June 17th: Advertising/PR, Adobe, Jack Black, Digital Divas, Glossi, and Google Sandbox

        

      I started off my day looking around downstairs at all the booths and tables of different companies and organizations. I walked over a Brazilian Publishing company, which publishes over 50 different publications in Brazil. It included magazines of various topics: fashion, travel, health, sex, sports, news, etc. I was drawn to not only the free content, but also the familiar topics on the shelf. I read Elle, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, as much as the average fashion obsessed teenager. However, there was something so incredibly fascinating about seeing the magazines in Portuguese with styles and trends that are different than what I am accustom to seeing. I picked up a Portuguese Elle and Women’s Health along with a smaller, yet heavier magazine that looks very similar to a Portuguese Cosmo. The women in the magazines are just as beautiful and just as glamorous as the women in American magazines. Because I do not understand the written words, I am left to analyze the photos. There are interviews with women, stories on art, fashion and beauty tips, and many advertisements, including Tiffany’s and Co., Keds, Chanel, Prada, and Coach. While the language may be foreign and the brands may be different, two things remains consistent—the fashion is incredible (even the article about the kilt being trendy) and the magazine is very user friendly.

         Next, I stopped at the walls filled with creative and innovative advertisements and PR research. The material was expansive in content-- from outdoor advertisements to press and print advertisements to PR campaigns. The advertisements were all categorized by theme, whether that was television, public service and awareness, beauty and cosmetics, retail, etc. Some advertisements were hilarious and some were so profound I stood in front of the ad for several minutes.

            Some had so much content, while others lack of content made them so inspiring with the simplicity of the page. Fiat’s ad campaign was fairly simple, an illusion consisting of a picture/letter. Your eye focuses in and out on the picture or the letter as your mind processes the two images. In the corner, the ad states, “You either see the letter, or the (image) girl. Don’t text and drive.” I stood staring at the ad shocked by how true that statement is and how applicable it is to driving. You cannot focus on two things at once. It is not how our brain is meant to function, which makes the ad so much more powerful.

            Paradoxically, there were many advertisements that made me laugh. The Harvey Nichols Sale ad looked so dull and boring…at first. Yet when you look closer and connect the tag line to the image, you cannot help but laugh a little to yourself. With the slogan “Try to contain yourself,” the confusion leads you to look over at the image of a beautifully dressed man or woman with a little wet spot over his/her bladder area.

For a nice clothing line, this is a great idea. It showcases their trendy attire, yet it grabs the attention of the consumer and shows that the company can have fun and is really interested in providing a relaxed environment for consumers.

            I took a lot of interest in the PR campaigns. Many were done with no funds, just by the word of mouth and many dedicated volunteers. For a large PR stunt to occur, it would be assumed that an equally large amount of money would have to be applied to make it a reality. Yet, Memory Bread was created and exposed to an international audience without any money down.

After the AMIA terrorist attack in Argentina, taking 85 victims and leaving 300 injured in a Jewish community, the Argentinean Community did not want the event’s 18^th anniversary to pass without notice. Volunteers (including Jewish chefs and nutritionists) came together to create tasty bread with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to actually help improve brain function and memory. This was the community’s way of claiming justice for the victims. It was their way of really remembering the event.

The Memory Bread was a hit and became an international phenomenon. The power of PR is incredible, and I feel honored to get to see all the innovative campaigns around the world that have been nominated for awards at the Cannes Lions Festival.

Adobe: You Can’t Trust Marketers

In a recent study of the least valuable professions, marketers are listed among politicians, actors and dancers. This is because the conception of a marketer is skewed. People think of marketers as “lipstick on gorillas instead of telling the truth,” Steven Althaus, Director of Brand Management at BMW said.

In a world where 73 percent of people do not believe that advertisements tell effective stories, it is important for marketers to form a narrative connection to the audience. Lisa Donohue, CEO of Starcom USA, believes it is essential to stop thinking of stories as channels and start thinking about how to tell stories and communicate them effectively. In order to do so, trust needs to be earned. It is a matter of the brand and the marketers working together to figure out the journey to trust and how to leverage all the different vehicles in order to build that trust. Above all, she believes it is important to be authentic, as many speakers have acknowledged during the festival. Authenticity builds trust, which leads to relationships and great branding strategies. “I think it will look different if we continue to push the authenticity and communicate authentically,” the CEO concluded.

Though Donohue and Althaus made great points, I was very interested with Tina Brown, the Editor and Chief of The Daily Beast. As a reader of this publication and a Twitter follower, I was interested in her idea of editorial marketing. Brown believes it is essential for a marketer to respect the editorial credibility, which is why The Daily Beast does not usually, if ever, use purchased editorial pieces. Some people believe these pieces are better because they have more time to prepare better headlines, but Brown believes it diminishes the credibility of her publication, which is something that The Daily Beast is known to have.

Brown made a few remarks that were words of wisdom for any up and coming journalist or marketer:

• The marketers who listen to the editorial side are the ones who are the most successful.
•  The ones who penetrate and learn to tell the editorial story are the most successful, and the ones who are only concerned with their brand are not successful.
• The market will benefit from what you can learn from the audience.
•  If you have quality content, people will come.

Overall, I really enjoyed this Adobe talk. Though I am neither a journalist nor a marketer, it is so important to understand these two fields regardless of what communications background you come from. There is not a doubt in my mind that you will come in contact with BOTH journalists and marketers at some point in your professional life. It is so crucial to understand how to tell a story and create quality content.

Yahoo: The New World of Online Content – Appealing to the Habits of Today’s Consumers

I think the highlight of this seminar, more than anything, was seeing Jack Black in person and sitting two rows away from the stage. With opening comments like “I drank a little bit too much last night,” and “I am not Zach Galifianakisz. I am the other fat, funny guy,” Jack Black is definitely an entertaining guy.

            The seminar really plugged Black’s new comedy digital Yahoo series Ghost Ghirls. Because the series is digital and not on TV, it allows the creators the freedom to create their own personal image and take risks. Additionally, it is not subjected to a 22 episode series. It can be as many or as few episodes as the creators want to pursue. The fluidity of the online medium allows for creativity and assessment through data, especially to get feedback from viewers. It is important to “keep the user first and the brand second,” Erin McPherson, VP and head of videos at Yahoo, said.

Take risks, celebrate creativity, and invite innovation into your life.

Digital Divas: The Women Leading a Cross-Channel Shopping Revolution (Master Class)

This was probably my favorite talk yet! When digital platforms meet the modern woman, you get a Digital Diva.

Question: What is a Digital Diva?

Answer:  Women who seek digital paths for shopping, sharing, and other aspects of her life. These are women who are digitally savvy and build relationships and network digitally.

Question: How many people are Digital Divas?

Answer:  Only 18 percent of society is categorized as a Digital Diva. (It is like an exclusive club, where all your friends are on digital devices.)

Question: What are the characteristics of a Digital Diva?

Answer:

•  Loaded with five or more digital devices
•  It is usually an urban woman
• They obtain a network of 400 people on social media (A quarter of Divas have 800 people, even though the maximum number of relationships people can retain is 148)
• 7 in 10 Divas share content
•  1 in 3 divas have adopted a secret online identity
•  74% agree I can express myself online I ways I would never dream of expressing myself offline
•  Digital Divas purchase everyday household items online
•  Divas are completely addicted to cell phones and cannot live without it
•  Divas set digital trends

Some interesting facts about Digital Divas:

•  Women speak 7,000 words a day, while men only speak 2,000 words a day—in a digital space this translates into digitally influencing other women
•  UK has the most Divas, Saudi Arabia (fastest growing Twitter users) has the second most Digital Divas, followed by Russia with the third largest amount of Digital Divas
•  75% of Divas sleep with their phones
•  On average, a Diva loses 2-4 hours of sleep to mobile devices
•  Digital Divas consider their phones to be their best friend, lover, companion, investigator, customer service agent and problem solver

Am I a Digital Diva? Probably. However, I do enjoy shopping in stores, socializing with people in person, and my iPhone is my investigator, customer service agent and problem solver, but definitely not my lover.

Native Advertising (Tech Talk):

Check out Glossi. Now everyone can be a creative magazine designer. (I personally think this is a brilliant idea, and I will definitely try and create a Glossi once I have more content.)

Google Sandbox:

I am close to speechless with how incredible this event is. It was a literal/physical ‘Google Hangout.’ Google chrome has a series of new browser games that are played with the use of a webcam. I did ski bowling, car racing, a triathlon, a portal search, narrated a silent film, sent international Burberry Kisses, and my favorite event, Ping-Pong. I entered the Google Hangout Ping-Pong Tournament with another Syracuse Student, Nomi Foster, where we dominated and took home first place!

Not only was it beautiful Google décor with a guitar player singing at the YouTube station right on ‘Google Beach’ with free drinks, massages, make your own android design towels, and foosball, but all chrome games were stationed by the creators or producers of that game. They were all young, no older than 30, and they were all well established in their field. They shared their experiences with me and were genuinely interested in networking. It was an incredible and beautiful experience, by far my favorite event thus far (granted this was only the second day)!

This event, along with the Cannes Lions Awards, which were presented tonight for Creative Effectiveness, Promo & Activation, PR and Direct Lions, and Cannes Chimera Winners, really got me even more excited for day three!

Dumb Ways to Die won Grand Prix for both PR Lions and Direct Lions. 

Follow the hashtag #NewhouseIDSM for more insight on the Cannes Lions Festival through Syracuse University students.

Follow me on Twitter: @mona_lisap

June 16th: Sex Appeal, Focus Forward, Celebrities, and the Women's Rights Movement

Today was the first official day at the Cannes Lions Festival. The festival’s appearance is just what the festival aims to discuss: innovative, digital, creative design, bold, and bright. I started my day off early and continued later into the evening with seminars, screenings, and meeting interesting people. I finished off the night at the Cannes Heineken Bar, sponsored by Adobe, for free drink and networking. Take a glimpse/snapshot into some elements of my busy, yet incredibly interesting day (If I include everything, I will never get to bed):

Cosmetics and Beauty (screening):

This was a different type of event. The Debussy Auditorium was very quiet at 9 a.m., as the screen filled with one commercial at a time. The products were extensive, from perfumes to hair coloring formulas to men hygiene products. The products were from various countries including United States, Japan and France. Though all the ads were different, they were all appealing whether visually, humorously, or factually.

Out of all the commercials, two ad campaigns really caught my attention: Axe and Old Spice. Both brands sell deodorants and share the same target market. Yet what makes the brands’ campaigns so interesting are the ways they choose to represent themselves and the type of campaign each created.

Axe prides itself on being a ‘sexy’ brand. All of the commercials focus on a guy (usually topless with an amazing body) doing something manly and surrounded by women who bat their eyes in trance at the manliness.

In Axe’s Young/Mature deodorant, Axe used 3D glasses to convey two different realities at the same time. The realities depict attracting a younger woman, through the blue lens, and a more mature woman, through the red lens. It is a virtual story from shopping with a woman to relaxing with a woman to sex with a woman. Each event overlaps to compare and contrast the different experience a man can have with a young woman verse a mature woman.

The commercial ends with the man standing in front of his cabinet faced with the decision of which deodorant to apply. The concluding question is “What mood are you in today?”

This commercial, like the rest of Axe’s commercials, suggest that by applying Axe’s deodorant, a man will instantly attract a female. The commercials depend on the sex appeal of men and the objectifying of women. These two elements go hand in hand. The beauty and cosmetic industry uses opposing features to contrast men and women. If a man is on display, the woman is then portrayed as weak and defenseless, while the man gets to be the hero.

This works for Axe. They reach their target audience appealing to a male fantasy, sex. Old Spice, however, grabs the audience with an appeal to humor. Old Spice Champion’s campaign focuses on NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings and the exaggerated feelings of being invincible and being a champion. In one add, Jennings is doing pushups with a jet ski on his back, in another his body is completely discombobulated and stuck in cement (but he is so happy because he smells good) and in another, he is on a Hollywood set where he explains “you feel like a Hollywood star in your own life.”

With a slogan of “Believe in your smelf,” it is pretty clear that the Old Spice campaign is intended to make people laugh, smile, appreciate the brand, and ultimately buy the product.

I think both advertising styles are effective. People enjoy a good laugh and the appeal to sex never goes out of style. It is very interesting that two distinguished brands have such strong ways of marketing themselves.

Sex appeal in advertising:

I am well aware that sex appeal is a useful tactic in getting a bystander or passerby to observe a product and eventually become a consumer. Sex sells. It works. However, I think I was oblivious to how big of a concentration advertising places on the body and sex. Once I was in a room watching consecutive advertisements from different brands that use sexual appeal, I realized how prominent it is in consumerism.

Playboy Limousine for Her and Playboy Limousine for Him did not even try to hide their agenda of sex. The commercial discussed the possibilities of ‘hooking up’ with the limousine driver. However, this is expected from a multi-million dollar corporation that was established on the exploitation of sex. Yet companies for soap, like Cinthol (Alive is Awesome) and Bruit Cologne (Late) stressed the importance of sexual behavior. Cinthol features both men and women in the wild (in both hot and cold climates) on elephants, on the ice, and in a forest in little to no clothing washing themselves in a sexually appeasing manner. Bruit Cologne highlighted sexual dominance with the slogan “Let your man out.” As soon as the husband put on the cologne, his wife immediately became nine months pregnant.

Sex sells. That is all there is to it. It excites, attracts, and possibly even inspires. If sex did not sell then these advertisements would not have been selected for the Cannes Lions Festival.

Here are a few of my favorites from the screening:

Old Spice Watermelon

Old Spice Bed

OPI Instinct of Color

Cinelan: GE Focus Forward The Creativity of Reinventing Everyday

“Behind ever innovation is a story. Watch. Share. Get Inspired.” This quote on the first slide of the presentation really set the tone for the rest of the seminar. Cinelan creates “brand affinity for clients by building audiences around powerful content. “ It allows award-winning filmmakers to create an authentic and genuine three-minute video. Though Cinelan produces the video, the filmmaker has full control on the style, tone, and voice he/she wishes to engage. The purpose of the videos is to inspire and ultimately, make a difference.

Jack (more commonly known as Mr. Toilet) created a film with the assistance of Jessica Yu about sanitation activism. Mr. Toilet aims to help create a sanitation system that will allow the 40% of people in the world who do not use proper toilets to have toilets and be educated on the need for these devices. Mr. Toilet has taken great measures to make his vision a reality. Through UN support, Matt Damon’s toilet strike, Google, World Toilet Day, and educating those around him, Mr. Toilet has helped to begin creating a world with less disease and death. Jessica Yu’s three-minute Cinelan film has really helped share Mr. Toilet’s project and increase world knowledge.

            In a world full of tech-savvy people in the digital era, it is mind blowing to me that people are still dying from diarrhea, and teenage girls are dropping out of school due to the lack of toilets in school during menstruation.

            Mr. Toilet discusses a serious issue. Though he jokes about “shit,” he believe that turning a taboo into something humorous is important, though it is a great media challenge.

Celebrities in the Media:

Yes, I sat three rows in front of Martha Stewart, Mel B, and Nick Cannon 

(who now follows me on Twitter)!

Martha Stewart:

Amount of Followers: approximately 3 million followers

Social Media Use: uses social media professionally to engage with her audience

Amount of Time on Twitter: Never spends more than five minutes on Twitter a day

Nick Cannon:

Amount of Followers: 4.3 million followers

Social Media Use: Connect with fans in an authentic way

Amount of Time on Twitter: Unknown—he tweets when he has something to say

Mel B:

Amount of Followers: approximately 800,000 followers

            Social Media Use: Connect with fans and get exposure to new jobs

            Amount of Time on Twitter: Posts around 5-6 tweets daily

Aol: Makers

            Emmy documentarian winner, Dylan McGee wanted to reverse the documentary model. She wanted to tell an important story, Gloria Steinem’s civil rights movement story. However, Steinem responded with “You can’t tell the story of a movement through one lens.” With this thought in mind, McGee got PBS and AOL on board to create a three-hour digital documentary of the women’s rights movement.

            With over 185 American women’s stories, each woman reflects on a moment, which shares their personal antidote. By telling our personal truth, this helps the community learn.

Gloria Steinem, explained this digital storytelling as the futuristic campfire. “Campfires have been storytelling platforms for centuries. Media is the new campfire and must include everyone.” She explained the importance of sharing your personal experiences, because though you may assume the experience only applies to you, it may apply to many other people who are also afraid to speak up.

The documentary features women who inspired change and create/d opportunistic advances in their life. This includes Oprah, Billie Jean King, Katie Couric, Hillary Clinton, and Ellen DeGeneres, just to name a few.

All of the stories are inspiring. With the expanding interest in the project, AOL is now working on a way of creating an app that allows women to tell their own stories and share them with Makers and others around the world. Gloria Steinem believes that women are entitled to share their personal experiences, their stories. Women need to know “you are not crazy. The system is crazy."

Other events I attended:

Arnold Worldwide: You Need an Enemy

Be On: Human Behavior

Follow the Hashtag #NewhouseIDSM for more live tweets on the Cannes Lions Festival.

Follow me on Twitter @Mona_LisaP

June 15th: Innovation Lions

Today was the first full day in Cannes. After recuperating from a little jet lag, today we hit the ground running. Though the festival does not officially begin until tomorrow, post registration we were lucky enough to sit in on the judging for “Innovation Lions.” This consisted of some of the newest and latest technology that has yet to be released or is newly released. All the presenters had incredibly imaginative, creative, and innovative minds taking ‘digital’ ideas and creating physical products that were not only “cool,” but also usually very useful. Here are my four most interesting findings from “Innovation Lions”:

TshirtOS:

When I think of fashion, I think Anthropologie, Zara, Forever 21, H&M, and on the higher end, Chanel, Dior, Marc Jacobs, and Michael Kors. Usually the designs are made out of cotton, satin, chiffon, denim, and other normal clothing attire. TshirtOS takes fashion to a new level of design, digital design.

TshirtOS are t-shirts with an LED screen, camera, headphone jack, Bluetooth capability, and 3-axis accelerometer programmed by an app. Its power source is a battery that has an hour life when on full power. The designs vary from blinking hearts to argyle to even words and phrases, but this is what happens "When a whisky brand makes a t-shit.”

The current t-shirt can only be worn once, but Tshirt 2.0 will have improvements, including ‘washability,’ ‘scrunchability’ (because the LED lights will be embroidered into the shirt), and screen and brain technology.

While Ballentines t-shirts are innovative and so different, they do not sound too practical. They may be fun to wear as a DJ or in a nightclub, but I am not sure how huge an audience they will attract. The target market appears to be geared to men (I cannot see women wanting to attract attention to their stomach areas).

Additionally, with research suggesting that cell phone and other digital devices are harmful to our health over time, would a digital t-shirt pose an even higher risk, as it is directly in contact with the skin?

It is pretty cool that you can wear one design on a t-shirt and then switch the image with a click of a button on an app, but I cannot imagine my friends or myself wearing this item.

Yota Device:

With the world going digital, it almost comes as a shock when some does not have a Smart Phone or when two people are carrying on a conversation without interruption from a digital device. Because both of these events are rarities, and most people check his/her phone 150 times a day, Yota has found an innovative way to sneak into the cell phone market.

The Yota phone is double sided. The first side is your average android LCD screen. However, the flip side is an EPD screen, like a Kindle or Nook. This side allows the user up to 40 hours of reading and does not use battery. However, the second side can be used for more than just reading. It can display a message, words of encouragement, an image/picture, a map, boarding pass, ticket, etc. Because the second screen does not use battery, that image will remain on your phone when the battery is dead or turned off (which is great is your phone is dying and you are lost in a foreign city).

The price and quality of the phone is comparable with any other android device, but one added bonus feature is the phone’s ability to recognize key words and communicate emotions. For example, typing in “I love you,” will be recognized by the software and send a huge exploding heart on the other user’s screen. The software creates emotional connections to communicate on a more personal and social level.

The Yota phone is small and appears to look similar to an iPhone with the exception to the really unique Kindle-like back. Fresh from the factory in China, the phone has yet to be released, but is planning to launch in October of this year.

Though the phone is so innovative, I wonder how it will be able to compete in such a competitive market with the iPhone, Droid, and Microsoft’s new phone. Its features are interesting and very different, but in a world where the average person enjoys consistency, will this phone be too different for the public to handle?

I am pretty attached to my iPhone. Could I just change to a different carrier and a different style of phone in October?... probably not. Maybe in the future this will become the new iPhone and the switch over to Yota will be a great and easy move.

Terra VIP:

Terra VIP opened up with a strange question: “What if you could only use public toilets every single day?” This was not intended to be a question of bathroom etiquette; rather it was a question of privacy. In Brazil, over 10 million people rely on community centers for Internet access. Internet is a privilege, but it is usually not a private one. In community centers, everyone can see everyone else’s monitor screens. This means no privacy for banking information, no privacy to Google an irritating rash, and no privacy to just be a free individual.

With this in mind, Terra VIP created 3SixyGrados. These inexpensive eyeglasses allow you to have privacy on your screen, so only you can see what is on your computer screen. Terra VIP took the polarized film that is normally in/on a computer screen and placed it into the lenses of the glasses. Instead, the monitor is a blank LCD screen acting the same way as a regular computer, except the computer screen details are only visible to the person in the glasses.

This is a simple idea, but so innovative and great for privacy. However, it took the Brazilian government six months to approve the new eyewear. Brazil wanted to ensure the security of those in the favellas, and they were afraid that the privacy screens would allow people to plan dangerous acts and use the privacy for inappropriate reasons.

I think the glasses are a great idea. They are cheap and ensure people the comfort and luxury of privacy. Though privacy may seem so basic, when living in a favella with thousands of people living in a few mile radius, privacy seems as unrealistic to the people living there as unicorns. I believe everyone is entitled to privacy and to the right to be a free individual. If this little accessory helps achieve that feeling of pride and accomplishment, then it is worth every penny.

Redefining Window Shopping:

Window-shopping was once a way of creating a fantasy life, hoping to one day be able to afford the clothes in the window of Sax Fifth Avenue.  Now, a new digital creation has taken that fantasy and pushing more people to purchase items.

Monolith is comprised of a LCD screen and complex software, which creates a seamless ‘drag and drop’ experience on a Smart Phone. It is not an app or a QR code.  Instead, the window shopper types in a URL that is located on the storefront in addition to a one-time pin into his/her mobile device. Then the device becomes your personal shopping bag as you drag and drop the objects into your shopping bag, which is digitally located on the storefront screen. You can then purchase the items off your phone later, when you have more time.

With these digital windows in London, Dallas, Helsinki, and Shanghai (coming soon), statistics of consumers in stores have increased. Twenty-five percent of users entered the store after using the digital window, and there was 90 percent awareness from by passers when the digital system was in use.

This bridges the gap between digital and physical consumers, allowing consumers to take advantage of e-commerce. This allows the website of a store to be more closely associated with the store, and combine the two types of consumers (online and in store).

Though I love shopping and fashion, I do believe there are a few issues with this system. The motif of the window must reflect the inside of the store. Because the wall is solid and you cannot see through to the store, the window must really pop to the consumer, not only because it is digital, but because it appeals to the target market. The window has the possibility of becoming more of a game for young adults and less about wanting and purchasing items. People may play around with the shopping options without ever entering the store or buying any items. The digital appeal has the potential to take away from the appeal of the store. The two must coincide in order to bring in revenue.

However, I do like the Combination of interactivity with clothes to consumers. This gets the consumers involved with in the store and generates a positive emotion with the brand and items.

My biggest problem with the window is if Monolith only allows usage for one person at a time, it could cause congestion in the front area of the store. It might be better to allow multiple people to use the windows to allow multiple shoppers. If I am with a friend and she decides to use the window, and I see something I like while she is browsing, I am going to want to go on immediately and add to my bag. We live in an impatient society. We want things here and now. Waiting to use the technology and then search through to find the pants again is a hassle. The window should be organized like a dressing room, with multiple stations for multiple people.

That sums up the first full day at the Cannes Lions Festival. Follow the Syracuse University hashtag for the festival on Twitter #NewhouseIDSM. 

Follow my live tweets via @Mona_LisaP.

Five Days

Just five more days until the start of the Cannes Lions International Social and Digital Media Festival. I will be learning alongside 12,000 people from 90 different countries! Now, just three more days until six Newhouse undergraduate/graduate students, Dr. Ward, and myself head to France for the experience of a lifetime!

Check out all the amazing opportunities and events at the festival: http://www.canneslions.com/