Founded by Henry Ford in 1903, the Ford Motor Company is one of the largest car makers in the world. Ford opened the first assembly line warehouse in Detroit, MI – Ford became famous for its innovative assembly line manufacturing, which allowed the company to produce cars exponentially faster than before.

Currently, the American car company manufacturers its automobiles in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, China, Germany, Turkey, and South Africa. Ford also manufactures cars under the brand names Lincoln and Mercury. The company also holds shares in car brands Aston Martin and Mazda.

In March 2008, Ford sold car companies Land Rover and Jaguar for $2.3 Billion to Tata Motors.

Ford produces economy cars and trucks, SUVs, sports cars, touring cars, buses, and tractors. The company’s top competitors include Toyota and GM.

Ford is working to become a more environmentally conscious company. The company is creating and producing both fuel efficient and hybrid vehicles. In 2005, Ford introduced the Hybrid-Electric Escape; with 2006 came the Mercury Mariner; and in 2008 both the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. In 2009, Ford will introduce the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX.

In 2007, Fortune Magazine ranked Ford the 7th American-based company in the world based on the company’s 2006 revenue. Also in 2007, Ford received more Initial Quality Survey awards from J.D. Power and Associates than any other car manufacturer.

Because of high fuel prices and the declining economy, most of Ford’s current profits come from financing consumer car loans through the Ford Motor Credit Company.

In 2006, Advertising Age Magazine estimated that Ford’s advertising spending was around $2.9 Billion – making it the 6th largest advertiser in the world that year.

Ford is one of the four manufactures in NASCAR’s three largest series: Nationwide Series, Sprint Cup Series, and the Craftsman Truck Series.

In 2005, Ford was one of 53 companies to donate the maximum amount of $250,000 to George W. Bush’s second inauguration.

In 2006, Ford released a TV advertisement titled “Rebirth” at the same time that the company announced its six year plan to close 14 factories. The 30 second advertisement described Ford’s new plan for future growth. The ad was risky for Ford because while it spoke towards future success, it reminded consumers of Ford’s current problems.

Also in 2006, Ford introduced its well-known Bold Moves campaign. One advertisement featured a woman paying for her dry cleaning and “boldly” paying for the man’s behind her too. The campaign was aimed at a younger audience – which was the campaigns downfall. While Ford’s younger target audience is interested in bold products, Fords products are not as bold as their advertising message; Because of this the campaign strengthened Ford’s brand image, but did not sell any more cars than before.

In 2007, Ford released a campaign that compared the Ford Fusion to Toyota’s Camry and Honda’s Accord. Ford also aired the campaign “Swap Your Ride” where consumers test drove a Ford for a week and then gave their opinion.

Ford created a similar campaign in 2008 titled “Drive One.” The campaign focused four messages: Drive Green, Drive Safe, Drive Smart, and Drive Quality.

In January of 2008, Ford created a new website that revolves around “Built Ford Tough.” Ford.com has approximately 11 Million visitors each year.

AT&T Inc. was originally the Southwestern Bell Corporation. Headquartered in St. Louis, Southwestern Bell was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies – “Baby Bells.” In 1993, The Southwestern Bell Corporation moved its headquarters to San Antonio, TX, and in 1995 changed its name to SBC Communications, Inc.

SBC Communications, Inc. proceeded to acquire many of the Baby Bell companies and finally stopped marketing the individual companies under different names.

In 2005, SBC Communications, Inc. Purchased AT&T for over $16 Billion and changed its name to AT&T.

Cingular acquired AT&T in 2004 and became AT&T in 2007. In 2008, AT&T Inc. moved its headquarters to Dallas, TX.

Today, AT&T is the largest provider of local and long distance phone services, DSL Internet and Wireless services in the United States, with 7.4 Million customers. Randall L. Stephenson is the current Chairman and Chief Executive officer.

In 2008, AT&T removed all of their payphones.

AT&T owns numerous properties across the country:

AT&T Park – San Francisco, CA
AT&T Field – Chattanooga, TN
AT&T Center – San Antonio, TX
AT&T Bricktown Ballpark – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jones AT&T Stadium – Lubbock, TX

AT&T also sponsors many events:

AT&T National PGA Tour
AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic – Dallas, TX
AT&T Pebble Beach National
AT&T Red River Rivalry – Dallas, TX
AT&T Classic – Atlanta, GA
AT&T Champions Classic – Valencia, CA
AT&T 205 – Milwaukee
AT&T Williams F1 Team Grove – Oxfordshire, UK
AT&T Sponsorship of Jeff Burtons Car

In 2008, AT&T was honored at the Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards for the development of coaxial cable technology.

AT&T is the second largest donator to political campaigns – donating more than $36 Million since 1990. The company was among 53 sources to donate the maximum of $250,000 to George W. Bush’s second inauguration.

In 2008, AT&T created a television commercial that showed pink flowers opening and “giving birth” to AT&T phones. The commercial was released for Mother’s Day.

AT&T is the only company that services the Apple iPhone; however, TBWA/Chiat/Day advertises for the iPhone rather than AT&T’s normal choice – BBDO.

Other AT&T products include flip phones, camera phones, music phones, PDA and Smart Phones, phone accessories, and the Go Phone.

There is a division of AT&T called AT&T Advertising & Publishing that is responsible for the publication of 1,250 directories published under AT&T Real Yellow Pages. AT&T Advertising & Publishing is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.

Also in 2008, AT&T made a multi-year deal with Yahoo! Inc. to share revenue from mobile phone and personal computer advertising. The deal will bring Yahoo advertising to around 70 Million AT&T customers.

Founded in 1943, IKEA sells furniture and home accessories at affordable prices. Ingvar Kamprad started IKEA in Sweden when he was 17 years old. IKEA is an acronym for Ingvar, Kamprad, Elmtaryd (the farm Kamprad grew up on), Agunnaryd (Kamprad’s home County).

In the beginning, IKEA sold table runners, wallets, picture frames, jewelry, pens, and nylon stockings. Products were sold by mail order and out of Kamprad’s home until the first IKEA store opened in 1958 in Sweden. Furniture was not sold until 1948, and in 1955 IKEA began designing its own furniture.

Today, there are 278 IKEA stores in 36 countries including the US, Canada, Australia, Asia, and Israel. IKEA also sells products on their website, which as of 2005 had 275 Million visitors a day.

IKEA stores are known for their “one-way” layout, which forces shoppers to tour the store from start to finish, with only one primary path. IKEA is also well known for their food station – with the most popular item being Swedish meatballs. The food station often opens daily before the rest of the store and serves an affordable breakfast.

IKEA is kid friendly. Not only does the store boast environmentally friendly manufacturing, but the stores also have a play area for children with ball pits, slides and coloring stations.

IKEA also has an “IKEA Family” loyalty card in many of its stores. The card offers 25% off products, as well as discounts on food.

IKEA is able to offer products at affordable prices because many of the furniture items do not come pre-assembled – which greatly reduces the cost of the company’s modern products.

IKEA has one of the words largest charitable organizations. The company was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers by Working Mothers Magazine in 2004 and 2005. In 2006, IKEA made the list of Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. In 2007, MaClean’s Magazine ranked IKEA as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers.

IKEA prints a quarterly magazine in 13 languages. The magazine, called IKEA Family Live, has a subscription base of 500,000.

IKEA has also had an annual catalogue since 1951. First printed in Sweden, the catalogue is now printed in 27 languages and distributed in 36 countries. IKEA considers the catalogue its main marketing tool – devoting 70% of their advertising budget to it. The catalogue is distributed by mail and in the store.

IKEA also has both print and television commercials. A 1994 IKEA ad was considered the first-ever gay advertisement. It only ran one time; however, IKEA has run other ads targeting the gay community.

A popular print ad campaign shows words in the floor plan of a house.

IKEA teamed with the Sims 2 to supply the games characters with furniture and accessories.
IKEA humorously appeals to young people with their first home, or dorm, through racy television commercials.

Many of IKEAs commercials are considered too scandalous to be run in the US, and many run in Europe have been banned. Moist of IKEAs banned commercials can be found on YouTube.

Prior to forming Oracle, founders Lawrence Ellison and Robert Miner had worked together at Ampex Corporation on a CIA project code-named “Oracle.” While working on the CIA project, Ellison came across a research paper published by IBM describing work being done to develop a relational database management system (RDBMS) that would allow computer users to retrieve corporate data from almost any form using Structured Query Language (SQL). Finding that no company had committed to commercializing the technology, the pair teamed up with coworkers Ed Oates and Bruce Scott in August 1977 to form Software Development Laboratories (SDL).

The company’s first customer was the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from whom they received a $50,000 contract to build a customized database program. Meanwhile Ellison and Miner were also working to develop and market database management systems (DBMS) software for digital minicomputers. As president and CEO, Ellison managed the company’s sales and marketing efforts. Miner oversaw software development and well known private venture capitalist Donald Lucas was brought on to serve as Chairman of the Board.

In 1978, the Oracle RDBMS V1 was revealed, the world’s first relational database using SQL which now allowed organizations to use standardized software on different-sized computers from different manufacturers. One year later, the company now renamed Relational Software Inc. (RSI) began to commercially offer Oracle V2, beating IBM to the market by almost two years. The RDBMS proved to be very profitable as the company, renamed Oracle, reported annual revenues of nearly $2.5 million.

Some of these profits went towards international expansion by way of founding Oracle Denmark, but a quarter of profits were put back into research and development. The resulting version offered in 1983 was the first portable RDBMS, which could be run on a range of hardware and operating systems. Customers could now use the system on their mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, and PCs. The introduction of V3 doubled Oracle’s revenues to over $5 million.

1980s

Despite the numerous entrants into the DBMS market in the early 1980s, Oracle kept to the head of the market with its aggressive advertising and reputation for innovative technology. The company worked to simplify data management, build solutions for emerging computer platforms, and increase system interoperability. Oracle V5/5.1, released in 1986, was another hallmark of Oracle innovation. The new version, based on the company’s SQL*Star software. allowed users to access data stored on a network of computers just as easily as if the data on the entire network had been stored on one computer.

By 1986 when the company went public, Oracle was known as the fastest-growing software company with a skyrocketing yearly revenue of $55.4 million, a customer base that had ballooned to 2,000 mainframe and minicomputer users represented by major international firms, and 17 international marketing subsidiaries. The company had also expanded its business operations to include related customer support, education, and consulting services.

The new Oracle Version 6 of 1988 debuted several more major advances. Row-level locking allowed multiple users to work in the same table; hot backup, employees to continue working in a system while supervisors duplicate and archive data; PL/SQL, users to process data while it remains in the database. A new line of accounting programs for corporate bookkeeping and the Oracle Transaction Process Subsystem (TPS) opened up a new market niche for the customer. Banks and other financial institutions were particularly pleased with the TPS which sped up the processing of financial transactions.

The late 1980s were spent building relations with an expanded network of hardware and even software manufacturers. As the relational DBMS provider for most major computer manufacturers, the company was now able to increase the number of hardware brands on which its products could operate. Also, the number of software companies using Oracle had grown five-fold. To take advantage of these partnerships, the company also instated a value-added reseller (VAR) alliance program with other software makers to build cooperative selling and product-planning alliances.

At this time the company also spun off a few more subsidiary divisions. Oracle Complex Systems Corporation (OCSC) to add systems- integration services to its line of customer services and Oracle Data Publishing to develop and sell reference material and other information in electronic form. Oracle finished up the 1980s with annual revenues of $584 million.

1990s

Believing that its high growth rate would continue, Oracle went looking for $100 million in public financing to supports its expansion in January 1990. But when the company reported its first flat earnings quarter that March, stock prices dropped from $25.38 to $17.50 in a single day and several shareholders looked to the courts for remuneration, claiming that the company had issued false and misleading earnings forecasts. To counteract this negative publicity, Oracle announced that it intended to conduct an internal audit and immediately restructured its management, giving Ellison the additional post of chairman while Lucas remained a director. The company also created a domestic operating subsidiary Oracle USA in its efforts to deal with its domestic management and financial problems.

When the internal audit’s results were reported in August and forced the company to restate its earnings for three of its four fiscal quarters, stock prices fell further to only $11.62 per share. As a result, Oracle negotiated a $250 million revolving line of credit, but was forced to result to more drastic measures when it reported its first ever quarterly loss soon after. The company reorganized its management team once more, reduced its annual growth rate targets from 50 to 25 percent, laid 10 percent of its domestic employees, condensed its domestic operations and consolidated some of its international ones.

For the next two years, quarterly losses continued to mount. Oracle’s achievement of $1 billion in sales in 1991 was marred by its first ever annual loss. The company was forced to admit that it had expanded too rapidly. Work was done to revamp its accounting methods and how sales and earnings were reported, financiers and new lines of credit had to be sought out. By the end of 1992 sales finally began to rise again and earnings rebounded back into the positive numbers.

The success of industry acclaimed Oracle 7 in 1992 seemed to further cement the company’s renewed profitability. Always on the cutting edge of innovation, Ellison looked to expand the role of databases even further. What began as a partnership with British Telecom and Apple Computer evolved into a “media server alliance” in which Oracle’s databases were used to deliver video to interactive TV videos, for example movies ordered through a library of digital multimedia. The integration of these features into version 3 of Oracle 7 helped the company take an impressive 40 percent share of the data management market.

Looking forward to the Internet Age, Oracle released software such as WebSystem, which let corporations organize and distribute their data over the Internet. However, in another 90s slip-up, the company began talking up their new product, the NC, too quickly. The Network Computer (NC) was a PC with no hard drive that could access data and applications via the Internet or from remote server computers. Aimed at competing with Windows and Intel, the NC flopped in execution.

Still, the release of Oracle 8 kept the company’s sales growing and helped launch the company into its position as a major e-commerce player.

2000

For the past decade Oracle has concentrated on remaining innovative and on the cutting edge of technology. It also moved to consolidate its share of the market by initiating a hostile takeover of PeopleSoft Inc. in 2003. Met with much controversy from the public, shareholders, and even the Department of Justice (for antitrust issues), the two companies were finally merged late in 2004.

First published in 1923, the weekly American magazine TIME is an international news magazine. TIME Magazine is similar to U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek magazines. Started by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, TIME’s first issue was printed on March 3, 1923. The first edition featured Joseph G. Cannon (a retired speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives) on the cover.

On the magazines 15th anniversary a reprint of the first edition was sent out with the current issue.

TIME Magazine is distributed in the U.S. and Canada. The Canadian version has the same copy, but different advertisements. TIME has a South Pacific edition that reaches Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The South Pacific magazine is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. TIME Asia is based in Hong Kong, while TIME Europe reaches Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. A European edition of TIME is based in London and distributed by the title TIME Atlantic.

TIME was the first weekly news magazine in the U.S. Luce and Hadden, who had previously worked together at the Yale Daily News, had considered calling the magazine “Facts” when they first started. Some TIME advertisements say that “TIME” stands for The International Magazine of Events.

Richard Stengel is the magazines current managing editor. A graduate of Princeton University, Stengel has a large list of accomplishments, including writing for the New Yorker, The New York Times, The New Republic, and TIME, authoring several books, teaching, and co-producing a documentary.

TIME introduced its signature red boarder in 1927. The only times the boarder has not been red is shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks when the boarder was black in mourning, and for Earth Day 2008, when the boarder was green to promote environmental awareness.

At the time of its inception, TIME was promoted in movie theaters and on the radio. Advertisements for the magazine had dual purpose – promoting both the magazine and a political or corporate interest message.

From 1924-1925, TIME sponsored a radio quiz show called “Pop Question,” which would run for 15 minutes each installment.

In 1928, thirty-three news stations broadcasted TIME’s weekly 10 minute news segment. In 1931, TIME created a weekly 30 minute radio news show titled “The March of Time.” CBS ran the show from 1931-1937 while NBC picked it up from 1937-1939 and 1941-1945. TIME ran “The March of Time” in numerous movie theaters from 1935 – 1951. Millions of people were exposed to TIME through “The March of Time” broadcasts – leading to an increase in circulation in the 1930s.

In 1989, TIME became part of TIME Warner when Time Inc and Warner Communications merged. The conglomerate is the largest magazine publisher in the U.S., and publishes over 120 magazines worldwide. TIME franchises include magazine, TV, online, satellite radio, mobile devices, branded products, and events. Every month, one out of every two American adults reads a Time Inc magazine.
Currently TIME has a partnership with CNN. TIME’s online site features news, blogs, photos, videos, and podcasts.

TIME has a special issue each year that selects a “TIME Person of the Year.” The issue usually focuses on an individual or group that has had the largest impact on that years news, however, the recognized nominee does not always have to be a person and can instead be an object or a movement. TIME also has an issue that selects the year’s top 100 most influential people, the “TIME 100.”

The TIME People page inspired the creation of Time, Inc owned People Magazine.
In 2007, TIME Magazine moved from a Monday delivery schedule to a Friday sale / Saturday delivery schedule. In its early years TIME was delivered on Fridays.

TIME also has a magazine targeted at young children called TIME for Kids. The 15 page magazine is distributed to schools throughout the country. Newspapers’ and Magazines’ reader numbers decline annually, and TIME for Kids is an attempt of TIME to teach children from an early age to read print news and appreciate information.

TIME for Kids is written by young reporters and discusses national news and pop culture. The magazine also has a weekly cartoon. At the end of each school year, TIME for Kids produces an environmental magazine issue.

In 2007, TIME revamped its style to better appeal to a younger audience.

Established as Apple Computer, Inc., on April 1, 1976, The company kept its longer title until 2007, when it changed to Apple, Inc. Started in Cupertino, California, the American corporation was incorporated on January 3, 1977.

Founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Apple, Inc., designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software for the electronics. Apple products include laptops, desktops, numerous iPods, and the iPhone; while software includes the Mac OS X Operating System, Final Cut Pro, iLife, and iTunes.

Apple, Inc., has 20,000 employees and 200 retail stores in 5 countries as of 2007. The company also boasts $24 Billion in annual sales.  Apple, Inc., also has an online store as well as iTunes which sells music, movies, audio books, pod casts, TV shows, and iPod games.

The company’s first logo was designed by Jobs and Wayne. The logo depicted Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. The logo did not last long, and was quickly replaced by a rainbow colored apple silhouette drawn by Rob Janoff. The apple, very similar to the logo used currently, had a distinctive bite in it. The logo was revamped in 1998 and was given a monochromatic color. The Apple logo is one of the most recognizable brand logos in the world. Apple includes its logo as sticker with the purchase of the company’s products.

The first Apple slogan was “Byte Into An Apple.” In the beginning, Apple used singular slogans for the company as a whole; however, today the company uses individual slogans for each of their products.

To introduce the Macintosh computer in 1983, Apple created an 18-page brochure that was sent out with a number of magazines. For a special post-election edition of Newsweek in 1984, Apple purchased each of the 39 ad pages in the magazine – spending $2.5 Million.

Also in 1984, Apple ran a promotion titled “Test Drive A Macintosh,” where people could take home a computer for 24 hours and then return it.

1984 is most famous for Apple’s Super Bowl advertisement to introduce the personal computer. Aired in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, the $1.5 Million commercial, titled “1984,” was directed by Ridley Scott. The commercial was modeled after George Orwell’s novel 1984.

The commercial showed a heroine, Anya Major saving humanity from conformity – or “Big Brother,” – meant to depict IBM. The voiceover in the commercial stated “On January 24, Apple Computers will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 wasn’t like 1984.”

Apple’s Super Bowl commercial in 1985 was far less successful. The commercial, titled “Lemmings.” Created for the launch of Mac Office, the ad depicted blindfolded business people following each other off of a cliff. The last man in line stops and pulls his blindfold off, while the voiceover states, “You Can Look Into It…Or you can go on with business as usual.” The commercial was developed into a print advertisement for newspaper.

Apple consumers are unusually free thinking and unusually devoted. Surveys by J.D. Power show that Apple has the highest brand and repurchased loyalty of any other computer manufacturer. Apple’s consumers are youthful, artistic, creative, and well-educated. These consumers react best to artistic, free-thinking advertising messages. Each new Apple store opening draws crowds of thousands who stand in line for hours.

Apple is an environmentally conscious company in four specific areas: product and package design, manufacturing, energy efficiency, and recycling.

In the late 1990’s, Apple’s New York advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day compiled the “Think Different” campaign. The campaign consisted of both television and print advertisements. Running for 60 seconds, the commercials included black and white footage of Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon, R. Buckminister, Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Hensen with Kermit, Frank Lloyd Write, and Picasso. The commercial ended with a close up of a young girl opening her eyes – and therefore seeing the possibilities in front of her.

A shortened, 30 second, version of the commercial aired during the series finale of Seinfeld. Rather than close with the shot of the young girl, the commercial ended with Jerry Seinfeld.

Print versions of the campaign made appearances in magazines including Time and Newsweek. Some of the ads referenced products, while others just displayed the Apple logo and the current tagline “Think Different.”

The “Think Different” campaign was created almost entirely in house by TBWA/Chiat/Day in Los Angeles. The slogan was brought back three times after its retirement to be placed in ads on Apple’s online Home Page:

2000 – When Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize

2005 – When Rosa Parks died

2007 – When Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize

Numerous parodies of the campaign have been created and can be found online.

In 1990, Apple released the “What’s On Your PowerBook?” campaign. The company’s print ads and TV spots featured celebrities explaining how they use their PowerBook and how the PowerBook helps them with their lives.

In 1995, Apple created print and TV ads that responded to the introduction of Microsoft’s Windows 95 Operating System.

In 1998, the iMac slogan became “I Think, Therefore iMac.”

In 2002, Apple coined the term “Switcher.” A Switcher is someone who switches from Microsoft Office to the Mac Operating System. The “Switch” commercial showed real customers explaining their switch. The television commercials were directed by Errol Morris, and both the TV and print ads directed consumers to the Apple Website. The “Switch” actors in the US were different than those used for the “Switch” commercials in Japan. As with the “Think Different” campaign, numerous parodies of the “Switch” campaign can be found online.

Current commercials for the iPod show dark silhouettes dancing against brightly colored backgrounds and holding visible, white iPods. The commercials have been created for both print and television.

The iPod Nano commercials have a black background, with the iPod Nano glowing to show that the newest iPod Nano’s are colored.

The songs in the television commercials are both by known and relatively unknown artists. Some of the ads also feature the silhouettes of celebrities, including Eminem, U2, Jet, Wynton Marsalis, Ceasars, and Bob Dylan.

The ads in the iPod campaign have a consistent, unified style that can be found in print, television, posters, and public transportation wraps.

In 2006, Apple introduced the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign. The television commercials are directed by Phil Morrision, with actors Justin Lang (Mac), from Accepted, and John Hodgeman (PC), from the Daily Show. The idea was created by TBWA/Media Arts/Lab. The premise of the ads is that Mac can do everything PC can do, but Mac can do it quicker and safer, with more creativity and versatility.

In the commercials, Mac wears more casual, laid-back attire, while Mac Wears business attire and is uptight and overly concerned with work.

The US version of the ads air in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, while different actors are used for similar ads in Spain, Japan and the UK. In Japan, the country’s famous comedy duo The Rahmens, star in the commercials, while the spots in the UK use famous UK comedy duo Mitchall and Webb.

There are 42 different versions of the commercials in the US with 8 additional online-only spots which run for 20 seconds and reference online ad features. There are 12 spots in Japan and 15 in the UK. Not surprisingly, there are numerous parodies of the spots online.

Apple also advertises on Free Rice – a program online created in 2007 to fight world hunger. Apple is also in discussions with New York Yacht Club to sponsor America’s Cup.

Founded in 1999 by then CEO David Neelman under the name New Air, Jet Blue reached the title of second largest low-fare airline in the nation by 2006. New Air replaced the desired name “Taxi,” because the company’s board decided that the negative connotations surrounding the word Taxi were too great to use for an airline. Neelman is now the Chairman of Jet Blue, but the airline is no longer a low-fare company.

Many of Jet Blue’s executives, including Neelman, are former employees of Southwest Airline. In the beginning, Jet Blue took a lesson from Southwest and offered low prices. Jet Blue worked to distinguish itself from Southwest only in its amenities, including in-flight entertainment such as TVs and satellite radio at every seat.

Jet Blue flies to 53 destinations in 6 countries, including Bermuda, Bahamas, Aruba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the United States.
The non-union airline is headquartered in New York. The goal of the company, at least until this year it seems, has been to bring humanity back to air travel. Up until 2008, Jet Blue relied on consumer-driven content for their advertising. The company, and its advertising agencies, believed that by using user generated ideas the campaign would be more engaging to Jet Blue customers.

In 2001, Boston-based advertising agency Arnold Worldwide created the “Somebody Up there Likes You” campaign. The idea was developed from interviews and focus groups conducted by Arnold with Jet Blue customers and employees.

In 2005, Jet Blue introduced tongue-in-cheek, documentary-style advertisements starring their employees with the tagline “Jet Blue Helps Make Your Trip As Easy As Possible.” The commercials opened with the line “We take off, fly around for a while, and then we land.”

By 2006, Jet Blue had a $25 million advertising budget. The money was used to create the “Sincerely, Jet Blue” campaign. A large amount of the budget was dedicated to non-traditional media vehicles including internet, word-of-mouth, and events. Traditional media used included radio, print, billboards, and television. Jet Blue understood that the best way for their company to get people who had not tried the airline to try was to have them hear positive stories from people they knew and trusted. The airline company hired the young advertising agency, Mr. Youth, to help with the campaign. WPP agency, MediaCom, also helped with the media section of the campaign.

The campaign included a lot of hands-on advertising. In Jet Blue’s larger markets, including New York, the airline placed boxes labeled “Help Yourself” in crowded public areas. The boxes held free samples of the snacks served on Jet Blue. In Virginia, Jet Blue sponsored free movie nights at local theaters.

Another component of the campaign included “Story Booths” placed in busy areas. Customers were urged to record their stories about Jet Blue, as well as their opinions, inside of these booths. The recordings could later be used for advertising. Jet Blue also placed branded postcards in each seat pocket of their airline, asking customers to record their thoughts while flying.

Television spots were also released that starred a skier, a newlywed couple, a family from New Jersey, and another starring Neelman himself. Neelman’s commercial showed him discussing how helpful Jet Blue’s call buttons are compared to other airlines – something they still stress heavily on their website.

In 2007, Jet Blue signed an exclusive contract with the New York Times – allowing the media mogul to supply in flight news videos and magazines.

Also in 2007, Jet Blue partnered with 20th Century Fox in conjunction with “The Simpsons Movie.” Jet Blue became “The Official Airline of Springfield.” The airline held a contest in which the winner received a trip to Los Angeles to attend the premier of the film.
Jet Blue also changed their website to reflect the partnership. The website was full of Simpson’s characters telling users about their favorite Jet Blue destinations. The website was even taken over by the shows greedy businessman Mr. Burns.

2007 was also the snowstorm crisis, in which Jet Blue had to cancel 1,096 flights in one day. Neelman was praised for how well he handled the destructive PR for the company. He threw himself into the media, telling numerous live media outlets he was “humiliated” and “mortified” by the situation.

Recently afterwards, Jet Blue created their Customer Bill of Rights, in which customers receive monetary compensation for delays. The airline also released full page newspaper advertisements specific to locations, for example, “We’re Sorry, Boston.” And here we are, 2008. What happened Jet Blue? The airlines current slogans include “Flying Is for Pigeons,” “Thanks for Not Flying on Jet Blue,” and “Happy Jetting.” It’s obvious that a lot of money was put into this campaign – there are ads absolutely everywhere – print, television, online. Jet Blue even created a website for the campaign: HappyJetting.com at which users can read about the “rise of jetting” and the “decline of flying” – fancy lingo for their “history” page.

The site also has a link for a contest to sign up and win flights, and a rigged quiz to find out if you are a Jetter, or a Flyer (do not even bother, you will be a Jetter every time). The interactive website also has a jetting simulator, which is a little like the Sims computer game. You can feed your little guy and even push the call button for a high five from the airline attendant.

When even Ad Age dislikes your advertising enough to write negatively about it, you know you have done something wrong. Ad Age is right Jet Blue, you are not communicating with your consumer the way you used to, and they said it best when they advised your airline to use the money currently being wasted on your campaign, and put it towards your lacking customer service.

Zoo York is an American company that manufactures Skateboards, Footwear and Apparel. Zoo York is targeted at the upper youth market. The company is said to have been the East Coast’s first true skateboarding inspired lifestyle brand. The product designs reflect old Zoo York Graffiti Style, and are sold in the US, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

The Zoo York Company was started in 1993 by Rodney Smith. Smith hired designer Eli Morgan Gessner and finance manager Adam Schatz. Recently, Smith sold the company to Marc Ecko so he could concentrate on restarting his previous company, Shut Skateboards.

Zoo York has the support of the Zoo Crew – a group comprised of New York City graffiti artists, musicians, designers, skateboarders, BMX bikers, snowboarders, surfers, and motocross racers.

Zoo York Skateboard Team
Professionals: Danny Barley, Forrest Kirby, Kevin Taylor, Aaron Suski, Zared Bassett
Amateurs: Ron Deily, Anthony Shetler, Lamare Hemmings, Matt Miller, Brandon Westgate, Eli Reed

Zoo York BMX Bike Team
Ruel Smith, Edwin De La Rosa, Vinnie Sammon

Zoo York Snowboard Team
Jake Blauvelt

Zoo York Surf Team
Professionals: Jun Jo, Ben McBrien, Robert Wurlitzer, Will Skudin, Mike Millin, Nick Jiampa
Armatures: Casey Lockwood, Morgan OConnell, Sean Killarney

Zoo York Motocross Team
Dayne Kinnaird, Ryan Mills, Jimmy McNeil

In 2004, actor Ashton Kutcher was featured in print ads introducing Zoo York’s Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 product lines. The advertisements ran in magazines including Mass Appeal, Blender, Stuff, Complex, and Maxim.

In 2007, Zoo York partnered with artist Mike Giant and the New York City non-profit youth organization Stoked Mentoring to create a limited edition skateboard and t-shirt. A portion of the sales went to Stoked Mentoring. The products and partnership were introduced at a launch party.
In 2008, Zoo York introduced two popular limited edition skateboards. One was the Lordz of Brooklyn band board. The band is known for its graffiti roots and blue collar pride. Zoo York released 500 Lordz of Brooklyn decks and t-shirts.

The other limited edition release was the Jenna Jameson skateboard. The product came out shortly after Jameson’s announcement to quit the adult industry. Advertisements promoting the Jenna Jamson board were created by ad agency DavidAndGoliath. The cartoon ads were created in a suggestive erotic, karma sutra style.

This summer, Zoo York will hold its first ever “Zoo York, New York Surf Clinic” in Long Island.
Earlier this year, Zoo York rolled out a line of commercials that parody the product headache relieving product HeadOn. On ad repeats “Zoo York, Apply Directly to Your Footwear,” and shows a user demonstrating how to place the skateboard under their feet. With the humorous voice over stating “Available without a Prescription.” Another ad in the campaign states “Apply Directly to Your Forehead,” and shows a user rubbing a shoe across their forehead.

Most recently, ad agency DavidAndGoliath released a 30 and a 60 second television advertisement for Zoo York. The commercials feature cockroaches, and link viewers to the campaign website: ZooYork.com/roaches .

The 60 second roaches spot is titled “Spread The Word.” In the spot, a group of well-known, professional skateboarders and BMX bikers – including Ruel Smith, Donny Barley and Anthony Shelter – paint hundreds of cockroaches with the Zoo York company logo, and throw them at passerby’s at New York’s Wall Street.

The spot is reminiscent of a 2006 campaign by the agency Droga5 for a video game made for Marc Ecko Enterprises – Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. The 30 second spot, titled “Tough,” shows two cockroaches talking until one gets hit by a skateboarder, yet although flattened, is still alive and talking. The idea behind the cockroach mascots is that cockroaches are unbreakable, and so Zoo York and its products will be as well.

The cockroach advertisements air on MTV, ESPN and Fuel TV. There is an uncensored version of the 30 second spot online at ZooYork.com/roaches. There have even been discussions about product extensions involving the roaches.

First introduced to American soldiers during World War II in 1941, M&Ms are produced by the candy mogul Mars, Incorporated. The candy coated chocolate morsels come in numerous flavors and sizes including Milk Chocolate, Peanut (1954), White Chocolate, White Chocolate With Peanuts, Dark Chocolate (2005), Mint, Peanut Butter (1990), Almond (1988), Crispy (discontinued), Toffee, Dulce De Leche, and Cherry Cordial. M&M candies come in three sizes – Regular, Mini (1996), and Mega (2005).

The current M&M packages include red, orange, blue, yellow, green, and brown MandMs. However, M&Ms are produced in a large selection of colors, available at M&M WORLD stores and online at MMs.com The “M” printed on each candy is printed with vegetable dye.

M&M introduced their Spokescandies in 1954, and even today they remain an integral part of the M&M advertising campaigns. The Spokescandies include Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Crispy (Orange), and M&M Minis.

In 1996 the M&M character campaign was voted the number one ad campaign of the year by USA TODAY. That same year, the popularity of the Spokescandies surpassed both Bart Simpson and Mickey Mouse.

In 1954, M&M trademarked their still popular tagline “The Milk Chocolate That Melts In Your Mouth, Not In Your Hand.” The M&M Company constantly involves consumers with the brand through promotions.

In 1993, M&Ms held a promotion asking consumers to choose the next new M&M color. The color choices were blue, purple and pink. Blue was the winner, and the color to replace tan in 1995.
M&M WORLD stores sell numerous product extensions for the brand, including clothes, cups, stuffed animals, and every color of M&M imaginable. The first M&M WORLD was built in Las Vegas in 1997. Today, there are additional stores in New York and Orlando.

In 1998, M&M tagged their M&M characters as “The official Spokescandies of the New Millennium,” a clever angle since the roman numerals MM stand for 2000. The M&M Spokescandies also starred in their own feature film in 1998, which premiered at the M&M WORLD in Las Vegas.

The Spokescandies have appeared in numerous television commercials since their creation. In 2000, the Blue M&M character outsmarts actor Steve Baldwin who was trying to eat him. An ad ran during the 2002 Super Bowl played on the complimentary chocolate on hotel pillows by showing the Red M&M character laying on a hotel pillow waiting for the guest to arrive.

The M&M “Most Colorful M&Ms Brand Moment” campaign held in 2003 encouraged consumers to entertain their favorite M&M memories online and then vote for their favorite M&M commercial. The winning commercial, titled “Switch” featured actor Patrick Warburton along with the Red, Yellow and Orange Spokescandies. The commercial, which aired during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC, shows Warburton catching the Spokescandies in the act of eating bags of “their own kind.” Warburton tells them how wrong that is, so the characters switch bags – therefore switching from eating their exact match – and continue eating.

M&Ms now uses the Spokescandies, edited to resemble celebrities to promote their “There’s An M&M in Everyone” campaign. The campaign premiered during American Idol in 2007, and has an online component at becomeanmm.com, with 27 million possible combinations.

In 2001, M&Ms created a campaign targeting women ages 25-49. The campaign aimed to strengthen the sale of M&M candy gift boxes called Celebrations – a product competing with boxed chocolates and flowers. The campaign included coupons and email blasts, as well as print ads which ran in magazines including People, Better Homes and Gardens and Good House Keeping.

M&M also promotes itself by running videos and ads at their M&M WORLD locations, and during pre-movie entertainment at movie theaters.

M&Ms have sponsorships with Special Olympics and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (for which the M&M Company donates proceeds of bags of special Pink M&Ms to).
In 2003, M&Ms held their Groovy Summer campaign, which rolled out with new, eye catching packaging designed by famous artist Michael Rios who is best known for his artwork on Santana album covers. The packages held “Groovy” colored M&Ms inside.

In 2004, there was 2.5 months of black and white M&Ms, in order to release a new tagline in March: “Chocolate Is Better in Color.”

M&Ms also sponsors NASCAR drivers and does numerous movie tie-ins. Most recent movie tie-ins included Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones. With the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in 2005, M&Ms released Dark Chocolate candies for the first time. With the release of Pirates brought White Chocolate candies, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull brought Wild Cherry and Mint Crisp.

The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy Disney as The Disney Brothers Company. Walt and Roy changed the name relatively quickly to make the name more inviting to consumers. The company was founded as an animation studio, however today is the owner of 11 theme parks and numerous television, radio and recording studios.

The 11 theme parks are divided within the Disneyland Resort, the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Paris, the Tokyo Disney Resort, the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and the Disney Cruise Line. The subsidiaries of the Walt Disney Company include ABC, ABC Family, ABC OTV, ABC News, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, Disney Online, Disney Channel, Disney Family, Family Fun, IParenting, Go, Radio Disney, Soapnet, and Walt Disney Records.

The Walt Disney Company is the third largest media and entertainment corporation in the world only after Time Warner and the News Corporation. Ad Age Magazine reported that The Walt Disney Corporation spent an estimated $1.8 Billion on advertising in 2006, making The Walt Disney Corporation the 13th largest advertiser in the world.

The Walt Disney Company has always understood that publicity is better for their business than advertising. In 1930, Walt Disney wanted to connect on a stronger emotional level with his audience, and so he decided to give Mickey Mouse a dog, named Pluto. Walt Disney passed away in 1966. The CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1984-2005 was Michael Eisner, who was recently replaced by Bob Iger.

Soon after Eisner took the position, The Walt Disney Company reinvented itself as “The World’s Premier Entertainment Company.”

Disney Resorts and Theme Parks are packed with partnership advertisements. EPCOT Theme Park has sponsors for many of the large attractions. The Universe of Energy ride is sponsored by Exxon, The Land previously by Kraft and now by Nestle, The Imagination Center is sponsored by Kodak, Mission: SPACE by Hewlett-Packard, Spaceship Earth by Siemens, and the Test track by GM.

The Walt Disney Company also has partnerships with Pixar and Visa. McDonald’s is able to create toys for the release of major Disney movies, as well as has numerous restaurants throughout Disney Theme Parks. Disney was given a number of Chevrolet zero-gas, zero-emissions Equinox Fuel Cell cars to shuttle both Disney employees and celebrities throughout the parks. Disney also offers DVD rentals on demand to Xbox Live users since 2007, through its deal with Microsoft. And recently, Disney has made a deal with the new BLU-RAY Disc technology.

Disney often creates partnerships during the release of their films. Recently, Disney partnered with M&Ms to promote the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

In 2006, The Walt Disney Company created an advertising campaign aimed at children and young adults titled “Where Dreams Come True.” The campaign was designed to promote travel to Disney, but also to help foster the dreams and goals of viewers. The campaign featured ABC show stars such as Kim Yun-Jin from LOST, Isaiah Washington from Grey’s Anatomy and James Denton from Desperate Housewives. The advertisements were in documentary style.

In 2007, renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz was hired by The Walt Disney Company to produce a series of print advertisements for Walt Disney Worlds “Year of a Million Dreams” campaign. Leibovitz used famous celebrities to portray well-known Disney characters. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony portrayed Jasmine and Aladdin, Jessica Biel – Pocahontas, Gisele Bundchen and Tina Fey posed in a Peter Pan scene, David Beckham – Prince Charming, Scarlet Johannson – Cinderella, Beyonce – Alice in Wonderland.

A huge amount of thought and effort went into the shot of each ad for this campaign. Teacups from the Disney Theme Park were transported and placed with a crane for the Alice in Wonderland shoot, while a Harry Winston Tiara and a specially made Steuben glass slipper were used in the Cinderella shot. The advertisements were placed in magazines including Vogue, W, GQ, Vanity Fair, Cookie, The New Yorker, and Conde Nast Traveler.

Recently, television advertisements have been aimed at promoting visits to the website through exclusive deals and rates.

This May, Disney launched an advertising research lab designed to “understand the emotional drivers and physiological reactions to advertising.” The research lab will test brand integration, sponsorships, interactivity, split screens, addressable advertising, mobile device advertising, and broadband video advertising.