Question

Each student is to post an analysis of an ad that you have seen this week that caught your attention. It can be a celebrity-centered and/or appeal to humor, fear, guilt, sex or comparative (please attempt to post a different ad from other students in order for the class to benefit from a discussion of various advertising strategies). Finally, evaluate the effectiveness of the ad. Does it work?

Assess using: Appeal to the target market Effective creative strategy Effective headline, copy, and signature Call to action effectiveness Overall fit with the current marketing plan.

Answer 1

In the world of advertising, building personal relationship is one of the long lasting impact which can be generated by any ad medium. If we look at the main objective of advertisement it is not just to promote a product but also keep the product at the top of mind recall in the consumer mindset. There will always be multiple options for the consumer. The same features, price range as well as availability has now become a norm across businesses. In such a case, the customer will always have an affinity towards the product with which he can relate the most. In such a case, even if the price range is slightly on the higher side or even if there is no immediate availability of the product, the customers are prepared to go the extra mile to get the desired product. All this stems from the fact that there is deep rooted connection between the brand and the customer.

If we look at one of the most common example of customer - brand relationship, we will surely come across Nissin`s Top Ramen which is used worldwide as a preferred source of instant noodles. There are multiple options in the grocery store and supermarket for instant noodles but customer will always go back to the same product because of the deep connection that it has with them. If we take a step back, we can see that the customer would have been curious initially to try out the new product, and it was during this stage that Top Ramen captured the minds by constantly pushing the brand into customers mind. Once there was sufficient recall in the customers mind, they could now focus on the more important factor of promoting the product over other products. All this shows that there is a connection between the advertisements that are placed and the influence it has on the customer`s mindset.

One advertisement which has been running successfully in Indian subcontinent recently was when Top Ramen came back into the Indian markets. The product was off the shelf for few years and the ad shows few kids who think back about their childhood and how they miss the older days when they had Top Ramen during the vacations. The ad cuts to a few scenarios and shows one kid eating Top Ramen much to the astonishment of other kids. The kids run home to find their mom recently back from the store with packs of Top Ramen much to the joy and surprise of the kids. The ad has lot of hidden and subtle meanings where they show that kids miss the older days when they had this noodles and were not happy with other noodle brands. It also shows the new product will bring back childhood memories and this is one area they exploited well using the ad. This ad is good example to show how the product should be promoted to ensure the customer relationship can be rebuilt and sustained.  

If we look deeply into this advertisement and do an in-depth analysis we can see how Top Ramen has tried to bring back a brand recall in the minds of customers. The ad was positioned in such a way that it appealed both to children as well as parents. This ensured that there were very few negative receptors of the ad. It also prompts a certain level of curiousness in the minds of the customer where they are forced to think about how different or similar the taste is. Such scenarios often cause the consumers to think back about the earlier days and think about the taste and the feeling the product gave. This also generates more interest in the minds of customer. If we were to analyze the effectiveness of the ad, one only needs to go to the shopping mart and observe the demand top ramen has over other noodle brands. The ad targeted specific audience who have used the product earlier. The content in the ad also provided food for thought to the audience. Overall if we look at the ad, we can see that it is only a part of a campaign where the product is being brought back to the market. The overall campaign can be successful only if the most prominent weapons in the arsenal can create the impact it is expected to create and in this case, the ad can created the impact it was expected to make. To summarize, the ad by Top Ramen has been a successful one.