My topic is the connotative and denotative aspects of advertising, and if companies directed our feelings at more wants than needs, or vice versa. Sadly, I do not know much about the topic, so this will be a challenge. In my home, we live on a very needs-only lifestyle. It was about nine years ago that it was the other way around. In short order, we had the proverbial (and literal) Persian rug ripped out from under our feet, and we have lived on the other end of the spectrum with a completely different set of eyes. It's been a humbling, yet liberating, experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. At this moment, I am so out of the advertising loop, I don't even know where to begin, or how to answer any research question I could think up. I believe Estevan gave me a very good way to determine several factors. He suggested I watch television for one whole day, with the focus on the commercials and who/what they cater to throughout the day. This way, I can determine several factors:
1- Does humor or fear affect attention to a product?
2- How is a brand valued?
3- What has been said or written about how the brand makes us feel?
4- Is the length of a commercial detrimental to the products success?
5- Are there more ads targeting men? Or women?
By viewing what I see connotatively and denotatively, I should be able to determine what is deemed most important in today's culture and society- perhaps even by the hour!
What I still need to know, or discover, if there have been written sources to collaborate with and support my research for this topic. I do not strongly purport all my sources to be internet related. I also welcome my peers to lend a helping opinion, since I know there are some die-hard advocates, as well as opposers, to the subject of marketing.
Hi, Smettie! Your research questions look very scholarly. How would I answer the questions?
ReplyDelete1- Does humor or fear affect attention to a product? I think that а humor is much better then a fear. The humor always improves our mood.
2) How is a brand valued?
Brand valuation is the job of estimating the total financial value of the brand (Wikipedia)
3)What has been said or written about how the brand makes us feel?
I think there could me a lot of quotations.For example:
"He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met." —Abraham Lincoln
4)Is the length of a commercial detrimental to the products success? - In my opinion, yes.
5)Are there more ads targeting men? Or women? In my opinion, more women, but sometimes it depends.
Finally, I would like to read you final research, because I'm interesting in this research questions.
Your research topic is very interesting and you seem to have the segments in your essay already set with your questions. In our culture I think that it's a culture of want versus need. If everyone simply ignored their wants then companies wouldn't make any profit. As for your questions I think both fear and humor grab the attention of the viewer. Fear works especially well for products meant to keep your loved ones safe, but it becomes useless on other products (e.g. Doritos, ice cream, etc.). In your section about brands and their reputation I think if you're going to include this in your essay then focus on only a few brand names; including every brand in existence would be a Herculean task.
ReplyDeleteI found two websites that might help you, though I'm not quite sure if they're any good. I just googled advertisements and Advertising Educational Foundation popped up so I thought that if you hadn't stumbled upon them already then maybe they would be useful.
http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/index.html
http://thearf.org/
im glad i could be of some help! this seems like a paper that can take you to the heart and soul of advertising. not too long ago i was watching something on AMC (or some other channel) which was particular scary (some slasher film) and the 2nd commercial to air was a brinks home security commercial. it was then when i learned what those clever bastards were up to. i was fearful at the time because i didnt want my family murdered (comprising of my aunt and a pet parakeet) so this security system should prevent that from happening ! the length of a commercial should be an easy one, all you have to do is take a look at those long running infomercials, how successful are they compared to short, sweet and to the point 30 second runners?
ReplyDeletehope this gave you a few ideas. god speed
Fantastic and deep topic to look into and most certainly observe Smittie! I think the ideas that Estevan gave you were perfect! You have to observe the actual commercials yet be completely aware of what they are trying to convey. I applaud you for going a bit out of your comfort zone with the topic. You seem so intrigued and interested by it, that I think you will have no problem writing the essay because searching for new ideas and information on the topic will be pretty cool. You've got some great questions to explore. I think you will do a fantastic job with this!
ReplyDelete