Serving up Suspension

Last week I discussed the Tiger Woods scandal and how he was able to hold strong to his Nike endorsement. Despite the infidelity taking place in his personal life, his professional life was held to a different standard.

The news over the past week has been swirling with the Maria Sharapova scandal and her drug use coming to light. The use of drugs for a professional athlete is something that is career shattering. Because of this, her endorsements are in deep waters.

The difference between the Woods scandal and the Sharapova scandal boils down to the affect on their game. Having multiple affairs is frowned upon in society, but at the end of the day the actual act has little to no affect on Woods’ game (though many could argue it made him play worse, but that is simply speculation). Taking drugs to improve your game, set you above other players, directly affects your game as well as your athletic status.

Sharapova has served as an icon to tennis players around the world. She has inspired young girls to pick up a racket and push themselves to become the best they can be. But companies like Nike cannot justify supporting an athlete who has used drugs to enhance their game. Nike is a brand committed to athletic performance. Performance comes from hard work and endurance (and possibly a pair of AirMax’s), not from drug use.

I completely back Nike in their choice to suspend Sharapova’s contract. It’s nice to see a company putting athletic ethics before a dollar sign, and placing the game first.

National Boys and Girls Club Week

This week marks the end of National Boys and Girls Club week. I love that not only am I a staff who gets to participate in this celebration, but I am also an avid  follower of their blogs and newsletters that go out every week. The BGC has done an amazing job since the early 1900’s in helping kids reach their full potential at an after school program. They have an amazing outreach with these children teaching them arts, technology, and abstaining from substance abuse in a program call SMART. Many companies, such as Lowe’s, AT&T, and Family Dollar, have jumped in on helping this non profit through sponsorships and different ideas being implemented into the 4,100 clubs across the US.

Right now the Boys and Girls Club is doing a social media campaign starring the hashtag #risetogreatness. They are striving to instill leadership and service into the kids and encouraging them to achieve great things in life. The hashtag is being used on facebook, instagram, twitter, and pinterest in order to reach each club and its members. This has been an amazing way to make an impact on their lives as they grow up in our club.

I find it great that BGC does not just talk the talk in their social media but actually plays it out. I have gotten to reach into so many kids lives through this after school program along with many other staff members. This is a great effort being done in order to help keep children safe while having fun in our clubs.

 

Stay Thirsty My Friends

Everyone knows the “Most Interesting Man in the World,” but sadly, his reign as the spokesman for Dos Equis is coming to an end. The beloved adventurer is set to take one last grand voyage: a one-way trip to Mars. After 10 successful years, the company has decided to give their ads a reboot in an effort to preserve the relevance of the campaign. This isn’t the end, it’s a new beginning.

While we haven’t been told the details of what will come next for Dos Equis, chief marketing officer Nuno Teles does reveal that they are “looking for a more modern take on the character that will appeal even more to young people.” They want to keep things fresh and even include social media in their ads. Teles further explained, “Jonathan as the ‘Most Interesting Man’ is always looking back. He’s always referring to what he did in the past. We believe there’s space to be more relevant for current consumers as well as new customers.” Thus begins the transition from the original man we all know and love, to the new and improved Dos Equis campaign.

It’ll be interesting to see how this transformation plays out. With such a famous character, maybe even iconic, it might be difficult to move on to something else and leave the “Most Interesting Man” behind. I personally loved this campaign, and while I understand why this change is occurring, I’m skeptical if Dos Equis can follow it with something better. Teles seems to be confident that they can do it and said, “Why do you change something that is working? Because we can do better. Because we know that we have a way to evolve.”

http://mashable.com/2016/03/09/dos-equis-end-most-interesting-man/#eGwEn7gOjgq2

Neutrogena campaign falls flat

Neutrogena launched a new “Beautiful” campaign at the end of February, with the hashtag #SeeWhatsPossible.  The message the ad communicates is passion makes women beautiful, and Neutrogena’s job is to help them put their best face forward.

I am pleased that yet another brand has joined team woman. The intent of this campaign is empowering, and celebrates various females thriving in sports and business. It’s nice. However, that is all it is.

The word “beautiful” is overused in advertising, social media, and modern day descriptions. I have a passion for writing, and  there is a surplus of words that are more intriguing, more descriptive, and more captivating than simply beautiful. Maybe that was the point, to be broad enough to encompass a variety of women and talents, but I think they could have done a better job. Like I said, the intent is excellent. Celebrating women is not only essential for a beauty product brand, but it is almost a moral obligation.

However, just saying “Beautiful” doesn’t seem to be enough for me. The creativity in this campaign seems to be dry; moreover, it has been drained by every other brand. Starting a new campaign was a ground breaking opportunity to continue to grow women empowerment and make it shine. Even the substance of the ad, the sports and business aspects of success, was done in the same fashion as similar campaigns.

The world of real women winning the advertising space is alive and well, but it is growing stagnant. It is time for brands to add to the theme, continue to revolutionize it, increase creativity, and find new angles to showcase the importance, worth, and bravery of women. The options and opportunities for this are limitless because of the very nature of women. We’ve come too far to just stay here.

 

Sail on by.

Guess what? The parties finally got together and picked a candidate. The Republicans even picked a candidate that isn’t racist and respects women. The Democrats came together, picked a candidate and now it’s time for the general election. It looks like the Republican party isn’t going to self destruct.

Sadly none of that is true. The primaries has got Republicans sweating and losing sleep all over the country. There may not be a nominee until the convention in July! The party is incredibly split and the rise of a certain racist candidate is continuing. It’s scary. Numerous candidates have come and gone. If only the story above could be true.

Enough about the saddest time in our history in decades. Let’s talk about Ben Carson and his social media. He dropped out less than a week ago after continuing poor performance in debates and primaries. He left the race with only winning 5 delegates. In November and December he was in second place in numerous polls but quickly dropped to the bottom of the race as the actual primaries approached. Every election cycle there is a candidate who performs terrible in primaries but at one point was expected to do great. It’s what makes elections so exciting  and exhausting.

 

One thing that Carson’s campaign used was #askben on his twitter that was also promoted on his campaign site. Many candidates are using tactics like these to reach voters. Through social media candidates are able to reach voters like never before. Voter now expect ways to connect with candidates.

Another tactic that Carson’s campaign did on Facebook was post bible verses multiple times a week. This was a way that he connected with the older crowd which is a large part of regular Facebook users. I know this cause even my Grandparents considered voting for him because they liked how he posted Bible verses on his Facebook.

His campaign’s Twitter is mostly tweets about the different events he was speaking at. There is no special tweets or anything making Ben seem attractive to young people. One thing the campaign did a good job at was managing their Instagram. The photos are of a good variety and good quality.

The 2016 election could definitely be considered a nightmare. The rhetoric that has been flung around has been dangerous and harmful to society. No matter what we think about a candidates’ social media the most important is how they respect all persons in America and how they plan to fix the biggest problems facing the country. Elections matter. Leadership matters.

The Most Interesting Man in the world, retires?

After 10 years of being the most interesting man, Jonathan Goldsmith leaves Dox Equis. Of course he didn’t just bow out under the raiders, Jonathan makes his grand exit on todays newly released commercial. 

Where is he going?  What will be Dox Equis next advertising muse? 

“Worldwide launched Wednesday on YouTube and will air on TV just once—during Thursday’s matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers on TNT. That game will see another kind of farewell—it’s the last match-up between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.” -Adweek posts

The brilliance behind only showing this commercial once, and during the farewell game between Kobe and LeBron, showing that Placement on this Ad was really well thought out and detrimental on Dos Equis as a brand and revamping their well known “stay thirsty” advertisements and end line.

Cant wait to see what Dos Equis next advertising move will be…

 

 

#LikeAGirl Emoji Version

I was on YouTube the other day listening to music when an ad appeared just like it always does when you go to the next song. Like always, I switch back from whatever I was working on back to the YouTube page to skip the ad. However, I was curious about this one ad that was playing because the title said Always #Like a Girl but this was not an ad I was familiar with. I decided for once in my life I wasn’t going to skip this ad and I’m glad I didn’t. We’ve all seen the throw like a girl, run like a girl, girl empowerment ad but this time they were targeting emojis.

I never thought of emojis as being girly before. To me, they were just funny faces to make text messages less serious and to help portray what we were feeling over a device. This ad made me realize that there aren’t many girl emojis like the ad stated – at least none in the business or sports world. My first reaction was “huh. Well that’s weird.” My second reaction was “well, that’s not a big deal.”

While I was thinking about what to write for this last post I kept getting stuck on the “it’s not a big deal” thing. I mean they’re just emojis right? However, we use emojis every day, which means that maybe at some point or another we will subconsciously start thinking that women don’t belong in the professional world. When I thought of that, I thought of this riddle I once heard. It goes something like this:

“A father and son have a car accident and are both badly hurt. They are both taken to separate hospitals. When the boy is taken in for an operation, the surgeon says ‘I can not do the surgery because this is my son’. How is this possible?”

I’m ashamed to admit that I couldn’t think of the answer to this. All I kept thinking was maybe it’s the dad but that can’t be because they said he was badly injured too. If it’s not the dad then I have no idea. The answer is, the doctor was the mom. I wanted to slap myself in the face because DUH! It’s the mom! Our society has engrained it into our minds that doctors are men. Who’s to say that emojis won’t be giving off the same subtle messages?

 

Just Deal With It

Over the past four weeks I have covered advertising campaigns comprised of celebrities beloved by the public. Each subject I’ve discussed has had, generally speaking, a pretty spotless reputation. The pairing of a squeaky clean pop culture icon and a company that appeals to a massive demographic is unstoppable. But what happens when the squeaky clean image gets smudged?

Tiger Woods was the athletic world’s golden boy. He repaved the road of golf, making hard work, determination and patience “in” again. For years you couldn’t go into a store or even turn on your TV without seeing him on a course with a club in his hand. A lot of that was thanks to Nike.

The publicity surrounding Woods was exclusively positive. However, in 2009 his infamous cheating scandal erupted. Suddenly we weren’t seeing his face on TV for his accomplishments, but rather for his shortcomings. Woods was no longer a golf icon, but a punchline on well-timed Saturday Night Live skits.

Fans were dropping him left and right, and endorsements slipped away faster than he could apologize. But there was one company who stood by him– a company that is arguably one of the most powerful and influential in the world.

Nike kept Woods’ endorsement. They continued to find in him what the public was so quick to forget, and that is his raw talent. Nike saw the way Woods inspired young athletes to pick up a club and learn to bounce a golf ball on the end of it hundreds of times. They saw how he had the ability to push future golfers to be the best they could be. He set the bar extremely high for nothing more than raw athletic ability.

Despite the negativity taking place in his personal life, he was still the best. And that’s what Nike saw.

Steps Taken to Stop Animal Cruelty

Most campaigns that I look at seem to be about humans and their rights, but the Humane Society and the ASPCA have made some great campaigns for animals. Both shelters have done amazing things in the past year for the sake of not just dogs and cats but any animal in need. These creatures are being abused everywhere around the world in many different ways, and luckily there are good people trying to help. Here is a comparison between the Humane Society and the ASPCA campaigns.

The Humane Society made the PuppySwap Commercial in 2015. The purpose of this commercial was to show that animals should not be treated as something that could be replaced or abandoned. Looking at their blog today you can see updates on on every aspect of rescue, including saving 295 puppies from a puppy mill in Arkansas on March 4, 2016. They are the United State’s “largest and most effective animal protection organization” and helps animals around the world. They have ways to have people donate to the cause, take action by signing pledges, and more.

While the Humane Society uses a blog, the ASPCA uses more press releases and media as ways to get to people. When it comes to its advertisement with the sad song, “In the Arms of an Angel”, statistics, and the focus on government and commercial endorsements connecting to the shelters, it seemed more professional as the Humane Society was more advocacy related. It is still making significant steps in the process of stopping animal cruelty.

While  both of the animal shelters have different ways to go about how they campaign for their animals, they are making a huge difference in how the situation of animal abuse is seen by the public. Personally, I have seen animals first hand who have gone through this trauma and would love to be able to assist in any way I can. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed more often.

Charter’s Perfect Quartet

With spring break being just around the river bend, excitement and stress have both been tossed in a blender, and out came a drink that I can’t quite put my finger on.  Regardless, it’s times like these that call for something we should never be able to get enough of—humor.  The Saatchi & Saatchi  ad agency out of New York was was the creative force behind this video quartet of a campaign for Charter Communications Spectrum package.  Each ad pulls together a situation where fast and convenient internet and HD television services are in dire need.  Hopefully you sensed the sarcasm in that. 

Each spot is a quick thirty seconds long.  The first spot is called “She Said”, and it explains the perfect alternative for a few dudes who want to watch the big game, but the coveted man cave is currently being occupied by the women. 

The second spot, “Pony Party” tells of the urgent situation in which a family needs a pony for their daughter’s birthday party—and they need it fast.  Charter’s Spectrum package promises to get something there fast.  It may not have necessarily been a pony, but with a little improvisation they made it work. 

The third spot is about a “Serious Business” with a serious boss who uses Charter to help run his company.  Yes, dog hats are super serious. 

Lastly, the “Body Cast” spot is about a skateboarder who takes nasty fall on camera and becomes viral.  Totally worth it, because now he gets too watch as much television through Charter as he wants—just not any comedies.

These ads where a fast, simple, and clever way to show off a service Charter is trying to sell.  I think it was all well executed.

-Josh Levinson