Three long days ago, I sat down and read Shannon’s blog assignment. Immediately, an example of an ineffective, irritating ad came to mind. Now, after the last few days, I also have an extremely effective ad that I wish to address.
First, the ineffective ad…
Over the last month or so, I have started looking on Geico as an ineffective advertiser. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will say that I am a Geico customer because they offered me the lowest rate eight long years ago when I got my license. By no stretch of the imagination, however, am I a supporter of their current advertising campaign.
People tend to equate the quality of a company’s ads with the quality of the product they sell or the services they provide. I’m sure many of us have seen good quality advertisements and now associate that company with quality, even if we’ve never been there. The same is true with poor advertisements; the consumer sees a poor quality commercial and assumes that the company is poorly managed.
When you see a stack of money with a pair of googly eyes on the top of it, what does that say to you? To me, it smacks of cheapness. Even though I tell myself that Geico is a fine company, I still cringe whenever I hear their new jingle come on the TV.
This is certainly something to keep in mind if any of us choose to become advertising executives for companies both large and small. It is important to make sure that your ad portrays the message you want portrayed about your company.
Next, the effective ad…
Even though this isn’t a true advertisement, it has certainly played the part well. All of you know about the flood we’re fighting here in the Red River Valley. With the ever-increasing river crest, the need for volunteer sandbaggers has increased exponentially. For the last four nights, I have been out volunteering, and the sheer number of people there with me is just amazing.
The metro area sent out a call via every radio and television station in the area, and the public responded to this very real cry for help. To me, this is a perfect example of what makes an advertisement effective: the human connection. People are more apt to remember a product, service, or plea for help if they are able to make that connection.
We are all out there volunteering because we have seen the destruction that Mother Nature can bring, and we all want to do anything and everything we can to alleviate this batch.
Before I stop for this week, I just want to send out my own plea for help. If you haven’t gone out and volunteered yet, do so soon! Everyone’s help is so crucial in our area’s time of need. For those of you that have volunteered or have plans to do so, thank you so much!!
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I liked that you used the call for volunteers as an example of an effective advertisement because even though it's not an advertisement the way the Geico commercials are advertisements, it is an ad just like our PSAs we are working on this week are ads. Nice connection.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Geico ads, I have to say at first I agreed with you when they came out, especially the Caveman ads. But they have become sort of a cult iconic symbol--I heard they are making a pilot for a caveman tv show. Somehow, on some level, they are connecting with someone. I'm assuming this someone is gen-Ys or the like because the whole campaign seems to be that type of humor. But it has become quite popular. Not sure if that equates to increased revenue or not.
I don't like the Geico ads. I guess I don't get the connection with the casemen and now the eyes. The ads just don't make sense to me, but my boys think they are funny!
ReplyDeleteI really like the Progressive insurance advertisements. The lady actor makes me chuckle and I can relate to that advertisement.
I really like the way you got the flood situation added into your blog. I wanted to do the same, but didn't quite know how to go about it. I heard the best comment tonight on the news that sums it up, "When you see a Bison sweatshirt and Sioux Hockey shirt working side by side smiling - then you know we can come together for the good of a community." He said something like that and it was so appropriate in our current situation. People love to help people and that is the way it should be (not just in crisis time either).
The Geico commercials annoy me as well. The first time I saw one I didn't get it. The money with eyes has absolutely nothing to do with car insurance. You don't even know its for Geico till the end. The lizard commercials were never very good either.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how the flood plea for volunteers hits home. The human connection is the best way to capture the attention of an audience. I am so glad so many people are working together to sand bag. The people trapped in these areas will be eternally grateful.
I have to admit that I lover commercials yet they rarely affect my decision making. To be honest my mind thinks about the big picture. Is this what I need? What are the total costs? Will this purchase benefit my lifestyle? When my husband and I got engaged he sent me to the jewelry store to negotiate on rings. I narrowed it down to 3 and then he made the final selection. I know for a fact that if we move from Florida I will be the person to call moving companies, look for a home and make all the necessary arrangements. I shut out emotion and the bean counter in me comes out.
ReplyDeleteI can say that this ability has come to aid in the fundraiser I am chairing – just the other day the photographer wanted 15 a person to cover the event and provide souvenir photos. By the time we had finished I had him down to 6 pp and he was photographing the entire event and the foursome photos with logo photo frames.
I hate the googly eyed money stack commercials. I am still under my parents insurance so most commercials annoy me any ways, but yes when I see the stacked money commercials I think cheep waste of time, poorly put together, and know of the previous commercials that Gieco has had thinking that they could have came up with something better than a stack of money with cheep eyes on it. I also helped out with the sandbagging, but I must say that I was a volunteer and that the VCFD wasn’t what I was expecting them to be like, don’t get me wrong there were many that were of good help and helped the volunteers, but there was one guy that made a bad impression on me, if you are going to be in charge of guiding volunteers, know how to communicate. I got yelled at for not stacking one bag correctly. One bag common. I no longer wanted to be there.
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