Even though I am somewhat skeptical about many advertisements, I am the Advertisement Manager for the school yearbook. I know how difficult it is to communicate with the costumer and shape yourself to their needs. It is not an easy job and it is hard to sell unless someone already knew they wanted before I made contact.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Advertising
Does advertising actually do anything? Everywhere you go, you see logos and slogans surrounding you. Advertisements bring in customers and customers improve your profits but have ads been working recently? The amount of advertisements in a given area have been increasing- increasing clutter. Although I do think advertisements do bring in customers and do make your business more well known, I think all companies struggle in the advertisement department. I am not saying all ads are stupid; I am saying that some companies have an interesting way to promote themeselves. On top of some advertisements lacking their watchers attention, it does not help that TV viewers can scan through commercials any time they have possible. As more and more people are buying Tivo and DirectTV, less ads are actually being watched a lot of money is going down the drain.
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I agree with you, Jeannie. I think that advertising is important in getting people to buy a product, but nowadays, I think that this is the case more in theory than in actuality. I think that people are becoming insensitive to advertisements because they are everywhere and people are learning to ignore their presence. I think the best way for someone to buy a product is to be referred to it by friends, family, a doctor etc. People know what they want and do not deviate from this too often unless someone they trust suggests another product to them. Also, I think that giving samples are a great way to advertise a product. Fliers, posters, ads in newspapers and on TV are becoming ignorable. Advertisers have exhausted the use of advertising on the internet, tv, newspapers, magazines and such--they need to find new methods.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. The media seems to be consuming every place that is possible to advertise on. Even as I walk on the Metra train, one full cart could be covered in one company’s logo promoting their business. There ads are hard to miss. It’s there when I look up to even when I look down. I would say that the worst part about it is when it makes no sense at all. I believe that it devalues the product that they are trying to promote when they don’t even acknowledge the product in the first hand. I don’t understand how a company can make money when people don’t know what they are trying to sell. I would say that to a certain extend ads have become pointless, but I will say that I do enjoy watching the funny ones here and there.
ReplyDeleteJeannie, I definitely agree with you as well. One thing I have noticed recently is that the more absurd the commercial the more people will talk about it. One comercial that has stuck with me is a commercial for Quiznos that was released years ago. The commercial was rats singing about Quiznos. I found that I was talking about the commercial rather then the tv show after the show concluded. However, walking away from the commercial I was disgusted by their choice in advertisement. Why would a restaurant have a commercial with rats in it? Ever since that commercial I have not stepped into a Quiznos. This just goes to show how a commercial can make or break a product. In relation to the movie that we watched in class, "The Persuaders" one of the first things that caught my attention was that advertising has lead to clutter. I would definitely have to agree. There are few places where one can escape from trying to be convinced to buy a product. It is also true that consumers have developed an immunity to advertisements. I believe that one of the reasons the airline Song failed is because in the advertisements the fact that it was an airline was never mentioned. I also think its interesting that their are short films that are created to advertise products like BMW Films starring Madonna. A great way to advertise is during tv shows because people can't fast forward through them. I think that people should start to advertise more in tv shows because its harder for viewers to avoid them.
ReplyDeleteGrace: Do you think MIA flipped America the bird during the Superbowl halftime show just to "break through the clutter"? After watching the Persuaders, I seem to think it was a calculated move and not a spontaneous gesture.
ReplyDeleteSorry Mr. Curren, I had no idea you responded to my post. Now that I think about it, MIA flipping the bird was definitely a calculate move. She got so much publicity for that.
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