The Advertising Spiral

7/30/2019 The Advertising Spiral

1/42

Faisal K. Qureishi


2/42


3/42

To educate consumers about new product To show people they have a need and that

advertised product can fulfill it

To show that a product now exists that iscapable of meeting a need that had beenrecognized but previously unfulfilled


4/42


5/42

Abbotintroduced thecategory ofinsectrepellants in

Pakistan


6/42


7/42

The competitive stage is the advertising stagea product reaches when its generalusefulness is recognized but its superiorityover similar brands has to be established in

order to gain preference.


8/42


9/42

The retentive stage is the third advertisingstage of a product, reached when its generalusefulness is widely known, its individualqualities are thoroughly appreciated, and it is

satisfied to retain its patronage merely on thestrength of its past reputation.

All that the brand needs now is constantreminder advertising


10/42


11/42


12/42


13/42

The newer &newest pioneeringstages focus ongetting morepeopleto use the productby continuouslyfinding innovativeways to advertise


14/42

SafeguardCommunity &School HealthPrograms


15/42


16/42

In which stage is the product? Should we use pioneering advertising to attract

new users?

Should we work harder at competitive advertising

to obtain a larger market share? What portion of our advertising should be

pioneering? Competitive?

Are we coasting in the retentive stage?


17/42

Semiotic analysis sees the world as symbolic Every advertisement has 3 basic components:

An Object (Brand) A Sign (Symbol)

An Interpretation (Meaning)


18/42

Marlboro (Object) The Marlboro Man

(Sign)

Tough, Rugged,American Male(Interpretation)


19/42

While the objectremains the same,the symbol isextended to include aHarley rider along

with the traditionalMarlboro cowboy tomake theinterpretation morerelevant in an age

when HollywoodWestern flicks are nolonger in fashion


20/42

Semiotic analysis is cultural Interpretation (meaning) attached to a symbol

is always culturally defined

A symbol that works in one culture may justend up confusing audience in another

Consider this example:


21/42

Confused? Rightly so

Because the

interpretation ofcarrots is purelyAmerican insemantics


22/42

Elaborate cultures require and expect a highamount of verbal information symbols usedin ads may often have to be backed up byexplanations (e.g. South-Eastern cultures)

Advertising in succinct cultures can beimpressionistic with minimum amount ofwords; the audience is expected to be smartenough to draw the correct interpretation(North-Western cultures)


23/42


24/42


25/42

Is semiotic framework always explicit? Studies suggest that is far from the case.

Semiotic frameworks can and do containsubliminal (hidden) symbols, meant to targetthe sub-conscious mind to influence behavior

To understand, let us take a few pages out ofhistory:


26/42

A movie reel contains24 frames persecond, which is theoptimum amount of

optical data that canbe registered in brain A 25th frame would

render the additionredundant as it

would fail to have animpact in theconscious mind


27/42

In 1940s, as part of asecretive research, a groupof subjects were shown amovie reel which (unknownto the audience) containeda 25th frame.

The 25

th

frame consisted ofrandom images that,apparently, went unnoticedby the subjects

A few weeks late, the samecontrol group was shownthe images present in the

25thframe and, Viola! Every participant in

the group claimed to haveseen the images earlier!!!


28/42

In 1957, marketresearcher James Vicaryclaimed that quicklyflashing messages on amovie screen, in Fort Lee,New Jersey, had

influenced people topurchase more food anddrinks. Vicary coined theterm subliminaladvertising and formedthe Subliminal Projection

Company based on asix-week test.


29/42

Vicary claimed that duringthe presentation of themovie Picniche used atachistoscope (developedwith the help of hisassociate, Renshaw) toproject the words "DrinkCoca-Cola" and "Hungry?Eat popcorn" for 1/3000 ofa second at five-secondintervals. Vicary assertedthat during the test, salesof popcorn and Coke in that

New Jersey theaterincreased 57.8% and 18.1%respectively


30/42

Vicary titled his research as theIncremental Effects Theory, whichargued that repetitively presentingan image on the subconsciousplace will ultimately influencebehavior

Vicarys research and his ideasgave rise to a huge controversy.

Under pressure from variouspublic groups, US Congress tableda bill to ban SubliminalAdvertising; the Congress failed topass the bill with a majority vote

Therefore, subliminal advertisingstill remains (technically) legal, yettoo controversial to be openlyproclaimed by advertisers


31/42

More sophisticated andadvanced versions of thetachistoscope weresubsequently produced.

Openly, no movie theater inthe world proclaims using it

It is, however, alleged byconspiracy theorists thattachistoscope and othersuch devices continue to beused, not only in movietheaters, but acrosselectronic media

(television), not (just) byadvertisers but bygovernments trying toinfluence public opinion


32/42

The Psychodynamic Perspective This theory argues that even without the use

of high-tech devices like tachistoscopes, thesub-conscious can be influenced by using

hidden symbols in a basic semioticframework

This is the current understanding given tosubliminal advertising

Let us take begin with a few basic examples:


33/42


34/42


35/42


36/42


37/42

Q: When did subliminal advertising first make itsimpact in Pakistan?

Ans: As long ago as 1966 even before theintroduction of television

You must have listened to the song MairayKhayalon PayChayehai ek surat matwalisee,KOKO KOREENA KOKO KOREENA (from the filmARMAAN)

What is KOKO KOREENA and why did the lyricistchoose such absurd but catchy words why notRORO ROZINA orGOGO GORINA for that matter?


38/42


39/42

If you freeze the frames displaying WaheedMuraddancing, clapping, drumming, amidstrandom soft drink bottles, not-so-beautifulgirls and cheerfulness, but wait a minute!

Did we just mention soft drinks in the song?Yes! The Song was full of Coke bottles and itsbranding all over the place. All of a suddenit starts making sense! KOKO KOREENA or

COKE-COKE KOREENA!


40/42

The launch-ad campaignof Magnum in Pakistanbecame controversial asits implicit messagestarted becoming clear topeople

This ad had to be takenoff air in a hurry

It was, perhaps,introduced at awrongtime as till then therewas still only Ptv a

strictly monitored state-run channel


41/42

Another hurriedlycalled-off campaign Engro Foods deviated

from their tried andtested policy of

culturally acceptableadvertising usingfamily and Islamicsymbolism

Result: Disaster not

only for the adcampaign, but for thebrand itself


42/42

Journalist, Vance Packard published his seminal book, The HiddenPersuaders, about the inner workings of advertising. The bookdiscussed various techniques employed by advertisers to influence andeven manipulate consumers into buying certain products.

Noted media analyst and researcher, Wilson Bryan Key, notes thatadvertisers spend a considerable amount of money on communicationsthat contain subliminal messages. Why would they spend such vast

sums if subliminal persuasion is ineffective? The fact that these subliminal messages cannot be readily identified or

seen and that the advertisers deny their use further demonstrates thecraftiness of the advertiser and at the same time highlights thepersuasive power of subliminal messages.

The debate about the effectiveness of subliminal advertising continues

to this day but no conclusions have been reached. We dont know how effective it is; what we do know is it is practiced!

Documents

The Advertising Spiral