Brand Tags

Brand Name: Vitamin Water
Five things that come to mind:
1. Tracy McGrady (ad)
2. Shaquille O'Neal (bottle size/jersey #)
3. Dragonfruit (one of the flavors)
4. Wal-Mart (where I typically buy it)
5. Fresh (new type of product)

I remember a coworker drinking vitamin water a couple years ago and they enjoyed it so much they wanted me to try it. It was a strange flavor called "Dragonfruit" which I then google image searched and realized it was a fruit I'd never even heard of, and it looked cool. Still, I didn't think much of it, and I wasn't a fan of the prescription drug style packaging. It wasn't until last summer when I was working up such a huge sweat while working at my job that I had to continually keep drinking water/liquids to keep me hydrated. Eventually I got sick of water and wanted something with taste that would keep me hydrated (no soda). I've never been a fan of powerade or gatorade so I looked around the local wal-mart and found vitamin water right at the front of the store next to the checkouts in mini fridges (convenient). I needed something cold since I had to go back to work so I chose the vitamin water, remembering what my friend had said about it, and a certain ad during NBA playoffs starring Tracy McGrady (a year in which there was a lot of controversy about him not making the second round of the playoffs). I enjoyed it so much I've been hooked ever since. I've cut out all soda products and now have a ready supply of vitamin water at all times. I went from having a negative perception to being completely hooked moreso than any other food product I purchase.

What others are saying:
http://www.brandtags.net/browse.php?id=629
The top words/phrases seem to be:
50 cent (I don't know if this is reference to the rapper or the price, but Vitamin water is usually $1 or more)
Calories
Clean
Expensive
Healthy
Jennifer Aniston
Ripoff
Sugar
Water
Now calories, clean, expensive, and sugar make sense to me, but healthy was one of the largest words and unfortunately it's a misconception. The amount of sugar in regular Vitamin Water is almost as high as soda. Because the name suggests something healthy many people don't realize that it can be bad for them. There is a 10 calorie less sugar product also available though. My words were rather small like Shaq, fresh, and dragonfruit. Wal-Mart and Tracy McGrady weren't on the list but McGrady can be substituted for Jennifer Aniston. I've never seen one of her ads as I'm sure they target more female oriented shows with her sponsoring. I pretty much agree with the rest of the tags including expensive, but it's one of the luxury items I don't mind paying for (and I don't find it that much of a ripoff).

My Favorite Ad

The first time I saw this ad was in the movie theater. The projection slides run while people are sitting down and then they lower the lights when its time to start. But before they run the trailers for other movies or show the movie itself they show commercials. No matter what ad it is, when it's on the big screen with the surround sound speakers it makes it feel more important than watching it on TV. I've seen this ad several times on TV since then, but I'll always connect it with that first time in the theaters.

The hamsters on the wheels and the somewhat deserted feeling of the city grabbed my attention first. Obviously the giant hamsters living in a human world is somewhat funny, but it's not my favorite part of the commercial. When the Kia Soul drives up next to a hamster and the music plays is when the commercial sucks me in. I love the music and had to look it up right when I got home from the theaters that very first time I heard it. I'm pretty sure KIA had this music created specifically for the commercial because I couldn't find it anywhere but on youtube with the commercial. Since then it's appeared on various music sites and I've downloaded it, and even though I like the song for what it is I'll always be making the connection in the back of my mind that this is the KIA Soul commercial music.

I've never been a fan of box cars, but I considered the KIA Soul after seeing the commercial. After a few weeks I decided against it, but in the next few years if I have to get a new car and I run accross a KIA dealership I may be more inclined to stop and take a look. I'm sure cars are a very hard sell to get people to run out and buy it immediately like they would an iPod. It's probably more important just to get the brand name into people's heads and keep it there. In that way this commercial succeeded with me.

First Post

This is my homework blog for 301 Principles of Advertising Fall 2009.