My Favourite Website

My absolutely favourite website is The New York Times. I go to it everyday, several times a day and I love everything about it.

The New York Times is a very famous American daily newspaper that was established in 1851 and is the largest local metropolitan newspaper in the United States. This publication has won hundreds of Pulitzer Prizes and is known as very prestigious. The New York Times website is one of the most popular American online newspaper web sites.

Overall this website is popular for many reasons mainly because it is based off of the already extremely successful print publication. The website maintains its credibility which helps to intrigue viewers and keep the loyal visitors of the website. It also offers many links to other websites and other outside information for support. The first thing that is noticeable when a viewer enters onto the website is the large amount of information. The website itself is mainly informational. It has many different pages full of information on different subjects and has everything from politics to the arts. I really like the variety that the website offers and I know that I can find all of the information I need in one place. My personal favourite sections of the website are Business, World, Movies, Books and Weddings/Celebrations. The website is also very quick to load. The homepage is very effective and contains all of the latest news and information. The website is constantly updated and always has the most current information on it. The homepage is also quite effective in the fact that the style of the articles make the information easier to read and there are many bullets used on the home page which help to break up the copy.

Although this is my favourite website and I believe that it is overall very effective there are some disadvantages to it. First of all The New York Times is targeted to a very specific type of reader. This can be viewed as a negative aspect because it is not as open to a general audience. The website is also not as visually pleasing as other websites because it appears overly cluttered on certain pages. I would recommend that the website be organized in a better way so that it is easier to read. Another aspect that may be viewed as a disadvantage to some people is the style of writing because it is very professional and uses a high vocabulary. To counter this issue the website could have some of the copy written in a more conversational manor. Overall I think this is a very superior website and will continue to be extremely successful. 

Advertising World of Yesterday and Today

Over the past 50 years the advertising industry has gone through many drastic changes. First of all during that time period women’s roles in the industry were much different than they are today. The advertising industry had been a male dominated profession in the 1960’s and it wasn’t until the 1980’s that that real changes began to take place. In today’s society women have been able to crack through the glass ceiling and occupy more senior positions in agencies. Another major difference between advertising in the 1960’s and advertising today is the ownership. In the 1960’s there weren’t any major agencies that were publicly owned. This resulted in a more chaotic environment with less accountability on the part of the advertising executives.

In terms of technology 50 years ago there were less mediums for consumers to receive advertising messages from. The additional mediums that are available today allow for the delivery of a more consistent message to the consumer. The 1960’s were known as the “Golden Age” of the advertising industry since the growth of television increased agency billings to around $6 billion dollars. Today the media aspect of advertising has become increasingly more important as more digital platforms are becoming available. The industry is highly influenced by the digital advancements in terms of the Internet and mobile devices.

Today there is also more knowledge about the psychological needs of the consumer due to the increase in market research being done. This change has allowed for the agencies of this era to be more successful in understanding how to create effective advertising that sells products. The industry is also more competitive today than it has ever been due to the recent recession in which many individuals in the industry lost their jobs.

  

There were also many differences between the campaigns back in the 1960’s and the campaigns of today. Many of the print advertisements were done in illustrations 50 years ago due to the lack of more advanced technology. This lack of technology also reduced the production quality of television commercials. Both print and television spots were often done in black and white. The radio was also a more significant medium that was used during that time period.

Advertising industry icons 50 years ago such as Bill Bernbach (responsible for the famed Volkswagen campaign) and Mary Wells (worked on the legendary I <3 New York campaign) forever changed the advertising landscape with their innate sense of creativity and deep understanding of the consumer. Today it is individuals like Bob Greenberg the CEO of the top digital agency R/GA and Irwin Gotlieb the powerhouse media buyer and CEO of GroupM who are some of the most influential people in the industry. Both are known for their innovative work in pioneering new ways of reaching consumers through advancements in technology.

Although there have been many changes to the world of advertising over the past 50 years the one thing that remains the same is the passion the people in the industry have for their craft.

Effective Advertising Campaign

To build excitement for the premier of the third season of HBO’s hit True Blood the agencies Digital Kitchen and …And Company created a viral campaign for the show. This campaign included a weekly distribution of twelve downloadable posters that were available online. The campaign is also made up of mobile ads and webisodes. The purpose of the campaign was to create excitement among the already very strong fan base and attract new viewers to the series. True Blood is one of my favourite shows and year after year their marketing efforts are consistently becoming more adventurous. These clever tongue-in-cheek advertisements varied from humorous themes to the darker and more shocking side of the show. The posters were also used to introduce new characters and storylines. Overall the advertisements were very entertaining and did an excellent job at making references to favourite fan moments and inside jokes. This campaign is effective because it got people excited and talking about what was going to happen in the new season. These advertisements were like a small reward to the loyal viewers of the show by giving them little sneak peeks to keep them satisfied until the premier. Many people were posting the different visuals of the campaign on their blogs and Facebook pages and fans were talking to each other trying to decipher what some of the less obvious posters meant. All of the buzz and excitement created by the show’s already loyal fans even got new viewers interested. This campaign is also effective because it utilizes the internet which is one of the fastest and most successful ways of communication.

This online promotional video titled "An Apology from HBO Marketing" is one of the most popular advertisements from the campaign.