Posts Tagged ‘Strange ads

Nuances of stock photography

Posted at June 22, 2011 // Advertising

Last week, I had to have a quick course on the pros and cons of stock photography. First of all, there are two kinds.

Royalty Free
Rights Managed

Both types could be easily found on archives such as GettyImages.com. GettyImages offers some definitions on these two. For example, Royalty Free photos depicts more everyday subjects while Rights Managed ones may be more conceptual. Both could be perfect depending on your creative needs. However, it isn’t that simple. The names of these two types of pictures say it all. GettyImages also says the following for these images:

Simple, affordable pricing. The cost of Royalty Free content is based on image size – just select the resolution you need and go.
Exclusive rights. Rights Managed content is priced and licensed based on usage, and some is available with exclusive rights – so your image doesn’t end up on a competitor’s billboard.

Allow me to translate: Royalty Free pictures are cheaper. However, you don’t get exclusive use of this picture. That means your competitors can use this same picture, at the same time! How embarrassing! Check out the examples below from American Society of Media Photographers. Dell and Gateway ended up using the same model on their homepage during the same Back-to-School push!

How did that happen? Well, every advertisers are looking for the best and cheapest option. Royalty Free photos are cheap (comparatively speaking). So, it may be a go-to option for many advertisers. Even so, everyone is looking for the best, and while the best is subjective, there is still a good chance that particular model / that particular photographer / that particular photoshoot was just that good! Multiple advertisers may find the same picture to be the best.

Rights Managed photos are more expensive, because you’re more or less renting that photo exclusively. You buy out the rights for that photo for certain usage in certain market for a certain time period. So, you lock your competitors out. Perfect for some local tactics. However, you do pay for that privilege. So, if you want exclusive use for a long time period all over the place, the price tag for that privilege can get quite high. If that’s your goal, you may be better off doing your own photoshoot.

For a giggle: “Alicia” from a particular photoshoot was so widely used that if you followed her ads, you could create “an unsolicited commercial love story”.

Tags : Strange ads

Can a brand be defined by haters?

Posted at May 19, 2011 // Advertising, Strategy / Tactics

So many brands want to be everything for everyone. Even those who are more disciplined often think only about their users. Very rarely are brand marketers focusing on the non-users.

I have always been a fan of thinking through the non-users. Negative reactions are necessary evil to a strong brand that stand for something unique and special. If you achieve that, you are bound to have someone who’s not on that particular bandwagon.

The recent Miracle Whip “Love or Hate” campaign probably is one of the strongest campaigns I’ve seen that takes advantage of non-users. What do you think of this campaign? And what role in general should non-users play in building a brand?

Miracle Whip on YouTube: Haters Gonna Hate (clickz.com)
Kraft’s ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ campaign whips up buzz about Miracle Whip (canada.com)
Miracle Whip ads: Love them or hate them? (adweek.blogs.com)
Someone has to hate your brand (drewsmarketingminute.com)

Tags : Strange ads, Strategy / Tactics

Immediate reaction to the iPhone / Verizon announcement

Posted at January 13, 2011 // Advertising, Strategy / Tactics

Perhaps one of the most important lessons we’ve learned from the iPhone / Verizon announcement was to always stay a step ahead of the game. You need to be always anticipating your competitors’ moves. Then, figure out how to stay ahead of them. For example, AT&T anticipated that Verizon will be getting the iPhone. Thereafter, a series of actions was taken to slow down / stop people moving from AT&T to Verizon. T-Mobile anticipated the announcement and produced a commercial to have ready the moment the announcement was made. Check this out:

This smartly made ad quickly discredited both networks the iPhone would be on. The ad clearly communicated T-Mobile’s point of differentiation – it’s 4G network. Here is the marketing copy that went along with the ad on TMobile’s YouTube channel:

“Here’s a sneak peek at T-Mobile’s latest ad. T-Mobile offers the total package: great smartphones, a blazing fast 4G network with rich experiences at unbeatable prices. There’s no fun in having a great device if it is running on a slow network. Step up to Nationwide 4G! Check coverage at http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/.”

I don’t believe actual on-air rotation has started yet for this commercial. After all, our media planning and buying processes are not quite this flexible. However, having this ad already available online speaks to T-Mobile’s foresight. After all, this ad wasn’t made overnight. (If it was, I’m even more impressed. Scripting it. Shooting it. Editing it. Yeah, not overnight.) I’m sure this ad will be hitting the air soon enough. In the meantime, it’s getting viral airtime on YouTube and through blogs such as this one.

Sidenote: This series of T-Mobile ads are parodies of the old Apple ads, argued Daring Fire’s John Grubber. In those ads, Mac was the attractive option compared to the old and ancient PC. In the T-Mobile ads, the iPhone itself is attractive, but the networks are far less so… This keeps the options open for T-Mobile to put the attractive guy (iPhone) and the attractive girl (T-Mobile network) together down the road. Another example of a forward looking play by T-Mobile.

Here’s a blast from the past: 15 Apple ads.