Tag archives: advertising

The unperfect: advertising gets real

Even fat women and ugly men can be the models in advertising. After years of sexy bodies and beautiful faces, eventually “normal” people starts starring in ads, ending the age of perfection in advertising. Business Week points out that just like it’s happening with reality Tv, advertising tries to get real, to help consumers identify with real stories and therefore perceive products as real also. Dove, Eileen Fisher and now also Nike are among the brands following this new trend. As the article points out, reality ads might not change mass perceptions of beauty, we can expect the trend to continue as they fuel sales and draw connections with people who see the ads.

File under: advertising, fat, nike, perfection

Advertising in the age of terrorism

On The Guardian, Tess Alps writes an excellent article on advertising in the age of terrorism. Commercial sense and sensibility investigates the relationship among advertising and tragic news, looking at the reaction in the UK media industry following the July attacks, but also taking a wider and “theoretical” perspective. Among the points touched in the article, the author wonders whether different media have different impact on audience perception of an ad placed closed to a tragic news.

One of those clichéd truths is that TV is a more emotional medium and print a more rational, analytical one. This might suggest the presence of a print ad on the same page as a report of terrorist attack is going to cause less offence than a TV or radio break. I think that is so, but not just because print is usually less emotional. A still image can sometimes be even more powerful than moving film. Various papers have covered the recent discovery of photographs from Hiroshima, yet the appearance of ads on opposite pages has neither diminished the editorial nor damaged the commercial message – something to do with the reader’s voluntary selection of what to look at, I guess.

File under: advertising, perception, terrorism

Ethnic mix to boost agencies’ performance

As an Italian soon relocating abroad to start a new job, I certainly enjoyed this article published on Mediaweek, presenting the the Ethnic Representation in Agencies report authored by COI senior campaign manager Mehboob Umarji. According to the study published last June, ethnic minorities account for only 8% of the media and creative agency workforce and almost half of those staff can be found in back-office functions. The research points out that the agencies which embraced diversity were also the most successful in terms of new business wins. Colin Colin Gillespie, managing director of All Response Media, shares his opinion on the issue:

“From my perspective, the real key driver for getting ethnic minorities involved in more front-line roles, where they are able to have an impact on marketing strategy and creative development, is the background these people come from. The society we live in is very diverse and to be a media planner/buyer in the 21st Century, one needs to have experiences and, ideally, backgrounds which are reflective of that.”

File under: advertising, agency, all response media, ethinic minorities

Yahoo kicks off the battle for bloggers

The alternative to Google AdSense, the advertising program for (big) and small publishers is just around the corner: Yahoo! has started testing its own solution inviting 2,000 bloggers to join the program. The New York Times reports Yahoo says its new small-site service will let a Web site specify what categories of advertising it does or does not want on a given page.

File under: adsense, advertising, search engine, Yahoo!

Sexy men banned from alcohol ads

Sunday Timesreports drinks companies have been ordered to hire uglier men for their advertisements in Britain, to avoid suggesting there is a link between boozing and sexual success. According to guidance issued by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) men who star in alcohol ads that target women should be “balding” and “paunchy” rather than “attractive and desirable”. All right, fine, but what about the use of sexy women? The new alcohol advertising rules have been launched in the UK at the beginning of June.

File under: advertising, drinks, sexy men, uk

Laundry network advertises on Playboy

SM2 Publicidade has created a special print ad for Brazilian laundry network “5 à Sec” to be featured on Playboy 30th Anniversary edition. Copy: “The clothes that you do not see in this magazine, are currently being treated at 5 à Sec“. [ad via Voxnews]

File under: 5 à Sec, advertising, laundry network, playboy

Advertising and music: love is in the air

Advertising and music: love is in the air iPods have changed the way we enjoy music and advertisers are adapting to our new habits. But will we like commercials in our playlists? Reuters has a good article on advertising meeting the music industry. Ads in podcasts are one of the attractive options but, at least for now, Apple has decided not to allow commercials on its iPod device or iTunes download services. “We don’t think it’s part of the experience we want to give” explains Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod product marketing. Craig Davis, chief creative officer of JWT Worldwide agrees with Apple’s position:

“People are using an iPod because they want to choose the music they listen to. To interrupt and intrude on that with advertising would be pretty unwelcome.”

Read more…

File under: advertising, podads, podcasting

Top advertising agencies in the UK

A survey carried out by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s 44 Club questioned 276 people (with less than six years in the advertising business) to find out the best UK agencies. artle Bogle Hegarty and Wieden & Kennedy where named the top two creative agencies to work for, while while Garry Lace and Sir Martin Sorrell are seen as two of the industry’s role models. Mindshare and Mediacom were singled out as the best media agencies to work for. Revolution Magazine reports although most of the people is happy to work in advertising, only 36 percent of respondents expected to still be in the industry on ten years time.

File under: advertising, IPA, top uk agencies

Brands and testimonials news

T-Mobile has signed a partnership with Robbie Wiliams for an advertising campaign promoting mobile music downloads. Electronic Arts has chosen football player Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) as global brand ambassador. Vodafone has decided to stop “using” David Beckham’s image in its advertising campaigns. The marriage is over and Vodafone has no plans to replace him. Actress Brittany Murphy is the first celebrity appearing in Jordache jeans ads.

File under: advertising, celebrities, testimonials

Advertising and podcasting

AdFreak and Random Culture have two interesting posts on podcasting and advertising. How long should a podcast ad be? 15 seconds seems to be the answer, which means don’t give listener the time to push the fast-forward button

File under: advertising, podcast ad, podcasting