This Week in Marketing: February 5, 2011

I haven't included any Super Bowl ad-related articles here for the simple reason that there are so many, and there will be many more in the next few days. Advertising Age (along with some other sources) has hosted polls on the best and worst all-time Super Bowl ads. Columnists have argued that $3 million is worth it for the exposure, while other columnists have insisted that it's a waste of money that could be much better spent elsewhere. On Monday, USA Today and several other outlets will publish their lists of top ads from this year's game. In fact, with so many of the ads available online in advance, I've seen some ratings of this year's ads already. But I'll be watching all the same, my Terrible Towel clutched in my hand. Go Steelers!

If you'd like some humor to incorporate into class, one possible source is the Tumblr site, Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising. Contributors submit photos with captions poking fun at marketing-speak. For example, one shows a smiling elderly couple hugging each other, with the caption, "Our paper towel brand is giving 2% of its profits to the rainforest. Our grandchildren are now safe."

This week's highlights (with applicable teaching topics and links to discussion below):

 

Anti-Aging Makeup for Eight-Year-Olds?

  • The article: Walmart's 'anti-aging' makeup for 8-year-old girls, from The Week.
  • The facts: Walmart is facing criticism for a new line of cosmetics, geoGirl, aimed at tween girls. The products are formulated without chemicals that are potentially harmful to the skin, thus allowing the line to tout its anti-aging properties.
  • Classroom uses: The article mentions the huge buying power of 8-to-12-year-old girls, combined with the interest of girls this age in cosmetics. But does this make it right to encourage young girls to grow up faster? And why are anti-aging messages being delivered to pre-teen girls? If you would like to discuss the ethics of targeting different market segments, this offers a current example.

"Podbuster" Ads Catch On

  • The article: 'Podbuster' Ads, Calculated to Make You Hit Pause, from NPR (includes audio and video)
  • The facts: This report from NPR, offered both in audio and in text (with video clips) discusses "podbusters," which are short clips in the middle of "pods" of TV commercials. Podbusters either offer short "behind the scenes" clips from the program (as with Bravo TV's Top Chef), or include ads that closely resemble the program. Either way, the goal is to get the fast-forwarding viewer to stop and watch.
  • Classroom uses: Good for a discussion of new trends in advertising, or for a discussion of attention and perception in a course or module on consumer behavior.

Ads for Dads

  • The article: Dads Say Ads Don't Speak to Them, from eMarketer.
  • The facts: Until recently, most reports on unemployment indicated that more men than women had lost their jobs in the recession. This trend has contributed to an increasing involvement of men in household purchases that were traditionally associated with women. This article discusses survey results suggesting that marketers have not kept up with this trend, and that advertising in many of these categories does not speak to them.
  • Classroom uses: Useful for a discussion of the impact of social and economic trends in the marketing environment, or as an example of an overlooked target market.

Ogilvy on Advertising

  • The article: How to create advertising that sells, from Today's Advisor.
  • The facts: This is a reprint of some advice David Ogilvy wrote long ago--his "rules" for good advertising. Of course this was long before today's short attention spans and media fragmentation, but I still found it fascinating reading. It is unfortunately a large JPEG file, which introduces some challenges in readability.
  • Classroom uses: Perhaps of more relevance to faculty as a thought piece, but could also be assigned to students in an IMC class, asking them to assess how well Ogilvy's advice has held up in the past 50+ years.

E-book Growth Continues

  • The articles: E-Book Sales Rise in Children's and Young Adult Categories, from The New York Times and Kindle Books Now Outselling Paperbacks at Amazon from Mashable.com.
  • The facts: While Borders teeters apparently on the brink of bankruptcy, many analysts have pointed out that Barnes & Noble is in better shape to some degree because of its investment in its Nook e-reader. These articles offer further evidence of the growth of e-book sales. Amazon announced last summer that e-book sales had outpaced hardback sales; now, e-books have passed paperbacks as well. And this doesn't count free Kindle books, which have a substantial presence among the Kindle best sellers. The other article talks about the surprising increase in e-reader interest among younger readers.
  • Classroom uses: The e-book market continues to be a good "live" example of the product life cycle. The e-reader/e-book market has been around for decades, but over the past year competition has intensified and growth has turned up sharply.