In the 21st century, it is common place to be bamboozled by a myriad of quirky advertisements in our daily lives. Mediums like the television and The Internet are constantly drawing in tons of revenue from this lucrative business and consumerism is sharply on the rise because of their successful campaigns.
Looking at the commercials in terms of verbal and non-verbal communication, it can be seen that many conclusions can be drawn. Producers of these commercials often try to come out with alternative views to sell their product in the 30 sec segment they have. Professional studies have shown that if the audience does not get the message within 10 sec the image would be discarded by the brain subconciously. Hence, the advertising world is aggressive, and attempting to be more creative.
Having said this, I feel that some commercials don't really click with the audience. How many of you have seen the recent KFC fish zinger advertisement? I was taking the bus home with one of my classmates recently and we both scoffed at it's unintelligent marketing approach. It shows a young guy doing stunts to point out the correct direction to a tourist afer he takes a bite out of the fish zinger. Where is the logic? Maybe it wasn't meant to be logical. Maybe it was supposed to be using kinesics (hand signals) to communicate with the target audience. Personally, I feel it is nonsense.
Macdonald's eat healthy campaign is also insidiously creating itself an anchorpoint in an age where people are starting to become more health conscious. Did you notice that on the right side of your meal tray there is this table where they attempt to list out the nutrition value of each item you are eating? I'm not sure if that has a psychological effect on people, as it consoles them that the Big Mac they are eating has XXX calories and XXX energy value. That it is OK to eat fast food since it can benefit you in this fashion. If people are buying this idea, I guess Macdonald's has won its war in keeping loyal customers.
I'm sure we will constantly see new marketing campaigns from the fast food industry, and it is likely we will see new creations to draw in the business. What do you guys think? Share your views!
http://www.mcdonalds.com.sg/
http://www.kfc.com.sg/
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Marvel Mania!
Have any of you been catching the chain of marvel inspired movies that have been hitting the big screens? Recently, Iron man was a big hit with the masses as it brought out a different kind of hero, the capitalist hero. I decided to take some time to reflect on it.
Typical of any superhero movie we tend to see that the main character always has to go through a life changing experience or crisis before they set their minds on the superhero path... Iron man is no exception. However, unlike superheroes who have an innate special ability, Tony starks has an abundance of wealth behind him to fund the development of his super armour.
What struck me in the show was that there was this scene between Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Junior when they were changing the arc reactor module(his life support) in his body. There was a lot of non verbal communication taking place between them like paralinguistics, oculesics and haptics.
Also another strong factor in the show is the idea of physical appearance. Tony starks always gave people the impression based on his physical appearance that he was living the glamorous life (multi billionaire, playboy,fast cars) and suddenly he has a 180 degree change in his perspective of life after his afghanistan ordeal. Having being judged on his physical appearance and material possesions all his life the hero decides to forge his new identiy and own form of justice.
Both the male and female leads carry their roles well and Hall's theory of personal space differentiated by relational status is seen as Paltrow and Downey Junior develop their relationship from mere secretorial-boss to close friends/dating couple (don't really know what it is they have looks complicated maybe you guys know:)) Ideas like public, social and initimate distance comes about when we see their relationship is forged closer through crisis.
Looking at the wave of upcoming marvle films like The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America, I am sure that we shall be able to see more of such human communication defining future story lines as this has been the winning ingredient in many Hollywood films thus far. What do you guys think? Share your views!
Stay tuned for more updates from Mr potato! Tata!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
How Mobile Phones Define us
Do you still remember the days of our parents’ generation when they used mobile phones the size of our water bottles? ( Big enough to knock the daylights out of anyone) When companies like Ericsson and Motorola introduced this technology in the 80’s this began to vastly shape our social landscape and how we communicated and operated as a society. With the punch of a button, we are now able to communicate directly with the other party facilitating interactive communication.
In the 2 decades since then, we have slowly but surely seen the evolution of mobile communication in Singapore as more options become available to us and affecting our consumer choices. Power houses like Nokia and Sony Ericsson bombard us with a myriad of handphone models to choose from, and we as consumers are spoilt for choice. Our choice of phone also seemingly defines our character and it is like a virtual extension of ourselves.
Speaking as a member of “Generation Y” and a hopeless tech junkie, I constantly dog the news for latest developments on mobile phone technology or if companies are taking a refreshing approach to integrating features onto handsets. Since the mobile phone’s initial entrance into the market, smart messaging, gprs,wifi, integrated cameras and video telephony are but to name a few of the features that are found in the fray of phones.
In Japan, the statistics show that almost every schooling child has access to a mobile phone and amongst them many begin owning such a device at the tender age of 5. This shows a vast change in landscape and to put in perspective, a social necessity. What’s more, we already hear that they are leading in the innovation arena where things like free to air tv and even phone transactions is nothing foreign in their niche industry.
Our new generation craves for many elements in their ideal phones-style, portability, applications or just the x-factor. Recently the industry’s newest player Apple’s iphone has generated much discussion on how it will bring abt the next revolution in phone usage, and more will be revealed at the developer conference on June 9.Whatever it is, we can see that the next few months will be exciting as we see snazzy designs that cater to our personal preferences.
I feel that the “craze “ is not limited to the youngsters also. Recently I did a stint at a telecommunications company and I was intrigued to see how many retirees or non-tech savvy people snatch up new high end models (even though they dunno how to use them) because innately I think it makes them feel they are flowing with the times and not socially backward. I understand their need to feel inclusive but sometimes u can't help thinking "Dunno how to use n95 8GB then buy for wad? " or "Auntie... you can't delete your bluetooth!"
Having said this, there is also a minority that feel that having a mobile phone is an intrusion into their personal space and even though they have the knowledge to utilize a phone they make a social choice not to. Questions like "Do i want to be contacted?" surface out and it leaves us wondering about the backlashes of technology in this busy age.
I feel that with more consumer options available, phones will continue to integrate themselves deeper into society and my personal choice of phone must be one that can have a good mix of portability and functionality before i make my $ count.
Until the next entry, this is Mr potato signing off! Come comment!
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=iphone&id=347363
In the 2 decades since then, we have slowly but surely seen the evolution of mobile communication in Singapore as more options become available to us and affecting our consumer choices. Power houses like Nokia and Sony Ericsson bombard us with a myriad of handphone models to choose from, and we as consumers are spoilt for choice. Our choice of phone also seemingly defines our character and it is like a virtual extension of ourselves.
Speaking as a member of “Generation Y” and a hopeless tech junkie, I constantly dog the news for latest developments on mobile phone technology or if companies are taking a refreshing approach to integrating features onto handsets. Since the mobile phone’s initial entrance into the market, smart messaging, gprs,wifi, integrated cameras and video telephony are but to name a few of the features that are found in the fray of phones.
In Japan, the statistics show that almost every schooling child has access to a mobile phone and amongst them many begin owning such a device at the tender age of 5. This shows a vast change in landscape and to put in perspective, a social necessity. What’s more, we already hear that they are leading in the innovation arena where things like free to air tv and even phone transactions is nothing foreign in their niche industry.
Our new generation craves for many elements in their ideal phones-style, portability, applications or just the x-factor. Recently the industry’s newest player Apple’s iphone has generated much discussion on how it will bring abt the next revolution in phone usage, and more will be revealed at the developer conference on June 9.Whatever it is, we can see that the next few months will be exciting as we see snazzy designs that cater to our personal preferences.
I feel that the “craze “ is not limited to the youngsters also. Recently I did a stint at a telecommunications company and I was intrigued to see how many retirees or non-tech savvy people snatch up new high end models (even though they dunno how to use them) because innately I think it makes them feel they are flowing with the times and not socially backward. I understand their need to feel inclusive but sometimes u can't help thinking "Dunno how to use n95 8GB then buy for wad? " or "Auntie... you can't delete your bluetooth!"
Having said this, there is also a minority that feel that having a mobile phone is an intrusion into their personal space and even though they have the knowledge to utilize a phone they make a social choice not to. Questions like "Do i want to be contacted?" surface out and it leaves us wondering about the backlashes of technology in this busy age.
I feel that with more consumer options available, phones will continue to integrate themselves deeper into society and my personal choice of phone must be one that can have a good mix of portability and functionality before i make my $ count.
Until the next entry, this is Mr potato signing off! Come comment!
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=iphone&id=347363
Thursday, May 8, 2008
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