Let me tell you, for my final required blog post for the semester, about one of my biggest pet peeves. We'll need some background first.
So in order for me to fall asleep, I need to have my brain thinking of one thing, but it can't be real life. A story, a tv show, anything. It needs to be loud enough for me to hear it, but barely hear it. I want it quiet enough so that when I fall asleep, the tv show won't wake me up. I set my sleep timers for an hour on my television, just to be safe.
BUT THEN THERE'S A COMMERCIAL THAT GOES LIKE THIS AND YELLS AND THE MUSIC IS LOUD AND THERE'S SO MUCH NOISE AND I WAS SO CLOSE TO BEING ASLEEP...
Well, I've got to tell you. It's worked before, it does grab the viewer's attention, and they do at least see or hear what the heck it is you're selling or doing. But let me be honest, I hate you and will never buy from you/whatever it is your selling simply because you're obnoxiously loud. Even if I LOVE buying pillows from PillowPuffMart or something, if I heard a commercial of them SCREAMING LIKE THIS then I would never buy from them ever again.
Good news for consumers! Bad news for marketers: You can't yell at me when I'm trying to sleep anymore.
This only relates to marketing in the sense of WHY they're doing it, and how this could most assuredly hurt some companies. Some people actually like being caught off-guard by your loud noises, and will be more interested in your wares because of it. I'm not one of those people, but there are people like that in the world.
Good new for consumers, my ear drums are safe and you'll stop waking me up.
So what can marketers do now? Clearly they need to flash bright colors and white light instead, so it'll blind me. Kidding. Now, those weird TV spot commercials will have to actually think of decent commercials instead of blowing out everyones' eardrums. I'm actually really excited to see what some of them will come up with, which might sound really nerdy, but I think it could be really funny.
Marketers make it work! That'll be the title of my blog post when I figure out what they're doing instead..
Until next time!
-MG
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
How Quotes Change Everything
Let me preface with this: I am not a crazy feminist. I don't believe in women having more power than men because we're better or something obscure like that. Heck, if I get home before my future husband, I'll have dinner on the table for him when he gets home - because I like cooking and I assume I'll enjoy eating with my husband.
But I love this article on a gender equality (Which I am all for) article with some pretty excellent pictures.
I'm a big fan of this girl.
I thought this one was really eye-catching and good.
But what I really want to mention is a line from the article.. The creative brief for the “Gender Equality Now” exhibition carries a quote from Clinton that states, “As long as girls and women are valued less, fed less, fed last, overworked, underpaid, not schooled and subjected to violence in and out of their homes, the potential of the human family to create a peaceful, prosperous world will not be realised.”
Let me tell you something about quotes. I'm obsessed with them. I find them hugely inspiring, and when we're they're really well put-together, they're very focused. Conveniently enough, that's everything a creative brief should be. I'm going to be honest here, I have a board on pinterest called 'Quotes' and it's easily my most filled board. I. Love. Quotes.
Which made me realize, I love the idea of quotes in a creative brief! Why didn't my group think of that for our creative brief?! What an amazing idea! I'm impressed. Again, with my post on creativity, I'll use this for any future creative brief I need to make. Let's be real, wow. I'm not entirely sure why I'm so impressed with this - I'm sure plenty of companies and businesses have done this. Maybe it's just because I love quotes.
For example:
This is on my pinterest quotes board, because I'm kind of on the shorter side of ladies' heights. That's just one of the >50 quote pins I have.
I think using a quote in a creative brief is a strong, powerful way to reinforce the influence behind what you want, what you want it focused on. Inspiring and focused.
It's like creative briefs were made to showcase quotes! At least, in my head. Wish I'd thought of this sooner.
Until next time!
-MG
But I love this article on a gender equality (Which I am all for) article with some pretty excellent pictures.
I'm a big fan of this girl.
I thought this one was really eye-catching and good.
But what I really want to mention is a line from the article.. The creative brief for the “Gender Equality Now” exhibition carries a quote from Clinton that states, “As long as girls and women are valued less, fed less, fed last, overworked, underpaid, not schooled and subjected to violence in and out of their homes, the potential of the human family to create a peaceful, prosperous world will not be realised.”
Let me tell you something about quotes. I'm obsessed with them. I find them hugely inspiring, and when we're they're really well put-together, they're very focused. Conveniently enough, that's everything a creative brief should be. I'm going to be honest here, I have a board on pinterest called 'Quotes' and it's easily my most filled board. I. Love. Quotes.
Which made me realize, I love the idea of quotes in a creative brief! Why didn't my group think of that for our creative brief?! What an amazing idea! I'm impressed. Again, with my post on creativity, I'll use this for any future creative brief I need to make. Let's be real, wow. I'm not entirely sure why I'm so impressed with this - I'm sure plenty of companies and businesses have done this. Maybe it's just because I love quotes.
For example:
This is on my pinterest quotes board, because I'm kind of on the shorter side of ladies' heights. That's just one of the >50 quote pins I have.
I think using a quote in a creative brief is a strong, powerful way to reinforce the influence behind what you want, what you want it focused on. Inspiring and focused.
It's like creative briefs were made to showcase quotes! At least, in my head. Wish I'd thought of this sooner.
Until next time!
-MG
Changing hands is a good thing
Guys, I really like Gap.
They changed hand a lot recently, and let me tell you. It's working for them. So what other brands have made this scary jump of switching ownership or who your manager is and rocked it?
JC Penney. The guy who now runs it used to work at Apple - something tells me he has great insight into business.
Speaking of Apple, despite Steve Jobs' passing, Tim Cook has been rocking it out. I firmly believe Apple has the BEST business plan, followed by Wal-Mart. Hypermarkets are crazy.
So why is this working? Well, I exercise a lot, and I feel like I can relate these two concepts. Get ready to have your mind blown.
So when you lift weights, your muscles tear, and then heal back stronger from protein. That's the simplest way to put it. But if you do twenty bicep curls a day, guess what? Your body adapts, and even if you go up in weight, your muscles will SORT OF callous, is the best way I can phrase it, and they won't tear or reheal bigger. If you do the same exercises in the same orders every week, your body adapts and stops growing. You have to switch up your workout program, usually every two weeks is sufficient. Probably the most you can do it is six weeks before HAVING to switch or else being caught in a slump.
So here's relating it to a company switching hands, if it's not already clear. Your company gets used to you. The world gets used to you. Your company becomes jaded, and you don't know how to switch it up in a way that isn't already jaded. Some older football coaches are having this problem as well. So how do you fix it?
Well.. you replace your workout with something new and different. You replace your football coach with someone younger with new play ideas. You replace someone with a lot of power with someone younger, with a lot of new ideas.
So even if it's been a bumpy ride while you switch over, I think in the long-run, this switch is going to be great for these companies. JC Penney did an entire rebranding with their CEO switch, and I think the few bumps in the road have been minor compared to what they'll gain in the future. Same with Gap. Apple has stayed true to it roots, but they're trying a few new things.
What promising companies!!!
Until Next Time!
-MG
They changed hand a lot recently, and let me tell you. It's working for them. So what other brands have made this scary jump of switching ownership or who your manager is and rocked it?
JC Penney. The guy who now runs it used to work at Apple - something tells me he has great insight into business.
Speaking of Apple, despite Steve Jobs' passing, Tim Cook has been rocking it out. I firmly believe Apple has the BEST business plan, followed by Wal-Mart. Hypermarkets are crazy.
So why is this working? Well, I exercise a lot, and I feel like I can relate these two concepts. Get ready to have your mind blown.
So when you lift weights, your muscles tear, and then heal back stronger from protein. That's the simplest way to put it. But if you do twenty bicep curls a day, guess what? Your body adapts, and even if you go up in weight, your muscles will SORT OF callous, is the best way I can phrase it, and they won't tear or reheal bigger. If you do the same exercises in the same orders every week, your body adapts and stops growing. You have to switch up your workout program, usually every two weeks is sufficient. Probably the most you can do it is six weeks before HAVING to switch or else being caught in a slump.
So here's relating it to a company switching hands, if it's not already clear. Your company gets used to you. The world gets used to you. Your company becomes jaded, and you don't know how to switch it up in a way that isn't already jaded. Some older football coaches are having this problem as well. So how do you fix it?
Well.. you replace your workout with something new and different. You replace your football coach with someone younger with new play ideas. You replace someone with a lot of power with someone younger, with a lot of new ideas.
So even if it's been a bumpy ride while you switch over, I think in the long-run, this switch is going to be great for these companies. JC Penney did an entire rebranding with their CEO switch, and I think the few bumps in the road have been minor compared to what they'll gain in the future. Same with Gap. Apple has stayed true to it roots, but they're trying a few new things.
What promising companies!!!
Until Next Time!
-MG
So this one time..
I went to the zoo and The Boyfriend didn't know what a red panda was, so when he saw a picture of it, he called it a koala-fox. Let me tell you, it looks NOTHING like a koala, and maybe a little like a fox. After this trip, it's his new favorite animal.
LOOK AT HIS FACE :D
So here's this article about pictures that I'm pretty sure everyone already knew. But! It's always nice to have numbers and research behind it.
Also, this says words look better with an actual picture, as opposed to a blank screen or a solid color. Apparently, the picture doesn't even have to be relevant! Now, I don't like that, because if there's a disconnect, I just sit there staring in a confused manner and wonder why the heck this doesn't click, why you're trying to persuade me to buy a brand of cracker with a picture of a dolphin.
Just came up with that, I'm not calling anyone out here.
Here's my singular problem with this article: Isn't this kind of a duh thing? As with all the neuromarketing articles, it's nice to have the numbers behind it and the proof and to learn how they got there. But at the end, when they some it up: Make the picture relevant, include a picture, and not just stock photo. Isn't that all given?
This sort of ties in with my post on creativity - BE CREATIVE. Someone took a great picture of a sunset, and it's applicable to your product. DON'T USE IT!! It's probably all over the internet!!! Use it as inspiration and go take your own picture of a sunset! Take a thousand pictures of sunsets if it means you'll get a good shot.
Don't use this. It's from wikipedia. I googled 'sunset.'
But now I've seen what I want, I can go find a nice spot and stare at a sunset until I get a good blend of colors like this for my product.
Don't use stock, everyone will know.
Until next time!
-MG
LOOK AT HIS FACE :D
So here's this article about pictures that I'm pretty sure everyone already knew. But! It's always nice to have numbers and research behind it.
Also, this says words look better with an actual picture, as opposed to a blank screen or a solid color. Apparently, the picture doesn't even have to be relevant! Now, I don't like that, because if there's a disconnect, I just sit there staring in a confused manner and wonder why the heck this doesn't click, why you're trying to persuade me to buy a brand of cracker with a picture of a dolphin.
Just came up with that, I'm not calling anyone out here.
Here's my singular problem with this article: Isn't this kind of a duh thing? As with all the neuromarketing articles, it's nice to have the numbers behind it and the proof and to learn how they got there. But at the end, when they some it up: Make the picture relevant, include a picture, and not just stock photo. Isn't that all given?
This sort of ties in with my post on creativity - BE CREATIVE. Someone took a great picture of a sunset, and it's applicable to your product. DON'T USE IT!! It's probably all over the internet!!! Use it as inspiration and go take your own picture of a sunset! Take a thousand pictures of sunsets if it means you'll get a good shot.
Don't use this. It's from wikipedia. I googled 'sunset.'
But now I've seen what I want, I can go find a nice spot and stare at a sunset until I get a good blend of colors like this for my product.
Don't use stock, everyone will know.
Until next time!
-MG
A Lesson in Grammar
I really like books. I think this article is awesome.
But is it really about books, or is it about something more? Something we can use in more than places than just books.
I understand that taglines are supposed to be short. Just Do It. Gimme A Break. Expect Great Things. But what about a description? Used to, KitKat had 'Crispy wafers in chocolate.' Could it be better? Clearly, because now they have 'Crisp wafers in milk chocolate.' Crisp gives you an adjective, so does milk chocolate. Not just chocolate, but thick, creamy chocolate.
Do they sell more now than they used to? I'd assume so, since they're still growing as a company. They have a devoted fan base, people who love KitKats LOVE KitKats. But what about another start up company? What about someone I've been talking about a lot: Sodastream? "Get Busy With the Fizzy." I personally think that's weird, but it does have at least one adjective in it. Fizzy. That tells you what you're getting out of it - fizz. But I don't get the rest very well. Get busy with the fizzy - does that mean it's going to take me a long time to make my beverages fizzy?
I think they need a new tagline. Now they're DESCRIPTION is much better, except it's too long to be a tagline, too wordy. "Turn Water into Fresh Sparkling Water and Soda." So that's better - boring, plain old water into fresh, sparkling water.. and soda. Okay, so the soda bit is just thrown on, but it's what probably at least 50% of users use it for.
Skittles have 'experience the rainbow.' Now adjectives, but let's be honest, a rainbow is pretty exciting. Then on the packaging, bite size candy. Not just small, bite-size. Adjectives work.
So even if you can't cram an adjective into a two-word tag line, at least try to get it into your description. Studies show it works wonders, and I can definitely agree with that.
Until next time!
-MG
But is it really about books, or is it about something more? Something we can use in more than places than just books.
I understand that taglines are supposed to be short. Just Do It. Gimme A Break. Expect Great Things. But what about a description? Used to, KitKat had 'Crispy wafers in chocolate.' Could it be better? Clearly, because now they have 'Crisp wafers in milk chocolate.' Crisp gives you an adjective, so does milk chocolate. Not just chocolate, but thick, creamy chocolate.
Do they sell more now than they used to? I'd assume so, since they're still growing as a company. They have a devoted fan base, people who love KitKats LOVE KitKats. But what about another start up company? What about someone I've been talking about a lot: Sodastream? "Get Busy With the Fizzy." I personally think that's weird, but it does have at least one adjective in it. Fizzy. That tells you what you're getting out of it - fizz. But I don't get the rest very well. Get busy with the fizzy - does that mean it's going to take me a long time to make my beverages fizzy?
I think they need a new tagline. Now they're DESCRIPTION is much better, except it's too long to be a tagline, too wordy. "Turn Water into Fresh Sparkling Water and Soda." So that's better - boring, plain old water into fresh, sparkling water.. and soda. Okay, so the soda bit is just thrown on, but it's what probably at least 50% of users use it for.
Skittles have 'experience the rainbow.' Now adjectives, but let's be honest, a rainbow is pretty exciting. Then on the packaging, bite size candy. Not just small, bite-size. Adjectives work.
So even if you can't cram an adjective into a two-word tag line, at least try to get it into your description. Studies show it works wonders, and I can definitely agree with that.
Until next time!
-MG
Creative.
So one of my blog prompts from my professor is "What does it mean to be creative?" I assume that if I simply write, "To create something," in this blog, she'll dock a lot of points.
But seriously, what more is it than that?
Dictionary.com says "cre·a·tive [kree-ey-tiv] adjective
1. having the quality or power of creating.
2. resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative: creative writing.
3. originative; productive (usually followed by of ).
4. Facetious. using or creating exaggerated or skewed data, information, etc.: creative bookkeeping."
I feel like this proves my point. Creating something. I know you might say, yes Marketing Girl, but it has to be ORIGINAL. I disagree.
The other day, the boyfriend drew me a picture of a My Little Pony, Applejack. It took me a few weeks to beg for it, but he finally did because he likes me. He opened a picture of Applejack from google images, and he drew it. Just because someone else originally drew it and he copied it, does that make him not creative? He still created something for me. Something I couldn't have created without the use of a printer and tracing paper.
I'm not saying copying is good, in fact, copying and plagiarism and all that nonsense is horrible and illegal and you should never do it.
But just because you base an idea off of something someone's already done before, does that mean you're no longer creative? I disagree, I think it makes you just as creative. Why reinvent the wheel every time you make a car? I think that would be silly.
I don't think my idea is hugely novel. I just think being creative means you can create something. You can either create something completely new from scratch, or you can take someone else's idea and build something new from that. A hatchback and a van and a truck have a lot in common when you look at how they're made and what they're made of. They all also still happen to have four wheels.
Until next time!
-MG
But seriously, what more is it than that?
Dictionary.com says "cre·a·tive [kree-ey-tiv] adjective
1. having the quality or power of creating.
2. resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative: creative writing.
3. originative; productive (usually followed by of ).
4. Facetious. using or creating exaggerated or skewed data, information, etc.: creative bookkeeping."
I feel like this proves my point. Creating something. I know you might say, yes Marketing Girl, but it has to be ORIGINAL. I disagree.
The other day, the boyfriend drew me a picture of a My Little Pony, Applejack. It took me a few weeks to beg for it, but he finally did because he likes me. He opened a picture of Applejack from google images, and he drew it. Just because someone else originally drew it and he copied it, does that make him not creative? He still created something for me. Something I couldn't have created without the use of a printer and tracing paper.
I'm not saying copying is good, in fact, copying and plagiarism and all that nonsense is horrible and illegal and you should never do it.
But just because you base an idea off of something someone's already done before, does that mean you're no longer creative? I disagree, I think it makes you just as creative. Why reinvent the wheel every time you make a car? I think that would be silly.
I don't think my idea is hugely novel. I just think being creative means you can create something. You can either create something completely new from scratch, or you can take someone else's idea and build something new from that. A hatchback and a van and a truck have a lot in common when you look at how they're made and what they're made of. They all also still happen to have four wheels.
Until next time!
-MG
On the same note of viral marketing, here's AdAge's list of the top 10 viral campaigns of 2012. Conveniently enough, it starts with Kony. But don't worry, none of the rest are as long or as intense. So! Here's the article:
I want to point out that two of them are for Angry Birds.
My Mom is obsessed with Angry Birds. It's really cute, actually. She has an obsessive need for three starts on all the levels of all the games. I'm sort of like it with Cut The Rope. We're a pretty strange little family.
Anyways! Onto this discussion of viral marketing. I have to say I sort of agree with their list, in that I saw the top few or so and then it kind of dwindles because I don't watch a lot of youtube and only a few of those were actual commercials as well, like the M&Ms one. So I ask this, what is this new obsession with viral marketing? How did we go from a world of television and billboards to one where a youtube ad has more success than a prime TV spot? The Superbowl is, perhaps, the main exception to this, but overall.
I saw Kony because I was confused, I saw the space one because I watched it, I saw the two Angry Birds one from my mom, I think the Galaxy S one was on tv? Or it was an ad before a video I was watching on youtube, and then the m&m ones are the only ones I've seen.
I missed the jump because if I spent a lot of time on youtube watching these things, I would spend literally all my time watching these things.
My number one answer is that we have become a nation of procrastinators. I myself am one, and I can't go a day without hearing one of those 'clever' things like 'Procrastinators Unite! ..Tomorrow.' Which people need to stop saying because it's become very unoriginal.
But we have a problem. I know, aside from procrastinating?! You ask. I say yes. We don't just procrastinate, but we don't do ANYTHING while we procrastinate. Well, I don't feel like socializing with friends or eating food and everything on TV sucks except for Big Bang Theory/Jersey Shore/Whatever it is you rot your brain with, which isn't on right now. But I don't want to do my HUGE paper that's due tomorrow and worth 90% of my grade and has been assigned all semester. So I think I'll just go click popular things on youtube for a few hours.
A few HOURS?! WHAT?! The longest I spent on youtube once was one hour, where I proceeded to watch about thirty Jenna Marbles videos. I have an attention disorder, I can't even focus on being distracted for more than an hour.
I feel like as a marketing major, I should be THRILLED by this. So long as I can create a video and push it so hard or make at least one opinion leader laugh, suddenly I've made it. Instead, I'm just a little freaked out by how big viral marketing has gotten. Will it make my future job easier? Maybe. Does it mean there are kids out there with cumulative finals tomorrow that they haven't studied a lick for and instead they're busy laughing about a brown M&M? Sadly, yes.
As excited as I am, and as much as I enjoy watching the occasional viral marketing, I'm concerned with how often one person will watch each of these singular advertisements. How many times have you seen the angry birds commercials? For me, it's once each. That's all I need to see it too, thanks.
Viral marketing. Very exciting, very interesting, very scary, and a little concerning.
Until next time!
-MG
I want to point out that two of them are for Angry Birds.
My Mom is obsessed with Angry Birds. It's really cute, actually. She has an obsessive need for three starts on all the levels of all the games. I'm sort of like it with Cut The Rope. We're a pretty strange little family.
Anyways! Onto this discussion of viral marketing. I have to say I sort of agree with their list, in that I saw the top few or so and then it kind of dwindles because I don't watch a lot of youtube and only a few of those were actual commercials as well, like the M&Ms one. So I ask this, what is this new obsession with viral marketing? How did we go from a world of television and billboards to one where a youtube ad has more success than a prime TV spot? The Superbowl is, perhaps, the main exception to this, but overall.
I saw Kony because I was confused, I saw the space one because I watched it, I saw the two Angry Birds one from my mom, I think the Galaxy S one was on tv? Or it was an ad before a video I was watching on youtube, and then the m&m ones are the only ones I've seen.
I missed the jump because if I spent a lot of time on youtube watching these things, I would spend literally all my time watching these things.
My number one answer is that we have become a nation of procrastinators. I myself am one, and I can't go a day without hearing one of those 'clever' things like 'Procrastinators Unite! ..Tomorrow.' Which people need to stop saying because it's become very unoriginal.
But we have a problem. I know, aside from procrastinating?! You ask. I say yes. We don't just procrastinate, but we don't do ANYTHING while we procrastinate. Well, I don't feel like socializing with friends or eating food and everything on TV sucks except for Big Bang Theory/Jersey Shore/Whatever it is you rot your brain with, which isn't on right now. But I don't want to do my HUGE paper that's due tomorrow and worth 90% of my grade and has been assigned all semester. So I think I'll just go click popular things on youtube for a few hours.
A few HOURS?! WHAT?! The longest I spent on youtube once was one hour, where I proceeded to watch about thirty Jenna Marbles videos. I have an attention disorder, I can't even focus on being distracted for more than an hour.
I feel like as a marketing major, I should be THRILLED by this. So long as I can create a video and push it so hard or make at least one opinion leader laugh, suddenly I've made it. Instead, I'm just a little freaked out by how big viral marketing has gotten. Will it make my future job easier? Maybe. Does it mean there are kids out there with cumulative finals tomorrow that they haven't studied a lick for and instead they're busy laughing about a brown M&M? Sadly, yes.
As excited as I am, and as much as I enjoy watching the occasional viral marketing, I'm concerned with how often one person will watch each of these singular advertisements. How many times have you seen the angry birds commercials? For me, it's once each. That's all I need to see it too, thanks.
Viral marketing. Very exciting, very interesting, very scary, and a little concerning.
Until next time!
-MG
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