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.

After the destructive earthquakes in Haiti in January, SMU’s Student Senate began a program called SMU’s Heart Beats for Haiti. The idea is that donors pay money and get their name put on a heart, which is posted in Hughes Trigg. Your name is also posted on the SMU Website. For organizations the price is $1,000 for a heart. The money all goes to the Clinton-Bush Relief Fund. As far as advertising goes, I think that SMU students have really come together and put in a lot of time and effort to see this succeed. SMU’s Heart Beats for Haiti can be found on Facebook and many people have made comments about it on their twitter pages. Students volunteer to sell hearts everyday outside of Hughes Trigg. The campaign is unique, involved, and persuasive. It is a fine example of some local advertising here on campus.

http://adage.com/goodworks/post?article_id=140412

http://www.experienceproject.com/index.php

I have found this great Advertising Age article above regarding the media campaign “Help the Honey Bees” by Haagen-Dazs. Through the ExperienceProject.com website, the company raises awareness and educates the public about the mysterious epidemic of hive collapse, called Colony Collapse Disorder, and its threat to global well-being.

I personally think that this is a great initiative and is very memorable and involving. The website is structured in very personal way where real people share their stories, experiences and confessions. It also challenges the people to eat healthy thus promoting healthy living. It is a great cause-related marketing campaign which gives the opportunity both to the company and its customers to show they care.

Of course, there are people who can argue that at the end of the day, it’s all about money, about products and marketing. And they are right, but I will pose the question: so what? Of course companies need to care about profits, if they didn’t, then they could go bankrupt and thus the consequence will be severe – with many jobless people. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with a company trying to be profitable – after all that is why companies exist. It is the means to achieving this profitability that I believe matter. If companies are concerned with profits only and are ready to do anything to meet the quarterly sales (and by anything I mean without consideration for the people, environment, and society), then I see a problem. However, when companies show that they care about social issues and try to help social causes such as the honey bee crisis, then go ahead!!! It is a win-win situation for the companies, people, society, and environment. And furthermore, if the execution of the marketing cause is done in a creative and involving way such as the website Haagen Dazs developed, then I believe that the company has truly managed to make a difference and has made the world a better place.

What do you think?

I am Second

‘I am Second’ is a great example of cause marketing intended to promote God as the source of a purposeful life. Norm Miller, CEO of Interstate Batteries initiated the campaign with the help of partners from e3 Partners Ministry in Dallas. Rather than pushing religion on people who may see the ads, Miller and partners from e3 say that the campaign uses personal testimonials to offer direction and choice to those who may be seeking God’s help. Iamsecond.com features personal stories from well known athletes, actors, celebrities and regular people who each believe they are second to God and stronger because of the strength they seek from Him.

‘I am Second’ specifically uses testimonials in a way that influences others through the use of celebrity as well as normative influence from regular people sharing stories. I think the campaign shares a fundamental message in a unique and highly interactive way, giving active and interested consumers a way to initiate change and gain insight into the important message the campaign stresses: put God first. In my opinion, an effective and truly virtuous example of advertising for a solid cause. 

On another level, could more campaigns like ‘I am Second’ affect what society thinks about advertising as an institution? Yes. Maybe with more campaigns like this, people would view advertising in a more positive light. 

“1 in 6 adults and almost 1 in 10 children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Yet, for many, the stigma associated with the illness, can be as great a challenge as the disease itself. This is where the misconceptions stop. This is where bias comes to an end. This is where we change lives. Because this is where we Bring Change 2 Mind” (BringChange2Mind.org)

The “Bring Change 2 Mind” Campaign

Headed by Glenn Close and three mental health organizations, this campaign’s goal is to remove the negative stigma and misconceptions associated with individuals suffering from mental illness.

Directed by Ron Howard, the first PSA features Glenn Close and her sister who suffers from bipolar disorder. As people walk through Grand Central Terminal, their shirts reveal what others fail to see at first glance, their mental illness. What makes this ad effective is not the label on the person suffering from a mental illness, but the person standing next to them. For instance, one man’s shirt says “Post traumatic stress disorder,” while the shirt on the person standing next to him says, “Battle buddy.”

This ad parallels our discussion on attitudes, specifically forming and changing these attitudes. The goal of this campaign is to change the stigma linked to individuals suffering from a mental illness. Since these attitudes are primarily built around negative cognitions or beliefs, the objective of the campaign is to inform the public about mental illness, thus stimulating more positive associations with these individuals.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of hearing every, single news reporter and politician (including our President) bemoan the state of the U.S. economy. They ring their hands and pat us on the head as they suggest the ONLY solution is for the government to jump in and save us. Yeah… whatever. Last I checked, we’re Americans–we have a long and distinguished heritage of saving ourselves.

What happened to leaders who inspire… who understand that we are the most resourceful and productive society in human history?? Where are their words of inspiration?

Guess Southwest Airlines, like me, got tired as waiting…

Thank you, Southwest Airlines, for reminding us who we are.

Levi  Strauss & Co just recently launched the “Give them hope Now” Campaign. This campaign is to raise money for the Hetrick-Martin Institue, which is a non profit organization that that supports the Harvey Milk High School. As you can imagine the Harvey Milk High School is dedicated to support and help gays, lesbians, transgenders, and bisexuals during there time of need. They like to think of themselves as a school that is there for them when their family isnt. When their family kicks them out of there houses and wont support them. The school provides after school support groups and support services. At first when i viewed the ad i was unclear of what the message was for…Here is one of the commercials… What are your thoughts can you tell what it is for?? Also with Levis supporting a messsage like this do you think that people that are againt gay marriage and are homophobic may stay away from a company like this and stay away from purchasing their products? they have gone about delivering this message in a very modern way Rob Toledo, senior account director, Razorfish, Seattle says “We’ve put together a very impactful social media outreach strategy. We’ll be reaching out to bloggers and like-minded organizations and people in the LGBT community,” Do you think they did this because this topic is more of a modern issue and traditionalist might not agree and therefor they figured they could reach more of there target market? or because it cost less to get the message out??

Earlier in the semester I introduced TOMs shoes to AdVirtues, a shoe company with a mission, to provide shoes to people all over the world. For every pair of TOMs shoes you buy they donate one pair to a person in need in a third world country. While most may not think that providing someone with shoes is that important, think again. Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infections, allow entry points for parasites living on the ground and even cause diseases that cripple you, all of which are preventable by wearing shoes. Because of this, people all over the world in developing nations are dying daily because of a parasite that entered through the soles of your feet. In order to raise awareness, TOMs declared today, “bare your sole”

day in which they called people all over the nation to leave their shoes at home. Walking on the SMU campus barefoot was a new experience and gave me a glimpse into the lives of those less fortunate. It hurts and little pebbles seem to find a way to lodge themselves into your soles. It taught me a great deal of what life might be like in places like these and taught me the value of shoes so go outside, walk around and

BARE YOUR SOLES

and together we can change the fate of people halfway around the globe.

This is a really neat billboard ad from the Foundation for a Better Life. It shows surfer Bethany Hamilton “rising above” an obstacle to continue pursuing her passion for surfing. Not only is this ad inspiring, but it also symbolizes the values of hope, dedication, courage, and ambition.

I know a lot of things that we have posted have been related to the economy but unfortunately it is top of mind right now and as I have stated in a previous post advertising is reflecting that.

Target never ceases to amaze me. I have always loved their commercials because they are clever and visually appealing. Not that target needs to do anything to get me in there because I am in there at least once or twice a week but I still enjoy watching.

This recent target ad is so clever and very reflective of the times.

The message it presents is since we are all hard pressed for money we reinvent the way we do things. We should come up with cheaper alternatives that are just as great. We do not have to feel down because we cannot do all of the things we used to do.

The ad presents a great message and promotes it’s cheaper alternative products for a new lifestyle and a new time.

Genius!