Matt Kury came and spoke to our class on Wednesday, April 16 and was very professional in dress and appearance. He works at Anchor Communications on Main Street in St. Charles and gave us interesting information about advertising. The way he presented himself made it seem, like he really enjoys working in advertising. He walked around, got us involved, and wrote on the board. To begin with he started out playing major league baseball and used his degree in Mass Communications to fall back on when his plans fell through.
He said the two main motives in advertising are frequency and reach, with frequency being slightly more important. He said that every ad agency has big clients and small clients and you have to help them choose an advertising plan that will best help their business and stay within their budget. He quotes “You are going to win some and loose some.”
Matt strongly stated that adverting is a recession proof system because people always have to communicate to their target market to keep business and the economy moving. He said that new businesses should spend more on advertising in the beginning to make customers aware of products and/or services; about 10% of their total budget. After the business is established the average ad budget should be around 6%.
He said the ad business can be fun and stressful. The months of December through February are normally bad because everyone is paying off Christmas debt and paying taxes and spend less on advertising. However, in March and April the sales pick up and times get better. Matt’s advice to us was similar to Cameron’s advice. He said get experience because it is better than knowledge. Write like you talk and divide yourself from the rest because there is competition.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Cameron Satterfield Blog
Cameron Satterfield came and spoke to our class on Monday, April 14. I thought it was very interesting how large his career change was after graduating college. He currently is the Director of Public Information for the St. Charles County Health Department, but before that he worked at a television station in Omaha, Nebraska. I would not have thought that going from fast paced, deadline oriented news and televisions stations to sitting at your desk and writing news releases about health issues would have been a typical career flow for a communications person. However, he enjoys working a normal 9 to 5 job and working at his own pace instead of getting up at 2 am to do the morning news broadcast.
Cameron’s job entails writing news releases, writing 2 new letters a year, updating the website, and taking public opinion questions. He said the average salary for his position (he did not say his actual salary) was around $50,000 and depends on experience. He says the government normally pays less than a corporate business.
Cameron was highly involved in communications in high school and college. In high school he was involved in Radio Explorers and had several communications internships in college. He advised us, as college students, to do the same. The more experience the better. He said the most important skill we can develop is writing because just about every job in some way or another involves some writing. He encouraged us that even though our beginning salaries might be low if we preserve there is room to move up.
Cameron’s job entails writing news releases, writing 2 new letters a year, updating the website, and taking public opinion questions. He said the average salary for his position (he did not say his actual salary) was around $50,000 and depends on experience. He says the government normally pays less than a corporate business.
Cameron was highly involved in communications in high school and college. In high school he was involved in Radio Explorers and had several communications internships in college. He advised us, as college students, to do the same. The more experience the better. He said the most important skill we can develop is writing because just about every job in some way or another involves some writing. He encouraged us that even though our beginning salaries might be low if we preserve there is room to move up.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Advertising-- What & Why
Name of Product: Pepsi Cola
Pepsi Commercial
Year Made: 2005
This ad was actually banned from being played on live television, but it is listed as one of the funniest commercials on many global websites. If it were on TV I would think that it would be played during kids shows to teach children brand preference.
Q& A: I really liked this ad because the ending was not at all what I was expecting. In the beginning the boy buys a Coke, and then you see him buy another Coke. The conclusion is that he really likes Coke, but in the end you see him stand on the two Coke cans to reach the Pepsi button on the vending machine. He then proceeds to walk away with the Pepsi, leaving the Coke cans behind. It gets your attention in many ways. To begin with the boy is a cute little boy, and plays to the fact that children and animals catch attention. It also keeps your attention because not a lot of action happens until the end when he steps on the Coke cans. It is effective because it shows that children, who normally don’t care if they get Pepsi or Coke, are willing to spend the extra money to get the Pepsi. So often this is an adult issue, so adding a child to play the role adds to the irony. It is a very funny commercial but the deeper message is that Coke is bad and Pepsi is good, therefore drink Pepsi and not Coke. This ad does have puffery, especially that of irrelevant comparisons. Pepsi and Coke have always been rivals and to say that Coke is literally under Pepsi’s feet is controversial. The ad is really selling superiority. The idea that the boy had to step up to the Pepsi button shows that Pepsi is of a higher quality than Coke. Unfortunately for Pepsi I did not and will not go out and buy a Pepsi after seeing this commercial. That is because I don’t like soda, though.
Year Made: 2005
This ad was actually banned from being played on live television, but it is listed as one of the funniest commercials on many global websites. If it were on TV I would think that it would be played during kids shows to teach children brand preference.
Q& A: I really liked this ad because the ending was not at all what I was expecting. In the beginning the boy buys a Coke, and then you see him buy another Coke. The conclusion is that he really likes Coke, but in the end you see him stand on the two Coke cans to reach the Pepsi button on the vending machine. He then proceeds to walk away with the Pepsi, leaving the Coke cans behind. It gets your attention in many ways. To begin with the boy is a cute little boy, and plays to the fact that children and animals catch attention. It also keeps your attention because not a lot of action happens until the end when he steps on the Coke cans. It is effective because it shows that children, who normally don’t care if they get Pepsi or Coke, are willing to spend the extra money to get the Pepsi. So often this is an adult issue, so adding a child to play the role adds to the irony. It is a very funny commercial but the deeper message is that Coke is bad and Pepsi is good, therefore drink Pepsi and not Coke. This ad does have puffery, especially that of irrelevant comparisons. Pepsi and Coke have always been rivals and to say that Coke is literally under Pepsi’s feet is controversial. The ad is really selling superiority. The idea that the boy had to step up to the Pepsi button shows that Pepsi is of a higher quality than Coke. Unfortunately for Pepsi I did not and will not go out and buy a Pepsi after seeing this commercial. That is because I don’t like soda, though.
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