I feel like a scholar...

So I started school yesterday!  I don't know if I'm just excited to be back in school full time, or if I got accepted into the most awesome major, ever.  Probably both.  But nonetheless, I have a renewed excitement for school and learning.  Hopefully in the near future when I'm feeling incredibly stressed and a little less motivated, I can use this post as a reminder to myself of how I feel right now: eager to learn and excited about my future!

genius.

ok... i know i've been horribly neglecting my blog.  and maybe its because i'm not forced to post for school assignments anymore.  but my little sister showed this to me today and i just love it.

holi

i dont know much about hinduism, but THIS i can relate to.  thanks to my cousin ty for partying with me!

Let's Hit the Slopes

 

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Ok… I know someone already put this ad in their blog post.  But I love it so much.  I think its brilliant for so many reasons.  Here are the reasons:

 

1.      1.   We can relate to it.  The characters are funny and likeable.  Instead of pushing the product, this ad is just an amusing short story that makes me laugh, every time.

2.      2.   It is memorable.  I could watch it over and over again, and it never gets boring.

3.      3.   The one guy looks like Zach Galifianakis.  I’m not sure if they did it on purpose, but the whole ad has sort of a cinematic, comedy-film feel to it.

4.      4.   I love how they use the phrase “in the network, sparks fly faster”.  I’m sure AT&T’s 4G network isn’t guaranteed to get you a boyfriend/girlfriend, but it appeals to people.  And it plays off of how dating and communication is so largely dependant on technology these days.

 

Ads like this really inspire me.  I don’t think advertising should be forced upon reluctant people.  If an ad doubles as entertainment, people are more accepting of it.  They want to watch, they remember the ad, and they want to share it with people.  It makes sense for advertisers to aim for a viral-video effect.  If people willingly share their ads, they don’t have to spend as much money distributing through other mediums.  The consumer actually does most of the advertising for them.  The AT&T ski lift ad isn’t viral, but it does have 36,000 views on YouTube.  That’s pretty impressive considering it was made for television.

tweet tweet!

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Ah… Twitter.  Even I am still trying to figure out exactly what it is.  Yes, I have a twitter account, but what I do not have is the motivation to update it regularly.  Yet, despite my lack of tweeting, the rest of the world seems to be catching on.  The fact is: twitter is everywhere I look.  I am noticing more and more.  I was especially astounded today as I was casually computing while watching the academy awards.  Of course I felt the need to google every movie that won an Oscar, and while doing so, I discovered something amazing.  Google’s results for those films had “real time results” all of which were twitter-related.  Which brings me to my next point… Twitter is an amazing advertising tool.

 

Observe.

 

Trending topics?  Hash tags?  @Mentions?  Followers?  Whatever twitter is, it is part of advertising’s evolution toward social networking.  Companies can use it to find out what people are saying about their product.  AND, they can use it as a tool to literally turn their target audience into a following fan base, without annoying banner ads.  People are following because they want to; the ads are the content.

Also, read this NYT article about twitter's ad plan.  Very interesting.

 

Green Bay wins the ad-bowl! I mean, superbowl!!

Everyone watches the superbowl.  And all of these people can be divided into two categories:

1. People who care about sports.

2. People who want to see the commercials.

 

I figured since advertising is such a huge part of the superbowl I would share with you a few of my favorites. :)

I think the value of this ad is definitely in the execution.  The idea is pretty far fetched.  It could have looked really silly if it hadn't been done right.  But the word EPIC is all I can think of when I recall that commercial.  Which means Kia did a great job of artistically creating something memorable.

 

This Coke ad takes the cake for my favorite Superbowl ad this year.

 

My favorite part about this ad is the absence of dialogue.  It tells a simple, yet, memorable story with talented actors, vibrant visuals, and moving music.  I love that the guard who is stubborn is the one who is jealous of the Coke.  The other guard is willing to share, but neither of them can bring themselves to cross the line.  So they come up with a clever way to cheat the system, share a brief moment of joy, and abruptly snap back into their opposing sides and state-of-mind.  This ad endorses Coke in a memorable way using no words at all.  Which is just another reminder (to me) of the endless possibilities of advertising.

1st post

jumping on the blogging bandwagon.