Jay Leno & Product mentions

Not sure if all these are paid for, but I'm sure a lot are (especially Wendy's and Bing).

Reaction Paper #5 due 10-2

For this one I'd like you to look at an old issue of LIFE magazine (found here):

http://books.google.com/books?id=R1cEAAAAMBAJ&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=2&atm_aiy=1935#all_issues_anchor

Pick an issue (they have them from the 1930s-1970s)

Browse the ads in the issue.

1. What strikes you interesting about the ads from back then? Think about magazine ads you've seen recently (or pick up a current magazine). How are these old ads different from today?
2. Pick an ad. Tell me what date the issue is and what page the ad is on (or copy and paste the link of possible)
3. Critique this ad in-depth. For example, What visuals do they use? What do they use to catch the reader's eye? What words do they use? What do they promise? Is it convincing? Who is their target demographic? What techniques do they use that we have talked about so far? What about it might make it typical of ads during that time period? Would the ad be effective today?

Reaction paper #4 due 9-25

Here is the article:

http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001

What are some of the advertising ethics issues in this article? Have you seen any examples of these in real life? Which do you think is the most important? Are there some ethical issues in advertising the author missed? If you were to write some guidelines for advertising ethics, what would they be?

Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Reaction Paper #3 due 9-18

It's a video this time! Here is the link:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

I'd like you to summarize Gladwell's points when it comes to choice of products (and happiness). Do you have any reaction or criticism? How does it relate to what we've read in Chapters 1-3?

(If you're on a Mac and it doesn't work in Firefox, try Safari.)

Reminder

I will send out the test next week. You'll have a week to do it.

We will have NO CLASS on Wednesday, Sept 16, to give you time to work on the test outside of class.

I'll have the instructions for taking it with the actual questions, but plan on writing either one long (perhaps up to 3-4 pages double spaced) essay or several short ones.

I forgot to mention part 1 of the campaign assignment today, but let me know if you have any questions on it.

Magazine ads

Old magazine ads.

Campaign Part I

Advertising Campaign Project Part I
Due: Wednesday Sept. 30
Length: 4-5 pages double spaced (30 points)

The first thing to do is to pick a company to base your report (and project) on. I would suggest one of these companies (but if you have another idea, let me know)

Coke, Microsoft, Pepsi, IBM, GM, Ford, Chrysler, GE, Nokia, Disney, Toyota, McDonald's, Google, Louis Vuitton, Marlboro, Nike, Apple, Sony, Budweiser, Kellogg's, Canon, Nintendo, Harley-Davidson, L'Oreal, Proctor & Gamble

For this first part, your goal is to give a comprehensive report on the current state of affairs for your company to plan for future advertising.
You will end up combining your findings for the final project you hand in.

1. Company Review
A. Complete (summarized) history of the company: Location, CEO, stock trends, profits, how many employees, any other relevant information you can find about the company
B. Advertising budget last year: how much did they spend in each medium? Are there trends for spending more or less in certain media?
C. Their top brands and products: What products help define the company? What unique selling proposition do they have? What demographics do they aim for? What price points do they use? How do they brand themselves? Hip? Useful? Do they depend on added brand value?

2. Competition Review
A. Who are your company's main competitors?
B. What are their profits and media spending?
C. What are their top products and brands?
D. What appears to be their advertising strategy?

3. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) for your company's products and market.
A. What is your strongest brand or product and why?
B. What are your weakest areas? Where do your competitors have you beat?
C. Are there any potential markets (by age, location, demographics, psychographics, etc.) for you that you don't currently have? What offer the most profit potential?
D. What threats must you watch out for? For example, could a weak economy help or hurt you? Would new environmental regulations be a threat? Smoking bans?

Now.. for your company: It's up to you to decide. It is strongly recommended you pick a public company, as it is easier to find information about it.
You can also check out:
http://www.adbrands.net
http://adage.com/datacenter/
http://finance.yahoo.com/
And Yahoo! finance for information about publicly owned companies.

Don't rely just on Google for your research. Talk to campus librarian (or me) if you need help finding sources.

Dove ad from class today

What do you think of this campaign?

Top Brands

Some of the "best" brands.

Reaction Paper #2 due 9-11

Let's do this PBR story I linked to previously:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/magazine/the-marketing-of-no-marketing.html

What is unusual about PBR's situation? How have they tried to adapt? What do you think of PBR's strategy? With regards to the guy with the PBR tatoo, do you think it is unusual for people to have such strong ties to a brand (or even a brand of beer?) Are there any brands that you have such strong feelings for? Can you describe what it means to you?

For Friday...

Exploring Advertising #1 on p.54! We'll talk about what you find.

Lecture 2 (Chapter 1)

Lecture 1