The Web is What You Make It

In a society driven by technology, universities across the country are beginning to require their students to own a laptop.  Being a college student myself, it is very rare to find another student unable to type on a keyboard without looking, or understand how to operate a computer.  Although computers are well known among students and young adults, the technology device is a foreign concept to middle aged and elderly individuals.  In fact, it is exceedingly common for individuals in my age group to have one or both parents who are unfamiliar on how to use the internet.  Taking this into account, Google has recently targeted middle aged individuals with their commercial, “Dear Sophie.” 

In the inspiring advertisement, Google Chrome not only demonstrations how simple the internet can be to use, but also the possibilities the internet can possess.  Through a heart-warming advertisement, Google Chrome shows how you can use their website and various features to create a 21^st century baby book that your kids can read when they’re older. 

I am a die-hard of the Green Bay Packers and the Milwaukee Brewers, and even I have to fight back tears while watching this commercial. 

It is a touching experience to find this father writing to his new born baby Sophie since the day she was born.  In the development of the 21^st century baby book, the father organizes videos, pictures and messages through Google’s numerous accessories—Chrome, Picasa and Gmail.  The adorable advertisement exhibits parents can avoid the hassle of gathering decades of pictures, along with the struggle of stuffing them into a bulky binder. 

Google owns everything, even my emotions.

Don’t Lose a Step

Cell phone features are expanding at an exceptional rate over the past couple years.  It’s astonishing to think that just a few years ago, having the internet on your phone was a foreign concept to society.  Recently, the main problem with cell phones is that users are unable to talk on their phone and search the web simultaneously.  Well thanks to AT&T, the problem has been solved.

In a humorous advertisement, AT&T attempts to shatter the stereotype that men who start a family detach from their ‘guy friends.’  While the father is changing his newborn baby, a close friend of his calls to discuss the football game last night that he has not seen.  Not wanting to sound like he’s out of the loop, he utilizes his iPhone to pull up a recap of the game.  It only takes him a couple of seconds to pull up video highlights from the game and comment to his buddy about the great play that was made. 

Just after watching the highlight reel, his wife walks in at the worst possible time to catch him on his phone instead of attending their baby.  As the guy tries to cover for his mistake, the wife delivers a textbook “my-husband’s-an-idiot” glare at the end.

Only the Best

In the beginning, the commercial appears to be a relaxed nature documentary about bears fishing for salmon when the animal is abruptly interrupted by a John West fisherman.  Running into the scene like a chicken with his head cut off, the fisherman is determined to challenge the bear for the best fish available.  The fearless fisherman then starts sparring with the grizzly bear to fight over the giant salmon. 

The grizzly bear demonstrates fancy footwork in a Muhammad Ali-like shuffle before delivering a roundhouse kick to the fisherman. 

Right when it looks as if the fisherman has no chance to win the fight, he sends a brutal kick to the private of the grizzly bear which knocks him unconscious.

The John West fisherman walks away with a victory and the grand prize of the best salmon in the wild.

"Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake up.”

Since steam power can be used for everything from heating and cooling to sterilizing and food processing, cities such as Manhattan utilize this source of energy on a daily basis.  In a busy community with constantly working individuals, there is little downtown throughout the work week. 

Brilliantly, one company thought of an advertising scheme to grasp the attention of these restless Manhattan citizens.  While visiting a family member this summer in Manhattan, I was appalled by a Folgers coffee advertisement.  

As I made my way towards the subway station, I noticed steam coming from across the street one morning.  The closer I came towards the steam, it looked as if something was accidentally spilled all over the ground and steaming everywhere.  To my surprise, when I walked near the steam it was an advertisement for Folgers coffee that covered a Manhattan manhole.  Holes on the print allowed for the steam to come out while the wordings around the cup read, “Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake Up.” from Folgers. 

I must admit, because of the dazzling advertisement that was lingering in my mind the rest of the afternoon, I went out of my way to purchase a cup of Folgers coffee the next morning.





What Brand Am I

After examining various types of brands, I found that Adidas is the brand that most closely resembles my ideals.  I was lured by their simple yet intriguing marketing strategy: to lead the sporting goods industry with brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle.  The German founder of Adidas, Adi Dassler, was trained as a cobbler and fought in World War I at the age of eighteen.  After returning from the war, the 20 year old Dassler made his foray into the shoe making business out of his mother’s laundry room.  Shortly after, Adi Dassler his older brother Rudolf Dassler started their own business called the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.  His relentless work ethic and desire to achieve greatness correlate to how I live my life.  In short, the brand Adidas mirrors my ideals because it provides various sporting goods, operates in ultimate passion, and has a facile yet complex brand logo.

                First off, sports give people something to aspire to, something to dream about.  Sports not only offer individuals with physical benefits, but sports typically help students academically and socially as well.  Since I live a very active lifestyle, sports have always been my favorite activity of mine growing up.  Adidas is a brand that promotes teamwork and building relationships with teammates in numerous sports.  Especially in team sports, working together and making a united effort to accomplish the goals and objectives of the collective whole is beneficial to everyone involved.  Valuable lessons taught in sports such as practice, patience and persistence can translate into important life instructions.

Secondly, the passion of Adidas to develop a quality product to give athletes a competitive edge sets them apart from their competitors.  Adidas’s love and desire to continuously strengthen their brands and products show a true passion in their product development.  Unlike their main competitor Nike, Adidas is consumer focused and strides to continuously improve the quality, look, feel and image of their products in order to match and exceed consumer expectations and provide them with the highest value.    Finally, the simple yet intriguing Adidas logo relates to my life story.  Although I may seem like a typical Marquette scholar who is a child of a college graduate, I am the first individual in my family to attend college.  Similar to the Adidas logo, though it may seem like a simple design on the first glance, it is actually a unique and meaningful logo.  The shape of the 3 stripes on the Adidas logo represents a mountain, pointing out towards the challenges that are seen ahead and goals that can be achieved. 

Overall, Adidas is a company that closely resembles my ideals because it promotes sporting activities, puts love and desire into their work and has a simple yet unique logo.

Links and Information:
Adidas Logo Design and Identity

Adidas Information and Designer History

Adidas Homepage