Nike.com - More than just Apparel

I did a little website viewing amongst the majority of the top global brands to see how diverse each one was, and i found that Nike left a memorable impression and I felt displayed a positive representation of their brand identity. Diversity of their website is what gave their site an upper hand over the rest of the pack.

Their site combined the elements of a fun, informative, and a brick and mortar design. Nike's website is also well organized in displaying their abundance of information. They showed product shots along with detailed information for each of their apparel and split up their product lines accordingly. They split up their product lines by sport as well. Besides their products, there's plenty of other material that engages the consumer with the brand. Their site contains plenty of videos pertaining to their Nike SPARQ training and BOOM programs. These programs, which are endorsed by several pro athletes, give the consumer an inside look at how these athletes train and tips to maximize your performance. The product line descriptions give you an in-depth look of their service, and their training programs advise you how their service can HELP you. Nike does a good job in trying to incorporate their service in the consumer's lifestyle - rather than just selling product. The site also can take you to a plethora of social networking sites their involved in for more info and (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) understand more about their training programs. Testimonials by the athletes gives great credibility (which Nike already has) to their programs and provide the consumer with a powerful interaction with their website. Overall, the graphics of  the site are very appealing, they have a mission page, blogging page, products page, and an events page - they pretty much have enough information for the consumer to learn more about Nike than they've ever could've imagined.

The Evolution of Advertising: The 'Never Say Die' Industry

There's a universal notion that can be said about life; that nothing about it ever stays the same. Things are always changing; some more rapidly, others more steadily. Youth become old, small companies transform to global empires, winter blossoms into spring. Change, change, change.Its an inevitable fact that everyone is forced to accept. However, whether the 'object' evolves or devolves during the change is sometimes unpredictable. Okay, let me get to the point here already. One thing is certain about the advertising industry, it has remarkably evolved over the decades to get where it is today.

When clients came to agencies of the past seeking solutions to their problems, the agency would have all of their resources under one umbrella. In other words, one agency did everything. Not that this method was ineffective or anything, as their ways of operation have spurred the greatest ads and executions of all time. Its just that over the years many improvements have led to more efficient systems for servicing clients. Today, their are more than just full service agencies. They offer the four major services that are subsidized now to creative boutiques, media houses, consumer insight groups, and interactive agencies. This narrowly defined structure keeps agencies working synergistically but independent, therefore greater expertise is of each area is the result. Now a days, there are agencies that even tailor their services to specific industries, therefore offering a high level of expertise to a niche client base. You can pretty much say advertisers are pampered by a plethora of services that the current advertising industry offers.

Also, with the birth of account planning/consumer insight in the 80's, agencies are now able to develop a more intellectual understanding of the consumer. Decades ago, where consumer insight did not exist inside the agencies, they were more focused on highlighting the tangible benefits the products offered. These days, account planners provide agencies with valuable knowledge/research regarding the consumer's attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and lifestyles. In result, agencies are aware of the intangible/emotional benefits that certain products deliver to the consumer.

With the integration of media and marketing communications, the opportunities to reach the consumer are endless. The emergence of digital media as a means of advertising, consumers can now be reached virtually anywhere at anytime - a luxury that past agencies never had. How about direct marketing, an extremely efficient way of building a relationship and further understanding the consumer's needs - there was no technology in the past that could support the size of the consumer databases of today.

Nevertheless, all of these improvements couldn't have been possible if we hadn't learned from our predecessors. The innovators of the past paved the way for the industry to grow, and grow it did. Luckily for us, the advertising indsutry has evolved for the greater good.

For all of us future media planners and buyers out there, we'll be thinking of poor Steve in his Leo Burnett days when were punching in data on a pc and letting it do all the dirty work for us. Yeah, we got it easier alright lol.

Snickers Satisfies: Betty White

This most recent Snickers commercial, a creation by Erica's very own boys and girls at BBDO (New York), certainly displayed elements of a unique and creative campaign spot. (Watch the commercial first, then read my 'evaluation') http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/snickers_betty_white

First of all, the ad struck my fancy from a humour point of view. It wasn't laugh your ass off kind of funny by any means, but it most definitely put a smile on my face. The dialogue was bang on, the characters fit the profiles to the tee, and the message couldn't have been more clear and concise. From what I have seen, they're wasn't any obvious cliches, nor cheesy lines, nor mixed messages. Overall, it was an intriguing enough spot for me to choose it as my first blog entry.

 Its exaggerated demonstrative way of how Snickers satisfies your hunger was well executed. As everyone these days is looking for ways to stay energized, satisfied and ready to go at all times - the spot is saying that Snickers is the source to get it from. Snickers positioning themselves as more than just a great tasting chocolate bar, but as an indulgence that satisfies your drained body, is surely a stride towards a competitive advantage in the confectionary snacks category. Snickers is actually notorious for these "indulge" type of ads as their prior campaign was the "Hungry? Grab a Snickers." Anyways, the humour in the ad appeals to all demographics as well. Hence, the Betty White cameo was pretty genius and relates to the older demographics who have seen her in Golden Girls. Although a younger demo may have been totally oblivious to who the funny old lady was, at least her impact was completely positive on the commercial. Cudos to the talent at BBDO because this commercial was a success for me.