So as many of you know there is a massive social movment supporting Jeremy Lin and his career with the Knicks. this movement or should I say sanity is Linsanity. Companies are jumping on the bandwagon and capitalizing on this social icon. Ben & Jerry's launched an ice cream flavour called Lin-Sanity. The treat entails frozen vanilla yogurt, vanilla ice cream, and lychee honey. Unfortunatly there have been some flops with companies attempting to capitalize on the Linsanity.
A company called Beachbody created a unique social campaign that helped promote the brand and spread massive awareness during the Knicks versus Heat game. The fitness company coined the hashtag #linsanity for one night. The hashtag appeared on the screen during stoppages of play and users tweeted it. The catch was though that every time a user would click or searched for the term, they were sent to a promotional video by Beachbody. this was a great strategy to spread awareness, but it didn't follow regular marketing principles.
Firstly when I searched for the term to find out more, I didn't realize I was going to be subjected to a youtube video, let alone a promotional video. This was a bad strategy in the sense that they failed to gain trust with the audience because they sprang the advertisement on them. Finally, the term Linsanity hardly relates to the company at all, nor do they feature Lin in the advertisement. Over all it was a great strategy for awareness but a major failure with consumer connection and trust.
Advertising
and music have gone hand in hand for many generations. Advertisements have
evolved creatively, as well as the types of music. At one point, music and ads
consisted of catchy jingles and self generated genres. As music evolved, and
advertising became less limited, music and advertising have become codependent
on each other for numerous reasons. The first being music's ability to create a
memory where listeners can remember a certain time and place they were when
hearing a particular tune. Advertisers are now using mainstream music to
stimulate the memory and remind listeners about a particular ad they have seen
on television. However if the music selected does not relate to the product or
ad campaign, then it will not resonate within the target audience. I remember
as a young child hearing the Oscar Myers wiener song, and recently saw an ad
for the same product, but the music involved was a remixed version of the song
that featured a bit of techno. The second ability that music has is that
it creates entertainment, so viewers of television ads may watch the ad, just
to hear a particular song that the viewer likes. This helps advertisers break
through the clutter of ads and distractions viewers are faced with when
watching television.
I recently travelled to Ottawa to visit family and
friends. I was extremely ecstatic when I learned Winterlude was taking place
while I was in town. I remember as a child seeing the unique ice sculptures and
skating on the canal; the beaver tails and play structures made of ice. However
my recent visit to Winterlude left me in astonishment. I saw interesting
guerilla marketing tactics by Beavertails, Rodgers, and the Ottawa Art
Gallery.
It is extremely interesting to see how brands are now finding intricate
ways of interacting with consumers. Samsung had an ice sculpture depicting
their latest smartphone where consumers could have their picture taken inside
the screen of the ice phone. Not only was this a brilliant strategy to attract
consumers to their product tent, but it also created mass awareness. Participants
posting their ice phone photos on sites such as Facebook and Twitter help boost
awareness amongst the Y Generation. Rogers created a full ice home that
featured their latest home security system and phones. On the canal, Beaver
Tails had their logo carved out of the ice near their concession stand, which
had skaters taking pictures and grabbing a bite to eat. The interesting tactic
that Beaver Tails used was the rough ice around leading to the logo to warn
skaters and lead them to the concession stand.
Do you remember the days when we would talk to our family
and friends around the dinner table about our day, stories, and converse? Today
that once family tradition is slowly dying away with the rise and portability
of electronics. We now have mobile phones and tablets. Due to these devices being
attached to us at the hip no matter what time of day, telemarketers are now
realizing that the landline is not effective as attacking someone’s mobile
device with ads, pitches and offers.
I’m sure many of you
have experienced the classic telemarketing call on your landline at dinnertime
where someone offers you useless junk or an insurance policy that means nothing
to you. However telemarketers are getting smarter by attacking people with
offers via mobile phones. I recently was a victim of answering my phone at the
dinner table thinking it was one of my friends, due to the unknown number that
was calling me. If telemarketers were to ditch the landline marketing where
blocking numbers and digital display are available, then the revenue in the
telemarketing industry should multiply by the ten folds. This strategy is
effective because when telemarketers attack your mobile, they make their messages
more personalized instead of asking to speak to Mr. or Mrs. so and so. There is
also the ability to send video, images and text messages directly to a
smartphone or tablet. This alone allows for a new standard of telemarketing and
creativity for telemarketers and advertisers.
