Sometimes I feel like this is what a starry sky looks like in Dallas.

Cyber Monday

An article on Yahoo, "10 Cyber Monday Steals," by Lauren Sherman, explains that the National Retail Federation says that Americans will spend $447.1 billion during the 2010 holiday season. A lot of that money will be spent on the Web on Cyber Monday, which is the first Monday after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday is becoming an important day for online shopping, and businesses on the internet are trying to get customers to spend money by offering big savings, free shipping, and special gifts. In 2009, 87% of retailers had Cyber Monday promotions, bringing in 96.5 million shoppers. A lot of the biggest retailers in America are participating, including Target, Kohl's, Best Buy, and Victoria's Secret, as well as many smaller businesses.

With Black Friday, advertising during November has been incredibly important throughout the years. Now, as Cyber Monday is becoming more important, it gives advertising agencies another chance to help their advertisers get their message out. With Americans spending so much money during this time of the year, businesses want to get people to go to their website, so there is a lot of competition. With so much money being spent before December, it is important for businesses to get and keep their market share. Also, this shows how important internet advertising is because the consumers that advertisers are trying to reach will most likely be reached through the internet.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/469/10-cyber-monday-steals/

Social Media in Seattle

A video on MSN's "News on Main" explains that Seattle's Dick's Drive-In hasn't expanded from their five locations in 36 years, so they decided to let their customers vote online on where to open their new location. Leveraging social media, they used a customer poll on their webpage to let their customers decide whether the new location would be north, south, or east of Seattle. They got a big response, with 115,000 votes in 3 weeks, and North Seattle was the winner. There was some controversy surrounding the poll because people thought that Dick's Drive-In should decide for themselves where to locate their next business, since they knew their business better, but the company thought it was important to know how customers felt.

As technology gets more advanced, businesses are taking advantage of the opportunity to not only get their message to the consumer, but also to have a two-way conversation with them. Social media allows the customer to feel included in the process, and it allows the business to take advantage of valuable knowledge about the consumers' preferences, benefiting both sides. The technique used by Dick's Drive-In not only allowed them to get the customers involved, but it also served as advertising for the restaurant. This is also an inexpensive way to reach a lot of people.



http://businessonmain.msn.com/videos/newsonmain.aspx?cp-documentid=25880977

TV Commercials Shrink to Match Attention Spans

An article on Yahoo, "TV Commercials Shrink to Match Attention Spans," by Emily Fredrix, explains that commercials are now shrinking in length to 15 seconds to save money and match attention spans. The number of 15-second commercials has increased by more than 70 percent in five years to almost 5.5 million last year, according to Nielsen. 15-second commercials made up 34 percent of all national ads last year, increasing from 29 percent in 2005. In the article, John Greening, associate professor at Northwestern University's journalism school and a former executive vice president at DDB Chicago, says, "It used to be that the most valuable thing on the planet was time, and now the most valuable thing on the planet is attention." With digital video recorders, laptops, and phones, viewers have shorter attention spans, so advertisers feel like they can save money and repeat the ads more often. Instead of 15-second ads mostly being edited versions of 30-second ads, advertisers are now making shorter commercials to stand alone. The shift from 30-second commercials to 15-second commercials is mostly coming from the big advertisers, like Procter & Gamble and Walmart.

Recently, in my advertising literacy class, we've been watching commercials on the Gunn Report, and talking about how international commercials tend to be longer and less pushy than commercials in the United States, weaving in a story in commercials that tend to last a minute. In general, the more creative commercials tend to be longer and less explicit in their references to brands, so this shift to 15-second commercials seems to contrast the general consensus when it comes to creativity. I'm used to watching 30-second commercials, and then seeing the edited 15-second version, but since they are going to make 15-second commercials to stand alone, I'm curious how they plan to fit in a story in 15 seconds, and I wonder if it will just contribute to the ad clutter. However, as media becomes increasingly mobile, it will be important to get to the consumer quickly.

The article makes reference to this 15-second commercial for Old Spice:



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101027/ap_on_bi_ge/us_shorter_commercials

Start a Movement

Charmin has started their Charmin Go Nation campaign, which is a movement to get people talking about their toilet paper. As their site says, "We're calling it the Charmin Go Nation. It's made up of people who actually enjoy going to the bathroom because they have Charmin bathroom tissue."



I'm not exactly sure what to think of this campaign. While it is true that it is a part of everyone's life, I'm not sure where talking about potty humor gets too personal. "Enjoying the go" doesn't seem like something they should be uniting the country to talk about. Then again, approaching bathroom tissue from such an honest angle may help them. As I searched the site more, I started to become more comfortable with the idea. I still think it's weird, but as long as the video submissions remain acceptable for a general audience, I say enjoy the go.

It's amazing to me to watch ads from other countries. You can tell a lot about their culture from the actors and the themes in the ads. Just because it's translated into English doesn't mean the cultural aspects translate as well.

In fact, certain aspects of culture are completely incompatible from country to country, and ads from one country could say something completely different in another. It could just be that the audience doesn't understand the ad, so your message doesn't get through to them. However, it could also be very offensive. It's important to consider not only the audience you're trying to reach, but also the way their society and language work, so you can create an ad that they understand and are comfortable with.

For example, this ad has been featured as one of the best ads of 2009, but I don't really get it.

An article from today's AdWeek, "Study: Ad Spend Underpins 20% of Economic Output," by Mark Dolliver, explains that a report commissioned by The Advertising Coalition says that "ad expenditures 'account for $5.8 trillion, or 20 percent, of the $29.6 trillion in U.S. economic output' and 'support 19.8 million, or 15 percent, of the nation's 133.4 million jobs.'" The article goes on to say that "putting it another way, 'each dollar of ad spending generates, on average, $8.77 of additional sales' and sets in motion a 'ripple effect' as a company buys goods from its suppliers, which in turn purchase goods from their suppliers. Thus, each $1 million in ad outlays 'supports 69 American jobs.'"

As an advertising and economics double major, I find this really interesting. This is an example of the multiplier effect, the idea that a dollar spent ripples through the economy to have a greater effect. This shows how important advertising is to the economy, providing many jobs, and helping during the recession. Twenty percent of the U.S. economic output is substantial. That means that a lot of people who work outside of advertising depend on advertising for their job. Whatever the arguments against advertising are, the economic argument is clear.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/esearch/e3id03412c644d4e5cdabbcbd48410e43c1

The past few months, we've been getting political advertisements almost everyday for the state senate elections that are coming up, as well as various county elections. We haven't talked much about political advertisements in my advertising classes, but they seem to follow different rules than advertisements for products. Is the role of these political advertisements merely to inform, or are they also supposed to entertain? It seems to me that the distinguishing factors between these candidates should be their positions on the issues. What I see in these ads is a focus on one or two issues concerning the other candidate which may or may not be true, but not much information on what the candidate actually supports. For example, especially for the state senate election, the flyers for one of the candidates tend to focus on a recent scandal concerning the other candidate, rather than saying what the candidate that is sending the ads would do for the state. This type of strategy seems to go more for entertainment and is less about informing the voters about the issues. I'm not sure this is fair, since the opposing candidate cannot defend himself.

How do pancakes relate to advertising?

Well, they don't. At least not directly. An art director of a small agency started blogging about his adventures making elaborate pancakes for his daughter, and some of his creations are amazing. I read an article that puts his website into an advertising perspective, referring to his tagline for the site, "just trying to make some cool pancakes for my daughter." It's interesting to see how you can relate advertising to almost anything. He's even got his own social media campaign, with about 25,000 Facebook fans. I love how he even makes the pictures he posts look like ads, complete with the logo in the bottom right-hand corner.



I don't know if he's planning on making this a business venture, but if so, I think he's got the advertising covered.

My friend posted a status today saying he saw an ad that said, "If you are between the ages of 0 and 68, please call us right now."

It's things like this that make people hate ads. Between 0 and 68? Really? As my friend said, unless you expect a call from Baby's First Phone, this ad is ineffective. Are they just trying to attract attention? I don't think this kind of attention will help get them business. Then again, I don't know the response they've gotten from the ad, but this doesn't make me want to call them. I automatically assume it's a disreputable business. Either way, I don't want my friends thinking this is the kind of stuff we do in advertising.

What makes a good commercial? Some creatives are really particular when it comes to liking commercials. But sometimes if it's really funny, and I want to watch it again, I think it has succeeded. Take, for example, the new GEICO commercial that features the little piggy that cried "wee wee wee" all the way home. My professor for my creative class told me it was stupid, but I laughed the first time I saw it, and I always look forward to watching it again. My family shares the same sentiment. We've shown it to our friends, who have shown it to their friends. Isn't this the goal of the advertiser? Now, does it make me want to get GEICO? No, but it makes me smile when I think of GEICO.

Orange You Glad?

The other day when I was going to my mom's house, I saw the most amazing tree (above) I've ever seen. It was such an amazingly vibrant shade of orange that I couldn't help but stare at it as I walked down to her house after parking my car. It was almost the color of an orange highlighter, and I didn't think that color could exist in nature. It got me thinking: What if trees where normally that color? What if green trees were the exception and trees turned green when it was fall? Would green trees be as special as orange trees are now? Is it just the rarity of the colors of fall that makes them so special?

Swimming in Filth

On Monday, as I was walking, I saw that the maintenance crew had left unattended a pile they had made from sweeping. The pile was speckled with gray and black dust and debris from the day's activities, but within the collection of dirt was a small pink origami swan. It seemed so out of place. How did it get there?

I'd been wondering that all week, and then today I saw that someone had tacked the pink origami swan to a sign in the hallway. I'm so glad it found a home.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

I keep seeing all of these tents where people are selling natural Christmas trees. What a waste. You go to all that trouble to grow a tree, and then you chop it down to put it in a house. And then once Christmas is over, you throw it away. Why? If fake Christmas trees aren't good enough for you, not to mention cost-effective, I have another idea. I think people should buy potted Christmas trees when they're small and grow them themselves. Each year the Christmas tree would get bigger, and when Christmas was over, you'd put the tree outside and let it grow. Once the tree got too big to put in your house, you'd go plant it somewhere and buy a new one. Not only would it save money, but it would also save the environment, and the tree might even smell more like pine.

The New iPaw

A few years ago, my step-sister and I saw an ad for the new iPod at the time. Somehow, I got the idea of an iPod for cats and dogs called the iPaw, and I made a new version of the iPod in Photoshop, complete with paw-shaped buttons and an animal-themed display. Cats and dogs like music too, you know.

Do the Wave

I always make sure that I wave to thank the person who's driving when they let me cross the road. I sometimes let them go first, but when it's my turn to cross the road, I go as fast as I can, so I don't make them wait. I usually expect the same thing from pedestrians when I'm driving, but I rarely get a wave, and they usually cross the road very slowly. I start to expect this disrespect from pedestrians, and when one is polite, I'm always pleasantly surprised, even though I think this should be the norm. Yes, pedestrians have the right of way, but it's still nice to get a thank you. I'm just curious what these people expect when they're driving. It's sad that I'm so pleased when someone is polite. I hope when I wave, it makes someone happy, and they'll pass on the kindness.

Health Care Debate?

I've been following the recent health care debate in Congress, and it seems like such a difficult problem to solve. I agree that something needs to be done, but I'm not sure they're going about it the right way.

There are those who say (and I agree with them) that Congress can't just require everyone to get insurance. If they do, I think there needs to be some sort of public option to bring down the costs.

On the other hand, putting health care in the hands of the government could be really bad. The health care reform would probably use tax dollars, and it could increase bureaucracy and lack of choice. And what about the people who already like health care the way it is?

I think it needs to be more of a dialogue than a government decision. I've done some research about health care reform, but I would have to do a lot more if I wanted to really understand it. I imagine a lot of the public feels the same way, and trying to come to a compromise is difficult when people don't know what the plan would entail. I think we should get a whole bunch of doctors together and let them come up with a way to solve it.

Missing the Obvious

Today, I had to stay late at school to work on a project. This morning, when I got to school, there weren't many parking spaces, so I had to park on the top level. Before I went to work on my project that afternoon, I figured it would be a good idea to drop off some of my books to make the five-flight climb to my car easier that night. Unfortunately, the elevator wasn't working, so I had to climb the stairs with my heavy backpack after carrying it around all day. I got to my car and put my books up as I had planned. Then, I called my dad and started going back down the stairs. I got down to about halfway between the first and second floors when he said, "Why don't you just move your car?" I stopped for a second and thought about it. That was such a good idea. It made so much sense. Did I seriously just go all the way up to the fifth level and not realize that there were almost no cars up there anymore? And, more importantly, did I just come all the way back down without seeing all of the parking spaces on the lower levels? After I thought about it for a second, I decided now would be a better time to climb the stairs again than at night, so back I went to move my car to the second level. Sometimes you just get so caught up in what you're doing that you completely miss the obvious.

Venus de My Family

My family does Christmas a little differently. We have a tiny tree that's about two feet tall, and every year we whip it out of storage, plug it in (We just leave the lights on it.), and enjoy. I don't feel that we have any less Christmas spirit because we don't make a big production out of decorating. However, this year we wanted to do something outside too, instead of just bringing out our tiny, yet wonderful, Christmas tree. My mom has a statue of Venus de Milo in front of her house that was looking awfully cold, so our solution was to create a Christmas outfit for her. We bought a pair of little girls' socks to make the cap, and a pair of tights to make the scarf. Who says culture can't be fun?

Bo Knows

My cat, Bo, always knows exactly where to get. I'm starting to think that cats can sense the best place to get, so they'll be right in the way. It amazes me how good they are at sensing the focus of your attention and making sure it's them instead. If I'm working on homework, Bo comes and plops down right in the middle of it. If I need my backpack, Bo's sitting on it. If I need to put some shoes in a shoebox, Bo knows.

When I really need to look at some papers, and I see Bo coming, I've devised a way to make sure he doesn't sit on them: I have a decoy pile. I shuffle the papers around and make them look important, so he'll think that's the place to be. Sometimes, he catches on to my trick and still knows exactly where to sit. But you know what? I'm ok with that. It's a welcome distraction.