Pros and cons of creative ads

Focusing on creative advertisements can be effective, thanks to social networking. When audiences see original and funny commercials, they pass them to their friends, post them on Youtube or write about them in their blogs. These commercials can quickly reach a large audience and create buzz without any cost. They can also be more effective, because audiences take the initiative to watch the commercials, instead of being forced to watch during TV programs.
Some of the creative commercials can be very knowledgeable at the same time. They deliver clear brand and company image, and educate consumers on product features and benefits. These commercials are very likely to bring the consumers to the trial stage. Some commercials may not deliver the product knowledge, but they generate interests. Audiences may like the commercials enough that they will do more research on the company or product, and eventually try the product.
In many situations, advertisements are not for generating sales. They could be used only to remind consumers that they are still around. For companies that have already established their brand identities, such commercials will bring a large amount of awareness that fulfill that purpose.
In February 2009, “Jack in the Box” launched a series of TV commercials showing that the CEO, Jack, was hit by a bus. The TV commercials were made to look like real TV interviews and cell phone videos to give viewers a serious-looking and funny effect. In many clips, they did not mention neither the products nor promotions. The objective of this campaign was not to increase sales, but to generate awareness and remind their customers that “Jack in the Box” was still there. The campaign was a big success. People went to their special websites to watch all the commercials and waited for new commercials to release. The results were beyond their expectation. Not only did the campaign bring awareness, sales also increased.
However, not all creative advertisements can receive results like “Jack in the Box”. Some advertisements may be focusing too much on creativity, and they don’t show connection with the product or company. These advertisements are every effective in attracting attentions, but the audiences could be confused because they don’t see the representation of the product or brand identity; therefore, the messages are not effectively delivered to them. The Microsoft commercial staring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates is a good example. It generated a great amount of buzz and publicity, but it did little for the company. The commercial did not tell the audiences what the messages were, and how it linked with Microsoft. Many people say it was confusing and pointless.
In some cases, when the advertisements are too creative or powerful, they overpower the messages. Audiences only pay attention to the advertisement itself, either ignore or don’t remember the product. It is very common for advertisements using sexual appeals. The PS3 print advertisement, “Thumb for Penis”, has been passed to people all over the world. However, instead of paying attention or talking about the product, people pass it around because of the shocking image. The product itself became less important compared to the image.
Some people may even find the image offensive and disturbing, and it is another side effect of creative advertisements. When advertisements are too creative, they sometimes become difficult for people to accept. Also, people have very different tastes in designs and styles. Advertisements that are appealing to some people, could be repelled by others. Many people are saying that the new Tabasco “Singing Pepperonis” commercial is very creepy. I would look away or change channel whenever the commercial is on. The singing faces remind me of burned faced and are very scary. Because the negative feeling is associated with a food product, I think it would have a negative impact on sales.
Even good creative advertisements can lose their powers. Creative advertisements can be very powerful when audiences see them only a few times. Companies that are happy with the results and returns on their advertisements may run them for too long, and the initial positive impact fades away. Sometime audiences will be annoyed by watch it over and over again. The famous 1984 Apple SuperBowl commercial was only showed once, but people are still talking about it to this day. If Apple decided to run it over and over again, the powerful images might lose its effects at the end. On the other hand, I think the “I’m an Apple, I’m a PC” campaign is losing its initial power. At the beginning of the campaign, people were excited to see the new commercials and talk about them a lot, but are getting tired of the humor. The commercials are not showed as frequently as they were used to, although new ones are still been produced.

Seattle trip pictures

Musicians outside of the first Starbucks store


Local Colors Cafe, nice latte

Run

I'm lovein' the new Nike Men Vs. Women Challenge commercial. It's fun and it gets you excited. I'm not a runner, and now I want to run (of course, Gnarls Barkley's song helps a lot). Like some other Nike commercials, this one also makes competition seem so much fun. AdAge calls it the "battle of sexes". Of course it's a competition between men and women, but at the end of the day, I don't think it really matters who wins. It's more important that people enjoy the run, and have fun, lots of fun.

For Nike, it's another successful campaign. Branding has always been Nike's strength. Their commercials send playful and cheerful messages to their audience, and encourage them to play and enjoy sports. Nike is also one of the early players who send their customers to their websites. This one is the same. It pushes people to their website, where you can see the number of miles going up every second. Once you get on their website, you may sign up for it; one you sign up for it, you may be hooked, and that's how Nike gains another fan.

Yesterday, I was in a class, where we were talking about the Nike in the women's market. I looked at myself, realized that I was wearing Nike shoes, socks, and had a Nike water bottle in my bag. Then I rememberred I had Nike swim suit, cap, clothes and more shoes at home....I didn't even know I was such a Nike fan. After I got home, I check my email and there was an email from my mom, she said that she went shopping yesterday, got herself a pair of Nike shoes, and got anothe pair for me...all of a sudden it's Nike everywhere...How do I not buy Nike stuff when I'm surrounded by Nike?

At the end, I would like to share my all time favorite Nike commercial. Watch it. Get hooked. Become a fan. Just do it.

Trying Mac Photobooth

fun fun fun...
So many new things waiting for me to try...I got my new toy..haha

Local Color

http://www.localcolorseattle.com/

Check out this awesome place!

Seattle's great. I love downtown, love Pike Place, and of course, love the market.
I met Tristan in Seattle last weekend. It has been 2 months since I saw him last time, at Christmas. I miss him. When I was looking for hotels, I was only looking for downtown hotels. I would love to walk around downtown with him.
We finally decided to stay at Best Western Loyal Inn, it was really nice too. ( Of course I would prefer a nicer hotel with super nice and soft sheets and bath robes. but...budget constraints..) I still liked it. Breakfast was so much fun, we got to make our own waffles.hehe..
During the day, we would go to the market, or find coffee shops. I was surprised by the coffee shops and little restaurant there. Everything is so unique. Of course, we found the first ever Starbucks store. It was tiny and crowed. But the service is the best, comparing all other Starbucks. We really liked the band that was playing outside, too. If it wasn't too cold, we would probably stayed there a little longer.
On the last day, we went to a different coffee shop, called the Local Color Cafe. I loved, loved, loved it!
The store is so pretty, with all the colorful paintings. Fresh tulips were on each table. Even their cups were bright red and green. Tristan and I sat down on the tall chairs by a table, drank our latte and cappuccino. Music was playing. I cannot describe how happy and peaceful I felt. It was the perfect moment.

It made me want to open my own coffee shop again.

A real man

A real man, in my opinion, should be brave. Being brave doesn't mean he would get into fights all the time. It's the opposite. A real man is not afraid of failures and believes in himself.
A real man should be generous, not necessarily financially. He should be able to accept different aspects, take advices and forgive others for little mistakes.
A real man should also be gentle. Gentle to his friends, his family and animals.
A real man is honest and sincere.

So, I'm waiting to see one.

The things you do for love

Strangely I've heard so much about this topic lately. One guy is "holding back his feelings" because he said he didn't want to get hurt again, he needed time to trust the girl, he did not believe in long distance relationship. Is that a solid reason? Or is that just another excuse?
According to "He's Just Not That Into You", you can explain it as "he's jut not that into you". If he wants to call you, he will find time to call you; if he needs to find you, he will find a way to find you. No excuse.
And I watched "Slumdog Millionaire" tonight. Look at what Jamal did for love. He survived from killings, gangs, tortures just to find Latika. The 20 million Rupee was not even the point of this story. I knew he did not know the answer, I knew he didn't care and I didn't. The thing is he finally found her.
I know, it's "written". It's fictional. It's drama. So what?
If he wants it badly enough, he'll find a way to be with you.