This simplistic print ad for the Nintendo Wii is an excellent demonstration of a marketing communication done right. Since it’s inception, Nintendo has long since been known for innovation. This ad successfully conforms to the brand image in an inviting way. “Playing = Believing”, and when consumers see this awkward looking gaming machine they have no idea what so expect; Nintendo knows this and they also know that consumers are quite curious.

The Sobe Corporation has established itself as a trendy and healthy beverage company. Their product line ranges from fruit juices (Sobe Elixir) to flavored water (Life Water). The company has since expanded into the energy drink market. Consumers of energy drinks are ultimately more concerned with a quick “pick me up” as opposed to a product’s perceived health benefits. Sobe demonstrates it understands this with the new “No Fear ” Gold brand. This ad is directed to a teenage-young adult male population (the primary consumers of energy drinks); and thus this ad demonstrates Sobe’s competence in marketing to a very different demographic than their core products.

Chipotle advertisements are great because they tend to be very simplistic; consisting of only a wrapped burrito, a white background, and some amusing text. In this specific ad, Chipotle does a great job of addressing their target market (young adults) with a humorous and edgy message. By golly, I’m getting nostalgic just thinking about my past eating habits.

The Nerf corporation understands that young boys are wild, irresponsible, violent, energetic, and plastic gun savvy. It is no wonder that this exact commercial made me (as a child of course) want the biggest and baddest Nerf gun(s) on the market. This communication is so excellent because this company genuinely knows it’s audience. The last thing an eight year old boy wants is to have his friends show up at the playground and blast him in the eye with a brand spanking new N-STRIKE LONGSHOT CS-6, while he holds out his helpless pop gun. Kids, it’s time to fight back and arm yourselves cause it’s Nerf or nothing (and nothing really sucks).

This World Wildlife Federation communication is utterly brilliant. Instead of utilizing the typical billboard or print ad, this organization has actually installed these paper towel dispensers in public bathrooms. It doesn’t take a conservationist to realize the message the WWF is trying to convey. Creative ideas like this, put in places in which people ACTUALLY contribute to the problem are great ways to point out otherwise simplistic messages that the target audience could ultimately forget in a time of haste.

 
Before Seth Green hit the silver screen he got his start in commercials. However, not just any commerical mind you, but THE Rally’s commercial. Yes, this commericial has become somewhat of a timeless classic amongst my generation. I feel this ad actually reaches the pinnacle of dumb humor that many advertisers attempt to achieve, but very few actually do. While remaining funny Rally’s still communicates their message: We offer great food at a price that anyone can afford.

Gosh, I wish food was still that cheap.

I normally loath PETA advertisements despite being a vegetarian myself. The typical advertisements for this organization rely on shock tactics which generally include:

A) mostly nude men or women proclaiming they’d rather be naked than wear fur (OR)
B) disgusting pictures of slaughter houses/factory farm living conditions

Thankfully, this advertisement offers something different that I feel is more effective. Instead we have a celebrity from hit TV show “CSI” communicating a rather thought provoking message “investigate vegetarianism”. This is effective because becoming a vegetarian is part of a paradigm shift that can only really result if the individual takes the time to investigate such a process on their own. It’s far too easy for someone to block out or avoid mentally disturbing imagery when it’s being shoved in their face. This offers a cool and relaxed “hey, go check it out” approach, without all that unnecessary “shock treatment”.

A movie trailer (much like any other form of marcom) must effectively catch the audience’s attention to be effective. The trailer for Waking Life, one of my all-time favorite films, does just that. Perhaps I’ve become desensitized to big explosions and other mind-numbing forms of special-FX, as the Waking Life trailer offered none of the latter. In it’s place are tidbits of intelligent dialog and some absolutely stunning animation. The trailer captures the unique aspects of the film, thus successfully differentiating it from other movies in the cinema.

This is one my favorite Crayola print advertisement. Essentially what we have being communicated are two things:

1) quality
2) reputation/brand equity

This visually stimulating Picasoesque piece of art (carefully created with none other than Crayola crayons) is an effective means of demonstrating what a decent artist and a pack of Crayola’s can accomplish (hence the quality aspect). In terms of brand equity and reputation, Crayola reminds consumers that they’ve been around since 1885 (hey that’s a long time).

In the age of credit/debit cards I think we can all agree that carrying cash can often times be burdensome and time consuming. What this commercial attempts to do is to reinforce a somewhat recent and growing opinion among the American populous. A subtle reminder can go a long way, and I really feel this commercial is effective at proving its point. On a side note I do wish U.S consumers would stop spending money they don’t have, this recession has gotten deep enough.