I learned so much in this class and had a lot of fun doing so.Looking at advertising in a different, more in depth way was so enlightening that I think I want to actually go into advertising when I graduate.I may even go get my masters degree in the subject.The creativity that is involved in the career along with the challenge to constantly come up with something new and different would keep me interested long enough to make it a feasible career path.I have spent this quarter examining advertising upon a much closer inspection to see if it actually contains all of the elements that make it good.I pay attention more to the advertising around me and enjoy analyzing it for its usefulness.Using the information from the book helped me to get inspired to create my own commercial.By breaking down the process and giving tips to get the creative juices flowing, the knowledge I gained through this course made making an advertisement attainable and less looming of a task.The strategy that is involved in coming up with ads that will bring in business and increase company revenue is an exciting part of the subject that I had never considered before.This is such an important part of making a company successful in today’s crowded marketplace and is also something that few actually are good at on a consistent basis. I believe, considering the knowledge I gained and the quality of the completed assignments, that I deserve an A in the class.
Molly Brown's advertising fits into the real world because it is something the company can use in the marketing they already incorporate into their promotional plan. The company doesn't currently have a Facebook page that their customers can be fans of, but if they did decide to get one, the print ad could be used to communicate to the audience the idea and product that the company wants to convey. The print ad could also be used to increase their visibility within the community by putting it on a billboard, using it as a taxi cab topper, put in a Las Vegas Weekly or Seven magazine, or used online. This will bring in new customers and remind previous ones to come back. The commercial could also be utilized on multiple promotional platforms as well. The company keeps a blog which is connected to their website. They can put the commercial on the "What's Hot" section of the website and also put it on the blog. Another option is putting a link on the blog and leaving the video on YouTube.
The creative content I created for this project is in the form of a 30 second commercial suitable for television or web based advertising purposes and a print ad that could also be used as a billboard or taxi cab topper.The commercial and print advertisements are cohesive in the content and congruent in the ideas they convey to the audience.“Television and web commercials have to do the following and do it all in fifteen or thirty seconds: Get someone’s attention before he or she zaps, skips ahead, or leaves the room.Look or feel fresh.Entertain.Work in the context of television programming.Endear the brand or group to the consumer.Call to action, create awareness, or drive people to the web.”(Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 218-219)This commercial completes all of these objectives.It pulls the audience in from the very beginning with the beautiful, unique setting and compelling story.“In marketing, we use storytelling about a brand or group to communicate related messages that, over a period of time, will distinguish, differentiate, reflect positively, construct or contribute to its brand personality, be memorable, resonate, and influence people.That is a really long list of tasks for a story to perform, which is why the storytelling has to be strategic and its premise sound, beneficial, and flexible.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 192)The story in the commercial is a fresh, linear approach to advertising.A girl is walking through the mall at the Cosmopolitan and spots the swimsuit she’s been looking for in the window of Molly Brown’s She walks in, immediately sees the suit, and picks it up to try it on.She walks into the fitting room as a normal, 20 something and walks out looking and feeling like a supermodel. “Your story should illuminate something about the nature of a person, subject, or situation. The story starts with a problem or conflict and should demonstrate the ability to understand and find a solution to a problem. To look for the insight, we start by mining for something common to us all in human nature: our needs, hopes, aspirations, and desires.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p.193)This commercial is capable of being identifiable with the target audience because the actress looks and acts very naturally.She is a member of the target market and will immediately be recognized by fans of the store as a model that has participated in all of the events that the store has held and will hold during the summer months to come.She is essentially becoming the face of the brand.Consumers will see her as the sweet, fun, Las Vegas girl next door that they all want to know or be.“Of course, you can think of a commercial as storytelling, as containing characters, goals, conflicts, scenes, and a plot line.When telling a story, one must consider the element of time.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 221)In this commercial, time is an important element.The idea is that by shopping at Molly Brown’s, a girl can become a supermodel in no time flat.She just has to own a suit from the store.“There are as many structures for television commercials and commercial videos as there are for film, prose, poetry, or music.The structure should flow out of the brand strategy, the creative brief, the idea, the tone you want to set, the feeling, and an insight into the audience.” (Advertising by design, Landa, p. 220-221)The linear structure of the story of the commercial is very in tune with the brand and company itself.They strive to make things easy for the customer.Customer service, store layout and merchandising, and website accessibility are all important elements of the company’s mission.“We have all heard advertising jingles that we can hum or that stay with us, provoking endearment to brands or nostalgic feelings.Audio provides a strong component in screen-based media, lending to the audience enthusiasm, engagement, and a way to make the piece memorable, to make it stick.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 220)The song “Long Vacation” is an important element in creating the feel and tone of the commercial.The company is based out of Newport Beach, California and it was important to communicate the feeling that the store, the employees, the company, and the brand are trying to get the consumer to have.This song is catching and gives off a distinctive beach feel to the commercial that it wouldn’t have had in a setting like a Las Vegas casino resort.This will convey a message that the company strives to send to its’ customers.
“A campaign must have visual impact, whether a visual surprise, graphic interest visual drama, or a breakthrough appearance. A creative approach in advertising must be appropriate for the product or service, and it must communicate and enhance the client’s message-form follows function.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p.204)Molly Brown’s advertising campaign will feature a print ad and a television commercial that is 30 seconds long.These types of advertisements can be used in the existing media the company utilizes in their promotional efforts.The company relies on word of mouth from the buzz they create on their internet website and through their customers that have found them by searching for particular hard-to-find swimwear brands.“From the strategy, you conceive a premise, a central theme that forms the basis of your claim.The premise should be based on an insight into the brand, the product, and the audience.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 192)The promotional strategy of this advertising campaign is to promote the brand to new potential customers by attracting them to the store on the most popular form of social media used by the target market today.All elements in the campaign can be used online on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.These are websites that all of the target market of the company is heavily involved in.The commercial will help to relate to the consumers what the store and the brand are all about while showing them some of the merchandise they can expect to find in the store.It also will familiarize the audience with the store by letting them get a sneak peak at what the interior of the new Las Vegas location looks like.The print ad can even be made into a billboard and put anywhere in Las Vegas or the Los Angeles area just by changing the location that is advertised in the copy.
“An ad idea is visually and verbally expressed through the creation, selection, combination, manipulation, and arrangement of visual and verbal elements and the written copy. A big idea is a solid, creative, on-brand idea that is large enough and flexible enough to be used effectively across media for a period of time.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 066)The big idea for the Molly Brown advertising campaign is to create something that the audience can relate to and make them want to come to the stores, in both locations, even if it’s just out of curiosity. This is a store that has risen to have national recognition by its customers because of their website and the fact that they carry hard-to-find designs. The advertising needs to support this history that the company already has with their customers and appeal to customers that haven’t ever heard of them before.“Basing ideas on personal life experience or observing others can help make your ad ideas relevant to others’ lives. People should react: ‘Yep, that’s how it is!’ When we can relate to the story, we feel a kinship with the brand or group being advertised.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 195)Since I have worked at Molly Brown’s, I understand our customers and what they want when they come into the store.I want existing customers to talk about the ad with their friends because it caught their attention and made them think how like the real experience is to the commercial. I want potential customers to catch the advertising and tell all their friends how they absolutely must check out the store that made this fun, feminine, ad.“An effective ad is driven by the underlying concept. An advertising idea-or concept-is the creative reasoning behind a solution. The concept determines the resulting message: what you say and how you design.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 066) The concept of the advertising is that every girl deserves to feel like a glamorous diva just like her favorite rock star or celebrity. “According to Abraham Maslow, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, we have a hierarchy of needs that influence our behavior. At the pinnacle, we find self-actualization, which is defined as ‘the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming’.”(Advertising by Design, Landa, p.068)By coming to Molly Brown’s and buying a swimsuit, she will attain this desire.In the store, it is not uncommon to hear the sales associates tell a girl that she could buy a suit somewhere else, but it’s the girls in the swimsuits from Molly Brown’s that get all the stairs at the pool clubs.This is the concept that the advertising is meant to convey. “An ad idea is visually and verbally expressed through the creation, selection, combination, manipulation, and arrangement of visual and verbal elements and the written copy. A big idea is a solid, creative, on-brand idea that is large enough and flexible enough to be used effectively across media for a period of time.” (Advertising by Design, Landa, p. 066)The commercial and the print ad go together to help create a cohesive advertising campaign that can be used by the company at least for the rest of the season.They will always be able to use it on the website because it is their very first commercial ever and their customers will always be able to enjoy it as a way to feel closer to the company.
I will get my product noticed with my commercial and print advertisement that will correspond to each other and in turn create the start of a great campaign.It speaks to the target market in so many ways and I’m almost positive the company will put it on the website for customers to see.I’m going to put it on youtube and hope I get hits by linking it to my Facebook page, blogs, and Twitter.The commercial itself stars a girl that falls into the target market.Customers of the company will be able to identify with her and this will endear the consumers to the brand.The commercial will be effective in making the audience recognize the brand because of the way the commercial is shot and combined with the music.The print ad will correspond to the commercial by containing familiar images that the audience will already be familiar with.I chose print and broadcast as a way to reach the audience because these are two forms of advertising that the market pays the most attention to.Also both advertisements can be broadcast on the website and the company blog as well.This way they get the most exposure and reach the largest amount of the market.By being creative in the advertisements themselves, it will create a buzz around the company and help to brand them in the long run.The more buzz created, the more customers they can expect to see just from people wanting to see what everyone is talking about all over their favorite social media websites.
