* lightbulb moment *

OMG. I think I just figured out what I want to do with my life. #winning!


Peter McGuinness is the CEO of Gotham, a NY advertising agency.  He graduated from RWU in '91 with a business degree and presented "Advertising Evolution and Revolution" to current students.  Advertising Age called Gotham "the firm to watch out for" and the "#1 standout." 


He had great insight and provided so much knowledge about how advertising is evolving and how we need to consistently grow and transform with technology and social media in order to be successful.  McGuinness described advertising field as digital, mobile, and hyperconnected.


I learned that social media is NOT a fad - it's a fundamental shift in how we communicate, which can be called "socialnomics."  Social media is not going away, it's here to stay and we must embrace it.  This gives us so many more opportunities to express ourselves creatively. Now, consumers are in control with many choices - brands are porous and democratized so brands have to "earn" our time.  They need to be creative and interesting so that consumers won't want to fast forward through the message.  


Advertising is changing the ways of communication.  We must make it personal so there is a connection with the consumer.  As in any long lasting, rich relationship, there must be reciprocity between a consumer and a brand.  Advertising looks at ideas differently - the brand promise is delivered in a real way.  


Denny's "America's Diner is Always Open" openness campaign, Chobani's "Nothing but Good" campaign, and the Mandela Day "Make an Imprint" campaign were some of McGuinness' favorite most successful projects he worked on.  


In class, I learned that in order to get a reaction, advertisers must inform and inspire consumers to drive them to participation.  You can, in fact, change behavior.  People respond positively by an experience rather than information and facts being thrown at them.  In order to do this, we have to combine the real world with the digital world, seamlessly.  


Perhaps the most important lesson that I was able to take away from the presentation was the final video clip.  Words matter whether they are spoken, visual, or in written form.  CHANGE YOUR WORDS. CHANGE YOUR WORD.  Wording is everything; the same message communicated in a different way is able to create extremely different reactions.  


McGuinness finished by saying that advertising is a characteristic; it can't be learned.  In order to be successful in this industry, you must be curious, knowledgeable, hyperconnected, curious, and creative. Emotion always trumps logic in advertising because everyone can relate to emotions.  

International Business Seminar

On Tuesday, I was required to attend one of the international business seminars for my advertising class.  I went to “Global Geopolitical Challenges of the 21^st Century” because it fit with my schedule.  Professor Melnik was from Nancy, France and had a very heavy French accent, which was hard to understand at some points.  Thankfully, he prepared a PowerPoint presentation that accompanied his lecture.  The beginning of his speech was about political globalization vs. economic globalization.

Then he provided a brief history about the history of globalization.  The Renaissance in 1492 and the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus was the first instance of globalization.  Next was the first Industrial Revolution in the 1760s with Great Britain and the Netherlands.  Finally, was the second Industrial Revolution which reached the U.S., Great Britain and Germany at the end of the 19^th Century around 1914. 

Melnick spoke with great enthusiasm explaining that China and India will dominate in the 21^st Century with growth in global economy and demography.  The world is becoming more modern and less western.  We need to focus on our own cultural identity because the balance of power among civilization is shifting.  The western culture is declining while Asian and Islamic civilization is booming. 

The lecture ended by asking how we can go global as an individual.  Europe faces challenges that are institutional, economic and political due to a lack of visibility.  On the other hand, the U.S. is a birthplace and leader in globalization.  Obama’s geostrategy is to export hope.  There is innovation and creativity in technology and the value of our dollar is low. 

Overall, the lecture was very informative, but I found it hard to pay attention because he was talking very fast and it was hard to understand the professor’s accent.  I think that if I was a history major or a student majoring in political science, I would have enjoyed it more, but I didn’t think that this specific lecture had any focus on business or marketing.

"Strivers" - VALS

Strivers are trendy and fun loving people who are motivated by achievement.  They are also concerned about the opinions and approvals of others.  

An advertisement that accurately targets the "strivers" is a print ad for the Apple iPad 2.  This a new product that was recently developed after the creation of the iPad only a few months earlier.  Strivers would be very willing to be the consumers if this new invention.  Owning the new iPad 2 would make them be perceived as cool and trendy which is how  they view themselves. 

Watch the Official Apple iPad 2 Commercial here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tYTB4Fq_UM