The topic this week is sponsorships.

The sponsorship I chose was Coca Cola and their sponsorship with the Olympics. I believe this is effective for both brands, to be honest. Coca Cola is a huge, international brand that everyone knows. Likewise, the Olympics is a widely known event that occurs on an international level. For this reason, the two brands help each other out immensely.

Coca Cola has been a sponsor for the Olympics since 1928 and continues to do so to this day. According to blog.optimy.com, Coca Cola "promotes the higher involvement of youth in the Olympics" and aims to "bring together more people under the #Thatsgold campaign and have it reach further." This sponsor helps promote the Olympic games because Coca Cola aims to bring people together, especially family. Everyone knows the brand and that is what makes them a powerful sponsor. On the other side, the Olympics helps promote the Coca Cola brand as well. The Olympcis brings everyone together- fans of all sports, of different countries, and origins gather together to watch the event. Because of the size and popularity of both brands, it is wise to call them "partners" rather than a brand being a sponsor for one another.

Both brands do a great job at promoting each other. Their biggest strong suit is their loyalty to each other. Coca Cola did a fantastic job of relating "what winning a gold medal felt like" to what Coca Cola tastes like and feels like when you drink it in this commercial:

These brands have been partners for so long, I think they have honed every skill they have needed to hone.

The topic this week is promotional tools that marketers use to advertise their products.

The promotional tool that I am discussing today is in- or on-package premium marketing. One example of this would be companies giving away toys in cereal packages. Some advantages of this include "adding value and enhancing the brand." Disadvantages are more rampant than other tools, however. According to the text, "premiums can boost sales; however, they usually are not as successful as coupons" (Clow, Baack, 2014). Clow and Baack also state that premiums can also damage a brand's image if the premiums are overused.

It is important to choose the right premium. Marketers want to add value to their brand, and too much exposure can do the opposite. Overall, in-package premium marketing has become less used, due to new laws and regulations, and costs required to use the tool. However, it can still be used if necessary, but the marketer should have the goal of adding value to the brand image rather than having the goal of profit in mind.

The topic this week is the use of direct mail ads which CRM strategies the company uses while employing the advertisements. 

The above ad is a Mitsubishi car dealership ad that was obviously sent out during the holidays. It is hard to go wrong with direct mail since you know the consumer is going to receive it (whether they want to or not). This explains why 77% of companies send out direct mail to their consumers. (Clow, Baack, 2014). The ad above would work best with customers who have shopped at Mitsubishi before because they probably would not give it a gander if they were loyal to another car brand already. 

The ad most definitely uses the lifetime value of a customer metric from the CRM model. Mitsubishi  hopes that by sending this ad out, potential buyers will finally make a decision to buy their product. Because these are most likely sent out to current Mitsubishi owners, the company knows  what they like in their ads. The use of elements such as the brand, type of car, and holiday theme, Mitsubishi ultimately hopes and aims to enhance customer loyalty. 

The topic this week is product placement in TV shows, movies, and video games.

The tactic I chose was product placement in video games, specifically Need for Speed Carbon. As a kid, I was a huge fan of the NFS games, and racing games in general. What I didn't notice as an 11-year-old kid was the use of advertisement in the game in 2008.

During that time, the election between McCain and Obama was taking place and one of Obama's tactics to self-promote was to use in-game advertisement. Obama's wasn't the only one who used the billboard tactic in a video game, but I'll bet that it was the most effective due to the timing of the release of the game.

According to the text, "the primary game playing market segment is 16-34- year old males" (Clow, Baack, 2014). Due to this age gap, many young men are interested and involved in politics, which might explain the reasoning behind this in-game advertisement of Obama's marketing team. Because of the timing the game was released and the interest in politics from the age group most likely playing the game, I do believe that this was an effective ad. I mean, he did win.

The topic this week is strategies that marketing brands use on social media. I chose to pick the Influncer Marketing strategy, which "involves an individual endorsing a brand on social media sites" (Clow, Baack, 2014).

Above is the ad that I chose. It is a Lincoln commercial, but focuses mainly on the actor and his surroundings. Matthew McConaughey is sitting in a coffee shop, as he looks at his parked Lincoln soaking in the water on a rainy night. Ambient music plays throughout the commercial, and every now and then Matthew displays philosophical thoughts that may engage the customer. You may even see a dancer enjoying the weather if you wait until about the 45 minute mark!

Although McConaughey is a celebrity, and the book states that "although celebrities have large followings, they may not be the best choices", I believe he is wonderful in this instance. I do not know of anyone who dislikes the man, and throughout the video, he presents many philosophical points that may shift opinions on Lincoln as a car company and the demographics of the people who drive Lincoln. Both Lincoln and McConaughey have large followings, which has provided the video with hundreds of thousands of views. The video was posted to Youtube and has received many positive comments, stating how relaxing and thought-provoking the video is.

The topic this week is digital marketing. The ad that I first thought of as being effective (and digital) to me was Sony's Bravia Colour ad shown below. 

This is an older ad by Sony, but it is a great one. It's obviously a digital ad, but that isn't why I think it's effective. The ad most definitely uses the consumers' emotions to sell their product and they do this by using visual effects and sound. Throughout the commercial, the song "Heartbeats" by Jose Gonzalez plays, which many people tend to think of it has an emotional song. It's slow, and calms the listener down. The way Sony added this to the visual effect of thousands of colorful bouncy balls falling down the streets of San Francisco was absolutely genius.

I have watched this ad probably about 10 times already, because it truly is beautiful. It immediately grabs the audience's attention until they finally advertise their product, and it ultimately makes great use of the pathos aspect of the consumer.

The topic this week is effective newspaper ads, and I found a few that have me very, very excited.

They were presented in the British daily national newspaper, and feature Queen Elizabeth II. Below are the three separate ads presented in the newspaper:

Above is the first one. It pictures Queen Elizabeth (modern) linking arms with Prince Philip back in the day.

The second photo pictures a modern Queen Elizabeth shaking hands with the notorious Winston Churchill.

Lastly, the third photo shows a past Queen Elizabeth walking along cheering children waving their nation's flags in modern day.

First off, I believe that the ads are effective. Although it doesn't give priority to local advertisers, it is a national newspaper promoting national pride, which I consider an advantage. Another advantage this ad possesses, is that it has high credibility. History is about as credible as you can get. I am not a history buff, but I do know that Churchill achieved a lot during his lifetime, including the saving of Britain during World War II. I would also assume that the ad has a strong audience interest among readers. People are proud of their countries and the leaders who got them to where they are today, strengthening the interest of the intended audience.

Internet competition does not seem to be a problem here. Why? Because I found these images on the Internet. Just because they were originally printed in a newspaper doesn't mean they won't appear anywhere else in this day and age. Because of its originality, there are quite a few articles giving the creators credit, which is why I was able to stumble upon it. History lasts forever, and that is why I don't believe that this ad will have a short lifespan. Unlike many newspaper ads, the color quality on this is the best part of it. Color versus black and white makes the ad pop and stand out from other newspaper ads. Lastly, I believe that people even under the age of 25 can enjoy this ad. Many kids learn about this kind of history and grow appreciation for such history before that age, ruling out the disadvantage of a limited audience.

Personally, I see no flaws in the advertisement. It is innovative and I know that I would read more newspapers if they contained more ads like these.