EOC Week 11: Class Eval

All in all it was a very good classroom experience. Despite the fact that I did miss two consecutive classes early in quarter due to illness, I worked hard and made an excellent comeback and was truly able to learn what I needed to from this class. First and foremost, the book presented in class was excellent. It was organized and methodical, and easy to read and understand bringing all the necessary concepts together. Lectures and presentations in class (movies) were interesting and relevant to the topics that were covered. One of the major elements which I found to be important was the merging of art and advertising, in a way, once and for all debunking the idea that art has to be separate from capitalism and any form of money making industry all together lest it be considered un-pure by the artistic community. That is simply not the case, and this class did a good job of making that simple fact understood, and the industry itself more appreciated from an artistic perspective. The lectures were concise and to the point given the chapter under study, although I would have liked to see some examples from the professor which lined up more with what the students at this school will understand and are able to reasonably replicate. It is up to us as students to experience it at an appropriate level so that we can grow with the ideas and expand in our own ways. That being said, the class accomplished what it set out to which is give a fundamental understand of the power and scope of the advertising industry. And despite a couple of speed bumps along the way, I believe I did an excellent job of both keeping up with the class, and learning what I needed to. And that being case, I believe I deserve and A.

EOC Week 10: Art Serving Capitalism

Is it possible for advertising to be art? Or is the traditional idea of art, that horribly off-kilter idea of expressionism that ends up as nose piercing or a poorly designed tattoo? It has always been my impression that art for art’s sake is a waste of time. At least from my own personal perspective. Depending on how you look at it, yes, the two coincide, and in fact work quite well together. I don’t subscribe to the idea that art serving capitalism is not art. Ads, marketing, all of these tools that end up on billboards or on Tv, no matter if their drive is to sell a product, the end result, the culmination of the work from various people doing research and trying new and inventive ideas to come up with the final product is in fact art. Because it must be art to tug at the heart strings. It must be art to inspire and pull you in through sheer visual beauty. It must be art to capture your imagination and compel you to action of any kind. It doesn’t matter if that action is buying Kleenex from Wal-mart, or shoes from Nike. The simple fact of the matter is that you took action because you responded emotionally, intellectually, and then physically to something that you saw. In many cases it may not have been pretty. It may have been heart wrenching, or it may have been stupid beyond all recognition. But you acted. And unless the advertisers lied, you were probably happy about it. And the simple fact that you were indeed compelled to act isn’t manipulation, it is an artistic expression that has simply been fine tuned to a very focused frequency, so much so that you didn’t even realize that you needed that new car. But what the heck, you bought it anyway.

So to truly answer the question, do art and capitalism work together? Without a doubt, happily, and forever after…or until trends move us to new and uncharted waters.

iPad 02: Competitive Analysis

The iPad was the first, but it is far from the only tablet/touch screen on the market. Numerous other competitors exist such as the Slate from HP, the Adam from Notion Ink, the JooJoo from Fushion Garage, and the Home from Archos, to name a few of the early competitors. Fortunately, Apple’s move onto the market as well as their solid customer base (not to mention the high quality of design and function) propelled the iPad to the head of the game in the touchpad/tablet marketplace. That current status aside serious competition is on its way, namely in the form of Android (Google) based products featuring the Android operating system as opposed to Apple’s IOS. That leaves advertising alone to either widen or lessen the gap between apple and the rest. “Most people think of advertising as all forms of paid promotional communication conveyed by a mass medium, such as television, radio, the internet, or print.” (Landa, p. 34) The gap is already there, now it’s time to widen it.
As seen in the cell phone market, Google (Android) is currently the main competition for Apple. But in terms of simplicity and usability Apple stands far ahead, but Google is beginning to catch up. One of the reasons for the closing of the competitive gap is the fact that Apple’s previous ad campaigns have catered more towards their existing customer base, relying on style and innovation to keep them ingrained in the hearts of their current customers. : “Providing a rationale for a functional benefit can turn consumers into believers.” (Landa, p. 75) And it has worked. But now that competition has become more fierce it is time to expand that advertising reach to new customers who don’t buy into Apple’s slick marketing, who need that small nudge of information and reason mixed with emotional content to truly understand and embrace Apple as a real part of their lives.

As for the direct competition that is immediately affecting Apple…well, there is none. At least no yet. Most high end (big name) brands with iPad competition have forced themselves to push the release dates of their products back until the fall. : “…in today’s competitive marketplace, where most advertisers believe that visual style and spirit sell a parity product, in’s an underlying creative idea that can make an ad touting a benefit stand out…” (Landa, p. 101) And though the real competition will be coming out very soon and the state of the market is going to change, it gives Apple plenty of time to solidify their place in the market, and to firm up their plans for the future of gaining even more market share.

EOC Week 9: Triplets

In this clever advertisement for Bolibomba Gum, a Venezuelan brand of bubble gum, the ad campaign theme is exercised in these two side by side pictures. Although the subject of each ad changes, as does the background color, the theme remains clear. In each picture you have a young adult (one male, one female), fit, healthy, and wearing nice clothing. The theme as illustrated by the ad is that no matter who you are (or what you look like) you’re never too old to enjoy bubble gum. And the simple pleasure that bubble gum provides may just be enough to bring out the kid in you. Obviously it is a product for the young at heart, as further illustrated by the humorous child-like faces showing through the enormous globes of bubble gum being blown from the mouths of each person. A very simple and clever ad that speaks well to those who do not take themselves too seriously, and provides an easily repeatable theme to spread out over additional ads (in triplet).

iPad 06: Analysis in the real world

A very practical and to the point ad. The Re-learn everything ad hits the heart of everything that it needs to in order to capture greater market share amongst the emergence of new (and in some ways compelling) competition. “When an ad looks like a million other ads we’ve all seen, it’s a sure bet fewer people will care to pay attention to it.” (Landa, p. 143) This ad aims to separate itself from its would-be competitors by engaging the viewers on an emotional level that will likely not be pursued by the emerging competition, as their ads will focus on showing “attributes” and technical reasons from choosing their product over the iPad.

I will be honest and relate that at the time this ad was created Apple did in fact generate their own campaign much along a similar theme. However, this only means that the “re-learn everything” ad holds true in its idea of educating the public on the highlights of the many magnificent features of the iPad, without over explaining, or over selling. “Many clients and creatives believe that repetition is crucial and so tend to prefer “triplet” campaigns, whether in print, on TV, or digital; triplets make sure that the viewer immediately recognizes the brand message.” (Landa, p. 170) This ad is meant for repetition over different media and can be changed and adjusted to be used as a “triplet” campaign.

All in all this will be a successful campaign based on the facts that it will be providing the new customers with what they need to make an informed decision about purchasing a product such as an iPad. “It’s not that what you write has to be absolutely new---it just has to sound fresh, not predictable. It also has to sound as though you’re engaging in a natural conversation with the reader.” (Landa, p. 194) This campaign resonates with a freshness and message that will appeal to a large number of people and work well with the provided visuals and verbals to both educate and stimulate viewers into performing the primary purpose of advertising: selling the product.

iPad 05: Creative Content

As stated before, the creative content for this ad is a design created for either (or both) internet ads or magazine placement. It maintains a simple visual and verbal appeal, aiming to capture the attention of the potential customers with clean, easy to understand at a glance visuals, and slightly vague yet comprehendible wording. It goes from left to right, immediately drawing the viewers eye to the far left to the image of the iPad, then to the bold lettering to the right, and then down to the bottom to finish off the viewing. “The way you create, select, and arrange everything---the type, visuals, and graphic elements---in an ad or graphic design piece is design.” (Landa, p. 125) All of these elements come together to most effectively lead the customer to the desired conclusion—buying the iPad.

Visually the ad is clean and precise. The main visual element of the iPad with a shilouetted image of a rock singer emphasizes the point of “change rocks,” sitting atop a black fading to white and back again gradient as the background. The word elements are sparse and well balanced, lead by the large white lettering of “change rocks.” “There must be a central thought, an underlying idea or related ideas, or a theme carried throughout the campaign. That central thought is communicated visually through the design of the campaign.” (Landa, p. 168) The only color in the ad is the image that appears on the iPad which creates strong visual contrast without being a cluttered and too complicated to look at.

Verbally it is succinct and easy to follow, yet also interesting and abstract enough to avoid making its intention of selling too obvious. The verbal message is intriguing, letting the viewer know that change is not the monster many people believe that it is, and it is in fact fun, useful, and if you will, hip. “When copy sounds conversational, then the reader feels you’re strking up a conversation, rather than pounding her over the head with a sales pitch.” (Landa, p. 151) Re-learn everything tells the viewer to embrace that change and relearn how they live certain aspects of their lives such as music, movies, tv, entertainment, and nearly anything else you can imagine.

iPad 04: Promotion

Promotion for this product on this particular campaign is based off of both internet ads and magazine ads. The provided ad is designed and suited to work best with those two media types. Designed to take up half a page of a magazine, or a single page internet ad. The specific target for this campaign stretches past the already well established set of loyal Apple users and attempts to capture the hearts and minds of those potential consumers who need a little more convincing apart from the standard, somewhat abstract Apple marketing of the past. “A target audience is a specific group of people or consumers targeted for an advertising or public service message or campaign.” (Landa) Now, with the increase in competition from the likes of Dell, Samsung, HP, and the like closing in on the market opening the advertising for Apple iPad becomes more important than ever.

Emotion, as always, is a key component of any worthwhile ad campaign. The emotion of the “relearn everything” ad comes mainly from the main tag-line, “Change rocks.” This relays to the customer that, change is ok. In fact, change is more than ok, it’s something to be sought after and pursued and integrated into your life. And what better way to do that than the Apple iPad? In my opinion, the choice is clear. “It [Advertising] has to be likeable. It has to inform and inspire. It has to have some emotional hook to it that makes consumers interact with it.” (Landa, p. 121) A further point is showing that the product has more uses than simply the single one shown in the ad, thus it becomes necessary to display (even somewhat obscurely) some of the many other uses one might have for such a great product.

Part of an ad’s job is to stay away from a theme or ideal that tries too hard to sell the product. Once a customer recognizes that he or she is being sold something, and if the ad does not overcome that stigma then you have just lost the customer. However, the juxtaposition that must be attained is avoiding that over-sale, while still asking the customer for the sale itself. This is where emotion makes its triumphant return into advertising. “…in today’s competitive marketplace, where most advertisers believe that visual style and spirit sell a parity product, in’s an underlying creative idea that can make an ad touting a benefit stand out…” (Landa, p. 101) This ad sells, but it doesn’t overdo it. Change rocks. So why not re-learn everything with Apple iPad? “In both unconventional and conventional approaches, the key is that visual and words together communicate a whole message that is greater than the sum of the parts…” (Landa, p. 187)