K-Marts New Surprise

Have you ever been at a store that may not have your size in a certain something you want?  It can be very frustrating, especially when that particular store won’t even let you order anything from the store and have it shipped to your house.  Many stores lose business from this lack of help they offer.  One store you can always count on to ship your clothes or products is K-Mart.

Watch this humorous video to see how K-mart promises to always “Ship your pants”:

This commercial had me laughing the whole time; it was a very clever advertising strategy that allowed K-mart the ability to convey their point while being able to be funny and not serious or boring.  The saying “ship my pants” sounds a lot like another saying that could be said and it really brings your attention to the commercial in the very beginning because you aren’t really sure what you are hearing until you actually take time to figure it out.

I like how K-Mart uses a mixed audience within this commercial to bring life to all different age groups.  It ranges from a little kid to an old couple and they are all funny in their own way with their mannerisms they use to portray the fact that they are able to ship their pants!  With every age group they use they assure you that they are able and willing to ship your pants directly from the store, no hassle at all.

In terms of K-Marts marketing strategy, they did a great job if implementing an important idea within their business, the ability to ship items directly from the store; and make it humorous and entertaining for an audience to see and understand.  After watching that commercial I am now assured that if I ever go to K-Mart I am able to ship my pants with no worries at all.

YOU are your own worst critic!

Glamour, a well-known fashion magazine, did an exclusive survey on 300 young females and reported that "97% of women will be cruel to their own bodies." In addition, females would have an average of 13 negative thoughts regarding their own image. Dove released an article regarding their new campaign and stated “that only 2% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful.” Therefore, Dove decided to launch its own social mission called “The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.”

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has been in existence since 2004 and on April 14, 2013, Dove released a Youtube video called “Dove Real Beauty Sketches.” The video has over 22 million views. 

In the video, there is a man named Gil Zamora, who worked for the FBI as a trained Forensic Artist. Dove brought in a few ladies to describe to Zamora what they looked like. Zamora was told that he could not look at anyone who entered the room until he completed his sketches. Each woman described herself in a harsh manner and had something negative to say about her own image. The ladies were told to get to know the other women who participated in this activity. In addition, men were also involved but only for describing the women they had met. Every individual who went in to describe to Zamora what the other women looked like gave a thoughtful and beautiful description of each woman. At the end, Zamora compared the drawings of the women’s description of themselves to the ones the others described. It turns out many women judge and describe themselves too harshly but to the rest of the world they are beautiful. 

This Youtube video was brilliant and well thought out. One of the top comment was the viewer forgetting that Dove was a soap company. The video was not about marketing their product or getting a discount on a service. It was about the world we live in consistently telling females that they do not look beautiful. Dove created such a personal, touching, and inspirational campaign about true beauty, therefore, creating a close relationship with its targeted audience and bringing in many loyal customers to its business. The campaign in general has boasted its reputation of accepting women for who they are and how they look. 

Dove made its viewers forget the company was a business, and instead had them focus on its social mission. This is extremely hard to do. With the Nike commercial, we knew the ad was Nike but with Dove, many people forgot that a business produced this powerful message. Dove made the video relatable by having ordinary women participate who ranged in age from younger to older and who were not models or celebrities. This also targeted different age groups. The vibe of the commercial was calm, warm, and thoughtful. It made the viewers feel comfortable and at ease. 

Dove did an amazing job incorporating its brand into a very powerful message. It made participates and viewers realize that they are their own worst critics. Because of its strong relatable message, the Dove corporation boasted its image as a corporation that is truly there for women around the world.  

Nostalgic Marketing

What’s the deal with all these insurance commercials? Every single one claims to be saving everyone some money? Has the insurance industry seen a decline in their customers recently or has the competition gotten so fierce that they have had to up their game?

Lately, the commercials have gotten more and more clever and funnier. Geico started the trend but State Farm has caught up quick with its catchy slogans. The most notable being “The Discount Double Check.” The following commercial is just one in a plethora of commercials that feature the use of the slogan in a variety of situations.

This particular one resonates with me personally though because I remember my grandfather performing this magic trick on me. I had hair then. Yay memories!

The commercial is pretty straight forward. The best part is the end of the commercial though when the granddaughter double checks her brother’s hair to see if there are any more quarters and of course, not only coins fly out, but also a watch! I almost burst into laughter, even though it’s not that funny. This is because there were several things going through my head right at that moment. I thought about the Simpsons. Marge normally hides things from Homer in her crazy big blue hair and that made me smile. Of course fond memories of my grandfather also helped.

I really thought that State Farm did a really good job as far as connecting with their target market. I don’t think there are many people that haven’t had that trick performed on them in their younger years. Nostalgia is a powerful tool in the marketing toolbox and many companies have used it with great success. Of course digital media isn’t the only medium, take a look at this old print ad. It reminds me of a friend of mine from high school that had a VW Minibus. Good times!

I may not remember other insurance commercials but I will certainly remember this one because of its specific relevance to me. Good job State Farm. I won’t be switching from USAA anytime soon but it was certainly a valiant effort. Keep it up and if I need a “Discount Double Check,” I will certainly call.

Posted by Farrukh Memon

The nightmare of Kevin Durant

What two bigger stars in the game to shoot a commercial than an MVP and Scoring title candidate, and the “robin” of the team that won 27 games in a row this year. Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade star in this not so much of a nightmare advertisement. Kevin and Dwyane are also two of the most popular players in the game on two teams that many would put money on to meet again this year in the NBA finals. And the last time I checked, no one wants to grow up to be like the bench player, they want to be the star like Durant and Wade. What better way to get them to bring gatorade to their games or workouts than put their heroes doing it.

In the commercial Kevin Durant drives to the basket for a dunk and is blocked by Wade. Durant Wakes up from this nightmare and instantly begins to work out and train and practice. In all of these workout sessions he either eats a gatorade chewable, or drinks a gatorade before or after his exercise. Kevin Durant is then playing in the game and drives the lane and dunks over Wade, which he then wakes up and you can assume Wade will too go on to be fueled by Gatorade to a block.

This is a smart way for Gatorade to advertise not only its brand image  but multiple of its product lines. Gatorade wants you as the consumer to know that there is a product for all occasions. The idea Gatorade is trying to say to you is that without Gatorade being there to keep you going, you would not be able to achieve this, so drink Gatorade and you will be able to do whatever you can dream.

Gatorade also made possibly one of its most versatile commercials ever. Two of the most recognized basketball players in the world and they made a commercial without any dialogue. You don’t need to hear anything in this commercial to understand what is happening because the commercial isn’t about telling you what it can do to help you it hits at showing you what you can do with it. Not having and words in the commercial allows it to be aired in any country that sells Gatorade and has the sport of basketball, which is an extremely large market.

Putting the Life back in Life Insurance

State Farm always does a great job touching the hearts of viewers that are privileged to see their commercials.  Nothing about that changes in this State Farm commercial that portrays a mother stressed over medical bills and the agent allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief when he assures her she has enough money from the life insurance she purchased years ago.

See for yourself in this well made commercial by State Farm:

State Farm focuses on many different kinds of insurance, and has commercials for almost everything they sell.  This commercial does a great job of showing just how important it is to have life insurance.  Without purchasing life insurance this mother would have had a lot of trouble being able to support her son in this time of need.  As we all know,  a lot of things happen in life that are unexpected and leave us feeling like we are in trouble, but State Farm does a great job of showing their customers that they are there for them when times are tough.

State Farm is a very well known insurance company that is trusted and respected.  They are known to have great commercials that get their point across about the different products they have and how they can help you or benefit your life, and also something you can relate to.

This commercial hits home with a lot of parents who would do anything for their children.  Many parents without insurance who watched this commercial are probably considering getting insurance now because you never know when something unexpected may happen to a loved one.  This is a great marketing strategy by State Farm.  They are able to connect with many different demographics on a personal level and try to fulfill a need of having insurance that many people don’t have, but need to have.

Anything you can do, She can do better!

In my advertising class, we discussed gender roles within ads. My professor, Amy Young, explained, “gender stereotypes are incredibly common in advertising such as a woman being portrayed as a quiet, submissive, sexually available, young, beautiful, thin, non-intellectual, and unemployed individual.” She then showed us a Nike commercial that broke out of these stereotypes. According to Adweek, Nike’s commercial "gives voice to a generation of ass-kicking women."

Nike’s “Voices” commercial has four of the most independent, powerful, and influential women in the athletic world. Joan Samuelson, an Olympic gold medalist marathoner, stated that during her time, girls did not run around in public. Lisa Leslie, an Olympic gold medalist basketball player, stated that the boys on her team would not pass the ball to her. Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza stated that her father told her she couldn’t be a boxer because she was too little. With Diana Taurasi, who is another fellow professional basketball player, explained that people are not used to seeing many woman being so passionate.

Samuelson, Esparza, Leslie, and Taurasi are excellent role models that represent women who went against the typical normative gender roles and continued to follow their passions. Nike did an inspirational commercial, marketing female power and incorporating it with their brand. How the ad was formatted was clever and captured the audience’s attention. 

Nike positioned the athletes in front of the camera and only showed their faces. It felt as if the ladies were having a personal conversation and talking directly to you. There was no music and it was just them talking. By doing this, the commercial had a quiet yet powerful vibe because it created an environment that was serious and calm. Then Nike filmed young girls in confident stances, holding sports equipment and lip syncing as the professional athletes spoke. This made the whole commercial more powerful because many girls typically are judge by gender roles. 

The commercial portrayed the girls doing particular sports like football, baseball, and boxing because the general public would associate those activities with masculinity. This image proved to the audience that all girls can play any sport. At the end of the commercial Nike showed its signature saying, “JUST DO IT,” thus implying any young girl could play any sport she wants regardless of her gender. 

The commercial had nothing to do with a product, but with getting a message out there. By doing this Nike created a personal relationship with young girls who want to pursue their athletic careers. Therefore, Nike’s commercial will enhance its image positively because it is sharing a new message that is empowering. The sports company is creating brand loyalty because they specifically marketing to young girls but with an inspirational message. Nike did a great job creating a personal connection towards their targeted audience. 

Helpful Neighbor

Ace the helpful place, while rather new to the e-marketing world, does a very good job with their recent line of neighborhood commercials. Ace has always prided themselves on being your neighborhood friendly place for all your home improvement needs but has often fallen to the bigger names such as Lowes and Home Depot. This commercial however is just what Ace Hardware needs to boost its brand name. This nicknames commercial for Ace is a great combination of many key marketing and advertising elements.

The commercial starts off with a normal question one might ask their neighbor about their yard, “how do I keep my grass green?” also a question we feel a hardware store should be able to help us with. The “neighbor” who is in an Ace Hardware uniform, takes the man on a quest through the garage and into the backyard, past other “neighbors” who are all in Ace uniforms. All of the Ace workers address the main character in a nickname such as “The Rodfather”, “Hot Rod” or “Rodman”. While Ace is not as big as Home Depot or Lowes it needs to find other competitive advantages such as customer service and being able to share that neighborly feel with the customer. Truth is most people, don’t know where to begin on most household fixes or problems and the last thing someone wants to do is go to a store where they feel belittled. With this commercial Ace shows that it’s customer service is like walking through the hedges to the neighbors, a very comfortable experience.

Secondly the way the commercial runs through the garage, into the front yard, and finally finishing in the backyard, The Ace employees are all working on a task that is very common to our seasonal fixes, and Ace wants you to know that no matter what your question or concern, you can come to Ace and get a knowledgable answer in an comfortable environment. Much like how you feel in your neighbors yard, like you can ask anything to a close friend.

While we are full of a generation of do it yourselfers and local grown lovers, Ace Hardware does exactly what it needs to make a good commercial. In this commercial Ace tells the consumer they not only have everything you need for your jobs around the house but they do it with their excellent customer service. I personally enjoy going to a local hardware store where I can feel comfortable with the employees and with this commercial I feel that Ace will have to make a few more nicknames for the new regulars.