As Thanksgiving approaches so does the retail industry’s most important time of year, the holiday shopping season. Black Friday, the official start of the holiday season is just a couple of weeks away and retailers are gearing up for this important shopping event. In a year where the economy has affected so many things expect a significant amount of attention to be placed on Black Friday this year as it will help to predict the outcome of the holiday shopping season. As big as Black Friday has become for the retail industry, Cyber Monday is what industry expects look at in order to predict the season’s online holiday shopping sales.
Archive for the ‘Trendspotting’ Category
Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Turn that commercial down
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
How many times has this happened to you? You are sitting there watching your favorite program on television and boom a commercial comes on 1115% louder than the show was. You quickly rush to grab the remote to either turn the volume way down or switch the channel as you are about to start bleeding from the ears. It’s terrible, and nothing is worse than watching sports. Commercial breaks during sports games are so loud that I fear my television is going to blow up. So why are commercials so loud?
The short answer is that commercials are louder than televisions shows. Currently, the FCC does not regulate the volume of television programs and commercials. When a television show is filmed they use a number of different audio levels so the viewer can hear the distinction of a soft whisper versus a car explosion. Advertisers don’t want to have different audio levels in their commercials so they record the commercials at the highest possible level possible because they want to grab the viewer’s attention.
Vitaminwater Flavorcreator
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Vitaminwater was first introduced to Americans in 2000 as an alternative to soda and positioned as a drink that both hydrates consumers while providing essential nutrients they are likely missing. Over the past nine years the company has exploded in popularity quickly becoming one of the largest beverage brands in America. In 2007, The Coca-Cola Company purchased Vitaminwater for $4.1 billion dollars. Today, the brand is bigger than ever and endorsed by some of the largest stars in entertainment including Steve Nash, 50 Cent, Shaq, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Just recently Vitaminwater launched a unique fan contest that utilizes the power of Facebook. The contest was announced by Steve Nash and 50 Cent in a humorous internet commercial.
Hospitals in the Social Media space
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Over the past year and a half I have heard the phase “social media” 100,000 times. No matter where you turn your attention someone is discussing social media and how it can help your business. For brands there is no escaping social media, their only choice is to embrace it. One industry that has embraced social media as a means to communicate with their target audiences is the hospital industry. Since 2006 the number of U.S. hospitals engaged in social media has skyrocketed. Over the past three years more than 350 hospitals throughout America have engaged their brand in one type of social media.
Ultimate Consumer Contest
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Frito-Lay, the world’s largest snack food producer, is revamping last year’s ultimate consumer contest titled Crash the Super Bowl. For the past four years Doritos has asked the consumer to take control and create the brand’s Super Bowl commercials and as consumers answered the call the contest grew in popularity. Last year the contest was extremely successful for the brand and for the two unemployed brothers who created the winning spot. Not only were these brothers successful in winning the grand prize of $1 million; they also created a spot that beat out all of the Madison Avenue executives and won the USA Today Ad Meter poll.
It was the success of those two brothers’ commercial that helped to restructure this year’s Crash the Bowl Sweepstakes. The potential prize money up for grabs is $5 million this year; but Doritos is not just going to give the money away. In order to win the cash, consumers have to not only beat out the thousands of entrants Doritos receives, their ad also has to place within the top three of the USA Ad Meter. Here is how Doritos plans on breaking out the winning money; $1 million for placing first in Ad Meter; $600,000 for second and $400,000 for third and if the spots finish 1-2-3, each will get a $1 million bonus, for a total of $5 million in prizes. The last time an advertiser was able to sweep the top three spots in the USA Today Ad Meter poll was in 2007 by Anheuser-Busch.
Fantasy Football
Friday, September 11th, 2009
As summer turns to fall, men and women throughout this great country prepare to battle one another in fantasy football. Fantasy football is an online game where a person pretends to be a manager of a fake football team, comprised of real players, which then competes against another fake football team of real players. The league is fantasy, the championship is fantasy, but for the players who sacrifice their time for fantasy football each year it is all too real. Each year the population of fantasy football players grows and advertisers are lining up to tap into this extremely engaged audience.
Video Print Ads
Monday, August 24th, 2009
It has been reported that the average American consumer is exposed to somewhere between 275 to 3,000 advertising or brand messages a day. Whether the answer is closer to 275 or 3,000 does not matter; the point is that advertisers face intense competition when vying for consumer’s attention. It seems like every day there is a new technology, medium, product, person, television show, videogame, book, magazine, etc. competing for our attention. The challenge that all advertisers face is how to stand out in today’s increasingly cluttered environment. Well, CBS and Pepsi are hoping to stand out in next month’s Entertainment Weekly with the placement of a video print advertisement.
What is 230?
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Over the past couple weeks, a viral marketing campaign has been sweeping the country asking American consumers “what is 230?”. The campaign ads, which feature a green background screen with the words “what is” above the numbers 2, 3 and 0 made from an electric outlet smiley face, have been splattered across a number of mediums. At the end of the ad there are teaser messages saying find out on 8/11. Yesterday, General Motors came forward during a press conference and said they were the ones behind the ads. The campaign was to build hype around the new Chevy Volt, due out in late 2010, which is reported to get at least an estimated 230 miles per gallon.
Celebrities not important to ads
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
In a world where consumers consistently stay glued to every celebrity’s move via TMZ, Access Hollywood, Extra, Entertainment TV, etc., a new poll suggest that advertisements featuring celebrities are unable to sway consumer’s purchase decisions. According to a report by AdweekMedia who asked LinkedIn respondents whether or not the presence of a celebrity had an impact on their purchasing decision, an overwhelming 78 percent said it did not affect them one way or the other. Well I am here to say that I don’t believe this study one single bit.
That’s G
Friday, August 7th, 2009
In my lifetime the sports drink category has expanded tenfold. Growing up, I remember one choice; Gatorade, the ultimate thirst quencher. It was its own category; nowhere ever before has sports science been placed in a bottle but then other companies started to take notice. In 1998, Powerade was introduced by the Coca-Cola Company. Powerade was a solid competitor. It tasted like Gatorade, it looked like Gatorade, its name ended the same as Gatorade, plus it had the power of the Coca-Cola distribution channel to promote it. Still, Gatorade held its ground.
