Study a brand of your choice, research all of its advertisement you can possibly found, rearrange them in chronicle order
Do the same to their biggest competitor
What kind of positioning each brand may have? Did they reposition along the way? Give your opinion on their positioning & repositioning. Why do you think they did it? Was it successful?
Answers:
Vinamilk
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014:
2015:
Positioning: International quality
Vinamilk positions itself as ‘international quality” to remind consumers that it is the only Vietnamese that have their milk products exported to more than 10 countries all over the world. However, the brand is said to be repositioning to “mom loves child” (mẹ yêu bé). To me, its repositioning is understandble for two reasons. First, there are more and more milk brand with same quality, such as Dutch Lady, Abbott, NutiFood,etc. As a result, the existing positioning is not strong enough to differentiate the brand with its competitors. Second, consumers are more likely to make buying decision based on the brand experience; and the new positioning seemed to helps by building brand relationship and brand loyalty.
TH True Milk
2012
2013
2014
2015
Positioning: Fresh and clean milk
Founded 33 years later than Vinamilk, TH True Milk is now its biggest competitor in Vietnam’s fresh milk market. The brand is successful because of the consistency in keeping its promise to always produce clean milk.
Write a new copy for this ad and then use appropriate testing method to compare it with the original copy. Try 10 people. Which one is better ? Why?
Answers:
Staff Bread aims to serve a quick, convenient and nutritious breakfast for people, especially students who need energy for their study. According to this information and the design of the poster, I have tried to change this ad’s copy from “Năng động cùng cuộc sống” to “Dinh dưỡng cho ngày năng động” (Nutri for an active day). Then, to test if the new copy works, I showed ten people the poster, cropped out the copy, and asked them which slogan is more appropriate. The ten chosen ones were mostly students aged from 12 to 22, others were people with different careers.
The result shows that eight over ten people chose the new copy because of various reasons. Most of them said that the latter were more effective since it were more relevant to the product. In particular, five highschool and university students and a housewife explained that the previous copy were vague and lack of information while the new one is more related to the image on the poster as well as the product itself. On the other hand, two secondary students just chose because they like it and it bring a right feeling. People who preferred the first copy claimed that they liked it short; besides, they did not believe the bread is nutritious.
No.
Age
Gender
Career
(1)
(2)
Reason
1
20
Female
University Student
Short
2
19
Female
University Student
More relevant with the product
3
13
Female
Secondary School Student
Reliable
4
34
Female
Housewife
Informative
5
18
Female
Highschool Student
Just like it
6
22
Male
Software Engineer
Short
Does not trust (2)
7
20
Male
University Student
More relevant with the product
8
36
Male
Teacher
Match with the visual
9
20
Male
University Student
Likable
10
12
Male
Secondary School Student
Just like it
Result of the test
These feedbacks proves that consumers’ point of view may different from advertisers. Therefore, advertisers need to do many researches to fully understand their consumers’ insight in order to deliver an appropriate message.
“Creativity is intelligent having fun,” said Albert Einstein, the greatest mind of the 20th century. Being creative means being able to solve a problem in an unexpected way. It means seeing things in different angles and exploring ideas in different perspectives. Inventive minds have its power to break the boundaries to look outside for new solutions. Being creative is making mistakes and learning from them. Since we will never know if we don’t try, it’s better to take some risks, opening yourself up to new experiences. He who is creative is likely to face new challenges with a fighting spirit which contains no doubt and fear. He also enjoys surrounding himself with other creative people and being inspired by them. Being creative means staying crazy, staying childish, and staying original. Going out and doing something new, something that nobody has ever did, and having fun. It’s not always serious to be a creative thinker, at least in my opinion, it’s more likely just to enjoy yourself in this world of endless possibilities.
Find 3 examples of truly creative concept and explain why it is so creative to you
1. Nestle's Contrex
One of the most hilarious, yet creative advertising I have ever seen is Contrexperience campaign of Nestle’s Contrex Mineral Water in 2011.
In order to promote that Contrex Mineral Water can stimulate metabolism and help burning calories, Nestle’s set a number of stationary bike in front of a building. By using these bike, people found out that music and a commercial about a man dancing and taking of his cloth gradually appeared on the building. I think that this is a brilliant way to make use of curiosity in advertising. Because people were curious, they joined in the activity without any hesitant which created an playful atmosphere and high involvement that lead to the succeed of the campaign. At the end, the unexpected twist happened, the male stripper tells everybody that they have just burnt 2000 calories, surprising all the people that they cracked up in laughter. Moreover, Contrex bottles were also strategically placed beside each bike; therefore consumers have a chance to tried the product right after the activity. By approaching consumers cognition in a enjoyable way, this distinctive concept is not only effective in create brand awareness but also brand association.
Contrexeperience Commercial (2011)
2. Dumb way to die - Metro train
Named as the 12th best campaign of the 21st century by Ad Age, Metro Trains’ Dumb Ways to Die (DWTD) campaign has, indeed, brought a fresh view to public service advertising.
Launch in November 2012, the campaign’s objective was to deliver metro safety messages.Understanding that safety public service announcement is somehow too serious and boring, they have came up with an idea of creating animated music video that is fun to watch and share.To do that, they made up a series of stupidest decisions that have ever made such as eating superglue, messing with grizzly bear, etc. At the end, the ad suggested that the dumbest way to die is being careless around train, naturally hit viewers’ awareness about safety. In addition, its visual was filled with adorable illustrations in cheerful color. The music, similarly, is enjoyable and easy to remember. All of the above, combining with the exaggeration of humorous “dumb ways to die” have made the whole animation incredibly fun and impossible not to share. To me, this was an excellent idea since it is not only attractive to adult, but it also can approach to children.
Dumb Ways to Die Commercial (2012)
3.Drinkable Ad - Coca Cola
This list will never be complete with out the outstanding Coke Zero’s Drinkable advertising.The one-of-a-kind idea has accomplished its mission to create an illusion that you can actually ‘taste’ the campaign, as they said, “Next time you’re thirsty drink an ad!”.
Along with Ogilvy & Matther, one of the largest advertising agency of the world, Coca Cola developed its idea of the first drinkable ad ever. The concept, itself, is exceptional. People have never expected that they can literally have a coke, whether it’s on billboards, in TV commercials, printed or even on radio. This campaign, therefore, was so effective that it has created a massive buzz throughout the world. Creativity also found in their strategy and execution. As the matter of fact, the idea may not be brought to life with out today’s technology. In particular, the advertising team creatively made use of a world’s popular mobile app Shazam, which can interact with any pouring coke ad anywhere it was seen. People, then, with a full glass of coke on their Shazam can redeem a real, free Coca Zero bottle. They also created a billboard that can serve consumers with iced coke, vending machine mascots that give away Coca bottles and so on. By using appropriate tactics for each different medium, they have reach beyond their target audience to everyone either loves Coca Cola.
This campaign, so far, in my opinion, is the most interesting and memorable experimental advertising of 2015.
Coke Zero: Drinkable Billboard Commercial (2015)
References:
Sandra Moriarty, Nancy Mitchell, William Wells (2015) Advertising & IMC: Principles and Practice, 10th Edition. Present Hall, pp. 236-267
Ads of the World (2011) Nestlé Waters, Contrex: Contrexperience. Available
Question:
Take 1 campaign idea, try to create different copy for different types of media. Which one is the most difficult to write? Why? Which one is the easiest? Why?
Answer:
Having tried to create various copy for the newest Coca Cola Vietnam’s campaign Share a Coke - Share a Feelings, I found that copy writing is indeed a challenging task, especially television writing.
Compared with those of print and online media, writing a television message seemed to be the most difficult since there are too many elements to consider. Television provides the use of both visuals and audios, which helps to reinforce the power of a message. However, it also challenges the writer to transform a creative concept into a story. The story is not only have to meet brand communication’s objective, but it also need to be relevant with the target audience. In particular, an effective copy Coca Cola commercials must be able to portrait young people and what interests them because the brand target the youth. For instance, the official commercials of this campaign is about how to make a good impression and share your feelings with Coca Cola. Besides the content of the copy, there are many matters that a write have to think of as well. For example, how long the message will be, where and how to shoot the commercial or whether the cast were appropriate. Moreover, knowledge about movie-making is also required.
Share a coke, share a feeling TVC
In contrast to writing for television, writing for print media seemed to be easier since it only uses words, in my opinion; but that does not mean it is less challenging. As a fact, the copy is affected by writing style and words use, especially in a high-context language like Vietnamese. The overuse of some words is also a big issue in many print in our country. Moreover, Vietnamese young people nowadays are less exposed to print ad since they are more likely to use the internet than reading. Therefore, to be effective, the print copy for this campaign have to be specific, along with using magical phrases that can grab consumers attention and stick the message to their memory.
Along with print media and television, I also tried to write copy for social media, which I found the most exciting since we can interact with other people. All these types of media require an appropriate copy for each.
References:
Sandra Moriarty, Nancy Mitchell, William Wells (2015) Advertising & IMC: Principles and Practice, 10th Edition. Present Hall, pp. 268-299
Question:
Find 3 ads which you think is visually creative. Analyse its creative direction, execution & finishing. Do you think it is effective? Why ? (link to target audience & brand image)
Answer:
“Anywhere the Eye Can See, It’s Likely to See an Ad.” This article from The New York Times reveals the fact that nowadays we are exposed to more than 5000 advertisements a day. Although most of them are annoying and easily be ignored, many ads are totally eye-catching with their amazing ideas. For example, here are some different advertisements that I believed to be visually creative as they have successfully grabbed my attention.
1. Oreo - WONDERFILLED (2012)
The world’s best-selling cookie brand, Oreo, celebrated its 100th birthday in 2012 with an amazing animated billboard advertisement. Created and executed by the collaboration of The Martin Agency and design studio Brand New School, the 90- second animation turned The New York City’s Time Square into a ‘wonderfilled’ world of cookies. Aiming to expand Oreo’s target audience beyond children to adult, the ad comprised of fascinating illustrations in refreshing yet eye-catching tones of colors, which immediately grab people’s attention from the very first second it appeared. In result, pedestrians in Times Square were surrounded by Oreo’s wonderland with lively giant characters leaping and interacting from buildings to buildings. In addition, clever use of contrasting characters such as police and criminal or angel and demon sharing a cookies suggested the meaning behind the whole campaign that an Oreo’s cookies can bring about a positive change in perspective. People, on the other hand, indeed had positive impression to this creative execution that many even record it with their cameras. Finally, ending with Oreo’s indispensable milk-dunking ritual, the ad was completely successful in creating not only interest but also brand association.
2. Koleston Naturals : Change
Another exceptional using of billboard belongs to hair color brand Wella Koleston. In 2007, they launch a campaign for “Koleston Naturals” women’s hair dye. The campaign’s concept is to used the picturesque sight of Lebanon city’s environment to illustrate the fact that this product is made from natural ingredients. As a mean to express this idea, a billboard was purposefully placed on a road side cliff, die-cut to reveal the pure view of the sea and beautiful skyline behind it. A portrait of a woman with long flowing hair was cut out of the billboard, letting the background to fill in the gap to create absolutely natural colors. As a result, her hair can altered from the dazzling sunrise blond to deep black color of the night. Moreover, this aesthetic billboard also demonstrated other features of the brand such as the true color quality and various color offers, which resonated well with consumers’ concern, especially their target audience. As a matter of fact, the brand target women aged 25 to 40 who were health and beauty conscious and enjoy spending time outdoors to be close to nature. Therefore, this excellent used of nature in promoting the product seemed to perfectly match with its target, which contributed greatly to build Koleston’s brand image and loyalty.
3. LEGO Imagine
Last but not least, one of the most creative, award-winning print ad that considerably strengthen LEGO’s brand equity, LEGO’s Imagine by Blattner Brunner. Published in 2006, the ad approached people by it minimalist yet imaginative visual. Everything that appeared on this poster were just a simplistic block of bricks and its shadow on a one color background, and a LEGO’s logo at the bottom right corner. However, the designer, by modifying the shadows into specific objects, has brought life to the whole composition and made its one of the best LEGO advertising ever. For example, a airplane-shaped cast shadow can convey viewers that the crossed red brick block above is an airplane and the blue background is the colors of the sky. Everything then turned out to be all logically relevant when our imagination speak. Well known for its endless creativity image, LEGO never failed to impress their consumers, especially children. The use of basic color such as red, green , blue and simple shape like tank, airplane, boat made it easy for children to understand the message of imagination. As a result, children learned that by using their creativity and imagination, they can made wonderful things from the simplest material.
References:
Sandra Moriarty, Nancy Mitchell, William Wells (2015) Advertising & IMC: Principles and Practice, 10th Edition. Present Hall, pp. 300-331
Find 5 different advertisements of 5 brands/ organizations of your choice. Which influences were used to influence consumer behavior? Why do you think the ads creator used these influences? Explain your answer with evidence from the ads.
Answers:
1. Neptune - Tet Holiday Advertisement (2013)
Influences used: Cultural Values, Needs and Wants
In Vietnam, there could be no other occasions more special than Tet for family to unite and enjoys the holiday together. Moreover,Vietnamese people value the warm relationships between family members. Tet, therefore, will be incomplete with out any member. The commercial effectively matchs this values with the needs for belongingness by illustrating a touching reunion of a father and his mute daughter on New Year’s Eve. Its message reminds viewers about Vietnam’s traditional values and awakes the desire to be cared for and connected to others.
2. Oppo N1 (2013)
Influences used: Innovation
Showing the high-tech lab in which the phone is made, the commercial suggested its superior quality and delicate design. Oppo N1’s features such as temperature, contrast, etc. are also indicated during the video. Finally, at the end of the commercial, it emphasize the innovative 360 degree rotatable HD camera which differentiate the product from others.
3. Anlene (2009)
Influences used: Needs and Wants, Reference Group
The commercials first states that people most Malaysia women only get 50% of the calcium they need, which creates the feeling of insecurity. Then, it claims that drinking two glasses of Anlene can solve the problem, fulfilling consumers’ needs of safety. The effectiveness of this ad is enhanced by featuring Hong Kong action movie star Michelle Yoeh in the video. As a person from aspirational group, the actress can made the information and the claim more reliable. As a result, consumers are more likely to purchase the product.
4. Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief (2014)
Influences used: Reference Group
Simply features some dentists who provides good feedbacks about the product to stimulate the purchase. This toothpaste commercial is effective since consumers tend to believe in experts.
5. Nike - Find your greatness (2012)
Influences used: Cultural values, Needs and Wants, Motivation
Launched in London 2012 summer Olympic, Find Your Greatness campaign tended to delivered “A powerful message to inspire anyone who wants to achieve their own moment of greatness in sport” , quoted by Nike on its official website. The message reflects cultural core values of self - fulfillment and respect from others. In addition, the commercials features ordinary people with their inspiring stories which resonate well with people’s desires to be free to do what they want and to feel that they matter. These desires create a motivation that persuade viewers to find their own greatness. Consequently, the campaign successfully enhance consumers' relationship with the brand.
References:
Sandra Moriarty, Nancy Mitchell, William Wells (2015) Advertising & IMC: Principles and Practice, 10th Edition. Present Hall, pp. 152-179
