Comparative Advertising is American. Not.

Often we think about the idea of comparison advertising as being a very “American” thing to do. Only the capitalist U.S. could pull off something so crude as to putting down other brands to attempt at capturing your audience. Though illegal in some foreign countries, many brands use this tactic in America including brands like:

Verizon
Apple
BMW
Pepsi
Dunkin’ Donuts

In many cases, the brand is either 1st or 2nd in the category. For example, brands like Pepsi and Dunkin’ find themselves second to Coca-Cola and Starbucks in the soft drink and coffee categories. On the other hand, brands like Apple and Verizon who top their category use comparative advertising to stay on top, providing their target audience with information about their closest competitors and why they are a better choice.

Is comparative advertising really only a tactic used in the U.S?

Apparently not. Above is an ad found in Friday’s morning Metro newspaper distributed here in London. *FYI: Boots is the London equivalent to a CVS/Walgreens/Duane Reade/Rite Aid and Superdrug is another pharmacy-like and competitor to Boots. I was stunned when I saw this ad as I filled through the paper. I thought comparative ads that called out competitors was totally an American thing and that “classy” British brands would never stoop so low as the follow in the shallow yank’s footsteps. In this ad Boots highlights their price advantage over their competitor, claiming that their prices are so low that customers will love it but their competitors won’t. The target audience is without a doubt residents of England who are well aware of both brands.

I can imagine that price advantage is a key factor for retail stores like Boots. It can be hard to achieve loyalty with consumers since many of the products purchased at Boots or Superdrug are things one needs for a specific moment and may not make the effort to specifically venture out to one store of the over. For example, this weekend I was away in Stratford-upon-Avon (about 1 hour and 45 minutes outside of London). I really needed an lotion and entered the first drug store I saw. Although I regularly got to Boots because there is a location near my flat and school I felt no NEED to seek out a location near where I was in Stratford. I instantly entered the first store I saw and was able to purchase what I needed. Even knowing I had a loyalty card for Boots and not Superdrug, it did not deter me from entering Boot’s main competitor.

This ad certainly makes me away of the Boot’s price advantage but does not deter me from entering a Superdrug. That is the difference I feel with American comparative ads that is not achieved in the Boot’s UK ad. There is no sense of “sabotage” for lack of a better word. In American ads like the Verizon vs AT&T, Verizon straight up enterains reasons as why consumers should not only purchase Verizon but why they should not purchase AT&T. The same could be said about for the popular Apple ad campaign with PC vs Mac.

Bond’s BIG Takeover

I don’t think there is a single resident or visitor in London that doesn’t know that the Skyfall DVD is now on sale. I hope the Bond film’s big ad spend is paying off. From bus shelters, and premium print placement, to digital rail station ads and full subway station takeovers, Bond has taken over London.

Last weekend was the first time I saw the Bond Tube station’s new look. CBS Outdoor UK is the agency responsible for the Bond Tube station’s 007 makeover. As you leave the platform and enter the station you follow the tunnels around. Aligning the walls were giant posters promoting the DVD release. On the way out mega Digital Escalator Panels (DEP) and giant posters filled the space as we travelled up.

“This campaign will bring two great British institutions together – James Bond and the Tube – with a high profile, impactful creative to target the high end urban audience who pass through Bond Street Station,” commented Jason Cotterrell, country director at CBS Outdoor UK.

The campaign is scheduled to run for the next two weeks.

While I saw the numerous ads for Skyfall my mind went to:

hmmm… I wonder what the ad spend is?

hmmm… I wonder what the reach for this campaign will be?

hmmm… I wonder what the sales will be as a result?

This advertising student mentality haunts me in almost every campaign viewing scenario. My mind automatically switches to what was put into the development of the campaign and the results that advertisers expect will come out of it.

In school we often build fully-integrated campaigns and included an “evaluation” section expressing how we would evaluate the campaign if the campaign were real. We usually talk about calculating the reach, impressions and sales. Often times the media buy requires advertisers to use research and their gut to select media that they think the target audience will consumer in hopes they will see the ad. Our class assignments work the same way. This campaign covers the city so well you can’t miss the message in the slightest.

Overall, I don’t believe this was a brilliant campaign. Other than being placed in the “Bond” Street station I think it lacked real creativity. The message was delivered boldly and repetitively but if it hadn’t been thrown in my face a million times I wouldn’t have remembered it or cared about it. Honestly, despite the exposure to multiple messages with the same content, I still have no desire to take the next step and make the purchase.

Was the message as persuasive as the placement was aggressive? I don’t think so.

Quote source: http://www.adgeekdaily.com/1303-londons-bond-street-station-celebrates-skyfall-dvd-release

My Dream Job

It is not a surprise that I’ve started thinking about the job I want to acquire after college. Lets face it, I’m graduating college in a little over a year and the real world is knocking at the back door. The Ithaca College integrated marketing communications program is providing me with not only the skills and knowledge for any job in the field of communications but a well rounded perspective on the ad, pr and marketing fields. I’m confident that I will walk out with a bachelors degree that will be applicable for a number of careers.

Since freshman year I have found myself associated with the area of advertising more than anything else. Something about it just makes me gravitate towards it and not want to let go. 3 years ago I set my sites on working for an advertising agency. Through different internship experiences and my classes I’ve decided which area in advertising I want to pursue – account planning/strategy.

Is this my dream job? To be an account planner? Of course…?

Right now I see account planning as more of a job aspiration rather than my “dream job”. As a kid, your “dream job” is something out of a movie or a fairytale that you fantasize about being in the distant future, “when you grow up”. “Dream jobs” are occupations like ballerina, or astronaut. How can my dream job be something that I confidently feel like I can achieve?

Today, I was reading a book about bidding for the 2012 Olympics. Written by Mike Lee, the director of communications and public affairs for the London Olympics, the book explain what goes into bidding for the Games as it tells the story of how the London Olympics came to be. Then it clicked! I found my new “dream job”. When I’m older I want to work on a bid for an Olympics. Since I was little I have been fascinated with the biannual tradition and the idea of bring it to life is… a dream.

So here I am, 20 years old (almost 21). I declare that “when I grow up” I’m going to work on an Olympic bid.

In My Next Life I Will Attend Uni in England

You would think that royalty or important religious figures lived in these old castle-like properties. With beautiful stained-windows, decorative stone walls, and gated lawn properties it can be easy to mistake the universities and colleges in Cambridge for homes of only the highest people in England. In my next life I am going to university in England. I would love to walk across the gorgeous green malls and enter the gated properties with a backpack filled with interesting class work and books. The energy of Cambridge gives off a similar warmth and youth I often feel in Ithaca.

In the evening, I had the pleasure of attending a service at Kings College and hearing the mens choir sing. This was my first church experience. Though I was reminded how much a really love practicing judaism, I did enjoy listening to the choir sing. They sounded like this. Not to mention, the cathedral was BEAUTIFUL!

Eating My Way Through Amsterdam

This past weekend I ventured off to Amsterdam with a number of my flatmates and friends. The city turned out to be incredibly charming and a ton of fun!

On Friday we arrived around noon and I got settled into my hostel. Hungry, I found this cute little bakery called Melly’s Cookie bar where I bought myself a croissant with mozzerella and tomato. It was warmed up and salted so it almost tasted like a delicious pretzel with cheesy goodness.

After catching a quick bite, I met up with an old friend that I interned at The New York Musical Theater Festival with back in 2011. It was so nice to see her after 2 years and catch up with each other.

The afternoon slipped into the evening and I found myself wandering the streets alone for a little while. I was able to just zig in and out of shops and meander the street getting a sense of what the city had in-store. As the sky darkened and night took over the day, I met up with the others for dinner.

Saturday was loads of fun as we literally ate our way through Amsterdam. It all began with breakfast on the way to the Anne Frank House Museum. I shared a giant omelet and Dutch pancake with a friend and when I say giant I mean hanging off the plate status (see picture).

This beautiful breakfast prepared me for the very emotional experience that was the Anne Frank House Museum. Excellently set up, the museum walks you through the hiding space that held the Frank and Van Pel families over the 2 years during WWII. Quotes from Anne’s diaries graced the walls of the home, sharing her thoughts and ideas of her time in hiding. The heavy subject matter was delivered in a very gracious way. Even though there were numerous moments I felt tears swelling up in my eyes, I kept my cool and walked through as the strong confident jewish woman I am.

Following the Anne Frank House Museum we stopped in the museum cafe for a quick coffee. I ordered a cappuccino. When we were all warm inside we headed out into the cold when we saw a cute Dutch cheese shop – with FREE samples. Making sure to take a sample of each different kind of cheese, we entertained ourselves trying to find which type we liked best.

Once we had purchased our favorite cheese, we headed in the direction of the red light district. There we stopped in the chocolate store, Metropolitan. There we got to try their hot chocolate and while standing around waiting to make a decision we were offered FREE mini Dutch pancakes. I also got a delicious brownie and Stroop Waffle flavored gelato.

While walking around the red light district we also made sure the stop and get a frosting covered waffle and FRIES! The french fries in Amsterdam are AWESOME! They offer these fries with numerous sauce options, the most popular being what they call mayonnaise which isn’t really mayonnaise but instead this brilliant sauce that is just impossible to describe.

Other than having a ton of absolutely amazing food, Amsterdam was truly a charming little city where EVERYONE rides a bike. The energy of the city was cute and calm at the same time. Even though the weather was quite awful as Saturday included walking through large flakes of snow, that didn’t deter us from what Amsterdam really had to offer.

Before the trip back to London we visited the Hermitage Museum, the temporary home to Van Gough’s 50 most popular paintings. It was incredible to be up-close-and-personal with such amazing works of art. To see each and ever brush stroke was incredible. The exhibit was laid out very well, exposing the perfect amount of information about Van Gough, his life and is works. I was absolutely inspired by his story and the versatility he had as an artist.

Amsterdam was a great weekend away from London. I felt that I had just enough time to see everything I wanted to see and do everything I wanted to do.

In Stadium Promotion & Super Bowl Sponsor Are Key for International Audience of the US Super Bowl

Hope you all had a fantastic Super Bowl Sunday! A day many think is even more American than Independence Day. Each year we come together the first Sunday in February to watch to American football teams duke it out for the biggest title in the sport. Some of us may hate to admit it but we also stay glued to the tube as some advertising’s best commercials grace the screen, making us laugh, cry or just get weirded out. Giant Brands including Dorito, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Pepsi, Coke and M&M use the high-priced ads to reach millions of people throughout the US.

But happens when those outside the US participate in the American tradition of Super Bowl Sunday?

Last night I went to a bar in Shortditch, London, England and was so excited to be surrounded by other Americans and football fans to watch the big game. I had a feeling I was going to get to see any American ads but was hoping that there would be at least a few British ads. NOPE! Not a single ad ran during the BBC Sport’s presentation of the game. Instead we had to listen to British commentators and slow motion replay footage.

For an international audience, like the UK, I learned that in-stadium promotion and sponorship is key. When ads are not an option, brands much seek out other ways to participate in the broadcast. Brands like Gatorade, provider of beverages and such, could be seen throughout the game when players would stand near the large chugs to take a gulp in between plays. Brands like Hyundai, Mercedes Benz and Pepsi were able to find airtime when their names were included in the broadcast as sponsors of the pre-game show, the superdome, and the halftime show. Other then those 3 brands, this superbowl experience is rather bland and unAmerican.

Today, the Super Bowl as an experience is as much about the ads as it is about the game itself. BBC and other international tv stations should play the American ads just so an international crowd can get the entire American Super Bowl experience.

Sky TV Cover Take Over!

The other day I picked up the Metro and Evening Standard before and after school to find the same cover take over by Sky TV. Promoting its presence on all trains, Sky cleverly bought the cover of both the morning and evening papers that so many commuters pick up on either way in and out of the tube. Not the most attractive or creative ad in the world, the message is delivered clearly. I’m sure the reach and number of impressions was incredibly high.

Effective? I’m not sure. There is a link to a website but as a consumer I thought, “Where does this link take me?” and “Why should I take the time to visit it?” There appears to be no true call to action just a general headline, logo and tagline.

My Overall Opinion:

Great placement
Direct headline
No call to action
No real conclusion to draw from the ad
Not too much to connect me as a consumer to the brand