I love these new commercials by Dodge.
Why do I love them so much? Because they are different. Simple visuals, awesome script.
Here is the list of things typically found in car ads that drive me insane. None of which you will find in these ads:
These are the others I like in the series:
Insight was just notified that we won 11 MarCom Awards for 2009 (loud applause)!
Just for the record -- no, we didn't send in 50 entries. Just 16. And yes, we had competition, with nearly 5,000 entries.
Also, for the record, we like the little statuettes MarCom Awards bring.
Here's how we did:
• Four Platinum Awards -- the highest honor -- for
• Four Gold Awards for the “DSU 2.0 Invitation” for Dakota State University Foundation; the “Chicago TV Spot” for the Sioux Empire Community Theatre; the “Does it Hurt When You?” advertising campaign for Open Upright MRI of South Dakota and a television campaign, “It’s Turkey Time,” for the South Dakota Poultry Industry Association.
• Three Honorable Mentions, for the “Enjoy the Scenery” Season Poster and the Season
Illustration for the Sioux Empire Community Theatre; and the logo, letterhead
and business cards for Chicagoland Community Church.
The MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communications professionals. It is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals.
I
grew up in a small town, and when I mean small, I mean 420 people, two bars, one
post office and one gas station kind-of-small.
I
vividly remember a project in elementary school that our teacher had us create.
She said, “What do you think Irene will look like in the year 2010?” So, there
I was, sitting at my desk with pigtails and stone-washed jeans thinking what my
town will look like in 15 years.
My
5th grade visions were far from reality.
When
I think about times like these I realize that some things will never change. On
the flip side, as a 5th grader (View this photo) I never would have thought by the
time I was 25, I’d be part of a generation where magazine and video meet to
create powerful advertising.
Currently,
CBS and Pepsi Max are pairing up to promote the upcoming fall season on CBS.
Entertainment Weekly will feature 40 minutes of video and sound, including a
Pepsi Max commercial, with a small plastic screen. Copies will be sent to a
limited number of subscribers in New York and Los Angeles.
According
to USA Today “Pepsi Max joined
the promotion because the shows' audiences match up well with Max's
25-to-39-year-old male demographic, and those consumers like new technology.”
I
like it. I want a copy. How can I get one?
For the last few years I’ve wanted to try out for American Idol. It’s one of those things you put on your “Bucket List” and never think you’ll actually follow through with.
My husband and I needed a vacation and thought “What the heck!” So we, like 12,000 others, were American Idol bound.
After driving nearly 11 hours to Chicago in crazy traffic and rain we reached our destination. Four am came much too soon that Saturday morning as we made our way to the United Center for registration. When we pulled up, we could hear the crowds, some that had been camping out since 8:00 pm the evening before, screaming for the cameras.
We only stood in line for four hours that day to register. As we stood there in 80+ degree weather, lo and behold, ice cold Coke and Coke Zero was being handed out by the producers. The Coke bottles were Collector Editions, sporting music notes for American Idol.
By 10:30, wristbands and tickets were handed to us and the producer said to be back by 5:00 am on Monday morning. Gulp, that’s early.
Neither of us had ever been to Chicago so we took the next day and a half to sight-see.
Monday morning, we showed up at 4:30 am. There were about three blockades full of people. I’m sure when it was full there were at least 12.
The crowd would roar for the cameras screaming things like, “I’m the next Amercian Idol.” There were definitely some crazies looming in the crowds. You could see the producers scoping people out. They told us it was the second largest audition in AI history, 12,000 strong. There were news crews, firetrucks, helicopters around and reporters getting stories aplenty from the crowd.
About 7:30 am we started moving inside and ended up in our seats around 8:30. Senior Producer, Ron Deshay, led the crowd in “Hot and Cold” by Katy Perry. The “crowd song” sounded pretty rad with 12,000 people singing along.
The producers and directors filmed the opening shots of the auditions for about an hour. This entailed making sure there were no logos on hats, shirts, water bottles that were not anything but sponsors of the show....i.e: Coke, AT&T, Ford, etc.
After the opening shots, the crew set up 12 cubicles on the floor of the United Center and started sending people through. Groups of four sang for the producers. Only one person made it through per group of four, if any at all.
I could see when each person began and ended their auditions. I decided to start timing them to prepare my song. Some people had 20 seconds, some 30. I saw one producer motion for a girl to stop after 10 seconds at one point. It seems the producers usually had their minds made up in the first few seconds.
As our section was called we were escorted to the main floor and put in groups of four. I was the first of the four out of our group to sing. The producer called me up, I stepped forward and sang “There You’ll Be” for approximately 30 seconds. It was hard to hear myself as the girl in the left cubicle sang a robust gospel song and the guy to my right was rapping.
We all finished and she called us up and said “Very nice auditions today but I’m afraid it’s a no for all of you.” That was it. We were then directed outside where we wished our American Idol dreams good-bye, which I was OK with. The winners of that round advanced to round two, and if they passed round two, they sang for for “the judges.”
For me, it was all about the experience. Something I could say I did once but have no desire to ever do again.
When I was young, my grandparents acquired a device called the “Blab-Off.”
It allowed the user to turn off the audio on the television set without getting up! Its purpose was to allow you to enjoy the show without being forced to listen to the commercials.
This marvel consisted of an electric cord with a switch on one end. The other end plugged into the television. An early ancestor of the remote, I suppose.
My grandparents thought it was pretty nifty. I liked playing with the Blab-Off but I didn’t like it when they turned off the audio. That’s because I thought the commercials were just as interesting as the programming. Either I was already demonstrating a proclivity for advertising or I was already rebelling.
Then again, the programming sucked. I'm sure my brain was permanently damaged by watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island and Hogan’s Heroes.
Entertainment is light years ahead of where it was yesterday. But it feels like anyone could have held that Blab-Off and realized how much potential was ahead.
What are those things today that seem to carry potential? And what are those things that seem incredibly antiquated compared to everything else around us?
I nominate laundry.
How about you?
Because when you look at Insight's new spot for the South Dakota Poultry Industries Association, you'll feel all happy and animated!
And because turkey is low in fat, high in healthy protein, and incredibly versatile.
I'm pretty sure this is the most cheerful spot I've ever written. And the bunnies are the best! See for yourself.
Love this new H&R Block Spot
Let it be no secret that I'm a Dodge and GM fan. That's all I've ever chosen to drive, and probably won't change anytime soon.
However, let me tell you that Ford has caught my attention with the great look of their latest F-Series trucks ad campaign.
They have created a unique, well-branded campaign. It's just simply refreshing and really great to see their products placed into a complete graphically enhanced environment, whether it's the cool-looking contrasted desert landscape in the TV spot, or the fully engaging interactive website with all the bells and whistles.
Ford has really invested the time and money, when Detroit is "holding back" is this tight economy – it's a gutsy move. Maybe it’s in response to Dodge’s “All Guts. All Glory.” Truck Challenge campaign.
It’s great to see competition bringing out the best in the auto builders. This proves that when money is scarce in an established market, advertising actually becomes more important to gain market share than when the money is flowing. Companies desperately need sales revenue these days. Insight Marketing Design is very aware of this fact, so let us know when you’re ready for your new killer ad campaign to get that market share that is critical right now.
Ford has at least made this GM/Dodge loyalist sit up and take notice, just because of the really great look and branding. I suppose it has a lot do with the fact this it is a younger and hipper looking Ford. So, they nailed their target market with me. Who knows, maybe I'll go kick a few tires on an F-150.
The Super Bowl is over. The Steelers won. Ben Roethlisberger (fellow Miami University grad) should be celebrated for leading the last charge down the field to complete the winning TD pass.
And then, more important, which ads were best? Who dominated the Super Bowl? The winner isn’t so clearly defined when it comes to advertising and the creative concept. Anyone who has had the opportunity to judge creativity knows that it is more than just your own personal taste or even popular opinion.
Even within our own agency we have different opinions on which ad was best or worst. Most agency folk find ways to criticize Super Bowl ads. I’ll just share my favorites.
I personally liked e-Trade and Monster.
In the e-Trade spot, the fact that the vernacular was witty and delivered by a baby compounded the effect.
In the Monster spot, the moose head mounted in the lavish executive office then translates into the workers' environment. I love the simplicity of this concept.
I also liked Coke and Coke Zero. I may be biased on these because of my love of the brand.
Miller also gets points for their unique concept. But, I’m betting most viewers missed the one-second spot.
What did you think of the Super Bowl ads? What were your top picks?
With the recent boom of DVRs, advertisers are finding other ways to reach their audiences.
Product placement.
This method of advertising has been around for years, especially in movies, which gives the product an extra long shelf life. Every time someone watches the movie, it’s shown again. Of course, TV shows haven’t missed the boat either. I ran across this clip on Seinfeld featuring Junior Mints.
Recently I’ve noticed product placement taking on a new dimension. On NBC’s, The Biggest Loser, they have actually taken about 30 seconds during the show to promote a brand. The trainers on the show take a few moments and talk about the specific product and how it may benefit the contestants' health/weight loss. I’ve seen Brita, Jell-O, Subway and many others promoted the last few seasons.
Advertisers are finding a way around viewers skipping their commercials and ending up smack dab in the middle of the show.
It just shows there are creative ways around the obvious obstacles in advertising. That’s what we do every day. Insighters think of different avenues and directions to send the message in a unique manner but still be effective.
