Advertising in drama series, reality shows, movies?

Have you ever notice that advertising nowadays doesn't only appear during intermissions? Advertisers are getting more creative in fusing actor's character in movies, reality shows, tv series with products by sponsoring companies such as Ford, Ketel One, Coca Cola, Sprint Nextel, and Kia Motors.

For example, an original series by USA networks named White Collar presents sponsorship by Ford and Ketel One Vodka. Personally I am a fan of this suspense drama series - White Collar. The setting of this show is in New York City. What got my attention was the actor FBI agent Peter Burke drives the new 2010 Ford Taurus in the city of New York. I remembered him speeding to rush to a scene while it was peak hours in Manhattan, NY. The Taurus automatically breaks with it's featured sensor braking system. Neal Caffrey and Peter Burke mentioned about the car's feature as Burke persuaded Caffrey to relax as they wouldn't get into an accident with this feature. I find this scene really effective to reach their target audience as the TV series is targeted for working adults. The character explaining the feature educates the audience as well.

Another good example is the popular singing competition by NBC, The Voice. Companies sponsoring this hit singing sensation are Sprint Nextel, Kia Motors, and Starbucks Coffee. The contestants, mentors, and coaches were given mobile phones and tablets from Sprint. The company will also sponsor The Voice's presence on NBC.com, Facebook, and mobile platforms.

As for Kia, the company's 2012 Sorento CUV will be used during Battle Rounds, and the contestants were seen driving Sorentos, while using the wireless Bluetooth feature to listen to voicemails from their mentors.

I feel that this concept of brand sponsoring shows is a brilliant idea as the message reaches their audience clearer than buying ad time. Let's be honest, most of us flip the channel during advertisement. But we won't switch the channel when we are watching the show. What better way to integrate the brands in the TV shows, movies, and reality shows?

P/S: In Korea, the Korean drama has been a crazy trendsetter for teens and young adults especially women. Cellphone brands such as Samsung grab this opportunity to introduce their phones among the actors in the hit TV series. Their product was successful as the TV series became really popular among teenagers and working women.

Creative Ads from Thailand

The funniest ads I seen so far are mostly from Thailand.The best part is even though I can't understand what they are saying, their messages reaches effectively to their audience.

However, some ads are confused like the Tax Act ad where the little boy peeing has nothing to do with doing your taxes but they are very funny. Some ads would create controversy if they were to be aired in the U.S.

Therefore, when we were discussing about the Superbowl ads. I personally think they weren't as good as Thai ads. Maybe I just have a different sense of humor. But dogs in most of the ads are cute but they wouldn't make it memorable or make me roll on the floor laughing.

Their ads are creative and relatively clear for their audience and people who can't speak Thai. Here are some good examples I would like to share..

This ad is about a cell phone network calling and receiving international calls, and texts.

Ad about a gum brand name: Chiclet sticks

This ad makes you think dirty which is hilarious!!

This is a controversial topic.

What do you think about these ads?

Interactive Advertising is closer than you think

Interactive Advertising is a good and new advertising tool as it engages consumers to interact with the ads. This would leave a good impression when the interactions is enjoyable for the consumers.

My first encounter with interactive advertising was in a movie theatre in Malaysia. I remembered my cousin took me to the cinema to watch a movie. I walked past this screen and a bear was following me on the screen. This caught my attention and I did it over and over again. People around stopped and watched too!

I find this type of advertising effective because consumers are used to the 2D advertisings, this would create interest and hype. We have touchscreen cell phones and game consoles using sensors. So why aren't interactive advertising widely implemented around the world?


This is in the Hartford Airport. It's closer than you think!

Flash Mobs in Advertising?

flash mob -: a spontaneous public performance, usually a dance, that appears seemingly out of nowhere with just one person, grows to hundreds of people, then quickly disappears. Flash Mob strives to give them purpose which is to create joy through surprise and promote unity with a cause. People who participate in our flash mobs feel like they’ve gotten to be a part of something special.

The 'flash mob' craze has been spreading worldwide like a forest fire since 2003. It started off innocently as a cause for people to participate in an event together and do something fun. A proposal, a celebration, a non-profit cause or just plain fun!

However, advertisers would take this opportunity to make this an advertising tool. Toyota and T-mobile hired flash mob companies to organize flash mobs in public areas to create a hype and people would talk about it. Recording the flash mobs and posting them on youtube would get views and hits. Thus, brand recognition and publicity for the brand and products.

So, are the costs of advertising through flash mobs lower than TV commercials? Is it an effective advertising tool?

Source by youtube and adweek.com

Most importantly, are flash mobs a fad or a trend?

Super Bowl Commercials XLVI made me watch football!

You see, football in Malaysia and other parts of the world is soccer to Americans. So, soccer = football. I watched the football World Cup every four years. Heck, even bet on it when I was 14, but that's another story.

As this is my first time watching Super Bowl Playoffs while understanding a tiny bit of rules. (thanks to my roommate, Britt who is a Patriots fan!) Before her detailed explanation, all I could comprehend from the game was big muscular men with paddings and guards pushing, running, attacking each other for that oval-shaped ball. Don't get me wrong, I am not dissing football. I never seen a football game before I came to the United States. Anyways, this year, it was a requirement for me to watch American football Super Bowl commercials for a class requirement. I rather watch the commercials than the playoffs because I didn't really understand the game. However, thanks to the class requirement, I enjoyed watching at least three quarters of the playoffs.

What mesmerized me more were the money spent on commercials for airing time. Millions were forked out for 30 seconds of airing time. Some commercials were memorable, some were funny but some made me clueless and didn't get why would they dump few million dollars on airing time to put out a grade D commercial??! FAIL!

What impressed me most although it wasn't the best commercial was the Honda CR-V commercial with Matthew Broderick skipping work and having fun. The people behind the commercial were smart to show the scene of Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown and Matthew performing a Chinese song! It may not mean anything to other races, but as a Chinese, that reeled me in because it was still Chinese New Year during the playoffs - the 14th day! (Chinese New Year Celebration goes on for 15 days.) Other than that, did you notice the plush soft toy is a Panda? Why is it a Panda, not a teddy bear? or any other animals? Panda is consider a rare and important animal in China. Does this mean Honda is trying to pull in more asian buyers in the U.S.?

Moreover, do you notice the places Matthew went were promoting places to go in Los Angeles? The Museum of Natural History, the theme park by the beach, hot sunny days with tall Palm trees. Doesn't that make you just want to spend time there instead of getting stuck in this cold 32 degrees weather?

Men behind the scenes for this commercial killed three birds with one stone - Promoting the function of the car, promoting the tourism of LA, and inclusion of minorities - Chinese. I think it's millions of dollars well spent because they were able to reach certain population, portraying the car's functions while promoting the tourism industry too!