Michelle_Ch21

4 Ways Advertisers Get Us and Keep Us

We are bombarded with advertisements every single day and have become susceptible to purchasing useless objects. How are advertisers able to make us buy things that we don't need? The article I found has a video that discusses the 4 ways advertisers are able to get to us. 

• Empowerment ads
• "Aww" Moment ads
• The celebrity ads
• The "welcome to the club" ads

Somehow advertisers are able to show us David Beckham in a pair of tennis shoes and suddenly we are purchasing the same pair even though we have 4 more pairs in our closet. Some consider advertising to be manipulative while others use our emotions to their advantage. 

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/how-commercials-get-us-buy-stuff-we-dont-need.html

Michelle_Ch20

Puffery

Puffery is "advertising or other sales presentations which praise theme to be sold with subjective opinions, superlatives, or exaggerations, vaguely and greenly stating no specific facts." Puffery is very common in advertising. Chocolate companies, car companies, and other companies with a lot of competition use puffery to set themselves apart. The article I found explains puffery more in depth. It talks about how puffery claims are subjective based on the companies perspective, but it is not intended to deceive the audience. The use of puffery is stated in the Uniform Commercial Code. The FTC says that consumers expect exaggeration, which makes puffery legal up to a point. 

"The claims made by puffery may be false, but they are not really lies because no one can disprove them"

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/puffery-advertising-24357.html

Michelle_Ch18

PACT 

PACT stands for Positioning Advertising Copy Testing, which is a set of nine principles help improve research for prep and testings of advertisements. The article I found lists all nine principles and explains them. It also discusses how PACT helps advertisers determine where the best location is for their advertisement and the price point that the channel will have. The article also talks about what advertisers should be aware of when creating ads and what works best. 

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advertising-pact-73108.html

Michelle_Ch15

Podcasts

Podcasts are just audio files that are distributed through the internet and can be downloaded onto devices. I think it's really interesting how people aren't listening to radio very much anymore, but there is a resurgence of podcasts, which are similar.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/01/james-wolcott-on-podcasts

 The article I found talked about why people are so obsessed with podcasts at the moment. It talks about how podcasts are taking blogs place in the order of popularity. The article states how radio became too cluttered with commercials, demographic narrowing, and political mumbo jumbo. The author believes podcasts are taking the medium back to it's creative roots. Podcasts use storytelling to excite and enthuse it's audiences instead of trying to reach a certain demographic. 

Here is a list of the 50 best podcasts of 2016 according to the atlantic. 

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/12/the-50-best-podcasts-of-2016/510698/

Michelle_Ch12

Magazine Advertisements

Choosing where to place your ad in a magazine is crucial to the visibility of it. In the book, it said the first cover (outside front), second cover (inside front), third cover (inside back), and fourth cover (outside back) were the desired spots for advertisements. The article I found talked about where to position your print ads in order to gain maximum exposure. It talked about which side of the page is best and the proximity to the margins is also important. I think it's interesting how we just look at an advertisement as an advertisement, but when it was being developed it was using science and statistics to determine the best way to gain viewers. 

http://www.mediaspacesolutions.com/blog/where-to-position-your-print-ad-for-maximum-exposure

Michelle_Ch11

Limited Viewer Attention

There are many ways in which a viewer avoids commercials and advertisements while watching television. Zipping is the process of fast-forwarding through commercials, while zapping refers to actually changing the channel to avoid the commercial. More and more are people are switching to online streaming services where commercials are very limited thus leaving companies struggling to find a way to advertise during those programs. 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/aug/24/tv-advertising

The article I found talks about how television ads are skipped by 86% of viewers, but still remain the most memorable way to advertise. Many viewers feel tv ads are more visually appealing and find them more memorable than print or news advertisements. It's interesting to see the statistics of how many people skip advertisements, but still are able to remember and appreciate them. 

Michelle_Ch10

Mediums

A medium is the "general category of available delivery systems." So this could be broadcasts, magazines, newspapers, direct marketing, or another type. Choosing the right medium has a lot to do with who you are trying to communicate your message with. If you are trying to connect with a younger crowd, the radio might not be the best place for your message. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2014/04/20/how-to-choose-the-right-medium-for-your-message/#722e7f1d2932

The article I found talks about how to choose the right medium for your message. They discuss the importance of a medium and how it can effect the entirety of the message. There are three things to consider when choosing a medium: audience, budget, and message. Each of these aspects are important to think about and play a major role in deciding where you are going to advertise. If your budget is small then a 5 minute commercial obviously isn't realistic for you.

Michelle_Ch9

Jingles and Voiceovers

A jingle is a way for companies to differentiate themselves from other companies with a catchy song. While a voiceover is how the message is delivered on the screen by a narrator who is not seen. Both facets are important for the audio aspect of an advertisement and can help sell a product or service.

This video is from the tv show, The Office, where Andy is unable to remember the famous Kit Kat jingle. I thought it was humorous and showed the effectiveness of that specific jingle.

The next article lists advertisements that were voiced over by famous actors. My favorites were 4, 8, and 10. I thought this was interesting because if the celebrities voice is recognized and the listener likes that celebrity, they are more likely to pay attention or purchase the product. 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/commercials-you-may-not-have-realized-were-voiced-by-famo?utm_term=.cuPDDy4QyE#.gfA11DekDK

Michelle_Ch8

Slogans

A slogan is a statement that encompasses a company's image, identity, and position in the market. The article I found featured several famous slogans and included a list of guidelines to consider when creating  slogan. 

A company's slogan is very important because it usually appears in every advertisement or commercial, so it can't be something too obnoxious or long. The book explained that logos can't always say much, so slogans help "bridge this gap and say something about the image of the product or service."

 Some slogans stick around like Wheaties is the "Breakfast of Champions", but other companies change theirs every few years to rebrand themselves.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/77-catchy-and-creative-slogans/

Michelle_ch6

Fear Appeals

When companies are using fear appeals in their advertisements they are trying to evoke an emotional response from their viewers about a incoming threat or danger of some kind. The article I found discusses the growth of fear appeals within advertising.

https://themarketingagenda.com/2014/09/11/the-growth-of-fear-appeals-in-advertising/

This article talks about how most people think of fear appeals as something really scary or threatening when really it could just be people being scared of becoming an outcast for not having a certain pair of shoes. Fear appeals are not always "high-fear" such as smoking or driving while texting commercials. "Low-fear" is something subtle like running out of shampoo. The purpose of those "low-fear" appeals is to induce anxiety and move people to make a change to get rid of it. It's interesting how these companies are able to scare consumers into purchasing their products just by pushing us a little. 

Michelle_SuperBowlAd

Skittles Romance Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8X8Ygy5VjI

I thought this ad was really entertaining and funny. It wasn't something I was expecting, but I thought it followed Skittles other awkward romance commercials.

Michelle_Ch5

Word of Mouth Marketing

The basis of word of mouth is that it communication that is coming directly from the consumer about the brand or products. This is part of a personal channel because many people will talk to their family and friends about a certain product and it will get people thinking about it.

The article I found was talking about how word of mouth was the original social media, which I have to agree with. Word of mouth is something that people can get directly from their peers, whom they trust and value their opinion. 

"92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising"

This statistic shows how important word of mouth can be and why marketers should take advantage of it. The article also discussed how long word of mouth has been around and how it can still be vital to todays marketers. Marketers are more interested in collecting than they are in connecting with their audience. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2014/07/17/why-word-of-mouth-marketing-is-the-most-important-social-media/2/#7cd9138954a9

Michelle_Ch4

Brand Loyalty

The book defines brand loyalty as a preference for a particular brand that results in its repeated purchase. For instance, my mom has always used Downy detergent, so when I got to college that is what I used to wash my clothes with. It's just a product that I have always been surrounded by and felt loyal to.

However the article I found, disputes this idea. The article talks about the death of brand loyalty and what really caused it which was basically people becoming bored with the old "tried and true" products they have always used. It says in the old world, loyalty was something everyone aspired to give, but with the generational changes, thats just not true.

"90% of the leading household goods brands are losing market share on consistently low-growth categories."

The article says that the it is not the brands inability to work, but rather their failure in trying to seem like a new and interesting option. I can see how this is true because people are always looking for the next new thing, which isn't bad, but it is hurting products that have been around for many years.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenkusek/2016/07/25/the-death-of-brand-loyalty-cultural-shifts-mean-its-gone-forever/#7e7981461797

Michelle_Ch1

The Old Way versus The Winning Way

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-new-advertising-vs-old-advertising-2014-6

There is a chart in chapter one that compares the old types of advertising to the new and more personal way. This article explores how Apple went from impersonal ads to advertisements that engage the viewer. It displays how Apple used to be more concerned about what the brand did than why the brand actually exists, which is to innovate and create. The chart in the book compares how brands can either present themselves positively or authentically, with authentically being in the winning way column. The new ads that Apple used showed their personality and explored the brands identity, which is a crucial part to advertising. Personally, I really enjoyed the way the book displayed the chart and I agree with the content of it. The old way of advertising was about trying to make money without creating consumer relationships. The new and "winning way" contains more information about how brands can build themselves up and create an authentic identity that will create lasting relationships with their customers.