TV and Radio Advertising

Television Ads:

Not having cable made it more difficult to accomplish the first portion of this blog post. However, due to the fact that I live in Wisconsin, I will not miss a Green Bay Packer game. I typically go over to my friends house to view the games because he has a great set up for viewing the games. The set up is complete with a 60-inch flat-screen television, surround sound, and an extremely comfortable, over-sized couch. Packer games are usually the only times that I really tune into television programming, which is not a bad thing in my opinion. As I was watching the game this passed weekend, there were a great deal of ads that passed through my viewing. I typically tune out ads that are irrelevant to my interests, unless they are comical. There were two ads in particular that stuck out as I was watching the game. One ad was for Nike and the other was for Miller Lite. The new Nike Lebron James Ad was a great ad in my opinion as it kept my attention due to the energetic feel. It almost made me feel like I wanted to get up off the comfortable, over-sized couch and join in the caravan. Key word being almost, because honestly, who would want to leave such a comfortable seat? This ad was very much in line with the target market tuned into the channel. It is pretty wise to say that people viewing a sports game would be interested in Nike's products. I did not really see a of advertising during the game versus before or after the game. All of the ads seemed to be relevant to the market of who would be viewing that channel at that time period.

The second ad that I found memorable was that Miller Lite ad with Ken Jeong. This may have been memorable just based on the fact that Ken Jeong is someone that I find to be a very hilarious and entertaining individual. The ad definitely fits the target market that would be viewing the game for a few reasons. One main reason is that most sports fans do enjoy drinking beer as they watch their favorite sports team compete. In addition to fans enjoying the consumption of beer during sports games, Packers fans know full well that Miller is a huge sponsor for the Packers and many fans love having their Miller time! Also, ads such as this grab viewers attention because of the celebrity factory. When people view an ad with a character that they enjoy seeing in movies, they tend to remember the ad more. This as has the celebrity factor as well as the comical factor. Ken Jeong is a perfect person to play the role of a guy who one-ups his friends because of the sheer hilarity that he brings to the table.

Radio Ads: 

Similarly to television advertising, radio advertising is not something that I am usually tuned into. This is because I prefer my own music and tend to either have my iPod plugged in or I am streaming music that I like. The only time that I really hear radio advertising is the select times at work when we listen to the news station based out of Milwaukee, 620 WTMJ, otherwise we are streaming music at work from internet radio sites. This passed week at work I made an effort to hear what was being advertised on 620, and there were a few ads that I found relevant. Most of the ads were for businesses in the Milwaukee community which do not have any relevance to me based on where I live, but I evaluated them as if I were from that area. Ads that I heard ranged from NuMale Medical ads to restaurant ads for the local eatery called the Mine Shaft. Advertising for restaurants is a fairly common ad that I feel you would hear when listening to radio. But, the NuMale Medical ads kind of caught me off guard. Usually I do not hear advertising for men's sexual health and performance on the radio, but, for a radio station that is geared towards older listeners, I was not totally surprised that they were advertising on the station multiple times a day.

More ads included ones for businesses who provide services to other businesses, like air compression systems and plumbing and heating had. People listening during the day are most likely at work, like I was, and advertising their business on the radio allows people working in shops to hear what companies are providing what services. With the amount of times the ads were played, it is not hard to believe that if people come into a rough spot with plumbing that the first company they think of would be the company advertising many times during their work day. I felt that all of the ads that were being broadcast were relevant to the stations listeners. If they were not, I don't think that the companies would have chosen to advertise on that station.

Blu Cig Magazine Ad Review

This advertisement for the Blu electronic cigarette is one the is sure to leave a mark on the mind of the viewers. the overall composition of the ad is great and the elderly lady being the focal point, doing something that is not very lady like, is a huge attention grabber. I think that the ad is meant to attract cigarette smokers who are ready for something new, stylish, and smoke free. People who are ready to kick the bucket with conventional cigarette smoking altogether. By using print media to advertise this message, viewers are able to read and understand the full message of the ad. Having an ad like this on television could be deemed very controversial, and, it might not have the same effectiveness as it does in print. The snapshot of the lady resonates in my mind as I think about the Blu electronic cigarette. This may also be the case for many of the other ad viewers. The objectives of the ad shown are to get people to switch to electronic cigarettes, which are safer and healthier. If or when people switch, Blu Cig want to be the first that comes to mind. Blu Cig wants to be the brand that helps you beat the smoking ban. This ad was published in a Sport Illustrated magazine. I feel that they chose this publication to get people who are sports enthusiasts that smoke, to become aware of a better alternative to smoking cigarettes. Because this product is vapor and not harmful smoke, smoking a Blu Cig is not as taxing on someone who is physically active. People that are addicted to nicotine are going to smoke, why not give them a safer, cleaner way to do it?

Social Media Advertising

One of the first Facebook fan pages that I decided to take a look at was Gatorade. Gatorade has many ways of engaging with their fans on their page. Some of these ways include things such as giveaways, contests, and sometimes it is even as simple as inspirational photos, like the one depicted on the right. These photos that drive their fans to become active and stay motivated are used daily on their page and they usually are associated with a hashtag that allows them to reference the promotional campaign going on at the time. The hashtag for the most current advertising campaign is #winfromwithin. These pictures generate a great deal of buzz on their site through their fans. Fans comment on the ones that they feel are most compelling and ones that they feel drive them the most. This constant flow of picture keeps Gatorade active in their fans newsfeeds and their brand stays at the forefront of potential customers minds.

Nike follows suit in the game of adding a constant flow of pictures to keep their fans actively engaged with their fan page on Facebook. There is a wide range of pictures that flow throughout the page among the regular flow of status updates, contests, and giveaways. Breaking away from the the new craze of hashtags, Nike simply relies on their slogan to propel their pictures and call their viewers to action. Fans comment on their photos and the company listens to what is said, and sometime, they will comment to keep the active flow of communication so that users see that they are being heard by the company. The picture on the left really has a great call to action for the viewer and it is followed up by their very memorable slogan that most everybody in the world today knows. They might even be able to get away with just placing the Swoosh at the end because their logo is that strong.

Under Armour also follows along with the two previous examples given above with how they engage their viewers. Pictures are always a great way to draw in the attention of their fans. This generates buzz about the newest picture or the newest product revealed on their page. Under Armour does go a little further than the others with their pictures. They do have their hashtag to reference the new marketing campaign, but, they also have pictures, such as the one on the right, that bring the new seasonal change, ad a picture that shows that products that fit the new season, and have the ad serve as a gateway to their online store. This picture takes the fan to the fall/winter wear section of their Web site in hopes that they need to stock up for the seasonal change. This is a great way to get their viewers from the page to the actual store.

Here are two of the sites that I felt X-Scream could use as areas of advertising for their magazine. The first one that I chose is CCS, which is an action sports store. Their Web address is http://shop.ccs.com/. The second on that I chose was another actions sports website, with more of a focus on the board sports. The Web site is The-House Boardshop and their Web address is http://www.the-house.com/. I feel that both of these sites are very applicable for X-Scream to advertise on because they both are in the same area of sporting entertainment. The people who will be searching through these sites will have interest in action sports which is exactly what X-Scream needs for their magazine. Many of the viewers also do subscribe to magazines to keep up on what is happening in the world of action sports. It is more likely that they will receive more hits on their ad being on a site where people actually have interest in what is being advertised on the banner ad. If I were to design a banner ad for X-Scream, I would use a professional athlete in the action sports world as the focus. I would have a shot of them in the middle of a battle cry, which would show a great deal of emotion to draw in the viewers. Next, I would add in a phrase, such as, "Go ahead, Scream!" or something along the lines of a call to action, followed by X-Scream magazine. I feel that having an ad where you can almost feel the emotion pouring out of it is crucial to grabbing attention of viewers. This banner ad would take them to the site homepage, and from there they have the option to subscribe, but, it is not force upon them right from the get go. The choice to browse is key so that they do not feel pressured into subscribing to the magazine.