Advertising Week 7

11.10.2016 (Week 7)

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Advertising Principles and Practice

Influence of social, cultural, economic ethical and political factors on/in advertising, Project 2 Briefing

Lecture: Influence of social, cultural, economic ethical and political factors on/in advertising

The lecture began with taking India as an example to show the opening up of the economy facilitated the entry of foreign products and services. Emphasis was placed upon the entrance of MTV into the society, and the effects of its entry were observed. Following that, the role of advertising in culture is outlined, with it not just being a reflection of culture, but also acts as a promotional and normalising agent to cultures that are once thought to be foreign. The political aspects that affect advertising were also shown through the Advertising Code of Ethics in Malaysia. Numerous examples of advertising campaigns that had to be altered due to the code were shown, as well as those that didn't have to be altered. The viral phenomenon was also observed, being seen as a way to level the advertising playing field, with it being free and very effective for publicity. 

Outcomes from the lecture:

• Perspective on how opening up an economy to "western" influences can alter a culture
• How advertising adheres to culture and simultaneously affects culture
• It was interesting to see the Malaysian Advertising Code of Ethics, which made for a good laugh
• The sheer force of a viral phenomenon and how it levels the playing field.

Project 2 (20%): Advertising Campaign (Part 1): Media Strategy

The Brief
Advertising Campaign (Part 1): Media Strategy

Duration of Assignment
2 Weeks (Briefing on Week 7)

DEADLINE
Week 9 (25 May 2016)

Description
The student now has the task of developing an Advertising Campaign – a total of 5 ads across different/same media – for the Playsafe Condom Brand, and its Air Ultra Thin product. Utilising the insights researched (Project 1) and the ideas developed (Exercises), choose the most effective combination for the target audience (consumer) in context of the local market. The most important, is an idea with legs, and one that resonates with the target audience (consumer).

In part 1 of the advertising campaign, the focus is on developing the media mix, which media will be used, where, and when. A media mix is a “combination of advertising channels employed in meeting the promotional objectives of a marketing plan or campaign”. It is the process of analysing and choosing media for an advertising campaign.

What are the considerations for choosing the media mix? Arens & Schaefer (2005) suggest the 5Ms: Market, Money, Media, Mechanics and Methodology (Please refer to the PowerPoint presentation on Advertising Message & Media Strategy).

The brand: Playsafe Condoms
The product: Air Ultra Thin 
SMP/USP: Extremely thin condom for extra sensitivity
Target Audience: Gen Y.

Figure 1. Playsafe Condoms: Air Ultra Thin. Packaging of 10, 2 & 1 pieces.

Requirements
The student must document the above analysis in their eportfolio and A4 hardcopy portfolio. The results of the analysis must be collated and presented in a PowerPoint presentation. This will be uploaded to your eportfolio and printed as thumbnail slides 4 per-page for your A3 clear sheet hardcopy portfolio. The use of visuals, diagrams, charts, time-lines are highly encouraged.

Submission
All gathered information (printouts, websites, images, charts, etc.) documented logically and chronologically in the A4 Clear Sheet folder. The works must be labelled and dated.

All gathered information (screen grabs, websites, images, charts, etc.) documented chronologically in the eportfolio for every week, for the duration of the project.

Powerpoint presentation of final analysis and choice of the media mix with relevant visuals, diagrams, charts, time-lines included, along the lines of the 5Ms. Printed as a hand outs, 4 slides per page and presented.

Objectives

• To develop students ability to synthesise knowledge.
• To develop students ability to gain and utilise insight for effective advertising
• To develop students ability to determine a media mix based on analysis.

Project 2:

Secondary Research

I think it's important to start off with some understanding of what kind of media exists out there that are being used by advertising. I'll list down some of these.

Types of advertising (taken from http://www.knowthis.com/types-of-advertising-media)


Television

Able to reach a large spread of audience within a single run, but is currently on the losing end with internet streaming services and is unable to target a specific group only.

Radio

Similar to television, facing challenges from internet service providers as well. Only able to provide audio, but tends to be used more than television as it demands less attention (e.g. while driving, cooking, etc)

Print Publications

Newspapers, magazines and special issue publications fall under this category. Newspapers have the advantage of a wide readership and audience, whereas magazines cater to more specific target groups. Both have their advantages. 

Internet (Website, Social Media, Email)

A popular and cheaper option these days, advertisements can be much more vibrant and the technology can be exploited, giving rise to animated advertisements and many creative options. 

Direct Mail

This method can be a very personal one, but runs the risk of the receiver not even opening the mail, throwing it away as junk mail. However, when well-targeted, can be an effective tool.

Signage

Most prominent use of signage would be billboards, placed at high traffic areas. As Malaysians are usually stuck in some sort of jam, this can increase product exposure significantly.

Product Placement

This involves placing the product within a prominent media, such as a TV series, movie or even game. (The upcoming game Final Fantasy XV features in-game Coleman products!)

Mobile Devices

Through apps and mobile advertising. This can be useful to target the Generation Y, as most of them are technologically fluent with their phones.

Sponsorships

An example would be the brand sponsorships in the Olympics, such as Rolex for timekeeping.

I think most of these outlets can work well for our condom advertising, but I'll try to narrow down suitable options for Gen Y as I progress with my research in the following week.

Rough Sketches:

This week's sketches are focused on that one idea i had last week. I went ahead and asked people on what they prefer and I found that males prefer this one, whereas females preferred the one with the condom as a character. As my target audience is males, I would have to go with this one.

Figure 1: Week 7 Rough Sketches

Figure 2: Week 7 Rough Sketches

Figure 3: Week 7 Rough Sketches

Figure 4: Week 7 Rough Sketches

Figure 5: Week 7 Rough Sketches

Idea Sketches:

Figure 6: Week 7 Idea Sketches

Figure 7: Week 7 Idea Sketches

Figure 8: Week 7 Idea Sketches

Forum:

Question

A free-market economy is based on informed consumers making rational choices.
However, Noam Chomsky alleges that Advertising (& Marketing) creates “uninformed consumers who will make irrational choices…”
Now, where do you stand in this argument?

Answer

I am in agreement with the view of Noam Chomsky. 

Advertising deals a lot with implicit and explicit messages in its pursuit in relaying a message from the company to the audience, using psychological techniques such as fear or reverse psychology to attract customers to buy their products. When it comes to matters of the mind, the question of free will within our thought processes must be raised: how much of our thinking can we truly claim as something we have come up with by ourselves? It is a known fact that the environment shapes our attitudes and behaviours, with upbringing and various external factors molding our "identity." 

Advertising uses many psychological techniques to get customers to accept a message, whether intentionally or unintentionally. For example, the repetition of advertisements utilise the mere exposure effect in order to impose familiarity and subsequently comfort in buying their products among consumers, or the presence of a man in a lab coat could lend the perception of the product being more scientific. In many ways, a large percentage of our conscious decision-making processes are heavily influenced by external factors, and advertising is definitely one of those factors.

Advertising is a controlled method of delivering a message, but it also plays a lot on the way humans are influenced by things. Pairing this fact with how advertising tends to use puffery and misrepresentations, advertising definitely facilitates the creation of uninformed consumers who will make irrational choices.

Feedback:

Specific Feedback

Big idea has not been updated in Project 1, but strategy is stated. Please update.

Reflection:

Experience

This week's class felt more productive, with a lecture and enough time for some discussion on the idea sketches. I felt slightly better to have some substantial ideas this time round. I found the lecture quite interesting as it showcased the various (hilarious) regulations in advertising.

Observation

I noticed that I am facing difficulties in making decisions in general, especially with deciding which idea to run with for the ad campaign. I'm very tired of thinking of ways to portray thin condoms for such a long time, so I'm glad I'm narowing down a little bit. I appreciate the change back to the 4-6pm class.

Findings

I find advertising in Malaysia to be very strange, with the long list of "code of ethics".

Book of the Week:

Figure 9: Week 7 Book of the Week

Creative Advertising: Ideas and Techniques from the World's Best Campaigns by Mario Pricken
This book breaks the delicate art of advertising into clear formula and methods with a wealth of effective examples. -The first chapter proposes DreamTeam, a framework for creative team performance. This is followed by the second chapter which introduces the Kickstart catalogue, which is essentially a long list of questions that we can ask ourselves in order to help the ideation process. The third chapter is interesting, as the author try to analyse the types of jokes and how to use humour to make copy with punch. The fourth and fifth briefly introduces ways of organising images and ideas in your head in a orderly manner that facilitates easy collaboration. 

I like this quote provided by A. S. Gregg that focuses on the importance of having a good partner to bounce ideas off (they refer it to creative ping-pong, which is cute): 
'You have a coin. I have a coin. We swap them. You gave my coin and I have yours. Neither of us is any better off. But now imagine that you have an idea and I have an idea. We swap them. Now we've both increased or store of ideas by 100 percent.'

The Kickstart catalogue is a really fantastic source of questions that can lead to some really potent ideas! The questions focus on aspects that make up good ads, such as repetition, exaggeration, playing with temporal aspects, the medium and so much more. 

Figure 10

Here are some ways to phrase your line to make it a bit more pleasing to hear and also more memorable. Pretty interesting.

Figure 11

It's advertisements like these that take the cake for me. What would be a very normal picture is lifted up (no pun intended) into something hilarious with the addition of that little product in the corner. So good. 

Figure 12

 These kind of advertisements are rare, forcing the viewers to interact directly with it. I think it's a good thing and Jessica's connect-the dots idea is something similar to this. Nice and gets the viewers to be a part of the ad.

Figure 13

Within the yellow dot are the words in German: "Ja, genau so bleiben! TOMS SALOON FOR GAYS 50 Meter von hier." In English this would mean "Yes, stay that way! Tom's Saloon for Gays, 50 Meters from here." Another clever ad that uses the viewer's actions to create a memorable advert. 

Picture Credits
Figure 1 – 13
Personal Documentation

References:

Types of Advertising Media (2016). From Types of Advertising Media Tutorial. KnowThis.com. Retrieved October 16, 2016 from http://www.knowthis.com/types-of-advertising-media

Link to Exercises

Link to Project 1