Tuesday, March 22, 2016

EOC: Week 10 what channels are you going to use to get your product noticed.

I will be using social media of course. We will create a new account for the collaboration. But I will also be using the accounts of the already established brands, so that their clients and customers can know that the collaboration will be happening. We will be taking advantage of fashion weeks throughout the world. Both brands have a global presence, so they can reach their individual demographics.

We will also be making a short film that can be showed as three separate videos. One touching more on fashion and the other more on the life of the car. The final will merge these two together. This will be shown in commercials and be used as cousin advertisement. They will have a similar feel but be able to stand alone.

We will get our product noticed by creating events where each label can invite their higher clients, since this will mainly focus on the luxurious life. We will also hold events in dealerships, so that individuals can test drive the Acura. We will also include pop up shops with Tom Ford merchandise.


Tuesday, March 8, 2016

EOC week 9: comparing politics 4

1. There are two main parties. In the movie is is Yes or No and for the most part it is the Republican vs the Democratic party.

2. Using humor to deflect from serious situations. In the movie the Yes party made fun of the No campaign and used a similar commercial once the No campaign showed their advertisement. The No campaign was so strong and so the Yes campaign felt they were in trouble and caused a commotion to deflect from the fact that they were losing.

3. The campaign had a lead much like our political parties have a leads or manager that deal with public relation issues.

4. Smear campaigns were used to push away from the other parties approach. The No campaign played more fairly, but they still used the idea of moving away from the Yes campaign and what they thought was right.

5. Campaigns find supporters, but rarely show how their political views affect other member in different class status. F

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Week 8 EOC, Slogan + Typography

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed 

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed

Because speed is always needed

Final Project: Analysis

While and after working on my final project I would ask for suggestions to see if I was moving in the right way or if what I was marketing could actually reach and speak to the viewer.

"The advertisement really emphasis luxury, is that what you were trying to do?" - Ted, Graphic Designer

This was indeed what I was mainly focusing on so I am glad they asked the question. "And because design is an iterative process, many of us work, going back and forth—thinking, sketching, rethinking, and so on." (135) We did jump back and forth between ideas, but knew we wanted to stick to something doing with luxury. We wanted to emphasis that in all aspects of advertisement, hence the collaboration with a luxury fashion brand.

"Luxury you didn't know you needed is a really good one" - Alex, Fashion Marketing

I though this possible slogan was witty, but was more of a tagline and could still be used in advertisement in a small paragraph rather than a stand alone. I am glad it was liked, but I wanted the slogan to be sweet and to the point. I also thought it was interesting because luxury is more of a want rather than a need, so it was a play on words.

"The simple sketch shows that luxury can be simple, that's dope" - Carl G, Marketing Analysis

I hadn't thought about the simplicity of it. I was thinking more of the creation of it. This showed that someone saw something beyond what I saw and I greatly appreciated that. Because the world is so digital I wanted to touch on the use of hand drawing as stated in the book, "if everyone seems to be using photo-editing software to create visuals, create yours by hand." (206)  That's what we did here for this ad campaign. Carl gave meaning to the advertisement, that wasn't subliminally put there. It also shows that the advertisement goes beyond the thought we made, of just moving away from digital, not knowing we were moving towards simplicity.


Final Project: Creative Component

LIVING IN LUXURY 

ACURA x Tom Ford


Because we are opening up the idea to both sides, there will also be a part of the ad campaign that will feature a sketch so that our demographic can picture themselves or “draw” themselves into the advertisement. Again, this speaks to the fantasy that both of these labels provide for the customer. They can be shown together, but "each individual ad in the campaign also can stand on its own" (198). hows, Each brand will have their individual ads, which will then make clients make the connection of the collaboration, but both names will be on the ads.

Tom Ford has fashion shows, where Acura will be a part of and the same is true for any Acura events. During the fashion show we can introduce the collaboration and reach out to their many clients and invite them to an event that Acura will hold to showcase the collaboration. These events can be held around the world, expressing the life lived in luxury. This is the story being told through  our creative component. "To look for the insight, we start by mining for something common to us all in human nature: our needs, hopes, aspirations, and desires." (193)

America and Japan will be two of the major countries in which these events will be held. We could even hold a special event during a major Honda Day. Honda, being the makers of Acura can also be a part of this collaboration opening up Honda Day to many fans. There can be a small fashion show during this day while Tom Ford has a pop up shop on this day, opening up the demographic of car fans to the fashion house. Tom Ford will make an exclusive line for this particular day baring the Honda and Acura logos. At these events the videos that were shot will be played.

Final Project: Promotion






Working on promotion will be fun. Acura will be featured in a Tom Ford commercial and vice versa. We will do something similar that Tom Ford has done in the past with this Lips and Boys short commercial. It was daring. There will be similar snap shots of the car as well as the clothing used. We will be using these piece to tell and show a story since there is "value of “telling” versus “showing” an audience a story" (108) and since this is the case, we will do both.  Rather the focus being on lips and lip stick it will be of the car, both of the exterior and interior. This will be a video component, but we will also had print, that will be taken from the video shoot. The print ad will be featured in fashion magazines like GQ, W, Vogue and NY Magazine.

This will help Acura reach into the fashion demographic. These advertisements will also have spreads in Superstreet, Automobile and Motor Trend. Having advertisement placed in both types of magazines creates an array of individuals that will see this advertisement. It will also make certain individuals away of the opposite brand. Some individuals may be strictly into cars, but not the biggest fans of fashion and so this kind of collaboration will open up their thoughts to the fashion side. The same is true for those super fashion forward individuals that don’t know much about car, it can open up their minds to a different world, still in the realm of luxury. In advertising, slice-of-life format is a drama showing a realistic portrayal of life," (117) with our advertisements we will be showing you a realistic portrayal of the luxurious life.

Final Project: Big Idea, THE COLLABORATION

The Collaboration 

One main component that sets us apart with this ad campaign is the collaborations of brands that we are. Acura x Tom Ford. We can use this to speak to the fashion forward, technological driven generation of this time. Both companies reach a similar demographic within their own personal realms, bringing these two together will be beneficial for both companies. "Not only does branding identify and distinguish, it builds equity (the value of the brand or group)." (49)  Both of these labels hold value within their brands and markets. 

This is modern, new luxury and both companies touch base with that. "What differentiates a brand is how it is characterized, its visual and verbal identity as expressed in each media unit and through every point of contact. Simply stated, differentiation is what distinguishes one brand from the rest." (52) The Tom Ford label launched in 2006, a reason we chose to work with this brand rather than something like Louis Vuitton, which was founded in 1854 and speaks more so to old luxury, still modern in the fashion world today, but not quite what we are looking for in this collaboration. The Tom Ford brand is different enough from other fashion labels in the market, but similar to its characterization and visualization of Acura.

By collaboration with such a young, but well established brand we will attract a new market of fashion forward individuals, while staying within our usual demographic. We are simply expanding that demographic. Having Acura team up with Tom Ford will allow us to reach and become popular amongst a wide range of customers. The person wearing Tom Ford lives in luxury, in a more literal sense. The clothing they wear is luxury and they live in their clothing. Acura, a luxury vehicle, speaks to the lifestyle of the driver. 



Final Project: Competitive Analysis



Acura was introduced in 1986 as the luxury car from Honda, a Japanese company. Soon after Toyota and Nissan introduced their luxury cars. Lexus being created by Toyota and Infiniti being created by automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling in 1989, while Lexus was founded the same here. All are from Japan, but Acura was founded in 1986, just a few years before Lexus and Infiniti. This is why we thought “The first, the finest” would be a great slogan for the Acura, since Honda introduced their luxury vehicle prior to these other two competitors. We moved away from this idea because we chose not to shine any kind of light onto our competition, even if it was a nice jab to our initial creation. We thought that creating a friction between the companies in advertisment is unethical and we didn't want that associated with the Acura brand. "When clients and agency professionals are aware of what is unethical and keep to standards of fair practice and social responsibility, then we can have ethical advertising." (12) and we wanted to make sure to have ethical advertising. The NSX model was introduced in 1990 as a mid-engine exotic sports car, a two seater. When created it was a reliable and practical alternative to the exotic European car, say to a Maserati or Porsche.

Both Infiniti and Lexus have more of a basic strategy to advertisements. They are usually magazine advertisement with a silver colored car with a plan black or white background and their logo. The thing about Acura, is that they are much more daring and fun when it comes to advertisements. For example the Acura MDX had an advertisement with the slogan “Made for Mankind.” This advertisement had movement to their advertisement, with the rear end light being displayed and a woman with red hair beneath it, with wind flowing through her hair. Besides it was an image of a woman in dark colors and hues of blue, which played a great contrast to the red.  All we see is her eyes, nose and slight touch of her lips and teeth. The same ad campaign showed a man’s eye facing the front of the car, with only the headlight showing.

These are the kind of advertisements we will go with. It will be much more interactive versus a typical photo op of the car, something the competition does regularly.We watched to use something that was already established by the brand but change the frame a bit. "Changing a frame allows you to explore possibilities, to imagine what a brand or organization could be beyond its current personality or how it is commonly perceived.(34)"



Final Project: Acura NSX 2016 Slogan

Living in Luxury

There were many slogans we bounced from. Acura had a slogan of “precision, crafted, performance” but we wanted to move away from adjectives and into a descriptive phrase.  "We comprehend—we grasp the meaning of the material we have gathered, gaining insights. And we apply, making use of the material in new, more immediate contexts."(14) We discussed “Your Acura” so that the viewer could find possession in purchasing the car, but didn’t think it describes the car too well. We even discussed having it be “1st and the finest”, more on this in the competitive analysis. We thought about “Luxury you didn’t know you needed” or “Bring Luxury into creation”, but both were lengthy. We enjoyed the use of the word luxury and decided to go with “Living in Luxury.” Now this speaks to a lifestyle.

This slogan will talk to the luxury aspect of craftsmanship of the car. I will also like to link in a luxury brand fashion house to collaborate with to put more emphasis on luxury, perhaps Tom Ford. This fashion brand speaks to a similar demographic that Acura would speak to. Tom Ford and Acura both exude luxury. Tom Ford also has men's and women's merchandise, so it would open up the idea to promote this car to both genders. We can use Tom Ford attire in advertisements and promote the two together. 

The fashion house of Tom Ford has bold and daring advertisements and I think that speaks to the idea of the Acura NSX. The NSX is filled with power and speed and that’s the kind of life the individual that wears Tom Ford is. Fashion in general is more about the fantasy than the reality and wearing Tom Ford driving a Acura NSX means living in luxury. We are selling the emotion and high roller life style in these advertisements. Teaming up with one of the well-respected fashion labels in the industry will give our advertisement a drive that others do not have. We kept digging to find similarities between the two brands. "Most smart creatives do some digging themselves." (15)  

By teaming up for Living in Luxury we can open our advertisement doors and branch into the fashion world advertisement and reach an entire demographic that has not been spoken to in the past. The Acura NSX can be fashionable to either gender. Living in Luxury touches the fantasy many hope to achieve in reality.







Tuesday, February 23, 2016

EOC week7: choosing a car THE PITCH

For the next few weeks I will be working on an advertising campaign for a car of my choice. Since I recently sold my Nissan 350z I decided to go with the 2016 Nissan 370z. In the next week I will be visiting car dealerships to see this car up close and perhaps some questions that I will be benefit me in the creative process while creating the ad campaign. My ad campaign will need to include certain aspects from slogans, to promotion, of course analysis and a BIG IDEA.
Honestly, I am a bit nervous about this final project to begin, but extremely excited to get the ball rolling. I am hoping the dealership will have the car in the lot, but I will be sure to update you about my visit. The salesman may even say something witty enough that I can use or twist into a slogan. Since the Nissan 370z is a luxury sport scar I will also be scoping out other brand in this same category. After all I do need to know what my competition is in order to provide a strong and knowledgeable advertising campaign.
I am thinking of finding a way to push this car to the female market. As a driver that completely fell in love with my car, I want everyone to feel that kind of love through the ad campaign. I am not quite sure how I will manage that just yet, but I still have some time to think it through. It was only today that I was given the project so I have a lot of contemplating to go. We shall see where I take this.

EOC Week 6: Lady Gaga & The Grammys

So Lady Gaga did a tribute to David Bowie for her Grammy's performance and who did it benefit? The performance wasn't as exciting as her own performances, and perhaps that was because I am not as familiar with David Bowie other than his tunes which are super popular. I am fairly younger, so do not attack me for my knowledge or lack there of on David Bowie. It was entertaining and recently Gaga has been in the media, with her award winning place in American Horror Story.
This seems to have most benefited Lady Gaga and her image in mainstream, she hasn't put out any current music and is working on reinventing her image.
We've also seen her singing the National Anthem for the opening of the Super Bowl. Perhaps we can expect to see more of her in the media and maybe we hear some new music. Having Lady Gaga perform could have benefit the Grammy's organization as well. Though she currently does not have much music out, she still has a major following. Having her pay tribute to David Bowie added to her aesthetic.
Though I was not the biggest fan of this particular performance, I am a Lady Gaga supporter. I enjoy how she uses her craft to shed light onto other issues happening, like this and the death of David Bowie. His death impacted many people and help individuals like myself discover his music and movement. I can now see why she was a great fit to do the tribute.
At the end of it all the viewers also benefit from her performance. As a viewer we get to experience and witness her work as an artist. She is quiet interesting to watch and following, She has constantly evolved and I very much enjoy watching her grow and am extremely excited to see what she is going to do next.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

MY VOICE

I never enjoy doing an about me, because it’s tedious, but here it goes. I am the kind of person that enjoys analyzing. I do well with managing large groups and being able to get messages across. I am 46% extrovert and 54% introvert according to a personality test I took. I prefer to work alone, but work very well in groups especially in a leadership role. Public speaking is one of my better qualities. I can stand in front of a group and present without hesitation or sweaty palms. I never understood the fright many people have for public speaking, because I have always enjoyed the nervous feeling it provides. Perhaps being a dancer has helped me in being okay with presenting in front of many people; it’s like performing on stage with a large crowd watching your every move. I can manage very well because I pay close attention to details and organization. I know how the small things can add together to create something larger. Bring a major project into small task is what I am best at. Though I am quiet creative I am also very business orientated and determined in accomplishing a goal with all my T’s crossed and I’s dotted. At times I can be comical and I am usually the one breaking the ice in awkward situations. I am East Coast bred, so sometimes my more sarcastic side can shine through. This is the voice I use when writing. I consider myself a writer and will pursue that as a career. I am an always evolving artist.

EOC Week 3: Find a tobacco advertisement & 8 basic steps

·         1. Determine the scenario: What happens in this frame?
·         2. What is the setting? What are the conditions?
·         3. Who are the people or groups?
·         4. What is their point of view around this specific experience?
·         5. What are their goals?
·         6. What are their assumptions? What are their perceptions?
·         7. Are there conflicts? Is there cooperation?
·         8. What are the outcomes?
This woman is in a pose position, as if on a cover of a magazine, she is happy and showing her white teeth through her smile. There is no particular setting other than a colored backdrop. She is dressed very fashionable though you can not see her entire wardrobe, you know she is stylish, perhaps the “It Girl”. This can be supported by the fact that she is the only one in the advertisement, rather than being with a group, so there is no confusion that she is the main focus.
This advertisement provides a point of view that she is in the know with beauty, health and fashion, so she must be in the know about these cigarettes. The goal is to market to this kind of girl or the girl who wishes to be her. In order to be this happy, go lucky, fashionable girl, you must smoke misty cigarettes too!
The perception this provides is that the Misty cigarette girl is hip and in tune with the culture. This causes conflict because as we now know, cigarettes are not healthy and can have a negative impact on your overall look. It can cause wrinkles to the skin, teeth to yellow and other dire effects to the internal body, which is now common knowledge.
In today's society you can barely find a cigarettes ad, which is incredible and I love everything about it. Instead we are seeing anti smoking advertisements. The advertisement are straightforward and blunt, sometimes making the viewer cringe. 
This generation can be the generation that stops smoking all together, with only about 3% of smokers in the generation. When you Google cigarettes advertisements, you are given a bunch of old washed out ads, that in itself says something!
Though we know about the dangers of cigarettes now, there was a time when cigarettes were advertised as good and healthy. That is no longer the case. Even in the 90s, when Misty was popularized, the cool girl wanted to smoke and if she did she appeared to be cool and in control. In the sitcom Sex and the City the main character Carrie Bradshaw smokes and she was the socialite of her time. Though Sex and the City launched in the late 90s, it still had that 90s aura and feel. So we can make the connection between cigarettes and the stylish it girl; the two, at the time went hand in hand.

EOC Week 4: Role of Women in Contemporary Advertisements


There has been a shift in how women are being portrayed in contemporary advertisments. Before they were timid, passive and more than likely seen as housewives, but in todays advertisments she is strong, independent, assertive. There are many more movies with women leading role then in the past. We often saw women in secretary like positions, catering to the bossman, whereas now they are the bosses of major corporations and businesses making the calls. There has been a major shift in the culture with women providing opions and being the voice for brands
For example recently Budweiser launched a commercial against drunk driving during the Superbowl and the person handing the message was Helen Mirren, a woman and well respected and known actress. A beer company whos target audience are males, decided to place an older female character in a pub having a tradition burger and fries meal, telling them to not be imbeciles and drive under the influence. 
Marvel, the comic series, has recently launched a series on Netflix of their character Jessica Jones. Jessica Jones is a very stern and strong character. She runs her own business and doesn't take crap from anyone. Through out the series she fights a mind controller trying to keep him from perpetrating his evil ways into the city. This is a major move for Marvel who focuses on their many male superheroes. 
Women are breaking through in advertisements and in media in general. They are being shown in strong and confident roles.


EOC Week 2: Three Examples of Questionable Ethics

Advertisements are everywhere and even though we want to believe them they can use tactics that may not be so ethical. Here are 3 examples of that. 

1. Advertising to younger age group - brands advertise to a younger audience to get them hooked and keep them as a costumer in coming years. Fast food restaurants market to children and teens. These children become early costumers of these fast food chains and grow into unhealthy lifestyles in adulthood.

2. False comparisons - many brands and business’s use this tactics to lure clients in. They will compare their cheapest rates with their competitors higher rates to give the costumer a false thought that they will be receiving a deal. Many phone carriers do this. Many food and beverage company do this with nutrients facts. A orange juice may say they use only a certain amount of sugar in comparison to its competitors, but may be using GMO fruits.


3. Product Placement - this can be controversial as all companies need to brand and market some way some how. Product place can make viewers make association that aren’t nesscearily true. For example in a movie featuring a super hero one might witness the superhero drinking a specific drink and may associate that drink with strength and super powers even though it may have a drink with no nutritional benefits.


Wednesday, January 20, 2016

EOC Week 1: Sour Lemon

In the 1950's and 1960's Volkswagen introduced a series of advertisements that would later become one of the most profound advertisements of it’s time. The advertisements would also play a role in the history of advertisement. The Volkswagen Lemon ad’s provided a minimalistic approach with black and white photograph of the Volkswagen beetle and the word lemon. Before this, many car advertisements used very busy colored illustrations, with an added slogan and much information on the function of the car.


The simplistic approach caused a sensation, not only because it wasn't a fussy ad, but it also had political background. The creators of the advertisements were Jewish and as many know Volkswagen is a German car, with the beetle being designed in Nazi Germany. Now we know why this could have caused an uproar seeing that World War II hadn't past but 15 years prior.
At the time the beetle was a very different type of car. It was compact, much smaller than what was being sold on the market, at the time. This advertisement even made a cameo in Mad Men, a period piece about an advertisement firm. In the moment where the ad is feature the men are discussing their approval and disapproval of the ad, but ultimately it is admitted that either way it has caused a discussion. Isn't it the idea of creating a discussion or a buzz that makes good advertisement?

We took a look at this ad campaign for an advertising course I am currently in. We discussed how differently of a time it was. Today we go beyond print for advertisement. Advertisements today are everywhere, from stagnant buildings to moving cars, and of course it’s all over the web. There are many ways to go about design, but like Volkswagen, in the 1950's and 60's, one must understand what is happening around them in order to be innovative and different. Many can follow the crowd and movement of the wave, but it takes guts to swim against the tide.