Advertising & Marketing Archives - Public Relations, Advertising & Social Media

Grocery shopping with QR codes

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Brian Lee

QR codes (the square, barcode-like picture that you scan with your smartphone to access a website) still haven’t taken off in the United States. For one, they were never really introduced to the public; rather, they just started appearing. Second, not everyone has a smartphone, and even the people who do know that QR code readers aren’t a standard app.

On top of that, I have read many case studies on QR code usage and have been completely underwhelmed (oh boy, a chance to sign up for your company’s crappy newsletter), until now: A Korean grocery store called Tesco put up displays of their foods in subways so people could shop while waiting. Watch this video:

Instead of creating some useless website as the destination of the QR codes, like most companies to date have done, Tesco actually filled a need (grocery shopping). Pure genius.

A fake product for research

Posted on July 19, 2011June 8, 2018 by Brian Lee

Ask anyone, and they’ll agree that research is the foundation of any campaign. From market insights to competitor analyses to determining who exactly your target audience is.

ESPN took this to the extreme by developing a fake candy bar and seeing how it fared with its viewers, as reported by AdWeek. It showed that fans watching a football game would pay a premium for the “High 5” candy bar after seeing a commercial about it.

This is impressive data. ESPN went to great lengths and expense to show how effective advertising on its channel can be (read the article for more details).

Now, not every company can afford to do this level of research, but it’s what potential clients want when they decide how to spend their advertising budget.

On the ethics side, it does seem deceiving to trick an audience into thinking that High 5 actually exists, but then I realized that in many experiments in which I’ve participated, the true purpose of the study is not revealed until after it’s completed. And ESPN didn’t actually try to sell this product in a store or online.

Either way, I’m wondering if more media (esp. TV) will try this?

Restaurant marketing continues to evolve

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Brian Lee

Popeyes Anyone who works or has worked in the restaurant industry knows that it’s tough and that you need to be proactive on the marketing front to have a chance at success. As the New York Times reported recently, quick-service restaurants (QSR) like Popeye’s and Dairy Queen have new campaigns that may help to stem sales losses caused by an increase in gasoline prices.

If anything, I would think that this is time for this category of restaurant to shine. When the economy made a turn for the worse a few years ago, upscale restaurants saw the biggest decline, and as a result they had to make modifications, such as adding prix-fixe menus. Thus, QSRs need to continue trumpeting value …

… and health. Yep, that’s right. As reported by AdAge, QSRs are using buzzwords such as “fresh” and “natural” to appeal to the (more-)health-conscious diners. I agree with the article that trying to market to everybody could be a detriment to the restaurant chain’s core offerings. That’s why finding the right balance–though difficult–will be key.