who actually pick up the NY Times newspaper and read it. Placing it online will be better visibility and will reach a broader audience.

When we watched the ad for Macy's that included all of the different celebrities and designers, I knew that I would remember this ad and think about it before I would remember or think about a Belk or Dillards ad. I think that Macy's does a great job of removing themselves from the boring department store group. When people think of Macy's they think of New York City and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. When people think of Belk or Dillards or JCPenney's they do not think of anything except low prices and good sales and department store products/layout. Having an ad on television about the different celebrities and designers that Macy's offers is a great way to individualize themselves from all of the other department stores that everyone is tired of. I am sure that Macy's will reap the benefits of this particular advertisement.

Persuasive Advertising

Today in class we looked at advertisements that were persuasive and affective. The commercial that was very persuasive was the Cheerio advertisment. It made you think of the brand and how something so small could bring people together. It is very important to accomplish a persuasive and affective advertisment because you want to spend your time and money wisely. If an ad does not capture people’s attention and make a person want to buy the product they are advertising then the ad was worthless and didn’t do what it was supposed to do. A persuasive ad is going to stick in a persons mind and hopefully turn that person into revenue for the brand instead of just a viewer. The Macy’s ad was also a really great ad it showed all the celebrities and brands that you could find at Macy’s instead of showing sales and items that you could buy. The advertisements that work the best are created and innovative, they show the true character of the brand and make you want to be apart of that brand and what they have to offer.

experiential marketing

In class we've been discussing experiential marketing and how Vera Wang could use that to promote her new line SimplyVera at Kohl's. I think that the best idea that we came up with was the have either a fashion show in the store, or have free makeovers in the store that use her clothing. Many consumer's who come into Kohl's either don't know about the line or don't really care. Those people need to be exposed to the new line or else it will never get sold. I don't think that the new line will really bring in any new customers for Kohl's because I think that Vera Wang fans do not want to buy her things at Kohl's. Once the Kohl's consumer's are aware of the brand, they are more likely to come back to the line and buy her things. The makeover would be a good chance for consumer's to interact with the store and see the clothing on themselves. Many times consumer's won't buy something because they do not think it will look good on them, but when someone makes them try it on they realize that it really does look good, and they end up purchasing it. Even if the Vera Wang prices are higher than the other Kohl's brands, if a woman looks good in something she will cough up the extra money to buy because she knows it looks good and feels good in it. I think that this would be one of the best things for Vera Wang to do to promote her line because otherwise I feel like it will not sell well and eventually fade out.

Yahoo Avatar

I thought that the Yahoo Avatar was very interesting. It gave you an endless number of different options that you could add to your woman/man. It was fun to play around and give her different features and outfits. I think that this would appeal more to a younger audience because its kind of like playing dress up only in a virtual way, but it could still be interesting for college students. I think that its helpful in a field like consumer apparel and retail studies because you can see how outfits work and try different kinds or styles but not actually have to try them on yourselves you and try them on the virtual doll first and see what you like and dislike. It would make a retailers job easier because they wouldn't have to waste the time of trying things on people first. I'm not really sure what else they could do to make it better because it has about every option that you could have as far as hair and facial expressions. With all of the different options you can create just about whoever you want to be. They could maybe use a little more clothing options and more accessories. For the most part i really like doing the avatar and enjoyed getting to try different clothing and different ideas.
-Asia

Yahoo Avatars

I had never heard of Yahoo Avatars before, but after visiting the site and playing around with it, it seems pretty fun. I don't really know what the point of having one is...(maybe for your Yahoo messenger?)...but it is fun to play around with. I really like that there are so many options for what you can do to your avatar. The organizational or 'for a cause' options of t-shirts or backgrounds make it very versatile and interesting. I don't really have any suggestions because they've already thought of everything. I would have never thought of some of the hairstyles or different options for the avatars. Beyond a physical aspect, it would be kind of fun and interesting if you could make them talk or interact with others. Also, having options for careers they could have or families that they could make...it might take it to another level beyond just the physical attributes. Another thought that I had was that they could have options as to what brand of clothing or what designer clothing they could wear. The brands may be able to make money off of this or just increase their brand awareness. I saw on there that Pepsi has teamed up and I think that this is a great way to get the brand more publicity. Other brands should follow in their footsteps and think about doing the same thing.


--jordan.

Everyone loves to go to their mailbox (physical or virtual) and find new coupons for their favorite stores. I know that I love the Target clipless coupons that they send out and also the dozens of coupons for Bed, Bath, & Beyond that I faithfully get every month. Making the public consumers aware of your brand is one step in increasing your customers, their loyalty, and sales. If I have a coupon for a certain store, I am more likely to go choose that store over another one because I know that I will save money. Even if it is a 10% off coupon and it won't save me much on my $20 purchase, I'll probably go there just because I have the coupon and I am reminded of the store. Many times I'll forget about a certain store, but once I get a coupon from them, I suddenly remember that I need something from that store. There are tons of stores that do not send out any type of coupon or promotional advertisement. I feel like if those stores would start to do that, then their customer base would expand and they would have more traffic to their stores. Even though coupons can be costly to a company, the customer loyalty that comes from coupons is amazing. I work in a clothing retail store and I see the same customers come in weekly because of the new coupons that they got in the mail. Most of the time theyw oudl not have came by to shop if it wasn't for the coupon. Once the customer is in the store, they are more likely to buy more than what is required for the coupon (if anything), so for the most part, it can benefit a company. Awareness of the brand is not going to come from walking by it in the mall, it is going to come from good advertising and promotional sales and coupons that will remind the consumer of the brand/store and draw them in to make a purchase.

Symbolic Positioning---Is it all fake?

Positioning can either be functional, symbolic, or experiential. A lot of companies use symbolic positioning to make consumers think that if they use their product or wear their product they will give them a certain status. One example are the ads for Abercrombie & Fitch. The ads include almost nude models caressing each other while music is playing in the background. First of all, it doesn't even show the clothing, so the product isn't even shown. Second of all, the ad is very sexy and conveys the view that if you wear this clothing, you will be sexy also and have people caressing you. Obviously, just wearing a t-shirt from A&F is not going to automatically make you sexy. Another example shampoo commercials. Many shampoo commercials show that their shampoo will make your hair shiny and full and beautiful. Of course it happens for the models on the commercial, but this is not definitely going to happen for you. Symbolic positioning is a way to show consumers what could happen with their product if you have the perfect body, or if you have perfect hair. Most people take these commercials lightly, but young, impressionable minds probably do not. Most uses of symbolic positioning are far-fetched...but at least they're entertaining.

Brand Managers

Being a brand manager for a celebrity or company comes with many responsibilities. It's your job to make sure that the person or the company looks as good as possible to the public. I think a lot of celebrities today should have better brand managers because a lot of brand managers are not doing good jobs in helping their images and making them someone that people like. In Hollywood it seems that all the young celebrities are being known for the bad things that they do and they are not getting known for the work that they do. I think that their brand managers should reevaluate what they are doing and really try to change their images. I think that having a certain brand or image is really important for celebrities today because that is what they are known for and that is what people are going to remember them by. They should take a look at what they do and try to better their image by doing things that will make them look better and be better people to look up to.

SICKO

Along with other topics, we discussed whether or not pharmaceutical companies are ethical in their advertisements. There were many who thought that pharmaceutical companies are unethical in showing commercials about new medicines that you can get from your doctor. I disagree because how is the COMMERCIAL and the MARKETERS hurting the consumer? The consumer is the one who buys into the commercial and diagnoses themselves with these sickness' or diseases. The companies do not make the consumer do anything that they do not want to do. I truly believe that it is a psychological problem that the consumer has. If they watch these commercials, diagnose themselves, believe with all their heart that they have this particular sickness, and the doctor prescribes this prescription to them, then that is their own will and no one can blame that on marketers. Marketing companies are only trying to advertise these medications for people who ACTUALLY HAVE this sickness or disease because they should be informed about their choices. So, for the sick people's sake, marketers are actually doing something quite ethical.

-Jordan.


---one side note that I would like to make is that if some of the students in our class are marketing majors or even CARS majors who are thinking about a career in advertising whether it be food, medicine, clothing, etc. and they think that these ads and marketers are unethical, than they may need to rethink their career choice because when they are the marketers and are trying to sell a product, they are going to do their job of advertising the product....regardless of if this product could POTENTIALLY harm the consumer. IT'S UP TO THE CONSUMER!!!! THEY ULTIMATELY MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS....NO MARKETER, ADVERTISING AGENCY, OR COMPANY IS PUTTING A GUN TO THEIR HEAD MAKING THEM BUY OR USE THIS PRODUCT.

Old Navy Ad

I read Professor Sanghvi's blog that posted the concern about the new Old Navy ads for the new "flirt" style of jeans. I have seen the commercial many times and I have never listened to the song close enough to hear those lyrics that Anamarie considered so offensive. I believe that the lyrics implied that when a woman says "No" she's only flirting, and this offends Anamarie because it disregards the importance of taking a woman seriously when she says "No", and promotes (in some way) sexual assault on a woman. I think that Anamarie is taking this way too seriously. I think that people are watching the commercial and looking at the jeans more than they are listening to the song. I am sure that Old Navy is not trying to promote sexual harassement or trying to degrade women's rights to say "No" when they feel sexually pressured. Old Navy has obviously put more attention and detail into the actions in the commercial than they did the song because in this commercial they are not only advertising the "flirt" style of jeans, but also two other new styles--and neither of these style's names are mentioned in the song. This commercial is still going to advertise the jeans well and it is going to make people watch the commercial and remember it even if it has "offensive" remarks in the song.

Celebrity Endorser

I think that using a celebrity endorser for Geico could really end up helping them. Usually when you see a familiar face or a celebrity you relate them to things that they are synonyms with. If they did a commercial for Geico every time you would see that celebrity in a movie or on TV you would think of the commercials that they did for Geico and therefore you would remember Geico. It could affect them negatively if the celebrity started getting bad press and was looked at in a negative way. That’s why companies have to be careful when picking a celebrity sponsor because you wouldn't want them to make your company look bad. But otherwise I think that it’s a good idea and a profitable idea.

First Blog Entry

We always see the "Geico" commercials on television and we all remember them because of the gecko, or the cavemen. While these are very eye-catching commercials and they help you to remember the company "Geico", they do not help you to remember that Geico can help you save money on car insurance. In my opinion, they should probably try to follow the route that AllState Car Insurance is taking by having a celebrity endorser, a catchy commercial, but also making sure that the point of their business is coming across.