Marketing

Can Changing Advertising Slogans Be a Change for the Better?

Advertising campaigns are built on successfully creating unique messages that sell. So is it smart to change a winning slogan that’s worked for fifty years?

Some advertisers stay with words that work. Some don’t.

We try harder. Without any hints, can you name the company that has successfully used that slogan for fifty years?

Chances are you could and even it you needed a hint to nudge your memory (car rental company), you’d know it’s Avis. So where does a classic advertising slogan go after five decades? According to news reports, into the junk heap to be replaced by another three-word slogan: “It’s Your Space.” Huh, what, what’s up with that? Y’think fifty years from now (what about five years from today), you’ll be on a first name recognition basis with Avis based on it’s your space? Not likely.

Does the Slogan Say Something Unique?

Having actively created slogans for a number of advertising clients, the goal for this or any successful sloganeer is to make sure the advertising slogan/theme stands head and shoulders above the competition and more importantly creates and reinforces a unique selling proposition (as defined by Rosser Reeves) for the product or service.

5 Market Strategies to Avoid

Marketing strategies are seemingly endless. From the traditional slogan-based advertisements to viral videos and social media, there are a huge amount of options to market your business. However, it is important that you stay up-to-date with trends in order to have success with your marketing campaign. These are just a few strategies to avoid if you want to get the most out of your advertising.

1. Filler Advertising: Creating Content Just for Content’s Sake

Nothing can be more of a waste than putting advertisements out just because you think it’s required. By creating content without direction, you are doing more harm than good. You are creating a marketing campaign based around nothing, and though your customers may not remember the ad, they may remember your company name in a bad light.

2. Spamming – Junk Mail For the 21st Century

No one likes junk mail. It’s just a pile of mail you have to sort through to find the letters you actually wanted. The same goes for email. It’s up to you to attract and hold the attention of customers. By bombarding them with unwanted or unsolicited emails, you are tearing down your company reputation. If you must email, make sure that you do it on a monthly basis or less. It will make your potential customers more apt to open your email and save them the frustration of filtering through products they have no interest in buying.

3. Cold Calling – Avoid at All Costs

Cold calling is dead. At some point, the prospect of calling potential customers to obtain sales was somewhat lucrative, but today, it couldn’t be more of a waste. Telemarketing is a surefire way to anger customers and annoy them to no end. If you have to call customers, make sure that they signed up for your call list and make sure to call at an opportune point in the day. Nothing is worse than sitting down to dinner and being bothered by unsolicited phone calls.

4. Not Doing Your Homework: Find Out What Works and What Doesn’t

There are many different avenues to market your business. But it’s important to monitor your success with each respective channel. You can do this by creating a customer survey and asking questions, such as, how they heard about your business. There’s no bigger waste of money than ignoring the facts. By paying attention to this data, you can change your marketing strategy to fit your business.

5. Ignoring Trends: Making Yourself Invisible to Clients

In the modern age of technology, social media spreads the latest trends. By not paying attention to what people are talking about or what websites they are using, you are hurting yourself and wasting valuable resources. Make sure you know what people want and where they would go to find it.

Bad marketing is something many companies suffer from, but that doesn’t mean that you have to. With just a little forethought, you can turn your advertising into something that’s well-received. If you don’t feel you have the resources to manage your marketing, hire a professional company to do the work for you and take the hassle out of it. You can be your best friend or your own worst enemy. It’s up to you.

Top 5 Funny Creative Marketing Commercials

In a world where commercials are becoming obsolete on television thanks to DVR, plenty of people still enjoy a good 30 second laugh. I’ve seen my fair share over the years, but there are five that I will always remember (oh, and these are not in any order):

#1 Jockey

Awhile back I had just returned from playing some tennis with friends and a commercial was on television that caught my attention. The first still picture had two tennis balls in a fence. Originally I thought it was a tennis star hitting 1st serves like 150mph, but then then were tons of pictures and videos of watermelons, sausage, etc., until the final one shows a pair of tires hanging from a tree.

It wasn’t until this picture that I realized that it looked like male genitals, which of course made me start laughing, and then “JOCKEY” faded into the screen. Up until that point there wasn’t anything that said Jockey, and since there wasn’t a narrative, the end result was hilarious.

#2 Ask for More: Pepsi

A young boy travels to Tibet in search of spirituality and life’s clarity from the Dalai Lama. This is the preface of the commercial’s opening scene as the young boy supposedly backpacks his way up to the door that will change his life.

In the beginning, the Tibetans try to teach him martial arts, several times looking like Mr. Miagi teaching the Karate Kid (I’m sure there was some sort of play on it). He doesn’t do very well in the beginning, but he always wonders what the symbol means on each guy’s forehead.

The commercial fast forwards to the young boy all grown up and going through the final phases of his training. When he completes his final task, all members pull out Pepsis and drink to his accomplishment. Suddenly he looks up at the Dalai Lama and sees the symbol above his head. Then, when he looks down at the Pepsi, he notices the lid looks like the symbol and crushes the can with his head. Absolutely priceless!

#3 Direct TV: Take Your Pick 2014-2015

Probably one of the funniest creative marketing ads ever involves Direct TV. They play on a negative domino effect that occurs if you don’t start using their service. For instance, the first one that comes to mind is the following:

Top 5 Super Bowls Ads of All Time

If you ask someone in their twenties what the top 5 Super Bowl ads of all time are, the response is going to be different from someone in their forties. Why? Outside the amount of Super Bowl ads the younger generation has seen, these ads are built around creating marketing design. Their goal is to connect with the right group of people, which essentially creates the most money for the brand.

While creative marketing make sense, these top 5 Super Bowl ads might not make sense to you…because they’re mine:

#5 The Snickers Celebrity Marketing Campaign

Without running to Google for the answer; do you know who won the Super Bowl XLIV in 2010? It was the New Orleans Saints 31-17 over the Indianapolis Colts. It was a storied game that brought Drew Brees into the “elite” status and Peyton Manning into controversy as the QB that had to go up against Rex Grossman to win a Super Bowl.

However you looked at the game itself, 2010 brought a wonderful campaign to the forefront. It revolved around Snickers and how taking one bite can get you out of your “funk,” and back in the game. Take a look and you will see Jamie “I think that was his name,” playing a game of backyard football with some friends, but he’s running around like Betty White. Definitely a classic!

#4 The New Pepsi Can: Cindy Crawford Ad

I was 17 years old back when this ad was played during the 1992 Super Bowl (btw, Dallas defeated Buffalo 52-17 in this one). It was two young kids playing around a wooden fence, across from the gas station, when Cindy Crawford pulls up to get a Pepsi out of the vending machine.

At the time, Cindy Crawford was the world’s biggest super model, so the commercial had these two young lads googling over her every move. The background music was The Hollies: Just One Look from 1964, but remade for the commercial. At the end of the commercial, the punchline came from one of the kids that said; “Is that a great new Pepsi can or what.” I remember getting a huge kick out of this one.