Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Twitter

Today I read an article in Advertising Age about the increase in sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The average person's spending increased from $343 to $365 on Black Friday and from $180 to $195 on Cyber Monday. This big jump occurred with the help companies' social media pages such as Twitter and Facebook. 


Amazon was the most talked-about retailer for Black Friday and Cyber Monday because it constantly streamed Twitter and Facebook updates throughout the week of Thanksgiving, so by the time the shopping days came, consumers were ready to shop with Amazon. According to FortiusOne, there were some 30,000 tweets that mentioned Amazon. 


It's really interesting to me to see how much social media is being incorporated into the daily lives of consumers as well as advertisers. I think that what we talked about in class today is very relevant to this situation given above because social media is now truly becoming a traditional form of advertising media. Social media is too instant and convenient to people's fingertips for it to not become a traditional form of media. With the exponential progress it is making, it will be interesting to see how social media affects Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales in 2011.

Account Planning

After our class discussion about account planning, I have decided that this is another field that I would love to go into if I ever choose to go into advertising. I love that account planning is centered around extensively researching the target market and getting to know it on a very deep level. I know that if I really wanted to go into this field I could because account planning doesn't require that you have a background in advertising. Since I plan to go into journalism, I think this works out perfectly. Journalism and account planning appear to have many intersections, especially when it comes to research. You also have to be very people-oriented for both and have to know who you are talking to. For both you also have to convince people why whatever message you're trying to get across is important and relevant. If I have any free hours next year I might consider taking an account planning class just to wet my palette on what it would be like to work in the field. 

Alternate Media

Though I don't plan to go into advertising, I think that if I did I would like to work in the area of developing alternate media. I think that this is a really interesting field to go into right now, especially since people are turning away from traditional media more and more every day. I think the more alternate media develops over time, the more effective it will be. I think this because consumers become amused by advertising when they're not expecting to be advertised to. With all of the changes going on in the industry, advertisers have to adapt to the environment and create an alternate realm where messages can reach consumers. Consumers are no longer watching television during prime-time, listening to the radio as much as the used to, or reading newspapers. Everything is online, people are on the go, and they're not going to want to stop and take out precious time from their day to look at ads. Therefore, it needs to be in their natural environment: on the walk/drive to work, outside the store; it could be even a product that serves a functional purpose as well as an advertisement (like the cup above that's advertising for plastic surgery).

An Apple App for Ads?

I just noticed that there is such a thing as a Bestads iPhone app. It gives you immediate access to the Weekly Top 6 TV, web, film, print, outdoor, radio and interactive advertisements from bestadsontv.com. 

I find the invention of this app interesting because it shows just how much the public is able to filter the content that it gets from advertising. Not only can you choose to view advertising on a nontraditional medium; now you can choose which ads you want to view. You can only watch what is deemed as the "best ads of the week." If more ads like this pop up, I wonder how it will affect the advertising industry as a whole. Will it help it or harm it? 

In my opinion, it could go either way. 

It's Not About What It's About

This semester I have learned both Advertising Literacy and Intro to Creativity that for the best ads, it's not about what it's about. 


I think that this is a really important concept for people in the advertising industry because that way advertisers' ads will resonate more with the audience. Nobody is going to want to look at an ad know right off the bat that the message is trying to sell them something. The best ads keep consumers engaged and have them wondering what the ad is about. It should be entertaining, intriguing, funny, even a little puzzling. And then there should be that aha! moment where everything clicks at the end and there's the product. 


Here's is an ad that I think is a good example of this concept. It really gets me in the holiday spirit and by the end of it Target is the presented product. But it's not about Target, it's about bringing together family and friends and celebrate holiday cheer. It leaves me with a heartwarming feeling.

Product Placement

Last semester, I wrote a story about product placement and found some interesting findings:

-- Product placement is becoming even more interactive, with things like clothing stores that have a cell phone app that invites you to play a game whenever you walk by a store. 

-- The average amount of product placements in a film is 24. "Sex and the City 2" had between 60 or 70 product placements, which is an indication that product placement is on the rise.

-- Since many consumers now have TiVo, product placement is becoming increasingly interwoven into the plots of shows, especially reality television like "The Biggest Loser" and "Top Chef."

-- Product placement is even getting interwoven into novels and becomes a valuable part of the story

-- The cutting edge of product placement will be with video games and comic books because advertisers will be able to reach teenagers who don't pay attention to advertisements on television. 

-- AT&T is the number one brand for product placement

It's interesting to me to see what nontraditional forms advertising will be forced to take over the years. It makes me wonder if consumers will view the advertising any differently. Will they think it's more intrusive because ads will show up in every single aspect and medium of consumers' lives? Or will they appreciate it because they will realize that they can always be informed on the latest product, regardless of whether they are at home watching TV or on the go? 

Facebook Ads

Sometimes it creeps me out how much Facebook knows about me. Lately when I've been on the site, it has never failed for me to see an advertisement on the right-hand side that actually relates to my life. Here are a few examples:

-- In the spring when I was figuring out where I was living for the next school year, advertisements of properties near SMU always appeared-- one time it was even one of my friend's apartments. 

-- When I was still with my ex-boyfriend, every time I went on his page an ad showed up that concerned an engagement ring.

-- After we broke up, ads about dating sites like match.com popped up all the time. Ironically enough, the man in the picture was always an army guy, which happens to be what my ex is.

-- Just now, I saw an ad for Chap Stick, which is incredibly ironic, because my lips actually do feel chapped at the moment. It's like Facebook can even determine my physical state. 

This reminds me of the discussion we had in class about the woman who visited the Zappos site to look at a pair of shoes and the shoes followed her every site she went to after. It really amazes me how technology enables advertisers to truly relate to our everyday lives. At the same time it's a little creepy...

Apple iPod Nano 6G Ad

This youtube video is the ad for the 6th generation iPod nano.
I can never remember a time when I saw an ad by Apple and didn't want the product. In my opinion, Apple is the hero of persuasive advertising. There's always something just so cutting edge about their ads-- whether it's the art direction, dialogue, or featured song. Every time Apple features a new song, the sales for that artist hit the ceiling.
It would be interesting to see the creative briefs for Apple.

SEO

It is vital that the website WebMD has efficient search engine optimization. In this age and era, people generally do some online research if they suspect that anything is wrong with their health. Logically this makes sense so that you know exactly what to ask your doctor when you go to your appointment. In some cases, doing some research about your symptoms may even save an appointment if your health issue is minor.

When people Google whatever their health topic is, the last site that they want to refer to is Wikipedia or some random blog where everybody’s experience with the health issue is one that is subjective-- and, very highly possibly— one that lacks credibility (sometimes people don’t know what they’re talking about).

In order to prevent someone getting inaccurate information about his or her health, WebMd needs to be high up on the Google results. When I Googled “cancer” the site was relatively high up there (it was the 4th result on the page). However, I think the site would do some good if it had a stronger SEO so that it becomes the first or second result on the page. When it comes to my health questions, I would prefer a site that uses award-winning expertise in medicine, journalism and health communication over taking advice from an anonymous stranger.

Politics and Advertising

A few days ago I read an article in The New York Times called "In Ad Wars, Democrats Shy from Ties to Own Party." The article talked about the trends going on for the recent advertisements that senators make for the November elections, and how it's starting a new phenomenon for political advertising. It said that Democrats are talking against its own party's recent decisions in hopes of gaining voters, and that the Republican party is spending more money on advertising than the Democrats.

I think it's ironic that the Republicans are spending more on advertising than the Democrats, considering Republicans try to be as economically conservative as possible. The article also mentioned that "television advertising remains the most central ingredient of political races." This is interesting to me because with the rapid growth of technology that constantly seems to be occurring in the advertising realm, you would think that politicians would make more of an effort to advertise online. I feel that it would be more effective if they did this especially because many people watch important debates and presidential addresses online versus on TV-- since that way viewers can stay updated with current events on their own schedule. You would think that these politicians would post an advertisement before you could watch a debate online to resonate more with the audience.