How far would you go for beer?

Being a college student you are always on the lookout for getting a beer. Most popular parties on campus are the ones with free beer. But would you consider picking up a hitchhiker with an ax and thinking of picking up a hitchhiker with a chainsaw for a Bud Light?

Yes, the commercial is a little bit extreme. I mean we are talking about an ax and chainsaw. But this makes it really funny and brings the point across fairly well. And what makes it even more appealing is that I can totally identify with the girl and you also probably know boys who actually would do stupid things like that for a beer. What I also enjoy is how the guy makes a case for picking up the hitchhikers and his lack of logic.

The ad cleverly uses something people are afraid to do and makes it a humorous event. It plays with the fear of picking up a murderer and it does it very well. Also the connection between the driver and the hitchhiker is supposed to demonstrate the strong connection between Bud Light drinkers.


I also think that their slogan “Always Worth It” goes very well with the ad. It basically implies that there are not many things you shouldn’t do to get a Bud Light. And it also poses the question of how far would you go to get a beer. So go ahead and decide for yourself how big your desire is.

Go Women!

Being an athlete I have been exposed to many athletic products throughout my life. And so I grew to become a heavy user of the Nike products. I even swear on their tennis shoes- I would never play with a different shoe to tell you the truth. But as much as I like the company, sometimes I am not too fond of its marketing efforts. To me, its approach to sign the best athletes of each sport and just focus on them is not always the most effective one.

But when seeing the ad for Nikeplus, the collaboration of Nike and Apple for the Men vs. Women Challenge I got very excited. This ad is actually really good! There is a great idea behind it and it seems like the company is thinking about the bigger picture: how do we make people want to run and purchase our product.

Many of us work out, but most perceive running as boring. But this commercial does a great job of actually motivating to go run. I almost wanted to jump up and support the women’s team myself. Also the idea of starting a “Gender Challenge” is very clever as it creates a need for the product.


I also think that the Nike and Apple brands go really well together. The ad also shows the unique feature of the shoe with the Apple chip that updates the amount of miles you ran to your computer and it makes it exciting and wanting you to be a part of the game.

And even though Nike (of course) also uses it star athletes in this ad, this time it works out perfectly. I loved to see Roger Federer and some soccer players in the clip. And the scene with Eva Longoria and her husband Tony Parker is just so cute and funny. The ad is very appealing, fun and just makes me want to run and get the Nikeplus product! Go women!

Sharks Territory

The San Jose Sharks claim that their fans “bleed teal.” Since I know couple fans, I believe this is true. But how did they create such a strong brand and fan loyalty? I believe a reason for that is its great Integrated Marketing Communication.

Around town or at the arena, which is cleverly called “The Tank”, the city is tinted in teal. The image of the San Jose Sharks is easily recognizable, with faces of players on the sides of buses driving through the city and banners hanging on street lights, to a teal fire truck complete with shark fins on the sides and the top; the Sharks organization has utilized aspects of the city to promote the team and has been very successful and creative. Most importantly, the communication efforts are very integrated and work as a unified force. No matter where you see these promotions, the message is consistent in each ad, through the website, artwork on the tickets, billboards, or anything to do with the Sharks.

Even at the game after a fan has purchased tickets and is watching the game, the same brand is still being strongly promoted in the arena (Shark Tank) on the jumbo tron, or on an endless LCD screen that shows one of the shark fin logos swimming in virtual water around the entire arena. Not only the website, but all the advertising channels and the colors, the image, and the message all display that “This is Sharks Territory.”


http://sharks.nhl.com/index.html

Sex sells?

And along with that comes another issue. The perfume is shown for like 2 seconds at the end. So the entire time I am wondering what the commercial is for, condoms? STD awareness? After finding out it was for a perfume I didn’t even know who it was for- boys or girls? I mean it could be either way- I either get so sexy with the smell that I am able to make out with the hottest boy in the club, or the smell makes me so sexy that I can have two girls at once.

So sex sells, definitely. But this commercial to me just appeals to people that like watching a guy getting groped by two girls and no increase in sales can be achieved.

Febreze commercial in junction with the NFL

Usually I record the shows I want to watch on the TV so that I am able to fast forward the commercials. However, the whole past week the great tennis tournament, the U.S. Open, was on and of course I wanted to watch the matches live; this means I am not able to fast forward the ads. Luckily, this time I did not mind watching it as the Febreze commercial in junction with the NFL came on and made me laugh.

Febreze came up with several ads with different situations regarding house hold pets and their odors. The ads feature NFL mascots pretending to be house hold pets. In the ad campaign they show them doing pet things and how Febreze would help remove the pet smell, such as wet pet odor. In the one that I liked the best, the mascots acting as pets are having a pool party and jumping into the pool demonstrating that wet pet smell. I believe that this ad is funny and does a good job of presenting the effectiveness of the product.

Moreover, the commercial advertises a Febreze product that removes the pet odor. The mascots are pretending to be the pets which I think is already kind of entertaining. Furthermore, since I am living with a little, smelly dog I know how annoying wet pets can get and how nasty they can smell. So this commercial addresses a necessity for any pet owner- a product eliminating the pet odor.

I believe it is clever and Febreze is being playful by replacing pets with the NFL mascots. It is appealing to wide range of people because they use a lot of mascots from different NFL teams in the same commercial. Most importantly the product targets men and not only women. Yes, men also go shopping and they pay a lot of attention when a mascot of their favorite team is a part of a commercial.

Furthermore, I believe that humor is the easiest way to be remembered. The ad is clever in its simplicity and appealing to a wide range of people.

Febreze was never specifically marketed before as a product that can be used against pet odors. The advertisement also drives attention to this segment by not only broadening the customer base but also the wide range for use of its product. And the subject matter of pet odors is a big problem that almost everyone can relate to. Febreze is taking this approach to get into the animal odor segment and it does it fairly well by staying in the memory of the audience.

Just being able to be connected to any parts of the NFL will make people look carefully and not fast forward. But since Febreze is one of the official sponsors it makes a lot of sense to take advantage of this. The ad is recognizable and it draws a lot of attention as most of the people recognize the mascots as football is the number one sport in America.

Last but not least, the application of Febreze is not only good for pet odors but also for the mascots costumes. It makes sense to advertise the product with the mascots as it is also applied for these costumes. I am sure anyone who has been next to a mascot or has smelled a costume after an evening of work also thinks that it is a great fit.

2 for 1

Get two foot long sandwiches and just pay for one? I love it! The Subway on Pacific Avenue allows us to save some money offering two for one foot long sandwiches after 4 pm.

One might ask why they do that, they will be losing a lot of money. However, just take a second and look into Subways situation. Since they use fresh ingredients when customers don't come in they throw it away anyways, so why not give out sandwiches after 4 pm? Furthermore, there is hardly differentiation between Subway and other sandwich places and Subways brand image is not that strong either. It needs to come up with new ideas and promotions to increase profits.

I believe that this promotion is great as it sets new standards. It attracts customers who would otherwise not go to the store. It could increase its sales through higher customer traffic and there is the possibility that customers will go back and eat there more frequently. Just like me. I am not a Subway fan at all. Being on the tennis team for four years and eating Subway sandwiches for lunch nonstop at tournaments definitely got old. My team mates feel me. But this week I have been at the Subway twice already. Once I paid $ 6.30 and once $ 6.97. This is weird but hey, it doesn't stop me from going again and taking advantage of this great promotion. At what other places you just pay $ 3.15 or $ 3.48 per sandwich?

There is however one issue- the advertising of the promotion. I would have never known about it when my friend wouldn't have told me. Hoping for word-of-mouth advertising is not enough. You want to attract more non customers to your stores and there should be proper advertising for it. When I went in the first time there wasn't even a sign for the promotion. Next time I went there was a basic banner. I didn't like it and I think there is bigger public attention needed for this to have a bigger impact.

If the store doesn't have enough money for an ad campaign it should at least hand out flyer's or have posters at the nearby schools like for example UOP and Delta College. Students love to spend less money on food and more on other things.

But since now you all know- you should go and enjoy!


For more information contact Subway Restaurant, 4663 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA. Telephone number: (209) 473- 4744