An Adventure with Macy's

            For my Consumer Behavior class, we had to analyze something in the media involving consumer behavior.  My group decided on one of Macy's latest advertisements, which involved Kris Kringle from Miracle on 34th Street...

            I really enjoyed this advertisement because of the nostalgia it brought back for me.  I think that Macy's wanted to put out a different advertisement than their "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause" advertisements for their Believe campaign.  The story of Virginia has been used for quite a few years, so Macy's needed to do something a bit different.

            I think that Macy's is trying to target a broad range of ages.  By including the Kris Kringle character from Miracle on 34th Street, they get the older age range, Justin Beiber gets the younger ages.  And the many other celebrities get everyone in between.

            I think this commercial was successful because it can successfully reach all ages and the commercial is successful in staying true to the Macy's brand during the Christmas season.  A negative of this advertisement might be that Donald Trump was included (which many people don't agree with), but I think that Macy's did a good job of combatting the backlash by making Donald Trump skeptical of Kris Kringle.  But personally, I don't care whether Donald Trump is in their advertisements or not, so I think that this advertisement has the potential to be successful in drawing in more customers for shopping and letter writing.

An Adventure with Earl Cox and The Martin Agency

            On Thursday, Earl Cox is coming to speak to our class.  Mr. Cox is currently the EVP, Partner & Chief Strategy Officer at The Martin Agency.  He has worked there for 26 years.  He is also a member of the Marketing Advisory Board here at Virginia Tech.

            The Martin Agency, located in Richmond, VA is quite a large advertising agency that was started in 1965.  They are responsible for creating many famous campaigns for WalMart, Pizza Hut, and Discover.  Thought what really launched them to their success was the Virginia is for Lovers campaign, which started in 1969.  Since then, they have cultivated many followers.  Mr. Cox has worked on the Geico and UPS campaigns.

            An issue that The Martin Agency is facing is making sure that they are still prevalent.  With so many people and new companies getting involved in advertising, they need to ensure that they are still top of mind for clients.

Questions for Kelly Fisher:

            How did you get into the industry?

            What inspired you for Geico and UPS?

            Did you come in entry-level and work your way up?  If so, what did you do as an entry-level employee?  If not, how did you come about your position?

An Adventure with Gap

            In my Consumer Behavior class, we had a group present on Gap's new holiday campaign.  I found it to be a fun use of color and celebrities without it being too over the top.  Gap did not necessarily have a problem that they needed to solve, they just wanted to remind consumers about their product during the heavy holiday shopping season.

            Around the holiday season, consumers look for things that remind them of the love between all different relationships, because the season inspires that feeling.  So many brands that involve food or decorating try to use this idea of love in their advertisements, but its not as used in clothing brands.  I think Gap did a great job of using love in all forms while successfully advertising their clothing.  The only issue I've noticed with the campaign is that I have not seen any of their advertisements.  The only reason I knew about them was through class.  As long as they are promoted correctly, Gap should find these advertisements to be successful.  Love hits home somewhere for every consumer, and its always a great feeling to be reminded of during the holidays.

An Adventure with "Black Friday"

            The concept of Black Friday has been around for as long as I can remember.  My parents would wake up early (maybe 5:00 AM) to hit up Staples by 6:00 AM for the latest software updates for our computer or next year's tax software.  I experienced my first Black Friday while being employed at Vera Bradley at a local mall, working the 2:00 AM - 10:00 AM shift one year and the 12:00 AM - 8:00 AM shift the next year.  But I never experienced the consumer shopping side of it until last year, when I went out to Target at midnight for a fake Christmas tree for my apartment and some flannel sheets (exciting, I know).  I had such a great time last year, watching all the crazy people fight over TVs and the latest toys, that I was planning on going out again this year.  But maybe not as early as store opening this year...

            Target, WalMart, and other retailers have recently announced that they plan on opening their doors on Thanksgiving day this year, 9:00 PM and 8:00 PM respectively.  To be honest, I find this to be awful.  I find this to be a poor decision on the retailers' part, because eventually, we will find that Thanksgiving is no longer a holiday, but a shopping day.  The employees of these retailers that can not afford to take off work on Thanksgiving, will lose that special time that they had always been allowed with their families.  Instead, they will be spending Thanksgiving evening with crazy consumers, upset that the store has gone out of stock of the latest Blu-Ray player.

            This subject has been talked about quite a bit in the news, with many people upset about it.  I am not sure what the retailers' "problem" was in relation to the addition of these hours.  I am quite confident that they all achieved the sales that they needed to in previous Black Fridays, so why cause so much drama in the public eye over this.  I find it to be a bad PR move on each of their parts.

            I am not saying that these retailers will lose drastic amounts of business over this decision, because I am sure there are plenty of crazy people out there willing to wait in line even earlier than they were previously planning, all to get one item.  But I think that this decision has ignored the idea of giving thanks for what we as people ALREADY have on Thanksgiving, and encouraging people to not be satisfied with what they have and come shop even earlier, maybe eventually forgetting what the holiday is all about.

An Adventure with Duracell

            As we all know, Hurricane Sandy was quite a surprise for many people.  Many are still without power in certain areas, which has put a hamper on many people's daily lives.  Duracell decided they wanted to help solve this problem, so they brought charging stations into NYC and its surrounding areas to provide power for cell phones, computers, and even provided Wi-Fi so people could check email and find information on when their power might come back.  Not only did Duracell help local consumers, but they also opened up their offices to employees to shower and charge certain pieces of technology.

            Duracell did not necessarily have a problem themselves, but they were trying to solve their local community's problem of no power.  In return, consumers became more aware of Duracell and were able to associate it as a company that is helpful, reliable, and caring.  Employees gained more respect for the company they work for, which has been shown to increase employees' need to provide for the company.

            The general target audience for the charging stations is anyone that has some sort of technology.  More specifically, it is someone who makes the purchase decisions of the house, and someone that is reliant on technology.

            This was a great PR move by Duracell.  So much kindness came out of the storm, ranging from neighbors to companies, and Duracell made sure that they could provide that same kindness to not only their employees, but the entire community.

An Adventure with Got Milk? and Kelly Fisher (Class Speaker Prep)

            Kelly Fisher will be talking to our class today about her work with the Got Milk? campaign.  I am pretty excited about it, because though I am not a milk drinker, I absolutely love the campaign.  Below is my preparation for her presentation...

            To be honest, I was not able to find a whole lot of information on Kelly Fisher.  I couldn’t even find her on LinkedIn.  Though I do know that she has been with Got Milk? for a few years now.

            As far as Got Milk? Goes, they have been running essentially the same campaign for the past 19 (almost 20) years.  They use celebrities and other famous figures to promote their campaign by placing milk mustaches on each of them in their advertisements.  For the most part, they have all been print advertisements, and though they have not worn off on people, especially when using multiple different celebrities over the years, Got Milk? has kind of fallen by the wayside in my opinion.

            I think the biggest problem that Got Milk? is currently facing is that there have been so many proponents of other sources of calcium, and the organization is no longer advertising as much, leading some people to forget about this monumental campaign.  This is something to be addressed.

            Not until looking on the Got Milk? website did I know that the organization has come out with a different campaign that promotes the idea that “Real milk comes from cows.”  The campaign is trying to inform consumers that there are so many more ingredients in the other milks on the market (soy, almond, etc.) rather than the few in cow’s milk.  After perusing around the site, I think that this is a rather interesting campaign; it just needs to be promoted more.  I was not aware of it until going directly to the site.  This is something that needs to be fixed.

Questions for Ms. Fisher:

            What type of work do you do working for a campaign that doesn’t necessarily promote a brand, but rather a general product category (milk)?

            How did you get into the industry?

            What inspired the creative behind the commercials and the “Imitation Milk Kit”?