Microsoft's ease of use campaign

Typically, little kids mostly annoy me, especially in certain commercials (Welch's grape juice anyone?), but in this commercial, developed by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Kylie is an absolutely adorable little girl - and the campaign has been getting great media attention.

Kylie is a 4 year old little girl who takes the audience through Windows Live Photogallery and demonstrates how easy it is to put together a presentation with pictures, music (my favorite) and quotes she's found on Microsoft, which she dubbs "nice words."

Why does this work? Tugging on heart strings isn't always the best idea, but this commercial hits it right on the nose. First, it engages the audience with probably one of the cutest little girls ever, and modest too! Then, as only little kids can, she shows you precisely what she is going to do, what pictures she is going to send, adds some funny music for a 4 year old, and closes the deal with the mandatory Microsoft line - "I'm a PC and I'm 4 1/2." There's not many commercials you feel you need to watch, but when a 4 year old comes onscreen to show you something, the audience automatically goes into parent mode, and watches patiently.

Cute is not always the best way to go in marketing campaigns, but CPB has executed the commericals perfectly. Cute apparently works as a marketing campaign for Microsoft and the next ones should only get better.

One commercial to throw your glass at

First, let me start by saying, I'm not a feminist, simply a realist, and the one commercial (or commercials) that I CANNOT stand is the Godaddy.com commercials.

The advertisers are targeting the right audience (men) by portraying "pretty" girls as Go Daddy girls, but, other than that, it's a failed attempt at anything other than interesting guys in, wait, I keep forgetting, oh yes, DOMAIN NAMES AND WEB SITES?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't commercials typically need to advertise the product they are selling? It took me two or three commercials before I even found out what Go Daddy sold. And honestly, I'm surprised no one has mentioned these commercials as being as obscene as say, Paris Hilton eating a burger (at least they have the product in the ad)?!

Go Daddy, may I suggest writing and producing a smart commercial? It may get you further than you think.

Mike's Hard Lemonade Marketing to Wrong Audience

Mike's Hard Lemonade has recently come out with a series of commercials marketing their adult beverage, however, they may be targeting the wrong demographic. Many of their commercials feature men ages 25 to 30 who, judging from the commercials, are manly bachelors trying to decipher how to advertise the drink (my personal favorite is when they bring in a sommelier to evaluate the flavors).

The one thing they failed to look at was what they were selling. Mike's Lemonade primarily sells to women because of the fruity nature of the drink. If they had targeted these commercials towards women aged 25 to 30, I believe they'd have a better chance of increasing sales and consumption.

I understand that perhaps they realize they are missing a large portion of the male population and would like to decrease that gap, but, maybe it's a better idea to focus on the audience who is intersted in your product instead of one that may be almost impossible to entice.

Evian skating past the competition with new ad

Evian's new roller skating baby ads have established new records. The video has interested more than 14 million viewers to find the video online shooting it to the top of the Viral Video Charts.

The Worthy

A heavy component of advertising and marketing campaigns is the commercial. Advertisers strive to make commercials that keep a consumer's attention, give the consumer concise and relevant information in a short period of time (without the viewer having to dig for it) and, probably most importantly, introduce the product and keep it in the consumer's mind.

Since I had to visit the pope and wasn't able to judge at Cannes (haha, I wish), below are the top five commercials that are currently (i.e. within the past week) playing on our TVs that have managed to capture all of the above. These are worthy of a round of applause.

5. Progressive - Great commercials. Yes, at times they can be annoying, but the concept works well and it isn't your typical insurance baloney we're used to.

4. E*Trade - Since the introduction of these at the Super Bowl in 2007, I've been a constant fan. The baby's facial expressions are priceless and the idea behind it is superb. Also, there are outtakes. Everyone loves outtakes.

3. "This is Sportscenter," ESPN - In my opinion, there are not enough of these broadcast. Perhaps the best one of the group is where both Manning brothers visit the offices, but really, I can't choose just one favorite of these.

2. Mac vs. PC - Although I am a self-proclaimed PC, these commercials are great. Instead of your typical listing of the amenities of a computer, we've got two gentlemen who will explain it to you in simple layman’s terms. And even though these commercials have been around for quite a while now, it still doesn't get old. Bravo Mac, bravo.

Drum roll please…and the winner is:


1. Bing, the search engine - To put it bluntly, it's perfect. Each commercial captures exactly what we encounter when we click "search" on other seemingly easy-to-navigate search engines and then gives us a solution; easy and straight to the point. What else could an American ask for?

Keep an eye out for my post, "The Best of the Worst," to see the top picks for the worst commercials on TalentZoo Media's blog, Beyond Madison Avenue.