Blog Post #11

Airfrance Ad- Day in the life of the Airfrance consumer...



Richard immediately wakes from sleep at the sound of his alarm, never hits the snooze button. He knows he has a busy day ahead of him. He gives his wife Katherine a kiss and jumps in the shower. The closet is filled with several suits, he chooses the black Armani for today. He sprays a couple spritz of his Burberry cologne around his body and off to the office it is. He zooms the New York streets like he owns them, slick and fast in his black Mercedes Benz E-500. He arrives at his 15 story office building, his assistant steadfast with his black coffee on-hand. He takes it, politely tells her thank you and begins to respond to his multitude of emails on his PC computer.

Katherine calls the office to remind him about his birthday party this weekend, "don't forget to have your assistant, Sheila, put it down on your schedule Richard. No work this weekend, it's your 40th birthday honey," she says. The party will be catered by a private chef who specializes in local all-organic menus, just as Katherine requested. Just after, his friend Stewart calls him to confirm their plans for tomorrow's tennis match, which they meet up for once a week.

After a long hard day at the office, Richard switches from chief executive of operations mode, to a more laidback and relaxation mode. As soon as he gets home, he loosens his tie, and makes himself a Scotch neat. He lays back onto his leather sofa and changes the channel to the nightly news, waiting for Katherine to come home. She arrives and greats him with a warm kiss. Richard surprises her with tickets to their favorite opera, which comes to town next week. She loves when he surprises her. He knows how stressed she has been lately about their problems of infertility. They've been trying for a baby for over a year now, she is 35 and the doctor's say it is very possible. "Just a little something to take our minds off the stress Katherine," he says.

Katherine turns to Richard and tells him he's received an early birthday gift from their parents, Bob and Edna. They open the envelope and there are two tickets to their favorite vacation destination, Paris, France. The tickets seat them in the new La Premiere Suites flying AirFrance- their airline of choice when flying to Europe. Richard and Katherine are delighted and decide to call his parents to thank them for the early birthday gift. They celebrate by opening a bottle of Katherine's favorite champagne, Taittinger.

Blog Post #10

Consumer Behavior- Motivation
Failed product: Amazon Fire Phone



Amazon debuted it's new handheld mobile device at a press conference in Seattle in 2014, expecting it to fair equally well among consumers with Apple and Samsung smartphones. But by October, Amazon was left with $83 million in Fire phone product. Clearly Amazon needed more research done in consumer behavior to allow it's product a better chance after launching.

Yes, it is true that cell phone consumers of today are expecting the smartphones that they purchase to be better than the last. The newest and greatest iPhones and Androids are currently pricing around $600. Motivation for these consumers relies on a need for new and flashy technology. They expect a phone that has the latest and greatest features. If the applications offered on the device don't outnumber the last, then don't expect people to be lining up by the masses for it a week in advance. Compared to the over one million apps offered on Google Play and iTunes, Amazon only offered 240,000 on its Fire Phone, a huge disappointment to consumers.

Amazon also should have accounted more for consumers' perception on relevant information. Its competition, Apple, had already introduced its original iPhone seven years prior, and the Android's phone six years prior. Amazon had tried to introduce a similar product with less flashy features, into an already well-established market. In order to pry tech-trendy loyal consumers from Apple or Samsung, they would have needed to launch a product that would outdo their competitor's ten-fold. They expected their 3-D effect on the homescreen to help assure consumers their phone was apart of the elite, but consumer knowledge was not convinced. Consumer knowledge helps to differentiate from other brands. During categorization, users were not mindfully placing the Fire Phone above the competition.

This all led to the inevitable demise of the Fire Phone campaign. Amazon tried to slash its launch price from $199, to just 99 cents only one month after its unveiling. Amazon is undoubtedly a well-known brand, but it seems it relied more on it's status name rather than understanding consumer behavior in an ever-changing and advanced technological market.

Blog Post #9

Political Propaganda Campaign- The Foreigners League


 

Our political party, The Foreigners League, has decided to introduce a campaign that addresses the positive aspects of allowing immigrants to live freely in our country, and why they deserve representation. Our Slogan, "Immigrants UNITE the USA," is placed on our campaign posters to help show how immigrants are inherently part of our society and why they helped make our country what it is today.

Economy:
Throughout history, immigrants have been known to take on lower level jobs for cheaper labor. If more of the lower wage positions are continually filled, it benefits the economy as a whole to run smoother and produce more in return. It is a misnomer that immigrants are "taking our jobs," when really many citizens may choose not to opt for them in the first place. Undocumented workers have made great strides in our country by enabling the agricultural industry to expand more than it ever has before. Their impact on agricultural labor has increased the amount of food supply the country can sustain for its citizens. This only further shows how well incorporated immigrants have become in our workforce and society.


Taxes:
There is a huge misconception on illegal immigrants that evade taxes. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 11.2 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States are already taxpayers. Immigrants are consumers, like normal citizens, who must pay any sales taxes imposed by the state on store purchases. Undocumented individuals who do not posses a valid social security number are provided with an alternate number by the government in order to complete the annual tax filing processes. Any of these individuals who opt to use a social security number that is not authentic, for purposes of employment, will continue to pay state and federal taxes through each paycheck and are not able to claim back the amounts already paid to taxes throughout the year.

Life & Liberty:
There is a false stigma connecting immigrants to criminals. Most immigrants are impoverished and come to the United States to pursue free will and liberty, concepts that may have not been available to them in their own country. Why do we deserve access to these virtues and other do not? Because we were lucky enough to be born in a certain region and other are not? Birth place is something we have no control over. If we are lucky enough to have full access to these life values, we can share them with others who are willing to work for it as well. Immigration allows the lives of impoverished migrant workers to improved living conditions for themselves and their families. The concept of equal opportunity is prepackaged for us as citizens, something that other immigrants can only dream of. Here in the United States, these undocumented individuals are working, taking on low wage jobs, and paying taxes, making an impact on how this country runs and continues to improve. Some may not want to admit it, but immigrants are already a part of us, incorporated into our society and changing our way of living- for the better.

Blog Post #8

Environmental Campaign- National Wildlife Federation

The National Wildlife Federation is currently using several different media channels to showcase their campaign. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and Pinterest.


 
If you follow NWF on Instagram, you can view wildlife photos and sightings. Users who subscribe are able to view wildlife around the world from what others can capture in their own area. NWF holds photo image contests that followers can upload to their Instagram and showcase their findings. Instagram is based on visual sharing, so this digital technology enables NWF to give the public a chance to be personally involved in their cause for wildlife preservation.

You can friend NWF on Twitter to receive the latest updates of wildlife news or contact an NWF staff member. Users can also follow on them on Twitter to find ways to speak up on behalf of wildlife. Recent tweets talk about interesting wildlife news and how it affects the public. For example, one staff member tweeted today that mountain lions are spreading east, and give you a link to a map to check out where they've been verified. Twitter is a social media channel based on very current and very up-to-date "snippet" sharing. This help NWF's wildlife campaign by allowing the public to share their own stories and insights about wildlife in a very vocal and quick way.

National Wildlife Federation also has a channel on YouTube that hosts several videos about interesting wildlife information and conservation. You can subscribe to their channel and it enables you to view all their latest video uploads. A section of videos encourages "kids in nature." Showing videos that get children involved with the wildlife cause allows them to educate. The more informed you are about the issue, the more likely you'll take an active role in the campaign. Another string of videos demonstrates wildlife facts using a zombie parody. NWF is sending their message to the public here in two ways. Recent movie and television show phenomena has exploded with zombie fever. Hit television series "The Walking Dead," has reached huge numbers of viewers. NWF used this to create short YouTube clips such as "Zombie vs. Maggots" and "Zombie vs. Vulture," which all indicate facts about those animals and why/how they could beat out zombies. It is a creative campaign which allows them to give out wildlife facts, sparked from a relevant media sensation.

Blog Post #7

Workshop Ad- Hasbro Rose Petal Cottage

This commercial screams child conditioning. It features two little girls who have a play cottage in their room. The entire cottage is in soft and light colors, geared toward a young female audience. The name "Rose Petal Cottage" suggest exclusively a girl vibe.

The ad features many accessories for purchase including the sink to wash dishes, the oven to bake, and a washer to do laundry. Throughout history, women have been plagued with the domestic duties of the home. It wasn't much of a question because the concept had been so deeply rooted through society and advertising. The ad is blunt in showing that they hold no responsibility in breaking the stereotypes. The little girl who "owns" the play cottage has one friend with her, another girl. There are no males present in the entire ad. The only element this ad is missing, to finish off its blatant use of gender imbalance, is to have a little boy come into the scene at the end with a little briefcase and tie and sit down to rest on the "chair accessory."

Another piece of the ad shows a baby and crib accessory complete with a changing table and rocking chair. True that a real life baby would require all of these "accessories," but why in the commercial is the little girl shown doing everything herself? Aside from the cooking, serving, dish washing she does, she also changes and rocks the baby to sleep. The lyrics of the upbeat and bouncy song sing "taking care of my home is a dream dream dream." The entire commercial shows the little girl with a smile, showing you how happy she is to do all these house duties. The ad is conditioning young girls to get them ready for their "duties" should and would be as adults. Children are innocent and naive so an ad like this is easily accepted and absorbed, which advertisers of course know.

Advertisers have a responsibility to break the gender role imbalances in advertising. The commercial can be reworked by adding a young boy into the scene as well. The cottage can feature more neutral colors and a name change. It would be doable to leave the "accessories" they show, but also tie in some masculine elements as well. They could do role reversal where the boy is cooking and the girl is fixing something with play tools. They could also show the boy and girl doing the house work together instead of individually. A good change would be to place the cottage in an outside setting rather than indoors, this would help to subside the "domestic" feel.

Advertising has such a huge impact on society views themselves and each other. In a sense, gender roles are perpetuated from what they show us, especially if its repetitious. A step in the right direction for society as a whole, could stem from what advertisers produce. Be creative enough to not reply on gender stereotyping to sell the product.

Blog Post #6

Gender Stereotypes in Advertising

Many issues surround gender stereotyping in advertising. To an extent, advertisers mirror back to us what society has already deemed our supposed roles as men and women. Author Katherine Frith of "Undressing the Ad: Reading Culture in Advertising," says "[Advertisements] uphold some of the existing economic and political structures and subvert others." But the advertising industry has an enormous impact on how people view themselves and others. If this weren't true, then advertising wouldn't be the multi-billion dollar industry that it is today.

Therefore, advertisers have a responsibility to educate and address the gender imbalances that have plagued us for so long. Continuing the gender stereotypes only helps to perpetuate the misrepresentations of men and women, and in effect conditions our youth to grow up and think the same. In the article "Bodies in Bikinis: Are You Buying It?" written by Ethel Rohan, she explains how her daughters are affected by the commercials they watch even during "family-friendly" shows such as American Idol. Her daughter is confused about how and why women are showed in the Victoria Secret commercials as "objects for men." Rohan says " I can’t get her horror out of my head. I feel shaken out of my own numbness to the persistent sexism in advertising, and beyond...  I worry at the terrible messages our culture tells my two daughters, and girls and women everywhere." You can't blame a parent for feeling this way towards the advertising industry. It speaks volumes to the way women are subjected, used, and down-graded just to sell products. Hammering in these stereotypes into children especially only helps to mold and shape their views of themselves and other women. 

If we focus on the theme of how children are affected by advertising we can use specific gender stereotyping examples used to target them. In the Toys R Us ads below, you can see how the "roles" for boys and girls differ.

 

The above page of the ad labeled "Wrestlers & Workers" depicts only boys, each aside of masculine objects such as a power tool workstation, a construction site set, and car and auto play sets. When young boys see the young boys in the ad playing with their toys shown with big smiles and having a fun time, it conditions the child to believe these are the objects boys, and only boys, use. 

The young girls play with toy strollers and cribs. Driving home the concept of child care and nurturing stems only from the "mommy," no boys depicted alongside the girls in this ad. The copy on the ad states "you & me," directing girls to associate the idea that only the mother and the child are in this together. It shows it is the women's duty to look after the baby and she is happy doing so. In effect, the young individuals absorb this information and sustain this gender stereotyping to become the mental norm of society.