Walk into any major department store or any retailer for that matter, a consumer will know that the holiday season is approaching, specifically Christmas.  There might be a small section dedicated to those who are still intending on celebrating Thanksgiving, but all in all, Christmas music, trees, lights, ribbons, garlands, and snowmen abound in many stores.

Macy’s is one such retailer that has been specifically tied to the holiday season through its long-standing name in the retail business, movies (namely Miracle on 34^th Street), and the classic Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.  To reflect their years of bringing the holiday spirit, two years ago, Macy’s Department store advertised their brand through nostalgic marketing.  Footage in the commercial showed clips from the late 1800s, the parade, movies that have used their name, and reality TV shows.   The end of the commercial states, “Only one store has been part of your life for 150 years.  That’s the Magic of Macy’s.  This commercial works so well, because Macy’s has successfully branded their name by allowing people to remember a particular association with the store.  It even allows for consumers to reinterpret their own memories of when they first saw or heard  the original referenced clips. Even if a consumer was not there to walk into Macy’s in the late 1800s, they may remember a memory of watching the parade or watching a holiday classic such as Miracle on 34^th street.  This ad does appeal to consumers who have high MAO, because it allows the consumer to create a persona and image of what this brand represents and has done over the past 150 years.  It allows the viewer to be part of the experience and to create a prototype of the Macy’s brand.

In terms of social responsibility, especially around the holiday seasons, in the past few years, Macy’s created a campaign called “Believe” and paired their name with Make-A-Wish.   In every Macy’s department store, there was a mail box for Santa, and for each letter that was mailed, one dollar was given to the Make-A-Wish foundation.  Essentially, the company would give up to $,1,000,000 to the foundation.  There were a couple of commercials that were produced borrowing from the story, Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus. 

2009

2010

The campaign was effective, because it  reached the $1 million goal of giving to Make-A-Wish.  This campaign not only captures a positive aspect of the season through giving, especially if child knows that by mailing their letter to Santa through Macy’s mailbox, they are helping other children, but it also gives a positive message to believing.  The store is also promoting the idea that it is okay to believe and to be a kid.

Macy’s department store is placed in a positive light because it looks like a store that believes in the spirit of the season, even if they (the department store) are in the business of making money.  The “Believe” campaign is currently underway and can be followed through the Macy’s Believe website.

It will be interesting to see how other companies will compete and roll out good tidings to all in this holiday season.

Did you know that by submitting one photo that had water in it to GE’s ecoimagination website last year provided 480 gallons of clean drinking water to developing countries?  By posting a wind photo, 4.5 KW hours of wind powered health clinics in rural Peru and by uploading a photo of light, 175 hours of solar power were given to families in East Timor.  Through GE’s ecomagination website, GE encouraged a joint collaboration with Flickr members to take photos of these elements and “Tag Your Green” allowing for that one simple uploading of a photo affect lives across the globe.  The campaign was very successful and GE achieved their goal of 10,000 photos for each nature element thus changing countless lives.

Since global warming and energy crisis have become buzzwords in the media, companies such as General Electric have decided to turn the negative connotations of the words to a call of action utilizing social media.  Within doing this, they have created a branding moment that demonstrates their understanding for environmental concerns and how their brand in turn can contribute to a “greener” Earth by involving consumers.  On the photoproject website, GE gives tribute to Social Vibe http://www.socialvibe.com/an engagement-marketing website whose belief is the brand should be in the hands of consumers.  On SocialVibe’s website, the company portrays a large global cause platform that is meant to be indispensible to consumers.  By pairing social media to contributing to the greater good, SocialVibe and General Electric have positioned the role of social media to become an agent of change.
Consumers are not only becoming the agents of change, but theopportunity to affect change is in their (the consumers) hands.

GE’s tagline is “Imagination at Work” and it is evident that their imagination is cognizant of the need to be relevant to the younger generation and the countless number of people who interact with social media daily.    As evident of the 2010 campaign, they successfully completed their goal.  By being aware of the use of social media in promoting a cause, the company is not only enacting change, but also linking their name to good works.  General Electric does have quite an advantage for promoting a greener earth, but other companies could also join the cause of utilizing social media and sites such as Social Vibe to jumpstart change in the world.  If by taking a picture of water, posting it on Flickr, and then GE’s website and that one photo changed the life of someone else in the world, think about what would happen if more companies joined in to this concept of taking social media to a whole other level.  Imagination at Work.

Imagination at Work commercial:  http://www.youtube.com/embed/CsW1JE4Hg14?rel=0

The General Electric’s “Road Trip” commercial by BBDO New York is a clear and clever example of how the institution of advertising reflects society’s consumer trends and goals. Currently, there is an active movement towards eco-friendly lifestyles and therefore by design, corporate social responsibility. According to an article in AdAge by Bob Liodice, while this is vastly argued, exhibiting corporate social responsibility supports both the consumers’ agenda to do good and benefit oneself as well as the company’s agenda to profit. Liodice supports this argument with GE’s revenues for the Ecomagination program increasing over 20% in a year’s time, which is ever growing. Ecomagination was designed to build up consumer awareness of how the company works to improve the environment through renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions. This ad for GE’s Ecomagination with a tag-line of “Imagination at Work,” illustrates what GE is doing to encourage and contribute to the eco-friendly movement prominently associated by consumers with the electric-car. This coalition helps push the message presented in the ad by personifying the car’s goals and saying GE watt stations are “going to change the way we get to where we all want to go.” Even within the context of this singular statement one can infer the juxtaposed meaning of literally where we want to go as well as where we want society and the green movement’s influence to go or endure.

This ad influences consumers through various consumer behavior specific tactics in, including but not limited to: attention and motivation driven through relevancy to the audience and society. According to Hoyer and MacInnis’ text Consumer Behavior, to capture consumer attention–which is noted for being limited, divided, and very selective–this ad is relevant, pleasant, surprising, and easy to process. Relevancy to the consumer is clearly seen in the message illustrating the importance of using energy sufficient vehicles. The ad is viewed as pleasant, which can be attributed to certain aspects such as the music (“I’m Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon to Your Star” by The Boy Least Likely To) and the portrayal of young hipster attractive people, which can be construed as a reference group depending on the target audience. The ad is also surprising by nature solely based on the innovative product being showcased and the breadth of locations with the implemented watt stations. Finally, the ad is easy to process because it is simple, has a clear message, and presents contrasting visuals between the novel product and its environment. Without having captured the consumer attention, motivation (which is critical to the message) is impossible.

General Electrics is already established as a well-known brand, which is positively associated with its programs such as Ecomagination supporting the consumer and corporate agendas. Therefore, the consumer has established a positive brand familiarity that builds credibility for the brand image, meaning, and actions. Also increasing credibility is the fact that this ad is an information based message not asking the consumer to buy something, but rather simply to get involved in addressing the needed change between the actual state (current environment) and the ideal state (healthier environment). This in itself increases the perceived consumer effectiveness, which is supported by the classical liberal tenant of quietism stating that as self-focused consumers we want a benefit (making a difference) before entering in consumption. The benefit or perceived effectiveness stimulates the viewer to actively inquire more about Ecomagination via the website call-out strategically placed at the end of the segment. This further outside research, seen in the classical liberal tenant of intellectualism meaning that the viewer is an active rational consumer, expands the message’s influence from that of solely the advertiser and brand on the consumer to the consumer on society as a whole because their intrinsic role as an newly educated consumer to spread the message and further the cause or movement.

Overall, as seen by the example of GE’s Ecomagination ad, corporate social responsibility can positively influence the corporate agenda to profit and maintain sustainability as well as the consumer’s agenda to fulfill needs, values, emotions, and goals for the self and one’s environment. As James Datri, president of the American Advertising Federation, said during the recent ExxonMobile Lecture Series at Southern Methodist University, “doing good is good business” for all parties directly and indirectly involved.

References:

http://www.adforum.com/affiliates/creative_archive/2007/ACT/reel_detail2.asp?ID=34460571&TDI=VDn8gdI3rW&PAGE=1&bShop=&awcat=&ob=&awid=

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=143323

          Do you record your TV’s shows and fast forward through commercials? Or scan through the other channels to avoid advertisements while you anxiously wait for your show to come back on? With recent technology, it is becoming easier and easier for people to avoid advertisements, specifically commercials. This raises a great concern for advertisers because they now have to develop other ways to reach their audience in order to grasp their attention and maintain the exposure to the public that they once had. As we all know, our attention is limited. While watching TV, you can also be talking to friend, on the Internet, eating food, etc. To have a successful commercial, the advertiser need to figure out a way to gain the viewers undivided attention and distract them from other tasks such as talking or browsing the Internet. The standard 30 second advertisement during a commercial break is definitely not as effective as it used to be.

           Knowing this information, American Express has taken it upon themselves to create a new form of advertising which is both effective and grasps consumer attention. Members Project from American Express partnered with FOX’s popular hit TV show Glee on a brand new type of campaign. Members Project is a program devoted to making a difference through volunteering, voting, or donating to charity. The program strives to gain people to volunteer and donate to a variety of charities, organizations, etc. in order to make our world a better place. To advertise the program, American Express decided to work with the inspirational characters on Glee in order to inspire viewers, gain attention, and educate the audience on the Members Project.

            Together, FOX and American Express have created a new type of commercial which incorporates the characters of the TV show Glee as they speak about Members Project. The main voice in the commercials is actress Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester on Glee. The unique part of the commercials is that Jane Lynch is not standing as a spokesperson for the Members Project, but rather her character of Sue is the lead voice of the advertisement. This creates an interesting way to communicate a message because it adds an element of surprise, which in turn draws consumer attention.

           When first viewing the commercials, the viewer anticipates hearing the perspective of Jane Lynch. However, the viewer soon realizes that she is portraying her character of Sue in the commercial. For those of you unfamiliar with Glee, the character of Sue Sylvester has an “I hate everyone” attitude which is depicted in a comedic sense on the show. The commercials feature the characters of Glee doing a variety of charity work such as collecting old books and instruments to donate to other organizations. Following, Sue comes into the picture and questions why they are donating to charity. The characters of Glee are used to inspire people to take action. The clear conflict between Sue and the students is used to spark attention and interest. Would you rather be involved and donate to charity? Or be like Sue?

            The new campaign educated Glee viewers on what the Members Project is and how they can get involved. By using Glee characters, the audience will be inspired because they can easily relate to the characters and see how they can take action as well. These commercials are targeted directly towards the Glee fan base. By incorporating characters of the show into the advertisements viewers can easily understand and relate to the advertised product. This new form of product placement has had an extremely positive reaction from viewers and has gained a lot of attention in the media. The shows fan base has commented on the new ads through the Internet and Facebook and the response has been nothing but positive.

            The commercials have many positive features which are reflected by its success. For one, this is a new kind of product placement which incorporates the characters from the show. This concept in and of itself is new and unique to the industry and adds a shock factor to the commercials which automatically gains the viewers’ attention. FOX and American Express have blurred the lines between product placement, entertainment, and commercials. The ads are also socially responsible in that they are promoting community service and doing good deeds which has been highly praised by viewers. Overall, this will most likely lead as an example for other advertisers in the industry to incorporate characters from shows directly into their ads in order to grasp consumer attention. Do you think this new concept of product placement will be incorporated by other TV shows in the future? So far, with the success of the Glee Members Project…I would think so!

On January 8, 2010, Tropicana, with BBDO, brought sunlight to the town of Inuvik, Canada for the first time in 31 days. The Florida orange juice company lit up a helium balloon with 100,000 lumens over the entire town, creating an artificial sunlight. The event coincided with Tropicana’s new campaign “Brighter Mornings for Brighter Days”.
This commerical is inspiring. Being from sunny South Florida, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to live in a place that goes without sunlight for months. The reactions on some of thes people’s face are uplifiting and it brings about such a great feeling about the brand.
Such an awesome idea, and I’m sure Tropicana brightened the lives of people from Inuvik, Canda.

With Susan G. Komen ‘Race for the Cure’ events taking place across the nation this April, KFC has found a perfect time to partner with a charity. KFC has now launched their ‘Buckets for the Cure’ campiagn, which gives 50 cents to Susan G. Komen for every bucket of chicken purchased.

However, with buckets of chicken costing around $10 these days, is this really a charitable enough contribution? 50 cents of 10 dollars, thats 5%…I don’t find this number to be impressive honestly. If a major national company wants to partner with a charitable organization, great, but actually make a significant contribution.

KFC hopes to reach their 8.5 million dollar goal of money raised for the cure by May 9, 2010. The campaign, which began April 5th of 2010 has raised a little more than $2 million right now, and KFC is quickly running out of time.

In my opinion, they should have made a bigger contribution to the Cure for each bucket sold, even $1 per bucket would have been reasonable. Is a 5 percent donation per bucket large enough for KFC to reach their 8.5 million dollar goal? Doubtful.

If interested in more information, visit www.bucketsforthecure.com

I think that this “Miracles” ad by the United Methodist Church is really moving. Looking at the devastation and destruction in Haiti, hope is a hard thing to come by. While it comes as no surprise that churches are participating in raising funds and making a difference, it doesn’t matter what your religion or denomination is to be moved by this simple and inspiring advertisement. The copy as well as the simple imagery is moving. In addition to simply being impressed by the ad, the website that it directs you to is virtuous social media. It allows you to connect with people using whatever social media platform that you prefer in order to help make a difference for people in Haiti, environmental movements, the homeless, and many other projects.

Sidenote: I couldn’t get the ad to show up in the blog, so please hit the linked tag and it will take you to it.

Insurance is a bland product that usually competes by showing lower insurance rates and a wide variety of discount packages. Geckos and Cavemen are one thing, but Liberty Mutual takes a better more virtuous stance that really gives insight into what the company is all about. The two ads below are two of the best insurance ads that I have seen. The idea of seeing people doing good things and passing it on is virtuous and responsible. I think they do an excellent job.

From the Good News newsletter of the Foundation for a Better Life…

It is Random Acts of Kindness™ Week
Feb 15-21, 2010

This week is the 15th annual Random Acts of Kindness™ Week! What will you do to spread Kindness?! Need ideas? Perhaps you could bake cookies for a neighbor, pay the toll for the vehicle behind you, send a card “just because,” or hold the door open for someone. To see more ideas or to share your own, check out our sister foundation, The Random Acts of Kindness™ Foundation, or their page on Facebook.

As demonstrated through the seminal Liberty Mutual ad… commit to an act of kindness today and see how long you can keep it up! You may inspire someone else or kindness may just become a lifelong habit

You can make a difference today!

In 2009 Starbuck’s started the Starbucks Love Project, where you go online and add your voice to the global wall singing “All You Need is Love.” Starbuck’s donated 5 cents for every voice added to the site, which raised over 14 million days of medicine for people living with HIV in Africa. On December 7, at 1:30 GMT, 156 different countries participated in a worldwide singing event to raise awareness for their cause (above is a montage of that event). I had never even heard of this at all until I actually paid attention to what was written on one of my Starbucks cups. I only went to the website because of this class. This is truly a great cause that is refreshingly void of Starbucks product plugs, however I really think Starbucks could do a whole lot of good if they advertised this campaign a bit more. Other than that what congratulations Starbucks you truly are bettering the world, one overpriced latte and Beatles song at a time.