Hallmark's two-hour commercial

I watched the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie tonight....yes I know, sap city.  But they always tear at my heartstrings. 

Since the movie is from the Hallmark Hall of Fame, every break (except for one) showed commercials from Hallmark.  Each commercial is different and has a little story behind it, which also works to pull on people's heartstrings.  They are always so sappy, with the music and happy endings, but also very effective.  They work at reaching a person through emotion, which is a very powerful tool.  Now these commercials are only seen by a particular target market, as not everyone is interested in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.  But I also think that the commercials work so well because the target market of the movie is exactly the target market of the commercials.

So in the end, I essentially just watched a two hour commercial for Hallmark, and will remember Hallmark for my next card purchase.

A job well done Hallmark.

Here is my favourite commercial that they showed throughout the duration of the movie.  It takes a bit of an unconventional path compared to most of the other Hallmark commercials, but it made me laugh.

Message of hope achieved

I've fallen behind on my blog posts a little bit over the last couple weeks, due to other assignments that were moved to the front burner.

Since my last post about the Grey's Anatomy "Message of Hope" campaign, there have been three more mini episodes which completed the series.  

It wouldn't let me post the last 3 webisodes, so here is the link to watch the rest of them. 

I think it was a valuable web series in PR.  I observed that when you want to get your message across to your public, keeping it simple can be exactly what is needed.

 http://abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy/seattle-grace-message-of-hope/ThemeGallery/586658?playlistId=PL5590842&clipId=VD5592998

The place I thought I knew - but didn't know much to begin with

I've noticed over the last few weeks the increase in commercials advertising Mexico.  I also noticed that its tagline is different than it used to be.  When I looked it up online, it says that they launched this new ad campaign back in August, although I seemed to have just noticed it now. 

The main goal of the campaign is to attract North American visitors to Mexico amidst everything that is happening and happened there (violence, Swine Flu, etc.).  The new tagline that they chose is "The Place You Thought You Knew".  Now I am not sure how I feel about that.  I guess the point of the tagline is to showcase that there is more to Mexico than what people think, which is usually all-inclusive resorts.  The campaign focuses on activities that you should do off your resort to get to know Mexico a little better.

I was trying to remember what Mexico's tagline was before and I think it was Vive Mexico.  If I had to choose between the two, I would choose the new one because at least it tries a little harder to attract people. 

However, I read that the target market for this campaign is 35-65 years old with incomes greater than $75,000, which I am not. 

But despite the negative exposure Mexico is receiving in the media, Canadians are still traveling to Mexico.  The question is, are they stepping out of their resorts to experience the rest of Mexico?

I went to Mexico in Feb of 2009 where I went off-resort and did zip-lining and took a bus for an hour to go surfing, which was all worth it.  So I would have to agree that exploring Mexico is worth it, but I don't think I would feel as safe now as I did when I went.

Here are a few pieces from their campaign.  I will admit that I do like their posters and commercials.  I think it showcases Mexico in an interesting and positive light.

How do you feel about it?

 

Photos taken from google

Odd apps

This clip is from The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week. 
She showcases two odd apps.  I thought they were funny!
I could just imagine how many other odd apps are out there.

video from ellen.warnerbros.com

Does attractiveness rise above knowledge?

Here is the third webisode in the "Seattle Grace: Message of Hope" series.  This one is called "The Face".  In it, the PR woman decides to demote Dr. Kepner (the woman doctor), even though she knows everything that she needs to say, without any assistance.  The PR woman decides to go with Dr. Avery instead, because he has a prettier face to represent the hospital. 

My question: does the key message really get across to the audience in a better and more influential way if the subject is more attractive?  It seems a bit vain to me.  If the "prettier" subject doesn't know his or her information, then I think the message has the threat of getting lost or seem forced if you can tell it's read from cue cards.  I think that as long as you look and act professional and know your message, then people will listen to what you have to say, hopefully.

On a side note, they fit the sponsor Carmex, into the webisode quite nicely.  I always find it funny how blatantly obvious product placement is.  But I guess it works, because I remembered it!