ludacris - barack obama's vice president?

ludacris just released a new rap song that will very unlikely win any music award in the US but is now getting a lot of press in the US.


it's an interesting new advertising format even in the widely open and free world of US politics. the lyrics aren't at all poetic like many great rap songs, in fact some of the lyrics don't even make sense (rap makes sense???) , but it has a good number of excellent sound bites that is getting printed in the press and i'm sure said in many tv news shows, including the beep! word.


among the few great spin words, that caught my attention was - "make me your vice president". that is an application form sent to barack for the vacant position of vice president, right?


political ads, specially in the US, if i may borrow a word from ludacris' song is, can be a real a bitch! (beep!) this new advertising format of ludacris proves that point. o'reily must have not slept last night with excitement and oprah must be livid! but that's how it is the world of rap and US politics - some sleep well at nights, most don't.


what was ludacris thinking? did he release that song because of his strong desire to express himself as an artist? maybe there are lines in that rap song that he found magical which of course none of us mortals could get. he wants to win another grammy for it?

did he think he was doing obama, his bud, (yeah!) a favor? he must be thinking that from now on this rap song of his will be played as background music when obama strides into a stage to speak, like make it the obama theme song. perhaps ludacris saw a rerun of rocky and thought he should make music similar to the rocky theme song.

we need answers.

aside from that, there is a lesson to be learned about friendships from this whole episode - you have to choose your friends carefully.

ludacris', whose songs barack said had intensive play in his ipod, intent is to support his man in the political race. what other reason is there?

but barack most probably got a call about this new rap song in his cell phone early morning, and right after the call, got his ipod, connected it to his laptop and deleted certain songs in them, and now barack's "my favorite" list is 3/4 empty and the most played songs re-organized.


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Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris' new song is called "Politics: Obama Is Here."


In the tune, he tears down Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Sen. John McCain.


But he gives props to Sen. Barack Obama, whom he asks to make him his vice president or give him "a special pardon if I'm ever in the slammer."


According to CBS News, Ludacris, who has previously railed against Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and Oprah Winfrey (huh?), uses irreverent language in the rap song and encourages black Americans to propel Obama to victory and "paint the White House black."
The rapper saves some of his harshest critiques for McCain: "McCain don't belong in any chair unless he's paralyzed."

Wow. Thanks a pantload, Ludacris. I'm sure Obama's camp is just thrilled by your support and your divisive and offensive song. Just what his presidential campaign needed.
Naturally, the Obama folks are already slamming the Ludacris song.


Obama spokesman Bill Burton says: "As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to. This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual, he should be ashamed of these lyrics."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/07/ludacris-boosts.html

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read more here :

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/30/politics/horserace/entry4307796.shtml

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/Obama_camp_condemns_song_Ludacris_should_be_ashamed.html?showall

new advertising format in US politics - ludacris' "politics : obama is here" song released

'Politics: Obama Is Here'

by Ludacris



Lyrics:

I'm back on it like I just signed my record dealyeah the best is here,

the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet,

it got sex appeal never should have hated you

never should've doubted him

with a slot in the president's iPod Obama shattered 'em

Said I handled his biz and I'm one of his favorite rappers

Well give Luda a special pardon if I'm ever in the slammer

Better yet put him in office, make me your vice president

Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant

Jesse talking slick and apologizing for what?

if you said it then you meant it

how you want it have a gut!

and all you other politicians trying to hate on my man,

watch us win a majority vote in every state on my man

you can't stop what's bout to happen,

we bout to make history

the first black president is destined

and it's meant to bet

he threats ain't fazing us,

the nooses or the jokesso get off your ass,

black people, it's time to get out and vote!

paint the White House black

and I'm sure that's got 'em terrified

McCain don't belong in ANY chair unless he's paralyzed

Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped

Ball up all of his speeches and I throw em like candy wrap

cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant

and you the worst of all 43 presidents

get out and vote or the end will be near

the world is ready for change

because Obama is here!

cause Obama is here

The world is ready for change because Obama is here!

WAWAM! and angelica panganiban at The New York Times blog

WAWAM! and angelica panganiban appears in a blog in The New York Times.

check it out and join the discussion:

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/freak-shots-theres-no-kanye-pill/

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just a note for those not familiar with philippine advertising on these types of ad materials.

these are actually large calendar posters that serve as pin up posters, put up in many men's rooms and places where men congregate. these pin up posters have the same functionality and desirability as that of the playboy and penthouse centerfolds with a plus, a calendar.

these calendars are hot items. they are originally meant to be posted in sari-sari stores (small neighborhood retail stores, much smaller than a 7/11) but never reach the intended destination. they are instead given as "gifts" to special customers (and friends) or if you see a salesman's truck in your neighborhood, something you beg for. they are very much sought after like a collector's item.

ginebra san miguel inc. is the largest gin drink distiller in the philippines with ginebra san miguel gin as the dominant leader. in fact, the philippines is the largest gin market in the world, making ginebra san miguel the best selling gin in the world.

as posted previously, it is some kind of a tradition for ginebra san miguel and all other local hard liquor brands in the country to produce and release these pin up calendars every year. i doubt if it has any brand equity building or volume generating abilities, it's really just one of those things you do every end of the year to waste advertising money.

all the pin up calendars are the same - they feature the latest sex sirens, the acknowledged sexiest actresses of the current year all dressed as little as possible, in the skimpiest of bikinis or just towels or plants to cover their private parts.

these actresses are called "bold stars" (as in boldly reveal as much flesh, in the nude too) but the weird thing is these actresses don't actually appear in movies. there is no movie industry in the philippines to speak of, very few local movies are produced as most of them don't make money. the philippine audience prefer hollywood movies or free tv.

these "actresses" do their bold poses in men's magazines like FHM. Angelica Panganiban has been in the cover of FHM many times over but all of them before this photo shoot when she still had the body that did not need the magic of the photoshop.

read all posts in WAWAM! on angelica panganiban and ginebra here :

http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/angelica%20panganiban

bud light and the ability to change into a cute little doggie

super powers are fun, but all of us super heroes need to be smart, too.

the situations that bud light have in their 2008 super bowl ad series sound and look very real - men talking, drinking beer, women and all that "men" talk.

part 1: slimmers world palengkera ads

these were the first print ads of slimmers world where we said something needs to be done on their layout. the layout idea seemed to be eat up as much white space as possible and get all the messages crammed in, in equal parts. it felt like a glamorized classified ads page.

while slimmer's world is supposed to be for beauty and sexy bodies for women who belong to the ABC socio-eco class, the brand image communicated by these ads is that of the palengkera who we can hear a mile away and would never, ever want to be with.

they have new layouts recently and that's what's next in WAWAM!

palengkera ad 1

palengkera ad 2

the one below had a tiny bit of improvement from the above ads. this ad now moves away from the 3/3 equal parts layout. this one below has a dominant visual. but still the palengkera brand image is there.

long legged palengkera ad 3

please scroll down for part 2....

part 2 : slimmers world beauty queen palenkera ads

it was beauty pageant time and they probably sponsored the event and got this deal with the beauty pageant. but the crazy layout mania continue to reign supreme.

beauty queen palengkera ad 4

this layout below was breathtaking! you can see baby steps improvements - ah, a little more white space, and not all the visuals take equal space.

beauty queen palengkera ad 5

please scroll down for next and final part....

part 3: slimmers world palengkera ad goes to rehab!

then one morning, i open the newspaper and on page 3 - i got the shock of my life! i saw this slimmer's world print ad that i think went to rehab!

look at the ad below: much more white space! 1 almost dominant main picture! large pictures! much smaller pictures of the other services! they are no longer cramped into that tiny space!

what a big improvement from their previous ads!

palengkera goes to rehab ad 6

but...... it's still a palengkera ad and a WAWAM!. less than the first ones, but still the same. WAWAM! is happy, they are taking baby steps to redemption. hope they continue attending the rehab.

did WAWAM! have something to do with their rehab?

read all the posts on slimmer's world here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/slimmers%20world

the visuals as storyteller

exactly what western union does - send money from here to there.

a most compelling visual for the line "Save Trees. Trees Save."

bacchus energy drink tv spot - a cocktail of brawn, brains and humor that works!

when it's an energy drink tv commercial, you know what to expect to see. the category name says it all. but not this tv spot for bacchus energy drink. there are a few things about it that are unexpected and they all work well together!

the positioning is the first unexpected twist for this energy drink. it went beyond brawn, it took in brains - "not just physical energy but also mental energy". it didn't make too much of a sale on it, but the story in the commercial gave it a good enough spin. energy is obviously a generic benefit to the category and being single minded on that makes bacchus just one of all the rest of the energy drinks. smart move number 1.

the target market of young professionals and in call centers is smart move number 2. the BPO industry is a large one and it's where you can find the largest number of young professionals. working the night shift is the thing you do when you work in call centers and that makes energy drinks a most appealing product. next to coffee, energy drinks are probably the second most consumed drink in the call center industry.

these young professionals will also find appeal in the mental aspect of the positioning. most of them are college graduates and will appreciate the ad's recognition that it also takes brains to do well in a call center job.

IT people however will probably laugh at the ad, as the supervisor's copy lines did not make sense. the lines mentioned unrelated topics and did not sound technical enough or mentally difficult enough. they should have consulted an IT professional to help them write those copy lines.

you get the humor and you appreciate it, smart move no. 3. the humor is there not just for relief but used to demonstrate key aspects of the positioning.

it also works very well because of the excellent casting, the main talent in the ad was a perfect choice - his looks were exactly what we expected. the acting was superb - real looking and not at all overly done. over-doing it is a great temptation in a storyboard like this. that means the director did an excellent job.

this bacchus tv spot is an energy boost - an excellent cocktail of brawn, brains and humor that works very well.

bank of commerce print ad - battle between the soul vs audacity?

just thinking aloud - i wonder if the missed opportunity at greatness in that bank of commerce print ad was a battle between brand image, actually corporate image versus the audacity of being creative?

maybe bank of commerce likes to be the serious, conservative and buttoned up bank. that shows in the very symetrical layout, well placed text and muted and unassuming fonts.

having an ad that can be read both right side up and wrong side up is an audacious creative concept. they liked the spunk, but their corporate soul held them back. with that kind of a layout and concept, it calls for a headline with equal spunk. this was one ad where the headline needed to call attention to itself.

when it comes to the battle between the soul and audacity, for this bank, the soul won!

bank of commerce print ad : anybody notice?

i did not immediately notice it. this ad of bank of commerce had two layouts in one and used it to communicate what the bank did. it's clever, but i am not sure a lot of people noticed it.

the above layout is right side up as it appeared in the newspaper.

the above layout is when you turn the newspaper wrong side up.

they could have changed the layout to make the idea very obvious. and more importantly, a large headline that could have called attention to it. somethting smart and witty for the headline could have made the idea pop out.

metrobank : new signage crossed lines from the dark age

this is the old metrobank signage which has since been replaced with a new one just recently. it's a simple design - monochromatic with the logo graphics and text logo as the key elements.

the approach on the new metrobank signage was to add new elements to the singnage - a white border around the logo graphics (a diamond resting on the the letter M) to call attention to it and yellow accents.

compared to the old singnage, the new one has effectively brought metrobank out of the dark age.

it is now more engaging. the addition of the yellow color even though minimal in the horizontal signage made a big difference. it gave the signage a little more life.

the design works quite well on the horizontal signage but i think it's a disaster on the vertical signage. there are just too many lines and colors on the vertical one. the yellow became too prominent and all of a sudden they added white borders. they were thin white borders but it added to the clutter.

the new design called attention to the "diamond on the letter M" logo graphics. i had not noticed it much before. it could have used a little more drama if instead of the logo graphics rendered flat, they could have raised it or made it looked embossed. that could have given it a little more class.

the important question on this singnage, as it should be asked for all sinages - is that the brand image or brand character the bank wants to communicate to clients? the new signage of metrobank carries with it a set of new brand images. do those match with the thinking and direction the bank has set for it itself?

separately, i suspect other banks copied some of the concepts and ideas from the metrobank signage. more on that in the next discussions.

one of philippine advertising's best : mcdonald's "karen" commercial

i think it's very poetic that one of philippine advertising's best, one that we can never forget, that we always remember is a tv commercial about forgetting - mcdonald's "karen" tv ad. we don't know what the official title of this ad is but all of us remember that ad by the name of one of the stars of the ad, karen.

it's a very simple ad, one story and one message. by now, we should be convinced that the most powerful ads, those that impress us the most are those that tell one single story and told in a most simple way.

it's a very pinoy story, one with drama and could have very well made most of us cry. but this is not the type that we see in telenovelas. it's not cheap nor forced.

that is where you will learn to admire the skill of the director of the ad. these are very simple shots, very straight forward. the magic that the director put in this ad is the very understated but very real acting. you felt and saw the restrained disappointment that karen felt when the lolo for the third time called her gina.

the first time the lolo called her gina, karen corrected her lolo still with a smile. the second time with an eloquent sigh audio but the third was brilliant acting and directing. it was a curt response but no real disrespect of the forgetful lolo. we all felt the disappointment that karen felt. but we admired her.

the director's skills in delivering drama and his excellent story telling skills are best shown in the last sequence where the lolo starts to slice the mcdo burger in half. this whole sequence felt like it was shot in slow motion. it wasn't, it was shot in real time. it felt like it was in slow motions as all of us were drawn to what the lolo was doing. we were captivated by the close up shots of karen and her facial expressions which were all muted but powerful. we felt transported like we were seeing what the lolo was doing to the sandwich from her eyes.

the ad works not just because of the drama that we saw unfolding in the ad. it works very well because of the consumer insight - what a dining table means to pinoy families.

all pinoy families share the best and the worst of times on the dining table. in the pinoy home, the dining table is the place where love is shown, hearts broken and where families become families.

that is no different in this dining table in a mcdonald's restaurant. in it, karen felt the love of her lolo and we saw and appreciated the love that karen had for her lolo. she did not even have to say anything, we all felt it while it happened in a dining table in mcdonald's.

all pinoy families saw this ad in their homes, many while having a meal. i'm almost sure after pinoys saw this ad, they all felt the need to call their lolo and lola. we may not think much of mcdo's dining table, but after this ad, we saw mcdonald's dining table in a different light. and better still, we saw a mcdonald's meal as a pinoy meal.

mcdonald's unforgetable "karen" ad

who can forget the unforgetable "karen" ad of mcdonald's? undoubtedly one of the best ads of the philippine advertising industry.

nestle's scrambelicious ice cream update : product launch delayed

early part of WAWAM! the nestle give-me-a-name internet contest was a favorite topic. they eventually chose the name SCRAMBELICIOUS and on april 15, 2008 when they announced the winner of the name, they said they will launch the brand in a few week's time. it's already end july, now a few months after the announcement of the winner and the product is yet to be seen in supermarkets. wonder what happened to it?

view the discussions here:
http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/scrambelicious%20ice%20cream

http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/nestle%20give-me-a-name

nestle's give-me-a-name website: http://givemeaname.ph/win/index.php

guiness tv spot : worth the wait

this tv spot is the reason the word "unexpected" was invented for adveritising.

the medium as the canvas - read my lips

senator escudero's circulan tv spot - undeserving of the good senator

i don't know about you, but after seeing senator escudero and his wife in this circulan tv spot, i vowed NEVER to buy circulan!



i am happy that escudero is a senator and he is not an actor. i am also glad the wife is his wife and not an actress. senator escudero do not have any talent in acting. escudero came out as very stiff, not at all engaging. at some point in the ad, i felt escudero was about to growl like a tiger and attack me. he looked real stern and menacing.



the wife was supposed to provide the foil, the tenderness in the ad, but she looked too flirty and yes flighty, nearly out of character for a senator's wife.



the copy points were nowhere near anything respectable. all it said was that instead of drinking several medication, just drink circulan and you will be fine. the ad suffers from not having a consumer insight and a weak positioning. after watching the ad a few times, i am still not sure what the benefit one is supposed to get from circulan.



the punchline at the end, said by the senator's wife, almost made me throw up. i'm not sure if it's the copy lines or the way the wife delivered it or the way senator escudero reacted to it. i think it's all of the above.



the intent for that last line is to be cute, but the way she delivered it and the accompanying acting was too flirty. and more importantly. why in the world did she make fun of it? that was supposed to be a tie up to the stature of the senator. because she made light of it, so now, we're left with not knowing if we should believe her or not. and if it was joke or if it was serious.



it's obviously nothing more than just a political ad for the senator. i do hope they will no longer air this tv spot, it will ruin his chances of getting elected to any public office, not to mention turn off potential buyers of circulan.



nothing in this is the fault of the senator or his wife. (she is his wife, right? she was not identified in the ad.)



this is all the storyboard's fault and one third of it is the director's fault.



the senator escudero should have been given a much better material. the copy writing was not good, the positioning nowhere and there was no creative concept. i don't think a lot of time was spent writing this ad. there is really no commercial to speak of. i feel the storyboard was not worth filming into a commercial.



the director of the commercial also felt like he wasn't there. the staging looked like it was a home video. there were a lot of scenes where the director should have shouted cut and re-take the shot. it felt like the whole ad was shot with only one take.



the senator and his wife are not actors and it should have been the director's job to teach them or direct them to appear like they are. but the director did not lift a finger in this ad. he allowed the senator and his wife to show their inexperience in acting and appearing in ads. both talents did not look good in the ad.



senator escudero is a very smart and honorable man. he is one of the most promising young senators in the country. it was a shame that circulan allowed this kind of commercial to be filmed for the senator. i am also shocked that senator escudero or his staff accepted the offer to shoot the storyboard they were given. they should have rejected the storyboard outright. the storyboard had no intelligence and no class, the exact opposite of what i think senator escudero is.



for making me want to throw up, this tv spot is a WAWAM!

kodak camera : to die for print ad, literally!

wish list for christmas : zoom lens

coppertone - unsolved puzzle print ad

they are pretty pictures, well actually ads, but we're not quite sure what they mean. we're not even quite sure what brand or product.

it takes quite a lot of effort to understand the message of these ads. the important elements of product and tagline are too small that it will require quite an effort to know what they are. i almost used a magnifying glass to find out it's an ad for coppertone.

and the message? that will take more than a magnifying glass to figure out what it is. the message on these ads are all on the left side of the ad, in the most discrete way one can put a visual on.

what is it? there's a ghost playing golf, soccer and basketball who are off screen. if you look closely, very closely, please closer, you can see the balls and the club in action.

it feels like this ad is an unsolved puzzle with ever so subtle clues as to what they mean. why bother coming up with pretty ads that most likely nobody will understand?

this brand x print ad - it's a WAWAM!

chupa chups - to die for print ad!

sugar free lollipops!

security bank logo and a dirty little secret

a few banks have recently changed their signages. it's interesting that it's happening at about the same time. did the banks talk among themselves on the timing? some of the changes are from good to better but some are from good to bad. WAWAM! will look into these changes.

this one for security bank is not really a change for them. it's been the same old singnage design. but it's here for the logo.

i get choked up at their logo graphics - i am sure it's supposed to be the letter "S" in "Security" and that's good. but did they have to mangle the letter "S" that much?

i have two guesses how the design agency sold that logo graphics design to security bank.

one is the yin-yang idea, like a full circle of life thought, something complete. but my guess is what they made a big deal on is the graphics resemble the number "8", it's a lucky number for the chinese and the family who owns security bank are chinese.

with chinese clients - present them something that is "lucky", like a graphics design that looks like the number "8" or the color gold or red and they will find it very tempting to buy it.

it pays to know your clients. that is one of those dirty little secrets that ad agencies and in this case design agencies know and use to great success with chinese clients.

slimmers world print ad - poster ad of the bad and ugly

that's one of the first print ads of slimmers world that was posted in WAWAM! it's print ads quickly became WAWAM!'s poster print ad for what's bad and ugly in print ad layouts.

the print ad at the left is shown in that way because it's about the same if printed right side up.

but, there is good news for this palenkera print ad. that's next in WAWAM!

kurot sa kwan tv spot - stratos chocolate bar

please view the ad first, view it only once.






the first time i saw this tv spot, my reaction was - awww, what a nice ad. kurot sa puso for a chocolate bar.

so, i proceeded to open this blog and decided i was going to give it a title "'kurot sa puso', european style". while the browser was opening, then it popped on me ---

wait a minute, something is wrong with that ad! i asked myself, were 2 ads spliced together? or was that just one ad but the first half did not make sense? the first half had the boy playing alone and feeling sad, then it cut to him preparing dinner for his parents. what the hell was that?

and what was that sequence of putting off the light in the bedroom? did the boy sleep early? why? and why was he not shown sleeping in the bed?

and what has the baby in the end got to do with the ad?

i watched the commercial again and said this time, i'll pay attention to the story.

after the second time watching it, then i got the ad! and it made me laugh! i asked myself instead - what? boys that age know what to do? and then i thought, the proper title for this ad is "kurot sa kwan", not "kurot sa puso". hehehe

am i the only one who didn't get the ad the first time it was watched?

casino femme's kris aquino tv spot - what a waste of a good ad concept!

the casino femme tv spot is an unusual celebrity endorser tv spot. it's not the usual trite use of a celebrity where the thinking is - just put a celebrity in the ad and it will sell, even if all that the celebrity has to do is to show his/her face in the ad.

this celebrity endorser tv spot has a story and a concept in it. more importantly, and this is the proper use of celebrities in ads, it exploits the unique personality and character of the endorser. we know kris aquino to be somewhat a controversial celebrity. while she is not on the really scandalous set, she has a fair share of shall we say "mild controversies".

the commercial started to build up the idea of some secret or controversy will be revealed about kris aquino. and in this case the idea that kris goes to the casino, to be revealed towards the end of the ad that she meant the product with brand name casino on it.

the copy was also written very well. you can tell the writer is a craftsman of words and did put in some witty lines in the ad. the spot opens with kris saying "i'm doing my best para mapanitiling mabango at malinis ang pangalan ko" ("i'm doing my best to maintain for myself a clean and good name"), which turns out to be the tagline, "bangong germ free" (fragrant that's germ free) and uses the words "mabango at malinis" (fragrant and clean) as point of sale for the brand. she ends the commercial with a witty "isusugal ko ang pangalan ko sa bagong casino femme" ("i will gamble my good name with the new casino femme").

we all know who kris aquino - she is the daughter and has thefamily name of two national heroes of thecountry - cory aquino, a former president of the cocuntry, a historic figure the EDSA revolution and ninoy aquino who came home from exile knowing fully well he can be killed if he returned to the country. and indeed he was killed on the tarmac of the airport.

the ad opening and making a big deal about kris aquino's name (pangalan) is a very smart one.

the only builds i have on this ad are (a) they should have asked the film director to go to town with this ad. the concept of the ad is interesting - it's over-dramatic, an exaggeration and has a concept that is quite cinematic. i think the director should have dialed that up even more. the directorial treatment is too lame. if the over dramatization was done by the director, it could have been funnier and a much more arresting tv ad.

the other part is that (b) there's too much copy. i think the product middle is saying too many unnecessary copy points. an alcohol being fragrant and having the ability to kill germs are not at all unique to this brand of alcohol. every other alcohol brand can claim those, so why spend so much time on them? had they cut the copy in the product middle, then the director could have used the time to over dramatize the situation. an alcohol is an alcohol is an alcohol. all rubbing alcohol with 70% content can pretty much do the same thing.

what sets this alcohol brand apart is not it's 70% alcohol content, not even its fragrance, it's actually kris aquino. developing the storyline behind the persona of kris could have done wonders for this ad.

i think in some ways, the ad agency and client got confused on the strength of this ad and what can sell the brand. i know that advertising principles tell us there is a need to get some kind of product middle in all ads, specially for brands that have functional benefits but we need to come down to earth and recognize exactly what can sell.

making a big deal about germ killing is almost meaningless to rubbing alcohol brands. it's generic to the category. they could have made a big deal of its fragrance, but this was not done as well. they did not make an effort to be more specific as to what kind of fragrance the product has.

rather than spend precious time in the brand's generic germ killing properties, i would have spent most of the time on kris aquino and dramatizing the concept of the ad. i would have gotten a director who is excellent in telling stories and one who has a flair for drama and exaggeration, almost comedic. the appeal and charm of this ad mostly rests on the concept of the ad and how kris aquino is being used in it.

i would also make a thing about the fragrance as in truth that has the potential to set the brand apart. i would have chosen a unique way to dramatize the perfume, but not its germ-killing benefit. a good copy line on the fragrance could have done it.

the true power of this ad is not the product, it's the advertising concept. it's not a WAWAM!, sayang lang yung ad. what a waste of a good ad concept!

corporate identity : metrobank, BDO, BPI, security bank and union bank

been to your bank lately? noticed anything different?

there seem to be an epedimic affecting many banks these days - a few banks have changed their signages. there are winners and there are WAWAM! and that's next here.

obama and the new yorker, a lesson in communication 101

this is not advertising, it goes with the general heading of communication, but this new yorker magazine cover featuring the obamas is a an excellent lesson in communication 101 which we can easily apply to advertising 101.



it has created a fenzy where one side says it's insulting and degrading to the obamas and creates fear while the other says people should ligthen up becuase it's satire. the new yorker as a magazine has been doing this kind of covers and articles for decades.



obama has downplayed it. both the democratic and republican parties have denounced it. media, comentators and analysts are divided.



one of the very early lessons one learns in advertising is this term "polarizing", it means the same communication material may be interpreted in two different and opposite meanings. more importantly, these different or opposite meaning may turn off one group of the audience and may turn on another separate group. that results to one group not liking the ad and the other liking the ad.



when you see a storyboard or layout like that, the immediate action should be to junk it and not use it in advertising. advertising is an investment and a costly one. it's meant to not just build a brand equity but more importantly build business. a large part of its ability to build equity and business is its likeability. airing advertising that polarizes the audience let's say 50% of them liking the ad and 50% not like the ad mean the investment you have put into into your business is yielding only half of the benefits you want to get out of it.



this is not being conservative or being ho-hum, it's being a smart investor of your brand's money. advertising is a business tool and like every business tool, you want to make sure it works well for your business.









the lesson here is this -- when you're into the business of communication and that includes advertising, make sure you use a form of communication and message that everyone will clearly understand and never one that risks being misunderstood or misinterpreted. the primary goal of communication is not just to communicate, but more importantly, to communicate very well.







It's satire, folks ... lighten up --> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/15/EDSS11P0IR.DTL&type=politics



It's only a cartoon! But Obama adds that New Yorker cover insults Muslims --> http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/07/16/2008-07-16_untitled__cover16m-1.html

calvin & hobbes on advertising

double click image to enlarge

iphone as fulcrum towards market leadership

AT&T's iPhone bet not a big gamble
Analysis: Carrier to pay more up front, but analysts see big payoff

By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
Last update: 3:00 p.m. EDT July 10, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- By slashing the price of the iPhone to $200, AT&T Inc. hopes to lure millions of new customers to its wireless service, already one of the largest in the nation.
But the cost is steep -- perhaps as high as $2 billion over the next year and a half.
Is it worth it? "Absolutely. You bet," said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel.

AT&T's enthusiasm for the iPhone, which arguably has revolutionized the nascent market for handheld computers, is easy to explain. The device has given AT&T a leg up on rivals, generated an avalanche of publicity no money could buy and, most important, prodded iPhone owners to spend much more than the average wireless user.

It's hard to find industry analysts who would color this rosy hue a darker shade. While Wall Street is less enthusiastic about the initial cost of the new strategy, the prevailing view is that AT&T will more than recoup the cost of heavy subsidies for new buyers.

"This is going to bring more customers in the door," according to analyst Todd Rethemeier of Sur Terre Research.

The new 3G iPhone from Apple Inc. launches in stores across the globe on Friday. The device runs on faster 3G networks and carriers a lower price point than its predecessor. It also comes stacked with applications designed to appeal to more corporate users, such as the ability to actively synchronize with Microsoft Outlook.

Main Street appeal

When AT&T and Apple launched the first iPhone last summer, the device was priced at $500 to $600. That was quickly reduced in fall 2007 to $399 for the least-expensive model. So far, more than 6 million iPhones have been sold.

Yet since the vast majority of consumers spend $100 or less for phones, AT&T and Apple effectively locked themselves out of most of the market. The sharp price reduction in the second-generation iPhone underpins a strategy to reach a much wider audience.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/telecom-report-att-makes-big/story.aspx?guid=%7BFBAEFD6F-C0E0-421F-8B85-339D1CED2B82%7D&dist=hpts

the media as canvas - creativity unleashed

starbucks USA's world domination push scaled back

one of the core strategies of starbucks and a strength is it's world dominatkion strategy where they put up outlets like mushrooms popping out everywhere. not just everywhere, but in the choicest and best locations anywhere. some have called their criteria for location as "main street corner main street".


the previous chairman and founder of starbucks, howard schultz has recently come back from retirment and took over starbucks. it's stock price has been cut into half and it's growth stalled and shultz is expected to return starbucks to it's glory days. (dicussed in WAWAM!, read about it here: http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/starbucks)


as part of shultz' move, starbucks will scale down it's US operations, pulling back it's world domination strategy. read the excerpts:

Starbucks to Close More Stores
By JANET ADAMYJuly 1, 2008 5:29 p.m.

In its most significant pullback yet to its U.S. expansion, Starbucks Corp. said it will close an additional 500 U.S. stores and cut 7% of its work force.

The move effectively ends Starbucks' era as a break-neck growth company, one that blanketed the country with about 11,000 locations nationwide since the late 1980s. It's also a sign that the specialty coffee business is taking a troubling turn just as mainstream companies like DMcDonald's Corp. are beginning to invest heavily in it.

--

Throughout this decade, Starbucks opened hundreds of locations across the country to boost sales growth and siphon traffic from stores where long lines were driving away customers. The density of Starbucks in places like New York and other large cities turned the chain into a ubiquitous American symbol, spawning countless jokes about the chain's prevalence.

But last year, as Starbucks sales began to soften, it became clear that the company's growth was cannibalizing its sales in a way that was threatening the
chain's success, as well as causing the quality at existing locations to slip. Analysts have said that Starbucks lowered the bar on selecting new locations in recent years.

"We recognize that it is necessary to make decisions that will strengthen the U.S. store portfolio," Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said in a statement.

Starbucks has been struggling to lure customers amid a slowdown in consumer spending and increasing competition from other coffee and restaurant chains. Mr. Schultz took over in January to revive the company, whose stock lost about half its value in the year before his return, but the company's shares have yet to rebound. He has been speeding through changes, including introducing a new daily brewed coffee that has helped boost Starbucks' drip coffee sales but has alienated a small group of loyal Starbucks customers.

read in full here : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121494400432420449.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

nike's manny pacquiao tv spot - use of philippine national anthem

i do not know the answer - is the use of part of the philippine national anthem, it's lyrics and music allowed by law? is there a law that prohibits it's use for commercial use like a tv spot?

nike's manny pacquiao tv spot

it feels like manny pacquiao has at least a dozen tv commercials on air for different brands. but of all the pacquiao tv ads, this nike tv spot is the best and the one that has the most class of the bunch.

everything works very well - the consumer insight is deep and hits home, the visuals and production values are excellent, copy is very sparse and the choice of the song and lyrics is brilliant.

this is a country hungry for heroes for the longest time and pacquiao serves that role very well with a string of not only successes but brilliance in his sport. it also helps that he looks and speaks like most of us - simple words, some english, with a strong accent from our hometown and he makes a lot of sense. he is not at all pretentious and it seems he does not yet know of his greatness. or if he did, he keeps forgetting about it.

he doesn't know it yet or perhaps he does not care, but pacquiao is a class act. and that is why this nike commercial is the best of all pacquiao tv ads.

it's very respectful of manny's stature as a hero to the people. it does not put manny in awkward, silly and forced story lines and does not make manny say those silly copy lines. the nike ad simply puts the hero in exactly the place and situation he excels in and why we love him as our hero.

the choice of that line from the country's national anthem "...ang mamatay nang dahil sa yo" tugs at every one's hearts and very eloquently speaks of what our hero seem to go through in every fight and most importantly the suffering many people have to endure in the country. it connects with us very well. and that is exactly what a brilliant consumer insight is.

it's great to know that nike made a classy commercial for a classy hero. and a great reminder to all of us that filipinos are also a class act. kudos to nike!

memo to globe : some research data on iphone buyers

this is not exactly and completely applicable to globe's iphone 3G launch, but here's a bit of data that can spark a few ideas. consumer information like this would be critical to the success of globe's launch of the iphone 3G.

double click image to enlarge or go to link to view and read article.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9315

iphone 3G sells 1 million phones on its weekend launch

this is the power of the iphone 3G - selling 1 million phones over a week-end when the original iphone reached that level in 74 days.

globe telecom should gain more confidence for their own launch.


===============

IPhone 3G Rings In One Million Sales

In its first weekend of sales, Apple's 3G iPhone connected with consumers, pushing sales to one million units after just three days on store shelves. Despite software glitches and collapsed servers, analysts declared the launch a success and expect Apple to surpass its goal for ten million sold iPhones by the end of the year.

"IPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend," said Chief Executive Steve Jobs Monday. "It took 74 days to sell the first 1.0 million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world."

Part of the phone's appeal is its price. At $199, the new version is 60.0% cheaper than the original's starting price of $499. It also boasts a faster Internet connection and a global navigation system hookup in addition to the easily organizable touchscreen and sleek design that made the original a must-have for gadget geeks and connectivity cravers. (See " The Real iPhone Arrives.") Apple expects to sell 10.0 million iPhones this year. The phone is currently available across Europe, Australia, Mexico, Japan and in North America and Hong Kong. The phone goes on sale in France on July 17.

Analysts are already projecting that Apple will surpass its own expectations. Mark Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets, expects Apple to ship 14.0 million iPhones by the end of this year and 24.0 million by the end of 2009. Although the 3G's low price makes it more financially appealing than its predecessor, the new version carries heftier service fees and the battery doesn't hold its charge as long.

http://www.forbes.com/equities/2008/07/14/apple-iphone-closer-markets-equity-cx_mp_0714markets36.html


more on this, next in WAWAM!...

globe handyphone and the 3G i phone : part 2

wonder what globe handyphone will do when they launch the iphone? and more importantly, how does globe see the iphone?

in some ways, it's good that globe did not join the global launch of the iphone last july 11. the launch suffered a glitch on the internet side of the launch. so it saved globe some headache. launching the ipod on a latter date makes sure globe's own launch will go on without a hitch. but what they have lost in not joining the global launch is the goodwill and the excitement. they could have ridden the momentum.

will globe look at the iphone as the fulcrum to take them to leadership as many other foreign carriers have or will globe look at the iphone as just one more cell phone in their list of many cellphones?

globe has been unable to get leadership from smart. not that we have seen globe try hard enough, but i'm sure it's every brand's dream to be market leader. the prize for being the market leader in the philippine mobile market can be a very rewarding one. globe has shown aggressiveness in recent months, but i don't think they have done anything powerful enough to tip the scale to their favor.

and as far as WAWAM! is concerned, we think the 3G iphone has what it takes to make globe take leadership away from smart.

but does globe have what it takes to make it happen? i see the iphone as an excellent gift to the marketing plans of globe. there are many superiority points that they could actually use. and the good thing about it is that smart cannot match it. as of now, there is no other cellphone in the market that can match the iphone's reputation and technology.

does globe have the attitude and culture to use the iphone as it's lead weapon to leadership? we have seen the kind of aggressiveness smart can deliver, but not on globe. globe seem to belong to a corporate culture that is too slow and too cautious. they are not used to skirmishes.

WAWAM! says the iphone is one of those once in a lifetime marketing gift to take globe to leadership. let's see if globe is up to it.


more on this in WAWAM!.....

immediacy and visibility in crisis management part 3

when disaster strikes a company and it turns into crisis management mode, for families of the victims, the prevailing sentiment is hurt, sorrow and hunger for relief and an insatiable hunger for information for the victims of the families involved in the disaster like what happened to sulpicio lines (princess of the stars), abs-cbn (wowowee) and ayala land (glorieta explosion).

the general public will automatically give their sympathy to the families of the victims of the disaster. the overwhelming feeling will be "awa" (pity) and to some degree fear as it reminds them that no one is safe, that they too or a family member could have become a victim. they will search for sympathy points, completely hungry to gorge on more information on the disaster and what the families of victims have to say about it.

media is on heightened alert, it's a scoop mentality where they go into full coverage and will pry into every angle. they will send teams of news reporters to look at all angles all at the same time and will try to get them as soon as possible. aside from making sure they have full round the clock coverage of the location of the disaster, they will send teams to look into possible issues elsewhere that they can feature in the near future. they will not only look at the present, they will look into what they will print in the next few days and weeks.

it is this forward thinking and the scoop mentality that will get them a bigger audience in the future. the present events will get the same coverage from all media competitors, they will not stand out. what will make a media outlet stand out is the angle that they will be investigating now that their competitive media outlets have not seen.

the law enforcers, politicians, government officials and government regulators will also step into the picture. they are drawn into it not only because they are ultimately responsible for the safety and security of its citizens, they are also attracted to the magnetic power of media exposure, hopefully for better and not for worst.

in all of the above, and this is the most immediate time from the disaster, perhaps within the next five to seven days, blame and legal accountability is the farthest thing from their minds. it is some kind of relief from the pain that is most needed. and reassurance from someone or some group is there for them is much more important and of course information and facts.

the families of the victims are the most important in this time frame.

more on this in WAWAM! next........