What do you know about marketing?
I mean, besides knowing the basics like commercials, ads and junk mail – most people don’t know a thing about marketing.
I’m not ashamed to tell you that when it comes to marketing – I’m no expert – but there is something I feel like I need to tell you that hopefully doesn’t change your opinion of me.
This may sound weird, but…
I love commercials.
Yes, I understand how that may be odd – but it often amazes me to see what strategies advertisers use in order to make their products look more appealing to us consumers.
And in the world we live in with DVRs and digital recordings – I’d be lying if I said I don’t get a little giddy when I come across a commercial that really catches my eye.
You have to know what you’re doing to get me to rewind a commercial – so to those advertisers that do this – kudos to you.
Over the years, I’ve created an unofficial list of my favorites…
Those truly special ads that make me want to listen, watch and more importantly – buy whatever they’re selling.
In my opinion, some of the all time greats, are the older Apple versus the PC’s of the world campaign.
You’ve seen the commercials…
The young, hip, and cool guy VS. the drab, boring, and dorky guy – an idea used a thousand times – but these commercials seem to capture the essence of Mac users, or…
At least what Mac users want to think they are.
They want to be hip and cool – and by using a Mac – they will, by default, be hip and cool.
The commercials work because not only do they hit that emotional button – but they’re also informative.
If you watch those commercials, the arguments between the two always came down to how much better Mac functioned – making them entertaining – while explaining why the Mac was a superior product…
Smart, all the way around.
Another one of my top ten favorites centers around the talking babies of E*trade, do you remember those?
They’re well thought out and funny, but I don’t know if they hit the mark as far as advertising goes, because I think the humor overshadows the product…
You lose a little too much of what the product is if you’re concentrating on what the babies do or say – instead of what they’re going to say to get you to sign up for E*Trade.
You’re constantly waiting for the punch line…
And you end up missing the message.
It’s a case of a great commercial, but terrible advertising.
But the opposite is present as well…
There are other advertisements where I don’t understand the commercial… but get the advertising.
Take for instance the commercial for Smart Grids… do you remember seeing these gems?
The commercial featured a scarecrow dancing around on power lines and singing “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz…
As a self-described fan of commercials – I understand the concept and the message they were trying to convey, but I think the commercial falls way short in the “informative” column.
I get it – I understand that Smart Grid technology is like our existing power grids getting a “brain”…
I just don’t “get it.”
I think the image is too subtle – especially to those people that don’t know what a NORMAL power grid is – let alone knowing what a Smart Grid is.
This commercial made me wonder just how many people actually KNOW what a Smart Grid is and does this ad make them want to find out?
Well, it wouldn’t take much time to do a little research if they wanted a better idea of what smart grids actually are…
With the world at our fingertips, it shouldn’t be too hard find info on Smart Grids, especially recently as Smart Grids get more and more press each day.
What people would find on their Google search is that this new and innovative technology is getting ready to revolutionize electricity as we know it…
That basically, the way our power grids are today are archaic and more than just a little inept…
One could call them “stupid” and not be wrong.
The older grids can’t interact with a user, they don’t tell the user there’s a problem, and they really don’t do anything at all besides carry power from the substation to the home.
If there’s a power outage now, the power company has to receive a call in order to fix the problem…
There’s not any special sensor that will tell them if electricity is going to where it’s supposed to go. It’s mostly just a matter of waiting for the next call to fix things…
Like I said, in this world of instant fixes – our existing power grids are a bit too 19th century – which makes sense, as that’s when the groundwork was laid for what exists for the MAJORITY of cities today.
Smart Grids can make a lot of inconveniences a thing of the past!
No more brown outs…
No more black outs…
No more waking up late because your electricity went off and your digital alarm clock went off with it!
Smart Grids will make sure that electricity goes to places that need it by being able to subvert power from areas that aren’t using it and direct it to areas that do.
It could save power providers and customers MILLIONS in a couple of years…
And if the makers of Smart Grids want to gain a little more awareness, they’d be smart to change the commercials…
Again, I’m not an advertising guy, but I’m thinking there’s a more direct way to get their message out there. Animals always work nice – a talking monkey in anything drastically increases its chances of being watched…
Especially by me.
I love it when monkeys are dressed up as people, but I digress…
What’s important here is the fact that there are a LOT of profit opportunities in this sector – especially for investors that know how to take advantage of them.
I’ve been keeping my eye on Smart technology for a while – and I’ll be sure to tell my GorillaTrades subscribers the moment I think one of these stocks are going to surge – and I’d love to have you on board if this happens.
My risk-adverse trading system has been proven to help my members get the chance at making some fast cash – so if you’ve hit a dry spell –GorillaTrades may be able to help!
However, if the group thing isn’t your style – you should still start a little research on Smart Grids and how they could be one of the next big markets to break.
Until the next time – have a great week!
“The first step toward maintaining autonomy in any programmed environment is to be aware that there’s programming going on. It’s as simple as understanding the commercials are there to help sell things. And that TV shows are there to sell commercials, and so on.” – Douglas Rushkoff