Billboard Contest Discussion Thread

[Riotz]

hehe good one johnny_boy


I think we proved out point over and over again. So I'm done arguing as well. No hard feelings towards anyone.

[hitmanng]

OK not to beat a dead horse but what exactly was the product this billboard was marketing. I would bet at least 50% of the "target market" does not think much about the warp feed every day. Even on the way to a tourney. They simply wouldn't get it.

To skirts, actually I do look at the billboard thread almost every day and try to reevaluate why people like the ones that they do. Why is this billboard the most talked about?? Because it most makes us think about ourselves and how we want to be represented. Thordic mentioned "families, kids, priests, nuns, doctors, garbagemen, cats, dogs, birds, teachers". Take out the animals and I have seen all of these except the Nun at a paintball field. They are also all a part of our community and all will have a part in deciding whether those in the paintball community are ever invited back to their home. I have to agree with Shartly it is not the pretty women factor it is the class factor.

The billboard never even mentioned the warp feed or what its function is to help you in the game. It clearly states to me "I wish I could move that hopper to get a better look at her". Not a paintball message.

Just my opinion.
Hitmanng

[Riotz]

Originally posted by hitmanng
OK not to beat a dead horse but what exactly was the product this billboard was marketing. I would bet at least 50% of the "target market" does not think much about the warp feed every day.

The billboard never even mentioned the warp feed or what its function is to help you in the game. It clearly states to me "I wish I could move that hopper to get a better look at her". Not a paintball message.

That's why it's just concept art and not the final design of the billboard.

[shartley]

That's why it's just concept art and not the final design of the billboard.

[Riotz]

Originally posted by shartley

OMG Shartley!

I NEVER said I was against the use of nude or semi-nude photos. WHAT I MEANT WAS, I would make it a bit different then what is on that one. I would use the same concept, but change a few things. Make things a bit clearer. WHERE DO YOU COME UP WITH THESE THINGS?

For those of us who need visual aids (points a finger). I made this really quick for ya'll...

[Riotz]

I like the concept of them using the women and the hopper. But as I said, I would change certain things to make it MORE CLEAR so you understand what they are trying to sell. I never ever said before, that I like that billboard as the final design. I like the idea of the billboard though.

Did I say it clearly now?

[FatMan]

OK, what the hell - into the fray ...

In marketing, rarely is the issue class, or the technical features of the product, but idea - an idea that sticks in your mind.

The cool thing about that poster is the IDEA that the hopper shouldn't be there - it should be moved to the side - and we all know that a warp feed is the way to do that. Now an Emag with a warp feed off to the side with the logo would drive that home a little better.

The issue is the visual cue used to drive the idea home. The hopper shouldn't be there - because we'd like to look behind it. Now you can argue the neckid girl - but put a beautiful girl in a bikini behind it - I STILL WANT TO LOOK - put the Grand Canyon behind it - I still want to look! You could do a whole series of ads based on "The hopper shouldn't be there". You could do high-brow ads with the Mona Lisa behind the hopper, and racy adds with a big pair of boobs behind the hopper.

What MATTERS is that when a paintball player SEES it, the IDEA touches off something in the brain that burns it into his member ... er, ah, memory, yeah memory - burns it into his memory and makes him say to other PB players "Did you see the AGD add?"

That's what adds do - and companies run them based on what they think they can get away with, and a girl naked behind a hopper isn't all that racy any more.

I bet you guys don't even remember cigarette advertising - but they used all kinds of stuff like that to sell smokes - and quite effectively!

Now, the issue of should AGD sully its reputation by stooping to the use of sex in its advertising - why not? Look, AGD has been behind in the marketing curve for a long time. On the good side, they are way up on the engineering curve. So we'd all like to see them be as sucessful in business as they are and designing markers, so we realize they have to put some effort into marketing. What worries us is that that effort will be at the expense of engineering.

Well, if they are going to put some marketing out they might aw well get what they can for the money - otherwise they'll end up doing stupid things to the MARKERS to make them more appealing to the mass market.

What I'm saying is I can live with sex in the ads as long as the products stay top-notch engineering. And the reality is, sex in the ads is probably a good idea given the demographics. Certainly not for ALL their ads, but some.

That was a GOOD idea - it was catchy, simple, and promotes a unique AGD product. The specific execution was rough, and maybe too risque for AGD, but the idea was good.

FatMan

[hitech]

Originally posted by Thordic
...Families could play paintball, yes. Are they buying thier own markers?

When I was at the NPPL tournament in LA I saw more parents making purchases for their kids than anything else. Some were dads, some were moms. While this is not a statistically significant sampling, families DO make paintball purchasing decisions. What the demographic for AGD products is I couldn't say.

[Thordic]

Shartley, sorry, but by concept, I meant the concept of a semi-nude woman, with the idea of the hopper line.

It needs some work because I don't think you want to basically have the girl wearing HALO pasties like is pretty much the case in skirts picture. Cover a slightly higher percentage of the girl, but still convey the same idea. Add in a little different text, AGD logo, warp feed picture, and now your concept is moving towards final design.

What other concept did you think we were talking about? I meant the concept of the hopper covering certain parts of a girl. You could even use a thong-clad rear end and achieve the same effect, if you are repulsed by nipples.

Skirts general idea is great, IMO. Jeff's throw-together above furthers the "concept".

[Thordic]

Originally posted by hitech


When I was at the NPPL tournament in LA I saw more parents making purchases for their kids than anything else. Some were dads, some were moms. While this is not a statistically significant sampling, families DO make paintball purchasing decisions. What the demographic for AGD products is I couldn't say.

Usually the parents are just walking wallets in those cases. The kids know what they want, and the parents buy it. Your demographic still sticks with the kid, not the parent.

[meanelvis]

Re: my idea i didnt get to make in time.

Originally posted by martlet1
I had a couple of ideas for the Billboard contest, but I just didnt have the time to photoshop them.

...

The second had a farmer walking out of his house with an EMAG, with the caption "Martha, Im going out back to paint the barn".. (the farmer has this maniacle look on his face)

...

read this, laughed, and just had to make an attempt. This aint an entry folks this was done just for the helluv it

[shartley]

I was going to address each issue in turn.. but I realized that doing so would be like slamming your head against a wall.

I will however comment on just a couple things not directly related to the Billboard itself.

You could even use a thong-clad rear end and achieve the same effect, if you are repulsed by nipples.

[Riotz]

meanelvis, that's funny. I wouldn't promote full auto, because well. AGD doesn't want to sell full auto guns and you can't play with it.


Oh shartley, what are we gonna do with you...

Don't make Tom feel guilty.

Have you ever heard anything bad about WDP and their Angel Girls prancing around? Nope. Men seems to enjoy it.

Didn't we have a thread on this forum that contained pictures of hot women? Some who happened to be in the paintball industry. Can't ANYONE view this website and see those women? Yep.

Stop with the censorship. This ad will do more good then bad. I'm positive it will be in good taste. I'm positive there will be no NUDITY.

You ever take your kids to the beach? They will see the same thing there that will be on this ad. Heck, you might even see a women walking around town and show just as much.

[shartley]

LOLROF

Have you ever heard anything bad about WDP and their Angel Girls prancing around? Nope. Men seems to enjoy it.

YES, I have. LOL In fact we have seen complaints here on AO about them. LOL

I also hear bad things about them from other Paintball WOMEN, women associated with paintball, and women married to men who play paintball. Of course it is hard to see these things with your head buried in the sand.

Don't make Tom feel guilty.

Didn't we have a thread on this forum that contained pictures of hot women? Some who happened to be in the paintball industry. Can't ANYONE view this website and see those women? Yep.

Stop with the censorship. This ad will do more good then bad. I'm positive it will be in good taste. I'm positive there will be no NUDITY.

[KamikazePenguin]

my issue isn't even with the use of AGD putting a billboard up with a half-naked woman. My issue is with AGD allowing the members of AO to vote for any billboard they want, giving an RTpro to the billboard elected by AO, and then using a different design on their actual billboard. If a billboard in the contest wins with a half-naked woman on it, then more power to the creator, but if AGD is going to give an RTpro to said winner, then they should at least use the winning design on their billboard. I have no moral issues with a billboard that has sex appeal, if AGD should choose to compromise it's class in the eyes of a few select members then they have all right to do that.

My argument was to not allow a bunch of males, who are inherently sex-driven, to vote for a billboard that would end up having a half-naked woman on it for the fact it had a half-naked woman on it, and then give that person an RTpro. While a better design, one that AGD chooses to actually use, has its creator left to flap in the wind.