OUGD401 - Essay and evaluation

Daniel Gee Context Of Practice | OUGD401

Daniel Gee | OUGD401

Does Advertising change the way we think and feel or does it just sell things?

Whether on a billboard, on the television, on the Internet or on the side of a bus we are all exposed to an astonishing amount of advertising on a daily basis. Whilst there is no exact figure for the amount of advertising we are exposed to, estimates range from 250 ads per day to 3000.

Regardless of the figure there is no doubt that exposure to advertisements is something we all must deal with in the modern world. The 2013 Advertising Association report states that 17.2 billion pounds was spent on advertising in the UK in 2012, with this figure set to increase over 2013. This illustrates the importance that companies place on it.(www.adassoc.org.uk) Advertising can be such a powerful tool that there is a regulatory body in the UK known as the ASA or the Advertising Standards Agency to protect the public from misleading adverts. The ASA attempt to ‘ensure that advertising in all media is legal, decent, honest and truthful’ (www.asa. org, 2014) Advertising is something that we can’t escape, there is no argument where that is concerned. But is it a good or bad thing? Well this is a subject that many feel strongly about.

1999 cult film, ‘Fight Club,’ includes a famous quote which summarises many peoples opinions “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes. working jobs we hate, so we can buy shit we don’t need.” Some people try to separate themselves from advertising completely, something easier said than done, because they feel so strongly about it. This contempt for advertising is understandable; in this essay I will look at some of the techniques that advertising companies use to influence us, some of these are techniques are arguably quite manipulative. Despite this, it is evident that advertising does have its place in the modern world. Newspapers, magazines, television programmes and radio all rely on revenue from advertising to exist. There would be less great sports competitions, as these rely on sponsorship, and as consumers we would be much less aware of products available to us. While many people claim that advertising doesn’t influence their decisions this is often because they are not aware of it happening. The methods that advertising agencies use to influence and manipulate the way we think are often not immediately obvious. Judith Williamson says “What an advertisement ‘says’ is merely what it claims to say; it is part of the deceptive mythology of advertising to believe that an advertisement is simply a transparent vehicle for the ‘message’ behind it.” (Judith Williamson, Decoding Advertising, p17.) Many people have become so skeptical of advertising that companies feel the need to change the way we think without us realising it .’ad men turned to subconscious appeals. They wanted to bypass our conscious guard.’ (Vance Packard, 1957) So does advertising just sell things or does it change the way we think and feel? Advertising is used to sell products first and foremost and the only way to do this is by influencing the way us as consumers think about the product on sale. Advertisers employ a variety of techniques to influence us and change the way we think and feel. One of the most effective of these techniques is prompting an emotional response. According to research by Dr Florin Dolcos, professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois, emotion and memory are tightly linked. When emotions are aroused our brains store as much information about the moment as possible. This research has been conducted more than once. So when an advert appeals to our emotions we are much more likely to remember it.

Nigel Hollis, an analyst for Milward Brown (‘a global company focused on brands, media and communications’) says that ‘just because we attend to something once does not mean we are going to remember anything about it at a later date. But when facts, ideas, and impressions are emotionally charged, a lasting memory is more likely to be created.’ This technique is also used Daniel Gee | OUGD401

to get us as consumers to relate to what we are seeing on screen. By prompting this emotional response we are more likely to do this. ‘They want the ads to resonate with the target audience on some level; they want people to relate to the situation portrayed in the ad.’ (Nigel Hollis, 2010) Bartle Bogle and Hegarty is a creative advertising agency founded in 1982. In the campaign that they have recently released for Google Chrome called ‘the web is what you make of it’ they have used this technique incredibly well. The adverts tell stories that naturally have emotional impact, such as a man trying to win back his ex girlfriend, a father and his daughter staying in contact when she moves to college, the success of a young couple’s business venture and other examples similar to this. One of the Chrome advertisements won the best advert of the 2013 Super Bowl. The advert shows a parent using the web to share memories with his daughter as she grows up. Many would argue that this is an emotional piece of film; comments on youtube for the video consist mainly of people talking about how beautiful and emotional they found the advert. This proves that this technique is effective, not only at making people remember the advert but also allowing people to actually enjoy it. Another technique we see advertising agencies using is connecting products to a lifestyle. Rather than attempting to sell the product itself they sell a lifestyle and associate their product to this lifestyle. ‘Decoding Advertising’ by Judith Williamson says “Advertisements are selling us something else beside consumer goods: in providing us with a structure in which we, and those goods, are interchangeable, they are selling us ourselves.” The intention of this technique is to make consumers believe that to achieve the lifestyle that is displayed in the advert, the product being sold is essential. This technique is seen in the advertising of lots of luxury brands but I feel one of the most effective uses of this technique is the ‘Grab Some Buds’ Budweiser campaign. The advert displays the preparation for, and beginning of, a variety of stereotypically American activities. These include a baseball game, a rock concert and a barbecue. This combined with the music that is used, builds anticipation for what looks like a really good time. Throughout the advert we see people gathering Budweiser beer’s and this makes us feel as if this beer is essential for the activities to be enjoyable. They have made Budweiser an integral part of the experiences that are displayed.

This idea is enforced with the slogan we see at the end of the ad, ‘great times are waiting, grab some Buds.’ In buying into this technique of advertising the products we consume can begin to define us. The image that is attached to an image is what we strive to achieve and how we think of ourselves. Judith Williamson says ‘our lives become our own creations through buying; an identikit of different images of ourselves, created by different products.’ existentialism (Decoding Advertising, p70, 1978) Often the images we aspire to are unachievable. Fashion brands are some of the worst for this, using images that have been computer enhanced to give the models flawless skin and impossible bodies. This Budweiser advert not only uses this technique but we can also see the use of emotion. It isn’t as obvious as in the Chrome adverts but it is still evident.

The anticipation that’s built at the start of the advert along with the excitement and happiness that is portrayed towards the end will still provide the emotional impact needed to create a lasting memory. Another technique we see a lot in advertising is the use of attractive people to promote the product. Many products are sold by appealing to sexual attraction and beauty. In 1991, Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani and Longo summarised research stating that people perceive physical attractiveness to be linked to social competence, trustworthiness and intelligence.

People will often just accept that ‘what is beautiful is good.’ We are more likely to be interested in what an attractive person has to say over their average looking counterpart. A recent study conducted by professors from Rice University in Texas claims that we are also more likely to trust attractive people, and trust is one of the most important things for a brand to have. Attractive people aren’t just used within advertising to gain the consumers trust however. There are Daniel Gee | OUGD401

simpler, more obvious intentions behind this technique. As human beings we still respond to certain primal urges, sex being one of the most prominent of these. Using sexual imagery to arouse interest in a product is an obvious example of advertising changing the way that we think and feel. This is arguably one of the most manipulative techniques that could be used within an advert. Vance Packard says ‘What is the morality of exploiting our deepest sexual sensitivities and yearnings for commercial purpose?.’ The morality of this technique is something which can be argued over but there is no argument on whether or not it works. This technique is so effective that it has been used for over a hundred years in the advertising industry. Sex is definitely still prominent in advertising today, ‘up to 10% of television commercials contain sexual content.’ (Tom Reichert, 2010) We see this technique being used in subtle ways within the ‘Grab some buds’ campaign. The beer is primarily targeted at males and Budweiser have used some clips of an attractive woman getting changed to capture interest from the majority of the target audience. In this advert it is subtle and you wouldn’t think that it was trying to manipulate you in any way, but every frame of that advert has been thought out and will have a reason behind it.

It may not be obvious that this has been put there to manipulate the way the consumer thinks but as I have previously said, the companies don’t want people to know that they are being influenced. The use of sexual imagery isn’t evident within the Google Chrome adverts and I believe this is a lot to do with the target audience being too wide for it to be effective. It would definitely capture the attention of some people seeing the advert but wouldn’t be relevant for everyone. It could even be argued that it would be inappropriate to use for an advert with such a broad target audience. Google’s brand identity is one of friendliness and is slightly informal, the use of average-looking people promotes this impression. Moreover, this technique can be seen to be quite controversial, ‘Sex in advertising is not held in high regard within the advertising profession and its use prompts legitimate criticism regarding the ways in which sexual ads depict women.’ (Tom Reichert, 2010) Google would not want anything to interfere with their liberal identity as a company. For all the adverts that have been cleverly thought out using techniques that I have previously mentioned there is just as many adverts which simply display a product and a price. We usually see these adverts in establishments such as supermarkets and off-licences. You could argue that these advertisements do not change the way we think and feel and they do not use any manipulative techniques. However often the pricing is thought out to make the product sound cheaper than it is. For example, £99.98 sounds much cheaper than £100. This technique was originally used by Czech entrepreneur Tomáš Baťa at the beginning of the 20th Century. This kind of pricing is widely used nowadays but it is still incredibly effective for something which seems so simple. One thing that you will rarely find is an advert displaying the pros and cons of a product. When something is advertised it is done so in a positive only context, ‘Advertising focuses only on positive aspects of product, never on negative ones.’ (unenticed.com) It wouldn’t make sense to inform the consumer on any negative aspects. In the Google Chrome advert we see evidence of this occurring. The advert displays the functionality of the browser and the things that are possible with it. However to anyone who actually uses Google Chrome on a day to day basis it is obvious that the sequences have been shortened.

There are other problems with some of the adverts as well. The ‘Dear Sophie’ advert shows a man emailing his daughter as she grows up, presumably so she can read all of the emails when she is old enough. This wouldn’t be viable though, Google would delete an account that was not logged into for that amount of time and the messages would never reach her. We don’t see any evidence of log in or loading screens either. We are exposed to many new products on the market through advertising and when we don’t see any negatives in the ads, our opinions can be very one-sided. Google is already a well respected company so although this campaign will often Daniel Gee | OUGD401

change the way the consumer thinks and feels, the change may not be an extreme one. One campaign that illustrates the way that adverts can change the way we think and feel drastically is the ‘Think Small campaign.’ Created for Volswagen in the 1950’s by ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, it has been called ‘the greatest advertising campaign of the 20th century’. The campaign did more than just increase sales of VW beetles, it inspired lifetime brand loyalty. It is said that this campaign changed the very nature of advertising. The production of the VW Beetle was directly linked to Adolf Hitler. The campaign was trying to sell the car in post-war America so the employees at Doyle Dane Berbach had their work cut out for them. Now understandably this was a difficult task, Americans would tend to shun anything related to Nazi Germany. However Helmut Krone and Julian Koenig, employees at Doyle Dane Bernbach managed to pull it off. At the time cars were used as fashion statements and ‘testosterone boosters.’ Not as a way for the average person to get from A to B. However the way this car was marketed changed this entirely.

The adverts emphasised the reliability of the car and showed that they could be for anyone, not just those wishing to show off about the amount of horsepower under their bonnet. The advertisements were mainly white space showing the minimalism and simplicity of the car and the copy underneath listed the advantages of owning a small car like the VW beetle. It was marketed in a completely different way to cars at the time and this uniqueness surprised the American Public, “It was self-deprecating. It was the first post-modern ad.” (Bob Garfield, 1955) Sales of this foreign, slow, ugly car boosted massively and the campaign even turned the VW Beetle into ‘an iconic piece of American pride.’ (Joshua Johnson, 2012) This is an incredible example of advertising changing the way people think and feel. Whilst not all adverts have such a drastic impact on the general opinion as the ‘Think Small’ campaign did in the fifties, it is clear that adverts change the way we think and feel. A huge amount of research into advertising, the importance that is placed on it by companies around the world, and the results that it yields all point to this conclusion. Advertising is a huge part of modern culture and even with knowledge of the techniques ad agencies use, it is difficult to remain uninfluenced by the adverts that surround us everyday. Advertisers are clever, they know how to influence us and we very often don’t know it’s happening. ‘The UK advertising spend forecast for 2014 has been increased 5.3 per cent to £18.8 bn.’ (Warc, 2013) People are placing more and more importance on advertising and in a society such as today where the use and consumption of certain products can be the way a person defines themselves it does not look like this is about to change.

Daniel Gee | OUGD401

BIBLIOGRAPHY Stephen Lepitak (2014) UK advertising spend forecast increased to 5.3% to reach £18.8bn in 2014, http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/01/10/uk-advertising-spend-forecast-increased-53-reach-188bn-2014, 13th January 2014 Decoding Advertisements, Judith Williamson, 1978, Marion Boyars The Psychology of Advertising, B. Fennis & W. Stroebe, 2010, Psychology Press The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard, 2007, IG Publishing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4vkVHijdQk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjFuFvjBIFA Joshua Johnson (2012) The Greatest Print Campaigns of All Time: Volkswagen Think Small, http://designshack.net/articles/graphics/the-greatest-print-campaigns-of-all-time-volkswagen-think-small/, 12th January 2014 ASA (2013) http://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/Our-mission.aspx 10th January 2014 Adam Dachis (2011) How Advertising Manipulates Your Choices and Spending Habits, http://lifehacker.com/5824328/how-advertising-manipulates-yourchoices-and-spending-habits-and-what-to-do-about-it, 10th January 2014 Nigel Holis (2010) Emotion in Advertising: Pervasive yet Misunderstood, http://www.millwardbrown.com/Libraries/MB_POV_Downloads/MillwardBrown_POV_EmotionInAdvertising.sflb.ashx, 12th January 2014 Advertising Pays Report (2013) http://www.adassoc.org.uk/pdfs/AdvAss_ Advertising_Pays_Report.pdf 12th January 2014 Ewald Berkers (2014) http://www.unenticed.com/ 12th January 2014 Tom Reichert (2010) Sex in Advertising, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem04008/ , 12th January 2013 Jason Deans, (2013) UK spend to hit record £14bn, thttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/25/uk-advertising-spend-hit-pre-crash-high, 12th January 2014

Daniel Gee | OUGD401

Evaluation Throughout this module I feel I have improved my skills within essay writing dramatically. This is the first academic essay I have ever written and I found it really challenging. Trying to get my points across concisely whilst still explaining them properly was something I found especially difficult. At points I found myself repeating myself and giving unecessary information.

I found the majority of seimnars and lectures really interesting. I have learnt about subjects that I already had a basic knowledge of in much more depth and been introduced to topics that I have never looked at before such as semiotics.

The lectures informed my practice within other modules. The lecture we were given on Photography is a clear example of this. I was inspired by some of the photographers we were shown and this informed the work I did for the Design Process ‘Frame’ brief.

The second part of the module, ‘theory into practise’ was something that I felt allowed me to develop my skills in conceptual thinking, layout design and book binding. I looked at new book binding techniques and decided on Japanese binding. At first I struggled with this as I didn’t have any support. However I overcame the problems and I am really happy with the outcome of the publication. I feel it is aesthetically pleasing, links clearlly with my essay and the content is interesting, concise and informative.

Daniel Gee | OUGD401