leaving bigfoot footprints..

Why hello.
Don't feel too good today; not indigestion or the flu..but some sort of emptiness since our last presentation on friday:

1. my inbox isn't flooded
2. my phone isn't ringing (so much)
3. the games room is occupied by strangers
4. i'm getting more sleep
5. i don't know what to do with my life

This post can turn out to be a sorrowful lament for my darling bigfooters, but i shall resist from that route; we've had enough of that from a few of the groups on friday, and the rest of the groups on tuesday. Not to suggest that the 'emotional' approach is undesirable, but bigfoot is glad we left on a 'high' note, celebrating our time together, channeling 'feel-good' tones to the rest of the class..



Because that's what Bigfoot is about.



If I were to compare my group to any cartoon, it would be Peter Pan--and our motto: "Think happy thoughts". Despite being the 'oldest' group, in terms of age-range, this is especially apt for our group members who make up a company of fun-loving, young-at-heart, coffee-drinking, hyperactive pixies.

I'm not particularly good with words, so i recommend reading Aaron or Gill's blog for a deeper insight to our group's dynamics. But I can say for Bigfoot, there were more highs than lows; our lowest probably being that we were cheated by Mustafa's promise of 'providing everything' when we ran out of black construction paper to wrap our media kit with at 1 o'clock in the morning. Other than that, I am proud to say that our awkwardly quirky little group formed close friendships along the yellow brick road of COM443 advertising.

Each person contributed their special parts to play in our 'agency'. As Aaron put it on friday, Bigfoot was like a FAMILY:


[Zarzar] (Azhar) We had a perverted 'leader' who suggested "Lacy Surprise" as our initial group name, but had access to helpful resources and 'friends with benefits' where we could refer to professional samples of media resources as our guide..Also known as the rebirth of Frank Sinatra, the new songbird of our generation.


[Wise Old Man] (Aaron) Our Big Friendly Giant (BFG) who provided outstanding brainfarts of ideas, some of which we actually used for our advertising campaigns (remember that the best ideas are the ones that come when our minds are relaxed!)


[Jonjon/druggie] (Jonathan) The Brain behind Bigfoot. He kept us on our toes and focused when our clownish influences got out of hand. We learned alot from him. Perhaps more than our textbook. Thank goodness for his high-flying Photoshop skillz too!


[Phanie] (Stephanie) The girl with all the SFX, and our research-paper-writing guru. Her hard-working attitude made us go the extra-mile, and think 'what would a real advertising agency do (WWRAAD)'?


[Mana COOL] (YiVonne) Super cool. Super suave. All day, everyday. Only speaks when relevant, and surprises us with her moments of inspiration for our ad campaigns, and her now famous 'radio-face'. She's too cool for school--a true rockstar in our undeserving midst.


[Loo-loo] (Gillian) My 'happy-hour' buddy when our brains became too saturated from brainstorming sessions. Every night, when the clock strikes 7, without fail, we'd leap into a frenzy of tireless lame jokes and laughter, and starts pluralsliszings everys things wes says. It's amazing how she kept the group simultaneously entertained and on-track while she's recovering from a hangover. A true freak of nature.

Combined, we are totally sedap.
Mari-mari bersama!!



I'll miss you Bigfoot.

Dear Prudence

HARROW!
Sarih Leng here for my final post, marking the end of COM 443.

I was reminded by my fellow bigfoot member and Muse-loving, "happy-hour" buddy, Gillian looloo, to update my blog and post one final entry before exams. That was days ago, and I've been searching for the most blog-worthy ad to write about for this post.

Yesterday, I spent hours in front of the television, rotting my brain like a vegetable, watching Disney movies and the tennis ATP World Tour (Davydenko beat Federer!!). A headache from watching all that TV had my head throbbing by 4pm.

Even through the throbbing of my head, a commercial had been able to squeeze through the clot of fatigue and lethargy that had developed over hours. It was an advertisement for Prudential Insurance; Always Listening, Always Understanding.
Here it is:



Using soft-sell, emotional appeals to grab audience attention was a good call for Prudential Corporation Asia. Like all insurance commercials, it attempted to build rapport between potential clients and their organization. However, what captured my attention was the conversational, personal copy that made the voiceover sound understanding and empathetic, as opposed to the typically cold, business-oriented insurance ads that we usually see on CNN.

What inspired me the most was the copy of the ad-
Woman: Listen to me, even if it's difficult
Even if I don't speak up
Even if you disagree
Even if you already know the story
Whether it's sad
Or great
Because only by listening can we gain a deeper understanding.
Voiceover: Only the best financial solutions always start with listening.
Prudential; always listening, always understanding.

Wow.
The copywriter of this commercial really knows interpersonal relationships. The video shows everyday people with everyday experiences, portraying the life of everyman. There is no 'superior' or 'luxury class' like how typical Singaporean commercials tend to include. The copy is so soothing and inspiring that you just want to listen to the woman's voice from beginning to end.

Sounds like something bigfoot would come up with..
;)

Celebrity TweetFace

With all the hoo-ha about Facebook and Twitter, it is not uncommon for mere mortals like you and me to 'befriend' a celebrity on an online social network, getting to 'know' them on a more personal level.



Posts on Facebook such as Los Angeles DJ Steve Aoki's post ("australia tour sold out! thank you guys. my last show - gold coast! let me know who can't get in and ill see if i can help.") makes their eager fans feel as though they are a part of his life--they feel included, informed and loved.



Tennis World Number 2, Rafael Nadal writes on his Facebook wall:
"La derrota mas feliz / the happiest defeat! No me quejo, de nuevo una final y aunque estoy triste por haberla perdido, feliz por haber tenido la oportunidad de una final otra vez. Ahora de vuelta para casa y mi proximo torneo Paris-Bercy. / I can't complain, I got back to play a final again and although I am sad for losing, I am happy to have had the chance to play one again. Now back to Spain. Next Paris-Bercy" [Complete with Spanish-English translation]

What most obsessive little teenage girls don't know, however, is that their charming idols are not the actual individuals monitoring and maintaining their profile pages. I'm pretty sure someone is paid to write up these 'Tweets' and help them upload their photos.

The use of online blogs and social networks to gain and sustain celebrity popularity blurs the lines between advertising and public relations: Celebrities 'advertise' themselves online to engage their fans in the daily events of their lives; at the same time, they are advocating their daily activities, maintaining rapport and personalization of their fans--showing that they are still human, and that they care about their online community.

Mm, mm, mm...No More Chicken?

The Convicted: Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
The Claim: Earlier this year, on April 22nd, 2009, the fast-food restaurant held a "Popeyes Pay Day"; an 8-piece mixed Bonafide chicken for $4.99--one day only.
The Issue: Franchise in Rochester, New York, ran out of chicken.

Take a look:



Popeyes seemed to fall victim to their own advertising. Their success at getting all their customers to come and buy their fried chicken led to their popularity, and eventually, their fall. This is similar to the KFC event where their promotional marketing for their new burger had attracted so many customers that they ran out of their product.

So the moral of the story is: If you want to sell a product, make sure you have enough of it to sell!

Another issue I've noticed while watching the video is that ALL THE HUNGRY, ANGRY, FRIED-CHICKEN LOVING CUSTOMERS ARE AFRICAN AMERICAN.

What does this imply? Is the news report portraying a stereotype that reinforces the perception that "Black people gotta have their chicken"? I'm sure that whites and people from other ethnic minorities appreciate Popeyes, or fried chicken in general, as much as African Americans do. However, only the Blacks are shown in the clip. They are all expressing their frustration and resentment towards the fast-food chain for what they are craving--chicken.

Good Ad, Bad Ad

When I first found out about this assignment, I thought it would be an easy task—I was wrong. It wasn’t because there are too many ads to choose from (even though there are), but because there are too many -AVERAGE- advertisements around town. None of which particularly catches my attention anymore. Probably the result of desensitization to the replicated “unique” commercials we see around us.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s harder nowadays to notice the “black sheep” in the flock of “Dollies”.

Anyways, I’ve finally chosen a less worthy advertisement to write about. Seems as though negative things are always easier to finger-point and critique (because they stick out like a sore thumb…). Here it is:

This ‘ad’ was stuck in the door of the HDB apartment I live in. Hand-written on a piece of color-photocopied notebook paper, it pleas for a landlord to sell their property as the buyer is in desperate need for lodging. It seems as though it doesn’t matter whether the apartment is in good or bad condition; landlords are determined a sale with Mr. Seah.

Language-barriers are even taken into consideration; with Chinese translation below. How thoughtful. Oh look, it even has a Chinese fortune-god in the bottom right corner, supposedly for prosperity? This buyer definitely is family-oriented; Mr. Seah has a professed concern for his son and grand-kids. He is undoubtedly direct in his approach, first and foremost quoting his price, and urging readers to “Call me now to view your house!” Grammar fail.

Well, this ‘ad’ was definitely unavoidable. We could choose to ignore it and toss it into the trash; however, that would require the physical act of picking the paper out of the door, glancing over it to see if it’s worth our further attention, processing the immediate appearance of the ad, and deciding whether or not to keep or can it. My decision was the latter; if I hadn’t been keeping an eye out for unworthy ads, I would think that its only worth was to fuel a fire. I’ll make sure that bigfoot media doesn’t scrawl a note on a piece of pink paper and expect anyone to react positively to it.

The Heineken “Walk-In Fridge” campaign was very successful after its launch in early 2009. Here is the first commercial:

Even after repeats of this commercial on ESPN and Star Sports, it still brought tears of laughter to my eyes. The image of the men jumping around and shouting hysterically was engraved in my head. The ad uses the stereotype of every woman’s dream to own a walk-in closet; and it wasn’t surprising to see the ladies jumping around in delight/jealousy when the closet was opened. However, the sounds of the men’s yelling in the other room outgrew the ladies’, revealing a rare sight to see. Their reaction to the ‘Heineken walk-in fridge’ was priceless, making even grown men act like little boys at the sight of the beer.

Here is the subsequent commercial of the “Walk-in Fridge” advertisements:

When it comes to Heineken, the size of the fridge it’s stored in doesn’t matter; same beer, same reaction.