I think this is really interesting -- what implications are there in the ad industry with something like this?

Best performing print ads this past summer. Do they all have anything in common?

This cracked me up

Extra credit

Hey folks, here is how you can earn up to 20 points extra credit. It has to do with design, which is an important part of advertising (although this is more focused on "news" a lot of the same principles apply to advertising design).

Go to NewsU.org and create an account. (You only need to fill in the required fields -- it will send an email to you -- you'll have to check your email and click on their link)

Enroll in Color in News Design and/or Typography for News Design.

Complete the course(s) and email a course report to me. You'll get 10 points for each course you complete.

Reaction paper #10 due 11-5

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/19/090119fa_fact_friend?currentPage=all

In about a half a page or so, summarize the article's point about marketing movies.

Then, talk about what strikes you as interesting? What tactics mentioned in the article do you recognize?

Finally, find a movie poster to analyze (you can attach it in the email or just include a link to it) and talk about how the poster is used to target a specific audience or persuade someone to watch it. What does the poster say about the movie's genre, its stars or what might make it worth paying for?

Discussion #10

I'll take Dave's idea:

We know that tobacco companies did, but do alcohol companies advertise to underage drinkers? This has been in the news a little lately with the "Four Loco" story.

What do you think the purpose of this ad is? Is it effective?

Re: plagiarism

Hey folks.. I just want everyone to read this and this regarding plagiarism. I've had a few papers lately that are written too closely to the source material.

We can make a discussion out of this too: before entering college, did your teachers define plagiarism for you and show you how to avoid it? Did they show you how to properly paraphrase and cite a source?

Discussion #9

Stereotypes!

What are some common stereotypes found in advertising?

Find a link to an ad or commercial that uses stereotypes and talk about why it might be offensive to some people.

Can anyone think of or find a stereotype that isn't one of the typical ones talked about? (a few common ones.. Jocks, the elderly, the ditzy cheerleader, the nerd who can't talk to girls, and a lot of common racial stereotypes out there..)

Reaction Paper # 8 due 10-29

Point value.. 20 points! Worth two regular papers.

For this one I'd like you to... create an ad!

It could be a TV commercial (upload to YouTube so we can all see it!)

A magazine ad (made with Photoshop or a free imaging program like Gimp)(see p. 239+, p.274)

A radio ad (see p. 251, 280 in book) (if you have a Mac you can use Garageband.. if you're on Windows I'm not sure what program to use for audio editing-- anyone know?)

The ad topic is DMACC.

Slogan/tagline: "Life's calling."

Strategy: In these tough economic times, many people are heading back to school. DMACC wants people to know that it offers a great education at a great price. Not only that, there are convenient locations around central Iowa and many majors to choose from. People can earn a diploma in only two years.

Target audience: People most hit by the tough economy: non-traditional students who might be recently laid off or those who might have a job but aren't happy with it. With some more education, maybe they could have their dream job.

(if you don't have access to any software/equipment you could write a TV or radio script)

10 point assignment

Write a review for the movie "Art & Copy" -- we started watching it in class today.

The review/critique should be from the perspective of an advertising student (you). You (hopefully, now) have more knowledge about advertising than the average person -- with that in mind, is this a good movie? Why or why not? Would you recommend it to other advertising students?

(this isn't a reaction paper)

Due end of the month.

Good ad?

Discussion #8

We're about half way done!

I'll open the discussion up: what topics do YOU guys want to talk about relating to advertising? How about 3 topic ideas, and if I pick your topic idea for a discussion you'll get 5 extra credit points (in addition to 5 points for your 3 ideas).

Reaction Paper #7 due 10-22

Straight forward:

For this paper, I'd like you to seek out Ad Age magazine at your campus library, pick out an article of good length, and summarize it. Relate the story to what we've discussed so far in class. That's all!

500-600 words.

Chilean Miners

What do you think of this?

JOU 165 • Take Home Test #2
Chapters 4-7
50 Points • Due Friday October 22, Midnight

Rules:

1. Your main source for this test is the book, but you are free to use outside sources or our lecture. Please cite any outside sources (besides your book) at the end of the paper (you can choose the citation style: MLA, APA, etc.)

2. You can use fellow classmates.

3. The test must be written 100% by yourself. That means you can talk about the answers with a classmate, but when you sit down to write it has to be all yours. If it is too similar to another classmate's, I either won't take them or make both students redo it with new questions, depending on how similar they are.

Length: About 2-3 double-spaced pages per answer.

Answer TWO of these questions:

1. (Chapter 4) You're interviewing for a job at an advertising firm. They want to make sure you know your stuff. The pose a question: what are the four major categories for segmenting different consumers? Are there certain segments within each category that are good to target, or does it depend on certain factors?

2. (Chapter 7) You work for marketing for Michelin tires. They are trying to figure out how to market their new Tweel tires. Your boss wants to know the different between Top-Down and Bottom-Up marketing, how you would proceed for each one, and which you recommend.

3. (Chapter 6) Dahl's grocery store is thinking about a store redesign and wants to learn more about who their customers are and what they want in their store. For example, how far away are they coming from, how much on average do they spend, where do they get their coupons, and how they could improve the layout of the store. They've asked you to come up with 4 possible research techniques: two quantitative and two qualitative. Describe them, list the pros and cons of each, and give your opinion on how the research should be done.

Discussion #7

Let's say you work for FOX. They're low on cash and trying to get more product placement in their hit show "Glee." They want you to seek out products that would be a good fit and pitch the idea. What brands would you go after and why?

Reaction Paper #6 due 10-15

Here is the article:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/14/090914fa_fact_jacobs?currentPage=all

Question...

How has Zappos positioned themselves?

How has it been successful?

Is there anything unusual about their business?

What can be learned from their example?

Chapter 7 slides

Found here!

Discussion #6.5

New take on the McDonald's catering to adults question. Let's say you're a small business owner -- you've just opened up a restaurant in your town.

Who is your target customer and how would you design your restaurant, menu options and advertising to attract that customer? How will your advertising be different than a national chain like McDonald's or Applebee's?

Part of your answer might depend on the location and what void needs to be filled (for example, you might have a more high-end restaurant near Jordan Creek or you might not want another Mexican place if there a bunch of others nearby).

Campaign project part 2

Campaign Assignment Part II

Product and Marketing Objectives

Due Friday November 5 • Midnight

50 Points

A. (1/2 page) Clearly state your situation analysis and problem definition (see page 158, Chapter 6). State your research objectives (p. 161). Base the problem on your SWOT analysis from part 1.

B. (1/2 page) By yourself or brainstorming with a friend, come up with 2-3 product ideas your company could introduce to solve the problem in part A. Describe these products briefly.

C. (2-3 pages) Summarize your research:

Conduct a focus group (5-10 people) or interviews (6 different people) to come up with a new product for your company.
Gather as much information from the focus group/interviews as you can to figure out what features and benefits the product will have, who will be most interested in it, and what media they use so you can plan your advertising. Remember the four P's: price, product, placement (distribution) and promotion.
Sample questions:
• If Microsoft came out with a new product today, what would you like to see?
• What features would the product have?
• What product have you always wanted Microsoft to make, but they never have?
• How much would you pay for this product?
• Where would you want to be able to buy it?
• Who do you think it would appeal to?
• If this appeals to you, what media do you use? TV? Radio? Which web sites? Magazines? Newspaper?

Start the interview/focus group with a few product ideas in mind in case your subject can't think of a new one on the spot. Then you can figure out which one they would be most interested in and how you could improve it.
With good detail and direct quotes, summarize what your focus group or interview subjects tell you.

D. (2-3 pages) After the focus group/interviews, finalize your product based on the responses. Explain the product and how the focus groups or interviews helped you.

1. What will the utility of the product be? How will you position it against the competition? (see Ch. 4)
2. What features and benefits will you promote?
3. What will your target market be? What demographics, geographic region, psychographics, and behavior characteristics will you seek to target? (see Ch. 4)
4. Message element selection: briefly describe what message you will use. (see p. 157)
5. What are current economic, political, and social trends that might affect your product?



Focus group tips:
• You'll want to have 5-10 people in your focus group. It is highly recommended that you record audio and/or video of the session. Come up with a list of questions beforehand.
• Aim for about 45-60 minutes
• Create a questionnaire for them to write their name, demographic information, personal tastes (according to what product category you pick; for example: what is your favorite brand of soda? How often do you drink it? What is the most important thing when it comes to what soda you buy?).
• After the questionnaire, proceed with probing questions to gain insight about your potential product. Take notes. Ask questions based on their responses. Make sure they know there is no wrong answer.
• Try to stay as objective as possible. Don't guide the answers one way or another with positive or negative remarks.

Interview Tips:
• A questionnaire before the interview is also a good idea to get some data on the person: demographic information, personal tastes, how often they buy the product (or product category). You could give them a scale of 1-10 and ask how interested they are in your product category ("On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate yourself as a fan of soda pop?" "What about fruit drinks? Coffee?"). You might give more weight to those who are more interested in the product or product category to begin with.
• Take notes during the interview. Record the audio if possible.
• Ask open-ended questions ("Why" or "What" questions as opposed to yes/no answer questions)
• Listen to their answer and ask follow-up questions
• Try to stay as objective as possible. Don't guide the answers one way or another with positive or negative remarks.
• Ask your subject if it is okay to contact them later with follow-up questions.
• Aim for about 20 minutes per interview (longer if the subject doesn't mind and you're having fun).

Discussion #6

Based on chapter 6 about research...

Let's say DMACC wants to revamp its cafeteria(s) (we're all on different campuses). They haven't been very popular and they think they can do a better job with them.. however they're not 100% sure they know what's not working or what students "want."

They want to do a little research to see what can be done.

Using what you've read about in Chapter 6, what would be a good method to use? What questions would be good to ask? What is the goal of the research?

Reaction Paper #5 due 10-8

http://www.moskalyuk.com/blog/yes-50-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be-persuasive

Discuss a few of these tactics that you have seen work (or not work) in real life.

Which 5 stand out as tactics advertisers should use more?

Do any seem more like a gimmick that don't really work?

Keep it to 500-700 words. Try to reference back to the readings when you can.