Comments on: Did Magnum’s Traditional Advertising Work?

By: Rozzle

Rozzle — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:44:13 +0000

The thing that grabbed my attention the most in the ad was Eva’s makeup, I paused it at the bit where she closes her eyes to check out the eyeshadow, being a makeup artist myself I would love to know what products were used, I’m assuming Mac. This is not the first time Magnum has “gone sexy,” remember the 7 Deadly Sins special editions, those ads were very sexy…

By: Unique-Frequency.com » Blog Archive » Further Thoughts On Magnum’s Advertising

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:32:43 +0000

[...] back and re-reading the comments from the Magnum post both here and the replies on Plurk, I’ve been thinking a little bit more about the Magnum [...]

By: Jade

Jade — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:57:41 +0000

I didn’t know that Eva would endorse such a cheapo product
It’s like having Nelson Mandela endorsing your Epson printer. They just don’t go together.

But if putting a giant-size poster of Eva whets people’s appetite and makes them grab the nearest stick of Magnum, well then if it works, it works.

By: Unique-Frequency.com » Blog Archive » Sorry For The Hiatus From Blogging

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:07:10 +0000

[...] thing that I found interesting was that the Magnum advertising post generated a lot more talk than I thought it would both here and on Plurk. It surprised me not [...]

By: Kelly Tay

Kelly Tay — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:04:26 +0000

Do you have a Disclaimer? I did a cursory look at your site and it doesn’t seem to have one… You might want to get one, considering your tendency to be opinionated, and in a contentious way.. :]

By: Natasha

Natasha — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:16:57 +0000

It reminds me yet again that I live in a world saturated by bland communication.

The ice cream is as bland and cheap as the ad, so in that sense it works. If I’d never had a Magnum I’d know what to expect from it and I wouldn’t be disappointed.

I don’t think I’m in their target market but I still have to look at the darn thing. And I do like to whinge about the visual pollution of my environment, on occasion.

By: Jael

Jael — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:57:23 +0000

Agree with you Walter. Well written. For FMCG brands- a lot of it is reminder advertising. (Used to work on the P&G account whilst at Zenith)

By: Jonathan Wong

Jonathan Wong — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:04:16 +0000

Anything with Eva Longoria on it will make an impact on me. She could be holding a twig, and it will give me the urge to squat down and try to pick one up from the streets.

By: Walter

Walter — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:57:47 +0000

I’d say that its a mixture of both brand awareness, top-of-mind-recall and mindshare which ads like this seek to perpetuate. There is also an association of lushness, with Eva Longoria’s image blending in with Magnum’s positioning as a premium ice lolly. Frequency of course matters too, and in this case, size makes a difference.

In this case, I don’t think Wall’s (part of Unilever) is looking at direct sales per se, although that may also be in the cards. What these FMCG giants normally do is to have brand associated advertising, coupled with hard selling roadshows, sampling opportunities and promotions. These are usually targeted at other media like press ads, flyers and so on. Outdoor posters and standees are more often used for branding purposes.

There has been considerable debate about advertising and its link to sales versus brand awareness/equity. For established FMCG brands, the battleground is hotly competitive and they simply cannot just offer promotions after promotions to wage the war. What they do then is to look all ways and means to get into your brain, using TV ads, press ads, outdoor advertising, ambient and so on. Once a positive association is made, their promoters and sales folks can then work hard on the channels of distribution to get the product right where you want it, and this is where the battle for shelf space occurs.

By: Jo

Jo — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:52:58 +0000

Ads make little impact on me unless the deliver something useful in themselves.

I am more likely to buy something if it meet my needs when I experience them and I don’t have to work too hard to make a choice or the purchase.

Hence Coke makes sure a cold coke is in reach where people want them in the quantity they want them. And they reach corners of the world that governments can’t reach with water, electricity, policemen, essential medicine, etc.

BTW the concierge in my hotel in Singapore played that role superbly. He was able to focus me on what I needed to buy/do and stop me getting distracted from stuff that wouldn’t meet my needs. It creates such a good impression that one’s propensity to spend money shoots up. I probably spent 10x more money in Sg than I intended because it was easy to do it. And I don’t regret any of the purchases or feel conned!

Advertise to the concierges rather? I think I subscribed here because of your article on concierges!