On the Simple Economics of Advertising Marketing and Product Design - Case Study Example

Reflective Folio Name Course Tutor Date Stage 1: Controversial advertising American Apparel Advertising Many have termed American Apparel to be promoting sexism; Most of their ads have shown women either topless or wearing barely enough to cover their essential parts. The recent controversial ad was the image of a girl in a pleated skirt bending over a car’s rear window, her underwear was in plain view of the camera. The main objective of this ad was to show how sexy the clothes produced by American apparel are and to attract young women who want to look sexy and attract attention on the streets. The main controversy was why the woman’s underwear was showing, this sparked a lot of criticism from feminists and human activists alike (saul, 2014). This ad was mainly meant for school-girls as their first target group. In the recent past, miniskirts have been the trend for most school-going girls. This means that the ad is effective in attracting young girls who want to show off their legs. I would improve the ad by showing the woman posing in an upright posture without exposing her underwear to the public. The main effect of the controversy is that it labeled American apparel as a company that does not respect women. Most of the people who were against this ad portrayed the company as sexist. This public uproar could influence the brand in a negative way by reducing its sales since most parents would be deterred from buying such clothing for their children. Ad: http://www.americanapparel.net/ Article Reference: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/american-apparel-slammed-for-rampant-sexism-in-latest-controversial-advertising-campaign-showing-model-in-miniskirt-9654844.html Burger King Super Seven Incher Advertising Burger king recently posted an ad of their latest addition to their collection of burgers. They called it the seven incher. The advert showing the Super Seven Incher leaves no room for imagination as one can clearly see the underlying intent. The main objective of this advert was to show how huge and tasty the new burger was. The advert shows a woman opening her mouth to eat the super sized burger. The words underneath are suggestive using the term “blow”. The intended audience was mainly men who like eating burger and seeing beautiful women. The advert has some sex appeal and can easily attract a man’s attention. The ad was only effective to those whose mind thought the same way as the developer of the advert. Otherwise, some people saw it as dirty and not fit for the public. Improvement by using the same character but this time with the burger placed on a plate and she eats using a fork and a knife. It is more effective to show her facial expressions as she eats to appeal to the taste buds of the people. Expressions such as that of pleasure and satisfaction will attract more people than that of shock. The effect of the controversy was that it made Burger King to pull out their advert. This means that very few people were aware of their new product in the market. This would influence the brand by reducing sales, which would be due to conservatists pulling away from their products. Ad: http://www.eatmedaily.com/ Article Reference: http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/06/24/burger-kings-super-seven-incher/ NMA Killer Heels Advertising A number of newspaper houses decided to an ad together to promote the national newspapers through the Newspaper Marketing Agency. The ad’s main purpose was to advertise a new type of heels in the market. It showed a large metal heel piercing through the stomach of a man with blood spilling all over. The advert sparked uproar since it was viewed to cause offence mostly to the male gender. Newspaper agencies also usually want to attract advertisers. The main aim of this advert was to make the newspapers more attractive to potential fashion advertisers. The newspapers such as the Times, Guardian and Daily Express, had decided to increase their marketability by doing an advert. The intended audiences for this advert were mainly female readers aged from age 17 to 35 years. In their defense, the NMA said that most of the agencies in the fashion industry had stopped advertising on the newspapers (Brook, 2004). The fashion industry can be a huge market for newspaper advertisements. The ad is not effective because it does not communicate its intended meaning. The advert was said to portray violence, therefore; I would improve the advert by using a cartoon instead of portraying the image of a human being. It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words. There was very little information from the picture, which could attract the intended audience. The impact of the controversy was that the advert was banned. This cannot influence the newspaper brand in any way since people still read newspapers and the ban imposed helped to cool down tensions. Ad: http://www.admadness.co/2011/12/shoe-advertising/ Article Reference: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/dec/01/asa.pressandpublishing Stage 2: Ads by Category Brand 1. Coca Cola “You’re On” Objective: The coca cola ‘You’re on’ ad for diet coke was mainly aimed to show the life’s high and low moments. Audience: The intended audiences are mostly their trusted customers who have used diet coke for a long time. The ad falls in this category because it mainly lays emphasis on the logo. Improvement: The ad can be improved by adding color schemes that radiate the product to attract the customer’s attention. 2. Red bull Objective: The main objective of this ad is to inform potential consumers of the energetic advantage of using such a product. Audience: The main audience are both loyal customers and potential customers. Effective: The advert is effective since it shows how one can get energy from drinking Red Bull. Improvement: Improvement can be done by showing the logo of the product. Retail 1. Cosmetics ads Objective: The objectives are to show their potential customers the range of products they can choose. Audience: Most of these adverts target women aged form 18-60 years who use cosmetics. Effective: An ad such as that of Shino Bay is effective since it attracts the attention of the consumer the benefits of using the product. Improvement: Improvement on the ad can be done by adding more products to the page and showing the differences that occur before and after one has used these products. 2. Mad cloth advertising. Objective: The main objective of this advertisement is to create awareness of the different clothing lines and fashions that are found in Mad cloth’s retail stores. Audience: The intended audiences for the mad cloth ad are mainly women and young girls. Women are known to be shopaholics and so this ad is effective on them. Effective: The advert is effective because it attracts one to the beautiful scenery that blends well with the dress being advertised. Improvement: Improvement on the ad can be done by using more colors and different models wearing the clothes to show customers how good it will look on them. Social Media 1. Welcome To Scotland Advertising: Objective: A tourist destination such as Scotland has placed an ad on the internet of the vast places one can visit to see unique features and be part of different sports such as Bunji Jumping. Audience: The intended audiences are mostly tourists looking for places to visit in the world. Effective: This advert is effective because it gives potential tourists a clear picture of the places they would wish to visit. Improvement: Improvement on the ad can be done by showing how people are enjoying themselves while visiting the different sites. Giving a feel of the comfort, they would get through posting pictures of the vast numbers of accommodation places. 1. Samsung Smartphone and devices Objective: The objective is to inform their customers and potential customers of their new products in the market. Audience: Mobile phone users of all ages, who want a phone for different purposes. Effective: The ad on a number of smart phones such as Galaxy S3 is increasingly gaining worldwide attention proving the ads effective in increasing sales. Business to business ads 1. SunGard The SunGard IT professionals advertised a software that prevents hacking and interference of accounts. Objective: The objective of this ad was to inform IT professionals and IT firms of the new software in the market. Audience: IT professionals and IT companies Effective: The ad was effective in that the rates of download reached up to 280% and a 5.0% email-opening rate. Improvement: Improvement on the ad can be done by indicating what the software does instead of just warning against hacking. 2. Logicalis Objective: The main objective of this ad was to reach more than 1500 audiences. Audience: The intended audiences are mostly sales and marketing firms and individual business owners. Effective: Logicalis created an ad that that showed how different sales team could be assisted through custom-made messages. Improvement: No improvement needed. Not for profit 1. Donate Blood by Red Cross Objective: The ad showed a face painted white and red at the side was written “another life depends on you” the aim of this ad was to encourage people to donate blood to help those in need of it. Audience: The ad targeted people from across the globe from all races that have the capability of donating blood. Effective: The ad was not effective since it did not appeal to the viewers’ sense of empathy. Improvement: Improvement is through showing how donating blood can save a person. 2. Heart Stroke Foundation Audience: The ad produced by the Heart and Stroke Foundation urging people to change their lifestyle gives the importance of staying healthy. Objective: The objective of this ad is to create awareness amongst people to look after their health so as not to suffer from heart failure from stroke in the future. Effective: The ad is effective since it shows an elderly man holding a fishing rod on one hand and a medical kit on the other. This shows that most of the man’s retirement time is spent in the hospital due to poor health. Global ads 1. Samsung Global. Objective: The ad on a number of smart phones such as Galaxy S3 is increasingly gaining worldwide attention proving the ads effective in increasing sales. Audience: The advert targets all potential customers through the world. Effective: The advert is effective since it gives customers a view of the different products they can choose. Improvement: The advert can be improved by showing more products 2. Toyota Objective: The main objective of this ad was to show consumers the different features of their cars that made them the best car manufacturers in the world. Audience: The target audience was the elite rich who wanted a classy yet safe car. Effective: The ad is effective in promoting the company’s already good name and attracting more consumers. Improvement: No improvement needed. The journal of interactive advertising is an important journal that gives advertisers information on how to use different strategies while trying to market a particular product. It therefore links to the business to business category because, it shows business owners and companies how to attract potential customers be it business or consumers through online elements such as emails and eBook. The journal of interactive advertising also links to the category of social media advertising because it discusses social media as one of the most effective advertising channels. Showing producers different means by which they can increase their customer base using social media (Rafal Ohme, 2011). The journal is important to the category of retail advertising by telling consumers and retailers at large how the market perceives different product presentation (Rafal Ohme, 2011). It also tells the retailers how to enhance their adverts. The journal relates to all these three advertisement categories because it touches mainly on how to carry out effective advertisement in these three categories. Different advertising strategies that are adequate for attracting potential customers are outlined in the journal (Rafal Ohme, 2011). The journal of product and brand management links to the category of brands since it tells the consumers of the powers of a particular brand. It also fills the brand with quality of values and importance to the consumer (Tony Meenaghan, 2000). The journal carries out a research study to show how a consumer’s feelings about a particular brand affect their purchasing patterns. This journal relates to consumer based companies that mainly rely on the popularity of their products to gain a competitive advantage through branding. Companies such as Toyota and Samsung that operate internationally depend on customer loyalty (Tony Meenaghan, 2000). Loyal customers mostly have positive feelings towards brands that show their identities. For example, Samsung and Toyota produce very expensive commodities. Customers are still attracted to the new commodities in the market since it shows their class and identities. Therefore, an upcoming entrepreneur who seeks to gain customer loyalty should produce products that allow potential consumers to identify with them, have a connection with and feel attracted to. The journal also informs the consumers of the powers of a particular brand. It also fills the brand with quality of values and importance to the consumer. The article on the role of advertising on brand media is also effective in the category (Tony Meenaghan, 2000). It evaluates how a brand can use its international recognition to maintain its customers. Stage 3: Good vs. Bad ads Good ad Creative ads usually have a number of elements that make them good ads. One such example is the Dove ad for real beauty. This ads strategy was to attract women to use the product to get good skin. The model posing in the picture shows off her evenly toned skin. The creative strategy in this ad is achieved by using a powerful visual and a creative headline that attracts everyone who comes across it. The target audiences are mainly young women struggling with their skin blemishes. The creative approach is appropriate for this target audience enhancing their need for better skin. The consumer merely needs to take a glance at the picture and get a clear and convincing picture, portraying the message in a clear and enticing manner (Johnson, 2003). The skin is a very sensitive matter and its products need to be presented to the audience in an effective manner. The creative part does not bury the message since the message is clear cut and visible to all. Dove mainly uses fashion magazines as a medium for advertising their products. This media is appropriate for covering the environment in which the product is used. Bad ad The New York Laundry posted an ad to entice people to bring their laundry for cleaning in their branches. This advert used a number of colors each contrasting with the other. The advert seemed as if it was marketing sports attire instead of a laundry company. The creativity in this ad was off and overshadowing the message. The approach of using a model for the ad was not appropriate for the target audience who are mainly working individuals and jobseekers who have no time to wash their own laundry. The creative approach thus does not communicate a clear and convincing message due to the mismatched colors contrasting with the background colors. The creative is indeed appropriate for the media environment ie the magazines and journals but not for the message it intends to send to the customers. References Brook, S., 2004. 'Sexist' ad promoting newspapers brought to heel. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/dec/01/asa.pressandpublishing [Accessed 26 August 2014]. Johnson, J. a. D. M., 2003. On the Simple Economics of Advertising, marketing and product design. Journal of Marketing, 6(2), pp. 356-268. Kinshuk Jerath, L. M. a. Y.-H. P., 2014. Consumer Click Behavior at a Search Engine: The Role of Keyword Popularity. Journal of marketing research, 51(4), pp. 157-170. Rafal Ohme, M. M. a. B. P.-L., 2011. Biometric measures for interactive advetising research. Journal of interactive advertising, 11(2), pp. 28-30. saul, H., 2014. American Apparel slammed for 'rampant sexism' in latest controversial advertising campaign showing model in mini-skirt. [Online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/american-apparel-slammed-for-rampant-sexism-in-latest-controversial-advertising-campaign-showing-model-in-miniskirt-9654844.html [Accessed 26 August 2014]. Tony Meenaghan, 2000. The role of advertising in brand image development. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 4(4), pp. 23-24. Read More