Category: Advertising

As automakers struggle to sell cars in a weak economy, one company has introduced a unique program to help wary consumers. Hyundai now offers its Hyundai Assurance program, which allows a purchaser of a new Hyundai vehicle to walk away from a loan obligation if he or she is unable to make payments. The gesture is an attempt to instill confidence in buyers who may be uncertain about their financial picture in the coming months. The program is unique in the industry, and it remains to be seen if other automakers will follow suit.

Hyundai Assurance is getting a lot of media buzz, but that may be the extent of the program’s value. A closer look at the program’s details reveals:

1. Cars must be financed through the Hyundai dealer.
2. The program only covers the first 12 months of the loan period. If someone falls on hard times after 28 months, for example, Hyundai Assurance does not cover non-payment.

It is unfortunate Hyundai feels the best way to differentiate itself is by offering a walk away option to new buyers. While consumers have a variety of criteria they consider when buying a car, the ability to walk away from a loan is probably not going to be weighted with great importance. This promotion is weak and walks the line between being sensitive to the financial dilemmas of consumers and playing on their fears.

Burger King has to take on the underdog role as it goes up against McDonald’s in the fast food burger wars. Its latest approach to making market share inroads is to put BK’s signature burger, the Whopper, against McDonald’s iconic Big Mac in a taste test. But this is not your typical blind taste test. BK says to find impartial judges, it must venture to lands where people are unfamiliar with hamburgers, let alone the BK and McDonald’s brands.

The result is the current “Whopper Virgins” campaign developed by BK’s ad agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky. The shop that created the Subservient Chicken is back at it again for BK. Comparative advertising can be a very effective technique for contrasting the benefits of your brand relative to competitive offerings. It worked effectively for Pepsi in the 1980s. More recently, comparative ads have been used by Apple Computer to take digs at Microsoft’s Windows platform.

The question surrounding BK’s campaign is whether it exploits or makes fun of less sophisticated consumers (if you consider having no knowledge of fast food restaurants makes one less sophisticated). Having typical customers render a judgment on whether the Whopper or Big Mac tastes better would be accepted common practice. Creating a scene that reminds one of a National Geographic TV special as the setting for a taste test may be too bizarre for some tastes. But, that is the MO of Crispin Porter & Bogusky, push the envelope on conventions to create memorable advertising.

Link: Ad Age – “Burger King, Crispin’s Latest Stunt: ‘Whopper Virgins'”

Barack Obama is taking his message to the TV airwaves in a big way. The Obama campaign is buying a 30-minute slot on as many as three major networks on October 29, six days before the Presidential election. The programs, which will air in prime time (8:00-8:30 Eastern), give Obama an extended forum to inform votes of his position on various issues. A decision as important as on which candidate to vote for President requires more information and elaboration than can be provided in a 30-second commercial or an orchestrated debate.

These “infomercials” will allow Obama to look into the camera and talk to Americans without questions from journalists or over the frenzy created by enthusiastic crowds. The TV buy is typical of the remarkable marketing communications strategy used by the Obama campaign that has utilized mobile media, blogs, and yes, even traditional mass media.

Link: Response This Week – “Obama Buys Half-Hour of Prime-Time Broadcast”

As options for consuming news and entertainment have expanded beyond traditional mediums (i.e., TV, radio, newspaper, and magazines)and into new media such as the Internet, podcasts, mobile devices, and others, advertisers find consumers more difficult to reach. The days of reaching a majority of America on one of the major TV networks is a fond memory. With audiences so fragmented, the challenge is to leave no stone unturned in finding mediums to deliver ad messages.

This challenge has led to the growth of new forms of out-of-home media. Out-of-home is a broad class of media that was once primarily billboards and transit advertising. Today, the category has grown to other high-traffic areas where marketers can reach their target audience. Malls, arenas, and even schools are targets of this form of advertising.

An advantage of out-of-home media is that advertisers often face less competition for the audience’s attention than when using traditional media. It is an effective way to break through advertising clutter. However, a fine line exists between getting attention and being intrusive. Out-of-home media can be used to create brand awareness or keep familiar brands on the minds of consumers. This benefit must be balanced against the possibility of alienating people who might be put off by being subjected to ad messages in what have usually been “marketing free” zones such as movie theaters or public restrooms.

Link: The New York Times – “You Are Here (and Probably Seeing an Ad)”

The Federal Communications Commission is considering changing the rules for identifying product placement sponsorships in entertainment programming. Currently, a paid placement in a television program must be mentioned but is often relegated to the credits at the end of a program. Much of the audience is gone by that point, so the acknowledgement of paid sponsorship goes unnoticed most of the time. Possible changes to the current rules would require that paid placement be acknowledged on screen at the time it occurs or at the beginning of a program.

Product placement has become a popular communications tactic as it benefits from the blending of entertainment content and commercialization. The lines between the two become blurred when products become part of the story line. TV programs such as “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” have utilized product placement as a key element in episodes. Because the practice has become so popular, product placement may have lost some of its luster as a stealth-like marketing tactic. While the ability to reach an audience in a way that does not have the appearance of advertising is very appealing, it should not be done at the expense of losing trust or confidence that could occur if people believe they are being deceived. That risk can be minimized if a clear identification of sponsored product placement in entertainment programming occurs.

Link: Backchannel Media – “FCC to Consider Product Placement Rules”