Advertising: Old v. New

I picked three products that have been advertised for over fifty years. The ads I selected for comparison were Dodge, Land Rover, and Mad River Glen Resort. These ads all have changed from the past to today. They have different benefits, pitch to different audiences, and the ads seem to be less creative nowadays. The advertising strategies have not changed much except for a wider distribution system today with electronic communication.
The first ad is a poster of the Dodge Wayfarer in 1949. The poster instructs wives how to get their husbands to buy a car. It talks about safety features, versatility, and how spacious the car is. This ad has many pictures describing the car and the claims they make about the car. This ad definitely patronizes females as homemakers, targeting these women and their husbands to buy a Dodge because it would keep their wives happy.
The ad that I am comparing it to is a poster for the 2010 Dodge Journey. This ad is geared towards a European market, where diesel cars like this are much more popular. This ad is simpler then the earlier Dodge ad. It depicts the Kiss family sitting on the couch with an image of the Dodge Journey. The slogan is “For extra strong families,” then info about the car and a promotion for a free i-Pod (for the teens and tweens) with the purchase of the vehicle. The target audience consists of families with teens and tweens. The major differences in these two Dodge ads from different generations are the family structure of the target audience (including teens and tweens influencing buying decisions) and the geographic target to the European export market.
The next product that I am comparing is different generations of Land Rovers. The Series II ads in 1958 depict a Land Rover being used as an everyday work vehicle on a farm towing a hay trailer. With the slogan “Hay today Hens tomorrow,” implying that it is a vehicle that is meant to be a versatile work truck. The target audience for this ad was made up of farmers and self-reliant people that lived in remote, rural, and rugged locations.
The current advertisement depicts a Land Rover “Range Rover” model in the city. The tag line, “Concur the world and look good doing it,” showcases the Land Rover as a status symbol. This ad targets people who live in the city and will purchase a Land Rover as more of a fashion statement then a utilitarian work vehicle. During the years between these two ads the Land Rover has created a completely new image. I also think that this new ad was less creative then the old one, because the Series II ad used a drawing and the Range Rover is a photograph.
The third ad comparison is for Mad River Glen Ski Resort. The first ad is a poster from the early 1950’s. This ad pointed out the convenience of the ski train with three resorts near by: Mad River Glen, Stowe and Smugglers Notch. The target audiences are people from Boston and NYC that like to ski. The second ad is a recent ad for midweek season passes targeting local skiers who live in the Mad River Valley. The main benefit of purchasing this pass is it offers discounted skiing during midweek non-holiday periods. This also shows a shift in marketing demographics, from flatlanders to locals, to promote off-peak periods.
The biggest change I see in posters of the 40s and 50s compared to today is that most of the older posters were hand drawn and were more artistic. Today ads primarily use photographs and contain contact info to direct viewers to their website where they can promote their products more cost effectively and provide much more information.

30 Second Radio Ad

Lyndon State College

Title: Earth Day Celebrations

Sponsor: Lyndon State College Mountain Recreation Department

Length: 30 seconds

Air Dates: April 20^th – 22^nd

How much waste do you produce each day? The average American creates 4.4 pounds of waste per day. Lyndon State College is conducting a trash audit as part of its Earth Day celebration on Thursday April 22. Everyone is invited! There will be a Red Cross blood drive, a party, a solar powered concert and workshops about consumption, politics and the environment. Come check out the Earth Day happenings throughout campus, and learn to minimize your environmental impact.

Ad Diagram

Wesley Bell
ENG 3080: Strategic Media
04/13/2010



Visual: Photo

Headline: Ski/Ride through College

Subhead: N/A

Swing Line: Ski Resorts within one hour

Body Copy: “Ski Resorts within 1 hour . . . Teaching the snow sports leaders of tomorrow – today.”

Zinger: SKI /RIDE through College!

Call to Action: Enroll in the #1 and oldest Mountain Recreation Management program in the nation!

Logo/Slogan/Tagline: Teaching the snow sports leaders of tomorrow - today.

Mandatories: Web address, email, phone

Barbara Tomkey, Smugglers’ Notch Resort Public Relations Director

Barbara Thomke is the Smugglers’ Notch Resort public Relations Director. Barbara has a degree in Education and German from Middlebury College, but her love of skiing took her down another path. She got her start in the ski industry working as an organizer for the homeowners’ associations at Smuggs. As time went on, she transitioned to public relations. In her public relations job she publishes a weekly print newsletter to employees. She also sends events emails and press releases. Sometimes she skis with writers and television reporters. She uses Vocous – a PR software tool for lists of publications they have worked with in the past. This automatically sends the information out.
The most memorable project that she has worked on is conducting interviews with homeowners to find out how they learned about Smuggs, and what makes Smuggs special for them. A special time for her was when she met Superman, actor Christopher Reeves. He was a homeowner at Smuggs and spent the day hanging with the staff. She also enjoys meeting top notch journalists through her job at Smuggs. Barbara really enjoys working with people who like to ski. There is no part of her job that is not enjoyable, yet Barbara said that meetings are sometimes a little grueling. For the future of public relations in the ski industry, she says that social networking is the most important technology to keep up with. During my interview with Barbara I asked about awards Smuggs has received while she has been the PR officer. The list of awards is lengthy and impressive, check it out for yourself at http://www.smuggs.com/pages/universal/press/awards.php.
Barbara says that the best way for people to get a PR position at a resort is to work at the resort for a few years, get to really know the place, then transition to the PR department. That way you know the resort from the inside out. Barbara has worked as the Public Relations Director at Smuggs for 20 years. At the end of the ski season she will be retiring and passing the reigns to her assistant. No doubt, she leaves big (snow)shoes to fill, or would that be ski boots?

J.J. Tolland, public relations director for Sugarbush Resort

J.J. Tolland is the public relations director for Sugarbush Resort. I met with J.J. at the Castlerock Pub at Sugarbush last Saturday to talk about his career. Before his life at Sugarbush, J.J. began working as a freelance snow sports journalist based in Vermont. One day, while eating lunch with the Stowe communications director, it was suggested that he apply for the Sugarbush P.R. position. So, in October of 2003 he became a Sugarbush employee in the public relations department. When I asked J.J. to describe his job, his answer was, “in the ski industry you do not really ever stick to the job description.” The most important part of his job is being a great storyteller. Most of the time he deals with print and video media.

Perhaps the most memorable experience in his role as public relations director was working with “The Today Show” last winter. They hosted an entire show, on location, live at Sugarbush Resort. In planning for the arrival of The Today Show he learned what it is like to go a whole month with almost no sleep getting the resort ready for one morning of live video.

J.J. enjoys the freedom of working for an independently owned resort, where the owner lives locally and he can call him up or meet him on the mountain if he has a question or to discuss an idea for the future. His least favorite times working in PR are the 3 AM phone calls from the press or mountain supervisors when something drastic happens and he needs to deal with the press right then.

The biggest challenge that J.J. sees for the future of the ski industry is the projected decrease of 20 million skier visits by 2016. Sugarbush is addressing this challenge with new marketing campaigns to attract and keep more Sugarbush skiers and riders, such as Sugar-Tube (Sugarbush’s answer to You-Tube) and starting a ‘first-timers to life-timers’ ski/ride program. While J.J. has been at the helm, Sugarbush has received the National Ski Area Association’s guest services award and is currently expected to receive a media award for Sugar-Tube.

As for people interested in a career in public relations, J.J. suggests that they offer to help edit or write some press releases for the resort or organization they want to work for, in order to gain some experience and face time with the PR department. J.J. loves his job at Sugarbush because there is no such thing as an ordinary day. Every day provides new material for another Sugarbush legend.

Mountain_Recreation_Podcast

Lyndon State College Mountain Recreation department building a ski hill on campus. click on the the title to listen to podcast.

Introducing Eric Friedman Mad River Glen Public Relations

I am introducing Eric Friedman, Public Relations and Marketing Director at Mad River Glen, Fayston, Vermont. I met with Eric in his office above the General Store on a snowy day in February at the base of Mad River Glen, Vermont’s only skier-owned cooperative. Friedman has a Master’s in teaching history. He stumbled into public relations quite by accident, when the Mad River Glen Cooperative was formed. The way he got the job was when he told the mountain manger that he thought that the P.R. for the mountain was not up to par. The general manager’s response was, “Okay, you are now our P.R. person.” At first, this was a volunteer position, but by the new year he was a part-time employee and by the next season he was the full time, year-round marketing department. Eric’s responsibilities include: public relations and marketing, being the public face of the mountain, special events coordinator, recruiting sponsorships, marketing the resort’s individual departments to maximize profit, snow reporting at least two times per day, administrative responsibilities and shareholder liaison.
The marketing achievements that he is most proud of are the articles in publications that are not targeted only to skiers. General media outlets that have recognized Mad River Glen, include CNN, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times of London. The article he is most proud of appeared in Parenting Magazine on teaching children to ski and how Mad River is a great place for families. Some awards that Eric has received include: the National Ski Areas Association Marketing Award for the SKI IT IF YOU CAN slogan campaign and the “Kids under twelve ski free” with the purchase of a season pass or Mad Card by parents; the North American Snowsports Journalists Association/ Outstanding Public Relations Award and the Mad River Valley Rotary Club Person of the Year. His greatest frustration in his public relations role is when reporters just don’t get the Mad River story right. Mad River is unique and special and needs to be experienced. Only after being here can you write about the Mad River experience for your readers.
When it comes to advice, Friedman says, “Get rid of the fluff. People do not use these media outlets to learn about your new lodge or your high-speed lift. They want to know about “the experience.” As for the future of public relations in the ski industry, everything is instantaneous in the media: cell phones, twitter, blogs and other social networks. As for advice for aspiring public relations people, Friedman suggests developing relationships with local reporters, return every phone call and email. The local reporter may one day be an AP reporter, a Pulitzer Prize winner, feature editor at the New York Times, or the sports anchor at CNN or ESPN.
Friedman is a man who clearly loves his job and loves the mountain that he markets 24/7.