In the New York Times article New Form of Impulse: Shopping via Text Message, Louise Story brings to light a new marketing technique for retail. In the article, found here Shop, impulse shopping can now be done by cell phone text messaging, an ever growing trend. ShopText, a New York company started in 2005, takes orders, charges cards, and ships products or accepts charity donations. Warehouses for the company are set up around the country. Instantly people can order from magazines without buying online or going to the store. It is more convenient. Ads and editorials in magazines like CosmoGirl, Stuff, and Lucky have text codes beside their products and samples. Buyers must have the program and an account with a shipping and billing address to buy these things through text messaging. Tim McGraw's new CD, concert tickets, DVDs, and the new Harry Potter book are available to consumers through this tool. Cell phones are now linking products to media. Through this, marketers can tell which magazines generate the most sales.

I think this is a great way for magazines to cell more of what they advertise. Many people, especially young girls, are impulse shoppers, and when they see things in magazines, they immediately want to buy it. Text messaging is the hot thing right now for communication. This company could reach a lot of women, but I wonder about the men, being that unless it's a CD, DVD, or video game advertised someplace other than a magazine, they aren't likely to desire it that bad. However, this way of shopping could catch on everywhere and everything could have a text code beside it. Cell phones, starting with the internet access, are booming with business.

A Droll Sports Ad, or Violent Imagery?

In the New York Times article by Ian Austen, found at Sports, the Television Bureau of Canada has refused to approve a 30-second commercial for the Toronto Blue Jays because of an abusive or what reviewers called “violent” pillow fight. A harmless pillow fight is not the view of the agency approving these ads. Marketers of the baseball team can’t believe they are taking it so seriously. In the commercial, Frank Thomas, the 6 foot 5 inch American League hitter for the Blue Jays, smacks a small boy off the bed during a pillow fight while smiling. Thomas portrays a father trying to end a pillow fight between two young boys in a fun manner that the bureau says got out of hand and became inappropriate. After one of the boys hits him, Thomas says, “Oh, yeah?” and grabs a pillow and swings back like he’s holding a bat. It knocks the boy off the bed. After the boy lands on the other side with a thud, Mr. Thomas runs out of the room like he’s running bases. The child pops up and says, “Whoa!” He’s not smiling or laughing. He’s in shock and trying to regain focus. The issue is power, not humor, says the president of the television bureau in Canada.

Mr. Thomas is a large man and weighs 275 pounds. The kid takes flight, disappears, and there’s a crash. There’s definitely nothing funny about that. A small child and a huge man is overpowering. The parent is in control and dominates, but showing that in a physical way to prove that a baseball star can hit can become extreme. It makes viewers think ‘the poor kid and the champ dad’. The dad wants the spotlight, while his kid is literally thrown into shock. However, this kind of action or scene actually takes the attention off of Mr. Thomas and puts it on the poor boy, which I don’t think is the message. It’s not acceptable for adults to hit children, and even though it’s just a pillow fight, it’s the power put into the swing by a very large man. Violence and child abuse is very controversial, and anytime a child goes flying through the air to land with a crash on the floor, it’s an eye opener, even if it’s done out of innocent fun and games with an object made of feathers. There is force enough that the little boy is shocked. The dad did it in retaliation, and it’s not okay to hit back, especially if it’s the father hitting his child. It sounded like they weren’t playing around when the dad said “Oh, yeah?”, as if he was going to come back even harder to see how the kid liked it and to prove he was in power. It’s the degree of the rough housing that went too far. That’s when it got serious. Media and commercials portray a violence that goes on in real life. Being that it’s Canada’s most popular sport, it’s too bad this commercial got such unfavorable light. There is fighting and physical violence in sports, but there shouldn’t be fighting (enough to injure someone) during a pillow fight.

A Radio Host Tries His Voice on Television

A New York Times article by David Carr mentions the translation of a famous radio show into a television show, another news announcement that media convergence is still turning its wheels. In the article, accessible at Glass, Ira Glass, host of the public radio show “This American Life” is taking his real life stories to the television medium to engage more listens in hearing and seeing these stories of “normal people who are abnormally interesting”. Known for his appeal to the common folk, Glass got started at NPR at 19 and in 1995 started the radio show in Chicago, winning him many radio awards. The themes: wartime romance, kids at summer camp, and religion unfold in acts. Many wonder and are concerned about the success of the show when taken to a new medium, being broadcast on Showtime, and if it will gain an even larger fan base. Glass is already receiving media coverage. Doubts surround the magic of radio that is lost with visibility and production notes of television executives. The upside is the contract allows the show to quickly be taken off television air if it does not do well in the first few episodes and ratings drop. Images will also add expressiveness, and Glass says it will get the moment of realization across with photography and narrative that will be included in the series.


Having those in the radio industry bend to the needs of television can be difficult, but it’s worth a shot if it could gain you a wider audience. It sounds like a terrific idea to see what could be real art portrayed through characters, photography, and narration. I personally am a visual person, and though I listen to radio shows, I would be more interested if it had images to go along with it, hence the creation factor brought to the storytelling. The guy himself and his vision sound very interesting. He’s been in the business and won awards, so he knows what he’s doing, and if he thinks it’s worth a shot then he should go for it. Either way, he will still have the radio version of “This American Life”. Television is a different world based off of a different concept, but change can be good, and we see it with more advanced technology in the generation of media convergence.

How to Bottle a Generation

Eric Wilson wrote an article in The New York Times, which can be read at Calvin, about how Calvin Klein takes the lead in its sexuality of its fragrances. In 1994's CK One, sexuality and grunge were ecompassed by the youth. Black and white ads with moping models depicted this, and these fragrances were even sold in record stores in the grunge music area. This broke industry records and rules. The goal was to give Generation X a unisex brand that would capture the essence of youth, beauty, and sexual boldness in a bottle. A sequel is now coming out for hip 20-somethings, hoping to repeat the same success since today's youth and young adults tend to spend more money on electronics than fashion and fragrances. This fragrance will be without era defining instincts. In the ads and commercials, a boy and girl are in a compromising sexual position leaning into each other and she is pulling at his belt while he has a strand of her hair. Watery grafitti images are of the words "sex" and "today' with 2 rocket silo shaped bottles in a white plastic i-pod casing. The physically bold name of the fragrance, in2u, is written in shorthand in an instant message. It is supposed to be a casual invitation to sex, being that there was no time to spell out the words into you.

Calvin Klein has always been very seductive in its approach to style and what scent or message our body gives off. He has reached men and women willing to test boundaries, and as always, sex sells. The ads, images and words, won't cause any more controversy than the Abercrombie and Fitch nearly naked sex photos of good looking models that appear on ads in stores and on the shopping bags. Abercrombie t-shirt messages have sexual connotation, but parents still buy them for their kids. Calvin Clein has hip, form fitting clothes, and its scents seeks to appeal to attract the opposite sex like its clothes that cling to our bodies.

If You Need Your News on the Run, Read the Summary

In a New York Times article by Katharine Q. Seelye, found at Digest, news is taking off. First, there’s coffee and breakfast on the run, and now there’s news on the run. The Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister paper, The Daily News, are trying something new for those on the go with a schedule that doesn’t allow anytime for the newspaper, no matter what’s going on in the world. A digest is being printed in the newspapers themselves that summarizes all the important news happenings, keeping readers informed. A few articles, sports scores, lottery numbers, weather, and daily updates in conjunction with the website and nightly television news are compiled. Commerce Bank sponsors the digests and displays its logo on the page. A subheadline reads “The most convenient way to get your news. Presented by America’s most convenient bank”. The back is prime advertising space and is bought by the finest of quality companies with that much to invest for advertising. Who better than a bank? The Inquirer Express is on the back of The Inquirer sports section. The Daily News at a Glance is a few pages after the tabloid’s front pages.

This opportunity will not hurt print journalism. Newspaper readers will still read the entire newspaper front to back to keep fully informed while waking up and drinking coffee. For many, it is a daily routine they take the time for and it’s relaxing. For others, they need to move a lot faster, but still want to know what’s going on around them, and can’t, unless they overhear a conversation. Readers can now read the newspaper while walking, getting ready, all in a matter of a few minutes. This will bring more readers and add involvement, rather than lose readers.
If you’re like me, being on the run means there isn’t time for keeping up with news as bad as I would like to. I just have more important things to do in my busy schedule that I can’t sit in front of the television, read the newspaper, or look up the news on the internet. There is so much information in the paper that I hate to see wasted and the money wasted, but with this new idea, Philadelphia is trying something to increase the print journalism field’s exposure. Subscriptions will more than likely rise, and the new organization of print journalism will catch on. News in any form is better than none, so why not make it user friendly.

The New Video Arcade in Spain Might Be the Movie Theater

A New York Times article focused on video arcades becoming the new kind of theatre. In the article found at Arcade , a graduate of Instituto de Empresa in Madrid developed the first hybrid movie theatre located in Spain. The 3-D video gaming has high tech digital effects (black lights, fog, high definition, vibrating seats, game pads, and individual 17 inch screens on the seats. These cinema games are played in small theatres in suburban multiplexes seating about 50 people at a time. What used to be at home computer play is now community entertainment as video games invade theatres. Game tournament competition involves interaction with players and intense battles. The sound puts gamers at the center of the action for only $3.95. The reason these theatres were established was due to the decreasing admissions in regular movie theatres, but it doesn’t mean video halls will sell out Hollywood entertainment. The hope is that the concept will expand into North America and Europe if theatre companies buy the system. The idea didn’t work for a Germany theatre who gave it a try. Time Play Entertainment has allowed theatre goers to participate in ad sponsored games before the movie. Game manufactures are keeping their eye on the success of these theatres.


I don’t see this concept going very far due to the extremely high costs in all the equipment, and the demographic is so limited to young men in their late teens and 20s. It leaves women and the older population out of the entertainment. For that cost and with such a narrow target audience, no matter what the entrance fee, it won’t expand. The popularity of the theatres so far has only been seen on weekend nights. Video game halls would take away from an individual’s boredom and alone time to concentrate. Video game sales would decrease for stores and renters. Computer and game station use would drop drastically if people could go out and play in the public for less. Do you see this new “theatre” going anywhere?

-Amy

A New Camel Brand Is to the Nines

According to a recent New York Times article by Stuart Elliott found at No. 9, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco recently came out with a new Camel box design targeted at high-heeled and fashionable women. The style of the box has increased Camel's sales. Camel No. 9 sounds like a women's fragrance, Chanel No. 19, as well as a romantic song, "Love Potion No. 9". According to the senior marketing director of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, the "9" means "dressed to the nines, putting on your best." Subtle cues are the hot pink fuchsia color and minty teal green outline of the packaging. The slogan is "Light and luscious". In magazines, flowers surround the ad, making it fun and exciting, thus the appeal.
Because Camel is male-focused, Joe Camel, only 30% of women are Camel buyers. This limited their potential because half of adult women are smokers. As a result, Camel has come up with a new marketing strategy. Virginia Slims has always been the largest brand directed at women with the slogan, "You've come a long way, baby." The promotion for the new Camel cigarette box design is done through give aways at nightclubs, distributing coupons, and ads in magazine like Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Vogue, although these magazines have a young reader audience too.

This new advertising campaign will surely impact women smokers who may have been turned off by Joe Camel before, preferring a cigarette brand directed at women, like Virgina Slims. The fancy and pretty packaging, as well as the flowery bright ads, will attract women, since it is a known fact that women are impacted by visual ads with flair that are beautiful or attractive. This draws them in, increasing the sales. This was a smart move for Camel cigarettes, lingering away from the more male dominant name and appealing to women smokers who make up a large segment of young adult/adult smokers. I can only predict a positive impact for Camel.

-Amy