With so many new trends developing in the world of social media marketers are constantly turning to several new digital elements to make their ads stand out.

Calvin Klein, the clothing maker responsible for increasing the sex appeal of already famous “Twilight” vampire Kellan Lutz, has begun running a augmented reality ad in GQ to promote the CK “X” line. Calvin Klein has made the perfect choice in selecting spokesmodel Lutz as the frezny assocaited with the actor will not only serve as word of mouth promotion amongst peers but also in introducing the technology to parents.

The campaign allows consumers, when they hold the ads up to webcams, to view videos of campaign models. According to Jim Buckley at Valpack, another company currently using augmented reality states, “It adds a level of interactivity with a print product that was impossible before.”

I think this marketing technique is fantastic as it uses not only print and interactive media, but it combines the two!  It’s entertaining, different, and the will help consumers who are reluctant to adapt to new kinds of media bridge the gap. The only pitfall I see is that with the expection of laptops most computer desktops are sold without the webcam component, excluding part of the population from participating in this new marketing. Or perhaps it will increase the sale of webcams. Hmm..? 

I was out of the country last week and didn’t check my email therefore you can imagine the amount of junk mail I came back to. One of the biggest fillers that I had was regarding Mother’s Day deals, discounts and flower promotions. 1-800 Flowes and FTD were the two most prominent offering beautiful flowers, free shipping and the “perfect” way to honor the mothers we love.

The funny thing about this is, I’ve never ordered flowers online or even anywhere for that matter (I think) so how did they get my information? Well, I did a little research and I discovered the way these companies obtain your information and some tips you can use to avoid spam.

Your name, address, and buying habits can be regularly sold & traded on the open market. Organizations that you typically deal with sell your name unless you specifically ask them to stop.

To avoid:

When you donote money, write on the form (if applicable) “Please do not sell my name or address“. Ever get a product warranty card? This are most often used for the sole purpose of targeting direct mail. Since they are typically not required, avoid sending them. Additionally, your credit card company probably sells your name the most often. When you call them ask to “mark my account so that my name is not traded or sold to other companies“. You can also avoid entering contests which are almost always fishing expeditions for names. Finally, never reply to SPAM mail.

Good luck!

Much like the old saying “sex sells” not to be outdone is relying on good old fashioned humor. The important thing to keep in mind when preparing humor for advertising campaigns is deciding if the media and product you will be advertising is appropriate. In terms of humor categorization there are a few different categories you can join to display the humor listed below along with a quick description.

Personification – Attribute humor characteristics to amimals, plants and objectS. Think Bush’s baked beans and the talking dog.

Exaggeration – Overstating and magnifying out of proportion. Burger King tiny hands.

Pun – Using language or symbols to create new meanings which are funny. For example, Coke with Lime. “You put the lime in the Coke you nut.” Pun intended.

Sarcasm – Blatant ironic responses or situations. This ones a little different.

Silliness – funny faces to ludicrous situations.  

Comparison – Putting two or more elements together to produce a humorous situation.

Surprise – Humor arising from unexpected situations. Stride Gum

Loyaly programs are used by companies to encourage customers to continue purchasing their products. Loyalty programs are often used in low involvement product categories where brand switching is common. Listed below is my favorite Loyalty program currently being used by Coke and the pros and cons of the campaign.

MyCokeRewards is a loyalty point program where customers are able to accumulate Coke points of up to 125 pts per week in exchange for sweepstake entries and prizes. This is a lot of Coke products to consume as one 20 oz bottle of Coke is only 3 points. The benefits of this program include brand loyalty (your less likely to switch to Pepsi products if you are an avid collector of Coke points), increased word of mouth promotion (as you will likely ask friends and family to donate their points to you if they dont participate in the program) and the low cost of the campaign as most prizes are donated in exchange for promotion.

The negatives of the MyCokeRewards campaign include point “abuse” where avid collectors of the program utilize several sources to obtain Coke Points and limited consumer feedback since it is not required to participate.

To promote this Loyalty program you will see MyCokeRewards displayed on Coke packaging as well as a social media prescence on Facebook & Twitter. In addition to the online website you are also able to text codes to MyCokeRewards for easy entering. As an avid coke drinker I am proud to say I currently have over 2,300 points. I havent used them because I’m holding out for some better prizes to become available. Perhaps maybe a  helicopter.

Companies will say whatever they can get away with to get you to buy their products. Fat free? Sure. No Trans-fat. Why not! Made with whole grains? Of course we are! How do you can trust the product labels on the products your purchasing.  Below is a picture of Pam Fat Free cooking spray! Sounds awesome, right? Sign me up! Notice the serving size of 1/3 of a second spray. Even if I was skilled enough to spray 1/3 of a second, would it be enough to serve the intended purpose? Probably not.

A similar issue arrives with pet food labeling. Many of our pets have learned to love “Sliced Beef & Gravy” and “Tender Bits of Lamb.” However, is that truly what the product contains? Again, pay close attention to the product labels. You will often find a blend of lamb, beef, chicken, liver, etc in these products. In fact, often times cornmeal will be the main ingredient which can be lead to explain why your pet is obese.  

The Truth in Labeling Campaign is a non-profit that was launched to secure full and clear labeling of processed food. This campaign offers that everyone is invited to weigh in on understanding obesity and other problems caused by processed free glutamic acid (MSG). In addition to the campaign website, they have also began using social media to promote thier websites including a Facebook page.

While it saves time to trust product packing when grocery shopping it is best to take the time to ensure that the advertised ingredients are in fact what you will find on the back of the label.

There are a lot of cool applications that you can download today to your iPod, iPhone or iPad. Most of these can make your life easier or impress your friends. The purpose of this discussion,  however,  is to talk about the ones that are that are just weird, insensative, or just plain awful.

Atomic Fart – Ok, nothing much here to explain. This app will play fart sounds. With the full version, you get more features including a drum set that lets you either play your fart machine freestyle or in the form of a “Simon Says” game. Hours of entertainment.

The “baby shaker” – this app featured a cute baby wrapped up in blankets and urged player of the game to “shake” the device until the baby’s eyes were replaced with red x’s. You can imagine that this did not go over very well. After outcries from the National Center for Shaken Baby Syndrome came pouring in, Apple pulled the program from the App store and issued an apology.

“Me so Holy.” An Apple rejected App that allowed users to place a photo over the face of Jesus or other religious leaders. Yep, bad idea.

iVooDoo. Stick pins into certain areas on a doll  that representative one of seven feelings including positive, negative, wealth, power, success, love and spirituality.  Upload a picture of those you aren’t so fond of to be the face of these dolls. Ouch

Creating apps is the new way to be creative! With thousands of apps available I can understand that you need to be creative to stand out but it is important to remain respectful. Think outside of the box but do it without ideas involving hurting people. Oh, and just stay completely away from religion.

iPad, iPhone, iPod touch — what do all these popular devices have in common? Touch screen technology! While Apple popularized the technology there have been plenty of companies (mainly cell phone makers) who have adapted to this format. (Samsung, motorola, LG, etc.) With touch technology becoming so desirable and common — think self-check outs, airport check-ins and atms — it only makes sense that it is adapted to support other types of purchasing.

Introducing touch screen vending! This allows the opportunity to view larger images of available products, check product pricing, and most importantly view important packaging info when purchasing items from vending machines. Imagine you were on a diet and wanted to purchase a whole wheat turkey sandwhich from a vending machine? How would you be able to view the packaging information? Your best bet would be to raid the closest garbage can and search for the wrapper.

These machines are also enabled with smart technology. For example, don’t start banging on the side of the machine if your candy bar is stuck because these machines have cameras installed. This advanced technology will also be beneficials for companies as it will be helpful with inventory tracking and downloading new content. For example, switching from Avatar images to Winter Olympic sponsorship. Hmmph, if we could only get the cans to change instantly too.

This clip below was released in January 2009 and shows the technology demonstrated by Coca-Cola. I personally have not seen this machines in the US and am not familiar with Smith malls. Has anyone seen one before?

Brand Extensions involve taking a successful brand and creating and marketing a new product that will hopefully succeed as a result of the established brand success. While this  can be extremely beneficial for some companies — for example Iams pet insurance, Starbucks coffee liqueur and the Tide to Go stain removal pen –there are there are also those companies who introduce complete product failures. Below is a description of those brand “stretches” who failed miserably and the reason why.

 In 1998 the popular topical cream producer, Ben-Gay, extended their brand to include Ben-Gay apsirin. The problem with this product was that the Ben-Gay topical cream is known for the way it sears the skin. Can you imagine swallowing it? Neither can I and thats why the product was a complete brand failure.

Hooters. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you thing of the restaurant chain Hooters. Ok, wait, don’t answer that. But I’m sure the answer issn’t an airline. However, in 2003 the company introduced Hooters Air which flew to 15 cities including Las Vegas and Nassau. —Spoiler Alerts — the extension failed!  While the company blamed the extension failure on the overall airline industry decline I think  it was much more than that. For example, can you imagine the boyfriends and husbands lining up and their girlfriends and wives saying “no way!” I can!

Last but not least, and my personal favorite, is Burger King boxers. Hmmm…. not sure where BK was headed with this one but I can imagine the slogan “Have it your way” being used a lot in their presence.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/07/brand_extensions/source/2.htm

Ok, we’ve all seen, heard, read ect. about the new latest gem from Apple, the iPad. This product seems to be the ultimate web browsing, reading, social media networking and video/picture viewing device to  land at our finget tips since, well, ever! Do I want one? Heck ya! I’m not an iPhone user as I’m not an AT&T customer and I dont have a iPod touch as I’m still hanging on to my 2nd generation Nano so it seems the only way for me to experience the App technology would be to pick up an iPad. The price points are fantastic, the portabilty is amazing (especially for traveling) and lets not forget the “cool” factor associated with owing one. I’m easy to convince so yes, call me bangwagoner if you must but with the amount of time I spend wasting on the internet I know I would get my moneys worth on this one!

Now of course, with such a trendy product there will undoubtedly be a lot of backlash and resistance to join the masses in line for one of these bad boys. For those looking for a group to join in the hating category, look no further then youtube. There are plenty of people purchasing the iPads then immediately destroying this technology. Now, call me old fashion, but there are plenty of products in this world that I do not want. However, I can assure you, I will not be wasting my money and time to go buy  one and then destroy it. What statement do you suppose these people are attempting to make? A stand against Apple products, pop culture, popularity or is it simply an attempt to get attention. Either way, if none of you want an iPad please don’t purchase one in the first place. Furthermore, please don’t destroy. I will be happy to take it off your hands for you and will even make some suggestions for what you can instead do with your time.  

When it comes to marketing and advertising there is a certain protocol to follow when promoting high & low involvement products. The same goes for high end and low end products. For example, when you pin a commercial for a McDonald’s sandwhich vs. a Lexus SUV commercial the consumer will expect different types of information to be provided along with a certain level of respect and dignity in the advertising.  For example, you won’t find any humor or “Give me that filet-o-fish…” jingles in a commercial for a luxury vehicle.

To advertise any type of product means to begin looking outside of the box as viewers are becoming more resistant to traditional advertising. This can mean using social media websites, product placement and of course more celebrity endorsement. Consumers need a reason to NOT want to TIVO past the ads.  How will we convince them? 

In terms of advertising luxury goods you need to go beyond simply displaying the product and mentioning the name — you need to create a emotional connection. For this reason advertisers are turning to extended commerical or movie shorts to connect with consumer and help build that emotional connection.

 The video below is a Chanel No. 5 extended commerical that was introduced back in 1995 and featured then No. 5 spokesmodel Nicole Kidman. Although the ad does not display the actual product, it does show a story consistent with the Chanel brand image – luxury, beauty, romance & desire. Assuming this is a product you would consider buying, do you think this 2 minute commercial began building an emotional connection with you?