Southern Comfort goes all in online

Southern Company has decided to focus their advertising efforts online. That's actually an understatement. Their decision wasn't simply to make online advertising the most important aspect of their advertising campaigns. They actually decided to make it the only form of media they use for promotion.

This might be a very smart move for Southern Comfort. The internet is superior to television in that it is much easier to find a target audience. This is especially true when the target audience is between the ages of 21-29,which is exactly the age group Southern Comfort is going after. Magazines are a good way to reach specific consumers, but the reach leaves something to desire. Also, advertising online is significantly less expensive. They will be able to produce many more promotional pieces for the same price.

Advertising alcohol on television is definately restricted. Most networks only allow it during certain times of the evening, and other competitor's Ads will be run at that same time.

I do, however, question their all in method. While I agree that the most of the advertising budget should be dedicated to the internet, I feel that traditional advertising is still effective. Taking your name out of the many that are shown during broadcast's alcohol advertising period will only make competitive brands easier to remember.

If you like the Pope, then you'll love buying my product

In an article by Henry Chu of the Los Angeles Times,I learned that Vatican Radio, which follows the movements of the Pope, has decided to start selling Ad space after 80 years of Ad-free operation. This must have been an extremely difficult decision for the Vatican to make. I'm sure the consideration of the ethical dilemma of a sort of "holy endorsement" isn't one that was taken lightly.
This made me think about what the future will hold for advertisers. If a fully functioning religious authority has become open to advertising dollars, then no one will consider themselves too high and mighty to indulge in the profits.
Schools might consider selling Ad space from their walls. I would hope this would only be for high school and colleges, but seeing it at elementary schools wouldn't be suprising. They could even start hosting brand sponsored peprallies and sports events.
If your convincing enough, you just might be able to get people to sell Ad space on their cars. It's already been done on race cars. Why not use regular people's cars. I bet that could end up being very cheap and fairly effective (although driving habits should probably be taken into consideration).
Of course I'm mostly joking, but only mostly...

At least we don't have to keep watching those car commercials

It's no secret that our current recession has had a dramatic impact on the auto industry. We have seen companies teetering on the edge of destruction, we have seen the government loan these companies money simply to keep them afloat, and we have seen car lots close down.
While these companies struggle to make a profit, many of them have decided to cut back on their advertising. Of course, we know that advertising during a recession is extremely important (and it often helps companies to become the leaders of their respective industries once the recession is over). Nevertheless, many companies were spending massive amounts of money to build brand awareness. Their focus now shifts to building sales, and, as such, much of their promotional budget will be cut.
Some of the companies, which were bought by the U.S. government, now have the ability to back out of advertising contracts that were previously negotiated. This is because they are considered to be new companies now that they have switched ownership. Others are simply not buying advertising space like they used to.
One of the more interesting effects of the auto industry's drop in advertising is in broadcast. Their decline in broadcast advertising has left a massive void to fill. This fact coupled with the 20% decline in rates for broadcast advertising since 2007 has brought local businesses to invest in broadcast ads. This will most likely benefit the local businesses more than the broadcast stations, however, because it takes a lot of local businesses to make up for auto dealers that advertised with them in the past.

We could trick them into liking it!

I don't know how many people are aware of this, as it happened a long time ago, but an old Sony Ericsson marketing campaign I heard about recently seemed like it could possibly be the worst way to promote an item. Ever.
In an effort to promote their cell phones, the company hired actors that were meant to seem cool to their target market. Rather than film or photograph the actors using the cell phones, they sent them to various locations including bars and tourist locations. At the bar, they might take a picture of you. After they show you picture, they can tell you about all the wonderful features of their phone. At tourist locations, they might ask you to take a picture of their group.
Of course, if you asked them point blank if they were actors, they would tell you that you were. As if that absolves any ethical violations. This is not just bad for the mislead consumers, but also for the company. A marketing campaign like this is certain to attract media attention. People are going to hear about it, and they will not be happy. They will see your company as manipulative and uncaring. Building healthy mutually beneficial relationships between customers is a must. If you don't have trust, you don't have a sale.

Copywriter vs. Art Director(Who can I fire first?)

What's more important for a promotional piece; the images or the words? Of course, it is common knowledge that both are necessary, but each one has a specific role to play when trying to persuade a consumer. In my experience, it seems that images are most effective for grabbing attention. The visual element is the first thing that a reader notices, and, as such, the image will almost always be the place here the reader begins. This is where the art directors job ends. The copy must hook the reader and ultimately convince him or her into action. The headline is going to responsible for convincing the reader to continue reading. The body copy then convinces the consumer to take some action (hopefully resulting in a purchase). These are certainly not rules set in stone, it's more like my personal formula from which to build a promotion upon. For example, an image might demonstrate how a produce works in such a way that it leads a consumer to purchase it. For a guy like me, however, my way just seems like a natural progression.

Consumer power

The use of the internet by consumers is something that has interested companies for a long time now. While it does work as a very effective mass media tool, it also creates an environment where businesses have to pay more attention to the individual. This is because people have as much reach and power over the web as companies do. If a person believes they have purchased a poor quality service or product, or that they have been treated unfairly, they can easily express their discontent to a large audience with the use of the internet. Whether through the use of facebook, twitter, or blogs, most people can get on the internet and express their opinions to followers who are sure to listen. For this reason, businesses are going to have to be more sensitive to each individual's needs

Advergaming

Advertising in video games has long been hailed as an easy way to get information to the 18-35 year old male demographic that advertisers are after. Now, thanks to new technology it is becoming even more effective. In the past, you created an ad, placed in the video game, and wished it a fond farewell. These days we have a much greater amount of flexibility. No longer does an ad have to remain in its current form for the rest of its existence. Now, long after the ad has been made and the video game sent out to the public, the advertisement can be altered. This should provide an excellent way to reach a typical target market and have an excellent response time as well.