Black Friday shopping sets spending record

As we all know Black Friday is the busiest shopping day in the country.  But black Friday is also turning ever closer into dark grey Thanksgiving night. Which is insanity if you ask me?!!!

Thinking about Black Friday I started wondering how certain retail stores did this year and the industry as a whole.  I found an article in the online version of the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal entitled, Black Friday shopping sets spending, e-commerce records.  Here is a link to the article

The articled stated numerous facts on how Black Friday is trending later in the evening on Thanksgiving and also how more and more people are choosing to spend money online.

Here are some interesting facts:

• An estimated 35 million people had shopped (in line) in stores or online by midnight on Black Friday, up from 29 million last year, according to the NRF.
•  E-commerce spending reached well over $1 billion on Black Friday, making it the biggest online spending day in 2012. That's up 26% compared with last year
•  The average person spent $172.42 online this weekend, according to comScore. About 40.7% of customers' Black Friday dough was spent online, according to the NRF, up from 37.8% in 2011

The numbers don't include cyber Monday sales which can show greater increases for internet sales.  With less people doing their Black Friday shopping in stores how can marketers focus their efforts on snatching up some of the increased internet sales??? In the future will we even need to go to the store to shop on Black Friday, or will we be able to do it from the comfort of our own homes????

No plans to market pot in Steamboat Springs

As we are all aware on November 6th, both Colorado and Washington became the first states to successfully pass laws regarding the legalization of marijuana.  It didn't take long for some Colorado ski resorts to comment on their plans and stance on marijuana in response to the recent passing of Amendment 64 in Colorado. 

I found an article online from Steamboat Today entitled, "No plans to market pot in Steamboat Springs" addressing the resorts future stance on marijuana.  Here is a link to the article:
http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2012/nov/09/no-plans-market-pot-steamboat-springs/

The article goes into detail about how many marketers for ski resorts in Colorado don't see the passing of Amendment 64 as a positive or negative for the ski industry.  They predict the same amount of people who will come to Colorado ski resorts because the amendment passed will be about equal to the number of people the amendment will turn away.

Colorado State officials have said they have no intentions of marketing Colorado for its friendly stance on pot. Neither does Steamboat.  According to the CEO of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association Tom Kern, “I don’t see us utilizing the decision that was made by the voters of Colorado in the marketing or public relations of Steamboat."  Kern said he thinks the Chamber would treat marijuana similar to how it treats alcohol.  “We don’t market alcohol as part of our marketing message in Steamboat, so I don’t see why we would market marijuana.”

Kevin Fisher, co-owner of the Rocky Mountain Remedies medical marijuana dispensary in Steamboat, said“If they want to mix skiing and cannabis, that’s something we need to embrace."
 
While Amendment 64 might allow guests to let their hair down a little more during vacation, ski resort officials are quick to point out that the Colorado Ski Safety Act prohibits people from skiing while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Little Baby's Ice Cream

Ice Cream Is a Feeling!

There are a number of different objections for a marketing campaign to focus on.  Some can focus on creating awareness for the brand while others can focus on the ultimate goal of increasing sales and revenue.  Recently in another class we watched a couple a commercials for a company called, Little Baby's Ice Cream.

Little Baby's Ice Cream is a small ice cream manufacturer located in Philly, PA.  According to their website, "Little Baby’s Ice Cream is a Hand-Made, Small-Batch, Super-Premium Ice Cream company. We specialize in unique and surprising flavor combinations with additional emphasis on providing Non-Dairy and Vegan options to suit every kind of open-minded and convivial citizen. Ice Cream is for everyone."  Here are some unique flavors they currently produce: Pizza, Balsamic Banana, Earl Grey Sriracha and Cantaloupe Creamsicle. 


They have very unique ice cream flavors and some even more unique commercials.  I included a couple of their commercials below.  Watch at your own risk.  May be viewed as creepy, scary, and or just plain uncomfortable by many!!!

 "This is a special time"

 

"Love Lickers"

I'm not sure about you but I will probably never forget Little Baby's Ice Cream brand and these commercials.  I don't know if these commercials increase my willingness to buy (if I lived in the Philly area) but I believe they are extremely effective in creating a lasting memory with consumers.

 

Ice cream is a feeling!  Of sheer terror?????

New Ads Injected Into Old Shows, Making Syndication Even More Profitable

We are all aware that after popular TV shows stop making new episodes they are shown in syndication on whatever network is willing to pay for the rights to air the show.  We can all think of that one Seinfeld episode, whether we like it or not, that we have seen what seems like countless times.  I recently read a very interesting article discussing how shows are beginning to sell promotional spots in syndicated episodes to wring even more money out of the sitcom’s already rich syndication deals.

Here is a link to the article:  http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/07/07/how-i-met-your-mother-reruns-bad-teacher-zookeeper/

A company called SeamBI which stands for Seamless Brand Integration is in the forefront of this new advertising category.   SeamBI is responsible for digitally altering old episodes with new products and brands. The company's CEO, Roy Baharav, said, "What we do is we insert, very efficiently, brands into content in a natural way and in a way that is valuable to advertisers.  We find the balance between not compromising the integrity of the content and, on the other end, bring a lot of value to the advertiser.” 

Below is an example of the work that SeamBI does.  This shot is from an episode of the second-season episode titled “Swarley,” which originally aired Nov. 6, 2006, more than four years before Bad Teacher hit theaters.

In this example the TV was later added into the coffee shop scene.  They attempt to make it look real by putting scrolling sports scores on the bottom and other aspects of current television shows.  These new syndication ads can be region specific.  This particular Bad Teacher campaign was used specifically in New York metropolitan areas.

SeamBI first unveiled this technology in September 2009, in syndicated episodes of My Name is Earl. The company worked their magic on all 96 episodes of My Name is Earl that were produced; each episode has two or three opportunities to insert advertising, depending on what’s going on in the storyline. SeamBI has also worked new brands and advertisements into episodes of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?  SeamBI believes that this technology is only in its beginning stages.  In the future instead of changing what is on a billboard or TV screen, SeamBI believes that they can changing the brands of cars, cell phones, hotels, and beverages featured.

The work that SeamBI does raises a number of questions.  Does adding advertisements to shows in syndication change the artistic integrity of the show? Should companies be allowed to do this?  What are your thoughts?