Toblerone Social Media Challenge

To engage career-minded and college-graduated city dwellers, we chose Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as our three main media channels. We wanted to create a challenge in which the audience could purchase Toblerone and use the chocolate as a medium to recreate landmarks and/or popular places in the world (for example, the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge.)

We would choose a landmark each month for everyone to create, and they would submit their creations via photograph on Instagram. On that Instagram post, they would have a keyword to hashtag it with, like #tobleronechallenge. By tagging it with #tobleronechallenge, we (the creators of Toblerone) would be able to have a compilation of photos. We can then feature it on our Facebook. Facebook users can vote by liking and sharing the photos on their wall. Twitter folks will also be able to vote on the photos by retweeting because we will have a separate tweet for all of the photos entered. After a month, the top three favorites will be narrowed down to the top photo by the Toblerone creators. The winner will then have their creation featured on our Facebook banner and/or profile picture!

The advertisement that we will use to promote our challenge is a poster showing an image of, say, the real Eiffel Tower, but it would have bite marks at the top, or metal melting and dripping down the sides, to represent eaten or melting chocolate. On the bottom right (or any of the corners), we will have our Facebook link and/or Twitter hashtag. Because there is no information about our challenge on the poster, this will cause people to be curious and think, "why is the Eiffel Tower missing a piece?"

Interruptive Advertising

I think that interruptive advertising in television is something that most people can easily ignore. Although advertisements occur during their favorite show, they can always flip to another channel when it comes up. However, media is so advanced now; you don't even need a television to watch any shows. (This also means no TV advertisements.)

I have not turned on a television since winter break. This is because there are so many Internet websites that I can find my shows on (for example: Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and even on the TV show's webpage). Because Netflix is a company that offers video streaming, I can watch everything on there without worrying about wasting time watching lame advertisements. Hulu and YouTube may have mandatory advertisements, but there is always a mute or "skip ad" button.

Because companies have realized that people can easily flip to another channel or click "skip ad," music stations like Pandora and Spotify have created their apps to prevent people from closing an ad. Even if you pause an ad on Spotify, it won't go anywhere unless you listen to the whole thing.

While thinking about interruptive advertisement on television, I can't remember any that has kept my attention. The only ones that I think are creative are the ones that are related to the television show that's being played.

While the San Francisco Giants baseball games are on television, I've noticed that some of the commercials are related to, or even feature, the players. Although this is a Toyota Camry commercial, Buster Posey (the catcher for SF Giants) is in it. The people watching the baseball game are probably not interested in the commercials that come between the games, but if the catcher of a baseball game is in the commercial, they probably wouldn't change the channel just yet.

The Waistband Stretcher! (TV & Radio Ad)

Television Advertisement (featured around the holiday season)

Scene 1 - There is an outdoor view of a house. We can see the mom cooking dinner in the kitchen and the kids playing in the living room.

Scene 2 - The camera closes in on just the kitchen. The mom, Linda, is still in her workout clothes and an apron. She is on the phone, her kids are yelling, and she is trying to make dinner all at the same time. (Imagine the stress that Linda is going through right now.)

Scene 3 - The camera moves to Linda in her bedroom. She is trying on all her jeans for the dinner party tonight, but NOTHING fits. (In the commercial, you can see her jeans flying all over the place.) She is doing everything she can to make the pants fit - holding her breath, trying to squeeze into them, and stretching the jeans with her hands. But nothing works. All of her friends are already over at her house and she has no time to go out and purchase a new pair.

Scene 4 - Suddenly, one of Linda's friends, Molly, walks into her bedroom and asks, "what's wrong?" In this clip, we can see Molly wearing her purse with the waistband stretcher in it. Linda explains to Molly what happened. Molly says, "I was going to give this to you earlier, but I think it would be best if you had it now!" Molly hands Linda the waistband stretcher.

Scene 5 - The scene then cuts to Linda, Molly, and all their friends at the dinner party. Linda is wearing her jeans, dancing the night away and flaunting her stuff. She notices Molly across the room and winks (dramatically) at her. Molly is shown with part of the the waistband stretcher sticking out of her purse, giving Linda a thumbs-up!

This television advertisement was meant to be a dramatic way of describing the waistband stretcher. Since the product is a little bit "out there," we wanted to make our advertisement silly.

Radio Advertisement (also featured around the holiday season)

Holiday bells are ringing as it begins.

Son: Thanks for the food, Mom! It looks good!

Family conversation is happening, all while enjoying dinner.

Sound effects: *pop!* (The sound of seams ripping and buttons popping surround the dinner table.)

Mom: Have you guys heard about the waistband stretcher? I just received mine in the mail today! After eating so much, I'm the only one whose pants didn't explode!

Everyone: Wow! So amazing!

Announcer: Introducing the waistband stretcher. Perfect for all those holiday dinners.

Creative Advertising (ft. Escalators)

It gets harder and harder for people to notice advertisements now, so companies have gone to the extreme and thought out of the box. Instead of just having a printed ad on a black canvas, they are now involving the surroundings of where they want their ad to be placed. I think that an escalator is the perfect place to put an ad. If given the choice between walking the stairs or riding the escalator, everyone would choose the escalator (unless they're looking for a good workout.) For this post, I have gathered a bunch of advertisements that were featured on the escalator.

This is such a creative way of advertising Homer Simpson and the Simpsons movie. It is something that people will notice and remember forever. I think that good advertising makes someone either want to take a picture of it or talk about it. This is a good example of that. If I saw this escalator at the Westfield Valley Fair shopping center, I would want to ask people if they've seen it too!

I love this one because it plays with the yellow stripe on the side that alerts people when they're on the escalator. Because it is embedded on the stairs, it never ends, which represents the "long-lasting" power of this yellow highlighter.

I like that this Pantene ad blends in very well. It's not outrageous, but it's still noticeable by anyone going up or down the escalator. To me, this ad says that Pantene will keep your hair silky smooth and long. Although I have never seen this ad in real life, I can see this in a bus station, maybe Bart.

This McDonalds ad is a little different because it's directing those moving up the escalator towards the actual McDonalds. I don't know how well this works, but it certainly reminds you where it is in the mall.

This is a very creative way of advertising Apple apps. It proves that Apple iPhones can hold a lot of information and a lot of different apps! If I was riding this escalator and I saw an app that I didn't have, I would pull out my iPhone and search it up in the App Store. It is in the perfect place because there is nothing else to look at when you're on this escalator. It's eye-catching, especially with all the pretty and bright colors.

Companies are definitely challenged while creating these advertisements. They have to think about many different things, such as why someone would care to look at the advertisement, or how they can capture a viewer's attention.

The Typewriter

Our group's challenge was to make the typewriter desirable to college students. Because college students are into the newest technology, it was hard to think of the "pros" of having a typewriter. However, my group planned to sell the typewriter as inexpensive and simple to use.

1. The typewriter is inexpensive.
With Macbooks costing up to $1,000, it is no wonder that college students are broke. By spending less than $200 on a vintage typewriter, you can guarantee that you'll get your money's worth.

2. The typewriter is efficient and simple to use.
You don't need to hook up your typewriter to a printer; the second you start typing, you'll already have your printed copy. You don't need to worry about choosing Microsoft Word, adjusting the margins, picking the right font, or even purchasing a printer. The only thing you need to know how to do is press the keys.

3. The typewriter can prevent distractions.
Because there is no Internet browser, you won't be able to visit Facebook or Twitter while typing the essay due tomorrow. It can keep a college student on task. This can even result in finishing early so you'll have plenty of time to do other activities.

4. The typewriter can be a trend starter.
Although it was introduced long ago, the normal college student can start a new trend by using the typewriter again. She (or he) would be the first person re-introducing the typewriter again. Just like how many people enjoy using polaroid cameras now, the typewriter could definitely make a comeback.

Nostalgia Marketing (Consumer Behavior)

1. A great thing about nostalgia marketing is being able to remind people of the happiness and good times they had when they were younger, whether it was when they were teenagers or when they were little children. Many people reminisce on things they've done or enjoyed in the past. One of the things that makes me feel nostalgic are Lunchables.

Although they offer little to no nutritional value, I love them. It doesn't fill me up as a normal lunch would do, but I can't help but smile whenever I rip open the package and start making my own little pizza. I remember always accompanying my mom to Safeway and begging her to buy me these as a lunch to bring to school. Of course I always ate it the second I got home, but they made my childhood a little happier! Now that I think about it, I would never pay $3 for a package of small treats. The only  thing that would justify those $3 is my happiness.

The only disadvantage I see in nostalgia marketing is if the product wasn't liked in the past. For example, if you're marketing otter pops as the #1 treat of 1999 and many kids stole my otter pops when I was young, there is a big chance that I wouldn't buy those otter pops.

2. Yes, I think there are some products or brands for which nostalgia marketing would not be successful. Very recent technology products, like any of the smart phones that are out now, would not work because it wasn't around "back then." You can't really say, "remember spinning the number dial on telephones in the past? Yeah, you can't do that now with the iPhone." However, I guess you could offer a music app that let you listen to songs of your era ...