The semester is coming to a closer yet the team has only skimmed the surface on this campaign. Over the Thanksgiving break, the team had to do 10 osbservations, as well as 5 interviews. We also had to prepare the Media Plan, and soon a rough plans book.
For the observations, I went to the JCPenney in Roosevelt Field Mall, on Long Island. It was the dayafter Black Friday, so the mall was pretty packed. I observed 10 women and their shopping habits. Most of them were with children or friends, asking them for advice and browsing. Out of the 10 women, only a few bought the clothes they were looking at, or they just seemed to walk away. One women was in the home good section and she did not look pleased with the selection they had. Another women didn't like the quality when it came to sweaters. It was interesting to watch people and see how they shopped. Most were so busy, they just skimmed at everything. Children were pulling at their heals, the prices were checked, the brands and the quality. The store was cramped and confusing, the signs were small and I only found one directory. I couldn't find departments easily, and the signs didn't help me much. I notice there wasn't a Sephora at this store (it's in the mall and not in JCPenney). After all the observations, it gave me a good insight into what women do when they shop, and the things JCPenney needs to change.
I also did 5 interviews. 3 of them were my cousins, and 2 were my brothers girlfriends. One was a huge Kohl's fan, and expressed her loyalty to them, yet still shopped at JCPenney. Two refused to shop at JCPenney because they didn't have quality clothing, which also did not fit them properly. It was interesting to hear what the women did all day, and what they did like. The ranking of JCPenney was average, so that is something to consider when we look at the campaign.
Overall, this pertains to the class because it is a great way to look at JCPenney customers and actually interact with the women, instead of just reading statistics on an online survey. The class needs to do so much research, and making us do observations and interviews will definately help us in the long run. Over the long break, we really need to analyze this information and figure out definitive answers to our questions. The lesson in this is: research is a long ongoing process. We need to do it. It's a big pain, but the more we have, the better. As for the rest of the time in class, our group put together a Media Plan. As one of the Director's of Media Planning, we will have to look through all four of these and pick a rough media plan for the rough plans book. Over break, Amanda, Tim and I will be able to look at it more throughly and pick the best plan we can pick. Hopefully, our classmates made plans that coincide and can help us when picking media.
In the end, this class was worth it. Even though we have so much work to do, and the class isn't even close to being over in the long term sense, it is something all Advertising tracks should do. It brings you into the team and campaign like atmosphere and forces you to do every little aspect of a campaign. So until the end, we will keep driving and keep making our plan the best there is.
Bests,
Lisa
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Creativity At Its Best
The team has finally implemented the survey within facebook, as well as through the alumni network. We have already 270 women take the survey and so much more to come! The alumni network has become a great resource for us to use, and hopfully we can use that network again for future reference. Each of us was assigned a specific year. Within that year, we had to e-mail every alumni women we wanted in hopes that they would take our survey. It was a painstaking process, since there are so many women in the network! It was all worth it though, since so many people have already responded by taking the survey. The interviews and the focus groups are still in the works, and I am nervous we won't have the information before the semester is over.
Recently, we have been doing in class excersizes for creativity, and have been coming up with a lot of great ideas. My mini group and I have come up with some commercials as well. Some of our ideas are as follows:
A woman walks into an empty apartment with a JCPenney’s bag as movers bring in furniture. She then leaves the apartment. The woman opens the door again, this time the apartment is filled with furniture, and she is holding another JCPenney’s bag. She pulls out a dress this time. You then see her leaving the apartment with the dress on. The door opens for the last time and the women is seen pregnant followed by her husband. She is carrying a JCPenneys’ bag and pulls out baby clothes. The woman is then seen carrying a toddler wearing the new clothes. The tagline reads: JCPenney, with you along the path of life.
Another one we thought of is a women emergin from a jungle, dirty, tired, pushing a stroller and having her children tug at her. In front of her is a path and at the end is JCPenney. The commercial goes with her walking toward JCPenney's, slowly smiling as she goes. The tagline reads: Let JCPenney pull you through lifes jungle.
Another idea was a women at a gym, and someone asks her where she got her shorts. The same women is a party, and somewhere asks here where she gets her outfit. The same women is then seen at a babyshower, shower her friends the gift she just got. She then responds each time that the items are from JCPenney, and the other women one by one respond with really? This shows that they are surprised that the items are from JCPenney because they are of good quality, who knew?
It was a lot of fun to brain storm with our group and I am excited to see what the other groups have come up with. I hope one of our ideas gets used. I feel this is relevant to our course work because it shows that the team is starting to think about the future and what creatives we might use for the actual campaign. We have been working well together, and although we need to rework some of our previous work, it will be better then before. It also shows us that the research needs to be done earlier, as well as approved earlier with IRB. Even though the survey has just been recently been put up, more work still has to be done. Also, I think we are learning now what need to use the sources on campus the best we can, whether its alumni, graduate or even our teachers. They are the bests assests we have to make this campaign great. My media planning skills will soon have to be implemented along with Tim and Amanda as the class will be doing the media plan soon. I am excited to do that, as well as take pictures in class. The weeks are coming to an end and so much is still yet to be done. It will be stressful, but it will get done and it will be awesome.
Recently, we have been doing in class excersizes for creativity, and have been coming up with a lot of great ideas. My mini group and I have come up with some commercials as well. Some of our ideas are as follows:
A woman walks into an empty apartment with a JCPenney’s bag as movers bring in furniture. She then leaves the apartment. The woman opens the door again, this time the apartment is filled with furniture, and she is holding another JCPenney’s bag. She pulls out a dress this time. You then see her leaving the apartment with the dress on. The door opens for the last time and the women is seen pregnant followed by her husband. She is carrying a JCPenneys’ bag and pulls out baby clothes. The woman is then seen carrying a toddler wearing the new clothes. The tagline reads: JCPenney, with you along the path of life.
Another one we thought of is a women emergin from a jungle, dirty, tired, pushing a stroller and having her children tug at her. In front of her is a path and at the end is JCPenney. The commercial goes with her walking toward JCPenney's, slowly smiling as she goes. The tagline reads: Let JCPenney pull you through lifes jungle.
Another idea was a women at a gym, and someone asks her where she got her shorts. The same women is a party, and somewhere asks here where she gets her outfit. The same women is then seen at a babyshower, shower her friends the gift she just got. She then responds each time that the items are from JCPenney, and the other women one by one respond with really? This shows that they are surprised that the items are from JCPenney because they are of good quality, who knew?
It was a lot of fun to brain storm with our group and I am excited to see what the other groups have come up with. I hope one of our ideas gets used. I feel this is relevant to our course work because it shows that the team is starting to think about the future and what creatives we might use for the actual campaign. We have been working well together, and although we need to rework some of our previous work, it will be better then before. It also shows us that the research needs to be done earlier, as well as approved earlier with IRB. Even though the survey has just been recently been put up, more work still has to be done. Also, I think we are learning now what need to use the sources on campus the best we can, whether its alumni, graduate or even our teachers. They are the bests assests we have to make this campaign great. My media planning skills will soon have to be implemented along with Tim and Amanda as the class will be doing the media plan soon. I am excited to do that, as well as take pictures in class. The weeks are coming to an end and so much is still yet to be done. It will be stressful, but it will get done and it will be awesome.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Mulberry Marketing
Finally, the class has become a team. The team has decided on a name after many debates: Mulberry Marketing. Now with the name, we have gotten closer as a team. We also got our positions within the agency, and I recieved two: Director of Media Planning with Tim and Amanda, as well as Director of Photography. I am excited to be in these positions, but now the reality of the work is upon us. It is already November and the semesters close is coming upon us quicker then we imagined. I have already made plans with my other directors to meet up to start the media planning process. As for photrography, I am most likely going to be under the Creative Directors, listening and adhereing to what they want from me. I am excited to start this process. Besides the team positions and names, we have also been narrowing down the survey questions and are ready to implement them online. Hopefully, the survey will be a great success, along with the interviews and focus groups. I have been looking up within my group of friends, whos 25 or above in age. My brother's girlfriend is, so hopefully I can send her the survey and then in turn she will send them to her friends. Fingers crossed! We need to now make a schedule and due dates, sticking to those dates and making sure others do the same. If not, our agency could fall apart. Hopefully, the whole problem with registration will be solved soon so that we don't lose half of our agency next semester.
How does this all relate to the class? The team name, the positions, the research, it is all the becomings of an agency. We are a full oiled machine, and now we just need to put our heads together and push something out that will blow the competition out of the water. The class is more then just a competition. We also learn what it is like to be in those certain positions, and if we want those positions in real life after graduation. Now we just need to fulfill those goals. After class, we split up into our comittees and decided how to move forward. The Media Planning group will be looking up information as we go along, including what TV spots and magazines work best. As for Photography, Tuesday will be the first "photoshoot".
Say Cheese!
Lisa
How does this all relate to the class? The team name, the positions, the research, it is all the becomings of an agency. We are a full oiled machine, and now we just need to put our heads together and push something out that will blow the competition out of the water. The class is more then just a competition. We also learn what it is like to be in those certain positions, and if we want those positions in real life after graduation. Now we just need to fulfill those goals. After class, we split up into our comittees and decided how to move forward. The Media Planning group will be looking up information as we go along, including what TV spots and magazines work best. As for Photography, Tuesday will be the first "photoshoot".
Say Cheese!
Lisa
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