Happy ‘Sex and the City’ Day!

Unless you live in  a cave, you know that the “Sex and the City” movie comes out today. I will be seeing it in an hour!!! But, I couldn’t help noticing the marketing that takes place during television shows that are targeted at younger audiences. Today, the Wall Street Journal featured an article specifically about this. Lauren A.E. Schuker states that now the show has been been airing a toned down version on TBS and these cleaner episodes have become a favorite of teenage girls who were too young to watch the show when it first aired on HBO. So, the producers of the movie have to decide if they want to market to this new group of fans who are not actually old enough to go see the movie in theaters without a parent (‘Sex and the City’ with your dad? AWKWARD!)

Where have these ads appeared? During shows watched by this new underage demo including “Gossip Girl,” “My Super Sweet Sixteen,” and “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.” Hmmm. I don’t know how I feel about this. When I was 16, my friends and I were also into the show. We just rented the DVD’s at Blockbuster. Then we could watch them over and over. Were we too young to watch the show? Probably, we couldn’t relate to it. But, were we old enough to understand the content? Of course. Did we enjoy the show? Obviously. It opened our eyes to the world of make believe adulthood. And, I can confidently say that if the movie came out when I was 16 I would have successfully snuck in to the theater. With that, though the movie shouldn’t be aimed at teenagers, it is going to attract them anyway. They are going to see it no matter what. Might as well break records with the amount of money this movie is going to make.

“Do Vegas Right Now”

How is the world of tourism reacting to rising gas and airline ticket prices? By instilling a sense of urgency into travel plans. This is exactly what R&R Partners is trying to do with Las Vegas. R&R, the agency for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, has done away with the slogan “What happens here stays here.” It was cute and fun while it lasted. It has been replaced with “Do Vegas Right Now.”

The new ads will feature a fast speaking spokesman to further create the feeling of urgency. No more funny stories about tourists who had a great time in Vegas and could get in trouble because of it. Who hasn’t gone to Vegas for a good time? Here’s me having a good time at the Playboy Club (probably shouldn’t put this on the internet. oh well.)

That was my first time in Vegas and I did have a great time. However, I don’t think that I will hurry back when an ad orders me to go there. I do recognize the slight sexual connotation behind the new slogan, “Do Vegas Right Now,” but I still think that it is bossy. I hope that the content of the new ads will be as entertaining as the ones that accompanied the old slogan.

Does Vegas even need to advertise? Don’t people already know that they can go to Vegas for a good time?

 

Nike: Crispin Out, Wieden Back In

Wieden+Kennedy and Nike go hand in hand. While Dan Wieden was working at McCann-Erickson, he famously met Phil Knight when Knight said to Wieden “Hi, I’m Phil Knight and I hate advertising.” Though Wieden’s opinion, I’m sure, differed from Knight, it was a brand match made in heaven. From that, Wieden and David Kennedy left McCann-Erickson to form Wieden+Kennedy. When they left, Nike went with them. That was the beginning of the beautiful pairing of a worldwide brand and a firstclass ad agency.

Fast forward to April 2007, when Nike announced that they were taking their running-shoe and Nike-Plus business to Crispin Porter & Bogusky. It was a short-lived relationship, though, because Nike just announced that they are heading back to Wieden. To me, this just seems like a no brainer. I understand the need for a fresh take on ads and Crispin and Wieden certainly have different styles, but the Nike/Wieden relationship has worked out for so many years. They have grown up together. It is no surprise that Nike came back to Wieden after just 13 months.

As for Crispin, they recognized that they were given a blessing when Nike decided to jump on board with them. And, they bowed out gracefully. CEO Jeff Hicks released this statement: “We will forever be in awe of the company that is Nike and wish them nothing but the best.” I will forever be in awe of Nike as well.

If you haven’t seen the very creative and complex ad that Crispin did for Nike-Plus, please take a look. You’ll be impressed at how Crispin sticks with the Nike style while adding a Crispin twist.

I went, I saw, I learned

The most important thing that I learned while I was in New York City is that I can’t wait to begin my new job – where ever I end up. I would be absolutely thrilled to live in New York, but I don’t think I’ll discriminate against any major city. I just love the hustle and bustle of the big city!

Aside from the tourist activities we did, (we were on the Today Show!) I really appreciated getting the opportunity to visit the agencies. The first agency we went to was very small with only four people working there. It was completely creative driven and interesting to see how such a small boutique works. Then it was on to JWT, which was a complete 180 from the agency in the morning. JWT’s reel included ads for Macy’s, Stride gum, Halls and JetBlue. I’m embarrassed to admit that the ”Magic of Macy’s” commercials featuring celebrities like Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson and Usher are one of my favorites right now. What can I say, I’m a sucker for celebrities!

We also got the privilege of visiting BBH, which was amazing! They have such a beautiful space and the decorations are stills from ads or print ads. Everyone walked down the halls so slowly because they wanted to look at all the featured work. I got the impression that BBH enjoys taking risks in their advertising, and it pays off! On top of everything, it looked like the employees have fun while they work. Something I wasn’t so sure of at other places.

After BBH, the One Show set a few of us up to visit Grey Group. This is an agency that is recovering from a poor reputation. Grey’s clients include Captain Morgan, Dairy Queen, Frontier and E*Trade. Their comeback began with the talking/trading baby ad that premiered during the Super Bowl. It was a risky ad that went on the become the most popular ad during the Super Bowl. It topped many of the advertising lists compiled after the game.

My travel buddy and I also ventured to Wieden+Kennedy unannounced. This would have been better if we had set something up, but it was still great to see the space. We were only able to talk to the receptionist, but I immediately liked what I saw there. W+K would be a great place to end up…

This trip helped me figure out what is important to me in an agency, especially work space and attitude. The trip was creative advertising based, so I learned a lot about the “other” side of advertising. Though the people we met aren’t the people I would be working directly with, they still got me excited about my future career and the advertising world.

Alexa is in the City!

 

Well, I am in the city that never sleeps! I’m very excited! We got here yesterday and have been doing all the tourist-y stuff while we can. Today we went to the Yankees game and watched them beat the Mariners, very fun! Tomorrow starts the work we came to do. We will be visiting agencies, meeting people, attending the One Show and (hopefully) setting up some job opportunities!! I’ll write all about it when I get home.