CCT356+Online+Critique+Assignment

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//Online Advertising Critique (February 6, 2012), 15%//

//Pick two instances of an existing online advertising/marketing campaign and critique their design and approach. Who is their// //target audience? What are they trying to advance? When did you see this campaign, and where? What techniques did they// //use? Do you believe they were effective? Why/why not? Post this on your personal wiki.//

**Samsung S II Commercial**
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When publishing an advertisement, it is important to discover who the target audience is, it is impossible to attract everyone's attention at the same time. Thus, it is known to be more effective to create a marketing concept that specifically fits to potential end-users of the product/service which will result in greater outcome. According to the recent statistics from Research and Markets, they anticipated that there will be around 627 million smartphone users around the world which accounts for approximately 10 percent of the whole population in the world by the end of 2011 (Business Wire, 2011). Also, another research evidently proves that majority of smartphone users are young professionals between age of 18 to 24 which take up to 27.4% whom are most likely to be early adapters in this fast changing technological environment (Quora, 2011).

Samsung is trying to advance the fact that Samsung Galaxy S II outruns Apple's iPhone 4S in its productivity, product availability and its features. They are trying to implement a new catch phrase such as "Samsunged" towards its competitors (Apple) thus, subconsciously making users to think that Samsung Galaxy S II is superior than the iPhone. Samsung is using viral marketing as one of its techniques to promote the smartphone as it contains entertainment and fascinated attributes in its commercial to intrigue viewers to spread the news to their neighbours and friends through SNS such as Facebook or Twitter. The first time i have seen this video was on my friend's Facebook wall where there was a huge dispute on iPhone4S vs Galaxy S II regards to which phone outruns the other.

This is very effective marketing campaign, touching on a controversial topic which creates a several beneficial factors to Samsung: increase in brand recognition of it as it is the sole competitor against Apple's iPhone and it is even better, and promotion of the new Galaxy S II through viral marketing at the same time.

__Reference:__
""Samsunged" - Samsung Galaxy S II, The Next Big Thing - YouTube." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .

"Research and Markets: Worldwide Smartphone Markets: 2011 to 2015 | Business Wire."//Press Release Distribution, Financial Disclosure, Online Newsrooms, PR, Public Relations, Investor Relations, EDGAR Filing, XBRL, Breaking News, Business News, Financial News | Business Wire//. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .

"What Are the Age Demographics of Smartphone Users?" //Quora//. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .

The Force: Volkswagen Commercial
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As auto vehicles are essential part of people's life in modern society, there are no specific end-users to this product because every individuals are potential buyers. However, in this online advertisement, it is reasonable to assume that Volkswagen targets its customers for a young and small family, proposing a sporty sedan that satisfies relatively young parents in its design and luxury and as well as the children in its cool technological aspect of a vehicle. The whole marketing concept behind this advertisement is to depict a happy family by owning one of Volkswagen's automobile which would deceive customers to think that their family would be happy when they own a "Passat" as well.

The first time i have seen this video was on youtube as it was one of the hot commercials of the 2011, I was aware that this commercial was originally intended for Super Bowl ads which are known to be clever and eye-catching contents as it costs about 3 million dollars to air 30 seconds (KPSPLocal2, 2011). As opposed to the past advertisements for Super Bowl, VW revealed the video 2 weeks before the Super Bowl to get viral which resulted in more than 10 million views on youtube (Youtube Blogpost, 2011).

I believe using Youtube as a mediocre to spread awareness was definitely an effective marketing strategy that had a significant increase in VW's brand recognition. More than 50 million users of youtube has already seen this video and liked it, which is responsible for about a half of audience during Super Bowl (110 million in 2011) without having to pay the cost of millions to get awareness (HuffPost Media, 2011).

Incorporating a parody of Starwars was an excellent idea, especially with a little child playing a role of Dark Vader trying to use the 'Force'. Many people like children, many of them also like Starwars, the combination of cuteness and cleverness acted as a stimulus for a lot of people to share this video until it ranked the 1st ads on youtube and seen by many others. The key behind an online advertising are creativity and forming a social consensus among users to get viral just like "The Force Commercial" from Volkswagen.

__Reference:__
"The Force: Volkswagen Commercial - YouTube." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .

"How Much Does a Super Bowl Commercial Cost in 2011? - KPSP Local 2." //KPSP - Breaking News for Palm Springs and Coachella Valley | Southern California News - KPSP Local 2//. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .

"Ads That Entertain: YouTube’s Top Spots of 2011." //YouTube Blog//. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .

Receivers, Patriots. "Super Bowl 2011 Is Most Watched Program EVER." //Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post//. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .