Diesel is now spending $300,000 on a campaign that puts out the message that life is short.
By GREER FAY CASHMANbaby clean 88 224(photo credit: Courtesy)
NOW THAT there are so many colleges in Israel that provide higher education for students who preferred the more intimate atmosphere of the college campus to that of the university, or who were not accepted to university, there's competition for enrollment. Whereas in the pre-college era, the competition to get a place was on the part of the students, today it's on the part of the academic institutions.
Before colleges started sprouting, Israeli students who failed to gain acceptance at one of the universities often went to an East European country or to Italy to continue their studies. Ironically, some of them did so well abroad that they were considered experts in their fields.
With the proliferation of colleges, academia is taking a leaf out of the book of manufacturers and providers of services and is hoping to attract students with the help of famous personalities - or presenters as they are currently known. The Tel Aviv-Jaffa College has selected Olympic silver-medalist Yael Arad. The judo champ will receive $60,000 out of a $500,000 campaign budget. The campaign went on the air this week. It will be only a matter of time before other colleges target celebrities to boost enrollment.
ONE OF the most effective marketing tools is tying in with a special anniversary. Supersol is in the fortunate position of being able to do it in more ways than one. While Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, Supersol celebrates its 50th birthday. Although there are still months to go before the actual anniversary date, festivities are already underway, according to co-chairmen Rafi Bisker and Sholem Fisher, and CEO Ephraim Rosenhaus.
At a news conference this week, the trio talked about the history of Supersol, its current achievements and its plans for the future. The first store in the nationwide chain that has revolutionized Israel's retail market opened in August, 1958, on Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv; it was initially known as Suprasol. The company has a 37.5 percent share of the retail market and claims to be the largest supermarket chain in Israel.
AS PART of its innovation strategy Max Brenner chocolates is introducing a new line of containers in different shapes and sizes, not to mention colors. The new metal containers are inspired by New York's open-air summer sales, which are a riot of color punctuated by eye-catching images and icons that convey a sense of leisure and pleasure. The containers come with a wide range of choices in chocolates, chocolate-coated nuts and other munchies, powdered chocolate and wines. Prices range from budget to luxury.
PRICES IN duty free stores are often not as low as might be expected. Sometimes, albeit not very often, prices are higher than in regular stores. Where duty free stores have an advantage over regular stores is in products that are not found beyond the airport. James Richardson at Ben-Gurion Airport often stocks items that are not available in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and elsewhere. Case in point is a new perfume, M eau de parfum by Mariah Carey, which is distributed by Elizabeth Arden. For those who travel abroad and purchase goods at the airport to be picked up on return, this is a gift that its recipient is unlikely to have.
THE RENUAR chain owned by Yossi Brosh and Eli Berkowitz is expanding. The company will invest a million dollars in four new stores, one of which will be Renuar Men and the others will stock female apparel and accessories. Renuar currently operates 83 stores, including 39 Renuar Men. The new stores will feature a new design concept that is rapidly becoming the norm for major brand-name clothing stores; they will contain four departments: clothing, shoes, bags and jewelry.
PUMA ISRAEL is launching a TV marketing campaign in line with the national soccer championships. The campaign will focus on the new Puma soccer shoes, which are produced with the most up-to-date technologies, are light, flexible and elastic. The NIS 1 million campaign will include a video clip of an energetic soccer match; the message will be that if you don't have bionic legs, it's in your interest to buy Puma soccer shoes that will help you jump higher and run faster.
PELEPHONE earned itself and popular singer Ninet Tayeb a lot of free publicity when it persuaded her to get a crew cut as part of its marketing campaign. It succeeded so well that Tayeb has already started shooting a second campaign for Pelephone, which will feature several other commercials with Tayeb throughout the year.
CLASHING PRINTS and colors will dominate the closets of teenagers this summer. They may be a little hard on the eye, but TNT is spending NIS 2m. on a marketing campaign in its effort to convince young consumers that this is "real fashion for real people." Fashion is a matter of taste, which some real people actually have. However, persuading people to wear mismatched clothing is an interesting marketing ploy that presumably will succeed, because what goes around comes around. This is not the first time the gullible public will be brainwashed into believing that ugly is beautiful.
DIESEL IS known for its outrageous and sometimes offensive marketing campaigns. It is now spending $300,000 on a campaign that puts out the message that life is short, don't waste too much time thinking, grab what you can and get in the fast lane. Life in the 21st century is comprised of fast food, speed dieting and instant messaging. For that matter, some mothers feed their babies while they're on the run. All this and more is part of the Live Fast Diesel lifestyle. The company's fast-living campaign was filmed in Los Angeles and will be seen in Israel on Street TV, billboards, magazines and newspapers.
THE PAPARAZZI are not always interested in photographing the shooting of commercials for marketing campaigns, but when the star is someone like Tzvika Hadar, it's a different story. Hadar was in Moshav Bnei Zion on Wednesday to do a shoot for Shekem Electric and the paparazzi trailed after him as usual. That's why so many companies pay so much for a celebrity to be either the presenter of their product or service, or to be the star of some skit related to whatever it is that's being promoted.
OF COURSE what celebrities get paid in Israel for being presenters, cannot compare with what they're getting in the United States. Baywatch star Carmen Electra will receive half a million dollars for being the presenter for Crocker. The busty Hollywood star will be seen in Crocker campaigns worldwide, including Israel.
