Minimum Wage.

[Not required for class]

Just wanted to relate to the minimum wage debate to my family's ordeals: my mother can never pay rent on time, if she does, she cannot afford the water bill as well, or food is rationed until next pay. Although she does not work a minimum wage job (she is a cafeteria manager for the public school system), she could benefit from a raise in all wages around the country. If it is vital for the poverty threshold to be lifted for families who struggle every day, other families who are a part of the middle-class income bracket struggle as well.

A few helpful links that explain both sides of this issue:

NPR

Money CNN

Post 6: CH 11, #2

(Honda "Hands" commercial 2013)

An advantage of TV is creativity/impact: "possible dramatic, lifelike representations of products and services" is what gears an audience towards purchasing a product or trying out a new service (Belch 365). This is an important advantage to national advertisers who focus on "spot advertising" which reaches a determined geographic market (381). The advertising medium of television is beneficial in this respect because a wide range of people are able to experience to creativity of a TV ad at a national level. However, spot advertising does not always work for local companies who want to advertise because local cable systems "do not provide advertisers with strong support or much information" (381). This will affect how much money advertisers have put into the creative aspects of a particular ad because it may not be able to reach a large enough audience.

(Wonderfilled Oreo campaign commercial in 2013)

Another advantage: captivity and attention. Newer technology such as fast-forward buttons on DVR devices have made it easier for a consumer to consciously avoid commercials but most consumers are exposed to countless ads throughout their television watching time. This is an opportunity for advertisers to focus on "heavy repetition and catchy slogans and jingles" (367).  Both national and local advertisers have the benefit of narrowcasting which is defined as reaching specialized markets through TV advertising. On a national level, advertisers have much more material to sift through to find a particular demographic they want to reach. Local companies can narrowcast by finding a specific aspect or attribute they want to focus on through advertising to a small town or a big city (382).

(PETA's "98% Human" commercial)


However, there are limitations that TV advertising must experience. The first limitation being costs. TV advertisers must deal with purchasing air time as well as having the funds to make a quality commercial that will reach a large amount of consumers. Production costs are what really drive "small and medium-size advertisers out of the market" because their commercials are not of high quality and consumers will not pay attention to them. This factor negatively impacts both national and local advertisers because a lot of money can be put forth to make a commercial that no one likes or remembers.

(Target's "Flex Arm Hang"15-second commercial)


Another limitation is the fleeting message. To combat the high production costs, advertisers attempt to cut the amount of time a commercial may last. While this may seem like a good financial decision, it actually leaves the consumers wondering what the commercial was supposed to target or the consumer will miss the advertisement completely because of its short time span. Advertisers believe that "shorter commercials can deliver a message just as effectively as longer spots" but it should depend on demographic factors of the target market. Again, small and large advertising companies try to save money on media by morphing the TV world into 15 second ad clips but the negative impact is evident through a financial perspective.

Post 5: Ch 7 #9

Advertising and promotional programs are the fuel that consumers strive on. Without advertising, consumers would not be aware of the products/services available, they would have a lack of knowledge about what a specific product can do to benefit or help them, they would not know what to like vs. dislike, their preferences would not be fully developed, they would have to rely on a trial and error process that is through other communication (not advertising and promotional tactics) and the likelihood that they purchase or even re-purchase a particular product is slim if advertising techniques are not apparent to remind consumers that this product exists and is beneficial.

During economic downturns, the advertising and promotional budget is the first to get slashed. From a sales-oriented objective perspective, this may happen because sales-oriented managers "spend money on advertising and promotional to sell its product or service" (Belch 219). They focus on how advertising/promotion can benefit the SALES of the product instead of how these tactics can benefit the consumer's purchase behavior cycle. Sales-oriented managers often expect an immediate impact on their sales if they focus on advertising but instead, the carry-over effect occurs, which means that money spent on advertising does not have an immediate impact on the percentage of sales (Belch 220). While this may sound understandable through a business student's eyes, it also means that sales-oriented companies may slash their advertising and promotional budgets because they are not meeting the goals they hoped to strive for at an immediate pace. This is not the best strategy to follow because advertisements have the main purpose of educating consumers which will hopefully and positively impact sales in the long run.

Cutting advertising and promotional plans also poorly impacts IMC objectives that a company creates to follow as a guideline. Any quantifiable marketing goals (goals that have a specific time frame) need advertising and promotion to help achieve that goal. These objectives are usually "realistic" and "attainable" and include advertising/promotion as well as production, pricing, and distribution of a specific product (Belch 219). If there were a lack of advertising and promotion, companies would have a difficult time striving to accomplish their objectives.

Advertising and promotional expenses do not always have to be the first to go. In a top-down budgeting approach, management creates a budget limit and the advertising and promotional costs must remain within that limit. Belch describes a top-down approach as "the affordable method" where a budget is once again created but then the rest of the money is allocated to promotional costs. However, spending limits can sometimes skyrocket and then the company would be in financial trouble. Or spending limits can be under the budget and not enough sales will cover for the company's losses (239).

Another strategy that helps promotional costs remain an integral part of an IMC plan is bottom-up budgeting where the promotional budget is created first and then specific, attainable, measurable objectives are created to later be achieved and then the overall promotional budget "is approved by top management" (239). This is also a smart way to include advertising/promotional tactics into the budget and confirm that sales will increase and consumers will be aware and knowledgeable about the product or service.

The DAGMAR model (Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results) is a useful model to follow in a company. However, companies have issues with following the basic hierarchy: awareness, comprehension, conviction, and action. If companies cannot abide by this model, they cannot understand what they are doing right or wrong. Sales-oriented companies often ignore the DAGMAR approach, leading to a cut in the advertising and promotional budget because DAGMAR lacks in "practicality and costs" and "inhibits creativity" (Belch 229). These are important tactics when advertising is involved because an ad should be generated to send a clear message to the consumer by using creative and qualitative tactics.

If a company focuses on communications objectives, it is determining specific, measurable, and obtainable objectives for the advertising and promotional goals that the company hopes to achieve. This is a healthy mindset in terms of companies who want to have a long-lasting impact on consumers and their purchase behavior. Cutting advertising/promotional budgets can negatively impact sales, negatively impact the relationship between the company and its ad agency, and negatively impact the end goals for a company which are outlined in an obtainable objective list that helps guide the company towards success.

Post 4: Super bowl forty eight.

Super bowl 48’s advertisements focused on family, friends, and what a vehicle, cup of yogurt, or new movie can do to positively impact the world. While many ads had an innocent, feel-good communication channel to the consumer, other advertisements created a whole new spin on what is ethical to air on TV.

1) What was the best advertisement, and why?

One of the top best advertisements was for Budweiser, entitled “Puppy Love.” It showed a yellow lab and a farm horse falling in love while the man and woman featured in the commercial grew emotionally connected through the animals. The hashtag at the end read “Budweiser: #bestbuds,” reiterating the message of the product creating an undeniable connection between two people or two animals. One of the reasons this advertisement worked so well was because of the music that was used to encode the message of love and friendship. Budweiser used a well-known currently popular song (Let Her Go by Passenger) that sang, “only know you love her when you let her go…” to channel the message of undeniable love and kinship that Budweiser beer offers to the consumer.

My personal favorite advertisement was for Goldie Blox, a new line of toys targeted towards young girls who have dreams to be female engineers or other male-dominated professions. The song during the commercial says, “more than pink pink pink we want to think think think.” This new toy line offers new options for young girls who want to break out of the binary of “pink is for girls, blue is for boys / dress up is for girls, building is for boys.” The ad also caters to the other important audience, the parents, who are the consumers of this product because they purchase for their children. This ad is attractive because it is similar, likeable, and familiar in the ways of children playing with toys, young girls choosing a new toy line that caters to their likes, and the average consumer familiarizing themselves with children liking toys that are good for them.

2) What was the worst advertisement, and why?

The worst advertisement was for Axe’s War and Peace body spray for men. It discriminates against communities from foreign countries, showcasing their acts of war on other people. The ad only matches with Axe’s body spray name, but it does not fit with the actual product and the lack of relation between an American teenage boy’s scent and how it infuses love or war into the world. As Belch describes source credibility, this advertisement does not include “honesty, belief or skill” into the advertisement. It gives off phoniness to how credible it is.

3) What was the best use of humor, and why?

The Cheerios commercial uses a young African American girl asking for a puppy after her dad tells her that she’s going to be having a little brother. The ad portrays funny, quirky family characteristics as well as advertising an interracial family to America. It includes successful communication techniques because it targets the source of family, gives the message of Cheerios being a family-cereal, targets a family-oriented audience, and may receives positive feedback from consumers who enjoy the cereal and the feeling of closeness it brings.

4) Were any advertisements ethically questionable, and why?  (This can include a discussion of sexist ads, if applicable)

-Dannon Oikos yogurt commercial insinuated to a woman performing sexual favors just for a spilled bite of Danna yogurt. While the commercial included a humorous aspect by the 3 former Full House actors, it shows a woman giving up her dignity for something as simple as food while attempting to portray this product as irresistible, sexual, and necessary. The use of celebrity endorsers worked well in this ad because it showed men cleaning the house and creating a bond between friends who function as parents together. The humor may have only reached a niche market though: consumers who watched Full House in the 80s and 90s.

5) What was the best (if any) advertisement for an environmental or sustainability related product, service or issue?

-Soda Stream features Scarlet Johansson explaining that she (and the product) help save the world by reducing plastic bottle waste. The first few seconds showed how the Sodastream worked and why it would help reduce waste in the environment but the rest of the 20-second clip featured Johansson promoting the product with her sexual-infused physique, completely undermining the message of what the Sodastream can do for the world. Sodastream’s advertising tactic was to use a celebrity source to encode a message about the product helping the world be a better place. Johansson has a positive public image, despite events that she has been involved in in the past. However, she may now be publicly scrutinized because of the way she portrayed a soft-drink machine.