The Professional Student: “Greatest Marking Campaigns” Outdoor Advertisements

Hello, and welcome back to the Professional Student! This week, I’ll be examining outdoor advertisements. Not to be confused with advertisements for the outdoors, outdoor advertisements are those that are outdoors, like a billboard.

I always like to start out by listing the criteria for the analysis, just in case you’re new here!

The deliverables are composed of 5 different sections listed in the following order (Lahm & Lockwood, 2022):

1. Describe the advertisement by product/service, company, brand, etc., and the focus. What was the appeal or technique that was used to evoke an emotional response? Include a link to the ad selected.
2. What were the objectives of the campaign? To sell more? To inform customers about a new product feature? Were the objectives attainable and measurable, or were they time-specific? 
3. Describe the target market that was the focus of the advertisement.
4. What action does the advertisement want the audience to take? If action is taken, how will the audience member benefit from using the product? 
5. Describe the value proposition of the product or service being offered in each advertisement. What are the specific reasons (product features and benefits) that would drive customers to purchase the product or service being sold in each advertisement?

1. The Marlboro Man Billboard

I wanted to start this off with something I remember seeing constantly as a child: cigarette advertisements on billboards (which are now banned as of 1999). A link to the advertisement is below. Marlboro is owned by Philip Morris USA.

https://calisphere.org/item/7b50e39fca2b1b4a1df28e26efdc11c2

For me, seeing the Marlboro Man is iconic, as he was an icon in his own right. The billboard features the Marlboro Man on a horse in a blue denim shirt, tan jeans, a cowboy hat, gloves, and a rope for rounding up animals. He has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and faces in a side view profile. It brings back memories of seeing these advertisements everywhere as a child. My first thought was that I couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be to smoke and ride a horse while rounding up animals, but hey, it’s the Marlboro Man. Aside from Chuck Norris, he can do anything! He is a rugged, manly man who smokes red, so if you’re a rugged, manly man, you should smoke them, too (value proposition)!

Obviously, the purpose of this advertisement is to sell Marlboro cigarettes. The billboard is from 1982 and was featured on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Before 1950, Marlboro cigarettes were advertised to women only, but that changed with the introduction of the Marlboro Man, who was always featured smoking Marlboro Reds. Marlboro Reds used to have a red filter to hide lipstick stains, but they failed to attract women. So, they slapped a brown filter on it, complete with a cowboy (the Marlboro Man), and marketed it to men.

A 1982 article in The New York Times by Eric Pace discusses the price of cigarettes jolting up from about 20 cents per pack to 82 cents per pack. I am not a smoker anymore, but I smoked for 10 years during my time in the Army. I can recall a time when a pack of cigarettes was almost $10, depending on where you were in the country, as some states have higher prices than others.

Another New York Times article by Phillip Wiggins in 1982 highlights that Philip Morris is the second-largest tobacco country after R.J. Reynolds Industries. Operating revenues in 1982 were 10.89 billion, with a profit of 676.2 million.

2. Sheets Energy Strips, “I TAKE A SHEET.”

My second advertisement isn’t exactly the greatest or something considered great advertising, but it made me laugh hysterically because of how ridiculous it is. What it is, though, is a great failure, and as such, it deserves to be revisited. I can’t believe a company’s marketing team thought this was a good idea! I must highlight this as a failure because this is exactly what you should not do!

PureBrand owns Sheets Energy Strips. These energy strips essentially dissolve on your tongue to give you energy. I can’t help but see the resemblance to dropping acid. Not that I’ve ever dropped acid (I haven’t), but I am not ignorant of the fact of what it is, either. We’ve all studied psychology, and the 70s were wild. The box of energy strips features a face with only a mouth and a tongue sticking out with a hand, placing an energy strip onto the tongue that looks exactly like dropping acid. I bet the kids loved this! I can’t find Sheets Energy Strips for sale, but there are plenty of other brands being marketed as dietary supplements. They’re insanely expensive on Amazon.com, ranging from $20-$30 for one box containing 30 strips.  Honestly, just buy a case of energy drinks if you’ll pay $30 for that!

Let’s get to the juicy part: the advertisements! Below is a link so you can see them.

View at Medium.com

There are two featured on that webpage. The first is a woman in a bathing suit with a big smile on her face. She has a swimming cap on and goggles as if she is about to compete competitively, even though it’s a casual pool you would find at a hotel or apartment complex. Athletes use a lot of energy, so maybe that’s their target market for the ad. Here is where it goes wrong. In big, bold white words across the woman, it says, “I TAKE A SHEET IN THE POOL.” First of all, no, you don’t! This isn’t Caddy Shack. No one is throwing a Snickers bar into the pool. They were trying to be funny, but it comes off as crude. I find it hysterical. Not at the words but at the fact that this was publicly advertised on the side of a bus stop and billboards. Next to that, there is a professional woman. A student, a professor, a bookworm, perhaps? She is dressed in a black suit with glasses and looks conservative. She has a slight grin on her face while holding a stack of books. There is also a wedding ring on her hand. Like ad 1, it says in bold white letters, “I TAKE A SHEET AT THE LIBRARY.” It must have been all the Starbucks working its magic. Okay, back to the seriousness. I really can’t believe this was an ad campaign! This obviously targets students and professionals alike, who have very busy schedules and might need an extra energy boost.

According to CSP Daily News (2011), PureBrands spent $10 million on advertising and partnered up with athletes and celebrities alike, such as Pitbull and LeBron James. According to the SEC, PureBrands took a net loss of $21,094,983 in 2012 and $12,583,216 in 2013.

3. Surreal Cereal

Surreal Cereal is a plant-based based high protein, low carb, zero sugar cereal that is “Surreal because it shouldn’t work, but it does, brilliantly.” Surreal is owned by Jac Chetland and Kit Cammell, two British entrepreneurs reinventing the breakfast game by making a nutritionally balanced cereal that tastes great for adults. I can’t find this product for sale in the US, but on Amazon’s UK page, I found a variety pack of 4 for 24 British Pounds.

The specific advertisement I’ve decided to look at is called “No Work January” and can be seen in the link below.

Surreal Cereal – Marketing Geniuses at Play

There is an all-white background that reads: January. Protein. Whatever. Can’t be bothered this month? Neither can we. Whatever is written in rainbow words. Next to the words are cereal boxes, and on the bottom right hand, the word “SURREAL” is printed in bold black letters.

I think this advertisement is clever, as many people are trying to drop holiday weight as their New Year’s resolution. The message, can’t be bothered this month? You don’t have to be with our cereal. Just eat it. The target market segments are adults who want to eat healthy, eat good, and not think about it. People who live active lifestyles or those who are athletic are also a great market. Folks who are looking to improve their health is another market segment.

Regarding the financial information, the company is registered as a private limited company in London, England.

4. okcupid, DTF

Okcupid, an online dating site, is owned by Match Group, which also owns Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and other dating apps and sites.

The billboard advertisement I’ve chosen to analyze features two lovely ladies. Below is the link for the advertisement.

https://www.designrush.com/best-designs/print/trends/best-billboard-ads

The first woman picked up her date and held her up in her arms sideways while her arms wrapped around her neck, holding a rose. The background is all baby pink and says “DTF” in big, bold yellow letters with a black shadow. Next to DTF it says “ALL HEAD OVER HEELS” bolded in black. The bottom of the billboard says okcupid, and below that, “DATING DESERVES BETTER” is printed in bold black letters.

I will not elaborate on the acronym DTF, but if you’ve watched The Jersey Shore, you know what comes to mind. However, okcupid took a play on DTF, and it doesn’t mean what you think it means here. DTF certainly grabs attention and gets a laugh, but in this ad campaign, DTF means down to thrift, down to furiously make out, down to flea market, etc. It is a way to connect to millennials and a modern audience.

I like the colors of the billboard. They’re bright. I like to see the LGBTQIA2S+ community being represented. Its modern, and it targets exactly who it was meant to target. Though millennials and modern people might have been the target, Gen Z can’t be discounted as they’re a much more accepting and open generation than previous generations.

Match Group has a net worth of $8.65 billion and a value of $11.63 billion (Stock Analysis, 2024). Love is a good business to be in! Match Group spent $519.6 million on advertising in 2023 and $447.9 million in 2022. In 2016, they spent $325 million but have steadily increased to spending an average of half a billion since 202 (Dixon, 2024).

5. Chipotle, “As Real As It Gets”

Am I the only one who thinks Chi-pot-le instead of Chipotle? It makes me laugh every time. I like Chipotle, but I don’t eat there often. It isn’t exactly something that comes to mind, and I find their food overly salty. Every bite I take slowly increases my blood pressure levels until my feet start to retain water and swell up. Chipotle is a publicly traded “Mexican Grill” quick service fast food restaurant owned by The Vanguard Group, which holds majority shares. Surprisingly, Chipotle is not franchised and is owned and operated by the corporation itself.

This advertisement is funny nonetheless and can be seen by clicking the link below.

https://www.commarts.com/exhibit/chipotle-billboards

The billboard features a burrito with some bites taken out of it, as the contents have spread out all over only what one can assume to be a table. You can see the foil wrapper slowly being peeled away, and next to the burrito, the words “REALEST WRAPPER IN THE GAME” appear in bold white letters against a grey “table” background. Below that, there is the Chipotle logo with the words “AS REAL AS IT GETS” in bold black letters.

This is obviously a play on words and a nod towards the music industry, specifically the rap music genre, where rap artists and musicians claim to be unchanged by their fame and money as they’re “the realist of the real” rapping about real life, real situations, or their own personal stories. The billboard made me smile, but it didn’t make me want to eat a burrito, which appears to be what is being sold. A real burrito, of course, not those fake burritos sold elsewhere.

According to Google Finance (2024), Chipotle is valued at $79.74 billion and had revenues of $2.52 billion in 2023. Chipotle spent a quarter of a million dollars on advertising in 2022 and $264.09 million in 2023.

Thanks for stopping by The Professional Student. Don’t forget to leave me a comment!

References

About. Surreal UK. (n.d.). https://eatsurreal.co.uk/pages/about

Cable News Network. (1999, April 29). Marlboro Man hangs up billboard hat. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/US/9904/23/tobacco.billboards/

Chipotle billboards. Communication Arts. (2017, May 15). https://www.commarts.com/exhibit/chipotle-billboards

CSP Daily News. (2014, August 28). Lebron James, purebrand roll out sheets energy strips. https://www.cspdailynews.com/general-merchandise/lebron-james-purebrand-roll-out-sheets-energy-strips

Design Rush. (2023, December 7). 12 Best Billboard ads with inspirational designs. DesignRush. https://www.designrush.com/best-designs/print/trends/best-billboard-ads

Dixon, S. J. (2024, February 26). Match Group annual AD spend 2023. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1101065/match-group-ad-cost/#:~:text=Online%20dating%20company%20Match%20Group,its%20ad%20spending%20since%202016.

Google. (n.d.). Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) stock price & news. Google Finance. https://www.google.com/finance/quote/CMG:NYSE?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2-9G81cyFAxXA4MkDHSmODHEQ3ecFegQIPRAg

Lahm, R., Lockwood, F. (2022). ENT 610 Entrepreneurial Creation. Master of Entrepreneurship Degree Program: “Greatest Marketing Campaigns” Analysis. https://www.canvas.com

Leonelli. (1983, January 1). Marlboro Man Billboard. Calisphere. https://calisphere.org/item/7b50e39fca2b1b4a1df28e26efdc11c2/

Match Group, Inc. (MTCH) Statistics & Valuation Metrics. Stock Analysis. (n.d.). https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/mtch/statistics/#

Pace, E. (1982, November 2). Cigarette prices tiptoe higher. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/02/business/cigarette-prices-tiptoe-higher.html

Roach, E. (2012, August 27). Purebrands of Boca Raton’s energy strip a hit with co-owners Lebron James, pitbull. The Palm Beach Post. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/business/2012/08/26/purebrands-boca-raton-s-energy/7834465007/

Sec.gov. (n.d.). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1062273/000114420413069417/v363889_10k.htm

Statista Research Department, & 4, M. (2024, March 4). Chipotle’s AD & Marketing Cost Worldwide 2023. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/504077/chipotle-ad-marketing-spend/