Apple's iPhone 4S: Siri's Buzz

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    Like every other Apple product before it, the iPhone 4S has been highly anticipated. But this time, the buzz is about Siri, the phone’s “personal assistant”. Siri is a feature that allows you to ask it or tell it to do virtually anything, and will answer immediately. It understands most natural languages. While it is not new technology and is available in Google’s Android phones, Apple has completely mastered it.The amazing feature can do tasks as simple as playing the song you ask, setting an alarm for the time you specify, or making an internet search, to a task as advanced as making a reservation at a restaurant. Siri can obviously be perfected and will continue to evolve, but after buying the rights to the software Apple made it feel as if it’s the only product like this, and more importantly, the one you can’t live without.

For further reading: http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2011/10/17/apples-siri-the-culmination-of-steve-jobs-legacy/

Glad's New Green Trash Bags

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      Glad Products Company has a new green trash bag. Beginning Monday, October 24^th, the tall kitchen drawstring trash bags with be made with less plastic. Not only will it cost the same as previous kinds, but also Glad will reduce their use of plastic by 6.5 million pounds a year. This equals 140 million bags, a huge amount that definitely requires a huge marketing campaign. Glad is spending between $30 and 40 million to create a buzz and demand for the eco-friendly trash bags. But Glad is being smart; instead of showing an obnoxious save the planet, overly exaggerated environmentally beneficial commercial, Glad is adopting a simple and clever plan. The ads, also to begin on Monday, use lines such as “strength with less plastic” and “stronger with less plastic waste”. The campaign will even boast the millions of pounds of plastic it will save by explaining it’s enough “to cover all of Manhattan” or “to fill over 200 garbage trucks”. Some ads will show the product’s environmental benefit with a small single green leaf, versus an entire forest.       Even with a culture where consumers pay so much attention to social issues and greener products, Glad wants to advertise the whole products benefits, with its eco-friendly aspects an added perk.  Glad’s new product sales will most likely soar above their original trash bags. The new trash bag will clearly succeed with prices the same as ones with no environmental benefit, especially considering eco-friendly products are usually more expensive.
For further reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/business/media/glad-cuts-the-hyperbole-for-its-new-green-trash-bag.html?_r=1&src=recg

State Farm's New Commercial

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Last month, State Farm Insurance Agency released a new commercial featuring the Green Bay Packers Quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. The ad promotes State Farm's "Discount Double Check" program, and displays the player's signature touchdown dance as the new "discount double check dance". Since the release of the commercial, State Farm's buzz score increased dramatically, specifically within football fans and Wisconsin residents. Add this commercial to their previously existing ads that pair a catchy slogan / jingle, "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There", with a perfect balance of comedy and a relatable lifestyle, State Farm has a flawless advertising campaign.  

Personally, I think State Farms ads are hilarious. Theirs are among the few ads that I actually like watching. The new Aaron Rodgers, "Discount Double Check" commercial fits right in with the rest. In this way, State Farm should be an inspiration for other companies marketing teams. Grab the consumers attention and get a jingle stuck in their head without being annoying? Sounds like a successful ad campaign.


The Aaron Rodgers Commercial:



For further reading:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/brandindex/2011/11/16/aaron-rodgers-ad-lifts-up-state-farm-among-football-fans-wisconsinites/

Google's New Digital Music Store

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Watch out Apple. Google’s really coming after you now.

First, it was the Droid, Google’s smartphone that’s becoming stronger and tougher competition for the Apple iPhone. Now, it’s Google Music, Google’s new music download store, and the first real competition to Apple’s iTunes.
Wanting to expand its product line as the new face of social networking and digital technology, Google introduced its own music store, which will sell tracks and full albums. Google Music allows users to store its songs on “cloud accounts”, where friends can have one free listen to any friend’s bought track. Users will also be able to listen to their own music on any device or computer, something Apple iTunes charges $25 per year.
The only obstacle to this new product is that Google has been unable to form a partnership with the Warner Music Group, the third largest major label. However, Google Music is ready to sell $13 million songs, from three of the four major record labels.
This new business venture is one that, I think, will prove to be successful for Google. Apple iTunes, as dominant as it is, is expensive and sometimes difficult. If Google Music is marketed as the new place to buy music, with lower rates and simpler ways to move your own music, this could be hugely popular and profitable. Best case scenario, as it improves and grows, Google Music could have a strong hold in the music downloading industry, becoming strong competition for iTunes and propelling Google even further in the social networking and entertainment industry.
For further reading: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/google-opens-a-digital-music-store/?src=me&ref=business

Smirnoff's New Flavors

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Smirnoff, the world’s largest vodka brand, just added two new flavors:  Fluffed Marshmallow and Whipped Cream. To go with these new flavors, they are launching a new, edgy campaign estimated between $8 million to $11 million. The campaign features commercials, print ads and billboards and will be shown in places where most viewers are above the age of 21. With competitors like Three Olives and Pinnacle Vodka, who already have sweet vodka flavors like bubblegum, cake, cotton candy, and whipped cream, Smirnoff needed a fantastic campaign to convince consumers to buy theirs instead.  


With the two new flavors and the new campaign Smirnoff is definitely making the right moves. The new ad campaign plays to the fun side of vodka and the new flavors play to the sweet side. Between the two, viewers will be too interested and curious to resist. Also, since no other vodka brand has a marshmallow flavor, Smirnoff now has an edge on its competitors. Even if the flavor sounds not so great, Smirnoff has one flavor the others don’t. And being a trusted name in the industry, Smirnoff is bound to increase sales.
For further reading: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/how-do-you-drink-your-vodka-fluffed-no-chaser/?ref=business