Madonna Means Business

The article, "Madonna's Millions from Hard Candy ads," appeared in the leading U.K national newspaper The Telegraph, speaking of Madonna's newest business plan. The most successful, well know, and loved female recording artist is back to launch her new Album "Hard Candy." Although she is nearly fifty years old, Madonna continues producing top of the chart albums. Hard Candy is to be released next month, but Madonna has a head start in sales, pulling in millions of dollars. The business woman she is, Madonna has signed contracts with major companies such as Vadafone, Unilever, and Fuji. These companies will use her music from this album to promote their broad range of products. These companies ensure that Madonna will receive free global publicity ahead of its release. With her Vodafone contract, customers will be able to listen to seven tracks, one a week, before the albums release. Being one of the most successful artists, it is not a surprise that this is the first time an artist has lunched an entire album on a mobile phone. 

Unilever's Sunsilk campaign has used Madonna's new single, 4 minutes, in their commercials. One which aired at during the Super Bowl. This track features Justin Timberlake and will be featured in his film Get Smart. Although the public may think that Madonna is doing this business to get paid even before the album hits stores, but really its about promoting and selling the product. Not only is Madonna benefitting from her relationships to theses various companies, but the companies themselves are tying their product name in with a global icon, most likely increasing their sales.Learn more about the track details of the album "Hard Candy" and listen to the single 4 minutes with Justin Timberlake. 

The Summer Olympics is Going Green

A study put out in 2007 by National Geographic News stated that China earned the reputation of having the "highest annual incidence of premature deaths triggered by air pollution in the world. Air pollution kills about 656,000 Chinese citizens each year. The death tolls are also high with polluted drinking water,finding that 95,600 citizens are victims to the pollution. 

Ironically, Beijing, China is the location for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Much concern has been expressed about he safety of the athletes with the current air condition. One of the world's top marathoners, Haile Gebrselassie, stated that he might pull out of the Olympic Games in fear the air quality might irritate his asthma. But Coca-Cola, on the official sponsors of the Games, is highlighting China's commitment to the environment. The article, "Coke Gives Torch Relay Green Theme Amid Air-Quality Concerns" expresses that Coke is showing Chinas environment efforts during  the Olympic torch relay. The International Olympic Committee is allowing Coke to choose the torchbearers, some being environmental champions from various countries. This event not only promotes Coca-Cola as making great leaps in sustainability but is highlighting China's focus and efforts to better the environment and air quality. The torch's travel route will honor work being done in each country and ending in China. There is a great deal of negativity about the Beijing Olympics, with issues such as the air quality, China's association to genocide in Darfur, and abuse in Tibet, but Coke is hopeful, stating,"We're trying to send a message of inspiration."

The Japanese car company Toyota has positioned their Scion as affordable as well as a unique expression of youth. The article, " Do-It-Yourself Logs for Proud Scion Owners" states that Toyota is creating a marketing campaign to  give proud owners for the Scion a chance to show how their car reflects their personality. Owners will design their personal " coat of arms". This personalization will happen online where crests can be designed from hundreds of choices. Symbols can be incorporated into the crests, whom were designed by professional graffiti artists. Symbols range from crowns to eagles to Japanese style flowers. After their designs are completed they can be downloaded and made into window decals or have them painted on their cars. This campaign was named Scion Speak, and was developed by Strawberry Frog Advertising agency that is based in Amsterdam and New York. Strawberry Frog has brought in Graffiti artists and have researched the lifestyles of Scion owners. 

The target market for this campaign is aimed at young hip drivers but who will be able to afford the work that will be done at the auto body shop. Strawberry Frog is aiming this at current Scion owners, rather than establishing another generation of owners. 

Visit the Scion website to develop your own Scion logo. 

The Lost Boys hire an ad agency

In the late 1980's war had broken out in Sudan due to racial, ethnic, and religious divides. More than 40,000 young boys had survived the genocide but were orphaned from their family, homes, and lives. These boys became The Lost Boys of Sudan. In 2001 they came to the United States and are now pursuing their educations, supporting themselves, helping to spread knowledge, and rebuilding their homes and villages which were shattered. 

The article, "Sudan's Lost Boys Hire Euro to Find Spotlight", discusses how the lost boys are teaming up with the media. In order to receive media attention, the Lost boys have decided to hire an ad agency, to reach and educated the masses. The ad agency, Euro RCSG Chicago, has worked with the Lost Boys to create the charitable brand "The Lost Boys Rebuilding Souther Sudan" organization. Euro has designed a logo for the brand and now in the mists of creating a donation website as well as marketing materials to successfully promote their organization. Reliefweb, which tracks humanitarian aid, shows that in 2007 $538 million dollars were donated by the United States for assistance in Sudan but the majority of the funding went to Darfur. A specific T-shirt has been designed and will be awarded to $100 donors. One of the first T-shirts went to Bill Clinton. 

To learn more about Sudan and the efforts of the Lost Boys, visit the help Sudan International website. 

Starbucks Plans for the Future

This year Starbucks has faced some bumps in the road. According to the article" Starbucks Corporation" the worlds coffee conglomerate is facing slowing sales and increase competition. Although sales are down, Starbucks is not losing money. In 2007 Starbucks had made $673 million dollars in revenue and tripled the number of stores in the last five years. But last summer was the first time customers declined since the company went public. Therefore, CEO Howard D. Schultz is making is developing a plan to put Starbucks back on the map. Improvements will be made in espresso machines as well as an emphasis on pushing drip and clover coffee. 

On an international level the article "Starbucks Plots New Course, Charges Full-Steam Ahead"states that Schultz has teamed up with Conservation International CEO Peter Seligmann. They are announcing a partnership in coffee growing regions which included Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Their goal is to prevent deforestation and global warming. A sustainability seal will be placed on sustainable coffee as well as fair trade coffee. By 2009, these seals will be on all whole bean and espresso sold in Europe, Africa, and Asia.  

To learn more about Starbuck's and their international efforts visit their official website. 

Britian's sexy chocolate ad

Cadbury Flake brand chocolate has been a favorite in the UK. Beginning in 1969 Cadbury Flake advertising campaign has lasted for decades by using the "flake girl". These sultry commercials usually stared a british beauty suggestively eating a the flakey chocolate bar. Watch the first black and white commercial for Cadbury Flake made in 1969. These scandalous commercials have had beautiful bond girls such as Eva Rueber-Staier, who stared in "For Your Eyes Only". To give a hip twist to this original chocolate bar, Cadbury Flake is teaming up with British Diva Joss Stone, making her the new "flake girl". The article, " 'Sultry' Joss Stone to be the new Cadbury Flake Girl" informs that Cadbury's idea was to "reference the old adverts but bring a new feel to them. Joss was chosen because she is sexy but in a young, fresh way." Although the old flake ads were a bit suggestive, Joss Stone's ad will be tamed down quite some bit, giving it more of a funky approach. Watch the Cadbury's Flake commercial with Joss Stone. 

2008 Cannes Lions Advertising Festival

The Cannes Lions Advertising Festival takes place after the famous Cannes Film festival. This famous advertising festival is celebrating their  55th year and will be taking place in Cannes, France from June 15th - 21st. The World Event Guide states that this festival is the only gathering of the worlds advertisers, creative, direct marketing, interactive, film, radio, media, sales promotion and marketing groups. This festival was created in order to celebrate their accomplishments and gives specific awards for things such as the world best commercials. The awards fit the title of the event. Whoever does win an award at this event is presented with a gold, silver, or bronze lion statue. Some of the many award categories given are to groups such as the agency of the year, media person of the year, and direct marketing agency of the year. 

This festival brings in over 8,000 people involved in the advertising industry. Registration is still open for the event. When registered for the event you will receive access to seminars, workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, galas, and the two main lion award ceremonies. To learn more about the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival visit their official website. 

Samsung sponsors the 2008 Olympic Games

Although last weeks posts suggests that China's relation to the Sudan might effect the sponsorship for the 2008 Olympic Games, Samsung is jumping to collect a sponsorship spot for the games. Samsung has signed on with the Olympic games to become an official world wide partner and has launched a campaign for three of their new mobile phones designed especially for the event. According to the article, Olympic Sponsorship-Line Blur Samsung, Kodak, and Panasonic payed at great deal of money to become apart of the top program sponsors.To be a program sponsor you are give rights to provide wireless, audio, video, and imaging devices. But since technology has made such drastic improvements over the years there has been a blur between cellphones, tvs, video, and stereo. Now all of those options can be consolidated onto a cellphone, therefore causing an issue between media usage. 

To try to work around the problem, Samsung has said that they are focusing on mainly marketing the wireless-communication  of the phone rather than the video, internet, or photo accessories. Samsung sponsored the 2006 Turin Winter Games and their Italian phones increased in sales by 80% and they are predicting the Beijing market to be very lucrative. To learn more about Samsung's phones and their sponsorship with the Olympic Games visit their official website. 

Darfur effects Olympic Advertisers

On August 8th,2008  the Beijing Summer Olympics will have its open ceremony. The article, "Darfur could tarnish sponsers' Olympic dreams" informs that one of the advisors for the opening and closing ceremonies was famous director Steven Spielburg because he does not want to support China when they are Sudan's leading oil customer and supplier of weapons. Speilburg states, "I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual. At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all i can to hep bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity and that continue to be committed in Darfur."

This activism has put pressure on Olympic sponsors. Yet advertisers say the Olympic Games are about sports, not politics. Although there is pressure from an opinion leader such as Steven Spielburg and much discussion of the matter, no sponsors have pulled out yet. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games say that they stay out of the politics and focus more on the games. They leave the political aspects up to the organizations that deal with these specific issues. 

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games hopes that by hosting the 2008 Olympics it will give Beijing the publicity they have longed for. China's leading computers, Lenovo, is using the Olympics to advertise its brand to the world. Although the Olympic games will bring much good to China yet advertisers have failed to address the situation in Darfur which might lead to more sponsors pulling out in the future. 

To learn more about the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games visit their official website. 

Applebee's Teams up with Primetime

Starcom, the advertising agency, has taken their client Applebee's chain restaurant to the next level. The article," Starcom Puts Applebee's Into the 'Friday Night' Game" informs that  Applebee's landed a reoccurring role on NBC's drama, Friday Night Lights. Applebee's has made an appearance on every show, acting as a meeting spot for the couches and the team. Friday Night Lights takes place in a small town in Texas, therefore this specific product placement of Applebee's makes NBC show seem more authentic and the catchy slogan made sense with the setting of the show, "Eating good in the neighborhood."

Although television shows do not like to have long term relationship with brands, Applebee's adds a sense of reality to the show. Bill Leibengood, executive director-national marketing at IHOP Corp-owned Applebee's International believes that, " It's had a great impact on our brand." Friday Night Lights is loved by viewers as well as critics and it has been picked up by NBC for a second season, which means there is more success for Applebee's image to be had. Watch video clips from Friday Night Lights and look for the Applebee's product placement. To watch full episodes of the show visit NBC's web page. 

The Venice Festival of Media

The Venice Festival of Media 2008 is a global meeting that has a guest list of 800 delegates of the world's advertisers, media agencies, developers, and media owners. It is a four day festival that is taking place at the Palazzo del Cinema, Venice, Italy on Sunday, April 13th and goes until Wednesday April 17th. The article "The Venice Festival of Media 2008" explains that this global event will focus on issues such as dealing with the "buying and selling of pan regional and global advertising communications." The four days have a full agenda of conference session, speakers, and scheduled social networking opportunities. Check out the agenda for the week. In addition to providing these four days of activities, The Venice Festival of Media is teaming up with WaterAid in which delegates will be invited to make corporate of individuals donations for the cause.   

There will be many speakers at the festival such as Brandon Berger, Director of Digital Innovation, MDC Partners; Joanne Bradford, the Vice President and Chief Media Officer at MSN; and Brett Brewer, President AdKnowledge & Co-founder of My Space. These speakers will be accompanied by many other big wigs in the advertising world. This 2008 festivals also has big name sponsors. Some of these include AD Europe, ESPN, Yahoo, Advertising Age, Euronews, and the Wall-street Journal. 

To find more speakers that will be attending as well as partners of the Venice Festival of Media check out their official website. 

The all natural Pepsi Raw

Pepsi has taken their products to the next, much healthier, level. Pepsi Raw is the brand new soft drink made by pepsi which features all natural ingredients. The article "Pepsi Tests 'Naturally Sourced' Beverage" announces that this drink has yet to hit shelves around the world, but is being launched in the U.K. to tests how well it does in the  markets. If this healthy soft drink is a hit in the U.K. international distribution is to take place. According to the article "Pepsi launch new drink made from 'all natural' ingredients," Pepsi Raw, is made with raw cane sugar that replaces artificial sweeteners. It also contains no article preservatives, colors, flavorings or sweeteners.  It is only sold in glass bottled and is said to be more expensive than regular pepsi. Lynn Dornblaser, a new-product analyst believes that Pepsi Raw is a niche product with a small target audience. Dornblaser also thinks that the main consumers will be the younger generations who want to know exactly what they are putting in their body. 

The U.K. is proud to have this new product on their market, although Coca-Cola is the leading brand. To learn more about Pepsi Raw check out heir offical website . To see what the public thinks about this healthy alternative check out this video.

Louis Vuitton International Ads

Louis Vuitton, the French born bag company has created a reputation as a high class delicacy in the purse industry. Dating back to the 1850's Louis Vuitton luxury bags have been a hot commodity. Print advertising had been their primary way of promoting their new styles ever since the sixties. But now the are taking their advertising to the next level by airing a television commerical. There 90 second commercial is travel themed and was shot in France, Spain, India, and Japan. Louis Vuitton is also sending this commercial around the world. It was aired in thirteen different languages in theaters, cable, and satellite television. Louis Vuitton plants to air their new commercial on most watched networks such as CNN and BBC. The campaign recently was started on February 15th and is to run throughout 2008. Check out recent print advertising campaigns for Louis Vuitton.
The article Vuitton Ads Venture on to Television states that the new television commercial aims at promoting the brand rather than specific product, therefor very few shot of the bag are shown in the commercial. By taking this new step in their television international advertising campaign they are changing the medium high end fashion brands advertise with, therefor creating a new edge for their brand.

McDonald's Advertising Ups and Downs

The biggest fast food chain in the United States is struggling through sales this year in China. Competitors such as KFC is ahead in sales due to the cultural preference of chicken rather than beef for Chinese consumers. Although McDonald's focuses its main attention on sales in the United States and Europe it is promoting a new advertising campaign in China that is putting more chicken items on the menu. Also McDonald's plans on opening 125 more restaurants throughout the country. But there is only so much money that can go into countries other than the United States and Europe where the majority of the money is being generated.
But sales are not even coming close to decreasing in Australia. In 2007, 1.2 million Australians had been in McDonald's a day. The are 762 restaurants across the country all stating their top seller is the cheeseburger. This seemingly healthy country has a soft spot for the golden arches greasy food and about 5% of Australians were reported eating McDonald's daily. Although McDonald's is promoting healthier options many more Australians are becoming over weight. There advertising is now promoted towards the whole family, especially at parents increasing their sales drastically. Check out McDonald's official website and their global campaign.

Sterrett, David. "Crouching Burger Hidden Nugget." Crain's Chicago Business 27 Nov. 2007: 1. Proquest. Ithaca College, Ithaca.

Tattersall, Hannah. "1.2 Million: That's How Many Australians Go Through the McDonalds Golden Arche's Each Day." The Sun Herald 27 Jan. 2008, First ed.: 9. Lexis Nexis. Ithaca College, Ithaca. 18 Feb. 2008. Keyword: McDonalds Internation Advertising.

Budweiser's International Sales and Advertising

Recently sales in the beer market has been down due to slower import sales. Unfortunately, this lack of grain is making a significant impact on the King of Beers. Although this beer is a favorite in America, Budweiser does not have what it takes to keep up in the competitive European beer market. The article in Marketing Week, Budweiser: Aspirational Images Goes Flat states that there might be hope for Budweiser when a 3.5 million dollar advertising campaign was developed. Back in 1980 Budweiser launched the ad campaign for Bud Light and Bud Ice, which later failed and was pulled off the shelves in the UK. The issue with Budweisers advertising is they are marketing towards Americans but also try to take the same ad campaign and market it towards other countries. This type of advertising can only take your product so far.Some Budweiser commercials were clearly targeted towards American like their humorous yet obnoxious "wassup" slogan. Clearly when aired in the UK some of these commercials were found offensive and banned. Check out a few banned Budweiser commercials.
Yet in the US, Budweiser remained to be the king of beers and has been rated the country's biggest brewers. During the 2008 Superbowl, Budweiser spent millions on creating "the year's most eye-catching ads." Most of the air time bought by Budweiser focused on Bud Light's "superior drinkability." Ultimately, Budweiser continues to financially grow in the United States even though sales are down overseas.

"BUDWEISER: Aspirational image goes flat." Marketing Week 18 Oct. 2007.
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Strawberry Frog: International Ad Agency

Strawberry Frog is an award winning international advertising agency that is based in New York City and Amsterdam. Strawberry Frog's creative logo and work strategy has sparked the attention of many well known clients. Clients include: Sam's Club, Fosters, Old Navy, Microsoft, MTV, IKEA, and Morgan and Stanley. Strawberry Frog prides itself of the teams of creative staff, digital media, and management teams who work directly with the client. This type of cohesiveness allows for the agency to create " highly effective and efficient cultural movements." Their unique strategies are based around "Frogism", which tells the story of a frog living in a the corporate dinosaurs world. Strawberry frogs are small but think big and challenge the dinosaurs who are large corporations concerned about revenue rather than their clients satisfaction. Kip Kreutzburg, head of Viagras global advertising, stated about Strawberry Frog,"Strawberry is all about the frog that can leap to a lily pad, not the lily pad that can receive a frog. What makes them unique is their people." 

Recently Strawberry Frog is in the running for the top Adweak's breakthrough ad agency. Frito Lay had chosen Strawberry Frog for their creative advertising campaign for their new snack line to come out. Check out more about Frito-Lay scooping up Strawberry Frog. In 2006, Strawberry Frog shot a commercial for their client Heineken on location during the filming of the James Bond Casino Royale. Check out the video of the making and filming of Strawberry Frogs Heineken commercial. 

South Africa: Coca-Cola's Message in a Bottle

December 1st celebrated World Aids Day and in South Africa a special type of advertising campaign was run in order to raise awareness. Coca-Cola teamed up with Nelson Mandela (former South African President) and his 4664 campaign to place one million message about HIV/AIDS inside glass coke bottles and be distributed around shopping malls, parks, street corners, ect. Cocoa-Cola donated one million glass bottles and supported the 46664 concert. South Africa's marketing manager Julian Byrant states about Coke " As an iconic brand which has the power to influence lives and change perceptions, it is important for Coca-Cola to have a voice and opinion. Our 'Hello' campaign does just that." Coke  donated all of  their profits from the limited edition "Style My Coke" bottle to the 46664 initiative. Check out more about the South Africa; Mandela's message in a bottle. 

Cross Cultural Awareness in Advertising

An important part of advertising is understanding the audiences values. When an advertisement is developed in the United States, ad agencies need to be aware that if they are planning on releasing this campaign internationally they must first understands cultural values. Other countries ideals on  family, religion, and politics can greatly vary. Also the language must be carefully selected, therefor not just one slogan or message can be developed. It must fit the appropriate audience. In the article International Advertising: Understand Cultural Differences by Neil Payne, he mentions a miscommunication by an advertisement for Ford Pinto that was launched in Brazil. Ford noticed that their sales were extremely low in Brazil and later found out that Brazilians did not want to purchase a car that meant "tiny male genitals". Slip ups such as this one makes Ford look culturally ignorant and has left a drastic financial dent in their sales. Check out more marketing translation mistakes.  As Americans things such as colors, numbers, and images do not have much meaning to us, but in other cultures these things can be a significant part of their cultural lifestyles. For example the Chinese believe red to be a spiritual color. Therefor advertising must be cautious not to offend anyones beliefs or values.  

Coca-Cola has recently made a cultural mistake when developing a new advertisement for their famous soda. The article in the Moscow Times entitled: Coca-Cola Bows to Believers informs that "Hoping to tap into a growing tide of patriotism, the U.S beverage giant have placed pictures of religious sites together with is logo on fridges in kiosks shops in Nizhny Novgorod, the country's third-biggest city." Now many Orthodox believe that this advertising campaign is not only offensive but is blasphemy . Yet Coca-Cola states that their cultural offensiveness as not intended. 

International Agencies

When researching the topic of International Advertising I had found many different companies that focus primarily in this specific field. These ad agencies range from large corporations to smaller companies, all with the primary goal of spreading their advertisements and messages to all parts of the world. Advertisement agencies such as Us Media International prides itself on buying and placing media anywhere in the world at a reasonable price. Agencies such as International Advertising Ad Agency  works with travel, food, fashion ,and many more specialized topics. Check out the International Advertising Association page to view their goals as well as find out who has joined the IAA. 

These International agencies must take in consideration more factors that a national advertising company does. Two professors from NYU highlight the factors, issues, and solutions in their International Advertising article. When it comes to advertising one product or message around the world, your audience becomes much more broad. This in turn makes your advertisement campaigns much more challenging. But some products do not sick to one image or idea, but create ads that will appeal to each country. 

 Browsing through advertisements that have developed a specific image, I came across the Got Milk? campaign. This advertisement strategy  of the milk mustache did not follow its brand around the world. Interestingly, the milk mustache was only used in one other county, which as Australia. Take a look at the different ads on the blog entitled: The "Got Milk?" Ad Campaign Around the World.  Check out the companies strategies and how they differ from country to country. 

McDonalds Ads Around the World

As Americans our favorite fast food joint is under the golden arches. McDonald's is the largest chain of fast food restaurants in the entire world. This American way of life began in 1940 and has become apart of the global market. Stretching from the United States to Japan and Austrialia, McDonald's has introduced western culture's favorite place to eat into everyones life. The classic burger from McDonalds is the BigMac. This beloved burger has high costs in Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, landing them top 3 on the "Mac Index". Check out this link for more history of McDonald's. Our classic McDonald's slogan "Im lovin' it" has been the standard for advertising for many years. Yet advertising slogans differ from country to country. Hong Kongs slogan is "Every time a good time" while the UKs most recent slogan is "A visit to McDonald's makes your day". Check out more current McDonald's advertising campaigns around the world.

McDonalds had  become involved in international promotional opportunities such as the Summer and Winter Olympic Games costing them $55 Million at most.  When this conglomerate sponsored these events they had the right to Olympic tie-ins to their food advertising, such as an Olympic Burger which was first introduced in Japan at the 1998 Olympic Games. During the Summer Olympics Games in Sydney, Australia McDonald's Happy Meals in Asia included a toy Ronald McDonald playing an Olympic Sport.  Check out more on McDonald's and their past sponsorships with the Olympic Games.