Olympic Advertising

I couldn't agree more with Forbes.com with their opinion of the "Cadillac ATS vs The World" commercial. I've always looked at Cadillacs as a car my grandma would drive. My opinion may have changed when I saw this commercial during the Olympics opening ceremony. The ad begins like an adventure documentary, but the audience will later discover it's a showcase for the performance of the Cadillac ATS. Two drivers test the ATS as they blaze down a road, if that's what you want to call it. This road looks more like a roller coaster ride from hell to me, as it snakes its way down a very tall canyon. 

The ad really delivered an edgier message, and it appears others agreed. According to Forbes.com, "Shopping on Edmunds.com for the Cadillac ATS, albeit from a small base, soared 351 percent after the first 60-second commercial aired during the opening ceremony." This incredible statistic proves the power of intelligent, creative and emotional advertising. 

Back to Square One

I had a blast this weekend at the SOJA show. Those guys put on a stellar performance. The day after the show I fell back to reality as I considered how close my college graduation and move out date is. This time in my life reminds of how I felt right before college, days away from leaving where I had lived all my life, knowing a new chapter was soon to begin. It's stressful to think about some of the inevitable life changes coming my way, but I'll always approach great challenges with even greater determination and positive thinking. Here's a little taste of the music I witnessed this weekend!

SOJA Sunday

The next few days are going to be filled with music, changes and gloriousness. I'm seeing SOJA on sunday and graduate next Friday. Woo!

The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale

I just finished reading The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, the first novel written by Benjamin Hale, and I must say this book was one the most well written, thought provoking and entertaining novels I have read in a long time. The book’s protagonist, Bruno Littlemore, is a chimpanzee born in captivity at the Chicago Zoo. Linguistic researchers from the University of Chicago pick Bruno to be studied. The plot truly begins to take root when Bruno, who desperately desires to be human, falls in love with the assistant researcher, Lydia Littlemore. Bruno eventually learns to speak the English language, and dives into the human world. After a series of dramatic twists of love, cruelty, death, and even murder, Bruno finds himself at odds with his newfound identity. He sees life, as a human, to be filled with wonders like art, music, literature, theater and love, yet overshadowed by hate, ignorance and cruelty. The story questions the very definition of what it means to be human. I will warn readers that are easily offended or insular; this may not be the book for you. Readers may also want to have a dictionary on hand, as this book is filled with a challenging vocabulary. The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore is an excellent novel, and I highly recommend the read.

The Importance of DoubleClick

Using search engines like Yahoo!, Google or Bing allows web surfers to find what they’re looking for with the click of a mouse. Type the word that describes your search, click enter, and the Internet opens up. Modern technology has enabled these engines to use searches as an advertising tool. Type in “gardening” and one is sure to find several advertisements for gardening products and a list of related websites. A big push for this merge of advertiser and search engine occurred in 2007 when Google bought DoubleClick. DoubleClick provides ad serving. What is ad serving? Ad serving is “the act of serving, or delivering, ads to websites” (Kinnier, 2007). There are two products ad serving offers, publisher and advertising-agency. Ad serving helps publishers decide when and where to place an advertisement on websites. If one is using a search engine to find a new bicycle, the search engine will display a list of related websites. DoubleClick will help publishers find the most appropriate time and place to put their ad on one of those sites. For advertising-agencies, DoubleClick helps track the effectiveness of the agency’s ads. This function is crucial, as “real-time performance reporting enables advertisers and agencies to change the content, and timing of ads almost on the fly” (Kinnier, 2007). DoubleClick was valuable to Google for many reasons. DoubleClick allows Google to have a productive advertising system. Advertising agencies can use Google to promote products in an efficient way, while keeping track of how effective those promotions are. Everyone benefits from this system. Google attracts more advertisers, advertisers have productive promotions, and consumers receive an easier way to find what they’re looking for. Since 2007 more search engines have adopted similar systems to DoubleClick, because of Google’s huge success.


Source:
Kinnier, A. (2007, June 26). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-were-buying-doubleclick.html

Andrew Hem: Do Not Neglect the Art

I just realized I've neglected one of the key components of my blog, art. In fact, the last time I wrote about art was over two months ago. It's time get back up to speed! Art is something that has always inspired me, art has brought me to new worlds, art has made me question, art is something I can never neglect. The next artist I would like to share is Andrew Hem. He is a wonderful painter who embodies the uncertainty of my generation into every one of his works. His art focuses on vibrant characters with their own story, their own irresolution, walking on their own path. I feel a strong connection with his work, especially in my stage of life. I hope you enjoy my favorite pieces by this magnificent artist, Andrew Hem, as much as I do. Please take a gander on his website at http://www.andrewhem.com/.

Beginning of an era

Make the best of things

End of the tunnel

Get right back up

This road gets harder