Overview-The Information Age- Competition-

• Technological advances sped change in all fields -silicon chip revolutionized computers and communications field and speeding up rate advertising design
• Western European and Asian manufacturers under cut prices of goods and often provided higher quality goods
• Foreign competition and escalating wages and energy prices led to declines in corporate profits
• North American manufacturers looked for ways to lower costs some moving manufacturing to Latin America and South East Asia
• Traditional North American manufacturing in the tight economy of 1975 was changing and the hard times meant advertising took on more of a "hard sell" approach shifting from the entertaining approach to one with more market research, specific products claims and product comparison
• 1970s stagnant economy gave way to boom times of 1980s
• Immigration created a much more diverse marketplace
• 1980s advertising went global building empires for clients-glamour, wealth and style were in
• Advertisers move away from hard sell to build brand images

The late 70s: Advertising Troubles

• Recession caused problems in advertising; ad billings did not match the rate of inflation
• Many agencies suffered losses and some shut down
• Ad campaigns were under scrutiny of skeptical consumer and clients who measured success in sales figures rather than creativity- more research was done-focus groups, motivational studies, computer models

Positioning

• Positioning was not a new idea; it was developed in 50s by GM to simply quickly and aggressively pitch and cut through competition
• Trout and Ries agency concept was to
  • start with mind of consumer instead of yourself and product
  • give product memorable name
  • find unique USP (Rosser's unique selling proposition)
  • repeat concept over and over
  • skip humour, mood- focus is realistic, tough consumer-oriented (hard sell)
  • they advocated comparison ads

 

• Ads now were wordier with more facts figures- Harder Sell- And Competitive
• Examples - Competive Ad Campaigns-Tylenol came out against Anacin, Scope (wasn't mediciney) came out against Listerine, Avis came back with We try harder pitch
• 60 second ads went to 30 seconds and were repeated more
• Examples. "Want a tough stain out- Shout it out" , Purina Meow mix "Meow,meow, meow....." repeated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JuVHCJVYf4
• Between 1964-1972 major networks dropped their ban on comparative adverting and marketer's soon were naming their competition and hammering it in ads
• Burger King's research showed consumers didn't like inflexibility of fast food menus like McDonalds and they introduced their "Have it your way" campaign See Have it Your way in 1976 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJMsFGH4eoQ

Soda Wars: Coke vs Pepsi

• Coca Cola had tried to associate itself with motherhood, flag and country sunshine "It's the Real thing"
• Pepsi had gone after youth with the "Pepsi Generation"
• But Pepsi wanted more and went to direct comparison in 1975 "Pepsi Challenge"
• Pepsi conducted hidden taste tests showing most preferred taste of Pepsi
• The Pepsi campaign was a local marketing device but did greatly increase sales
• Coke fought back with an ad featuring Bill Cosby with binoculars looking for the Coke drinker that Pepsi never showed; soon Pepsi Challenge was discontinued

In 1979 Mc Cann-Erickson created the Mean Joe Greene in a sentimental commercial sharing his football jersey and a coke with a young fan-Have a Coke and a smile http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cola:@field(DOCID+@lit(meanjoe_01)) or http://www.cokeworld.it/coke8.htm in 1982 a made-for-TV movie was made called The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid- the first film based on a commerical

later Coke came out with the computer generated Max Headroom commercials (created Channel Four in Britain in 1984) who later came out with his own show -"Max Headroom was called the first cyberpunk TV series. Set "twenty minutes in the future," Max Headroom depicted a society of harsh class inequalities where predators roam the street looking for unsuspecting citizens who can be sold for parts to black-market "body banks."

read about Max Headroom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_%28character%29

• Pepsi ran ads making fun of the situation and then focused on celebrity spokespeople like Michael Jackson, and Madonna (see WebCT to see Michael Jackson in Pepsi ad)
• in 1968 7 Up positioned itself as the Uncola and alternative and then followed with lifestyle ads like America's turning 7up, followed by rational reasons to buy- health concerns

7Up Uncola Nuts

• Hear the Uncola Nut commercial (judged one of the 50 best all time commercial in 1995) at http://tulsatvmemories.com/mazeppa2.html

The 80s- Ultra Consumers/yuppies

• Hard sell approach gave way to focus on building brand image in booming 80s
• Stock prices were rising- in 1984 boomers 25-35 year controlled 23%of disposable income- the yuppie (young urban professional)- Greed was in
• Rolling Stone went after advertisers interested in the boomer market with their Perception/Reality campaign. On one side of the page, the magazine had stereotyped images of who they thought the corporate world thought read the pioneering rock 'n' roll mag. There were long-haired hippies waving peace signs while standing in front of a beat-up Volkswagen van. The ad carried a bold one-word caption: "Perception."

  On the opposite page was a photo of well-dressed, well-scrubbed preppies standing in front of their BMW. The text claimed that the real "Rolling Stone" subscriber was middle class, with lots of discretionary income and upscale consumerist aspirations. This full-page image carried one word: "Reality."

• Grey advertising identified the "Ultra Consumer"-those with endless need for premium goods to satisfy immediacy and impact- advertisers looked for new ways to reach them one was corporate sponsorship of sports, events, festivals, arts
• Beer companies have a long history of sponsoring sports
• Auto racing has fans loyal to sponsors- everything inside car and on drivers is sponsors names
• Fans realize sponsorship keeps costs down

Technology

• Technology changed lives in a short period of time- 80s saw intoduction of Walkman, Video games, Cellular phone and most importantly the computer

Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs' work in their garage led to 1977 Apple II- the first mass-marketed personal computer Apple became one of fastest growing companies Consumers had to be convinced that computers were user friendly See first Apple ad at http://apple2history.org/museum/ads/a1ad1.html see more print ads Evolution of Apple ads for 1970s- 2009

Spokespersons were adopted: Apple used Dick Cavetthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E3Vlqz86qc Texas Instruments used Bill Cosby ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyfHZui0g8, IBM Charlie Chaplin's tramp http://youtu.be/1LR1Xvvch18 Copy of IBM ad to left: "To organize data in an appetizing way, a manager could certainly use the IBm personal Computer. Because it lets you create crisp, high resolution color graphics-quickly and easily. Design a pie chart to illustrate your slice of the market...." The campaign revamped IBM's stuffy image

For the release of the first Macintosh in 1984, Chiat-Day created what has been called the best commercial ever made- "1984" The ad directed by Ridley Scott cost $1.6 million and ran once for $500,000 in the 1984 Superbowl The ad was aimed at IBM- smashing the Orwellian Big Brother The ad was revolutionary in many ways creating a new category of a commerical- advertising as an event establishing the Super Bowl as a campaign launch see the ad

John Cleese compares a computer to a dead fish in Compaq commercial  

• When Xerox was faced with competition in 80s they began to advertise (see figure 8.9 pg 358)
• New technology rapidly came into use - instant access to anything near and far
• Agency speed of developing and producing ads increased with technology

Global Advertising and Brands

• Advertising in foreign markets has outpaced growth in advertising in US since mid 80s
• Largest global advertisers are Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, Nestle
• Since the 70s foreign brands became popular and internationally North American brands became popular worldwide
• To develop a marketing strategy advertisers had two/three options
  • a global strategy uses a standardized marketing approach with minimal variation- like Benetton who targets young affluent trendy- others who use this- Kodak, Levi's, Coca Cola, Pepsi
  • a customized approach for each marketplace
  • a combination multinational/global
• Understanding cultural issues became an issue- uses of colour, name, body copy translation
• Read about some of the mistakes at Gaffes (inside link)

The Next Creative Revolution

• 80s was the era of mega mergers and partnerships in advertising
• By 1988 multi national agencies had dropped from 12 to 8 and had greatly increased it's share of ad revenue
• Mergers were a way to consolidate media-buying and remain competitive
• One of changes was buying of media time in bulk and reselling it at discount
• Clients were skeptical and $500 millions worth of business shifted
• By 1988 11 of top 20 broadcast companies had changed hands or merged; similar situations happened with newspapers and print

Image Building- Style over Substance

• 1980 Advertising Age announced the industry was on the verge of a new "Creative revolution"
• The following years large amounts of money were spent on "image building"
• Less emphasis on describing product more on the feeling,
• example L'Oreal "Because I'm worth it campaign"
  • "I use the most expensive hair color in the world. Preference, by L'Oreal. It's not that I care about money. It's that I care about my hair. It's not just the color. I expect great color. What's worth more to me is the way my hair feels. Smooth and silky but with body. It feels good against my neck. Actually, I don't mind spending more for L'Oreal. Because I'm worth it."
  • see a montage of I'm Worth it campaign over the years and around the world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nU_14xjT3M

ABSOLUT vodka was launched in 1979. The goal in 1979 was to sell Swedish vodka in the American market. A year later, 1.1 million liters of ABSOLUT were sold The marketing concept for ABSOLUT challenged conventions by focusing exclusively on the bottle. The first ad, ABSOLUT PERFECTION, was published in 1980. The advertising campaign is still based on the same concept and has won over 350 awards around the world. they have Collaborated with artists such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst as well as fashion designers and have received recognition internationally. In 1993 ABSOLUT VODKA also become one of the three original brands inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame. the campaign continues to join art and advertising- it's all about the brand image to see their interactive website see http://absolut.com to see a collection of ads see http://www.absolutad.com

Benetton Benetton sponsored a campaign to fight racism United Colors of Benetton - it increased awareness but did meet with controversy. see more ads at Bennetton ads (inside link)

Sex and Symbolism

after the new woman of the "You've come a long way" and the Charlie Girl of the 70s, sexually charged advertising began appearing ( see Jovan 1977 to left) Jean Nate urged women to "take charge of your life" a study by Grayson showed in1979 only 28 % of fragrances used a sex-only strategy; sex was combined with youth, status, sports, and fantasy; women's fragrances changed from the theme of turning on men to turning on the self-of being in control and self-sufficient. In a fantasy, a lover may be part of the picture, but not necessarily- sexual fantasy represents the woman in control."

• Chanel first aired its "Share the Fantasy" or "Pool" commercial in 1979. The sensual spot lacked sexual explicitness and bold propositions. Showcasing a woman's fantasy, the commercial was praised as viewers had to fill in the missing images. The commercial was directed by Ridley Scott.
  • "The commercial began with dramatic yet sensuous retro music, and a shot of the enticing blue water in a swimming pool. A woman, facing away from the camera, lies on her back at the edge of the pool. The shadow of an airplane passes over her, followed by a woman's European-accented voice-over, "I am made of blue sky and golden light, and I will feel this way forever." A tall, dark man in a black Euro-style swimsuit dives in the water from the other side of the pool. Swimming underwater, he rises up in front of her-then disappears. "Share the Fantasy" was the tagline for the commercial"



• In 1982 Calvin Klein plastered a sun-drenched male beauty Olympic pole vaulter Tom Hintinauss in only his underwear onto a 45 foot Times Square billboard see the ad Calvin 1982 (inside link)
• Read more about underwear and ads at http://www.freshpair.com/in_the_news/new_york_times_08012004.html and at Isn't he lovely the ad that turned men into sex objects

in 1980s fragrance advertising theme was that women and men were equals in the sexual pursuit. Revlon's Charlie created a stir with a subtle gender reversal pat on the backside in 1987 in the Ad "She's very Charlie" Canadian Club 1988

in 1985 Calvin Klein introduced Obsession Perfume the sexually charged ads brought the product to the top in months

Sex to sell to Teens 1981 Calvin Klein introduced his jeans ads featuring Brooke Shields the copy "Know what comes between me and my Calvin's? Nothing." see it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK2VZgJ4AoM Sales jumped 300% after the commercials The over priced designer jeans like Jordache http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NioKhGJgbI, Sassoon, Sergio Valente all were pumped up by the ads

Wacky Promotions

• In 1985, 27 year old Nicholas Graham, native of Calgary, moved to San Francisco to start a men's novelty tie business. He and his design team created an unusual line of boxer shorts, most notably the Imperial Hoser, the infamous red tartan boxer that came with a detachable raccoon tail. United States Secret Service confiscated 1,000 pairs of underwear silk-screened with $100 bill because the imprints violated forgery laws. JOE BOXER saw the opportunity to create a news event and the company's marketing philosophy was cemented. See Joe Boxer history at http://www.joeboxer.com/history.html see a Joe Boxer ad

Recession

• the good time 80s ended with recession- cuts in spending, foreign competition, mergers and "lean" strategies- good life was out and the simple life was in (for a little while)

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