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November 11, 2004
Of Coffee, Cookies and Commercials.....
Coffee of the Day: Costa Rica Dota Tarrazu We brewed it yesterday as well; makes a fine morning cup of coffee.
Cookie of the week/couple of weeks has been a new find for me: Lu Pim's Tangy Orange or Raspberry cookie. Here's the experience...soft cake like cookie with a layer of orange or raspberry gel with a nice layer of firm chocolate on top. The chocolate layer breaks as you bite into it...great textures..great flavors. Hrumph..they just don't put enough cookies in the box. Not that I really need more, it's just the fact that it's humbling to see that you have eaten a whole box of cookies at one sitting...not that *I* have or anything.
Try some, you'll like them.
Speaking of which.........
...tag lines, marketing, advertising, that is. We watched Frontline on PBS this past Tuesday. The epsisode was entitled The Persauders which was a very interesting view on advertising stategies, what works, what doesn't. I found the term "on code" rather facinating...as an example of a product that didnt' work because it wasn't on code was a $29K Cadilac; the image of a cheap "luxury" car didn't fit...it wasn't on code with the consumers' image of what a Cadilac represents to them. Another example they used in the program was Cheerios and the emotions Cheerios evoke rather than the product itself. The box shows a heart shaped bowl of "Os". One commerical I'm especially familiar with shows a Grandma who has come to visit, is putting Os on the high chair table and using them as people and mapping where all the cousins and other relatives live for this one year old. You know that one? Now I think that is really cute and heart warming and I can relate...UTIL I really really look at "Grandma". Sure, Grandma fits my image of Grandma...older lady, short gray/white styled hair, glasses, blouse and sweater, medium sized strand of pearls at her neck..........HEY, EXCUSE ME, PARDON ME! *I* am Grandma these days....*I* don't look like that! MY Grandmother did in MY memory BUT I DON"T look like that...do I? I play hopscotch and sit in the sand box and jump in the ball pit with my grandchildren. I still have a lot of brown in my hair...my friends who are Grandmas don't fit that image either! However, it's only when I think of it in terms of my BEING the Grandma, am I offended by this commercial...I can still relate to it as the character is someone's Grandma...even my own Grandma...and experience the emotion the persuaders are after. Guess I'm not as immune to advertising as I thought, huh?
I found the show facinating in that in the day of Tivo and consummers bypassing commercials, the strategies employed to get the marketing done anyway. We are all familiar with childrens cartoons in which the show is merely a conduit for marketing toys ( I was always offended by those) but it's done to adults as well. There are some less subtle techniques such as product placing...having a character drinking a particular brand of soda or beer maybe...they sited a huge mistake was having the "Friends" meeting in a fictional coffee shop, Central Perk, rather than a Starbucks...ooppps. Missed opportunity there, folks. At any rate...there are a few of the items from the show...I think the website affords an opportunity to see a video of it now. It's worth a peek.....snort...and the "end" is a hoot..even I who was not a Sex and the City viewer on any routine basis, go that tie in. Well done PBS...and a whole lot better viewing than some primetime shows being offered on the other major networks.
Soooooooooo, how has advertising worked or not worked on you? What motivates your buying? What offends you? What makes you smile?
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Posted by frani at November 11, 2004 07:39 AM
Comments
I don't like any advertising that insults my intelligence. I do like advertising that reminds me of my youth..such innocent times.
DA
Posted by: DA ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.frani.net/weblog3//nav-commenters.gif)
at November 11, 2004 08:53 PM
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