I t EDID IT FOR THE GRAM.
Don’t compare yourself.
DON’T COMPARE.
Preface
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Contents 10
Introduction
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Packaged Perfection
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Comparative Culture
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Women vs. Women
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Knifed
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The Ugly Industry
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Key Insights
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The Big Idea
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Female Students
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Target Audience
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The Brand Identity
138
Creative Concepts
144
Brand Services & Products
152
Route to Consumer
168
Not just an Instagram Trend
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Measuring Success
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Testing the Final Idea
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2: Peter DeVito, 2017
3: Emily Louise, 2011
THAT’S Me
Growing up I became aware at a young age of the pressure to have the right look. While social media lacked the prominence it holds today, with technological interaction limited to my Nokia brick phone and MySpace on my family computer, self-comparison became a part of everyday life and as I grew up I would often question and compare both my body and my image to others in the playground. Leon Festinger uses the Self Comparison Theory to explain this; arguing that we naturally evaluate our own opinions, looks and abilities by comparing them to others, suggesting that we will always compare how we look to other people (Festinger,1954). This theory is now more prevalent with modern communication techniques and the modern media craze putting pressure on generations by bombarding them with a constant feed of what modern media portrays as ‘perfection’.
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Going from the playground into University, you’re very much dropped in the deep end. Society prepares you for the massive endeavour of becoming more independent, making new friends and moving away from home; but nobody mentioned the task of getting dropped in a big city, combined with the underlying pressure to be perfect - what is society doing about this?
Fig 4
As someone who has experienced a life in education whilst constantly comparing herself to others, this is an issue that I feel personally is not discussed openly enough. University students are depicted as grown adults who can fend for themselves, dealing with any issues that life throws at them (Arnett, 2016). However, being the first generation to go through university with the social media monster constantly on our shoulders, with no guidance in how to deal with it ... enough is enough!
4: Emily Louise, 2011
;
REVOLUTIONISED;
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The word revolutionised denotes a ‘total revamping of society, with big consequences for its people’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2016). This definition comes to mind when thinking about modern media. Whether you’re an avid user or against it, there is no denying the many ways that modern media has impacted our lives over the last 10 years. It’s given everyday people the chance for their voice to be heard globally, allowed companies to engage with their consumers personally and created a whole new definition of ‘fame’ and ‘celebrity’, allowing online influencers to become social media famous (see appendix 11). But with modern media revamping society, comes with it consequences and people are feeling the pressure to be perfect more than ever.
INTRO;
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In the quest to analyse the effect of modern media on young people, it was important to establish that in the UK alone, around threequarters of adults with a mental illness first experience symptoms before the age of 25, with the peak age falling between the ages of 18 and 25 (Stansfeld et al., 2014), but why are these people most affected?
Alarmingly, a study by the Department for Education showed that girls are increasingly experiencing anxiety and depression, creating a growing concern regarding the health and happiness of girls in the UK (Marsh, 2016). They have also shown thoughts on social media, with many girls describing it as toxic and trapping (see appendix 5)
With the growth of the technology era, the app Instagram recorded an incredible 800 million active users in September 2017, with 38% of these users shown to be 24 years of age or younger (Statista, 2018). A BBC poll, asked 1,479 people aged between 14-24 to score popular apps on issues such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, bullying and negative body image. The results showed that Instagram, one of the most popular apps for these media obsessed youngsters, has the highest rating for mental health issues (BBC News, 2017).
This evidence, combined with an additional report by the Royal Society for Public Health stating that young people who are heavy users of social media who spend more than 2 hours per day on social networking sites are more likely to report poor mental health (RSPH, 2018), illustrates that users of Instagram may be subjected to a higher risk of developing mental health issues. With perfect women just a click away, it appears that many girls are fighting a constant battle with societies’ need for the perfect women (BBC News, 2009).
5: Gigzey Photography, N.D.
6: Own Image
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The peak age for Undergraduate Education Schemes at Universities and Colleges is between 18 and 25 and currently 89% are enrolled (Patterns and Trends in UK Higher Education, 2017). This is the peak age for symptoms of mental health as detailed in the evidence above. With a combination of the stress of living alone in a strange city, social adaptation of attending University, as well as the issues raised above; highlights a need to create more awareness of the issues caused by social media on female students. This report will therefore outline the effects that social media causes, and suggest a way to empower female students to stop comparing their bodies to what modern media depicts as the ideal body.
PACKAGED PERFECTION
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7: Own Image
8: Laurine Benoit, 2015
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LOOK BACK
How do we determine what makes a person beautiful? Although people might think the standards of perfection we have today have always been the same, but really the opposite is true. The pressure for an ideal body type is not a new phenomenon, and such ideals have gone through several changes and trends throughout history. Just as the fashion industry has seen popular trends, so has the world of body image, often mimicking the ideals pushed by the beauty and fashion industry, with the connotations of the clothing also being mimicked in body type and shape.
The perfect body ideal has been unrealistic going as far back as the end of the Italian Renaissance, when the rounded, plump figures that had been idolised in paintings were replaced with ‘organ-constricting corsets that made movement a futile effort but gave impossibly-hourglass shapes’(Tunell, 2015). That being said, no body trends over the past few decades have felt as inaccessible for the average woman than today’s. The current ideal in Western culture’s: of D-cup breasts, tiny waists, sculpted abs, big butts and thigh gaps inches-wide simply isn’t obtainable when the majority of us are lacking the budget for personal trainers, diet coaches and plastic surgeons (See Appendix 3a).
However, there are ethnicities and cultures with differing expectations today, based on both social and cultural factors. For example, in traditional black culture, black women are encouraged to have a larger body ideal (Perez and E. Joiner, 2002). Similarly, in Arab cultures, ‘A healthy body with ‘meat’ on the bones’ (Beauty Undefined, n.d.) is argued to be what is seen as the most attractive body type. In short, it differs to what extent individuals and societies are affected by the media and what kind of body shape is attractive to them. What is normal in one society, could be seen as deviant in another. In countries such as Japan, where females are commonly stereotyped as delicate porcelain dolls (Puzar, 2011), comes a new wave of body ideals. A study by Chisuwa & O’Dea (2010), found Asian women often emulate highly Westernised body ideals, the most popular expectation for women. The spread of the Western female beauty ideal is due to the wider reach of Western media which mainly focus on what is attractive for Western societies, and reflect white standards concerning skin colour or hair. This can be proven with Japanese cultures, whereby studies found 74% of Japanese magazine advertisements and 14.3% of Japanese television commercials featured Caucasian models (Morimoto and Chang, 2009).
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“ I love what my history gave me.” Marissa Hammond, 21 (Appendix 3c)
9: Photographed by Craig McDean, Vogue, (January 2014)
Fig (10) shows what 18/20 female students drew when asked to draw their ideal body. Clinical Psychologist, Dr Rachel Andrew acknowledges that ‘girls have never been more aware of their appearance and the standards society makes them think they need’ (Kenyon and Tokarz, 2017), suggesting society depicts what every girl should look like and if you don’t meet these expectations, you’re not ‘ideal’. Although such ideals have been challenged by society in recent years, 51% of girls are still unhappy with their appearance (Ons.gov.uk, 2015). An example of these girls is Sarah (aged 21), whom I interviewed about the reasons to why she wanted plastic surgery.
‘I was really unhappy with how my body looked’ Sarah, 21 (See Appendix 3d)
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10: Photographed by Mert and Marcus for US Vogue, 2016
‘At the age of 13 I developed an eating disorder because I just hated that I didn’t look how everyone else did, so I took factors into my own hands and decided to get a boob job when I got enough money at university’ Girls like Sarah are a key example of ideal body pressures dramatically affecting women’s self esteem when they don’t feel like they conform to the iconised figures they see in glossy magazines. It is also clear that as she has grown up, the ideal body has somewhat become obtainable, with her disposable income allowing her to mimic these ladies through plastic surgery.
‘women have always been brought up to know that the most important thing is our physical attractivenessÂ
26 28
and how fuckable we are in men’s eyes. If I could sue social media for that, I would’ Sarah, 21 (See Appendix 3d)
I’m Ugly
Growing up, we’re taught that the word ugly is a hurtful term. It can offend someone as much as a slap in the face; teaching us that how we look matters. However, when asked what they thought of their body, 100% of female university students asked were quick to under-value themselves by saying what they hated about their bodies first. A recent U.K. study carried out by Weight Watchers found the average woman would put herself down around eight times per day; with criticisms around appearance and weight being most prevalent, encompassing 13 of the 20 most common put-downs. Zoe Griffiths, Head of Public Health and Programme at Weight Watchers argues that ‘being unkind to ourselves has been an underlying theme for women for many years, but a set of very modern cultural conditions have increased the intensity of this unkindness which are hard to avoid.’ (Independent, 2016) suggesting that its kind of cool to self depreciate into today’s forever going comparative culture.
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11: Jade Makale’a - Kauai, Hawaii. North Shore (2015)
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12: Own Image
‘I DON’T THINK IT’S COMING, I THINK IT’S HERE’
Amy, Focus Group (See Appendix 4a)
Even though the foundation of the female form will always naturally stay the same as we come in all different shapes and sizes, cosmetic surgery is the new technology allowing us to conform to these body pressures, almost like today’s extreme version of the 18th century corset. When discussing this with women aged from 20-25, they expressed their concerns that cosmetic surgery is becoming ‘the norm’ and body trends are mimicking fashion trends. When asked if they think people will start buying into the trends of the body by getting plastic surgery, comparing it to how we’d buy a new jacket to stay connected with the trends, they replied... ‘I don’t think its coming, I think its here’
13: Pinterest, N.D.
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COMPARATIVE CULTURE
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14: David Hockney, 2012
Leon Festinger argues that there are two main forms of social comparison;
Compare Others
UPWARD COMPARISON;
When we compare ourselves with those who we believe are better than us, focusing on the desire to improve our current level of ability. For example, we might compare ourselves to someone ‘better off’ and look for ways that we can also achieve similar results. (Festinger, 1954)
DOWNWARD COMPARISON;
Where we compare ourselves to those who are believed to be lower than us, often making us feel better about our situation in low points in life. (Festinger, 1954) ...“It could be worse, right?”
I shouldn’t compare myself, but I cant help it, they’re so flawless’ Fig 15: Photographed by Sasha Samsonova, 2016
Zoe, 21 (See appendix 4b)
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This quote is from a 21 year old university, female, student whom has experienced the process of comparing herself to others. She believes these ‘Instagram girls’ are better off and more ‘successful’ than her, using the upward comparative style to lower her view of herself compared to others. Studies indicate comparisons made between their own appearance and attractiveness of others on social media were particularly harmful for women (Jasmine Fardouly, T. Pinkus and R. Vartanian, 2016).
Fig 16: Rankin, 2013
Girls Conforming The globalisation of social media grows larger, with our world becoming increasingly smaller. Goodbyes don’t seem as difficult because you’ll still see them later on Instagram and staying in touch with a friend overseas is just one click away. However, although these platforms are allowing us to connect with others instantaneously, it also has saturated our brains in terms of what’s real, and what’s not. Sainsbury’s conducted a study of 2,000 adults and found the average person conducts a digital makeover on at least half of all photos posted online to make their lives look more perfect than they really are, and the average person snaps 26 photos in the hunt for the perfect image (Express.co.uk, 2016). Knowing that we all commonly do this is our everyday routine, we still are comparing ourselves to the images that we know are fake, a problem that has followed humans for centuries: displaying a deep-rooted obsession with comparison.
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‘As women, I think we get a lot more shit about looking perfect compared to men, so no wonder we’re all fucked up’ Sapphire, 20 (See Appendix 4b)
17: Own Edit
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Online Beauty Fig (17) shows Kendall Jenner, a member of the famous Kardashian family. As a model, Kendall’s body is often plastered upon billboards and phone screens, portraying the perfect body for all to see. However, along with the rest of her family, Kendall has been exposed on several occasions for editing her body on photoshop - not everything you see and compare yourself to is real. When asking my focus group whether they could name any online influencers or celebrities that haven’t had surgery, the room grew suddenly silent. For many people, celebrities are the epitome of wealth; which posed the question whether success is directly in correlation to how ‘ideal’ you are to society. “I think it’s hard not to make that correlation”, said student Hannah, 21 “because the people that we see who are so successful are famous, which equated to success; and these famous people are all so gorgeous, thin and whatever.” According to Daniel Hamermesh, author of the book “Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People are more Successful”, attractive people earn an average of 3 to 4 percent more than people that are seen to have ‘below-average looks’ (Hamermesh, 2013). However, it could be argued that celebrities, who are in the media’s eye constantly, have just the same amount of pressure to look perfect, if not more. “There’s a reason why they have to be perfect” student Ailsa, 21 “like with Rihanna, when she’d put on bit of weight, she’s got slated on social media, so it’s not being skinny so they’re someone to look up to, it’s because they’re pressurised to”.
I asked Maddie, a 23 year old online influencer with an online following of 143,765 on Youtube (catering to fashion, beauty and lifestyle) if she felt the pressure to be perfect because of her job, in which she responded ‘of course, more than anything! In this industry you are nothing if you don’t look a certain way. It sounds horrible but if I put on weight, or wore something that wasn’t on trend, I’d lose my following. It’s just the way things are. I constantly feel pressured to look perfect and I hate it, but if I didn’t, my livelihood and income would disappear.’ Although my sympathies are with the people in this industry, as the pressure to conform escalates, it could be argued that this is creating a ‘fake life’ for people to look up to. (See appendix 3b)
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18: Maddie Bruce (2017)
Their Views
‘In this industry you are nothing if you don’t look a certain way. It sounds horrible but if I put on weight, or wore something that wasn’t on trend, I’d lose my following...
It’s just the way things are.’ Maddie Bruce, Social Influencer (see appendix 3b)
19: The Ground Editors (2013)
Cameron Russell, a 30 year old model from America, argues that image is superficial, and that there is no denying that how we look has a huge impact on how people view our lives. Cameron admits that most of her work is photo-shopped, however she argues that ‘this is just a small component of what’s going on in these photo’s’. Fig (20) shows a photo of Cameron at work. She says that in the photo, she had never had a boyfriend in real life and was ‘totally uncomfortable’ when the photographer was telling her to arch her back and put her hands in the male models hair, whom she had never met before. She explains that those pictures are not pictures of her, they are ‘constructions’ of what society is depicting as ideal, and women look at this photo and are jealous of her, when in reality, she is not this person (Russell, 2013). Proving that images that these ladies compare themselves to, are not real; creating an imaginary unobtainable life.
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20: Lachlan Bailey for The Libertine Magazine 2013
IMAGE IS SUPERFICIAL.
Fitspiration Everyone seems flawless on social media, but is this just to gain as many likes as they can to feel loved? In 2009 Facebook introduced its ‘Like’ button, 8 years later and it is difficult to even imagine what we’d do without it. Would we still be wondering if people liked our profile picture back in 2012, or would this not even be a consideration? Psychologist Michael J Formica argues that ‘not only do we want to be loved, we need to be loved. This aspect of the human condition is a vestige of our primal heritage, hardwired into our brains’ (J Formica MS, MA, EdM, 2014), suggesting that as social creatures, we are constantly wanting social acceptance. The term “like” has taken a completely new superficial connotation. Our obsession is not just with how many friends you have, or how many people follow you; it’s about how often your friends like whatever it is that you post. The term “like” defines our thirst for social
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media acceptance, and we are constantly comparing our own likes with others. For instance social influencers get thousands of likes on their posts, for someone looking at that, it means that they are more ideal in everyone’s lives. The rise of the ‘fitspiration’ trend, a broad term used to describe ‘fitness inspiration’, aiming to inspire individuals to create a healthy lifestyle has recently been argued to cause severe negative body image. With young people reported to be turning to social media for information about healthy lifestyle, they’re being bombarded with exercise-related images and videos aimed at persuading others to lead a healthier life (Carrotte, Prichard and Lim, 2017). However it could be argued that this form of media deliberately promotes weight loss and thinness, and glorifies aspects of disordered eating behaviour.
21: Gymshark Editorial, 2017
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22: Own Image
WOMEN VS. WOMEN
23: Women’s March, 2017
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GRAB EM’ BY THE PUSSY.
Back in 2005, when Donald Trump uttered those five words to Billy Bush, he couldn’t have known that one day he would be the driving force behind a fierce new wave of political ‘girl power’. The modern feminist movement has been drawn to attention these past few years, with a new generation altering what it means to be a modern feminist. Engaging with female focus groups highlighted their opinion of a prominent sense of gender cohesion in today’s society and an ever developing female unity; due to feminist movements such as #MeToo and This Girl Can. However, although female union-ship is felt to be more prevalent than ever, 80% of teen girls compare themselves to other females on a daily basis, with nearly half left feeling dissatisfied with their appearance (Common Sense Media, 2015). Females are feeling a sense of empowerment and togetherness more than ever, so why are they still comparing one another? An explanation as to why females ever so frequently compare themselves, is Charles Darwin’s Sexual Selection Theory, in which he argues that females compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex, otherwise known as Intra-sexual Competition (Darwin, 1871). Darwin’s theory suggests that women compare themselves to other females because they are active competition, which directly contradicts the previous point about female unity. However, it does explain some key aspects of this research, such as why women go to great lengths to both change and portray themselves on social media in a specific manner.
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24: Own Edit
HOT OR NOT? In today’s modern technology world, competition for a mate has been taken to a all new level, where the chance to get a match is made more convenient with just a swipe on your phone. However, these dating apps have restricted it down to just aesthetic aspects, removing all aspect of personality. In 2017, popular dating app, Tinder, updated its app, giving its users the option to just browse through their potential matches photo’s, without having to even look at their biography (Murdoch, 2017). This makes the intra-sexual competition purely visual, heightening the need for women to alter their bodies in order to stand out against the traffic of other women using the app. Research by Global Web Index in April 2015 confirms that the 16-34 year-olds are Tinder’s predominant audience with 38% falling into that age group (Dogtiev, 2017). When engaging in dating talks with a university focus group, they expressed that ‘everybody who’s single at university uses it, its literally like Facebook’ and when asked how they felt about the new update, they said that they’re ‘not surprised, when you use Tinder nobody cares about what their interests are, you’re matches are purely based on how hot you are’, with each of them admitting to only using their ‘best pictures’ and editing them to make themselves more ‘ideal’ as a result of this.
25: Tumblr, N.D.
Although it could be argued that women are making themselves more ideal to compete with other females to gain male attraction, what do these men actually want? ‘Men definitely judge women on their looks, they presume girls look the same as the fake Instagram chicks and Porn-stars, when that’s totally unrealistic’. Sapphire, 20 (See Appendix 4b)
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When asked what they thought, over half of the university males I asked admitted that they probably do judge women on their looks from what they see in the media and porn, however they are aware that those images are unrealistic social constructs, with the rest of the males saying they don’t judge at all, and expressed their concerns that men are judged as narcissistic characters, when in reality they value confidence over looks.
isSexy
26: Image Unknown
CONFIDENCE
KNIFED
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27: Martin Higgs Photography, 2013
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28: Davide Bellocchio - Round Magazine, N.A.
IT’S NORMAL
‘We cannot be indifferent to the surgery that is everywhere around us, advertising on late -night television, beckoning us from the back pages of women’s magazines, from right there in the middle of the newspaper we open during breakfast. These advertisements no longer disturb the cream in our morning coffee, so familiar they have become, like anything else in a consumer society.’ (Blum, 2005)
Living in this Instagram age, where every girl sponsoring a meal replacement bar, a waist trainer or a green juice drink that she clearly doesn’t like is flooded with comments saying she’s #BodyGoals. Is somehow, despite modern media being perceived as the most honest way to communicate, less cut-anddry than ever. At last we’re starting to realise that, no amount of squats, lunges, leg lifts and vegan diets gives one person Kim Kardashian’s ass or Beyoncé’s whittled waist or even Taylor Swift’s thighs. And the body we’re all trying to achieve naturally is about as unrealistic as a Kim Kardashian’s reality show. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons saw a rise in cosmetic surgery in 2016 by 37% and The MPs’ report said pressure to look good had pushed up cosmetic surgery rates by nearly 20% since 2008 (Roxby, 2014). Suggesting society is starting to make it ‘the norm’ to have a constant filter on your body.
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29: Photographed by Ryan McGinley for ‘BEAT’ magazine, 2015
BUY THEIR BUTT
30: M. Alas & M. Piggott, GQ 10th-anniversary, 2016
The thin-ideal woman portrayed in the media is difficult to achieve naturally, if not impossible (Hawkins et al., 2004). When interviewing Mr Tsekourasthe, a plastic surgeon situated in Birmingham, he stated that throughout his career he has seen procedure trends go in and out of fashion depending on who’s in the spotlight at that given time. He continued by saying his clients are wanting
‘more natural-looking breasts as well as enhanced buttocks, rounder hips and slimmer thighs’ adding that ‘requests for Kardashian-esque buttocks procedures are at an all-time high’ in his opinion. (Appendix 3a) This can be explained with Solomon Asch’s Normative Social Influence Theory. Asch suggests that there is a fundamental human need to want to belong to social groups. However, to live together we need to agree on values, attitudes and behaviours. We thus learn to conform to norms set by others and the more we see others behaving in a certain way or making particular decisions, the more we feel obliged to follow suit (Asch, 1956). The rise in the ‘Kardashian-esque buttocks’ can therefore be linked to women wanting to conform to these social norms, in order to feel a part of something greater.
32% of young women are considering plastic surgery
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under 35, the number rises to 45% BBC, 2016
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31: Editorial for The Pommie Girl Blog, 2017
Influenced Perfection
Social Influencers, Celebrities and Youtube stars are posting about their experiences with plastic surgery and nobody bats an eyelid (see appendix). A recent study by the cosmetic enhancement company Real Self, found that nearly half of their respondents were influenced somewhat by social media in making the decision to have plastic surgery (Real Self, 2015). Social media has also given cosmetic surgery the chance to grow as a brand, with many surgeries choosing to advertise on Twitter and Instagram and pairing up with celebrities such as Love Island contestant Jessica Sheers to create a trust.
QUICK FIX
Due to advances in technology, cosmetic surgeries are now able to offer semi-permanent injections, otherwise known as ’Dermal Fillers’. Positioned at a considerably lower price point than permanent cosmetic surgery, these brands are catering to a more ‘high street’ demographic (BBC News, 2013). These dermal fillers are now being sold online, in clinics and over the counter, allowing consumers to access the ‘perfect face’. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the use of softtissue fillers among 20-29 year olds was up to more than 67,000 procedures in 2015, a massive 37 per cent increase from the year before (Plastic Surgery Statistics Report, 2017). When discussing this topic with a focus group comprising 6 female fashion students, they thought that they were a great way to fix your imperfections without committing to a certain trend forever or breaking the bank; and compared to getting a regretful tattoo, they really aren’t that harmful. However, with them being more accessible to everyone, the focus group stressed their concerns for younger adolescents, as cosmetic surgery is far less stigmatised in their generation. This is proven by a survey that identified the demographic most interested in dermal fillers in 2016 were 25 year olds (ELLE, 2016). In America you can’t buy a drink until you’re 21, or gamble on the stalls in Vegas, but cosmetic surgeons are perfectly happy to let you sit down in their chair. Research into “emerging adulthood” has revealed that well into our twenties, the brain is still a ‘work in progress’ (Arnett, 2000). So perhaps, it’s not a bad idea to wait to change one’s looks until the brain, too, has been allowed to mature a bit. How many of us feel the true sense of regret when we look at the tattoo we got at 2 A.M. on our 21st birthday in some dingy tattoo shop in Ibiza? And chances are it’s not on your face. 68
32: David Benoliel, 2014
“There’s no more stigma to having fillers or Botox,” notes RealSelf spokesperson Jennifer Moses. “The mind-set is more like, ‘It’s my body. It’s my choice. It’s my money.”.
Plump it
33: Vogue China, 2016
GLOBAL CRISIS 70 68
James Lull argues that the ‘sweeping dimension on communication and connectivity’(Lull, 2013) has allowed us to globalise our cultures. The globalisation of the Western ‘ideal body’, combined with growing advancements in plastic surgery has widely affected Asian culture; specifically China and South Korea. An ABC News documentary on the ‘South Korean Obsession with Plastic Surgery’(2014) identifies Western body ideals being depicted into their own cultural aspirations. Their streets are lined with cosmetic surgery clinics and it has become the ‘norm’ to ask for a ‘Western Face’ for your birthday. Christian Lim, a 19 year old plastic surgery patient from South Korea says that its almost impossible to get a job if you don’t look westernised. ‘My friends would go on vacation and come back with a new face, its normal for us’, she said ‘to look pretty you have to have double eyelids, a v-line face and big boobs’, therefore it’s clear that western culture dominates the globalised media platform. This affects western culture because as they become more ‘westernised’ they add more pressure for us to become more ideal.
‘to look pretty you have to have double eyelids, a v-line face and big boobs’ ABC News, 2014
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34: Own Edit
THE BEAUTY INDUSTY INDUSTRY
You’ll be sexier if you buy our product. It’s no secret to anyone that the fashion industry has long been a purveyor of body shame (see appendix 7). Model, Cameron Russell argues that for the past few centuries, the beauty industry has defined beauty as ‘tall, slender figures, femininity and white skin; and if you’re a model lucky enough to be born into this jackpot, it’s something you can cash out on’, with the rest of us programmed to want to be them (Russell, 2013). The beauty industry’s overall aim is to sell their products to their consumer. In 2017, Statista recorded the UK beauty industry to be worth a whopping 13 billion pounds (Statista, 2018). This industry is rapidly growing each year, with advertisements manipulating our insecurities, using the oldest trick in the book… “You’ll be sexier if you buy our product”. Apparently, the only people who can call you ‘ugly’ in a socially acceptable way are companies advertising beauty. But their trick is to never actually say it at all; they’d just rather hint that if you buy their product, you’ll be closer to societies ideal.
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35: “BLANK CANVAS”for Vantage Shanghai, 2015
36: “BLANK CANVAS”for Vantage Shanghai, 2015
When engaging with a focus group made up of all women, they were asked to state the last skin-care product they bought and why they bought it. All 15 girls said they had bought a product with a view to altering a ‘problem area’. The beauty industry plays on the ideal body, and if we buy their product, we’ll be one step closer to the perfect body.
Are we not good enough the way we are?! The beauty industry makes us believe ugly is the original skin of humanity, and the only way to enhance it is to use their miraculous mascara that will automatically make you look like Kendal Jenner. However, some brands have been trying to alter this ‘packaged perfection’ ideal, with body positive social media campaigns. Using ‘normal’ women in their advertisements in a quest to counteract society’s image of beauty — catering to the majority of women to redefine what ‘beautiful’ actually means.
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37: “BLANK CANVAS”for Vantage Shanghai, 2015
Hide inner Beauty
2% of women describe themselves as beautiful. Dove UK, 2014
38: Case Study 1, Appendix
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Is Dove a beauty company that really wants their consumers to be themselves? Or do they just want you to buy their firming cream because it will make you look more ideal?
CHANGE THE
Conversation
In 2004 Unilever launched Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, the first-ever campaign to feature and celebrate the beauty of ‘real women’. Their research taught them that ‘2% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful’ and ‘8 in 10 British women wish the media did a better job of portraying females with a diverse physical appearance, age, race, shape and size’. As a result of this, the aim of the campaign was to celebrate the natural physical differences personified by all women, and to encourage them to have the confidence to be comfortable and happy with themselves. This campaign has been deemed as successful, winning several advertising awards and increasing sales (Dove UK, 2014). However, Fig (37) shows a advert used by the body positive brand for their new firming products, which when shown to university women, they replied with...
‘ but why are you advertising products that are going to change my body, if YOU SAY my bodieS ALREADY beautiful? ’ Zoe, 21
This suggests that although Dove have tried to change the conversation with body image, they’re still part of the beauty industry trying to sell products.
GOOD TAKEAWAYS BAD TAKEAWAYS
- Created a conversation - Advertising products to change - Using unaltered images yourself, not just nourish the real you. - Statistics to shock consumer - Not advertising to a wide range of ages
39: Image Unknown
MENTAL IMPACT
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THESE REAL BEAUTY ADVERTS REINFORCE THE IDEAL BODY
‘ When brands use natural bodies They look ugly. it just reinforces the fact that I don’t want to look natural ’ Zoe, 21 (See appendix 4b)
This led to research into Kirsty (aged 20), who developed a severe eating disorder whilst in her first year at university. Kirsty explained that her eating disorder was partly as a result of trying to aspire to the fake images viewed on social media which she believed to be true – she expressed a need for more vocalised campaigns expressing how fake these are. She acknowledged that Dove and other brands have already started to make a conscious effort to start using models with more relatable bodies; however, she stressed that although it may be a step forward, it’s still ‘creating a conversation towards not being the ideal’ because women are being told that they’re not the ideal, but its okay not to be, which ‘kinda reinforces the ideal body’ (Kirsty, 20). In short, Kirsty is arguing that by vocalising the fact that whilst this is a deviant, it is still highlighting a norm. Furthermore, the fact that Dove is a beauty brand that is selling their products to ‘make you feel sexier’, almost contradicts the notion of loving your body the way it is.
DO IT BETTER Therefore, when targetting to female students, under no circumstances should there be any reference to the ideal body.
‘Saying I’m body confident is a bit of a back handed compliment, you’re basically saying that I’m fat, but it’s okay because I’m confident about it. Body confidence is just a term used to describe fat women who flaunt it.’ Helen Anderson, a Social Influencer with a huge following of 590,000 followers, recently used her YouTube platform to express her views on the growth of modern body confidence in the media. She expressed her concern that because she wasn’t what society depicted as the ‘ideal size’, when showing her body on-line she got questions on how she was so body confident. ‘We’ve been made to feel so sh*t about ourselves because the media keeps giving us these unobtainable images of women and beauty, and this idea of what we should look like, that when a girl that goes against the grain and is happy with herself the way she is, there is this need to know the secret, but there isn’t a secret’. She argues that adverts such as the Dove Real Beauty campaign affirm this behaviour, by pigeon-holing women against the ideal as body confident, almost saying ‘you’re not the norm, but it’s okay because your confident’. This is a view point that Helen believed should be withdrawn from media and brands should just use normal size women in their ads, without having to scream that they’re for body confidence. ‘I feel we do not need to use the expression ‘body confident’ as though it is important, its just reaffirms that we aren’t what society says is pretty – we should just concentrate on being confident and happy within ourselves, rather than really worrying about what we look like’. After carefully analysing a wide range of body confident adverts, it seems that there are not many tailored to my consumer. (see appendix) When discussing this with university women, they all said that although they understood the meaning behind it, it is not something they could relate to, as the advertising showed either young girls or older women. As a result of this, I think this is a gap in the market that needs to be addressed.
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‘Body confidence is just a term used to describe fat women that flaunt it’
40: Helen Anderson, 2016
Helen Anderson, 2017
;
KEY INSIGHTS;
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SOCIETIES IDEAL BODY IT’S COOL TO SELF DEPRECATE WE LOVE TO HATE THE MEDIA FEMINISM VS. COMPARISON TRENDING DERMAL FILLERS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
‘if tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business.’ Dr. Gail Dines
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41: Own Image
THE BIG IDEA; Create an empowering campaign to motivate females studying at University to stop comparing and altering themselves to fit what modern media depicts as the ideal body and reinforce self love.
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42: Imke Walenberg - Baggy Eyes Monday (2017)
THE AIM. For female students to change their emotional reaction when looking at ideal figures in the media. Instead of looking at these images and wishing they looked more like them, the aim is to alter this so that when looking at these images, they see how fake they are.
The Objectives. Awareness of fake ideals pushed by modern media. Create a viral conversation for the target market to relate to. Use empowering motifs found in feminist protests and campaigns to inspire the target audience. Take the target audience on a journey towards self love. Use a variety of mediums to maximise the engagement of the target audience for a lengthy period. Use marketing methods that will stimulate a reaction to my target audience, so as a result they change their emotional reaction towards the ideal form. 43: Aims and Objectives, Appendix 8
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Established that female students do not feel like their voice is heard when suffering with self comparison.
When the target audience interacts with images she sees as ideal, she is reminded that although this maybe ideal, it isn’t necessarily real.
A video campaign that reinforces the notion that most of what they see on Instagram is altered.
Target the consumer at the key points she feels the most vunerable in day to day life.
When the target consumer goes to compare herself to these ideal figures, she thinks back to the campaign.
The Situation; Reflecting on the key insights from the primary and secondary research, it is apparent that female students who lack confidence in feeling comfortable in their own skin aren’t currently being directly catered for in the positive body image industry. When asked, female students expressed that although the importance of positive body image is being highlighted in society, they don’t feel the campaigns available are targeted at them, nor cater to what they want from a campaign. Mental health issues are not uncommon in the ages of 18-24, in which 89% of them are in higher education in the UK, and so it is surprising that these are not the main target audience. In addition to this, female students feel that the current body confidence campaigns are reiterating the ideal body norms. Expressing that by highlighting the fact that their bodies aren’t the ideal but to ‘be confident anyway’, almost re advertises the ideal form. As well as this, fashion imagery platforms are still using this false imagery comparison, which isn’t helping self comparisons.
The Limitations;
In Western society, the culture of everyday life has become entwined with the internet; with such beauty ideals being engrained into us on a hourly basis as we scroll. Whilst it is difficult to persuade brands to adopt more normalised figures when targeting female students, I can attempt to create a dialogue to highlight the issues that university women are facing and create a support system for those struggling. Although they know these images are false, the true need for these women is to see idealism, and so comparative culture will be apparent. It is human instinct to want to look at something that is beautiful than to look at something that is less so.
The Question;
The female student prefers to see ideal figures when scrolling social media. However, is there a way of letting them see the beauty of these images, but help change their emotional reaction of self comparison.
44: Aims and Objectives, Appendix 8
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The Answer; To change the emotional reaction to self compare prior to seeing ideal figures, a campaign will reinforce that although these images are part of our everyday lives, they’re false representations of beauty.
45: Photographed by Paola Kudacki, 2015
IDEALS BEFORE CAMPaiGN
46: Kendall Jenner & Kylie Jenner Bikini Editorial, 2017
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AWARENESS OF REALISM AFTER CAMPAIGN
47: Sara Shakeel, 2015
FEMALE STUDENTS Due to the modern media’s portrayal of the ideal form proving such an international extensive issue, a campaign targeting everyone affected wouldn’t be plausible. As a result of this, female university students will be the main focus for a number of reasons. Student life, although it may seem like one big massive party, actually comes with a whole raft of new responsibilities. For many students, University is the first time they’ve lived outside of the sheltered environment of the family home and away from the watchful gazes of their carers. Students leave their home towns, friends and comforts with the underlying mission to become an adult; whilst still achieving good grades, maintaining a social life and questioning potential career paths. With students having to move away from home to study at the University of their choice, they make up approximately one fifth of all movements in England (Swinney, 2016). As a result of this, it makes them an accessible audience to target a campaign, as they are condensed into one university campus. Therefore the awareness of any campaign will spread quickly and consequently, achieve more impactful. In addition to this, female students don’t have enough support surrounding confidence issues and self love, whilst they take on the huge endeavour of becoming an adult, with 85% of female students surveyed (see appendix 5), argued that they don’t feel their university supports women with body image issues.
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Make friends No Parents Responsibility New City Different Culture ‘Deal with it, you’re an adult now’
Fig 44 98
49: Own Moodboard
With a short age span of 18-21, these women born from 1996 onwards, fall into the ‘Generation Z’ (also known as the iGeneration, Post-Millennials or Homeland Generation). These individuals are the first generation to be born into modern media. These individuals have grown up in a society where the constant bombardment of advertisements is apparent; forcing Modern Media to adapt to cater to their instant gratification needs.
‘I hate adverts that are long, if it didn’t tell me everything I needed to know in 0.2 seconds I’m out’ Annabella Knott, First Year Student (See appendix 4c)
A study, conducted by IAB in partnership with Millward Brown Digital, found brands running 10-second mobile video advert had a greater persuasion potential for Generation Z compared to a longer advert. Therefore, when marketing to this generation, advertising needs to provide a short and succinct message. An example of this being implemented is the 5 second adverts on Youtube. Online Influencers have also taken social media by storm, becoming the new form of celebrities (Daab, 2017). Dominating all of the most popular social media apps, these influencers are living up to their name, becoming arguably the most trusted faces of brands for Generation Z. A quarter of the U.S population is made up of Generation Z and by the year 2020, 40 per cent of all items sold will be to them (Finch, 2015). Although their ideals may be radical, brands must adapt to keep up with their forever growing technology era.
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50: Henrietta Harris, 2016
Modern media has also become their key social source and the globalising1 of their generation has allowed them to feel more connected with people on the other side of the world in comparison to their next door neighbour, with instant messaging become the main modem of communication. This messaging is the same between a friend from school and someone on the other side of the world met online, meaning that the communicative method is the same, regardless of location. With all the information they will ever need at a touch of a button, instantaneous gratification is the key to keeping this generation interested, becoming what you could call the ‘now’ generation (Finch, 2015). These specific marketing techniques for Generation Z outlined above will need to be considered when marketing to the campaign to the female students. In addition to this, the campaign will focus on targetting first year university women, as research with previous first year students shows that this is when they feel the most vulnerable and alone (see appendix 4a).
WHO? In 2016, members of Saint Mary’s University Healthy Minds team created the campaign ‘Reality Check’, to fight back against body image issues caused by the media. Their main aim was to highlight the issues that magazines create by using unrealistic images that don’t channel the reality of everyday, non-photoshopped people.
51: Own Image
“You need to know that you are enough and you are more than what those magazines say that you should be,” Samuel, member of the Healthy Minds Team.
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Shred That WHEN?
The campaign runs along side other activities the university runs during Eating Disorder Awareness Week, which runs up until February 7th, which is typically the start of another study term for university students. This is an important time to target students, as they may feel overwhelmed when they return back to university after being in the comforts of their homes over the Christmas break.
WHAT? The wellness squad works to break down mental health stigma on campus and provide a safe place for other students to seek support. One of their latest methods to push this positive body attitude was #ShredThat, where women at the university were encouraged to bring in images of women that they once idolised, and shred them together as a community. Not only does this add closure and symbolism to their body issues, it also reminds these women that they’re not alone.
TAKE AWAYS? Jamie Pottie is a third-year student at the university who previously suffered with an eating disorder. She says that the Reality Check campaign supported her when trying to overcome her disorder and it led her to becoming more body positive as it made her see things clearer and she didn’t feel alone anymore; showing how successful the campaign was. There are several key points that make this campaign impactful, which can be adapted into a campaign for UK Universities. It is key that symbolising the importance of false comparisons is something that allows women to think clearer when they’re feeling low and also providing communities with support. However, this campaign fails to provide support for women that don’t necessarily feel comfortable talking about these subjects in a public setting. So its important that a campaign has an online voice too.
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52: Dina Litovsky, 2015
TARGET AUDIENCE;
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I don’t even like avocado...
This isn’t my car, or my dog...
Secret Self Doubt.
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53: Own Moodboard
FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT. ‘DO IT FOR THE GRAM’ ‘Do it for the gram’ is a way of self satisfaction (Journey into Comdev, 2017). A way that fulfils a moment of needing attention in the form of likes, feeling a need to impress others, but most importantly painting an image of yourself based on what you wish to become. ‘Do it for the gram’ is an urban expression of posting pictures that aren’t really truly you, creating illusion that you post on Instagram. The meaning behind it is to portray a picture for your audience to make them believe something that is not entirely true, in order to gain self-gratification. For example, posting pictures of expensive items such as clothes, cars, a property or pictures from vacations makes your audience believe you are rich. Being an image conscious student with her income being her student loan, the ‘Fake it till you make it’ consumer is guilty of this; often appearing to have some sort of cookie-cutter, perfectly girly and on-trend life, that guarantees Instagram notoriety. She’s adorned with likes and gratification that make her feel loved. But behind this fake persona, is a girl hiding her true insecurities. A girl that online may seem to have it all; the perfect body, future career and social life, but in reality, she is just a student trying to stand out.
54: Image Unknown
\Online Addiction When interviewing this consumer, they admitted to checking their social media at least 40 times a day, with their first app being Instagram, followed by snapchat and then twitter, and when she comes home from university, she normally spends the night watching her favourite YouTubers. Typically studying on a creative or fashion course, her social media is not only a tool for her to manipulate her image, but also how she keeps up to date with important fashion trends she needs for her studies as she’s considered to be an early adopter when it comes to style.
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The ‘Fake it till you make it’ consumer is constantly keeping up with the influencers she looks up to, as she admires their style, body and ethics, often wishing she could mimic them identically. She’s perfected a selfie-smile and pose and can edit her posts instantaneously. The social aspect of university life is important to her, however going to
the generic student nightclubs is never an option. She and her friends enjoy atmospheric, idyllic settings to sit down and have a aesthetic cocktail, providing more opportunities for photos. ‘Me and my friends normally go out for cocktails instead of big club nights because we love to get dressed up, we normally here about these places on Instagram or The Tab ... as long as its ‘Instagramable’ we don’t really have a preference’ Annabella Knott, First Year Student (See appendix 4c)
Photoshop is her best friend, as she often ‘tweeks’ her photos in order to achieve the best figure in her posts. However, plastic surgery is a possibility with this consumer, explaining that she’d ‘never say never to a few tweeks here and there’ and that she had thought about it as a realistic move for the future.
55: Own Image
56: @jordanlipscombee, Instagram
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Name: Jordan Age: 20 University: Nottingham Trent Course: Textile Design Year of Study: Year 2 Talent: Photography and fine art 1 Cool Fact: I can whistle through my nose Positives in Personality: I give good advice Flaws in Personality: I come across as patronising sometimes Values: Family, fashion, creativity and my Gucci Slides Goals: Work in the social influencer industry and travel the world Pet Peeves: Loud eaters Behaviour: Friendly, confident and loud Happiest When: Editing photos whilst watching Netflix in bed with a hot chocolate Influenced by: Mostly Instagrammers and Youtubers, but sometimes I see people around university and that inspires me. Favourite Brands: In terms of fashion; Asos, Missguided, TopShop, Gucci, Urban Outfitters, Depop and H&M. In terms of lifestyle; Spotify, Netflix Favourite Film/Series: Gossip Girl xoxo Couldn’t Live Without: My phone & photo editing app VISCOCAM! Checks Instagram: 30+ times a day probably Tips for the Best Selfie: Good lighting, smile and invest in a good editing app Opinions on Plastic Surgery: I have my lips done, do what you want with your body Opinions on Instagram: TOXIC but addictive Describe your body: Better with a filter on it Favourite Social: Shopping, food or cocktails with the girls Eating Out: More independent restaurants as they’re usually prettier. But my go to’s are always Wagamama’s, Wahaka or Nando’s Night Out: CocoTang, BaaBaa or Market Bar. If we go for cocktails I like Pepper Rocks Feels the most insecure when: Looking on the discover page on Instagram and just before sex Feels the most beautiful when: When I get lots of likes on a photo or a compliment off a stranger
‘I think we’re all definitely guilty of using photoshop now and again to snatch that waist,
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there’s nothing wrong with it.’ Jordan, 20 (see appendix 3e)
Jordan’s Typical Wednesday
Sets alarm for 7:00 Spends 45 minutes checking Instagram and Snapchat. Instagram discover page takes up her time Feels like her body is at it’s slimmist in the morning, but when on the Instagram discover page, she finds herself comparing
7:45 - Shower for 15 minutes 8:00 Apply make-up for 30 minutes (Never leaves the house without a full face)
8:30 Choose an outfit Inspiration from Instagram Instagram Stories to show the finished look
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9:00 Lecture Feels very insecure walking into a room full of fashion students
‘I don’t post a selfie on Instagram without a filter on it’
7:00 Dinner and cocktails with course friends
57: Own Image, See Appendix 5
Prefers bars to clubs 11:00 Bed, scrolls through Social Media and watches Youtube for 2 hours A pretty cocktail to post on Instagram
Scrolls through social media
Compares her day to others 2:30 Lunch, ‘presentation is key’
3:00 Relax’s in room, watches Netflix and scrolls social media Posts a throwback on Instagram to a better day - To make sure people think she’s busy Only posts Instagrams at 7:00 as this is prime time to get more likes
Instagram Stories behind the scenes 1:00 Styling a photoshoot for work experience
Posts it on Instagram Stories 11:00 Starbucks coffee with course friends
A I D A
WARENESS Social Media is a key tool for them to discover new brands and campaigns. The consumer will spend hours scrolling through Instagram Stories. The consumer also discovers brands and campaigns through websites such as The Business of Fashion.
INTEREST In order for this consumer to build an interest, the campaign has to have created a hype around the people that she respects. For example if her favourite influencer was posting about it, or the Business of Fashion featured it, this would be something that would catch her eye. This consumer wont interact with a campaign that others aren’t talking about.
ESIRE The consumer will want to be associated with a brand if the connotations surrounding it are either cool, controversial or innovative.
ATTENTION
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To show they want to be associated with a brand the consumer will post themselves using it, or where it around in public places where other people they are similar to can recognise this, for example at university or working at London Fashion Week.
The ‘Fake it till you Make it’ audience are positioned between the early adopters and the early majorities in terms of adopting trends. They are always aware of the current trends in society, but always wait to adopt them into their routines when they feel like there is enough hype around it. This is important to acknowledge as Everett Rogers argues that audiences that are early to adopt trends are typically more open to respond and adapt to new campaigns and trends
Early MAJORITY Early Adopters Innovators
LATE MAJORITY LAGGARDS
THE LONELY LURKER. This consumer is the women ‘quietly existing’, with a history of poor mental health and self esteem, she rarely uses social media to update others about her life, instead she uses it to browse and live life through others, wishing she was more like them. Her image isn’t the most important thing for her, as she doesn’t feel she has the confidence or looks to get likes, so she’d rather not post at all. However, when she does post, the likes she gets give her the ultimate boost.
‘I’d never post a photo of just me, it would always be me and at least one other person, so then if the photo didn’t get that many likes, I couldn’t assume that it was me that looked ugly’. When talking to Kirsty, who is currently recovering from an eating disorder she developed at university, she stressed that the main catalyst for her eating disorder was due to her comparing herself to the women she viewed on Instagram.
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I’m not good enough ...
Mental Health History.
58: Own Moodboard
58: Own Image
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Name: Hannah Age: 21 University: Nottingham Trent Course: Politics and International Relations Year of Study: Year 1 Talent: Drawing 1 Cool Fact: I can back flip Positives in Personality: I’m selfless Flaws in Personality: I lack major confidence Values: Family, kindness from others Goals: Leave university with a 1st Pet Peeves: Selfishness Behaviour: Quiet and socially awkward Happiest When: Going home for the weekend and spending time with my dog Influenced by: Magazines and my friends Favourite Brands: Urban Outfitters and COW Favourite Film/Series: Luther, Orange is the New Black and The Dark Knight Couldn’t Live Without: My dog and phone Checks Instagram: 15 times roughly Tips for the Best Selfie: I can’t take a good selfie Opinions on Plastic Surgery: I would probably get my nose done in the future Opinions on Instagram: Addictive Describe your body: Giggly! Favourite Social: Long walks or going for food Eating Out: Nando’s or Pizza Express Night Out: I don’t go on nights out Feels the most insecure when: Out in public when people look at me and in the morning, and on Instagram Feels the most beautiful when: Compliments from my friends
Hannah’s Typical Monday Sets alarm for 7:00 and spends 15 minutes on Instagram
Covers body so others 8:30 Shower and don’t judge her body dressed - Looking in the mirror highlighting insecurities 7:30 Gym for an hour Compares herself to others at the gym with better physiques
9:00 University Lectures for 3 hours and compares herself to her peers 12:00 Lunch Break in the library: A Tesco meal deal 124
8:50 Toast for breakfast
5:00 Walks home and spends the evening watching Netflix and watching her favourite influencers on Youtube Watches Stranger Things & Zoella
59: See Appendix 5
3:00 Spends a few more hours in the library
Scrolls through social media
7:00 Prepares dinner and makes small talk with flatmates Has a break from phone when eating
Spends the evening scrolling through Instagram. Feels the most insecure
1:00 Group meeting for University work for 2 hours
Being an introvert makes group meetings hard
A I D A
WARENESS ‘The Lonely Lurker’ discovers new campaigns mainly through the Youtubers she watches. Trusting their opinion, she prefers campaigns that collaborate with influencers, as she relates more to them. This ties in closely to social identity theory, which argues that humans naturally trust the opinions of members whom they feel like they can relate to.
INTEREST Campaigns that spark interest for this consumer are ones that make her feel like she’s being reached out to personally. If a campaign is on a topic she feels strongly about, she’s more likely to start to research more about it.
ESIRE She wants to be associated with a campaign that she feels she can make a difference if interactiing with.
ATTENTION
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This consumer finds it difficult to adopt new campaigns that she likes into her life as she doesn’t like the attention to be on her, so posting about them isn’t an option. She will most likely interact with a campaign through following and liking their content on social media and talking about it with her peers.
‘The Lonely Lurker’ audience are positioned between the Late Majority and the Laggards in terms of adopting trends. Although they use social media to keep up to date with current trends, she lacks the confidence to adopt these until they’re over saturated This is important as this consumer doesn’t want to publicly immerse themselves in a campaign by posting about it
Early MAJORITY Early Adopters Innovators
LATE MAJORITY LAGGARDS
60: Own Moodboard
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CARE FREE LASS. This consumer has used her university life to socialise, and values doing things with loved ones more than her Instagram feed. Instead of pairing her night-out look with stunning pair of heels to look put together in photos, she’ll wear her trainers, so she can be comfortable and dance the night away. In-keeping with everyone in Generation Z, she’s frequently using social media, using it to post pictures with her and her friends, documenting her antics and to keep up to date with her peers.
CONFIDENT AND CARE FREE ATTITUDE Her confidence and care-free attitude made integrating into university life easier than most, and has found close knit friendships through whom she lives with, her course peers and society friends. She joined societies as she had a love for the sport at high school, and thought it was a great way to immerse herself; allowing her to experience University life, but meet new people and attend social events weekly. However, although this consumer is actively social, when using social media she quietly questions her looks compared to her peers and other online influencers. Whilst this doesn’t affect her as much as my other consumers, she often neglects her negative body confidence as she likes to be seen as the ‘care free lass’.
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Name: Ailsa Age: 20 University: Nottingham Trent Course: International Business Year of Study: Year 2 Talent: Netball 1st Team 1 Cool Fact: I used to play netball professionally Positives in Personality: I like to think I’m funny Flaws in Personality: I am very disorganised Values: Nights out with my friends Goals: Travel the world with my best friend Pet Peeves: Boring people Behaviour: Outgoing, confident and cooooool Happiest When: All of my friends are in one place Influenced by: Music, social media and friends Favourite Brands: Urban Outfitters, Apple and Tinder Favourite Film/Series: Stranger Things Couldn’t Live Without: My phone Checks Instagram: 20+ times Tips for the Best Selfie: Don’t overthink it Opinions on Plastic Surgery: Go for it if you really want to Opinions on Instagram: Evil but fun Describe your body: Meh. Favourite Social: Nights out Eating Out: Nando’s Night Out: Ocean, any social event Feels the most insecure when: When I look on Instagram at all the pretty girls and when I wake up in the morning Feels the most beautiful when: Compliments from my friends and lots of likes on my photo
Ailsa’s Typical Wednesday
Wakes up naturally at 10:30 and spends 30 minutes on Instagram Compares her body to others
Posts on Instagram a picture of the night before
11:00 Shower, breakfast and walks to university with housemates
6:00 Quick, cheap pizza for dinner
1:00 Lunch at Wetherspoons with course friends Enjoys this time away from her phone and spending time with her friends 132
3:00 Netball match with University society against another University
Compares herself to other girls on opposite team
62: See Appendix 5
3:00 After McDonalds, uses Snapchat to review the night before going to sleep in her make-up
11:30 Dance in the club with friends to favourite songs
Posts selfies with friends and funny things that happen on Snapchat. This is the only time she posts on there
9:00 Pre-drinks at a friend from netball’s house. Usually the best part of the night for socialising
7:30 Gets ready for night out whilst watching Youtube. Usually goes for a casual look Enjoys getting ready and making herself look glamorous as she doesn’t make an effort during the day
A I D A
WARENESS Awareness of new campaigns is obtained by word of mouth. This consumer values her peers opinions more than strangers on social media.
INTEREST In order for this consumer to build an interest, the campaign must be creating a conversation in university. If this consumer notices others participating, she will start to question why, and how she can get involved to. This relates back to the theory of belonging, arguing that humans natural adapt to societal trends in order to feel a sense of belonging.
ESIRE Not wanting to be left out of something everybody is talking about at university. If this campaign is creating buzz, she’ll develop a desire to be involved.
ATTENTION
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She would interact with the campaign through discussing and recommending it to peers through social media shares and speaking to them in person.
The ‘Care Free Lass’ audience are positioned between the early majorities and the late majorities in terms of adopting trends. They tend to discover trend through the early majority and adopt it soon after them so stay current. This is important to acknowledge as enough conversation needs to occur first in order for this audience to participate.
Early MAJORITY Early Adoptors Innovators
LATE MAJORITY LAGGARDS
Whilst already identifying the insecurities of these women, it is still paramount to understand what they want from a campaign, in order for it to benefit them the most. When discussing the Dove Real Beauty campaign with the target audience, they explained their want for idealism when viewing advertisements. Revealing that whilst it is good that a greater variety of women are being used in advertising, it doesn’t alter are need for looking at idealistic forms. However, these women also identified that whilst they enjoy looking at ideal, they don’t enjoy the comparisons they face along with it. Identifying that the wants of the target audience is to find a way to enjoy the idealistic content they face throughout everyday life, without the physiological ramifications to go with it.
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SOUNDS HARSH, BUT THE DOVE ADS DON’T WORK BECAUSE PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO SEE UGLY BODIES.
Zoe, 21 (See appendix 4b)
63: Own Image
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I t EDID IT FOR THE GRAM.
Don’t compare yourself.
64: Editorial for The Pommie Girl Blog, 2017
INTRODUCING
Being a generation obsessed with likes, Generation Z have developed a social trend on Instagram, where people feel the need to take photos purely to create a life on Instagram that is false, highly manipulated, but ‘like worthy’. This campaign, ‘I Edit for the Gram’ aims to highlight the importance of not comparing yourself to the highly edited images on Instagram that modern media depicts as ideal. Baumeister and Leary (1995) argue that the need to belong is a fundamental human need and that we will do almost anything to fit into social norms. The ‘I did it for the Gram’ trend highlights this, where Instagram users are mimicking crazy trends in order to gain a social status and acceptance from society, which could be argued is not actually their real life.
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The ‘I Edit for the Gram’ campaign encapsulates both the ‘I did it for the Gram’ trend and the other main issue on Instagram, the normalisation of unobtainable, fake, bodies; that my consumer is comparing herself to. In a recent `Instagram poll completed by university students (see appendix 5) that women are already aware that these perfect women are fake, but they still aren’t doing anything about it. Therefore, this campaign will target these women that are aware, to create a stand
Nothing is actually funny, I just want people on Instagram to think that I’m having fun.
65: @sophiaandcinzia, Instagram
VISION
Re-invision female students relationship with the media’s misrepresentation of the ideal form.
PROMISE
Support, Motivation, and Honesty ‘I Edit it for the Gram’ promises to provide support and empower them throughout their discovery of self love.
VALUES
Honesty and Clarity Female students can trust ‘I Edit for the Gram’ to remind them that what they are comparing themselves to isn’t real, when they feel the most insecure.
PERSONALITY Humorous yet strong Motivational Empowered To the Point Honest
MESSAGE It’s okay to be normal, don’t compare yourself. Think before you compare.
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BRAND IDENTITY 66: See Appendix 10
Our Values;
New perspective when using social media. Pureness when using social media.
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To remind women that Instagram provides false comparison.
PE
ND FA
OO PR
Assets;
el
Voice; B In old Hu form bu mou al t F rou ac tua s l
COLOUR PALETTE
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I Edit it for the Gram’s colour palette uses Pantone’s ‘Red 1797C’ and ‘Bubblegum 211C’. Although argued to clash, the bold mix of red with the millennial pink denotes a rebellious tone. When showing university women this colour palette, they were instantly hooked. Expressing that these colours mean excitement, modern and fun to them. Pink and Red has also been heavily linked feminism. With riot banners coated with red and pink to strike back at society; something that I Edit for the Gram wants to achieve also.
67: Own Moodboard
68: Montreal Feminist Movement, 2018
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‘Add red to pink and it’s suddenly badass.’ Alex, 21 (See appendix 9a)
TONE TONE OF OF VOICE VOICE
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69: Own Moodboard
‘The first few weeks of university were the hardest weeks of my life. I cried, a lot. I felt lost, overwhelmed and so hungover.’ Annabella Knott, First Year Student (See appendix 4c)
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BEAUTY UNPLUGGED
HOSTED BY INFLUENCER HELEN ANDERSON.
including a friendly face to an event is argued to allow the audience to trust that it will be worth Going to.
A frame of the ideal body will be positioned to show the guests that women don’t all have to be one shape to be beautiful
FREE PIZZA!
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70: Own Moodboard
The guests will be encouraged to take group pictures in the photobooth, not only creating a memory of the event, but also provides a way of ADVERTISING
WHO?
The I Edit it for the Gram campaign will launch an event called Beauty Unplugged.
WHAT?
The event will have several activities throughout the evening aimed at getting people to socialise without their phones and get them discussing positive body image.
WHEN?
The event will take place during freshers welcome week, as an alternative to a night out.
WHERE?
The Students Union, as this acts as a social hub for many students.
WHY?
Getting students socialising without the pressures of social comparisons
At the end of the event, The guests will have the choice to EXIT through either WALKWAYS. This exercise focuses on empowerment, as it’s important for the guests to feel beautiful in their own natural bodies.
HELEN ANDERSON
PRIMARY age BETWEEN 18-24
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71: Helen Anderson, 2016
AUDIENCE: 92% WOMEN
With a combined following of 800,000 across her social media platforms, social influencer Helen Anderson will be the host of the Girls Night In. Collaborating with an influencer is a direct form of targeting audiences, as they’re already looking they’re way and trusting their opinions. It can also cut through all the noise of advertisements by not appearing as one, and more so just a opinion of that influencer. Influencers are highly skilled at delivering your brand’s message in a way that is naturally woven into their personalised tone of voice, for instance, Helen can advertise this event through her Instagram Stories, persuading the audience to come down to the event. These influencer and peer-to-peer endorsements on social media can be just as effective as a famous spokesperson since they feel more authentic and relevant. This is especially true for events, as potential attendees are often looking for validation from someone they trust before committing their time and money to an event. Helen is known for her honest discussions about relatable topics on her YouTube Channel, such as break-up advice and how to feel confident in you’re own skin; making the perfect match for this campaign. In addition to this, because the target audience already engage with her online, it allows the event to become much more approachable. At the event, Helen will not only be able to socialise with the girls, but also have a 30 minute talk and Q&A, where she can not only talk about her relationship with social media, but also give tips on how to not compare oneself. TIMELY
CREATIVE
HELEN’S BRAND HONEST
HUMOUR
HELPFUL
This diagram shows how I Edit it for the Gram matches with Helen’s Brand. Its useful to evaluate what traits she can bring to it. For example, she adds humour and approachability to the campaign.
OUR CAMPAIGN
BOLD
RELATABLE
APPROACHABLE
72: B2B comparison wheel
73: Own Image
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85%
FACEBOOK EVENT
81%
WORD OF MOUTH INSTAGRAM STORIES
52%
UNIVERSITY SCHEDULING
68%
POSTERS & FLYERS 34% HOW STUDENTS FIND OUT ABOUT UNIVERSITY EVENTS Own Primary, see Appendix 5
Posters around Campus
Helen Advertises on her Instagram Stories
Helen Advertises on her daily video blog
FAcebook Event
The students union advertises on their Instagram stories
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74: Own Image
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PROMOTIONS
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Using these PR tactics, students will be encouraged to post unedited selfies on social media with the #BeautyUnplugged hashtag in order to receive a free goodie bag at the event. The free goodie bag acts as motivational tool, where the audience feels like they are receiving a free gift for nothing, when they are actually being used as a tool for exponential growth. In addition to this, the hashtag creates on online community for the audience to look at raw photographs on social media. Hashtags also create a platform for online communities to grow (Posch, 2013), which is beneficial for students to not only discuss their issues of self comparison with others, but to also have a unedited space to browse. This links to the community pillar of the 5 C’s of Social Media Marketing (Adweek.com, 2015).
77: Own Image
As a result of gathered feedback from ‘The Lonely Lurker’, it was expressed that an event isn’t what they’d interact with within a campaign, as they’d be too nervous to come to an event alone. Therefore, an additional add on from the event would be workshops for particular courses that have a high rate of female participants or mental health concerns. Taking place during the first few academic weeks, the workshops would act as not only an icebreaker, but to aid and guide students through the self comparative culture of university. The workshops would be run in smaller groups, to increase the levels of intimate communication. Similar to the Saint Mary’s Universities campaign #ShredThat, students will be encouraged to bring in magazines to collage their perfect image, and then shred it, to remind them that this image isn’t real, and can be destroyed not only physically but also mentally in order to discover self love.
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78: Own Image
THE VIDEO
‘
The video will be the way to shock the consumer, showing them how much people actually edit their Instagram’s, and everything that they’re seeing is a filtered life. The video has been inspired by Teen Vogue’s attempt to combat neglected addictions on Instagram called ‘Like my Addiction’ (HelloGiggles, 2016). They featured a famous influencer, with whom they showed her posts getting thousands of likes, however, when you look closely, it appears she has a drink in every photo. They go on to say that this influencer is suffering with alcoholism, but people are unaware and liking these images anyway. The idea that we could be liking and validating photos of loved ones that covertly or otherwise show them struggling with addiction is truly chilling, and definitely makes us think. This is a powerful method to shock the watchers, showing them that not everything you see on Instagram is the full truth. Each of the target audiences explained that one of the best ways for them to hear about campaigns were before the adverts before YouTube videos, as they are forced to watch them (see appendix 4c). Therefore, the video will be promoted on Youtube. In addition to this, the audience will be able to find the video on Facebook, as this platform allows them to share with other university students. Please use USB provided to access video.
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79: Own Images for Video Campaign
FRESHER FEELIN’
When interviewing the consumers, one of the key insights drawn was that one of the times where they feel the most insecure about their figures is in their bedroom. This is why it’s important that ‘I Edit it for the Gram’ is making their way through into their bedrooms. During welcome week, where women said they felt the most vulnerable, first year students, receive their welcome pack, which includes information about the university, activities to do in and around the city, sweets and brand vouchers. ‘I Edit it for the Gram’ plans to get involved in this welcome pack, providing a sticker that they mirror.
‘ The thing I love most about stickers it is how they show that a simple graphic or design can get into the sub-conscience of society and become part of the visual zeitgeist for the next ten or twenty years. ’ John Meloche, 2015
80: Own Image, Women’s Bathroom NTU
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The stickers will also be positioned on lamposts around the university campus, catching female students on their commute into university. Sticker art has been arguably successful for many brands to engage with local communities, creating advertising that becomes part of their playground (Ellison, 2015).
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Stickers are also a useful tool to make the consumer feel valued (Zee, 2017). For example Apple uses stickers to make consumers feel like they’ve received a free gift, when this is just an easy way to advertise the brand. In addition to this John Meloche argues that giving away free items attracts a buzz to brand, with people wanting to explore more of what their about (Meloche, 2015).
STICK ME ON YOUR MIR R OR 68% of t h e im ages yo Don ’t compa
re your u see on Instagram natural a ‘I Edit it to their re edited Universit for the gram’ is u nnatura y to stop working l! w y it
ou h unobtain able figu from comparing your mirror o res. Stic y ourself k this st f your n to ic e k w e r r o on the om to re the natu mind you ral you rs is beautif ul, unfilt elf that e red. Post a u nedited s el universit y mirror fie of you in you r onto ins tAgram u new #Unedite sing the dfortheg ram
The public see advertising as a form of ‘capitalist realism’, in which its images and words portray not life as it is, but life as it should be according to the principles of capitalism. Urban advertising and graffiti thus appear differently inflicted with ‘producer motivations’ and represent a honest and personal ideal. This is important for the brand as one of the key messages is honesty when it comes to advertising. (Cronin, 2006) 82: Own Image
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GO WHERE YOUR PEOPLE ARE.
‘You can build an amazing website but if nobody sees it, it’s all for nothing. Look at where your people are and get in front of them.’ (The Guardian, 2013)
SHOUT IT. ‘Be tenacious. It’s hard to be noticed with the constant bombardment of advertising. So scream it in their face until they notice you.’ (The Guardian, 2013)
THEREFORE. The graffiti marketing will be positioned on the audiences commute to university, giving them a confidence boost and reminding them that they don’t need to compare.
OTHER TOUCH POINTS
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83: Own Image
Reaching out to the target audience at their more private social events such as pre-drinks. These cups will be handed out at the welcome week Freshers Fairs, with the hope they would be used on the evening.
Similar to the work of Candy Chang’s ‘Before I Die’ mural wall (see appendix), the interactive wall acts as a tool for students to socialising with other students and start to feel part of a wider community. wider community. The wall is a celebration of natural bodies, making the audience feel empowered. Whilst these methods of advertising are impactful, it is important to consider how long these will stay impactful, as once the audience has seen it once, it may blend into the furniture, a phenomenon called advert blindness (Small Business, n.d.). Therefore these must be staggered and short term advertising in order to perceive effectiveness.
These banners will be used as a tool to remind the consumer around the library, as this is a location that the target audience felt they experienced a lot of comparisons (see appendix 5)
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SELLING THE CAMPAIGN The campaign will be sold to universities using a leaflet format and engaging with the student unions. Preliminarily, the campaign will have to reach out the University themselves and establish what they want from the campaign. Because the campaign is so dynamic, the university would be able to choose what they want from the campaign and how relevant they want it to be around their university. When reaching out to the universities, the campaign will initially reach out to the universities with the worst mental health track record. In a survey conducted by The Tab analysing the mental health of 47 UK universities, York, UCL, and Leeds Beckett were rated the worst for mental health (The Tab, 2017). Subsequent to this information, the campaign will originally reach out to these Universities, as the campaign aims to have the biggest impact possible. Once the campaign has affected these universities, the campaign can be taken to universities around the UK, as although their mental health may be better, self comparison still may be prevalent. Whilst a leaflet has been prepared to advertise and aid approaching Universities, the biggest advertisement will be the success stories from other universities.
A TRIAL OF THE CAMPAIGN WILL BE RUN AT NOTTINGHAM TRENT STUDENT UNION Students will be given a questionnaire on how effective they thought the campaign was.
FRESHERS FAIR
The Freshers Fair is an event in which brands have the opportunity to interact with the first year students one to one. The I Edit it for the Gram campaign will have its own stool at the fair, handing out the branded stickers and red cups. Staff will also be their to talk more about the workshops being run in lectures.
PITCH CAMPAIGN TO UNIVERSITIES
Pitch the campaign concept to universities in January to allow time to tailor their requirements to the campaign for Welcome Week in September
MURAL WALL A mural wall will be added to the students union area of the campus, as this typically acts as a social hub for students. When students start writing on the wall, it instantly gets them socialising face-to-face without social media as well as expressing positive body image.
STICKERS FRESHERS WELCOME WEEK
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Freshers will receive their welcome packs in their rooms, with the They Edit it for the Gram sticker inside for their mirrors.
Firstly teased by NTSU on their Instagram Stories in August when students start following their new universities on Instagram to start preparing for university. Helen confirms her appearance at the start of September on her Youtube Video blog and Instagram Stories. The event goes live on Facebook, with it being posted on the university accommodation pages, which new students often use to find their room-mates.
THE EVENT
Beauty Unplugged will take place mid week. With the promotions leading up to this.
The week of the event, posters will be dotted around campus. The day before the event, flyers will be posted under communal accommodation doors, for the last point of contact before the event.
Launched February 26th for body CONFIDENCE awareness week The Workshops
The workshops will take place in the first few weeks of university, depending on when the course deems it appropriate.
The VIDEO FRESHERS WELCOME WEEK
The video will be launch in the new term, to refresh the campaign in order to not be subjected to advert blindness.
Compliment graffiti
The grafitti walls will pop up around campus to target students on their commute to University.
85: Time-line of events, see appendix 10
CONSUMER TARGETTING
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86: See appendix 10
SOCIAL: Extrovert Fake it till you make it
The event will specifically targets the ‘Fake it till you Make it’ consumer as she typically prefers social nights with more laid back and ‘Instagrammable’ settings. In addition to this, the consumer is highly influenced by social influencers and therefore would be attracted to an event hosted by one.
wants a place she can socialise BUT NOT A CLUB SOCIAL: Introvert
Because of her introverted social manner, she would respond better to socialising by doing workshops with smaller working groups. She then gets to feel part of a wider community and learn other people have the same body concerns as her.
The lonely lurker The Lonely Lurker suits being influenced by the workshops and video campaign, as she wouldn’t put herself in a social situation that she doesn’t have to be in. In addition to this, the compliments boards would be a nice touch to brighten her day when commuting to university each day.
too shy for events This is important as Marshall small groups are argues that extroverts are more likely to better frequently update their social SOCIAL: Extrovert Care free lass
media (Marshall, 2015), therefore more likely to share things they like on social media such as the compliment and mural walls.
The ‘Care Free Lass’ would respond well to the interactive mural wall as it would allow her to socialise whilst expressing her creative side. The video would also be something she could share on Facebook with her friends to spread the word.
Would rather be at a club than a event - other routes of communication suit her better
FINAL IDEA FEEDBACK 90% of people asked said that they would attend the event based on the mock-ups provided and a short explanation of what it entailed.
70%
70% of people asked said that they liked the imagery for the campaign The other 30% thought the imagery was good but thought it was too girly
100% 176
90% 30%
100% of people asked agreed that comparative culture to unobtainable ideals is something that isn’t discussed enough, and support would be helpful for females at university
87: Own Image
88: Kanye West Floating Stage, 2016
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NOT JUST A INSTA TREND Similar to the internet killing our perceptions of what is real and what isn’t, it has also killed our lack of communication face to face and ability to ‘live in the moment’. A Bank of America survey identified that 29% of Americans choose text as their preferred method of conversing with others (Trends in Consumer Mobility Report, 2016), emphasising the fact that our smart phones our new best friend. Current debates reiterate this, with smartphones starting to create a divide among gig-goers, questioning whether they should be allowed to capture the event, instead of just ‘being in the moment’. Now it seems, the latter have won their fight, with Apple innovating sophisticated new camera technology using infrared signals to deter gig-goers from recording at events. In addition to this, more intimate social environments have adapted to this trend. Steve Tyler, a gin bar in Hove, Sussex has recently installed a ‘Faraday cage’ to block mobile phone signals in an effort to encourage customers to interact with each other rather than their phones (The Independent, 2016). And SoHo House have started to ban their club members to take photos on the premises (Soho House, 2018). This relates back to my campaign as it shows that companies are trying to take a stand on smartphones ruining our perceptions of what’s real and what’s not. Although, smartphones have globalised the world and allowed us to transport ourselves to any moment; it has also ruined our experience off screen, with nothing seeming as good as the filtered lives we see online.
SUCCESS!
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Subsequent to the campaign, it is vital to measure the success in order to improve and reach the target audience more. The success of this campaign can be measured through the activity under the social media hashtag. However, it is important to note that the consumer explained that they often only use hashtags to either promote their post to gain more likes, or to enter their post into competitions. Therefore the hashtag would rarely be used after the hashtag for a free goodiebag at the event is over. As a result of this, the success of the campaign could also be measured with surveys at the end of the academic year, to engage with the audiences whom attended the event and used the hashtag. The survey would question them on whether they felt any more positive about their body, whether they feel less obliged to compare themselves and if their would be anything to improve about the campaign. ‘
OPINIONS FROM THE PRESS “ well researched and thought through, looking at the topic from different perspectives with some inspiring ideas ” Sharon Southcott, Strategic Professional
“ Body Image is actually something we feel the university doesn’t address enough, so you’re onto a winner there! ” Kieran ‘Gonz’ Goncalves, Vice President of Community at Nottingham Trent University
“ This is such a great concept to highlight the challenges that girls face every single day. this topic isn’t talked about enough and should definitely be used by universities, i’d love it! ” Marissa Hammound, Nottingham Trent University Student 182
I t EDID IT FOR THE GRAM.
Don’t compare yourself.