Hypersexuality in Advertising: Planning

I’ve sourced several links to both websites and articles which may aid in writing my critical analysis:

• http://misrepresentationofwomen.weebly.com/over-sexualization.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexualization
• http://www.frankwbaker.com/sex_in_media.htm
• http://www.kon.org/urc/v5/greening.html
• http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/marc-jacobs-ad-banned-child-sexualization-136439
• http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/hyper-sexualized-world-social-media-worse-teenage-girls-164200127.html
• http://adpressive.com/banned-burger-king-ad-itll-blow-your-mind-away-122912/
• https://sites.google.com/site/mediasportrayalonwomen/Home/the-perfect-woman–1950-vs–today/the-sexualization-of-wome

A small plan I did for my Critical Analysis, which organises the key points I want to cover as well as the supporting points for them:

Research: Demographic and Misconceptions

As part of our project development, we chose to target this idea of stereotypes and misconceptions of the demographics both 18-25 and 65+. In order to create this idea of cross-generation bridge building, we needed to remove the gap between both demographics which had been caused by the misrepresentations of each age boundary. We are subject to the presentations of these demographics in the media, in fictional things such as TV shows and movies. This can be harmful because it can create false prejudice.

Representation of Younger Demographic :

In an article, it is explained that the Media is responsible for the demonisation of youths (Garner, R. 2009) in news reports. There is no doubt in understanding that it is actions like these that can create this intimidating stigma around those of our particular demographic. Representation also stems into fiction, with popular shows (Skins, 2007) portraying teenagers as messed up and lacking respect for society.

Representation of Older Demographic :

In 2008, the BBC ran a show which was called Grumpy Old Men. The concept of the TV show was to give famous older men several scenarios and the film their complaints about each one. In one particular episode, they discuss mobile phones (Grumpy Old Men, 2003) with one man remarking “they talk to each other a lot about about so very little.” This portrays this idea that all of an older demographic are very much traditional and haters of the advances in modern society both technologically and socially.

Bibliography:

Garner, R. (2009) ‘Hoodies, louts, scum’: How the Media demonises teenagers. The Independent [online]. [Accessed 3 January 2014].

Skins (2007) Series 1, Episode 1, Tony [TV]. Channel 4, 25 January.

Grumpy Old Men (2003) Series 1, Episode 2, Stuff [TV]. BBC One, 17 October.

Working On Our Campaign Visuals: Creating Identity

Maintaining a constant brand identity throughout our campaigns was something we thought was vital. We came up with an idea to use a colour scheme which matched the logo of AGE UK. This is a clever device used in many campaigns in order to make an advert memorable, asserting something as more of a powerful and potent brand.

We looked at both campaigns which were from charities and also from various other companies in order to give us a vast understanding of the types of elements to include

The British Heart Foundation poster contains the logo in the corner with the two main colours echoing the scheme of it. This is also shown in the McDonalds advertisement, following the same pattern of having the logo in the corner. We applied this when drafting out what our visuals would look like. A mock up of this can be seen below:

We picked out the three colours orange, green and blue as they were both aesthetically pleasing and also reflected the words they were associated with – blue being a prominent colour in social networking etc.

Critical Essay: Sexualization in Advertising

I intend to write my essay about the sexualization in advertising and the societal effects this has. With the constant rise of sex being used to sell in campaigns, we have this idea of hyper sexuality thrust at us on a daily basis. Sex in advertising isn’t anything contemporary, dating back to as early as the 1800’s. One of the earliest instances of sex and selling are the advertising trade cards that came with packs of tobacco in the 19th century. Hypersexuality in advertising also differentiates between gender, women being shown with little clothing and usually portrayed as submissive whilst men are shown in an idolatry manner – although not always exclusively.

I intend to cover:

1. The background of sexualization in Advertising – How and Why this has changed over time.
2. Societies response to this and how this has been combated – the banning of adverts for being too risque.
3. The way gender representations and sexism fall under the idea of Hypersexuality – the different ways in which men and women are sexualized in Advertising and what contrast this has.

Key References:

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/advertising_and_society_review/v012/12.2.o-barr.html  O’Barr, W. (2011) Sex and Advertising. Advertising & Society Review [online]. 12 (02) [Accessed 02 December 2013].

Picking Campaign Visuals

Visuals are of great of great importance when building a campaign. 90% of information transmitted to the brain is in fact visual and 70% of our sensory receptors are actually located in our eyes. As human beings, we are surrounded by a wealth of imagery around us which entices and appeals. We process visuals 60,000 times faster than we do with text and therefore we find ourselves focusing mainly on the illustrative points of things. Images give us the power to apply context to information and that is why pictures work so well in conjunction with text. New stories are always accompanied by an image as a sort of support and the same is applied to advertising in the media, especially print and digital.

It is important to think about the type of idea you portray with your image in campaigns. An image much be chosen that embodies the companies ideals. If the campaign is being funded very heavily then a professional photographer can be hired and a shoot can be done specifically for the marketing campaign. Sometimes an client can’t afford this or does not want to, therefore leaving the Advertising firm to use stock photos in their work. This is where the process becomes trickier as these photos are pre-done with a completely different set of ideals than the campaign, most likely. An image much be carefully chosen.

I typed ‘Woman working’ into iStock in order to see my results. I found two images from the same search query and thought I’d point out their differences and connotations just to show how important it is to choose your image correctly. The woman with glasses has a exasperated expression, as if she’s tired and doesn’t want to work anymore. The pizza boxes put forward this idea that she’s had a long, hard day suggesting this idea of exhaustion and sleep deprivation. This is supported by the mug, perhaps of coffee, and the blacked out room. Her technology looks fairly standard but nothing too modern.

This is contrasted with this other result of a smiling, happy woman. She’s surrounded by light and greenery, giving the photo a calming feel. Her technology is very modern, giving us the idea that she works as a wealthy company which can afford luxury electronics. Her multitasking with a smile shows she isn’t stressed out by her job and that she can handle herself in a work environment, presenting this idea of power. In contrast to the woman in glasses, her shirt is short sleeve but still white. This puts forward this idea of professionalism with a modern twist.

Both photos are from the same search item and yet the second one appeals more because of the more upbeat sentiment. We, as people, are attracted to the ideals that we aspire to have. No one wants to work in a stressful environment with long hours, even if that’s the reality. As the consumer, we want to buy into the ideas we strive to attain because we dream that it can be a reality.

The Roles of our Project

When you build a group for a project, you need to keep in mind that working with your friends isn’t necessarily the right thing to do. Sometimes you need to bare in mind that a group has to have balance in skill sets. Everyone needs to contribute a certain factor to the group in order for it to function properly. My group does in fact consist of 3 other of my friends but we all made sure we brought something different to the table. I have compiled a list of our skill sets – something we talked about during a session – below for reference:

• Hannah Lees
  • Ability to present well to an audience and to be clear about the subject at hand
  • Good at art and drawing (Handy for drawing up concept art for developing our idea)
  • Can come up with good ideas for concepts

• Emma Ramsey
  • Ability to use Photoshop very well due to experience with a Photography A Level
  • Great organization skills which will be good for planning out how we will carry our planning in the time given
  • Good at critical thinking which will be needed when refining our idea in the final stages

• Ashleigh Morris
  • Good at creating fresh and innovative concepts which are original
  • Can plan things which will be needed when we need to bring all our ideas together and create a final, refined concept
  • Very good at doing research which will be needed for our concept

• Myself
  • Ability to analytically write which will be needed when writing both the pitch script and also annotating ideas
  • Ability to use Photoshop very well due to experience with a Media A Level
  • Ability to analyse ideas well

• Jilly Johnson
  • Good charisma skills which will be useful in delivering clear, concise and interesting pitches
  • Good at coming up with ideas for group discussion, helping to develop the concepts and ideas of the project
  • Great at generating ideas

• Conor O’ Brien
  • Ability to analytically write
  • Ability to help produce ideas and concepts
  • Good at producing ideas which are relevant to the project’s demands

• Joe Rowley
  • Ability to create interesting concepts which are new and fresh
• Good ability with Photoshop
• Dedication to time-keeping within the project – organisation

We all cover various aspect required for a project. Emma’s skills show her to be good with the creative aspect of the project as well as the planning, similarly Lee’s also has creative skills but also in the creation of concepts as well as designing their interface. Ashleigh’s skills mean she is very good at doing the research, which will be needed when coming up with a project based on a particular demographic. She can then apply this to the concepts she helps create. I can write analytically about our ideas, annotating them and helping with picking out what does and doesn’t work, as well as taking the research Ashleigh does and then applying it to our ideas. Joe, Jilly and Conor are also very good at research as well as presenting, an important part of our assignment. 

Marketing in Social Media

Guest Speaker: Alexei Lee

In our Advertising lecture, we were given a presentation on the the importance of social media and how it can be an effective platform for advertising firms to use. Alexei Lee, founder of the social media consultancy React Adapt, was our guest speaker.

We watched a video which acted as a good launch point for topical conversation. The clip was littered with facts about how social media has come to effect the public. An interesting fact was that the Ford Explorer launch via Facebook generated more traffic than a Super Bowl advert. The concept was that a fan page for the launch would be created on Facebook and at exactly 12:40am ET a tab would be added giving anyone who ‘liked’ the page the chance to view the new vehicle. The Ford reveal was the first time a company had ever forgone an auto show in favour of an alternate. I did a little more research into this and found that, in research done by Facebook Success Stories, 77% of Facebookers had said that the 2011 Ford reveal on the social media website had “positively impacted” their shopping considerations. Ford also gave the chance for fans to win one of their “reinvented” cars, but only if the page reached 30,000 likes. The page surpassed this in under 4 hours. At the end of the marketing year, Ford announced that the year of the reveal had been it’s best for profits in more than a decade.

Agency (Ford): Ogilvy 260 and Team Detroit

Achievements (Ford):

• 75,000 fans by the time the reveal occured
• A #1 Twitter trend on the day of the reveal
• A #2 Google trend on the day of the reveal
• More than 1 million views on YouTube
• Ford.com had its second busiest traffic day
• Ford Explorer won the “North American Truck Of The Year”

We were given statistics about the popularity of social media sites and found that going on these websites takes up roughly a quarter of our time spent online. The popularity of social media isn’t hard to understand. As humans we crave connection and social activity so when face-to-face contact fails we settle for online exchanges. This idea of media meshing has become more prevalent because of this. This concept essentially explains that we use a second device for social media, perhaps going on Facebook whilst we watch television. This suggests that social media has an impact on the effectiveness of other marketing strategies such as the ones we find on television.

Social Media sites are becoming wise to their growing popularity and in order to fund themselves, use smart advertising. This involves having adverts tailored to your interests or that would relate to you more. Facebook gives advertisers the option to choose locations, genders and ages based on what product they are selling. This ensures that the consumer is appealed to the advert and that it is suited to them. This way, effort isn’t wasted on those whom the advert would not apply to. This is where Social Media advertising and Television adverts differ. With an advert shown on television, it is possible that about 50% of people watching will not be interested in the product being sold – which is where the importance of scheduling comes into play. Companies have to be more wise about what channels and times to show their advert on television. With Social Media it is simpler to aim you advert at a particular demographic as everyone is individualised on a Social Media site and not generalised, such as in an audience watching a show.

Facebook’s Like button is an innovative idea for advertising. People relate to brand endorsements because there is a sense of trust, but also to their friends recommendations. Everyday we probably recommend at least one product by simply mentioning it to a friend or having it on show in our rooms. The like button is no different from any of these, but also gives a wider audience for who can see it. When you like something on Facebook, you are inviting all your Facebook friends to see what it is that you’ve essentially recommended. This is why shops on Facebook pages give their ‘fans’ perks such as money off – more prominently in clothes chains – as an incentive to like the page and effectively give free advertising. This is a very relevant form of advertising as most people on Social Media networks are of a younger audience and therefore wanting good value for money but not at a costly price.

Types of Social Network:

Visual Networks: 

• Pinterest – Social Media where people can ‘pin’ pictures they like to create visual mood boards online. A creative form of bookmarking.
• Vine – Social Media where people can record 7 second video clips and post them online.
• Instagram – Social Media where people can take photos of themselves and post them online.
• Snapchat – Social Media which allows people to send each other photos which only last for an allotted number of seconds.

Content Hubs:

• Flickr – Social Media where photographers can post their photos for people to view.
• Vimeo – Social Media for people to post videos – mainly short films and educational.
• Youtube – Social Media for people to post videos and music.
• Soundcloud – Social Media for people to post sounds, music and anything else audio related.

Conversation Networks:

• Twitter – Social Media for people to post real-time updates of their lives and to converse with other people.

Blog Platforms:

• Storify – Social Media for people to make stories.
• WordPress – Social Media for people to create blogs and posts. This is what we use for our modules, as a form of digital workbook.
• Tumblr – Social Media for people to post any type of media as well write posts about themselves.

All-Rounders:

• Google Plus and Facebook – Social Media that does all of the above.

Professional:

• LinkedIn – Social Media which allows people to create an online CV for job application.

Location-based:

• Yelp – Social Media which allows people to write reviews on places.

Resources used:

1. Bullas, J. (2011). 10 Key Elements Of One Of The Top Facebook Marketing Campaigns Of The Year Read more at . Available: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/02/28/10-key-elements-of-one-of-the-top-facebook-marketing-campaigns-of-the-year/. Last accessed 17th November 2013.
2. ee, A. (2013). Creating A Social Media Campaign. Available: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Q_-P0taE3eICGnU3jt9ltim3xdR0JFkMbnATw3RiUs0/edit#slide=id.g11ab07b03_010. Last accessed 17th November 2013.
3. https://www.facebook.com/help/207847739273775

Assessment Brief

For our first assessment, we were given the choice between two tasks. We had to choose one and then create a campaign based upon the task. We then have to pitch this idea as well as do a write up on it. The choice was between informing teenagers on the dangers of twerking and also enhancing cross-generational empathy. We chose the latter as we all agreed that it would be hard to pitch an idea to people of our age without sounding patronising, making success very hard.

Here are a few key points I picked out from our brief.

Awareness raising campaign: Enhancing cross-generational empathy 

• Charity Age UK wants to encourage dialogue across ages.
• Create a deeper understanding and thereby appreciation of what each generation has to offer the other.
• Current research has highlighted stereotypes held by a young adult target audience (18-25) about older people (+65) as having nothing to ‘offer’ their generation. Equally, a significant number of older people report that young people ‘don’t know enough yet’ to warrant their attention.
• Campaign must promote this idea of breaking down barriers.
• Challenge existing perceptions in order to create positive implications
• Create a new National Awareness Day, called for example: “Talk-It-Up” Day.
• People will be encouraged to come from both generations to find out what the other has to offer, using the differences to enhance their own knowledge and enrich their lives.

Devise a campaign that promotes the National Awareness Day in the UK, and suggest some of the activities that might take place at such an event that encourage cross-generational debate and information exchange.

Questions that should be considered:

•  How do other cultures view different generations? Are older people venerated in some societies? Are younger people celebrated?
• Could younger people demystify current and emerging technology for the benefit of an older pre-digital generation?
• Could older people bring a sense of ‘place’ and ‘belonging’ that is reportedly more scarce in modern life at a time when extended families, the church and other previously powerful knowledge sources exert less power?
• Consider historical, social, cultural and theoretical influences in your research and develop a strategic structure that maximises your campaign message to the target audience.

The Power Of Endorsements: Taylor Swift + Coke

When it comes to advertising a product, advertising companies have an array of tools at their disposal in order to elevate their client’s product. One of these is celebrity endorsements. Essentially a celebrity is paid a small fortune in order to become to face of a brand. This can be found very prominently in the make-up industry, most recently Lily Collins becoming the spokesperson and face of Lacome.

Endorsements not only elevate the product, but they can also help people remember adverts. The consumer instantly creates a mental link between the celebrity and the product, constantly being reminded of it whenever they see this celebrity. The more famous the celebrity, the more supposed coverage. Taylor swift recently partnered with Coke, due to the fact that she’d once stated she was a big fan of the drink. This fit in nicely with her current album which was themed with the colour red – coke’s brand colour. Taylor helped launch a coke ad campaign featuring herself drinking coke as she wrote music, creating this idea that in order to be like Swift, you must buy and drink coke. Coke also released a limited edition Taylor Swift coke, something which was probably aimed at her fans as opposed to the typical coke consumer. Also, consumers could redeem prizes from their collector’s edition 6-packs which included exclusive information about Taylor and other Swift related prizes.

Ad Campaigns ( 60-65 Demographic )

Agency: Rhythmm

Target Audience: Over 50s

Subject: Life Insurance Plan

I struggled with finding a good example of an advert for the demographic given. This is mainly because when campaigns are built, they are mainly done to appeal to their demographic. An advert aimed at 60 to 65 year olds wouldn’t appeal to me and therefore the message wouldn’t be as potent, I wouldn’t take notice. Eventually I settled on a campaign I thought had a few good factors that we’d touched upon in Advertising prior to this task.

AXA launched a campaign for Sun Life Direct’s Guaranteed Over 50 Plan which promoted the idea of life insurance and planning ahead. The advert featured Michael Parkinson, having also had other celebrities such as June Whitfield feature before. The first thing that struck me was the use of a familiar figure, something referred to as Celebrity endorsement. Michael Parkinson has become a household name due to his potency in the media, most prominently journalism. Having a figure such as that, with such credibility, creates a sense of trust between the consumer and the celebrity. With such a demographic, people of an older demographic won’t be as susceptible to typical advert techniques such as selling sexuality or promoting idyllic lifestyles as they don’t appeal. Endorsements have become a popular trend with products aimed at an older demographic, an example being John Cleese’s AA Advert.

The demographic shown are related to this idea of family and looking out for the people you love. Life insurance is of course a subject matter that is very much relevant at such an age for the familial conscious so the idea behind the campaign is very much already appealing. They, however, find ways to push this subject further and to remind the consumer about why they should sign up. In the advert, Parkinson sits on a chair and is surrounded by walls of family pictures. The idea of family is presented very obviously here. There is also reference to ‘loved ones’ and use of key words such as ‘memories’ to present us this idea of a fulfilled, happy familial life.

Whilst the topic of the campaign is, on thought, quite a morbid one, they cleverly make it all seem less daunting. Due to Parkinson’s journalism background, he talks in a way that isn’t patronizing to the demographic. His words seem very real and genuine, as if he’s recommending something to a friend. There’s no pressure on the consumer to want to product with phrases like ‘If you want to.’ By doing this the consumer feels as if it’s there choice. The use of the line ‘you’ll be in good company’ creates this idea of community and not feeling alone.

Points:

• Celebrity Endorsement to create trust
• Appeals to the family conscious (Demographic relevant)
• Informal advert