AdAge app on smart phone -- Megan

Hi there, sorry for the late post.  Recently, I downloaded a free app for my iPhone, Ad Age.  This app provides me with things like the latest news in advertising, as well as agency news.  Only having this app for a few days, it has helped me to become more familiar with the advertising industry and some up and coming topics.  All for free!

medical alarm for elders living in rural areas

This mini homework reminded me of a story of a medical device for elders in rural part of Korea that I watched on TV in Korea. I'm not sure if we can say it perfectly fits to media technology, but slightly. The TV program showed/introduced a medical device that elders can use at home in rural parts, and it's usage. If elders wanted to install this devide in their houses, people will visit their houses and stick the device on the wall in the house. I don't remember exactly how the device recognized problems with elders' bodies, but when it notices something wrong in elders' bodies, it informs it to their sons and daughters living in urban areas, and it also calls a hospital nearby. The reason of inventing this device was quite manifest - to help old people living far from medical SOS, and better cater to their needs.

Twitter and farmers

While technology has transformed production methods, it's also transforming the way farmers connect to others. Consider the rapidly growing cadre of Ohio agriculturalists using social media.

"It has an appeal for farmers because it's a great way to connect with a consumer without having to go through the (traditional) media," says Dan Toland, an Ohio Farm Bureau Federation communications specialist instrumental in educating farmers about Twitter, Facebook and other tools. "They're finding it's a great way to get their message out."

Payn-Knoper has observed a new willingness among farmers to tell their own stories -- and an eagerness to connect with each other. Every Tuesday evening, 100 to 200 farmers from around the world use Twitter to participate in her two-hour Ag Chat, an online conversation on various ag topics.

Extracted from a news article written by Gene Monteith

Youtube

I'm kind of an old-fashioned people that I don't really use innovative equipment such as smart phone and tablet. However, I do use youtube a lot. Usually, I search for music video, drama series and interesting short films on the youtube. Before I can watch any video, there is an advertising that I can skip after around 10 seconds. If it's an advertising for new released movies that I'm interested in I would watch the whole video,but often I would skip the advertising as soon as possible. Oftentimes, I find those advertising really annoying since they hinder me from enjoying my videos. However, thorough repeatedly show up before every videos, I do have an impression on those advertising.

Technology--Social Network

Although not every one of us is a tech-savvy, we are bombarded by technologies. One of them is social network, such as Facebook and Twiter. Just like you need to know how to use Google, Facebook and Twiter are essential to our generation, or the younger ones. You need to be a sophisticated Facebook/Twiter user so that you could manage your social network efficiently and safely. As the number of Facebook/Twiter user increases, advertisers see the opportunity: it’s an old-fashion way to put up an advertisement; the heart of the story is about advocacy. As a social network, people pass the information/comments/opinions along with individuals’ networks. Advertisers are more mindful of what consumers think of their products. This technology offers me a way to understand how advertisers interact with their potential consumers as well as how the dynamic between advertisers and consumers has been changed.

Technical Knowledge: InDesign, Illustrator & Photoshop

In my first position out of undergrad, I realized quickly that it was almost necessary to learn how to use the Adobe Creative Suite. I did not have the opportunity to use these programs in my courses so I started to teach myself how to use the programs, took a class in graphic design and attending a continuing education course in InDesign. Knowing how to use these programs helps me in both understanding advertising and creating advertising. I have a much deeper appreciation for well designed ads and have always appreciated the strategy behind those ads. Personally, knowing how to use the programs allows me to develop my own ideas digitally.

Media Service for Rural Sector_Chanju LEE

http://agchat.org/

What I found about a media service specially devised for rural community is "AgChat Foundation." As their pithy tagline, "empowering a connected community of agvocates," goes, their mission is to help those who engage in producing food, fuel, fiber, and feed successfully voice their stories from their own perspective via social media platforms.

For this, they endeavor primarily to educate and equip farmers and ranchers with necessary skills for tapping into Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and so on. The central venue of the foundation is the highly visible "#AgChat" community on Twitter wherein more than 2,000 people from seven countries weekly get together to discuss tricky issues, tell their own stories, and come up with effective ways to relate to people outside of agriculture.

Considering that our society has shifted to the era of social media, whether farmers opt for them or not, it is obvious that they are encountering a crucial need for maximizing such new media. In this sense, I feel that this foundation excellently contributes to getting rural community keep a right track.

Rural Technology

One business that caters to the rural sector is HughesNet, a high-speed, satellite Internet provider. You can see from the picture (taken from their website) that they want to target that rural customer, who may not be able to get service from typical internet providers. Their website states that the #1 reason to use them is "It's available where ever you live." The website also states, "super-fast, always-on, satellite Internet access is ready when you are – no dialing in, no waiting, and no tied-up phone lines." The reason I know about this company is because my Dad lives in rural North Carolina. The typical internet providers would not service him since he is far outside the city limits. However, HughesNet was able to deliver, even with his rural address. http://www.hughesnet.com/residential-satellite-internet/why-hughesnet.cfm

QR Code, an innovation in advertising informational storage

When talk about the recent technologies in advertising industry, the first think come to my mind is definitely QR Code.

A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols).

Created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. It was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

The first advantage of QR Code that I would like to point out is that it, to a large extent, boosts the capacity of information in print advertising. Limited information storage is always the short-hand of print ads, but now, advertisers can use only one little matrix in the conner of the ads to give much more supportive informations that the respondents may need. The only thing left for the advetiser is focusing on making the ads more attractive to win attention, and persuade the respondents taking out their smart phone to do a easy scan.

What is more, ccording to this definition of Qr Code, we can infer that the information behind the QR Code can be everything, even real product. Just like I mentioned several weeks ago. Plz watch this video, I personally strongly recommend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxoh4AKGE5M

Want to know more about QR Code?
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code

Kent Country Show

Mostly, rural countries are known as the underdeveloped areas and lack of communication with the urban cities. However, in England, there is a well-known countryside named Kent county. Every year, an agriculture show will be host by the Kent County Agricultural Society at Detling near Maidstone in Kent, England.In the show, the produce of Kent farmers alongside a livestock and other entertaining evens, such as blacksmithery will be broadcast.

Grown up in cities, most people are not familiar with rural section. So the country view and lifestyle are novel and interesting to us. Since the first show in 1929, the show becomes the window for rural Kent life, attracting around 100,000 visitors each year.

As it is once said by the mayor in Gravesend at the first Kent County Show, "the greatest advertisement the town had been privileged to enjoy".
LINK:http://kentshowground.co.uk/

Apps On Smart Phone

I’m always willing to try the new apps on my smart phone as long as they are free. Many of the apps are really useful so I actually do not mind if there are some ads when I’m using. The main forms of advertisements in apps are mainly banners and windows popped out, but most of the time I pay little attention to them because I know they are advertising and I just close the popped-out window or just ignore the banners. So these using experiences let me realize although the advertising there is not intrusive, the effectiveness of them is not quite well. One of the quite effective ads in apps I think is the radio advertisement between every two or three songs when I’m using Pandora listen to music, which are mainly about music concert/ albums or something related to music, besides, it’s very short and it’s spoken out which could attract my attention better. And interestingly, I find there are some apps themselves are a whole advertising. Like one of the Stella Artois Beer campaign, there is actually an app which is a game to complete the whole 9 steps of serving a glass of Stella Artois.

http://www.designtaxi.com/news/350885/Stella-Artois-Tongue-in-Cheek-9-Step-Beer-Pouring-Video/

I don’t know how effective is this campaign, but I think it is really interesting. This game plays as a good complementary role of the whole campaign and add the interactive part to the campaign very well. There are some strategies in this game but yet not difficult, and you can actually upload your scores. As an app fan, I would like to try this if I can (actually this app is only designed for iPhone, so unfortunately I can’t), and I do think it is a less intrusive and more effective way to advertise a product.

Facebook

One piece of technology of which I believe I have a solid understanding of is Facebook. I'm particularly interested in the role of social media in advertising, so I believe it is important to have a good understanding of sites like Facebook and Twitter. Not only do I regularly use Facebook for personal/social reasons, but I'm also the moderator of a few group/fan pages on Facebook. This has helped me to understand attracting outside visitors to one's page and how to interact with users through something like a fan page. It has given me inside knowledge on how to effectively engage users so that they feel they are contributing or belong to something, and how to quickly disseminate information to a large group of people. I think Facebook is a great tool for encouraging becoming familiar with a brand and brand interaction- it greatly aids in the creation and proliferation of communities. Understanding how it works has helped me (with the pages I moderate) build communities around things (namely my a cappella group from undergrad and a popular blog about my undergrad institution). While it may seem like the social media obvious choice, there's a reason it has that reputation- with hundreds of millions of users, with a wide range of age and social status, it can be used to reach almost anyone with an internet connection.

Google

A piece of technical knowledge I have is a solid understanding of how Google works and benefits people. There are many different aspects to the search engine, including the actual search and search results, advertisements, analytics, and more. Understanding Google has allowed me to be able to track effectiveness of things such as websites and search terms, a tool that is helpful in determining the effectiveness of ad campaigns. It has also given me access to a breadth of information, which has helped me enhance my knowledge on many subjects, including advertising.

Technical Knowledge -- final cut pro and Adobe suite CS5

Hi everyone,

So a good piece of technical knowledge I think has helped me to better understand advertising would be an understanding of the Adobe Suite and Final Cut Pro. As an undergrad, I had the chance to participate in several semester long campaign classes where we not only strategized and planned media with realistic budgets, we actually had to create working professional grade advertisements for print, radio and Internet that were critiqued by professionals and submitted to a real client.

Further, I also had the opportunity to take a film class which required us to complete several miniature films using professional equipment in the field and editing with Final Cut Pro software akin to that professional movie editors use.

Throughout these experiences, I realized the tediousness of many of the facets of producing ads in various mediums and how intricate both the planning, implementation and editing can be. Sometimes, just editing a 5 minute documentary takes up to five days and that doesn't even include sound editing and mastering.

All in all, I think this experience has helped me realized just how much time it takes between the initial idea or creative concept and the actual production. But more importantly, it has provided creedence for the belief that the idea needs to be that much better, because it will have to stand the test of time and if it is poor, will surely standout during the various stages of production throughout the campaign.

Effie. Rural advertising

Rural areas in some developing countries, esp those with limited technical supports, are using radio advertising and this is very effective because people have fewer information resources themselves and they see radio as a way to link to other parts of the world and a daily entertainment. Some companies also use travelling salesman because people living in rural areas are more acceptive of personal persuasion.

QR code & advertising

Recently I and two other girls designed a poster and the client required us to put a QR code at the corner. Not coincidently, I saw lots of posters,flyers,magazines with QR code on them. I think QR code change my understanding of advertising by providing an interesting interactive way on paper media. It works well in a mobile era like nowadays.
Firstly, it provides a strong incentive to interact based on passive paper media. I feel I'm always curious about  contents contained in the small odd squares. I like the feeling of discovering something myself. And I feel brands with QR code are cool and trendy.I have positive attitude towards brands on advertising with QR code even without knowing the brands thoroughly.
Secondly,its existence is combined with the smart phone apps QR reader.Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network or open a web page in the telephone's browser. The implication is that advertisers don't need to create contents for mobile phones. Instead, the users will find the content themselves.It's an unobtrusive way to put advertising on mobile platforms. It might work pretty well when people see ads with QR code on bus stops,waiting room, etc, where people more easily feel bored.
Besides the information access function, QR code work as an invitation of certain events. People interested in certain events just need to scan the QR code and then they join in. It's quick,easy way to catch people's attention and interest. What's more, people could join in and win prizes just by their cellphone. People might feel more willing to participant if the entree is easy and the prize is rewarding. There is an example where people could buy grocery goods simply by scanning QR in subway station and ordered online in Korea. 
All in all, I think QR code provides new interactive opportunity as well as bridging the traditional paper media with mobile media. And the characteristic of it- exclusive, complicated but cool themsleves could influence viewers'  attitude towards brands.

Good Ad NIKE-WRITE THE FUTURE Bad Ad-

Hi everyone,

sorry for the delay. A good ad that is targeted towards myself is NIKE's 2010 ad for the FIFA World Cup entitled, "WRITE YOUR OWN FUTURE". This ad represents the pinnacle of blown out ad budgets, essentially making a 3 min mini-film, Hollywood blockbuster. The commercial has appearances by most of the stars of world futbol at the time and plays on their personalities and accomplishments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSggaxXUS8k

A ad I feel that negatively targets me would be the Axe ad-"Angels will Fall" (2010). The ad takes a step away from Axe's usual provocative, suggestive model and instead employs a more sophisticated visual metaphor aimed at older males outside of their usual tween to teen target. Though I believe this ad is much better than their usual standard, it nonetheless fails to break the mediocrity and still represents a candid sex appeal delivered through poignant classical music and the old world charm of Turin, Italy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsnsP3mpGsI

Best,

rick

Good + bad ads targeting me

The good ad is the NatureLuxe’s commercial, which is endorsed by Taylor swift. I think it is targeting to me because the Taylor is the singer that I like and she is the same generation as me.
Firstly, the successfully using emotion appeal draws my attention. The simple background setting, appropriate music and Taylor in a fancy dress offer me the enjoyment of beauty. One of he lines in this ad is that “the next cover girl? you! “ By watching this ad, I feel like I want to try this product because I wish I could as pretty as Taylor in ad. Also, every girl has a dream of being a cover girl. The theme of this ad makes me feel special and meet my need in beauty.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4&feature=related

Secondly, the bad ad that I think is the commercial of Gummy bear. Our generation is the target market of candy product, so this ad is targeting to me. The reason that I think it is not good enough is that the whole advertising is so not cool and boring. The actor who is supposed to enjoy eating the Gummy bear has a fake and unreal face on screen. Previously, I am not a big fun of Gummy bear. Still, after watching this advertising, it can not make me interest in trying this so-called biggest Gummy bear in the world.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBa458RoLpw&feature=pyv&ad=5774680702&kw=gummi%20bear

Good & Bad ads targeting me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f3Kqq8AHUI&feature=related
The ad I think is really effective is the Coca-Cola’s commercial produced in 2008, which is the year that Beijing held the Olympic Games. I was targeted because a) Coca-Cola’s main target in China is the young generation, and I do think I’m one of them; b) 2008 is the first time China hold the Olympic Games, so in that year everyone in China is so immersed in this “Olympic atmosphere” and really pay a lot of attention to the information related to that. This ad is effective because a) many Chinese elements are blended and well presented in the ads, which I’m really familiar with and proud of; b) it also indicate that the chance of holding the event is hard earned by China, when I see the moment the Olympic torch arrived, I was really emotionally influenced by it; c) holding the Olympic Games is a happy event for China, which conformed the translated name of Coca-Cola (part of the meaning is “happiness”). In summary, this well produced ad really strikes the right chord in a right time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jv4upSH9Jo
This is an ad which also produced for the 2008 Olympic Games. The company is one of the sponsors for the event and its main business is knitting wool. The classic ads for this company is the repeated slogan meaning “sheep, sheep, sheep”, which when pronounced in Chinese is quite cute and fit the product. But this new produced ad just repeated the names of all the 12 Chinese animal signs in this classic form. There is absolutely no connection with the product and also the Olympic Games. Also the same form last about 1 minute is really boring and I just think it is one of the most ridiculous ads I have ever seen.

Good and Bad Ads targeting me.

Bad comes first. Knowing you guys will talk about cultual things. I found this typical controversial print ad. This is an ad for Nippon Paint. The claim of this ad is that using Nippone Paint, the surface of pillar is too smooth for the dragon to hold on. But, it is indeed very rude for Chinese people. Very rude. I can give an analogy. Imagine in front of the UN Headquarter, the national flag of US is much lower than other countries' flags just because the flagstaff is using Nippon and it is too smooth. This ad let me feel the same.

Next is the good one. I paid more attention on Mcdonald's ads recently because I am really interested in there market strategy. This print ad made me laugh for a while. "Real Milk Shake".

Good & Bad

This ad for M&M's is one that I was drawn to last year and was very excited to see again in a few magazines this year. I believe I saw it in Parents magazine both years and thus they are obviously targeting moms (I guess I fit the target). I am drawn to this advertisement because I love fall and I like the way the candy is arranged to be so subtle yet graphic.

One bad ad would be the t-mobile ads. They show a woman in a pink dress with lipstick. I am not sure what the brief says but given the amount of times I have seen these advertisements I would assume that I fall into some category. These ads are just annoying.

Good and bad ads targeting me

I'll start with the good one. Actually I'm barely able to remember ads. But this billboard ad I saw once on campus back in China four years ago has stuck in my memory.  It is an ad of Mzone, a branch of the biggest mobile phone service company which is targeted to young generations. This billboard ad depicted sort of an anatomy of a young guy. But it is as creepy as it sounds. The organs are actually represented by several musical instruments such as guitar, trumpet, and accordion. The main message of this ad is the advanced music service pack which enable users to download popular songs or ring tones to their mobile phones. I like this ad because it is designed in creative layout and also because I can relate the ad to my own expectation about my mobile phone. I want my mobile phone to be a multiple functional device which can be not only a communication tool not also a music player, camera and notebook etc. So I felt this ad was just created for my benefits and interests. This is the reason I like it and can still remember it till now. 

The bad ad
It is also an ad I saw long time ago.  It is acutally an ad campaign for Skittles.
"Hear the rainbow " http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/tv-commercials/skittles-hear-the-rainbow-13502155/
"Break the rainbow" http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/tv-commercials/skittles-break-the-rainbow-13502055/
"cry the rainbow" http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/tv-commercials/skittles-cry-the-rainbow-13502105/
I think this ad campaign is target to me because it uses many scenes at school between classmates and at home between parent and child. But the plots in the ads are very bizzar and I think  cruel. I can understand it tries to resonate with many high school kids, especially rebelious kids by those familiar scenes. However, the emotions used in the ads are not that positive. 

Negative v.s Positive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYP1Tjgt1Ao

This is Apple’s "Lemmings" commercial that aired at the 1985’s Super Bowl. It gives such a negative feeling because, first of all, it has very creepy background sound; secondly, the tone of the commercial is very dark. More importantly, it delivers a message that you need to be different (use Apple) otherwise you will be dead…It doesn’t make me crave for using Apple; contrarily, it pushes me away from Apple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghNN7i5QjRA&NR=1

Shiseido’s MAQuillAGE commercial. The series of MAQuillAGE commercial solely features one celebrity. I personally have a positive attitude toward this commercial because its theme: change. The background music is actually sung by the celebrity and the lyric is about the theme “change”. Even for the audience who does not know Japanese at all, the upbeat tempo impresses people with a more positive feeling. Also, the color contrast (grey background vs. the shinning color on the celebrity’s lip) is very creative. It creates a focal point that the audience could easily grasp. Finally, it opens with the scene that the celebrity is cutting her hair. What is this about? It is about the theme “change”. It captured my attention at the first place because I wanted to know why she was doing this.

Good and Bad Ads Targeted to Me

The good ad:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD8zAJIyWRA
Although I have never owned a Chevy (and I am typically loyal to one of their major competitors), I found this commercial to be very appealing for several reasons. I like how they match up the imagery of the photograph with the scenery behind the photograph.  It makes me feel like I'm a part of the scenes and that I can relate to the people in the older photographs today.  I also like that they aren't directly giving me information about their cars, or telling me why their cars are better than their competitors.  Sometimes I don't want to hear the stats -- it's the feeling that an ad can invoke in me that would make me have a more positive association with the ad, thereby encouraging me to purchase it.  I feel that this ad is targeted to me as a person who relies heavily on cars for transportation means.  Since I am a "consumer" of cars, I feel this ad is directed at me.

The bad ad:  This Chase Freedom ad was printed in a magazine I bought over the weekend.  I did not like this ad because it was so boring to me.  They get their point across, but this ad would obviously not be in a magazine that men would typically read.  The text at the bottom actually says "get 5% cash back on dining and at movie theaters and department stores."  I found this to be slightly irritating.  Either way, this ad was targeted to me because it was in the magazine I purchased, and it is apparent that this ad is targeted to women.

Brandon Clear: Two Ad's for attitude.

The first ad I selected was a Nike ad for college football, which I have an extremely positive attitude towards. I may have a built in bias towards the ad because of my affiliation with the sport but I feel that it overall captures the essence of Nike’s “Just Do It” motto. The second ad I chose I have an negative attitude towards. My reason for this is due to the fact that these weight loss advertisements constantly show images of individuals losing a great deal of weight , but lead them to believe that by just taking their supplements their ideal weight will be attained. Most of the people shown in these advertisements are paid actors who are shown being a heavier weight through digital manipulations.

Adv targeting me (+ & -)

Ad that targets me about a service/product that I have positive attitude toward was "Ocean World" ad. Ocean world is a name of huge swimming amusement park in Korea. They had a big promotion and this ad poster was all over the place during this summer with famous singers/actresses. I say this ad targets me because I go to swimming amusement park every summer. I used to go to another swimming amusement park, which is a competitor of "Ocean World". However, this new ad of "Ocean World" actually made me really want to try that place, and I indeed went there in August. I think this ad is very good because it delivers the message of active/fun/interesting place with those models wearing bikinis.

On the other hand, ad that targets me but I don't like to see are promotion ads especially for cosmetics. This ad targets me because it was made for women around my age. I don't believe in the effects of cosmetics, (especially cheap ones with bad quality). I have negative attitude towards those ads that try to sell more by attracting naive/ignorant customers with extra samples or with saying that they will give people free samples. In this attached ad, it says in Korean that "We give this to 10 people". I have never seen anyone around me given those advertised free samples and I think it highly probable that they lie.

Ads that Target Me

POSITIVE: Here is a great Nike Ad that I feel targets me as someone who likes to stay active. The reason I feel it targets me is because it shows people of all genders, all races, participating in many different types of activities. It relates to me because it basically conveys: Regardless of who you are and what your background is and what you like, "Free Yourself." Get out and do it!! It is a motivational commercial and I feel like it is very effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQiuVW1GWpE&feature=related

NEGATIVE: Below is an ad that I feel is literally speaking to me, as a woman, in order target men. The image of the ad has a guy in an action movie who says, "Hey ladies, enjoying the film? Of course not! Because this is "our" movie. And Dr. Pepper 10 is "our" soda." I think it is ridiculous to say that Dr. Pepper 10 is a "man's drink." It's a soda for crying out loud! By saying it's for men only, it just makes me want to drink it out of spite. Maybe that's exactly what Dr. Pepper wants, is to have me buy their product anyway (along with all the men). So I guess the joke is on me since I want to buy it anyway. I understand the concept behind it, but I feel like the way they approach it is silly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTs-BmLOGWQ

2 Ads Targeting Me_Chanju LEE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEYngxOMsmg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL49C57685EC2A84F6

The link above leads to a Korean Air advertising, and I personally think that it is designed to target me. Above all, as a student studying abroad, it is very natural for me to feel somewhat homesick. Particularly, many people around me are going to visit their home during the upcoming vacation, but I may stay, since I cannot afford it. In this sort of climate, this video makes me feel as if I were able to travel anywhere whenever I want, thereby engendering some positive attitude for the brand.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXnAYpO5m7Q

The other advertising is an advertising of a cosmetic product for men like me, and after watching it, I found somewhat negative attitude toward the advertising and brand itself as well. The primary reason is that this advertising uses an ideally handsome model from my own perspective, which consequently keeps me from being persuaded. That is, because I come to feel that I am totally out of the model's league, and I also know that such a model actually does not need that kind of cosmetic product, the message from the advertising cannot help but remain unconvincing to me.

A point I wanna highlight

Dear classmates,
I really appreciate that you contribute your opinions to this blog, which will definitely help me prepare for my leading discussion. But could you please explain why you feel you are the target of the ads(this point is really important). Thank you so much!! I am expecting your valuable perspectives!!

GOOD AND BAD AD OF ACER

The good ad and the bad ad that I saw were produced for the same brand and the same product.

The product is Acer tablet.

GOOD AD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2EhJXx7Tp4

The good ad that attracted me was a 2-min narrative ad. The ad depicted a westerner traveling in the dense forest in Taiwan. He accidentally met a beautiful Taiwan indigenous girl and followed her to her tribe. In there he was warmly welcomed and he enjoyed the traditional festival of the tribe. He basically used his tablet to find his ways in the forest and draw pictures of the mountains and a little kid. The ad is poetic and pacific, thus it makes me focus on the story line and tablet usage in the ads. Though I'm not convinced to purchase a tablet, I am inclined to link tablet with a mysterious and soothing travel experience and at the same time have a better understanding of the portability and versatility of Acer tablet.

It is important for me that the ad does not blatantly claim the functions of the product but integrate the functions into emotional resonance. It seems obvious that confident statements about the advertised products have been observed too much on every media that they have nothing but annoying effect on me. Also, since people's mind is deeply metaphorical, a story that embraces important aspects (e.g. selling points) of the product and wrap them into plural stimuli which are temporally and spatially connected can actually maximize people's attention to the ad, hence to the product, through a well-integrated and smoothly flowing metaphor.

BAD AD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDIyRkMmXTk

Two anonymous cross-talk comedians talked about why they wanted to buy an Acer tablet. The ad is noisy with quizzical, painstakingly manipulated voice. The comedians try hard to make themselves funny in a boring selling context. The artificial humor, which activates nothing but my memory of a peddler or charlatan's style, certainly has a strong reverse effect on my perception of the ad, hence the product. The other fatal fault of this ad is its desperate eagerness to show the advantages of the product. Final comment should be: be very careful to use cross talk as a form of advertisement. Reason is that it is humorous only when it is meant to. As a traditional Chinese art form, it is both too blatant and sarcastic for both informational and persuasive purpose. Though it has a wide range of audiences, it is easily annoying and disturbing when aimed to transfer an artificial claim far from natural art.

U by Kotex and the Prius family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpypeLL1dAs

I really like this commercial because it (finally) points out how absurd most tampon commercials are. Wearing white, twirling, and dancing on the beach are all NOT things women think of when they think of getting their periods. I feel like this appeals to the more level-headed consumer and is definitely trying to appeal to women around my age (based on content, spokesperson used, etc.).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz50_1Y2pXU

On the other hand, this commercial REALLY creeps me out. It's an interesting way to portray the concept of family and the idea that all the types of Priuses are integrated with one another (as well as a weird portrayal of anthropomorphism), but I find it creepy to watch. As a consumer concerned with the environment, as well as one whose parents both drive Priuses, I feel like it is trying to appeal to the younger generation involved with the green movement and what is better for the earth. While in terms of gas emissions, Priuses are fantastic, this commercial really turns me off to the newer Prius models such as the one that plugs in.

Effie-Chanel and Pepsi

This is a Chanel Makeup commerical launched in 2011. It's completely mind-blowing. The cool electronics music and the creativity of the visual displays tally with the features of its spring makeup collection are obviously targeting a much younger generation than Chanel's typical consumers, which are thought to be distinguished and wealthy people. As a person who's passionate about fashion but not yet available to afford the prices of luxuries, the commerical makes this brand more approachable and edgy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JyG5rJM6VA

The ad I don't like its a Chinese version of pepsi. Blending Kungfu and Buddism culture into this soda is a little annoying to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rHKxGTwJZk&feature=fvst

Good and Bad

Good:
I put two! I know! but i really liked both.

The first one speaks for itself; the music choice is modern the silhouettes are stylish, the dancing vibrant. Yet, all these elements are clearly speaking to a latino audience without the need to really say it. Its a great, elegant, short ad.

The second one really speaks to me as a young male latino; we love "futbol". Even if we dont, we still love saying we do; its part of our culture. But unlike soccer here, it is not a sport played in a field. Football soccer is traditionally a street sport in mexico and most of latin america. Its played during recess in small places, its played in the park with a couple of cans marking a "goal": its played in rooftops. This video is great at reaching its target market; young latino gamers, and it was really successful, going viral shortly after its release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvjkuscQjbw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvaQnRpT2eg

Bad!
This one is just questionable, but i think was a bad move overall. Its obvious this ad was supposed to try reach mexican voters in the US but comes across as racist and patronizing. First the music; they picked a musical style listened to in the poorest areas of mexico. They also had depicted all of the actors as working class, not coming across as particularly educated. If to this you add the fact that some of the actors were clearly not native speakers (i am, thats why its obvious to me) then you are just adding insult to injury. I think that gaining the votes of a few are not worth alienating the majority. This ad does precisely that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CovAWgrCZ9s&feature=related

expecting your opinions!!

Dear classmates:

please put two ads of which you feel you are the target (one you 

have positive attitude while the other you have negative attitude) 

and please explain why you feel that way on our blog by 

Sunday night. Sorry for announcing so late! Expecting your 

opinions!!

synethesia

Sorry for the late post.

I don't think I have any specific experience related to synethesia. When I hear a certain song that is closely linked with a period of time in my life, a series of pictures including certain people or incidents would flow over my mind as if I'm back into that time again. However, I think it's not concrete and real enough to be defined as a synethesia. Because those pictures don't really show up in front of me; what I thought I see is a kind of feeling and segment of memory.

Music Synesthesia

I'm so sorry this is late!! Like others, I have not had much experience with synesthesia. However, certain music can invoke other senses for me. For example, my family and I spend every christmas in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Whenever I hear certain christmas music, my other senses start to get stimulated as well. This includes picturing all the snow up there, and smelling certain scents specific to that time and area.

Synesthesia

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay, the concept explication is making me forget things..:)

As for synesthesia, I can't say for sure if I engage in combining two senses or not even though I know a few people who actually experience it. I learned about synesthesia in detail in a neuroscience course in my undergraduate studies and was completely fascinated to learn such a phenomenon exists. Anyways, I think I have experienced synesthsia when I am eating and if something disgusting comes up on TV, all of a sudden the food starts tasting weird to me and i have a hard time finishing my food. I don't know if this happens to many people, but this kind of synesthesia would involve the senses of taste and sight. Hope this helps.

Ayesha

Brandon Clear: Synaesthesia

I would like to apologize for my late postt but for some reason my blog response did not go through last night because of computer troubles.I have experienced synaesthesia within my daily life but not very often. My experience with the term has occurred while hearing a song, and having colors flash through thoughts. One song in particular that always seems to evoke this ability is "Flashing Lights" by Kanye West. When I hear this song the title usually takes form, and I see bright colors that virtually form the song as though a video is running through my mind. Again my apologies for the late post.

Synaesthesia

TED is ROCK! I am a big fan of TED so thank you for your sharing!

Abaut Synaesthesia, I think I really have something I would like to share with you.

Here is the thing: in my mind, the map of Henan province in China is related to a penguin. But it does not looks like a penguin at all, the map of that province just looks like any other province, no special. However, since I have memory, Henan map=Penguin. No matter under what circumstance I see a penguin in my mind, visually. I dont know why, but this time, synaesthesia may make sense.

Just in case confusing you, I found a pic of the map of Henan province.

Synesthasia

I think I have experienced Synesthasia when I emotionally involves in music. I would automatically associate the music passage/phrase with a particular image or an adjective. Lyrics and poetry could generate Synesthasia. I could, not all the time, experience Synesthasia while I’m reading traditional Chinese poetries/lyrics. Although I am not physically experiencing those senses at the moment I am reading them, the rich and vivid descriptions in poetries and lyrics lead me to such senses, such as cold, warm, pain.

Synesthesia

I am not sure I experience synesthesia like they describe in the video, but I do make a lot of associations. Like most have written on the blog, I associate certain smells with a certain place and time.  A certain whiff of a perfume can remind me of a certain person.  A lot of smells remind me of a certain season.  For example, a bonfire reminds me of fall.  Fresh cut grass makes me think of summer.  An evergreen tree makes me think of Christmas/winter.  I can't say I make many more associations other than those that involve smell.

Spatial Body Position and Music Synesthesia

Hey Everyone,
I can't think of a lot of experiences in my life where I have experiences Synestheisa. The only think I can think of where I had two mingling senory experiences, is a particulat physical/sound experience. In other words my body reacts in a certain way when I hear certain songs and this happens to me all the time. As I have mentioned before I was a competitives cheerleader. This means that at a cheerleading competition for 2 minutes and 30 seconds I am in them midst of a cheerleading routine where I am flipping around one second, throwing a girl in the air the next second and dancing the next second. You only have 2 minutes and 30 seconds of pressure and uncertainty to impress the judges enough for them to give you a trophy. While you are on the mat in the routine you dont think, your body is simply guided through the motions as if it was hardwired into your brain. As your body is on this autopilot state another sense mingles in, counting numbers (because you are counting music). Now after my competitive cheerleading career is over, If i ever hear a song that was in a routine I have done my body automatically wants to recall the movements of that part of the cheerleading routine and the sensation of adernilin that happened at that time in the routine. When I hear the music my body returns to that autopiolit state. This happens the most with music that this happends with the most was played during a tough tumbling pass. When I was a junior I had a complicated tumbling pass where I had to complete 4 skills and land perfectly on the mat while making sure of my spatial body position to not fall out of bounds. At that piont in the music I just didnt think, I shut my eyes and went for the tumbling pass. To this day when I hear that song my body feels the urge to react and I feel the tumbling pass. I am not sure if this is Synethsia but that is the closest expereicne I can think of.

Synaesthesia_Chan ju LEE

After being given this sort of big assignment, I came to redefine myself as a person of dull senses just as Yingying also defines herself below, for I found that such synaesthesia effects have not apparently been experienced in my everyday life. However, even though I am still not sure whether it successfully fits the case of synaesthesia, I not infrequently associate color with texture; in other words, I sense the texture of a color. To more illustrate, I associate the nature of texture with the color's saturation. That is, as the color saturation increases, I tend to perceive its texture to be smoother for some vague reason.

nature example for "Synaesthesia"

From the video, the term "Synaesthesia" seems as a magic.When I am trying to recall whether this cross-sensations feeling ever come to me, as Nami said, I also sense the color with the feeling. For example, the red represents danger or green means safe.

It is intersting that the special feeling may not only occur in human being, but also it happens in the nature.

Genarally, the toxicophidia (snake with venom) is perceived much colorful or brightness than the normal innocua snake. The picture(left) is a venom one, and the right is the innocua snake. The redness signals a warn to other creatures and predators that "I am poisonious !! stay away from me!"

Furthermore, some smart snakes will protect themselves by disguising with colorful appearance. This trick sometime could help them frighten away the predators and stay safe.

In this sense, the animals'perception of the color also combines with the feeling or judgement, which is known as "Synaesthesia".

Synaesthesia is all about my driving a car!

Now now, before you jump the gun, I am just joking.

Well, but driving is when I experience a mish-mash of senses - sound, color, vision -It can get overwhelming.

When I see red (at the stop light), I almost expect cops to stop me because I am expecting "danger". Funnily, when I see cops, I see visions of black and blue (No pun intended!) And yellow for some reason, reminds me of little kids.

And then there are sounds, not so much here but in India we honk for the following reasons:

1. No reason
2. "Greetings"
3. "I am right behind you"
4. "I am overtaking you"
5. "Hey pedestrian, I am driving right towards you, Move it"

All of this is communicated by different kinds of unique honking patterns often coupled with "waving" gestures. :P

This is as far as I go in terms of my experience with Synaesthesia and I din't even know earlier that there was a name for what I experience everyday.

PS: Despite all this, I do drive well. No driving tickets till now, whatsoever. (Ok Ok, a warning doesn't count!!)

Synesthasia....

Hi All,

wow! I have heard of this concept my whole life, but never knew there was a term for it. But in terms of my own experience, I have never explicitly experienced Synesthasia. Frankly, the closest comparison I think I could meet is my own affinity for music and how that connects with advertising, and more generally my own mental perceptions.

coming from a musical background, I used to evaluate music in terms of classical criticism (i.e. movement, key, phrasing, melody, etc.) but after studying advertising and exposing myself to higher frequencies of TV advertising on daily basis (sometimes >100 ads/day), I now find that before I can think about music as music, I think of it as images and experiences.

Succinctly, when I hear a new piece of music I no longer evaluate it based on my interest or enjoyment. Instead, I think about how the music makes me feel and what emotion it best captures and how that emotion can be applied to a various ad scenarios.

For instance, I've had Sleigh Bell's "Crown to the Ground" stuck in my head for over a year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z8ppcFGPlY. But the reasons for this fixation are not the music per se; its more the images the piece conjures up in my head. To me, I could see this song being used effectively in a product preview or a teaser, particularly for an urban lifestyle brand. the example I used as an undergrad with this song was for Puma shoes and how it relates to unifying the Hispanic market in urban-Chicago.

Put to music, I see a vignette of gritty urban life with many quick cuts and novel camera orientations; graffiti, little girls jump-roping, bustling streets, crowded Mercados, Spanish signs, and street vendors. In terms of themes, I felt that the song was a unifying mechanism for young Hispanics; it was a call to action, an alarm going off before the beat drops at 0:22. And when that beat drops, all hell literally breaks loose; the streets are packed with young Hispanics in their neighborhoods and they're environment and they are all declaring their unity and presence in the city!

Even now I am getting far to excited over this! lol

Best,

Rick

Synesthasia Between Vision, Smell and Taste

Synesthasia doesn't often occur to me since I think I don't have sharp senses. I cannot tell accurately the differences between colors or tastes. But I do experience synesthasia when I purchase fragrance. Usually when I first see the bottle of fragrance or perfume, a specific corresponding smell will be assumed in my mind. For example, I will be less willing to try the fragrance in black non-transparent bottle, because the color black is translated into smell of metal to me. And red bottle is not that receptive to me because I automatically think the fragrance in it is way to strong which a slutty lady uses. Orangeish fragrance makes me feel too sweet. Light blue or green is more fresh and natural-related which I probably will try on first.

So when I purchase the fragrance or perfume, I don't only rely on one sense. Vision, smell, and taste will naturally occur at the same time.

Brain Connections

Different associations or seemingly unrelated things that your brain somehow connects is definitely an interesting topic. I have to say I haven't experienced Synaesthesia in the way it was described from the video, but one thing I can make connections with are smells. Certain smells will bring me back to a specific place in time. For example, any time I smell the Cucumber Melon lotion fragrance from Bath and Body Works, I think about a trip to New Orleans I made in high school. I remember having that lotion on the trip, and since then it always brings me back to that trip if I smell that particular lotion. Another example would be certain outdoor smells (like in the woods/hiking), which will often make me think about being at a summer camp when I was a child. Something that I haven't thought about in years could be remembered in an instant just based on a smell.