An Adventure with Facebook

            While doing my normal social media surfing for the day on Facebook, I noticed something different on my newsfeed.  (No, Facebook did not change its layout, AGAIN.)  I noticed that the status bar was not prompting me to update my status.  It was asking me to tell Facebook about my Halloween costume.  Or what my favorite Halloween candy was.  I was so surprised, I refreshed my newsfeed multiple times to see what all the different prompts were.  (And took screen shots.)

            I'm not sure I could tell you the last time I updated my Facebook status other than a random, "Let's Go Hokies!" every so often during football season.  To be honest, I now use Twitter to see what people are up to.  No one seems to update their status anymore unless they are an organization or a baby boomer (nothing against either, that just seems to be the trend).

            What caused this change in prompt?  In other words, what was the problem Facebook was facing?  Maybe the fact that so many of the generation that helped to make Facebook so big, has moved onto Twitter to update people on their lives.  Facebook is now just seen as a place to upload pictures, and have conversations between people.  Twitter has taken Facebook's place in the social media world of the "What's on your mind?" prompt that Facebook normally sports in the status bar because Twitter is where to go to find other's thoughts.

            What was Facebook's audience with this?  My best guess would be everyone with a Facebook account.  But more specifically, the younger generation (high school, college, and young adults) that have decreased their status updates.  Facebook is trying to spark a trigger in our minds to update our status every once in awhile, and therefore allow us to have conversations about our thoughts on Halloween.  In the long run, we would use Facebook even more, and maybe even neglect Twitter.  (At least that may be Facebook's thought.)

            As intrigued as I was by this, I must admit that I did not update my status because of the change.  And I didn't notice anyone on my newsfeed responding to any of Facebook's prompts in their status updates (if they were updating them at all).  So I would have to say that this attempt by Facebook to increase the number of people updating statuses did not work.  But maybe some other interesting prompts (that don't necessarily have to do with a holiday) would.

An Adventure with Burt's Bees and Julie Talbot (Class Speaker Prep)

            Julie Talbot has held and currently holds quite a few titles.  In her professional career, she is currently the global brand manager for Burt's Bees lip balm but has held previous titles such as the Associate Brand Manager for Burt's Bees and the Associate Marketing Manager at Godiva Chocolatier.  Being a Virginia Tech alum, she is also a member of the Marketing Advisory Board here.

            Burt's Bees just recently had a failing advertising campaign that Julie will be telling us more about in class tomorrow and what they are doing about it now.  Another thing that I believe Burt's Bees is struggling with is getting consumers to purchase their product.  I am fully aware of Burt's Bees and the variety of products they offer.  But I have never purchased one.  The products of theirs that I have tried have not impressed me anymore than the cheaper lip balms and beauty products that I am already using.    This is definitely a problem that (from what I have gathered from friends and family) that is prominent for Burt's Bees throughout the market.

            My first attempt at a solution for this would be to put Burt's Bees back in the public's eye, and for a good reason.

Questions for Ms. Talbot:

Have you experienced any learning situations from being on the Marketing Advisory Board at Pamplin?

What is a common challenge you face working on a brand?

An Adventure with the Holiday Shopping Season

            Though consumers are mainly focused on Halloween being a few days away, retailers and producers have been focused on the upcoming holiday season for weeks.  Many retailers are already speculating as to what will be on everyone's list this year so they can prepare what to have in stock.  According to some researchers, the belief is that retro toys will be a huge seller. But there is also speculation that some of the new hot tech toys will be at the top of the charts.  Though the economy is not in its best form, many major retailers are offering layaway, which is helping to increase sales.

            My best guess at the retailers' problem is that they have struggled to sell higher priced items during the past holiday seasons.  People are spending so much on parties, meals, decorations, and gifts for others, that some people can not afford the high priced items.

            By adding layaway, many people believe that they can afford the items that they want and need because they are paying for the item over a period of time, rather than all at once.  They can also complete all of their holiday shopping earlier by placing items on layaway.

            The target audience for layaway is more than likely lower-income families and young professionals struggling to afford gifts for everyone.  The idea of completing a shopping list months before the holidays can also be quite appealing to anyone.  So many people stress over getting everything done that this could draw anyone into a major retailer, and maybe even encourage them to purchase more than they initially intended (impulse buys).

            I believe that this addition of layaway could be very successful for retailers as long as it is advertised enough (WalMart appears to be doing a good job now; I have seen a lot of their advertisements for layaway on TV), as well as encouraged to consumers while at their point-of-purchase.

An Adventure with Publicis and Chris Shumaker (Class Speaker Prep)

            During class on Tuesday, Chris Shumaker from Publicis, a Virginia Tech alum, will be speaking to my advertising class.  Again, not being all that familiar with the advertising world, I was not familiar with Publicis.  After doing research, I realized that they are quite a large firm in the advertising world, working with companies such as Aflac, Wendy’s and P&G.

            It is safe to say that Shumaker knows quite a bit about advertising, having been in the field for close to 30 years.  Working his way up from account executive all the way to the CMO, he has also had his share of experiences and positions.  There is no doubt he will share some interesting insights into our young advertising minds.

            Stated earlier, Publicis is a large firm.  This can make it easy for them to gain accounts, but it can also be a challenge because there is no room for mistakes.  They will always be in the public eye, so any decisions they make will be critiqued.

Questions for Mr. Shumaker

I have heard that in order to go far in the marketing field, you will need something higher than a Bachelors degree.  Do you find this to be true in today’s world?

What are some challenges you have faced and how did you resolve them?

What has been something you are most proud of in your 30-year career?

An Adventure with Birchbox

           I was on Twitter again this past week (what's new there?) and of the many helpful articles that my professor tweets throughout the week, one in particular stood out.

           The Beauty of Birchbox is an article analyzing the marketing behind the 30 to 50 different variations of boxes that Birchbox sends out monthly, full of samples of beauty supply products. Though I am fascinated by beauty products, I tend to stick to my normal routine, very overwhelmed by the idea of switching things up. This idea was one of the many things touched on in the article that has been attributed to the success of the Birchbox monthly shipments.

           From the article and knowledge of the product, I would guess that the problem that Birchbox is trying to help solve is the issue that sales of higher end, lesser known beauty products are falling.  This is probably due to the fact that people are overwhelmed by the paradox of choice and also worried about committing to a product in such a large quantity when they have never tried it.

           Obviously, Birchbox is attempting to solve this problem by providing smaller sample sizes of beauty products that are tailored to the wants and needs of each consumer.  In return, the consumer may become a frequent user of the product, therefore purchasing the product in full size.

           This target audience is more than likely women who are interested in beauty products.  A typical consumer might look like...a young woman (maybe 24), just recently out of college, beginning her journey through the working world. She is willing to spend money, but only on things she is confident will work, and she is especially interested in anything that allows her to pamper herself. 

           Having heard of Birchbox before reading this article, but not entirely sure what it was, I was interested almost immediately.  I am now considering trying Birchbox, and the products that come with it.

An Adventure with Wieden+Kennedy and Brandon Thornton (Class Speaker Prep)

            On Monday night, I attended Brandon Thornton’s presentation on finding your voice.  Partially because it was extra credit for both my Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications class, partially because it was about finding your voice (and I definitely struggle with that), and partially because I wanted a bit of prep before his Advertising presentation on Tuesday.  Here’s a bit of what I learned from the presentation, as well as from a bit of research…

            Brandon Thornton is the Lead Strategic Planner at Wieden+Kennedy, specifically on the Nike basketball account.  He is from Richmond, VA and is a Virginia Tech graduate.  Upon graduation from Tech, he took the first job he could, and worked for UPS, solving shipment issues.  He was not all that enthused to be working there and eventually decided to apply to VCU’s Brand Center.  From there, he was a store manager for American Apparel, and after many attempts, he finally reached his goal of working for Wieden+Kennedy.  He started as an intern, but has moved up to his dream of being the Lead Strategic Planner for the Nike Basketball account.

            As far as Wieden+Kennedy, I had never heard of it (I know, I’m pretty out of the loop in the advertising world).  But after researching it, I realized that I am very familiar with their work.  Obviously, I am familiar with the brand Nike, and have seen many of their advertisements.  Wieden+Kennedy has also worked on the Levi’s, Velveeta, Old Spice, Target, Diet Coke, and many other accounts.  Recently they have done the Old Spice advertisement with NFL player Greg Jennings, Facebook’s first ever advertisement, and Procter and Gamble’s “Thank You, Mom” advertisements during the Olympics just to name a few.

With all of this information, here are my questions…

Toying with going to grad school eventually myself, did you feel that you needed to attend some sort of graduate school in order to achieve your goals?  Why or why not?

I know that Nike Basketball was your dream, but now that you’ve reached it, have you decided on a new goal?

Are there certain tests you use to evaluate a creative?

An Adventure with the Top 10 Female Ad Icons of All Time

            I recently read the article "Ad Age Picks the Top 10 Female Ad Icons of All Time".  I was drawn to it because I find brands to be really interesting, especially the spokespersons/mascots for them.  I figured, because of my interest, I would recognize all of the ad icons mentioned.  To my surprise, I only recognized half of them (Morton Salt, Betty Crocker, Miss Chiquita, Rosie the Riveter, and Flo).  The other five did not ring any bells.

            This was a bit of an awakening to me, of just how many advertisements are out there, and how long they have been around.  I have always know that there were many advertisements, but to think that there are widely recognizable icons that I haven't heard of (I know I'm fairly young) makes the world of advertisements seem so much bigger to me.  Its also a big realization of how much a brand or company can change their way of advertising, because I have heard of the companies that are mentioned in the article, but I wasn't aware of their icons.

            Though this article didn't have all that deep of an insight, I gained quite a big insight.  My eyes were opened even more that advertising is much more than what I have seen on TV or in a magazine.  Advertising has been around for such a long time and can have big changes throughout that time.  And the next generation of children may not recognize even the icons I recognized because of the constant change.

An Adventure with Oreo

            Motel 6, Lifesavers, Oreo, and many other brands/companies celebrate anniversaries this year.  To go along with the celebrations, the brands came out with different advertising campaigns to remind the consumer of their product and just how long they have been around.  Oreo specifically had a pretty interesting campaign.

            2012 marks the 100th anniversary of Oreo.  To celebrate, Oreo launched the "Daily Twist" campaign, which is the idea that for 100 days (it is their 100th anniversary after all), Oreo would produce a new advertisement of sorts that corresponded with something that occurred (or was going to occur) that day in history within the past 100 years.  These advertisements have ranged from the landing of the Mars Rover to the announcement of the iPhone 5.  They can be found on Oreo's website, or their Pinterest page, Tumblr, etc.

            I personally find this campaign to be quite creative.  I am not entirely sure what the creative brief might have been, other than to remind the consumer of Oreo in a creative way, while recognizing their anniversary.  This campaign definitely strays from the typical dunking your Oreo in some milk commercial.  Oreo cookies of all varieties are showcased, like the vanilla cookie and the different colors of icing.

            The campaign just ended on October 2nd, but I loved that it was so creative and not only was found in the typical print or TV spot, but social media was utilized as well.

Another Adventure with Target

            In my last post, I talked about the "Falling for Fall" advertisement that Target is currently airing.  Funny enough, in my Consumer Behavior class, a group presented on another web advertisement that Target is promoting called "Falling for You".  Target is again trying to promote the fall season's clothing in a different way than "Back to School".  As a young adult, you are no longer going back to school, so Target seems to have gotten the idea that they should also try and reach out to the younger crowd.

            The "Falling for You" campaign is a series of short episodes that come out in weekly installments as a romantic comedy genre.  At first glance, they are just short videos, almost like a mini-series.  But what makes them an advertisement, is that they are wearing and using all things sold at Target.  And as you are watching these videos, the items shown pop up in a side bar and link to Target's online store.  It is a pretty cool concept in that it is encouraging people to come back to the site to view the next video the following week, with even more product from Target.  It definitely encourages impulse buying, as well as promoting fall purchases.

            As far as the creative brief for this, I definitely think Target wants to reach a bit older audience than the typical back to school shoppers, but those that are still young adults.  They are also trying to get more shoppers to use their online store, making it much easier to find the products they are drawn to in the episode by directly linking them to the site.

An Adventure with Target

            Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that Target has launched a campaign for fall.  This is one of the first seasonal specific advertisements that I have seen.  Yes, there are the typical shopping "seasons" such as "Back to School", "Spring Cleaning", etc., but rarely do you see an advertisement for a seasonal type of clothing and house goods.  Obviously, I was intrigued.

            I thought that not only was this type of advertisement something that isn't all that common (advertising a season), but it was just a creative commercial in general.  It shows how seamless, simple, and fairly easy the transition from summer to fall can be.  And this specific transition is typically thought to be not all that exciting because it is the end of warm weather, the end of summer break, and the end of family vacations.  Though I am already a lover of fall, this commercial made me love it more.

            Being in creative brief mode, I was curious as to what it might have been to result in this commercial.  Were they looking to not only create interest for fall clothes and house wares, but also the season?  And maybe show that Target can make the fall season fun, not something to dread at the end of the summer. Whatever their creative brief was, I think it succeeded in the idea that I am now more than excited to go shopping at Target for all my fall needs.