Those of us with children and busy schedules realize that the most daunting weekly chore is inevitably the grocery store with one or more children along for the ride.
Marketers know this and, to a parent’s dismay, place candy, little toys and even child- sized cans of soda on shelves roughly three feet off the floor – eye level to my children.
"Forget the kids...I am worse in the supermarket. I want the stuff withe the pretty pictures and the characters I recognize. I have been banned from shopping."
As a child, you may have read The Pied Piper of Hamlin. The town of Hamlin had a terrible rat infestation in 1240, which the Pied Piper claimed he could resolve for a nominal fee. The town’s people agreed and the Piper eerily played his flute, leading all the rats from the city and into the river to drown.
"Not only are the commercials really stupid but that freecredit report.com song is so annoying and i keep heairng it everywhere"
Holiday advertising starts earlier and earlier every year. The ads around Christmas increase our yearning for things we may not need. They drag us in and play with our emotions. Any parent will tell you how difficult toy ads make their lives.
It seems every year there is the “IT” toy that is hawked everywhere, but out of stock before Thanksgiving. How do you explain to your child that Santa couldn’t find the toy? Parents stand in line for hours waiting to buy the “IT” toy only to discover that it’s sold out when they get to the front of the line.
To see the look on a child’s face because Santa did not bring them what they asked for is heart-breaking.
"This concept holidays creeping into one another is much like what happened to sports’ seasons years back. I used to like it when one sport season ended and then another began…one thing at a time…one set of jerseys to keep clean (not really)…one set of stats to keep track of.
Hey marketers… I am a guy. We have short attention spans and wait until the last minute to shop…how well do you think your schemes work on my kind?"
With the impending recession in the U.S. and souring global economy in other markets, people in developing countries the world over are increasingly worried about their economic future.
Gone are the days of impulse shopping, at least for now. And healthcare? That’s a whole other mess. Who can afford quality healthcare? But then again, who can afford to go bankrupt paying for surgery, extensive medical attention or, worse yet, their own funeral?
"Come on it is a business. All businesses do stuff like this to get people to action...that means buying things. Mortuaries and prepaid funerals- same deal. Just because they are talking about death and dying, it does not mean that it is off limits to tug at the heart strings and appeal to guilt."
Janice Dickinson is an insane marketing genius.
Although the modeling megalomaniac might be nipped, tucked and lipo sucked more than anyone on the planet, it certainly hasn’t depleted her business savvy. Janice is red hot! And Oxygen Network’s Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency has become a powerful media platform for up-and-coming fashion lines.
"I just read an article in Advertising Age’s Madison & Vine on the Nielsen Product-Placement Report. (I guess they do these things weekly)It ranks the Janice Dickinson show as #5 in amount of Product Placement Occurrences from Sept 15-21 with 52 placements- but if you think that is a lot, some show called “America’s Toughest Jobs” had 843…how do they have time for a show when there are so many product plugs!!!"
Marketers have a way of turning almost any situation into a gimmick or campaign. This year’s omnipresent election is no exception.
As we approach the final weeks leading up to the 2008 presidential, Vegas.com, which refers to itself as “the Official Vegas Travel site,” is launching “Crapshoot ‘08” with the tagline “Because you need to be drunk to make it through this election.”
As un-American as this may sound; that’s Vegas!
"The packaging of the Lesser Evil snack was so retro and funny. I went down to Whole Foods market and got a couple of bags. The Black and White popcorn is addictive. The "election" campaign is also pretty cool and fits with the image of the product. You have to try the snacks!"
The models you have in Vogue are too beautifully surreal. They make me and other teen readers feel inferior and ugly. Do you think women can’t be pretty unless they are skinny? Whatever happened to “beauty is skin deep?”
"Amber: I speak for many guys. We love our women with curves, natural curves. I am glad you embrace who you are. I hope my young daughter likes her body as she is growing up. Your words are beautiful and so are you."
