Getting Freaky… In Advertising

Being considered one of the top 10 commercials of 2011 by Ad Week is an honor. But what about being called one of the top 30 freakiest ads?

While many commercials get lost in the shuffle, at least these 30 freaky commercials have made an impact. But whether that’s in a good or bad way, you’ll have to decide for yourself!

Some of the ads include DiscountHotels.com’s family of egg heads and Coors Light’s ad featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme comparing the beer to his frozen… well, you’ll just have to watch to find out.

View the list in its strange, yet entertaining, entirety here.

Which ad did you think was the freakiest? Let us know in a comment!

SUBMITTED BY:

Jamie Jacobs, Account Executive

(with help from Sarah Brovda, Intern)

Radio alive and kicking

Radio advertising, hit hard by the recession, is making some noise. According to a report released Friday by the Radio Advertising Bureau, revenue from radio advertising last year was $17.4 billion, up 1 percent from the year before. It was the second year of growth for the industry, after three down years. Automotive advertising is the biggest driver of the growth.

And OK, so this isn’t really my dog – but it looks just like her!

SUBMITTED BY:

Patty Farro, Media Buyer

What’s Your Pinterest?

It seems like every day, a new social media site emerges, and right now, everyone’s talking about Pinterest.

But what exactly is Pinterest? Essentially, it’s your own personal online bulletin board where you can “pin” images and sort them into categories such as home, décor and food. Forget cutting out and earmarking your magazines! Now, you can share your visual interests and inspiration with your followers via Pinterest.

After you pin each image, they’re also linked back to their original source, making it a great source of traffic for retailers. According to the below infographic (straight from mashable), it’s even driving more retail traffic than Google+.

What do you think of Pinterest? Should your company be getting on board in order to drive more traffic to your page?

SUBMITTED BY:

Jamie Jacobs, Account Executive

(with help from Sarah Brovda, Intern)

Popular Movies in Super Bowl Ads: Great Advertising Idea, or a Step Too Far?

With the Super Bowl fast approaching this weekend, so too are the extremely expensive, and much-anticipated commercials. Chevrolet, for example, has announced that it will air two ads before the game, three during the first half, and two post-game for a total of seven spots. Last year, FOX charged from $2.8 to $3 million per 30 second spot, meaning that Chevrolet alone will spend approximately $27 million on Super Bowl advertising this year.

Over the past few years, we have come to expect some of the most entertaining and original commercials to come from automakers. This year, Honda released “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

The high budget spot is certainly well produced, but has been received with mixed opinions. Turns out not everyone appreciates remaking a popular movie in favor of commercial profitability.

What do you think?

SUBMITTED BY:

Jamie Jacobs, Account Executive

(with help from Filip Lewicki, Intern)

Are you ready for some football…commercials?

Let us know your favorite Super Bowl spots. Meanwhile, look at these numbers for the N.Y. Giants vs. the San Francisco 49ers NFC championship game. Sunday’s FOX telecast of that game, a 20-17 overtime victory for the Giants, drew at least 50 million viewers. And according to preliminary Nielsen data, the game had an average rating of 32.5, with a 47 share, the best showing for a conference title game since the 49ers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 38-28 to advance to Super Bowl XXIX in the 1994-95 season.

SUBMITTED BY:

Patty Farro, Media Buyer

Recommended New Year’s resolution: Warm up to social media!

Check out this video, with neat stats on the way social media has grown, like:

Farmville’s digital tractors have now outsold real ones in the U.S.!

Lady Gaga now has more Twitter followers than the President!

If the public perceives social media recommendations as far more trustworthy than advertising, shouldn’t EVERY advertising plan in 2012 have a social media component to it?

SUBMITTED BY:

Jamie Jacobs and Heather Preston

Recognition technology – crossing a line?

Check out this scenefrom the movie “Minority Report.”

It seems crazy, but the crazier part is that we’re actually catching up to what we used to think were futuristic, sci-fi thrillers like this one.

Nowadays, facial recognition technology is on the rise, reading your eyes, your facial features, your voice. And sure, it started out only in security cameras or for use in police force database systems. But it’s quickly becoming the new, hip marketing tool as well.

For example, according to a Nasdaq article, Adidas is already working to develop digital walls with facial recognition for a limited number of stores in the U.S. or Britain. Meanwhile, Kraft is in talks with a supermarket chain to test face-scanning kiosks.

What do you think? Cool innovation – or crossing a line?

SUBMITTED BY:

Jamie Jacobs, Account Executive