Definitely An Attention Grabber

Geico has a span of commercials that include celebrities ranging from Little Richard to Verne Troyer to help tell their customer’s story. In the ad I chose for the week, movie trailer announcer Don LaFontaine makes an appearance to tell Paula Sala’s story.

Sala is in closer view of the camera, while LaFontaine is in the background, standing with headphones on, a microphone in place, and is ready to work. Sala begins by telling her story about a storm resulting in both her cars being under water. She stops, music that is played during an action-packed film starts, and LaFontaine takes over. He repeats everything that Sala just stated, but in a way that draws the viewer in due to the dramatic tone of his voice.

It is now Sala’s turn to continue her story as she says, “It would take forever to get some help.” LaFontaine adds an intense summary to this as he passionately states: “But a new wind was about to blow,” as he is clasping his fist tightly in the air.

Finally Sala ends by saying: “With Geico, we had our check in two days.” It is then LaFontaine’s turn to add his own interpretation. He bodily proclaims, “Payback, this time, it’s for real.” He takes off his headphones, looks as if though he stepped out of “the part,” and we hear Geico’s slogan: “Geico, real service, real savings.”

This ad is the best Geico commercial out, even beating out the popular Caveman ads, in my opinion. This ad does many things. First off, it grabs the viewers attention because it has that all-so-familiar voice from the movie trailers. This serves as an attention grabber. Secondly, LaFontaine’s voice is so powerful and distinct that we all can’t help but stop and watch the reactions his face makes and the type of body language he gives as he is turning a simple script into a dramatic, award winning piece.

Bravo to Geico for having an epic tone be part of their ad campaign. This ad really caught my attention, which is the focus of all ad companies

My Ad Campaign For My Final Project

For Week 8 I chose to analyze the new Apple iPod Touch ad. Apple ads are the most powerful and appealing ads out so I would like to continue to use Apple as my focus for my final analytical project. I will use the Wide Campaign form with a collection of Apple ads that are currently running on television. These ads include the MacBook Air ad, iPhone ad, iPod Nano ad, and if possible the iPod Touch ad. Each of these Apple ads have their own significance and leaves the viewer in complete astonishment.

Absolutely iMazing

After mentioning the Apple iPod Touch in my discussion for this week, I thought it would be appropriate to use an ad from Apple as the basis for my ad journal.

This was the first ad that I saw for the new iPod Touch a few months ago. Take a look:

Immediately we see a black background that contrasts with an unknown silver object, and hear the beat of music. The object doesn’t appear to be very wide in size. The item is rotated and that is when we know it is an ad for an iPod because we see the Apple logo, with the words “iPod” beneath it. Once again rotated, we see the front view of the iPod with its new, shiny design. Instantly we know that Apple has yet again out done themselves.

The iPod that is making its advertising debut is the new iPod Touch. The iPod Touch is very similar to the iPhone that came out months before. With the viewing of this ad and the details presented in it, we get a mini tutorial of what this new piece of technology is capable of doing.

Before we even know what this new iPod is called, we immediately learn that it is all touch screen because of the details presented. The hand in the ad touches an icon, and a keypad pops up.

The word “Music” appears on the screen while we hear the word “music” in the song. The hand touches the music icon on the screen, a play list pops up, the song is selected, we see the album cover to the song, and finally the iPod is rotated. With the rotation of the iPod, comes the rotation of the screen that allows the consumer to flick through their album art in Cover Flow.

The word “Video” appears next on the screen. The same scenario as the music one appears in the video section of this ad. The hand makes a video selection, the iPod is rotated, and we view the video in widescreen. With this, we get a sense of the clarity and color precision that the iPod has.

The next words that appear are: “Photos” and “Safari” with similar scenes as the ones presented above. With the details presented we know that photos can be viewed and browsed along with access of the web using Safari. The iTunes logo is shown with the words “Wi-Fi” to show that iTunes can be accessed with this iPod! Something that the older iPod versions can not do!

We see the word “Touch,” hear the same word in the song, and then see the words “iPod touch,” which is the name of this iPod.

With just a 30 second ad and all the details shown, the viewer gets a mini guided tour of what the iPod Touch is capable of. There was still a handful of details left out, but with the few details shown, I was immediately blown away!

Destinations are Endless

I absolutely love the new model designs that Jeep has come out with in the last couple of years. Their advertisements are equally as amazing. As Ogilvy states in “Wanted: a renaissance in print advertising,” headlines are the most commonly read piece in print ads. This said, it is important that the headline in an ad grabs the reader’s attention and sells the product with just a few words.

In the ad I chose for Jeep, the center of the ad print reads: “Discover Planet Desert.” The primary color of the ad is in orange and charcoal. The text is in white which makes it stand out to the reader because it is a much brighter color and contrasts to the deep colors in the background.

Behind the text, we see a round figurine, in the shape of a planet, with a silver Jeep that appears to be climbing to the top. The planet that the Jeep has “discovered” has sand, cactuses, birds flying overhead; the typical desert scene. The sky is a deep orange as well, and the reader gets a feel of the heat that is associated with the desert environment. On the bottom right hand corner reads “Jeep” with the company slogan “There’s Only One.”

The ad company in charge did an excellent job executing this ad. With just three words, the viewer is drawn into the ad. Their context, “Discover Planet Desert,” is a great way to describe Jeep. It is saying that with a Jeep, the consumer is able to go to places that they wouldn’t be able to go to, like a desert, if they had the competitions SUV. With a Jeep, the consumer is able to go beyond the typical driving range; the reader gets this feel when viewing the ad.