What’s good endures

I have been thumbing through old magazines, which is a quick way to see just how fast graphics and tastes change. If you were to pick up a magazine from 1990 you would really feel the difference. Some of it is more sophisticated tools, but some of it is just changing taste. In any case, [...]

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Going green is all the rage

Earth Day makes everyone go green, right? Yesterday, once again, I saw a television commercial for Chevron that touted how a gas company can do good for the environment. It’s a long commercial–probably one minute long, and it shows “green” images such as fields of wheat, etc. I wonder what the target is. Do you [...]

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Advertising in the Friendly Skies

It is not a new phenomenon that the airlines sell advertising. Their main selling points always involve the terms “captive audience,” since at 25,000 feet no one is going anywhere. On my USAir flight on Friday, I noticed that the airline has certainly been working this captive audience angle. All ticket jackets had an ad [...]

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Cynical marketing

Yesterday, I received an email announcement from US Airways. It is about something they call “choice seats.” As part of the growing trend to nickel and dime air travelers, USAir is getting into the fray by offering window and aisle seats in the front of the cabin for purchase. They are attempting to sell this [...]

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Social Marketing at the Presidential Level

The 2008 election is being played out across new media. From the YouTube debates to the Facebook pages every candidate seems to have. I heard recently that Chelsea Clinton is asking everyone to “friend” her on Facebook, presumably so she can then have an email list of potential supporters for her mother. Today, I saw [...]

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Sunday mornings

I used to be quite a fan of Meet the Press and other Sunday morning talk shows. At the time, Orrin Hatch was a favored guest, and boy, he was ALWAYS on. So I stopped watching. I also really liked David Brinkley, and of course, he passed on. Now, I only watch the programs [...]

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More tagging

Today, I picked up new glasses at For Eyes. The name is brilliant. And the tag is great: The store for people who can’t see spending a lot for glasses.  I love this! Clever but not at the expense of making sense. And, I really like their ads…generally funny. Plus, I got good service and [...]

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Tagging it

Tag lines are not slogans, although they could be.  Slogans can serve as tag lines, as in Nike’s “Just do it.” Tag lines help the advertiser define the service or product beyond its name or the headline on the ad. As you can imagine, they can be hugely important. Today, an ad for a mattress [...]

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Need vs. Want

In the end, consumer behavior  is stimulated either by needing something or wanting something. Guess where marketing communications plays the bigger part?  As I mentioned some posts earlier, Comcast has some very funny commercials. It doesn’t make me WANT to be a Comcast customer but I am a Comcast customer. Why? Because, at the time, [...]

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Viagra on ABC News

Viagra sponsored the limited-commercial edition of tonight’s ABC News. On the one hand, this makes sense. Evening news generally skews toward an older demographic. On the other hand, ABC News has a new in-depth series, on what it’s like to be 21 in different places. So how does this make sense for Viagra?
Viagra, an ED [...]

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