Advertisements......How Effective Are They?

Today in my intergrated marketing class we disscussed ad messages and their effectiveness towards consumers. As we observed several commercials we were able to determine the different messages that brands were trying to reveal to consumers. My favorite commercial that we watch was the "Magic of Macy's-Morning". I enjoy watching this commercial because Macy's does an excellent job of telling the consumer about the different brands that they have at their department store. Many department stores offer different name brands, but Macy's will be the first to "pop" in my head because of this commercial. You can view the commercial at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ud92ZLccrY

I learned some specific points that make advertisements effective:

• they are understandable
• they have recall & recognition
• relates to the target market

Avatar???

Well honestly I thought I didn't know what an Avatar was until I recalled back to a day my friend pulled up her Avatar on her computer. I thought it was really cool and looked just like a mini image of herself but I was not to interested in finding out what exactly this Avatar was all about!! I feel Avatar is really creative and fun but I don't think yahoo has done such a great job of letting it's users really know what Avatar is about and stands for. I know it's suppose to represent me when I'm sending an email or IM but what's the purpose and why should I use it? Maybe it's just me but sending emails and IM's are not at the top of my list as things to do so maybe Avatar is not marketed for me anyway. But for the people who enjoy creative, innovative technology and spending all day on yahoo this is perfect!!!
I feel yahoo should definitely advertise Avatar more to all ages. Maybe put a advertisement on yahoo homepage, or create an article about what Avatar is exactly and why we should use it. They could also do like a little sample trial where your able to create this Avatar without setting up an account but just playing around with the different features to get people interested in really creating one for themselves.

Yahoo Avatars!!

The unique advantage about using Yahoo email accounts or applications is that you can create an avatar. Avatars are cartoon figures that an user can create that represents their identity for free! There are many options for avatars that includes different color hair, color eyes, color skin, hairstyles, and clothes. I have created my avatar to be a reflection of me. My avatar is a college student. She is shown with her books in her hand standing in a library because that's where I am or should be a lot during the school year!

I enjoy having the option to change my avatar. I am able to put different outfits on her and show her in different scenery. I think that this is a great opportunity for college students to participate in because it is fun and you can create your own person. College students also like to engage in different technological activities. I have noticed in my class that a lot of my peers did not even know what an avatar was. I think that Yahoo needs to market this feature that they provide. More college students will become interested in creating an avatar if Yahoo:

• make college students more aware of avatars by advertising ads on facebook and my space
• include more background scenery that is relevant to the target market
• provide popular clothing trends for the avatars to wear
• create phrases for avatars to be able to say

These features can help add more buzz about avatars because people will be excited to show and tell what they have created!