John Lewis..

Its coming up to Christmas and festive adverts are starting to appear left rigth and centre. 
Most people are still talking about the infamous coca cola advert, but its the new John Lewis advert that's really caught my attention, and looking back at a catalogue of memorable ads I can see that its not just a one off success. 


The new ad highlights the "joys of giving" and features a cover of Eltons Johns - Your song by Ellie Goulding. The ad emphasises its strap line "For those who care about showing they care" by showing a child leaving a stocking out for his dog.


John lewis had created a series of heart felt ad campaigns, especially during the Christmas period.


The 2009 ad using Guns and roses "Sweet Child O'mine" played on the childhood memories of Christmas time...

 CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2009 AD

...whilst the 2009 ad featuring The Beatles - From me to you touches on the personalisation of gifts. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2008 AD

Even going back as far as 2007, we all remember the John Lewis "Shadows" ad.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2007 AD

There seems to be a repetition of iconic and classic songs playing over the emotional ads. The adverts work well in touching its audience on a personal level. It makes them relate there own memories.

Brand names from Miami to Ibiza..

Listening to Swedish House Mafias latest song "Miami to Ibiza" I recognised a lot of brand names being dropped into the lyrics. It wasn't until I found the lyrics on-line that I discovered there were almost 15 brand names being used in just 3 minutes and 25 seconds worth of material, including Blackberry BOLD, Calvin Klein and Nike. Although most of which are abbreviated, to its audience there abbreviations are all very obvious. It makes me wonder, did Swedish House Mafia have to pay for all the brand dropping in there song, or is all the abbreviations just a way around that. And what exactly is the reason behind such obvious branding in the song? Is it all a money making scheme to promote these brands, or is the artist trying to create an identity, using these brands to create an image.

She said she likes my watch, But she wants Steve's AP (Audemars Piguet watch)

And she stay up all hours watching QVC

She said she loves my songs, She bought my MP3

And so I put her number in my Bold BB (Blackberry)

I got a black BM (bmw), She got a white TT (Audi tt)

She wanna see what's hiding in my CK (Calvin Klein) briefs

I tell her "Wear suspenders and some PVC, And then I'll film it all up on my JVC"

Scene one, Everybody get in your positions, Pay attention, and listen

We're tryna get this all in one take, So let's try to make that happen

Take one, Action

She pose for FHM (FHM Magazine),  She like my black LV (Louis Vuitton)

We spilling LPR (Cocktail) up on my APC (a.p.c. clothing),  

I'm in my PRPS (prps Jeans) and my Nike SB's

Raving with SHM (Swedish House Mafia) London to NYC

I got my visa and my Lisa, A diva and her dealer,

Bitch I'm up on the guest list, With the Swedish House Mafia

You can find me on a table, Full of vodka and tequila

Surrounded by some bunnies (Playboy Bunnies), And it ain't fuckin' Easter

I'll wake up in the morning, With a mild case of amnesia

With a girl that like a girl , Like Lindsay Lo and Queen Latifah

If you niggas are balling Then boy I must be FIFA

And that's standard procedure, From Miami 2 Ibiza

Ad campaign goes Looney Tunes..

With celebrity endorsements becoming more and more popular amongst advertisers, its no surprise that cartoon characters are now becoming the face of top advertising campaigns. 

Virgin Medias latest ad campaign features Looney Tunes favorite Speedy Gonzales to promote its "Speedy" Broadband.

 

The advert plays on typical problems of slow boradband, by showing a seeming old cartoon paused because its busy buffering. (Click here to see full ad)

I think that this ad plays well to the target audience as It is likely that it is middle aged home owners that will be purchasing broadband. Therefore displaying an ad featuring a cartoon that they more than likely grew up with will make them relate on a personal level.

The high profile campaign was first launched last Saturday during prime time TV, staring in the break of The X Factor.

To support the campaign Virgin media also unveiled a the world’s first billboard made entirely of cheese in Covent Garden, London. Created by acclaimed food artist, Prudence Staite. However the campaign does not stop here, there will be a further 2 television ads, prints, online ads, and radio plugs, all making the most of the well known characteristics of character Speedy Gonzales.

Quotable...

"Good Call!"
Do you know what Advert that quote is from?! 

of course you do.

Fosters have created a quotable Advertising campiagn, that a wide target audience can relate too, and impersonate, all adding to the sucess of the campaign. Because every one who says "Good Call" is effectivley  advertising Fosters for free.

Click here to view Ad

The ad plays on the charachteristics of a sterotypical australian; loves beer, the beach and is down to earth. Portraying that all it takes is a chilled lager and a relaxed attitude to see the perfect solution to life’s little annoyances and concerns.

This ad is a perfect example of how effective a tag line can be to campaign. However far fetched that tag line might be. After all  the only conection between the actual product and the advert is the colloquial tag line "good call", that can be interpreted as "good decision", i.e. it was a good decision to choose to drink Fosters lager. 

Behavioral Advertising..

Advertisers are now trying even harder to reach there correct target audience, by a new method called Behavioral Targeting. I first noticed this when i went onto 4od.co.uk to watch up on this weeks Desperate Housewives. There were two main advertisements on the page, one for a new Diary Milk chocolate bar, and another to win a trip to a spa. Being female both adverts immediately grabbed my attention, which made me wonder how strategically they had been placed there. After all, with Desperate Housewives main audience being female there is no doubt it would be mostly women visiting this particular page. 

After doing some research, I found that this was defined as being a "type of advertising whereby advertisements are placed so as to reach consumers based on various traits such as demographics, purchase history, or observed behaviour." Web browsers now have the ability to follow users behaviour by the searches they have made and the pages they have visited, so it is easier to target the correct audiences. For example, if you were to search for "Houses for Sale" more than once, then mortgage companies may start targeting adverts at you. In this instance, the only personal information used to target you with these ads was strictly the fact that you viewed real estate ads.

Studies have shown that conversions are higher when people are targeted through behavior rather than content because behavior can determine a person's actions. Whether it is looking at specific sections of an online newspaper or visiting a certain type of site more than once, those actions are used to determine each user's interests. And it is those actions that make conversions.

There are many advantages to this kind of advertising. The advertising companies save money as adverts are not wasted on uninterested audiences, and the audience see related  products and services. However, there are some concerns about privacy, but this method does not use any personal or confidential information, therefore should cause no threat to the public. 

I think that behavioural advertising is fast and effect, and as an audience member i think it is the most efficient way of being shown products and services that i would be interested in.