Funny Commercial - Taco Bell

On television, I saw a Taco Bell Commercial and there were two guys at a sporting event in front of a ticket booth. One guy had the tickets and another guy was in disguise as a pregnant woman. I knew that the pregnant woman was a guy based on his voice and the guy with the tickets were saying What are you doing man, etc. The guy disguised as a pregnant woman pulls up his shirt and there is a glass ball with three different types of nachos displayed. The guy disguised as a pregnant woman was talking about how cheap it is and he's going to eat it while watching the event. Then, it showed the three different types of nachos with the prices listed. The commercial was funny and totally unexpected. It was kind of over exaggerated because someone won't really disguise themselves as a pregnant woman to eat the nachos from Taco Bell. Nonetheless, I thought that the commercial was clever and interesting to watch. 

McDonald's Commercial

I was just surfing channels and I stopped at the Lifetime Channel. There was a Grey's Anatomy rerun episode on. Then commercials were coming on and then an interesting commercial came on. I was watching the commercial and I didn't know what the commercial was about nor what the brand was. It showed a guy going to a travel agency with a dollar and asking the travel agent what he can buy for a dollar and the agent gave him a small plastic palm tree. Then the guy got into a NY taxi cab and asked how far he can go for a dollar and then came right out through the other side (the side he didn't come in from) since the base fare for taxi is $2.50. Then the guy went to a tanning booth and asked how much he can get for a dollar and he got about a 2 inch diameter tan on his cheek. Then he is walking down the street with his 2 inch tan, his plastic palm tree, a hanger with the "We love our customers" paper cover for the hanger and a plastic to cover the clothing from the cleaners and walked into McDonald's. He asked the employee what he can get for a dollar and the employee said all the items on the dollar menu and the guy was impressed and giving him the dollar. 

I thought that the commercial was clever in comparing what one can get with a dollar and with what a dollar can get a person at McDonald's. I also thought that not stating what the brand is in the beginning was smart because the dollar comparison creates suspense for the viewer in what the brand is. I thought that McDonald's definitely got their brand message across that one can get a lot for a dollar at McDonald's whereas one can't get much in other places. 

New York International Auto Show

The New York International Auto Show is held at the Jacob Javits Center from April 10 - 19, 2009. Since this is such a big event, I have seen advertisements of the event everywhere from Taxi TVs, banner ads, TV ads, etc. When I saw the advertisements, I thought that it seemed a little outdated, a bit dull. You can see from the TV ads that there are going to be a lot of amazing cars but I feel that the ad doesn't do well in supporting the content of the show. If there are going to be a lot of amazing cars and high tech cars, I feel that the advertisements for these events should match the quality of the show. Different from the ads, the website is very alluring. If the PR agency or the marketing team of the show had used the logo that was on the website to market the show instead of the one that they used, it would have been much better. 

When I went to the show, the set up was very grand. The Javits Center seemed much bigger than before when the Travel Show was held there. I thought that the exhibits and the set up was amazing because they had placed the different car brands next to each other but had signs with their logos to distinguish the exhibits. Nonetheless, the show was not only monumental but it was very exciting to see all the different car brands with their newest models under one roof. 

Sci Fi Channel -> SyFy Channel

Recently, I had been seeing Sci Fi Channel marketing themselves all over New York that they are now re-branding themselves to SyFy. I was aware that Science Fiction Channel exists but I don't understand why it is re-branding themselves to SyFy. I honestly do not understand their brand message. They have ads all over such as on buses, bus stops, top of the bus windows, etc. Their taglines are, "Bright Lights. Greater Imagination." and "Imagine Greater." In class, we learned about getting a message across but to me, I don't understand the purpose of changing their brand name and their message. I feel that if it is a Science Fiction Channel, it should stay the way it is as an abbreviated version of Science Fiction, "Sci Fi", and it would be easier for people to understand what their "brand" is. If they wanted to change their name ti "SyFy", they should have done that in the beginning, when they are starting off their channel because to me, it seems that they are just trying to do a play on words. Nonetheless, I felt that there is no brand message and if there is, it should have been more well-executed. 

Tribeca Film Festival

In class, we discussed about the Tribeca Film Festival and its ad in the newspaper. I felt that the American Express sponsor ad was not that appealing but it was more appealing than the black and white Tribeca Film Festival ad. After we discussed about it, I started to see advertising for the event all around New York City. I saw several bus ads of Tribeca Film Festival and it was a total different feeling from the newspaper ad. There was color of shades yellow to magenta and the ad was of the New York Skyline with the tagline, " Think you've seen all of New York? Think Again." It was more colorful and went against the original image of the event, which was having their ads in black and white according to what we discussed in class. The bus ads were different and more appealing but there was a problem with listing the sponsors. The sponsors for the event were printed too small to read from even 2 feet away. The only sponsor you can read was American Express but event it was too small to read from far away. If I was a sponsor, I would complain since I am sponsoring the event to gain brand awareness for my brand but if my brand is printed that small, I would feel that my money is being wasted. Nonetheless, the ad on the bus was good with the attractiveness but they should print the sponsors so that they are visible. 

NYC & Co Company

The NYC & Co Company are marketing themselves lately. I saw their advertising around our campus and on 3rd Ave. Their ad campaign has three different themes, one is with bright colors with icon images of New York, another is also of icon images of New York but more in realistic colors and the last one is of a sporting event. The one with the bright colors has a picture of a hot dog or film strip in bright colors and it's attractive through its colors. The realistic images of New York has picture of the nightlife and it states, NY Loves Nightlife. The last one was advertising a NHL event. 

I honestly didn't understand what they're messaging was and who they were targeting to. I can see that for the last theme, they were trying to generate revenue through the ticket sales of the sporting event but for the other ones, I felt that it was a waste of money. Since for New Yorkers, they know what NYC has to offer and felt that the company should have advertised more of what the company has to offer for NYC instead of what NYC has. 

Mapping the Cultural Buzz: How Cool Is That?

I found the New York Times Article, "Mapping the Cultural Buzz: How Cool Is That?", which is posted on Blackboard to be intriguing. The article is talking about a new study that has been presented in late March at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers. The research study is seeking to measuring "the geography of buzz" by locating the hot spots based on the frequency and draw of cultural happenings. The aim of the study,"The Geography of Buzz" was to be able to quantify and understand, visually and spatially, how this creative cultural scene really worked. In New York, the buzziest areas are around Lincoln and Rockefeller Centers and down Broadway from Times Square into Soho. The article stated the data for the research and their findings. 

I found the article to provide insight for marketing teams and I think the research study would be beneficial in helping the marketing teams develop their marketing strategies. It would provide them information on where are the buzziest areas and it will be useful in deciding where to place their ads. Overall, I think that the research study was a great idea and should have more studies like this because it will really help marketing teams. 

Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey

Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey has been around since 1891 and had been reaching new heights of popularity ever since. Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey's The Greatest Show on Earth are on tour and were only in New York from March 26th to April 13th. They have three different shows but were only showing their brand new show, Zing Zang Zoom in New York. Zing Zang Zoom is a thrill-filled, mind-blowing circus spectacular. The show has exotic animals such as majestic Asian Elephants, Bengal tigers and elegant Arabian And Friesian horses working together with human performers in awing the audience. 

Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey are very famous for their shows and have been performing throughout United States. I had always known about them as they have performed in Las Vegas and I had found out that they were performing in New York while I was taking a taxi. I was staring mindlessly at the taxi TV and saw a banner ad advertising the show and also a TV advertisement. It was very attractive and was alluring. Also there was a banner ad on the buses in New York. As soon as I saw the ads, I bought the tickets to the show. I watched the show on April 3rd at 7:30PM and loved it. There was also an All-Access Pre-Show that started an hour early at 6:30PM. Overall, the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey did a great job of advertising and marketing the show.

Architectural Digest Home Design Show

When I was searching for a project idea, since I had interest in Interior Design and Architecture, I wanted to do a project regarding it. So I had searched the web for any upcoming events on Interior Design and Architecture and there were events that interior design companies were doing or shows in other states, but the Architectural Home Design Show didn't come up. On Monday, I was searching online to find ideas for advertising my event and I saw on the website that the Architectural Digest Home Design Show just had its event on March 26 - 29, 2009 at Pier 94. I was really disappointed because I wanted to attend to not only feed my interest but also to get a sense of how an architectural, interior design event is. Nonetheless, I felt that they didn't do a good job of advertising because I hadn't seen it anywhere that the event was going to take place. I might have looked past it when I was looking at the Architectural Digest website but the ad must have not been intriguing since I hadn't seen it. I feel that the marketing for the event was neither well planned nor executed. Therefore, although I do not know if the show was a success, I feel that the show should not only be marketed to the field of interior design and architecture but should spend a little money to advertise to the public so that people who do not check regularly on events in that field but have an interest can see the event and attend. 

Guest Speaker: Nancy Schenker

Our guest speaker, Nancy Schenker, was great in speaking about the Internet and using the Internet to market and sell. Her lecture was casual but informative. Her powerpoint went over the timeline of media and how much media has evolved over time. I found this to be especially helpful since our generation has been growing up with media and doesn't remember when we didn't have cellphones, computers, etc. She also spoke about social media and web 2.0 and how they have a huge influence on society. Our generation has always heard that corporate people have Facebook pages but kind of had doubts about it so when she showed us her page, it was interesting. An insightful point that she had spoke about was how Facebook is used by everyone and people of all ages because of its clean image. Corporate people does not use MySpace because it has a "shady" image and it's more for music people. Through her points about Facebook and MySpace, it made me realize how important image is to a brand and its image can really "make or break" the brand. 

New York Times Travel Show

The New York Times Travel Show has always been a success and it had done a great job of marketing the event but after going to the NY TIMES TRAVEL SHOW for three years now, there seem to be the least attendees out of the three years. The exhibitors are eager more than ever to get someone to look at their booth and more of them offer sweets to lure the attendees to their booth. The past two years, the place had been filled with people, but it was depressing to see so little people. I feel that it wasn't a matter of having not good marketing strategies but it's because of the current economic downturn. I didn't know that the economy will have this big of an affect on the events industry. 

Even though there were fewer attendees, I was glad to the booth that I had always missed at the travel show and that was the Busch Gardens booth. It was the first time that I saw the animals that they brought. It was fascinating to see penguins, sloth and birds and more. Another booth that I liked was the Japan tourism booth which I visit every year. There were having a raffle and were giving out free items such as coasters, tissues, notepads, etc. I think giving out items is a good way to help the attendees remember the destination when they use the item. 

Guest Speaker: Dan Paradiso

I enjoyed listening to our guest speaker, Dan Paradiso, the Associate Director of Sales from The Carlton on Madison Avenue. His lecture was about his sales team, the organization of the team, what sales people do and the sales call process. It was interesting because some of the topics he spoke about, I had knowledge about so I was able to understand sales even more than before. Also, I was able to learn more about what sales department does. Even though I knew some of the topics that he spoke about, such as Delphi, the breakdown of regions that sales managers are in charge of, through his lecture, it helped me understand the sales concepts a little better. It was helpful to hear some of the things that sales department does, such as sales calls and how they execute it. It was beneficial to helping us process the information that we have read in our textbook. Overall, I felt that our guest speaker, Dan Paradiso, gave the class and me a great insight in what the Sales Department does in a hotel.