Week 13.1: Advertising Research

Competitor's Ads

Crunchies 

I found Crunchie's Social Media advertising to be Okay. It did not wow, nor annoy. Some were better than others. What picture they used made quite a difference. One appealing ad used a very clean photo that was clearly freeze dried strawberries, on a white background. Another ad used sliced mango, but it was only apparent it was mango after staring at it a few minutes and wondering what it could be. The photo was taken too close and was not freeze dried. Crunchie's did not try to be overly clever at all in their ads. Some more creativity could be used, but at the same time ads that try too hard to be clever sometimes flop. 

Snicker's 

Snickers candy bars came out with an incredibly smart, effective and strange social media ad campaign, which they spent lots of money on of course. The tied in "hangry" trend and found a way to connect with people, even changing prices based off the public's angry level. The ad creates a dialogue and has a call to action. Here is the link to an article and video that explains the strange concept much better https://www.adweek.com/creativity/media-plan-of-the-year-best-in-show/

Larabar 

I think Larabar is doing pretty well with their social media ads. The ads have a colorful picture of the bars in their packaging with little bits of fresh fruit reflecting the flavors inside. The ads also includes the tagline "food made from food". Larabar is presenting a lot of information in a simple way that can be understood at a glance. I feel the graphics and straight forward message is eye catching and effective. Larabar is made by General Mills, so I imagine they also have a large marketing budget. However, I think creating a similar style ad can be done at a reasonable cost for a small business. 

Social Media Ads vs Traditional Ads

I personally find social media ads to be more effective than traditional ads. Most of us find television commercials to be annoying. We do all we can to avoid them. We make a snack, use the restroom or have a conversation when they come on. With that being said, sometimes even the most annoying ads still work. The ones we hate stick with us and that brand's awareness is grows. One cringe worthy example is Mountain Dew's awful "puppy-monkey-baby" commercials. However, I find social media ads to be particularly effective because the call to action and the accessibility to the product is immediate. If you are watching television or reading a magazine and you see something you like you are not likely to drop what you are doing and run out and buy whatever product at that moment. Whereas if you are perusing around the internet and an ad comes up for something you like, especially something that can be ordered online, that ease can create a purchase. The difference is minutes between an ad and a sale vs days or weeks.