The Persuaders

1. When watching the program The Persuaders, I was surprised at Spade's strategy for Song Airlines to appeal more their target audience's heart vs. head and instead of pushing the company's low cost, better organic food (product benefits), he wants to be more of a lifestyle brand. After viewing the commercials, I have to say that I would never associate his romantic images as images supporting a new airline company. I think it is hard for new companies to start wanting to be a lifestyle brand before anyone even knows their name. It sounds like a huge risk to me.

One new thing I learned about marketing is that, often times to avoid television viewers from skipping their commercials, marketers integrate their products into the shows viewers are already watching. I have seen several examples of product placement in movies however, when shown examples of product placement in shows like Sex and the City and Survivor, I realized how common product placement is. It seems very hard to keep the product subtle enough to not make the show seem like an infomercial yet still appeal to viewers.

One new thing I learned about myself is that I face a very challenging future as an advertising major. Breaking through the clutter as a future creative in the business will be extremely difficult with new norms being established everyday. It will be a struggle to be innovative and effective. I will have to learn to think more out of the box and accept the fact that no idea is completely out of this world as long as there is support.

2. I would say I see an average amount of advertising. I do not watch a lot of television but I am frequently online and see advertising in magazines as well. I do not feel completely bombarded in my everyday life by advertising but I can see how many people do feel that way. Twenty or thirty years ago, people most likely watched less advertising on t.v. and did not see as many ads along the road during their everyday commute. We have become a very flashy, urban society that endorses advertising that grabs our attention. This feeds advertisers' need for finding bigger and better ideas. All of a sudden, we can see a snowball effect rolling towards the need for visual and audio stimulation. Hence, the amount of clutter in the industry.