As we continue our series on famous holiday ads, we take Santa and add animated candy characters. In the popular Christmas commercial “Faint” by the Mars company, these candy-coated  known as “Red” and “Yellow” meet Santa and the results are pretty hilarious.

The M&Ms characters were first introduced by the Mars company in 1954, and came to life in animated commercials beginning in 1995. Mars named each character after their color, and gave each of the M&Ms a distinct personality. Since then they have become beloved advertising icons.

In “Faint”, Red and Yellow put a twist on the tradition of setting out Christmas cookies for Santa by setting out red and green holiday M&Ms. When the M&Ms walk in on Santa delivering presents, Red and Santa both faint (hence the name of the commercial) due to their shock.

Even in this short ad, you can get a hint of the personalities of Red and Yellow. Red is the snarky skeptical one, and Yellow seems to still be a child at heart, worrying about if Santa will like their M&Ms. Additionally, by putting twists on Christmas traditions and adding a solid punch of humor in a very short ad, Mars successfully holds the attention of their audience and makes their commercial memorable. The commercial also uses the depiction of Santa Claus that we mentioned in our previous post; the universally accepted fat man with a white beard in a red suit.

Watch the commercial below, and check out our previous post about Coca-Cola and Santa Claus.

Coca-Cola & Santa Claus – Top Holiday Ads

The holidays have always inspired memorable ads, drawing in customers as well as warming their hearts. For the month of December, we’ll be running a series of some of the best holiday advertisements.

Few people know that Coca-Cola actually created the modern depiction of Santa Claus. He wasn’t always the rotund, rosy, jolly man in the red suit. He was portrayed a multitude of ways, depending on the artist. It wasn’t until Coca-Cola hired artist Haddon Sundblom in 1931 that the Santa everyone knows and loves was brought to life. Previous Coca-Cola ads had depicted Santa as somewhat scary and strict-looking. The advertising executives asked Sundblom to create a Santa that was “wholesome, realistic, and symbolic”. Basing his first illustrations off of his neighbor, Sundblom designed the white-bearded, rosy-cheeked icon. Sundblom’s last Santa illustration was painted in 1964, but Coca-Cola has continued to use his depiction in their advertising, and the whole world has adopted this portrayal of Santa Claus.

Coca-Cola produced its first animated commercial in 2001, using the artwork from one of Sundblom’s 1963 illustrations. You can watch this iconic advertisement in the video below.

Be on the lookout for more of our favorite holiday advertisements as the season continues!

November 22 is national Go For a Ride Day. This unique holiday encourages everyone to go on an adventure to anywhere using any transportation their heart desires. November 22nd has seen its fair share of transportation developments throughout history (such as the patenting of the snowmobile), so this day was developed to help people get on the go.

DOmedia has a special tool for advertisers looking to “go for a ride.” Many of our agency partners use DOmedia’s advanced mapping technologies to take “virtual market rides.” The technology leverages the Google Street View features you know and love. Drag and drop the little “street view person”  onto your campaign map and “drive” yourself around any metro area to visualize a campaign you’re planning through DOmedia.

Of course, we still recommend going for a nice relaxing ride after work. But, this is a nice way to get a head start on Go For A Ride Day, without stepping out into the cold.

As consumers spend more time on the go, out-of-home media is becoming an increasingly necessary method to reach them. Rather than being a distraction, we like to see the media becoming part of the community surrounding it. Contextualization allows advertisers to reach consumers with the right message at the right moment, and DOmedia’s advanced OOH technology is making it possible.

Our country celebrated Veteran’s Day last Friday, and came together to thank former and active military members for their service. The DOmedia team olds the military and their families in the highest regard, and we also think they are a particularly interesting audience for advertisers. Many brands want to reach military households, but marketing to them presents some challenges. Here are some tips for “military marketing”:

1- Know Your Audience

The military community is comprised of active duty members, veterans, retirees, and military families. Most active duty service members are young, married men. So familial relationships are highly valued. These families tend to relocate fairly often. Their mobility presents challenges, and local businesses need to be particularly aware that their audience may be constantly in flux.

2- Know Where to Advertise

Military members and their families spend most of their time on or around the base where they’re stationed. DOmedia can be used to find inventory on or near military bases across the country to help target this audience.

3-  Be Short, Sweet, and to the Point

The word “military” often brings images of uniformity and effectiveness, and to some extent military members reflect these attributes. Fluff posts and artsy statements will most likely prove inefficient to a target audience of straightforward military personnel. Make the creative clear and concise.

4- Consider Military Loyalty Programs

Like any other consumer, military members and their families appreciate discounts and rewards programs. Military discounts are extremely popular across several industries. They draw in customers like any other discount, but they also convey a message of thanks to those who serve our country.

Company Highlight: Military Marketing LLC

Military Marketing is a vendor on the DOmedia platform which specializes in reaching service members and their families. Their in-depth knowledge of military advertising and number of display locations makes them an excellent resource for marketing to military members across the country. We asked Military Marketing to share some of their expertise with our readers. Here is a bit of what they had to say:

“In so many ways, active duty personnel represent the crème de la crème of America. Think about this: to gain entry to a branch of service, new recruits must pass a physical fitness test, score high enough on their IQ test, come up clean on a criminal background check and survive the mental and physical rigors of boot camp. It doesn’t occur to most people that everyone who enters the military could probably get into college, but not everyone who goes to college could gain entry into our military.”

To read more from Military Marketing, check out this guest post.

Guest Post By ROSEMARY O’BRIEN of Military Marketing, LLC on Veteran’s Day 2016

Every company in America takes pride in demonstrating the respect it holds for US military personnel and all they do to protect our freedom and keep us safe.   Corporate appreciation and pride has never been more appropriate.  In so many ways, active duty personnel represent the crème de la crème of America.

Think about this: to gain entry to a branch of service, new recruits must pass a physical fitness test, score high enough on their IQ test, come up clean on a criminal background check and survive the mental and physical  rigors of boot camp.  It doesn’t occur to most people that everyone who enters the military could probably get into college, but not everyone who goes to college could gain entry into our military.

Corporate patriotic support typically begins with choosing events for the holiday calendar. It extends to favorable HR policies toward Guardsmen and Reservists, and may also include vet-favorable hiring practices. Service members can represents a reliable source of new employees possessing the proper training, experience and/or security clearances a company needs.  Not to mention excellent health, team spirit, and a great work ethic.  Sometimes Marketing Depts. join the movement offering military-only incentives—discounts on new cars, vacations, hotel stays, casual-dining— especially when they help achieve corporate sales goals.   

Here’s another thing that companies can do for military personnel and their families that’s also really good for business—Place OOH Advertising on Military Installations.

Marketing dollars spent on OOH advertising delivers free cash to bases that enables their support of Quality of Life programs for military personnel and their families….helpful and recreational activities that the Dept of Defense cannot possibly afford to fund.  These include things like youth and recreation centers where one can bowl, hang with friends, play pool, watch a movie or play games online, or take a weekend bus trip to a special place or event. Morale-boosting activities that civilians take for granted.

Military bases can range from small outposts to small cities containing more than 100,000 people—active, guard, reserve, government employees and contractors, family members and retirees visiting “their” base for low cost, tax-free shopping. Bases are usually the driving economic engine in the communities where they are located; so it makes sense to place OOH ads there…it’s the heart of the local economy, and it’s where people with spending money reside.   

Regardless of the population count, I like to think of bases as being like “towns” with places for work and play, and the other activities of daily life. Each has a command center for essential military purposes where senior management focuses on carrying out its specific, military mission, e.g., air superiority, ground combat excellence, intelligence, warfare and weapons training, etc.  There is also the support tier for basic needs–on-base housing, dining facilities, fast food courts, gas stations, religious chapels, snack bars, convenience stores, supermarkets, hair salons, schools, dental and health clinics, etc. People don’t really need to leave base very often. So it makes sense for the local economy to go to them.

In addition, there are a wide range of  facilities approved for OOH advertising placements— fitness centers, pools, libraries, child development centers, youth centers, golf courses (more than 75 of them with at least 18-holes), auto skills/hobby centers, outdoor recreational centers (e.g., athletic fields, campgrounds, RV parks, etc.), arts and crafts centers, bowling centers, full service travel agencies, shooting ranges, stables, marinas, on-base lodging, and even automotive vehicle resale lots. Posters, banners, digital screens and website ads can build brands, drive revenues, increase foot-traffic, and generate leads for advertisers who wish to tap into this community with $200 Billion in discretionary spending power, as well as $1B in educational G.I. benefits, etc.

There are 150 bases that house about 90% of all domestic population. A little focus will greatly reduce where an advertiser might need or want to go.  On-base venues vary by geography and climate. Don’t expect a marina at Altus AFB in Oklahoma, or an outdoor pool at JB Richardson-Elmendorf in Alaska. On-base population varies by count and type, too. Looking for military “civilians?”  Our government often places some of its other agencies on military installations because they are more secure, hence FBI at Quantico, CIA at Langley, NSA and Library of Congress at Fort Meade.

Just 5 boot camps are a great opportunity for cell service companies.  They are filled with inductees looking forward to earning cell phone privileges on Graduation Days, which happen weekly.  Some bases specialize in deployment, very good for storage companies, truck rentals, and real estate agencies.  Certain bases are home to many military families with kids…ideal for health care providers, pediatric dentists, theme parks, and family brands from General Mills to Purina.  Cars, trucks, ATVs, and motorcycles marketers will want bases housing mostly single service members. Base mission drives the type of service members one finds on a base…“white collar desk jockeys” or “troops who prefer to work with their hands.” Do-It-Yourself brands take note.

While it might sound complicated and full of red tape, it is actually simple when you work with a media provider that truly knows the market. They’ll have a granular understanding of each base and its troops. They will freely offer guidance and data, to support decision-making. And they’ll make purchasing a turnkey process.

Finally, because a) it sounds daunting to marketers and b) military command controls the quantity of advertising placed on base, OOH placements display in uncluttered environments often free of competition. If that’s not enough, advertisers can tout the important contribution to military quality of life resident in their on-base OOH advertising programs.

Military On-base advertising….it’s so smart for business.