An Adventure with the History of Advertising

            Advertising has been around for ages.  I kind of figured this was true, though I couldn't believe just how long it had been around for.  Or how it originated.

            In some of advertising's earliest forms, it was used as persuasion.  Like persuasion to view a gladiator match (yes, that's how long advertising has been around).  The concept of advertising really blew up when the Gutenberg press was invented because it was much easier to print those advertisements, and place them in magazines/newspapers.  Which also helped these publications to become cheaper than before (and sometimes even free).

            As technology became more advanced, advertising became more and more prevalent.  Media buying (essentially purchasing advertising space in bulk and selling to others) started to arise, making advertising a bit more affordable.  This practice is still in use today.  Just like many of the other practices that have come out of advertising's history.

            Personally, I find this pretty interesting.  As students in grade school, as well as in college, we learn all about our world and country's history.  Its really cool to learn about the history of why advertising is the way it is.  It makes the subject matter more interesting to me.  Advertising is not a new concept.  It is a concept that is constantly changing, but also remaining fairly stable, that affects peoples lives just like the history of our country.  It has shaped, and is still shaping our culture.

An Adventure with Modea and Steve Grant (Class Speaker Prep)

            After learning a bit about advertising agencies as a whole, I was surprised to hear that there was quite an up and coming agency here in Blacksburg, VA.  Most of the advertising agencies that are large and successful are found in large cities (NYC being a popular location).  Initially, I thought that the location would be a strategic issue for Modea.  It might be a lot harder to get the word out about and draw clients in.  But after looking at Modea’s list of clients, I can see that they are not struggling with that problem.  Modea has a healthy list of clients, which I can only infer that there is a good and positive perception about Modea and the type of work they put out.

            Not only is their work ethic positive, but Modea also seems to have an awesome work environment.  I am definitely a believer that a factor in producing great work is to have a positive and encouraging work environment.  If people don’t like their job, they won’t necessarily put their best effort into what they are doing.  You can see this in Modea.

            Some Modea Facts:  Won Small Agency of the Year, Best Culture from Ad Age’s Small Agency Awards; Expanding (hopes to have about 200 employees eventually; currently in the works of building an office where the old Blacksburg Middle School was)

           

My Questions for Steve Grant and Modea:

Clearly Modea has a very fun work culture.  What is one of your favorite parts about that culture?

What drew you to Modea?  What did you think you could bring to the culture there?

What exactly are your responsibilities as Head of Strategy for Modea?

What has been one of the most challenging projects you have worked on, and looking back, would you go about it differently?

An Adventure with Creative Briefs

            To be honest, I did not know what a creative brief was until Thursday.  Once I learned what it was, I was quite intrigued.  For those that don't know, a creative brief provides inspiration but also focus for the creative team and their advertising campaign.

            I know that doesn't sound all that intriguing, but the way my professor explained it to me was what really caught my attention.  Her first explanation:  "What was told to Michelangelo about painting the Sistine Chapel?  What was the direction given to him, that produced the result we have today?"  You obviously wouldn't want to be too specific, because you wanted to leave some creativity to him.  But there had to be some focus, because if you just told him to paint the ceiling, people could interpret that differently, and you're might end up with an unintended result.  In other words, whatever was told to Michelangelo about painting the Sistine Chapel would be the creative brief.  Some other examples that were given to us were the Great Wall of China and Egypt's pyramids.

            Having been given that description, I got to thinking about a few other things and their potential creative briefs.  One that most all of us are aware of...  What might have been the creative brief for Burruss Hall here on Virginia Tech's campus?  Was the building intended to be a central point on campus when it was built?  Or did that come after?  Was it designed knowing that it would be a symbol of Virginia Tech?  There are so many things I would need to look up before I could even begin to think about what the creative brief for Burruss Hall was.  But its still fun to think about, right?

            Thinking about actually writing a real creative brief scares me.  Luckily, we have a group assignment in Advertising that requires our group to write a creative brief and present it to the class later in the semester!  As scared as I am, I am excited to dive in and learn more about what works and what doesn't in a creative brief.

An Adventure with Facebook and Psychographics

            While on Twitter, I noticed that my professor tweeted an article with Facebook in the title.  Me being me, I was instantly interested.  I find Facebook to be quite interesting.  People post many different things on Facebook (some of which they really shouldn't), and don't necessarily realize where else that information is going besides their friends' newsfeeds.

            Social media in general has gotten a lot of press regarding allowing what employers see from your profile.  Not many people are aware that Facebook is aware of what brands, companies, and products you are liking, and informing marketers of what else to advertise to you.  This is the premise of "psychographics".  

            "They can target based on interests and lifestyles instead of just what is on their mind at the moment."  From a company standpoint, this can be great for marketing towards exactly what the consumer wants.  But from a consumer standpoint, this can be considered a bit creepy.  I'm not sure I want Facebook making decisions for me on what exactly I might be interested in regarding what things I have "liked" on the site.  I realize there is a benefit to it, but it is a little bit too Big Brother to me.

            The article also touches on the point that Facebook might be feeding this information they are currently gathering to other sites in the future.  This would be a great money maker for Facebook, but it teeters on the line of sharing some information that Facebook users may not be comfortable sharing with marketers.

            As a marketing student that is also a consumer, it is hard to take a definitive stance on the subject, although I am leaning towards keeping my privacy.  We'll see if that changes as I go further in my career and society becomes more open...

An Adventure with Bud Light

            I was watching television the other day and this advertisement came on.

            I am a pretty superstitious person, even though I currently don't play for any sports team (I just enjoy watching them).  I have a few superstitions when it comes to Hokie football.  I paint my nails the same way the night before every game.  I have to wear the same hair bow.  Those superstitions don't stop with Hokie football.  I have special routines before exams and other things in my life.

            "Its only weird if it doesn't work."  Sometimes those rituals or routines before an event don't work.  But I don't necessarily consider my superstitions weird.  I think they give me more confidence while going through the event.

            I thought this ad was pretty successful (at least in my eyes) because even though I am not a crazy NFL fan nor do I drink, I was able to relate to the commercial.  It caught my attention and kept my attention, and in today's world of DVR and multi-tasking, that's a pretty good thing for a TV advertisement.

An Adventure with Axe Body Spray

            In class on Tuesday, we were assigned to bring in an "ethically questionable" advertisement.  One of the first advertisements that came to mind was basically every Axe advertisement.  I'm pretty sure that any of their advertisements has left me feeling taken advantage of as a woman.  Okay, maybe that's a little extreme.  But I can tell you their advertisements sure don't make me feel good about myself as a woman.

            On my search for one of the advertisements that I had seen, I came across some pretty crude ones.  This website had so many to choose from, but of course none of them seemed appropriate enough to bring to class.  Most of them aren't outright appalling, but they allude to some pretty sexual things.  Though I did not choose any of the ads from this site, it gave me the reinforcement that I needed to keep looking for one of the Axe advertisements that I have seen that was appropriate enough to show to class.

            This is the advertisement that I ended up selecting (which I have seen on network television)...

            Still pretty inappropriate, but I figured it would be okay to show in class.  The main idea is that hair is the first thing women notice in men, and breasts are the first thing men notice in women.  I would like to believe that for the most part, this is not true.  This particular advertisement is pretty subjective to women, and men too (but not nearly as much).  Definitely "ethically questionable" in my opinion.

            In my search for an "ethically questionable" advertisement, I came to the realization that there are quite a few out there.  And Axe is definitely a culprit.  I do realize that shock value can sometimes be a factor in advertising, but I think Axe needs to tone it back a bit.  As a girlfriend, I'm not sure I would be comfortable having my boyfriend wear Axe, no matter how good it smells.

An Adventure with AD2 Roanoke (Class Speaker Prep)

            Though I was not able to find evidence of this stated anywhere, I feel that there is probably a large market of young professionals that would benefit from AD2 Roanoke.  Though many students coming out of school have the benefit or a career counselor or their advisor, they may be looking for more advice or expertise.  There are also those that have been out of school and are looking to revamp their career.  From what I can gather, it looks like AD2 Roanoke would be a great aid to these people.  In my eyes, I think the most important or most helpful thing that AD2 Roanoke does is provide a networking system.  I am very much an introvert until I get to know someone, so I think that this particular benefit that AD2 Roanoke offers is awesome.

My questions for AD2 Roanoke:

One of the benefits you offer is “hosting” of websites.  Have you noticed this being a bigger trend in the job market?

What is the one thing that you can see changes a portfolio or resume from good to great?

What is the work culture there?